Bless the service and I pray, Lord, that you take care of the members who are still coming here.
I pray that you would guide us, Lord, and bless the congregation singing, the reading of the word.
I pray that you would serve me, Lord.
I also pray, Lord, that Brother Saki, as we just saw, serve him and fill him with the Holy Spirit and guide him.
I pray, O God, that you would help us to be attentive and remove the distractions, O God.
And I pray, Lord, that you also give us the opportunity to preach the gospel this afternoon, Lord.
And bless the fellowship for asking all of these things in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, good morning everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Take out your bulletin here today.
And our verse of the week is Matthew 3-12. The Bible says,
whose fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the
garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And that's a nice verse there.
We'll talk about that in the second sermon going through the book of Matthew.
We are a family integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services.
We do have a mother baby room back there for your convenience. And remember,
no eating during the service. Maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children
from running and making noise during the church services. On the next page are service times
listed. First service is at 10 a.m., second service 11-15. Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m.
Soul winning time is listed. 4 p.m. meeting here at the church building on Wednesdays.
All day soul winning on Saturdays at K-Some Memorial Circle. And then of course we have
soul winning on Sunday afternoons starting at 1-45. And the soul winning tip in the song starts
at 1-30. And so our salvation and baptisms are listed there for churches as well as our Bible
study fellowships. Birthdays and anniversaries down there below. On the next page, our Bible
memorization challenge. Today is the last day to quote Matthew 3 verses 1-12. The next memorization
though, this is the shortest it's ever going to be. Matthew 3 verses 13-17. That's only five
verses, right? So no excuses for not doing it. So obviously we're going verse by verse through the
book of Matthew. It's going to be a very short memorization to get the prize for next week.
Of course the same memorization for ages 8-10 and below 8. Upcoming activities. So this Wednesday
we do actually have a soul winning marathon. It's not listed here, but a soul winning marathon at
K-Sal Memorial Circle for the holiday. What's this Muslim holiday? But what is it? What are
they celebrating? Does anybody know? It's amazing that a Catholic country celebrates Muslim holidays
so much here in the Philippines. But we'll take advantage by having a soul winning marathon this
Wednesday at K-Sal Memorial Circle if you want to come for that. And today is our monthly prayer
meeting. So right after soul winning time we'll have our monthly prayer meeting here at the
building. Current and upcoming series we are in the alphabet of Bible doctrines. And also we're
going back to the book of Matthew. We'll be going through those both today. Information on a group
chat. And then on the back there's a place for notes for the sermons here today. So I believe
that's it for announcements. We'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song.
First, second song. Let's turn to him number 214.
I build it on the rock, on the rock, on the rock of God. Ready on the first, ready sing.
I hold on the rock, on the rock, on the rock of God. The rock holds me, the rock holds me.
I rest on the rock and the rock holds me. I'm resting on the rock, the rock, my shoe I wear
with the wings we fly. Build it on the rock, Christ Jesus. Oh she can be with the wings so high.
Build it on the rock, oh God. I hold on the rock, on the rock holds me. The rock holds me, the rock
holds me. I rest on the rock and the rock holds me. I'm resting on the rock, the rock, my shoe I wear
with the wings we fly. Build it on the rock, Christ Jesus. Oh she can be with the wings so high.
Build it on the rock, oh God. I hold on the rock, on the rock holds me. The rock holds me, the rock holds me.
I rest on the rock and the rock holds me. I'm resting on the rock, the rock, my shoe I wear with the wings we fly.
Build it on the rock, Christ Jesus. Oh she can be with the wings so high. Build it on the rock, oh God.
I hold on the rock, on the rock holds me. The rock holds me, the rock holds me. I rest on the rock and the rock holds me.
I'm resting on the rock, the rock.
I'm resting on the rock, the rock holds me.
Amen. First scripture reading. Please open your Bibles to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43.
You have the book of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon,
Isaiah. Isaiah 43 in the middle of your Bible. Please say amen if you're there. Amen.
Isaiah 43. We will only be reading verse 1 down to verse 12. Isaiah 43 verse 1.
