1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,840 This morning, and in the two weeks that follow, God willing, we’re going to immerse ourselves 2 00:00:06,640 –> 00:00:13,680 in the greatest subject that the human mind can grapple with, and we’re trying to immerse 3 00:00:13,680 –> 00:00:20,639 ourselves in the greatest love that the human heart can know, and stretch our imagination to 4 00:00:21,520 –> 00:00:27,600 the greatest theme that the human imagination can conceive. We’re going to be thinking 5 00:00:27,600 –> 00:00:34,400 together from the scriptures about the person, and the nature, and the glory of Almighty God, 6 00:00:34,400 –> 00:00:44,480 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, your first reaction to a series on the Trinity 7 00:00:44,480 –> 00:00:48,720 might be to think, well, maybe this will be a little bit theoretical, or abstract, 8 00:00:48,720 –> 00:00:53,759 and removed from the practicalities of life. If you think that at all, let me assure you, 9 00:00:53,759 –> 00:01:00,959 nothing could be further from the truth. Nearly 150 years ago, the great preacher 10 00:01:00,959 –> 00:01:07,199 C.H. Spurgeon introduced a very famous message that he preached on the nature 11 00:01:07,199 –> 00:01:12,320 of God. And although the words are over a century old, and therefore a little dated, 12 00:01:12,320 –> 00:01:17,839 and perhaps a little quaint, I think he magnificently describes the practicality 13 00:01:18,559 –> 00:01:24,400 of us pondering who God is. And I’d like to read a couple of paragraphs from what he said as he 14 00:01:24,400 –> 00:01:32,959 opened his message 150 years ago. He said, There is something exceedingly improving to the mind 15 00:01:33,760 –> 00:01:42,000 in the contemplation of divinity. It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are 16 00:01:42,160 –> 00:01:51,440 lost in its immensity, so deep out that our pride is drowned in its infinity.” 17 00:01:51,440 –> 00:02:00,160 Then he says, While this subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who thinks often of God 18 00:02:00,160 –> 00:02:07,199 will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around on this narrow globe. 19 00:02:07,199 –> 00:02:13,279 That’s about the mind. Then he speaks about the heart, and he says this, While humbling and 20 00:02:13,279 –> 00:02:20,800 expanding this subject is eminently consolatory. I like that word. It means there’s a wonderful 21 00:02:20,800 –> 00:02:26,160 comfort to ponder who God is. He says, would you lose your sorrows? 22 00:02:27,919 –> 00:02:35,679 Would you drown your cares? Then go plunge yourself into the Godhead’s deepest sea, 23 00:02:35,919 –> 00:02:43,119 be lost in his immensity, and you will come forth refreshed and invigorated. 24 00:02:44,240 –> 00:02:50,720 I know of nothing, he says, which can so comfort the soul, so calm the swelling billows of sorrow 25 00:02:50,720 –> 00:02:57,919 and grief, so speak peace to the winds of trial as a devout musing on the 26 00:02:57,919 –> 00:03:03,039 subject of the Godhead and he says it is to the subject that I invite you this morning. 27 00:03:03,039 –> 00:03:13,039 to come and to contemplate the name and the nature of God is food for your mind 28 00:03:13,839 –> 00:03:21,679 and it is medicine for your soul. Now I was drawn to think freshly about the subject of the Trinity 29 00:03:22,320 –> 00:03:29,520 earlier this year while reading a piece by Dr J. I Packer in which he described God the Father, 30 00:03:29,679 –> 00:03:37,520 the Son and the Holy Spirit as the divine team. Now I’ve never heard or seen that 31 00:03:37,520 –> 00:03:42,479 particular description before but it immediately struck me as helpful that the Father, the Son, 32 00:03:42,479 –> 00:03:50,080 and the Spirit are the divine team. Speaking about the unity of the Father, Son, and the Spirit, 33 00:03:50,080 –> 00:03:58,160 Packer says the simplest way to explain this to anybody is to say that God is a team, 34 00:03:59,119 –> 00:04:04,960 Father, Son, and Spirit working together in all of God’s works. 35 00:04:06,000 –> 00:04:12,000 Now I find this picture of a divine team to be particularly helpful because it reminds 36 00:04:12,000 –> 00:04:18,640 us that God is living and that he is active, that he is personal, that he knows you and that you can 37 00:04:18,640 –> 00:04:25,679 come to know him. Of course that is the fatal flaw with so many of the illustrations that are 38 00:04:25,679 –> 00:04:31,279 often used to try and help us understand more about the Trinity. You know about the the egg 39 00:04:31,279 –> 00:04:36,640 that has a shell and the white and a yolk, and you know there can be water and ice and steam 40 00:04:37,200 –> 00:04:43,600 and three leaf clovers and so forth and so on, and of course pictures like this push us 41 00:04:43,600 –> 00:04:49,279 in the wrong direction because they end up with us thinking about God as if he were an object. 42 00:04:50,079 –> 00:04:57,760 And God is not an object. He is the living God, he is always moving and active in the Trinity 43 00:04:57,760 –> 00:05:05,359 of his person’s Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He’s personal, the divine team. 44 00:05:06,959 –> 00:05:11,279 And this personal nature of God is so important. I think that even in church world 45 00:05:11,279 –> 00:05:18,160 there are many folks who think of God as a force to be reckoned with rather than a person to be 46 00:05:18,160 –> 00:05:30,239 known. And you have to get off that because you can’t love a force. You can’t find comfort and 47 00:05:30,239 –> 00:05:39,040 healing from a power. You find love and comfort and life and healing and strength in a person. 