A missionary named Herbert Jackson ... was a given car when he arrived on ... the mission field.
It had one problem... it would not start ... without a push.
After pondering his problem, ... he devised a plan.
He went to the local school near his home, ... and received permission to take a few children out of class, .... and had them give his car push ... to get it started ... each morning.
As he traveled the area, ... he would either park on a hill ... or leave the engine running.
He used this ingenious procedure ... for 2 years.
At the end of two years, ... he needed to return to the states ... due to health problems ... and a new missionary came ... to replace him.
Of course, ... the car stayed with the new missionary, ... so Jackson began to explain his arrangement ... for getting the car started.
As he did so, ... the new man ... began looking under the hood.
"Why, Dr. Jackson, ... I believe the only trouble is this loose cable."
He gave the cable a twist, ... stepped into the car, ... turned the key ... and to Jackson's astonishment, ...the engine roared to life.
For 2 years, ... the only trouble with that car ... was a loose connection.
The power was there all the time.
Yet he was not connected ... to the power.
And Beloved ... There is a power source for the church... and for each believer.
There is a force ... that electrifies those ... that know Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
And the Scriptures are clear .... that power, ... that force, ... that energy ... is the Holy Spirit of God.
In Romans Paul prayed "...that (the believers gathered in Rome) may overflow with hope ... by the Power ... of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)
He prayed essentially the same pray for the Christians at Ephesus:
BIBLE "I pray that out of his glorious riches ... he may strengthen you ... with... Power through his Spirit in your inner being." END (Ephesians 3:16)
Paul also encouraged Timothy by telling him "...God did not give us a spirit of timidity, ... but a spirit of ... Power," (2 Timothy 1:7)
And God has given us this power ... through His Spirit ... that resides in each person ... who has been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.
It is such a wondrous promise .... that the Apostle John marvels: "...greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4)
We have received a powerful ... life changing gift... yet so many do not ... appropriate that power ... in their life.
They are not wired to the power ...so they cannot tap into the power ... that has been placed within them.
Let us look again Look again at Johns Gospel
BIBLE "And I will ask the Father, ... and he will give you another Counselor ... to be with you forever ... the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, ... because it neither sees him ... nor knows him. But you know him, ... for he lives with you ... and will be in you." END (John 14:16-17)
The world cannot accept ... God's Spirit
For It does not see Him... or know Him. (Pause)
A few years ago, ... World Magazine, reported a study ... of those ... who identified themselves .... as being ... "Born Again".
They were asked to answer a few questions about ...what they believed.
Now many of these folks ... must have had a rudimentary knowledge of their faith ... because 35% of them ... did not believe Jesus ... had risen from the dead.
A truth ... that is at the foundation ... of the Christian Faith.
Yet these same people ... believed they were ... born again.
And from this survey a little more than half (52%) thought God's Spirit was an "It" ... not a person.
So ... Is the Spirit of God ... a Person?
Jesus shared this truth: ... "The world cannot accept (The Spirit), because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you." (John 14:17)
Jesus tells us ... the Spirit of God that lives inside each believer is a He... A person.
Now, there are many people ... who have trouble with this concept... concerning the Holy Spirit.
They visualize the Holy Spirit ... as a force.
Something like the force ... from Star Wars.
They see Him as impersonal ... as "in-an-i-mate".
But by contrast, ... The Scriptures tell us ... that God's Spirit is a living being, ... It is the person of God ... that abides ... that lives in us.
The Scriptures go on to inform us ... that the Spirit has feelings ... character ...and that the Holy Spirit can:
1. Speak to us. (1 Timothy 4:1)
2. Teach us. (John 14:26)
3. Guide us. (John 16:13)
4. He can be grieved. (Ephesians 4:30)
5. He can be lied to. (Acts 5:3)
6. He can be resisted. (Acts 7:51)
God's Spirit ... is not some remote, ... distant power... He is God ... in us.
The Holy Spirit ... is a person ... of the Trinity.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Now ...This is Trinity Sunday, .... the Sunday after Pentecost, .... a day when the Christian Church historically .... has celebrated ......one of its central beliefs.........that of ......a triune God.
As the glorious Hymn states: ... "God in three persons, .... blessed Trinity,".
The very first Anglican Article of Religion states:
"There is but one living and true God.... The maker and preserver of all things both visible and invisible.
And in unity of this Godhead .... there are three persons...... of one substance, power and eternity; ......Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
The Trinity: God is three persons.... Each person is divine .... Yet .... there is only ... one God.
Normally.... when we use the word person, .... we understand it to mean.... A physical individual .... who exist as a... separate being ... That is ...... a separate entity.
But in God ......there are not three entities, .... there are not ... three beings.
God is ...... (Slow) A trinity of persons .... consisting of one substance .... of one essence.
Yet God is numerically ......one.
Now ... The word "trinity" ... is not found in the Scriptures.
Yet this does not mean .... that the concept.... is not taught there.
In fact, .... the word "Bible" ... is not found in the Scriptures .... yet we use it.