But nath sayeth the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passes
through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior, I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopians see before thee. Since thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been thou honorable,
and I have loved thee. Therefore I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I am with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west. I will say
to the Lord give up, and to the south keep not back. Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters
from the ends of the earth. Even everyone that is called by my name, for I created him for my glory.
I have formed him, yea I have made him. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes,
and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be
assembled, who among them can declare this, and show us former things. Let them bring forth their
witnesses, that they may be justified. Let them hear and say it is truth. Ye are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me,
and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither should there be apps for me.
I even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. I have declared, and have saved,
and I have showed. When there was no strange God among you, therefore ye are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, that I am God. Bless the reading of God's will, let us pray.
So God in heaven, we thank you Lord for this day to give it to us. I propose to you please bless
the Lord for this day. Give us good weather for our soul and our culture later on. I very
look to you. Please bless the preaching and the preaching of your word, Lord, this day.
We love you. Amen.
All right, we're here in Isaiah chapter 43, and we're continuing our series on the alphabet
of Bible doctrines. And for the letter T, we're going to be talking about the Trinity.
Now, when it comes to doing a series like this, and doing one sermon about the doctrine of the
Trinity, this is not going to go super, super in depth because it's a pretty complicated topic.
And in the future, I might do a sermon series kind of showing all these different things
and these questions. This is just going to be kind of a basic overview that's going to be
helpful for someone who's kind of a new Christian. But also, maybe there's questions that you have
that sometimes in life, there's things where you don't know the answer to something, but you've
been saved for a while, so you're kind of shy or embarrassed to ask the question because it's like,
I'll seem like I just got saved because I don't know the answer to this. So I want to try to help
fill in those gaps in case there's anything missing here. But point number one is this,
there is one God. There is one God. The Bible says here in Isaiah 43, verse 10,
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen,
that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after me. So the Bible says very clear here, there is no God formed before God
and neither shall there be after. Now this is very basic, but the two primary Christian cults in this
world, this is actually against what they teach because Mormonism teaches that you can become a
God. They teach, well, there's a lot of Gods before Jesus, before God, and then people can
become a God. But the Bible says there's no God formed before or after, right? And then in Jehovah's
Witnesses, what they teach is that God created Jesus and God is Almighty God, but Jesus is
Mighty God, but not Almighty God. Well, that's stupid on a lot of levels because Almighty and
Mighty mean the exact same thing. But here's the thing, there's no God formed after. So you can't
say, well, God created another God after because there's no God formed before or after, there is
one God. The Bible says in verse 11, even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. And when
we think of Jesus Christ, we know Him as our Lord and Savior, right? Jesus Christ is the one who
died and paid for the sins of the world. So look, there is one God, there's no other Savior, there's
no other God, there's no God before or after, there is one God. Go to Isaiah 44, Isaiah 44.
And the Bible says in Isaiah 44 verse 6, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is
no God. Just very clear throughout our Bible, there is no other God. Verse 7,
And who, as I shall call and shall declare it, and set it in order for me,
since I appoint in the ancient people and the things that are coming, and shall come,
let them show unto them? Fear ye not, neither be afraid, have not I told thee from that time,
and have declared it, year even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? This is a hypothetical
question. Is there a God beside me? Is there another God besides me? Then the Bible says,
Yea, there is no God, I know not any. Now the word yea there you could get confused by. This is not
the word yes. The word yea is a word to add emphasis. So when he's saying there is no God,
he's basically saying indeed there is no God. I know not any. He's adding emphasis with that word
yea. He's not saying yes, and then he says there is no God. It's like no, we don't have a
schizophrenic God that's like well yes and no, right? It's like basically saying indeed there
is no God, I know not any. And considering that God is omniscient and God's not aware of another
God, I think that we can rest assured that there is one God as the Bible says. Go to your Bible
to Psalm 83. Psalm 83. Now the tendency for sermons like this, you say well I already know
about the Trinity, I know there's only one God. Look, every time the word of God is preached,
we can learn and be edified. Besides the fact you might know that, but you also might let
your kids watch the Avengers where there's all of these gods in the movie. Or play mobile legends
or whatever games there are with these multiple God-like creatures or whatever. And these
superheroes that have God-like features. And so maybe I just need to preach it because you're
allowing your kids to watch Odin and Thor and you know Loki and all these gods on the big screen.