48 00:05:40,480 –> 00:05:46,799 And that is why it is so critical in the Bible that we discover who God is. In the Book of 49 00:05:46,799 –> 00:05:54,480 Hebrews, we’re told, anyone who comes to God must believe that He is. Because if you’ve not 50 00:05:54,480 –> 00:06:02,480 grasped that you’re coming to this person, then you can never benefit from the relationship of 51 00:06:02,480 –> 00:06:10,640 knowing Him. A. W. Tozer puts this so well in his book, The Knowledge of … the Pursuit of God, 52 00:06:10,640 –> 00:06:20,239 I’m sorry, he says a loving personality dominates the Bible. Walking among the trees of the garden, 53 00:06:21,200 –> 00:06:31,519 breathing fragrance everywhere. Always a living person is present. Speaking, pleading, loving, 54 00:06:31,600 –> 00:06:40,559 working, manifesting Himself. Now, when Dr. Packer speaks about the divine team 55 00:06:41,119 –> 00:06:46,239 he’s obviously using an analogy to help us think about the mystery of God 56 00:06:46,239 –> 00:06:53,119 and it is obviously an analogy that is limited in many, many ways. But I think it is a picture 57 00:06:53,119 –> 00:06:58,959 that at least in part, is helpful, and so building off Packer’s analogy I’ve called this little 58 00:06:58,959 –> 00:07:06,880 series, team players. I want us to see how the Father, the Son and the Spirit are players on 59 00:07:06,880 –> 00:07:15,359 the one divine team operating together for us and for our salvation. Now I want to 60 00:07:15,359 –> 00:07:19,279 encourage you to think through multiple applications of all of this as we go. 61 00:07:19,279 –> 00:07:28,000 Knowing the God who is a team player and becoming increasingly like him will 62 00:07:28,000 –> 00:07:35,440 obviously affect us and our relationships. And if I may suggest some 63 00:07:35,440 –> 00:07:40,040 profitable discussion over lunch, you may like to talk over lunch today about 64 00:07:40,119 –> 00:07:49,279 how what we learn about the divine team can shape and help team building today. 65 00:07:49,279 –> 00:07:53,279 Think about a team in which you are involved, others with whom you work and 66 00:07:53,279 –> 00:07:58,739 we think about, what does it mean to work effectively as a team together? Well what 67 00:07:58,739 –> 00:08:03,339 better place could you go for a model, than to look at the divine team and how 68 00:08:03,339 –> 00:08:07,279 it operates. Think about a team of which you’re a part and ask the question, how 69 00:08:07,459 –> 00:08:12,779 can we learn from the divine team, so that we can operate more effectively 70 00:08:12,779 –> 00:08:19,540 together. You may like to talk about this at a family level, what can we learn from 71 00:08:19,540 –> 00:08:24,179 the divine team of father son and spirit in relation to family life and making 72 00:08:24,179 –> 00:08:28,040 our family life more effective. You may like to talk about it in relation to 73 00:08:28,040 –> 00:08:32,539 marriage where two become one. How do we learn from the operation of 74 00:08:32,539 –> 00:08:37,979 the divine team, what a healthy marriage looks like. Well, these are some of the 75 00:08:37,979 –> 00:08:43,460 applications that we’ll be able to draw over these next weeks beginning today. 76 00:08:43,460 –> 00:08:48,820 Now, as we launch out on this, I have a very simple outline this morning and I 77 00:08:48,820 –> 00:08:54,400 want simply to introduce the team players, secondly, to observe the team 78 00:08:54,500 –> 00:09:03,099 spirit and, thirdly, to identify the team purpose. First of all, then, the team 79 00:09:03,099 –> 00:09:09,320 players. We read from Genesis in chapter 1 because the Bible begins with God 80 00:09:09,320 –> 00:09:14,539 introducing himself to us. Do you remember that the Book of Genesis along 81 00:09:14,539 –> 00:09:18,460 with the opening books of the Bible were given by God to Moses. This was God’s 82 00:09:18,500 –> 00:09:25,940 self-revelation to Moses? Moses wrote down what God revealed to him for us. 83 00:09:25,940 –> 00:09:33,960 Notice, right at the beginning, the identification of who God is. In the 84 00:09:33,960 –> 00:09:39,539 beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and 85 00:09:39,539 –> 00:09:46,979 emptied, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was 86 00:09:47,059 –> 00:09:55,919 hovering over the waters and God said, let there be light. So, in the very first 87 00:09:55,919 –> 00:10:05,400 words of the Bible, we are introduced to God, the Spirit of God, and the word that 88 00:10:05,400 –> 00:10:15,580 God spoke. Now, a great Christian teacher by the name of Augustine centuries ago 89 00:10:15,919 –> 00:10:23,340 described the Old Testament as being like a furnished room without a light. 