Sermon Central
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Trinity / 1 1 1 = 1
Contributed by J Jeffrey Smead on Jun 4, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: 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! So what is the answer 1 1 1= ? What happens when you multiply 1 x 1 x 1? It equals One! So even numerically God is 1. Updated May 2022.
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.
