Sermon # 145            Series: Isaiah

 

Title:  Grace From The Triune God

Text:  Isaiah 48: 16-17

Subject:  Grace In The Holy Trinity

Date:  Sunday Evening – March 28, 1993

 

Introduction:

 

In this chapter the Lord God promised his captive people that he would destroy Babylon, deliver them from bondage, and bring them again into their own land.  He told them what he would do hundreds of years before it was done, and urged them to remember that the whole work was his, so that they might praise him for it.  But all of this was ordained of God to be a type and picture of the redemption and salvation of his elect by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of his Holy Spirit.

 

Read the text with me – Isaiah 48: 16-17. The person speaking in this text is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior, of whom Cyrus was but a type.

 

Proposition:  In these two verses the saving operations of grace are traced to all three Persons in the Holy Trinity.

 

 

What do you know about the biblical doctrine of the Trinity?  You have all heard the doctrine.  You know that we are supposed to be Trinitarians.  But do you have a comfortable understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as it is set forth in the Word of God?

 

The title of my message tonight is Grace From The Triune God.  We worship one God in the Trinity, or Tri-Unity, of his Sacred Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and adore each as the God of all grace by whom we are saved.

 

Divisions:  As we open the word of God and seek to worship him, I want to show you three things clearly taught in this Book about Grace From The Triune God.

 

1.       The Bible clearly Teaches The Doctrine of The Trinity.

2.       All Three Persons In The Godhead Are Equally Gracious.

3.       No Doctrine In The Bible More Inspires Unity Among Believers Than The Doctrine of The Trinity.

 

I.  The Bible Clearly and Emphatically Teaches The Doctrine of The Trinity.

 

I once heard Bro. Mahan say, “That man is a fool who denies the doctrine of the Trinity; and that man is a fool who tries to explain it.”  So, lest I be numbered among foolish men, I will make no effort to explain the Trinity.  Let me simply give you some definitions of the doctrine and show you that the word of God clearly teaches it.

 

A.  When we say, We believe in the Trinity of The Divine Persons, What Do We Mean?

 

·         We do not mean that there are three equal, but separate Gods!

·         We do not mean that there is One God manifest in three Personalities!

·         We mean that we worship One God in Three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

1.  Noah Webster-

 

I have yet to read a better definition of the term “Trinity” than the one given in Webster’s dictionary- The Trinity is “The union of three Persons (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) in one Godhead, so that all three are one God as to substance, but three Persons as to individuality.”

 

·         “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4).

·         “And God said, Let us make man in our image and after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26).

 

2.  Southern Baptist Theological Seminary-

 

Though it long ago forsook its principles, the principles of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Kentucky states the doctrine of the Trinity in these words,- “God is revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct Personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.”

 

3.  A. H. Strong-

 

In his systematic theology, A. H. Strong says, “In the nature of the one God there are three eternal distinctions of the one God there are three eternal distinctions which are represented to us under the figure of persons, and those three are equal.”

 

Did you notice how that in each of these definitions of the Trinity the one writing seemed to be reaching for words, as though he could not find words to properly express what he wanted to say?  That is because God is so infinitely and mysteriously greater than us that there is nothing in creation to compare to him!

 

Yet, we must strive to get some idea of the greatness and glory of his holy Being.  Well might we pray with Moses, “I beseech Thee, Show me thy glory.  We worship one God who subsists in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in all things.  The Father is God.  The Son is God.  And the Holy Spirit is God.  This is the doctrine we teach. This is the doctrine that all christians believe.  But…

 

B.  Is This The Doctrine of The Bible?

 

Does the Word of God itself teach the doctrine of the Trinity?  It matters not what the opinions of men are.  What does God himself say?  That alone must be the basis of our faith.

 

1.  There is one plain, crystal clear statement of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament (I John 5:7).

 

2.  In addition to this definitive statement there are numerous examples in which the Trinity is set before us.

 

  1. The Baptism of Christ (Matt. 3:16-17).
  2. The Baptismal Formula (Matt. 28: 19- “Name” singular, Persons plural!)
  3. The Apostolic Benediction (II Cor. 13:14).
  4. Our Lord’s Declaration (John 14:16).

 

The New Testament declares that…

 

Someone accurately stated it this way – “The Faith is all the fulness of the Godhead invisible (John 1:18).  The Son is all the fulness of the Godhead manifested (John 1:14-18): The Spirit is all the fulness of the Godhead acting immediately upon the creature (I Cor. 2:9-10).”

 

I frankly confess my inability to produce a single argument drawn from nature or logic to prove the doctrine of the Trinity.  It is a mystery filled with such grandeur that it defies the comprehension of every finite mind.  But faith does not stand upon nature or logic.  Faith stands upon the Word of God Alone!  I believe this doctrine because it is revealed in the Scriptures; and I see it clearly because I believe it.

 

Without question, the Bible clearly teaches the doctrine of the Trinity.  Now, secondly, I want you to see that…

 

II.  All Three Persons In The Godhead Are Equally Gracious.

 

This is what Paul teaches us in Ephesians 1:3-14.  As the Three Persons of the Godhead are equal in divinity but distinct in personality, so all three persons in the Godhead are equal in divinity but distinct in personality, so all three persons in the Godhead are equal in grace but distinct in the operations of grace.