90 00:10:24,159 –> 00:10:29,119 It’s a very helpful description. A room that has in it everything that is needed, 91 00:10:29,239 –> 00:10:33,260 it’s fully furnished, but there’s no lights that’s being switched on and so 92 00:10:33,260 –> 00:10:37,859 although everything is there in the room, you can’t actually see it. But when you 93 00:10:37,859 –> 00:10:41,700 switch the light on, suddenly you realize everything was there and it always was 94 00:10:41,719 –> 00:10:47,599 there all along. Now you could not deduce the doctrine of the Trinity from the 95 00:10:47,599 –> 00:10:53,960 first few verses of Genesis in chapter 1. But when the light of the New Testament 96 00:10:53,960 –> 00:11:00,359 revelation goes on, then coming to these verses of the Scripture we are quickly 97 00:11:00,359 –> 00:11:04,919 able to see that indeed the room always was fully furnished, and indeed this 98 00:11:04,919 –> 00:11:11,679 revelation of God has been there from the very beginning. God, the Spirit of 99 00:11:11,679 –> 00:11:18,260 God, and the Word that proceeds from God. Now it’s worth taking just a moment to 100 00:11:18,260 –> 00:11:23,299 ponder as we worship the words that are used to communicate the mystery of God’s 101 00:11:23,299 –> 00:11:31,359 nature to us. The Spirit of God. Now you will know that the word Spirit can be 102 00:11:31,359 –> 00:11:39,760 translated also by wind or breath. You cannot have breath unless there is 103 00:11:39,760 –> 00:11:47,239 someone breathing, and that someone doesn’t exist unless he has breath. You 104 00:11:47,239 –> 00:11:51,599 can’t be apart from breath right? Adam wasn’t until God breathed the life into 105 00:11:51,599 –> 00:11:59,159 him. Without breath, you’re not a person, you’re a corpse. So the very personhood 106 00:11:59,159 –> 00:12:06,520 of God is locked into the identity of his spirit. Or think about the Word of 107 00:12:06,520 –> 00:12:13,000 God. The Lord Jesus Christ is described as the Word of God, the Word that proceeds 108 00:12:13,000 –> 00:12:19,140 from God, the word spoken by God, the expression or the communication of God. 109 00:12:19,140 –> 00:12:27,099 You can’t have a word without a person speaking. The word is the expression of 110 00:12:27,099 –> 00:12:33,719 the person and the person is not expressed apart from the word. So God 111 00:12:33,719 –> 00:12:40,500 communicates himself to us by his Word, he gives us his life by his Spirit, he 112 00:12:40,500 –> 00:12:48,940 would not be who he is apart from his breath, his life, his Spirit, his Word. You 113 00:12:48,940 –> 00:12:53,559 find the same interrelationships in the words that are used to help us think 114 00:12:54,539 –> 00:13:00,960 the first and second person of the Trinity in the New Testament, father and 115 00:13:00,960 –> 00:13:12,200 son. The father cannot be father apart from the son, and the son cannot be son 116 00:13:12,200 –> 00:13:22,539 apart from the father, the identities are locked together in their very nature. Now 117 00:13:22,580 –> 00:13:26,059 if you’re anything like me, you’ll quickly find as you probably are finding 118 00:13:26,059 –> 00:13:31,539 already, that you can’t think long about these things before your mind begins to 119 00:13:31,539 –> 00:13:38,760 boggle. And I just want to say this don’t be frustrated by the mystery. It’s often 120 00:13:38,760 –> 00:13:45,219 been said, and I think helpfully, if God was small enough to be understood he 121 00:13:45,219 –> 00:13:50,299 would never be big enough to be worshipped. And the mystery of God in 122 00:13:50,479 –> 00:13:57,940 three persons one God Father Son and Holy Spirit has always led the Church of 123 00:13:57,940 –> 00:14:02,299 God to worship, and always ought to lead us to worship. 124 00:14:02,299 –> 00:14:09,340 Glory be to God the Father, glory be to God the Son, glory be to God the Spirit 125 00:14:09,820 –> 00:14:22,340 ever three and ever one. One in might and one in glory while eternal ages run. 126 00:14:22,340 –> 00:14:30,000 The team players. Secondly the team spirit, now the spirit of the divine team 127 00:14:30,000 –> 00:14:37,780 can surely be summed up in one word, and that word of course is love. The Bible 128 00:14:37,820 –> 00:14:44,440 tells us that God is love. It is his eternal nature. He always has been love 129 00:14:44,440 –> 00:14:49,820 since before the world began. He is love and he always will be love to all 130 00:14:49,820 –> 00:14:55,400 eternity. Of course that raises an interesting question doesn’t it? Before 131 00:14:55,400 –> 00:15:01,760 the creation and before Adam and Eve, when God was alone as it were, when there 132 00:15:01,760 –> 00:15:11,460 simply was God and nothing else, who then did God love, if he’s always been love? 133 00:15:11,460 –> 00:15:15,619 Of course that takes us back to the doctrine of the Trinity, that before the 134 00:15:15,619 –> 00:15:21,020 beginning of the universe and before the foundation of time itself love was given 135 00:15:21,020 –> 00:15:26,719 and received between the Father the Son and the Spirit—God has always been 136 00:15:26,719 –> 00:15:36,000 giving and receiving love within his own very nature. And all that God has done 137 00:15:36,000 –> 00:15:40,599 and all that God has created is simply an overflowing expression of the 138 00:15:40,599 –> 00:15:48,200 eternal love that he knows within the nature of the trinity of his own person 139 00:15:48,479 –> 00:15:57,440 God is love. That means that God the Father and God the Son and God the 140 00:15:57,440 –> 00:16:08,520 Spirit share exactly the same love. You can’t divide the divine team by 141 00:16:08,520 –> 00:16:15,979 suggesting that one has more of an aspect of nature than another. You can’t 142 00:16:16,020 –> 00:16:20,460 for example say that the Father is more powerful than the Son. That would be to 143 00:16:20,460 –> 00:16:24,900 tear the team apart. You can’t say that the Son loves you more than the Father. 