Right? Yea, this is old fashioned preaching because I'm sorry if you believe in one God
and then you're watching stuff with multiple gods and false gods, I mean that's beyond just being
worldly. Right? I mean that's wicked. Look, I get it. All of us struggle with worldliness,
but you ought to have a level to this. Right? I mean if you're teaching that to your kids at
a young age, you're basically saying that the things of God aren't that important.
It's like you expect them to have strong opinions against the sin of the world, but you let them
watch movies with gods, it's like well what do you expect your kids to turn out as? Right? I mean
it's just like, and look, this is when sermons get quiet. Right? People are like wow, I thought
we were preaching on the Trinity. Right? Let me explain something about superheroes.
Superheroes are basically gods. They have God-like features. And the famous superheroes
that are out there that are based on animals, what are the false gods in the Bible? Animal gods?
Dagon was a fish god. Right? It's like you know what, if you want to let your kids
watch stuff, let me just say something. Don't let them watch the stuff with the superheroes
and the God-like creatures out there because, look, those are exactly what you have in the
Bible. Because there is one God and He demands all of our worship, so why would you watch
something where it's basically like oh look at this superhero God-like creature. Right?
And you can be offended by that if you want, but that's the truth and you know it. Right?
Psalm 83 verse 18. That men may know that thou whose name alone is Jehovah art the most high
over all the earth. Now the Jehovah's Witnesses love this verse and they'll say well see whose
name alone is Jehovah. Right? That's the only name of God. This is not saying that that's the
only name of God. There are a lot of names of God in the Bible. It's saying He's the only one
whose name is Jehovah. And He is the most high over all the earth because there is one God.
Right? He's the only one whose name is Jehovah. He's the only one who's the Lord God Almighty.
There is one God. Go to Psalm 86. Psalm 86. Psalm chapter 86.
And obviously you know what, you can do what you want, but we do let our kids watch some things on
YouTube. And when stuff pops up like that, like superheroes, it's like alright, we fast forward.
You say why? Because those are the false gods in the Bible. Being a superhero is having God-like,
like being all strong. Right? Well actually that's a characteristic of God. That's not
the characteristic of man. Right? And when they have God-like features, it's like I'm sorry,
it's wrong. The Bible says in Psalm 86 verse 7, In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee,
for thou wilt answer me. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord,
neither are there any works like unto thy works. Now you say, Brother Stuckey,
you're saying there's one God, but then why does it say here among the gods?
Well notice it is a lower case G. And these are not real gods. What the Bible's saying is,
okay, you want to compare me to Buddha and Shiva and Dagon or whatever the gods were
that people were worshiping there. Let's have a comparison between the God of the Bible
and the God of these other religions. And in the comparison, there is no comparison. Right?
Verse 9, All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord,
and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things, thou art God alone.
Go to James 2 in your Bible. James chapter 2. James 2.
James chapter 2. And obviously James 2 is a very debated chapter in the Bible. I'm going to show
you one verse, and I'm not going to get into the idea of salvation in this. I just want to show you
one thought here from James 2, verse 19. Just to show you it's not just an Old Testament thing,
it is also a New Testament thing, there being one God. The Bible says in James 2, verse 19,
Thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble. So it
says, Thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well. Why? Because there's one God.
That's the reason why. It doesn't say, Thou believeth that there is one God, but sure to see,
because there's actually a lot. No, thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well,
because there is one and only one God. Turn in your Bible to 1 John chapter 5.
Now, you may realize this, and you may not. I mean, I preached a whole sermon on this
a long time ago about the idea that basically all cultures believe in one God. And the idea
of there being one God, it's not really that disputed in the world. But the opinion of what
that God is, is what's very disputed. A great example is last week, we had a visitor,
Brother Christo, and he lives in the US, and he was born in India. He lived here in the
Philippines for a while, and now he lives in the US. And of course, I have a huge interest
in the Indian culture. I just find it interesting. I have a lot of information about it. So I was
talking to him about it. It was very interesting to me. And we were talking about Hinduism,
and we were talking about the fact that Hinduism is a monotheistic religion. Now,
to a lot of people, they hear that, and they're like, monotheistic? They have 300 million gods.