Trinity ... comes from the knowledge of God being ... a Tri-unity.
One God ... three persons.
And We know there are three persons ... because they are all present ... in numerous passages of Scripture.
In Matthew Jesus commanded us to do something that is commonly called ... the Great Commission:
BIBLE "... go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." END (Matthew 28:19)
Paul in his letter to the believers in Corinth addresses the Tri--unity of God: (1 Corinthians 12)
BIBLE "There are different kinds of gifts, ... but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, ... but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, ... but the same God works all of them ... in all men." END (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
God is numerically ... one!
Yet how can God be ONE ... and still be three persons?
Well, ... that is a good question. Thank-you for asking!
(Flip the chart) Now Some may be thinking the Trinity is hard enough...know your adding math. (Pause) OK ... what is the answer?
1
1
1_
?
Some might say... well, that's obvious.
One, ... plus one, ... plus one ... equals 3.
Except if you notice ... in the equation.... there is something missing.
So, what is missing? ...There are no plus sign.
Let's fill in ... the missing element:
1
x 1
x 1
What happens when you multiply 1 x 1 x 1?
It equals .... ONE
God is numerically ... one. (Pause)
The Prophet Isaiah declares BIBLE "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts ... than your thoughts." END (Isaiah 55:9)
Trinity or Tri-unity ... is the perpetual existence of God ... as three distinct Persons ...... Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ... who though distinct ... remain one indivisible God.
In truth, the concept of a Triune God ... is impossible to comprehend, ... for the simple reason ... that we have nothing in this world ... that has a corresponding existence.
Though nothing in our world can fully illustrate the Trinity, ... teachers and theologians through the ages ... have offered several analogies ... drawn from the realms of nature and mathematics ... in order to help explain ... the unexplainable.
There is the analogy of the Egg.
Shell -- Yoke -White.
The shortfall of this ... and others like it, ... is that God cannot be divided into ... "Parts."
The Father, ... the Son, ... and the Spirit are one in essence ...but the same cannot be said for ... the shell, yolk, and white ... of an egg.
Another common illustration of the Trinity involves different states of matter ...... solid, liquid, and gas.
The illustration typically uses water as the example: ... water exists as a solid (ice), .... a liquid, .... and a gas (water vapor).
No matter what physical state water is in, ... it is still water.
Its chemical composition remains the same...it is H2-0, ... no matter if it is floating unseen in the atmosphere ... to create humidity, ... or floating as ice in your tea ... to help relieve the humidity.
Though closer ... The problem with this illustration ... is that liquid water, when it freezes, "switches" ... from liquid to solid, ...and, when it boils, ... it "switches" to vapor.
However, God does not "switch" states ... or modes.
Liquid water can become solid or gas, ... but God the Father never becomes the Son ... or the Spirit.
Our God is clear "my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts ... than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9)
Yet we are called to seek his face ... and to know his ways.
Yes, Beloved ... we see through a glass dimly ... but we are called to see ...to look through the glass ... and to seek ... his face.
Beloved .... The Scriptures share this truth with us:
That We are created.... "in the image of God". (Genesis 1:27)
And God .... has Never been .... without fellowship.
Before He created anything; .... before there was a single angel, .... Before there was any other being, .... there was God. ...... Was He alone?
No.... Never!
When there was nothing but God, ......there was always .... fellowship.
There was always the eternal communion.... of the Father, ... the Son and ... the Holy Spirit.
And ... We to .... are created ....in His image.
(Slow Down) We to.... desire fellowship....... fellowship with each other .... Yet most of all .... fellowship ... with ... the Triune God.
With ... The Father ... with the Son ... and with the Holy Spirit.
(Slow And Sing) God in three Persons, .... blessed Trinity."
Amen and Amen!
(Another Illustration Below)
The beginning of this Message is based of a Sermon by Jeff Strite Titled "His Personality" and I commend it to you.
Help: I retired in November 2017 and am attempting to supplement my income by sharing on Sermoncentral. If this Message has been helpful to you, please consider a nominal donation: Send to The Rev. Jeff Smead 11725 Regent Park Drive Chardon Ohio 44024. (Write on the Memo line - Pastor Smead). Blessed To Be A Blessing.
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(Another Illustration)
As I thought about Trinity ...Tri-unity ... it brought to my mind my love for fruit pies.
Do any of you enjoy pie?
I love a good cherry or apple pie.
My wife Lee makes a great cherry pie.
I love cherry pie ... with the crumbles on the top ...especially when it is hot ... and the filling would ooze out ... when you removed ... a slice.
Imagine for a moment ... that the pie is sliced into three pieces.
I would surely enjoy eating a third of a whole pie.
In fact, ... I probably have eating a third of a pie.
Well ...Imagine three large pieces of pie ... that are sliced ... yet left in the pie pan.
There are three pieces ... yet one pie.
And the filling ... the internal substance ... is the same for all three.
Yet this Illustration also falls far short of the reality of the Trinity