144 00:16:24,900 –> 00:16:30,299 That would be to tear the team apart. You can’t say that the Spirit is nearer to 145 00:16:30,299 –> 00:16:34,359 you than the Father or the Son because that would be to tear the team apart. The 146 00:16:34,359 –> 00:16:39,140 scripture speaks of the unity of function of the divine team. So take for 147 00:16:39,140 –> 00:16:44,380 example the love of God. The scripture lays out for us, first, the love of the 148 00:16:44,380 –> 00:16:49,219 Father. Let me give you scripture for this, 1 John 3 and verse 1. How 149 00:16:49,219 –> 00:16:57,559 great is the love of the Father that He has lavished on us that we should be 150 00:16:57,559 –> 00:17:03,460 called children of God. The love of the Father. Or if you look at the love of the 151 00:17:03,460 –> 00:17:07,260 Son, Ephesians 3 18 Paul prays that folks like us will 152 00:17:07,260 –> 00:17:11,219 have the power to begin to grasp the length and breadth and depth and height 153 00:17:11,300 –> 00:17:18,380 of the love of Christ. And to know this love that surpasses knowledge. And then 154 00:17:18,380 –> 00:17:22,260 if we think of how we are to know this love in Romans chapter 5 and verse 5 155 00:17:22,260 –> 00:17:28,760 we’re told that God has poured out his love into our hearts. How? By the Holy 156 00:17:28,760 –> 00:17:34,219 Spirit whom he has given to us. That is how you experience directly the love of 157 00:17:34,300 –> 00:17:44,979 God. God’s nature and his name is love. Now that raises an important question 158 00:17:44,979 –> 00:17:51,260 because what then are we to say about God’s anger? The Bible, after all, speaks 159 00:17:51,260 –> 00:17:56,160 about God being provoked to anger. It says he’s slow to anger but clearly he 160 00:17:56,160 –> 00:18:04,099 can be provoked to anger. It speaks of his wrath. But anger is not in the nature 161 00:18:04,099 –> 00:18:17,020 of God. Love is his nature. God is love the Bible says but it never says God is 162 00:18:17,020 –> 00:18:24,839 anger. That’s very important. Great theologian has described God’s anger 163 00:18:25,060 –> 00:18:32,079 as his strange work. In other words, it is not in his nature. Now this is very 164 00:18:32,079 –> 00:18:39,359 important because if you travel or study world religion you will find that many 165 00:18:39,359 –> 00:18:44,359 of the idols that are worshipped throughout the world are symbols of 166 00:18:44,359 –> 00:18:53,219 gods who are believed to live or exist in a settled state of anger. I mean I’ve 167 00:18:53,280 –> 00:18:58,280 seen this myself visiting Buddhist temples in Hong Kong, visiting Hindu 168 00:18:58,280 –> 00:19:04,699 temples in India, just looking at the images on the faces of idols they are 169 00:19:04,699 –> 00:19:11,260 permanently angry and it is for this reason you say that offerings and 170 00:19:11,260 –> 00:19:16,859 sacrifices are always having to be brought to these idols to placate these 171 00:19:16,859 –> 00:19:20,959 so-called gods because they are conceived as being in a settled state 172 00:19:20,959 –> 00:19:28,079 state of anger that anger is their nature. Now it’s very important for us 173 00:19:28,079 –> 00:19:35,479 to grasp that that is not the God of the Bible. See think about it this way if 174 00:19:35,479 –> 00:19:45,880 anger was in the nature of God with whom was he angry before the world began? 175 00:19:45,880 –> 00:19:50,099 He could only be angry with himself and the Bible makes it clear that the 176 00:19:50,099 –> 00:19:53,939 eternal God is certainly not in frustration with himself he is 177 00:19:53,939 –> 00:19:57,579 eternally blessed, that is why the greatest blessing that you and I can 178 00:19:57,579 –> 00:20:01,160 know in this life and in this world is to know him and therefore enter into the 179 00:20:01,160 –> 00:20:06,099 blessing that is inherent in his very nature. That’s why the glory of the 180 00:20:06,099 –> 00:20:12,079 gospel is that where sin has brought the judgment of God that is placated once by 181 00:20:12,079 –> 00:20:14,819 the death of Jesus Christ for all who are in Christ 182 00:20:14,819 –> 00:20:19,280 so that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and an 183 00:20:19,319 –> 00:20:27,420 entrance eternally into the love of God. This is good news. The Father, the Son and 184 00:20:27,420 –> 00:20:42,119 the Spirit share the same love. Now, it’s surprising how many Christians have the 185 00:20:42,119 –> 00:20:48,719 feeling that Jesus loved them but somehow still have the feeling that 186 00:20:48,900 –> 00:20:54,739 God hates them. And you see the problem with that, don’t you? That’s tearing the 187 00:20:54,739 –> 00:21:01,699 divine team apart. You can’t do that. The Father loves you as much as the Son and 188 00:21:01,699 –> 00:21:11,459 the Spirit, who indwells you, loves you, as much as the Son and the Father. Some 189 00:21:11,459 –> 00:21:18,199 Christians have the idea that the Father loves us only because the Son died for 190 00:21:18,500 –> 00:21:23,000 us. You know, that the Father somehow is a bit reluctant, that he will grudgingly 191 00:21:23,000 –> 00:21:27,640 forgive. He’ll justify it on a kind of legal forensic basis. But he 192 00:21:27,640 –> 00:21:31,800 doesn’t really want to. He only does it because Jesus has died for us, and 193 00:21:31,800 –> 00:21:42,400 therefore he gives us a pardon. No, no, no. Jesus died for us because the Father 194 00:21:42,400 –> 00:21:50,760 loves us. God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever 195 00:21:50,760 –> 00:21:55,900 believes in him, should not perish but have eternal life. God demonstrates his 196 00:21:55,900 –> 00:22:02,160 love towards us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 197 00:22:02,160 –> 00:22:11,680 The Father, the Son, and the Spirit— team players share the same love. God loves 198 00:22:12,660 –> 00:22:20,060 and he reaches out to embrace you in Jesus Christ and he works in you by the 199 00:22:20,060 –> 00:22:26,319 power of his Holy Spirit and to be a Christian is to be embraced and changed 200 00:22:26,319 –> 00:22:37,020 by that love. Loved with everlasting love, led by grace that love to know, Spirit 201 00:22:37,060 –> 00:22:45,699 breathing from above, you have taught me that it is so. Do you know the love of 202 00:22:45,699 –> 00:22:58,380 the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit? The team players, the team 203 00:22:58,380 –> 00:23:04,540 spirit. And then I want us to think for a few moments about the team purpose and 204 00:23:04,560 –> 00:23:11,640 what a marvellous thing this is. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are 205 00:23:11,640 –> 00:23:19,180 always on the same page, praise God for that. Now I want to 206 00:23:19,180 –> 00:23:22,140 remind you of some words of Jesus you might like to turn to this in John’s 207 00:23:22,140 –> 00:23:26,859 Gospel chapter 5 and verse 19. This is really one of the most important 208 00:23:26,939 –> 00:23:36,180 statements of our Lord on the subject. John chapter 5 and verse 19 and Jesus 209 00:23:36,180 –> 00:23:42,719 says here, I tell you the truth. Now He always said that when there was 210 00:23:42,719 –> 00:23:48,780 something particularly important that He wanted to emphasise. Listen up he’s 211 00:23:48,780 –> 00:23:56,920 saying I tell you the truth and here’s what He wants us to know. The Son can do 212 00:23:56,920 –> 00:24:02,160 nothing by himself he can do only what He sees the Father doing. The Son does 213 00:24:02,160 –> 00:24:06,640 nothing by himself nothing by himself only what he sees the Father doing 214 00:24:06,640 –> 00:24:14,900 because whatever the Father does the Son also does. There was a magnificent 215 00:24:14,959 –> 00:24:20,000 statement it is telling us first that the Son of God is a team player. He only 216 00:24:20,000 –> 00:24:25,619 does what the Father does. He did not come into the world to operate 217 00:24:25,619 –> 00:24:30,819 independently doing his own thing he’s not out there in isolation he does 218 00:24:30,819 –> 00:24:37,260 nothing by himself that’s what Jesus says I’m a team player with the Father. 219 00:24:37,540 –> 00:24:44,780 Then Jesus says something equally glorious whatever the Father does the 220 00:24:44,780 –> 00:24:50,819 Son also does. Now you see that’s telling us that the Father is a team player, he 221 00:24:50,819 –> 00:24:56,800 never excludes the Son from any part of his work. 222 00:24:58,619 –> 00:25:02,520 Now if you turn over a few pages in John’s Gospel you’ll find that the same 223 00:25:02,680 –> 00:25:11,859 pattern is true in relation to the Holy Spirit. 224 00:25:11,859 –> 00:25:15,900 And here we’re told by Jesus that 225 00:25:15,900 –> 00:25:23,079 the Holy Spirit, He says, will bring glory to me, bring glory to Jesus, by 226 00:25:23,079 –> 00:25:30,859 taking from what is mine and making it known to you. So now Jesus is telling us 227 00:25:30,859 –> 00:25:35,339 look, the Holy Spirit, when He comes, He’s a team player, He’s not in the world 228 00:25:35,339 –> 00:25:40,719 doing His own thing that is separated from me and my death and my resurrection 229 00:25:40,719 –> 00:25:45,579 and the Father’s love sending me into the world. No, the work of the Spirit is 230 00:25:45,579 –> 00:25:50,560 to draw people to Christ, it is to take the things of Christ and to make them 231 00:25:50,560 –> 00:25:55,660 real and known in your heart and in my heart, so that we may know Christ. He may 232 00:25:55,660 –> 00:26:00,160 not be a Christ out there in history, but a Christ who is living with us and 233 00:26:00,319 –> 00:26:07,160 experienced by us. He is a team player. So the Bible is making it clear that 234 00:26:07,160 –> 00:26:14,380 although the Father and the Son and the Spirit have distinct ministries in 235 00:26:14,380 –> 00:26:21,040 relation to our salvation, for example, it wasn’t the Father who died on the 236 00:26:21,040 –> 00:26:26,579 cross, it was the Son. And it wasn’t the Son who was given at Pentecost, it was 237 00:26:26,619 –> 00:26:33,140 the Spirit, they’re our distinct ministries. Nonetheless, we are to 238 00:26:33,140 –> 00:26:39,280 remember that in all things, the team operates together because the Father, the 239 00:26:39,280 –> 00:26:43,780 Son, and the Spirit are one in purpose, and no one member of the