And when I talk to him, he's like, that's right. He's like, they believe in a strict monotheism
as a religion. They believe in this one essence of Brahman. But what they believe is that one
essence or spirit of God manifests itself in 300 million ways. And so it's kind of like, yeah,
they're technically monotheistic, but to the outside world, you're like, they look very
polytheistic because of the fact they believe such a weird thing. But what they believe is that
God manifests himself in different forms, different places, different time periods,
in a lot of different ways. It's like a science fiction movie, The Religion of Hinduism.
But they really actually believe in this one God, Brahman. They just believe in a very weird and
warped view of what that one God is. So the idea of there being one God is not that disputed.
But point number two is very disputed, and that is this. God exists in three persons.
That's what the Bible teaches. God exists in three persons, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost. God does not exist in two persons. He does not exist in four.
He is by his nature three persons. The Bible says in 1 John 5 verse 7,
for there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. These three are one. Now, I believe this is the clearest and best verse
on the Trinity in the Bible. Now, in modern versions, they change this in a lot of modern
versions. And they'll just completely warp it. So if I'm reading this and you're like,
this is not what my Bible says at all. You need a new Bible.
Because this is what the Bible said. You know, modern versions take out verses of the Bible.
What the Bible says is these three are one. This is what we know as the Trinity,
that there's one God, but God exists in three persons. Right? Now, when it comes to the Trinity,
this is not something you're fully going to comprehend as a human being.
God is way above us. His intelligence far exceeds us. And we can't fully comprehend this like it's
a math problem. But God exists in three persons according to this. Now, a lot of people like to
criticize this and they'll say, well, you believe in the Trinity, but did you know that the word
Trinity is not in the Bible? And the first time people hear this, their reaction might be,
that's not true. Actually, it is true. The word Trinity is not found in the Bible.
But the concept of the Trinity is found in the Bible. And here's the thing. It makes sense to
use one word to express these three are one. It's like, what do you believe about the nature of God?
These three are one. It's easier using one word to represent that. You know, for example,
the word rapture is not in the Bible, but the rapture is taught in the Bible. But it's easier
using one word to define what that means. And people say, well, you know what, that's not good
enough for me. Well, let me give you another example. Did you know that the word Bible is
not in the Bible? Did you know that? Therefore, I don't believe in the Bible because the word
Bible is not in there. Do you realize how foolish that argument is? Yeah, the only time we're going
to see Bible is like right here on the cover, you know, the Holy Bible. Other than that,
you're not going to find it from Genesis to Revelation. It's not there. But here's the thing.
Isn't it a lot easier to use one word Bible to represent what this means? You know, what do you
believe about religion as Christians? It's like, well, I believe that there's these 66 books and,
you know, it'd be very complicated. It's a lot easier saying I believe in the Bible, right?
And so there's nothing wrong with using one word to represent something. They do that in languages
all the time. A concept comes into a country and it takes 20 words to express it. And then they
say, well, let's use one word to express this because it's now very common in our country.
So the word Trinity is not found in the Bible, but the concept is these three are one.
Turn in your Bible to John 3, John chapter 3.
And let me just show you a very famous verse, John 3.16, just to show you. This isn't a very
common verse. I'm not just pulling out verses from Isaiah to show you what I believe. I mean,
John 3.16. And the Bible says God so loved the world. When you see the word God in the Bible,
sometimes it refers to God the Father. Sometimes it refers to God the Son. Sometimes it refers to
God the Holy Ghost. And then sometimes just generally it refers to God, right? You know,
like we saw in Isaiah that there's one God. It's like, well, I mean, there is one God that
exists in three persons. I would look at that as just like a general case to describe God.
Here, though, when it mentions God, who are we referring to? Which person of the Trinity are
we referring to? God the Father. You say, how do you know that? Because God the Father gave
His only begotten Son. See, God the Holy Ghost does not have an only begotten Son.
God the Son does not have an only begotten Son. God the Father has an only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ. But what you're seeing here is two of the three members of the Godhead,
of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son. You couldn't sit here and say, well, God the Father
is God the Son. Because God the Father is giving His only begotten Son. He's not giving Himself.
