Why The Trinity Matters To Us Series

Why the Trinity Matters to Us

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - January 16, 2013

(Revised October 29, 2020)

MESSAGE:

*Does the trinity matter to us? As Bible-believing Baptists, we believe that the one true God exists as a trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, -- one God, three persons.

*The Baptist Faith and Message puts it this way: "There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being." (1)

*One God, three persons, that's what we believe. But some Christians do not believe in the trinity. Many Pentecostal Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the one God, who sometimes manifests Himself as God the Father or God the Holy Spirit.

*In other words, they would say that God operates in different forms or modes at different times: Sometimes as the Father, sometimes as the Son, and sometimes as the Holy Spirit. So, if you have ever seen the bumper sticker that say, "Jesus Only," that's not just talking about only using Jesus' name in baptism. It is stating their belief that Jesus is the Father and Jesus is the Holy Spirit. (2)

*In one sense this is surely true because there is only one God, but we believe that the one and only God eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That's the trinity. But why does the trinity matter to us? Tonight's Scripture helps us see why.

1. FIRST: IT MATTERS BECAUSE GOD CONFIRMS THIS REALITY OF HIS EXISTENCE.

[1] GOD HAS STRONGLY CONFIRMED THE TRINITY IN HIS WORD.

*Even though the word "trinity" is not found in the Bible, the reality of the trinity surely is found. Verses 16-17 give us a perfect example:

16. Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

17. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.''

*Here God revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and there is much more evidence in His Word. Nave's Topical Bible gives over 50 references that help point us to the trinity.

*We see all three persons of the trinity in Scriptures like Luke 1:34-35. There the angel Gabriel was sent to tell the Virgin Mary that she would miraculously give birth to God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

34. Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?''

35. And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."

*In John 3:34-35, John the Baptist was speaking about Jesus and said:

34. "For He whom God hath sent speaks the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.

35. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand."

*John 14:15-17 shows us the trinity. There, Jesus said:

15. "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

16. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,

17. even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

18. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

*In John 14:23 Jesus also said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

*In other words: When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God the Father and God the Son literally come to live in us. How? Through the Holy Spirit of God. That's because all three are one and the same God.

*In John 15:26 Jesus mentioned God's three persons twice in one verse. There the Lord said, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."