team operates 240 00:26:43,780 –> 00:26:50,819 apart from the others. It’s a marvelous truth. It made me just think of a 241 00:26:50,859 –> 00:27:00,760 basketball team operating together moving effectively. Each player, at its 242 00:27:00,760 –> 00:27:05,079 best, is involved in every move whether they’re on the ball or off the ball, 243 00:27:05,079 –> 00:27:11,760 they’re involved in every move, and every move involves each player on the team, 244 00:27:11,760 –> 00:27:18,699 whether they’re touching the ball at that moment or not. You see when that 245 00:27:18,719 –> 00:27:23,800 happens and there is this beauty of coordinated movement in one purpose, there 246 00:27:23,800 –> 00:27:28,780 are times when you lose sight of the contribution of the individual players 247 00:27:28,780 –> 00:27:41,420 and all you see is the sheer beauty of the team operating as one together. The 248 00:27:41,420 –> 00:27:52,119 whole team engaged in the whole task, no member of the team pursuing his own work 249 00:27:52,119 –> 00:27:59,060 in isolation from the others now you see when Paul says in Philippians chapter 250 00:27:59,060 –> 00:28:07,819 two and verse two he exhorts the church to be one in spirit and in purpose 251 00:28:07,920 –> 00:28:14,300 that’s Philippians chapter two in verse two be one in spirit and in purpose he 252 00:28:14,300 –> 00:28:20,880 is surely urging us to reflect the spirit and the purpose of the Divine 253 00:28:20,880 –> 00:28:30,180 team to operate in the way that the divine team operates the whole team 254 00:28:30,180 –> 00:28:37,219 engaged in the whole task no member of the team pursuing his own work in 255 00:28:37,439 –> 00:28:43,839 isolation from the others distinct ministries being assigned to distinct 256 00:28:43,839 –> 00:28:50,880 members and yet operating together in such a way that you lose sight of it 257 00:28:50,880 –> 00:28:56,219 it’s a W tosa who puts it this way I think this is magnificent 258 00:28:56,219 –> 00:29:06,359 every act of God is accomplished by the Trinity acting in unity as worth 259 00:29:06,359 –> 00:29:16,020 pondering every act of God so God works every act of God is accomplished by the 260 00:29:16,020 –> 00:29:24,280 Trinity acting in Unity let me just to help us as we’re worshipping now 261 00:29:24,280 –> 00:29:30,199 reflect some scriptures that remind us that this pattern runs everywhere in all 262 00:29:30,319 –> 00:29:37,579 that God does think about the creation have you ever noticed by the way that 263 00:29:37,579 –> 00:29:42,939 the creation is in different parts of the scripture attributes to the work of 264 00:29:42,939 –> 00:29:47,939 the Father and F the Sun and of the Spirit Genesis chapter 1 Colossians 1 265 00:29:47,939 –> 00:29:51,579 Psalm 104 check it out if you want to why 266 00:29:51,579 –> 00:29:57,199 because creation is the work of the team and at some points the scripture 267 00:29:57,359 –> 00:30:03,280 identifies a particular aspect of the role of the Sun in this the role of the 268 00:30:03,280 –> 00:30:10,079 Spirit in this but God never does anything except by the Trinity acting in 269 00:30:10,079 –> 00:30:17,260 unity think about the incarnation the beauty of this look chapter 1 in verse 270 00:30:17,280 –> 00:30:27,780 35 trace the united activity of the persons of the Trinity in this marvelous 271 00:30:27,780 –> 00:30:34,939 statement of the angel to Mary as to how the birth of Jesus came about the Holy 272 00:30:34,939 –> 00:30:45,339 Spirit will come upon you the power of the Most High will overshadow you so the 273 00:30:45,380 –> 00:30:48,300 Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God 274 00:30:48,300 –> 00:30:57,739 that’s how God works it’s the team think about the atonement Hebrews chapter 9 in 275 00:30:57,739 –> 00:31:04,500 verse 14 speaks of the offering of Christ in this way that Christ through 276 00:31:04,500 –> 00:31:11,420 the Eternal Spirit offered himself unblemish to God how was Atonement made 277 00:31:11,459 –> 00:31:16,079 it was the Trinity acting in unity Christ through the Eternal Spirit 278 00:31:16,079 –> 00:31:20,939 offered himself unblemished of God have you ever noticed by the way when it 279 00:31:20,939 –> 00:31:24,319 comes to the resurrection that in different scriptures the resurrection is 280 00:31:24,319 –> 00:31:29,180 at different times attributed to the work of the father God raised him up to 281 00:31:29,180 –> 00:31:33,560 the Sun Jesus says I laid my life down and I have the power to take it up again 282 00:31:33,560 –> 00:31:38,579 or in Romans chapter 1 in verse 4 we’re told that Jesus was declared in the 283 00:31:38,579 –> 00:31:44,719 resurrection with power to be the Son of God by the Holy Spirit right because 284 00:31:44,719 –> 00:31:51,739 it’s the team that’s doing it together think of your salvation how does it come 285 00:31:51,739 –> 00:31:58,699 about it’s the work of the team chosen 1 Peter chapter 1 in verse 2 you 286 00:31:58,699 –> 00:32:04,739 were chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the father through 287 00:32:04,839 –> 00:32:10,800 the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and 288 00:32:10,800 –> 00:32:14,839 sprinkling by his blood you can’t separate these things from one another 289 00:32:14,839 –> 00:32:22,180 any more than you could rupture the divine