 

A.  God The Father is set before us as The Fountain Of All Grace (Eph. 1:3-6).

 

It was God the Father who, in the covenant of grace, proposed redemption, devised the plan, and chose the people whom he would save by his almighty grace.  He found a way whereby his banished ones could be rightfully returned to him.  Then, in the fulness of time, he sent his Son into the world to be the Medium, or Mediator of grace (Gal. 4:4-6).

 

B.  God The Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, is the Channel of All Grace (Eph. 1: 7:12).

 

“The Lord Jesus Christ has come to procure salvation for us.  As Mediator, God and man, he was the Father’s Servant, sent to effect for us this great salvation”- (Charles Simeon).

 

All grace comes to sinners through Christ the Mediator.  In this first chapter of Ephesians Paul tells us fourteen times that everything God does for sinners and gives to sinners is “in Christ.”  Apart from Christ there is no grace!

 

1.  Am I chose of God?  I am chosen in Christ!

2.  Am I blessed of God?  I am blessed in Christ!

3.  Am I predestinated by God?  I am predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ!

4.  Am I adopted?  I am adopted in Christ!

5.  Am I accepted?  I am accepted in Christ!

6.  Am I redeemed?  I am redeemed in Christ!

7.  Am I forgiven?  I am forgiven in Christ!

8.  Do I know the living God?  I know him in Christ!

9.  Do I have an inheritance in heaven?  I have it in Christ!

10.  Am I called of God?  I am called in Christ!

 

Do you see what I am saying?  All grace came to us through Christ!  There is no other way the grace of God can reach a sinner.  Let no rejecter of God’s Son vainly imagine that he shall be the beneficiary of God’s grace!  It was the work of Christ upon the cross that brought grace and justice together in the salvation of sinners.  Through his blood “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peach have kissed each other” ( Ps. 85: 10).

 

Blissfully lost in the contemplation of God’s matchless grace in Christ, John Bunyan penned these rapturous words- “O Thou Son of the Blessed!  Grace stripped Thee of Thy glory; grace brought Thee down from heaven’s grace made Thee bear such burdens of sin, such burden of curse as are unspeakable; grace was in Thy heart; grace came bubbling up from Thy bleeding side; grace was in Thy tears; grace was in Thy prayers; grace streamed from Thy thorn-crowned brow!  Grace came forth with the nails that pierced Thee, with the thorns, which pricked Thee!   Oh, here are unsearchable riches of grace!  Grace to make devils astonished!”

 

The Fountain of all grace is God the Father- The Channel of all grace is God the Son, and…

 

C.   God the Holy Spirit is the Administration of all Grace (Eph. 1: 13-14).

 

It is God the Holy Spirit who effectually applies the blood of Christ to God’s elect, with irresistible grace and power.

 

  1. He regenerates the dead by omnipotent power.
  2. He calls the redeemed with irresistible grace.
  3. He gives faith by his mighty operations of grace.
  4. He seals God’s elect unto everlasting glory.

Illus:  Hebrews 9: 12-14- Redemption Accomplished and Applied!

 

Without the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit in conversion no sinner would ever become the beneficiary of grace.  He takes the things of Christ and shows them to his people.  He quickens these the Father election in eternity and reclaims those the Son redeemed at Calvary.   He leads to the Good Shepherd all those sheep for whom the Shepherd laid down his life (John 10:3, 11, 27).  “He conquers the stoutest hearts and cleanses the foulest spiritual leper.  He opens the sin-blinded eyes and unstops the sin-closed ears.  The blessed Holy Spirit reveals the grace of the Father and applies the work of the Son”- (C. D. Cole).

 

All three Persons in the Godhead are equally gracious; and all three must be praised!

 

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him, all creatures here below!

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts!

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!”

 

III.  Thirdly, No Doctrine of The Bible More Forcibly Inspires Unity Among Believers Than The Doctrine of The Trinity.

 

I have not been talking to you about some abstract point of theological speculation, or some profitless point of more doctrinal refinement.  I am talking about a subject so far above our comprehension that it should inspire the deepest reverence and humility as well as the most circumspect consecration and unity.

 

A.  In Our Baptism you and I have Publicly Avowed Our Consecration to God (Rom. 6:4-6).

 

Being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we publicly declared our consecration and commitment to…

 

  1. Obey the will of God.
  2. Live for the glory of God.
  3. Submit to and obey the leadership of the Spirit of God.

 

B. Let every thought about the Holy Trinity Stimulate In Us A Desire That We May Be One even as God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit Are One (John 17: 20-22).

 

  1. One in Purpose – The Glory of God!
  2. One in Labor – The Cause of Christ!
  3. One in Love – (Phil. 2:2-5).

 

As God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are united, so let us be united in…

 

 

Application:

 

This is the doctrine of the Trinity.

  1. The Bible clearly teaches it.
  2. All Three Persons in the Godhead are Equally Gracious.
  3. No doctrine in the Bible more forcibly inspires unity among believers than the doctrine of the Trinity- (Eph. 4:1-6).

 

Songs of Grace- #85 Praise To The Sovereign Trinity.