team apart or even think of the 290 00:32:22,180 –> 00:32:26,819 indwelling of the Holy Spirit we normally think and rightly think of the 291 00:32:26,819 –> 00:32:31,420 Holy Spirit living within our hearts as indeed the Bible clearly teaches but have 292 00:32:31,420 –> 00:32:36,439 you ever noticed this Jesus says in John chapter 14 and verse 23 if anyone 293 00:32:36,439 –> 00:32:42,839 loves me in a base my teaching my father will love him and we the father and the 294 00:32:42,839 –> 00:32:52,160 son we will come to him and make our home with him the father and the son 295 00:32:52,160 –> 00:32:55,939 we’ll make their home with you why because anything that the spirit does 296 00:32:55,939 –> 00:33:06,619 involves the father and the son also team players the father does nothing 297 00:33:06,619 –> 00:33:10,099 without the son and the Spirit and the Sun and the Spirit do nothing without 298 00:33:10,099 –> 00:33:18,260 the father the whole team engaged in the whole task and no member of the team 299 00:33:18,380 –> 00:33:25,900 pursuing his own work in isolation from the others now let me give you this 300 00:33:25,900 –> 00:33:29,260 practical application you’ll be able to work out all kinds of others but let me 301 00:33:29,260 –> 00:33:37,339 give you what I think is by far the most important this is how you can be sure of 302 00:33:38,219 –> 00:33:40,800 salvation 303 00:33:41,579 –> 00:33:49,599 because of the divine team you see some Christians live with the idea that they 304 00:33:49,599 –> 00:33:54,319 will only be received into the Fathers love if the work of the Spirit has made 305 00:33:54,319 –> 00:34:00,819 them sufficiently like Jesus and you can detect folks who think like that often 306 00:34:00,819 –> 00:34:03,880 when they talk about their eternal future they’ll say something like this 307 00:34:03,939 –> 00:34:08,399 well you know I hope when it comes to the last day that I’m going to make it 308 00:34:08,399 –> 00:34:14,780 and how they’re thinking is this that making it being received into the 309 00:34:14,780 –> 00:34:20,620 Father’s love is is really all about the work of the Spirit having advice far 310 00:34:20,620 –> 00:34:25,360 enough to make us sufficiently like Christ to pass the Father’s test and 311 00:34:25,360 –> 00:34:30,159 frankly some folks think not only about eternity like that but we live like that 312 00:34:30,159 –> 00:34:32,979 because we don’t ever feel that we’re embraced in the love of the Father 313 00:34:33,080 –> 00:34:38,580 because we don’t ever feel that we’re good enough to be so embraced now of 314 00:34:38,580 –> 00:34:44,439 course that is a formula for a life of anxiety am I good enough to deserve the 315 00:34:44,439 –> 00:34:49,699 eternal love of the Father and do you see thinking about this from the 316 00:34:49,699 –> 00:34:55,100 scripture why that way of thinking is fundamentally wrong and therefore 317 00:34:55,100 –> 00:35:01,379 wonderfully you can discard it and start thinking in terms of truth you see if 318 00:35:01,379 –> 00:35:07,959 what we’ve just said is true it would divide the divine team it would mean 319 00:35:07,959 –> 00:35:15,159 that the Spirit was somehow coaching us to try and get us up to par to pass the 320 00:35:15,159 –> 00:35:19,100 examination of the Father and that would mean that in some sense the Father and 321 00:35:19,100 –> 00:35:25,659 the Spirit were not on the same page that they were somehow on opposite sides 322 00:35:25,659 –> 00:35:37,580 of the fence. It would rupture the unity of the divine team. Now the Good News of 323 00:35:37,580 –> 00:35:43,219 the Gospel is this, that the Father the Son and the Spirit are on the same page 324 00:35:43,219 –> 00:35:47,699 they’re on the same side of the fence they are team players and the gospel 325 00:35:47,699 –> 00:35:52,840 tells us that the Father justifies all who come to Jesus Christ and that the 326 00:35:53,239 –> 00:35:57,639 Spirit begins his work within us to conform us increasingly to that which we 327 00:35:57,639 –> 00:36:02,639 already are. The work of the Spirit will not be frustrated because it is in 328 00:36:02,639 –> 00:36:06,600 coordination with the determination of the Father and the Son and that is why 329 00:36:06,600 –> 00:36:10,679 on the last day when you see Christ you will be like him and embraced in the 330 00:36:10,679 –> 00:36:16,239 Father’s love because the Father the Son and the Spirit are all on the same page. 331 00:36:16,320 –> 00:36:23,800 That’s how you can be sure of your salvation. Thank God for it. You thought 332 00:36:23,800 –> 00:36:27,199 the doctrine of the Trinity was dull? 333 00:36:28,840 –> 00:36:34,879 I want to end with a question this morning and then a picture. 334 00:36:35,120 –> 00:36:41,699 Here’s the question. Do you know this God? I don’t mean do you know about him. I 335 00:36:41,699 –> 00:36:44,199 don’t mean have you been in a Bible study I mean do you know him? Do you know 336 00:36:44,580 –> 00:36:51,139 his love being poured into your life, the love of the team players? 337 00:36:52,320 –> 00:36:59,379 Are you staggered by the glory of God? Do you find your heart drawn out to want to 338 00:36:59,379 –> 00:37:04,439 know him better? If not don’t you find yourself asking 339 00:37:04,439 –> 00:37:13,360 what’s wrong with me that I would not be drawn to such a god as this? 340 00:37:15,159 –> 00:37:18,560 And if that’s where you are this morning can I give you this invitation? Will you 341 00:37:18,560 –> 00:37:23,000 not cry out to God from your heart by faith and say oh lord something is wrong 342 00:37:23,000 –> 00:37:27,719 with me in the way that I’m responding to you. Will you come therefore and heal 343 00:37:27,719 –> 00:37:34,040 what is wrong within me, deliver me, save me and bring me to the place where I am 344 00:37:34,040 –> 00:37:39,620 one who knows this love becomes a worshiper and a follower of you and you 345 00:37:39,639 –> 00:37:44,860 know He will do that, He will do that because He’s he’s active personally you 346 00:37:44,860 –> 00:37:57,600 cry out to Him, He will draw near to you. And then the simple picture, do you know 347 00:37:57,600 –> 00:38:02,199 that it is possible even as a Christian 348 00:38:02,500 –> 00:38:14,239 to be so bent in on yourself that you cannot see the glory of God? 349 00:38:14,239 –> 00:38:18,879 And you know for some of us, like for us as a body, that might be just about our 350 00:38:18,879 –> 00:38:27,639 biggest challenge right now, to be so bent in on ourselves that we lose sight 351 00:38:27,699 –> 00:38:34,780 of the glory of God. And I want to give you this picture in closing from Luke’s 352 00:38:34,780 –> 00:38:39,340 gospel and chapter 13. I found it such a helpful picture. We’re told there, you can 353 00:38:39,340 –> 00:38:43,080 check it out later, about one Sabbath when Jesus was preaching in a particular 354 00:38:43,080 –> 00:38:48,479 synagogue, and there was a woman there in the congregation, and we are told in 355 00:38:48,479 –> 00:38:53,260 Luke’s gospel that she had been crippled for 18 years. 356 00:38:53,399 –> 00:38:58,840 Apparenty, strangely, it was because of some particular spirit that had, 357 00:38:58,840 –> 00:39:03,439 in some way, dominated her life, and the effect of this was that physically she 358 00:39:03,439 –> 00:39:08,000 was bent double, and the Bible says she could not straighten herself up. 359 00:39:08,000 –> 00:39:12,320 And she had been crippled like that for 18 years. Can you imagine this woman? 360 00:39:12,320 –> 00:39:20,820 The agony for this poor woman, and she is bent double, bent double, 361 00:39:20,820 –> 00:39:29,580 and she’s there in the synagogue. Think about that. 362 00:39:29,580 –> 00:39:37,620 A woman who came to worship. A woman who prayed. 363 00:39:37,620 –> 00:39:45,820 A religious woman, but she is so bent in on herself that even 364 00:39:45,820 –> 00:39:56,479 in the synagogue she cannot look straight in the face of Jesus Christ. 365 00:39:56,479 –> 00:40:07,159 The Bible tells us something very wonderful. That Jesus saw her. 366 00:40:07,159 –> 00:40:14,020 Jesus saw her. Just like he sees us. 367 00:40:14,020 –> 00:40:18,899 You know it is possible to come to church every Sunday and to be bent-in on yourself 368 00:40:18,899 –> 00:40:21,439 when you come. 369 00:40:21,439 –> 00:40:25,379 And to be bent-in on yourself when you go. 370 00:40:25,379 –> 00:40:28,280 And to have been in the presence of the glory of Jesus and yet 371 00:40:28,280 –> 00:40:31,199 not to have seen or apprehended his glory. 372 00:40:31,199 –> 00:40:34,760 Not to have seen his face. 373 00:40:34,760 –> 00:40:37,120 And Jesus saw this women. 374 00:40:37,120 –> 00:40:43,719 And the scripture says he called her over. 375 00:40:43,719 –> 00:40:50,600 He put his hands on her and immediately she straightened up. 376 00:40:50,600 –> 00:40:58,360 And then it says she praised God. 377 00:40:58,360 –> 00:41:01,500 No wonder. 378 00:41:01,500 –> 00:41:05,820 Because after 18 years when she straightened up by the power of Christ 379 00:41:05,820 –> 00:41:15,260 she found herself looking straight into the glorious face of the Savior. 380 00:41:15,260 –> 00:41:21,100 And maybe that’s the touch of Christ that we need in our own lives today. 381 00:41:21,100 –> 00:41:26,260 Let’s bow therefore in his presence. 382 00:41:26,260 –> 00:41:29,780 And pray together. 383 00:41:29,780 –> 00:41:44,360 Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we would worship you. 384 00:41:44,360 –> 00:41:50,419 You confess that so often in our lives, we are so bent over, double into ourselves. 385 00:41:50,919 –> 00:41:58,399 We do not seem to have the power to straighten ourselves up to look into the full gaze of 386 00:41:58,399 –> 00:42:11,739 your glory, so may your hands touch us even today, lifting us up through your Word and 387 00:42:12,060 –> 00:42:19,860 your Spirit, that beholding your Glory, we may be increasingly transformed into your 388 00:42:19,860 –> 00:42:29,580 likeness, a likeness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, team players united in the 389 00:42:29,580 –> 00:42:38,860 spirit of love and operating together in common purpose, gloriously, beautifully, for the 390 00:42:38,860 –> 00:42:42,760 blessing of the world. 391 00:42:42,760 –> 00:42:51,639 Father, this is our need to be like you, Lord Jesus Christ, only through your mercy can 392 00:42:51,639 –> 00:42:55,379 we ever become like you. 393 00:42:55,379 –> 00:43:07,459 Holy Spirit, make us like you, hear our prayer and receive our worship through Jesus Christ 394 00:43:07,540 –> 00:43:08,939 our Lord. 395 00:43:09,679 –> 00:43:10,179 Amen.