He's giving His only begotten Son. So we see a distinction there
of God the Father and God the Son. Go to 1 John 3 16. 1 John 3 16.
1 John 3 16.
And in 1 John 3 16, I like to use this verse because it's very easy to remember,
and notice what it says. Hereby perceive we the love of God because He laid down His life for us
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. So the Bible says in 1 John 3 16,
hereby perceive we the love of God because He laid down His life for us. Well, who laid down
their life for us? Jesus Christ. So the Bible says, hereby perceive we the love of God. Who
is it referring to? God the Son. The fact that He died and paid for the sins of the world.
Now, people that criticize the Trinity, they try to turn to this idea of the love of God the Father,
and they say, well, if God the Father was so loving, why didn't He just send Himself to die
rather than sending His Son? Now, in this verse, 1 John 3 16, we see the love of God, the fact that
Jesus Christ was willing to die and pay for the sins of the world, and that is the greatest show
of love that a man could show unless that man has young children. Because what would be far
more painful for me is that one of my children would die as opposed to myself. Now, when I was
younger as a single guy, it's like you kind of have the mindset, hey, I would be willing to die,
right? To live is Christ, to die is gain. You don't really have that reaction once you have kids
because there's that love and that sense of responsibility for your kids.
So here's the thing. The greatest show that God the Son could do is willing to die Himself.
The greatest love that God the Father could show for the world is that He would be willing
to sacrifice His Son. And people that want to criticize that, I think to myself, you have read
Genesis 22, haven't you? There's a kind of famous story of Abraham and Isaac, and if you don't see a
distinction between Abraham and Isaac, I don't know what to tell you. It's a Father being willing
to sacrifice His Son out of obedience to God. What is that a picture of? Of God the Father giving His
only begotten Son. It's a very obvious picture that's being mentioned. Go in your Bible to
Colossians chapter 2, Colossians 2. And let me show you another very important verse on the topic of
the Trinity and understanding this idea. The Bible says in Colossians 2 verse 9,
for in Him, referring to Jesus Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Now when the Bible says dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
it's saying that Jesus Christ in His own right was fully God Himself. And this is a concept that
we can't fully grasp, but there is a difference between God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost, and yet by Himself, God the Son was fully God. Right? So basically, and turn to Romans
1. I want you to understand this because there's a lot of false views about the Trinity, a lot of
diversions, and it gets pretty confusing. But there's various different teachings here, and
one teaching that's common is polytheism. Obviously we reject polytheism, okay?
Another teaching is called tritheism. Tritheism is the idea of three gods, God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, that they're individually God by themselves. Like there's
three different gods. Obviously we saw there was one God, but something that's kind of similar to
tritheism is the idea of partialism. And what partialism teaches is that each one of the
members of the Godhead is part God, but not fully God by themselves. So basically God the Father
would be one third God, God the Son is one third God, God the Holy Ghost is one third God, and when
they come together you've got God. Well that's not what we believe about the Trinity, because
in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Or some people might say, well God the
Father is 50%, and then you got God the Son is 29%, then you got 21% left over for the Holy Ghost,
right? That's not what we believe. What that is, is Captain Planet, right? If you've seen that
old show when you were a kid, remember there's like the five rings, and they mean nothing unless
all five come together, and once all five come together you got Captain Planet to brainwash kids
about protecting the environment, right? That's not what we believe about God. It's not like,
whoa, here's God the Father, but it means nothing until God the Son and God the Holy Ghost are
there. Now we've got God. No, we believe that Jesus Christ was fully God in His own right as
well. Do I fully comprehend that? No, I don't. Because I'm a human being that was created by God.
Obviously these things are pretty complicated, but we don't believe that God the Father was partially
God, or God the Son was partially God, or God the Holy Ghost was partially God, right? We believe
that there are three distinct persons, and yet, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Romans chapter 1, Romans 1, Bible says in verse 19, because that which may be known of God
is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power, and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The Bible says that we can know
certain things about God based on the things that God has made. We can look at the creation.
We can look at things that God has made, and we can understand even His eternal power
in Godhead. We can actually understand to a certain degree the nature of God.
Now of course the Bible says great is the mystery of godliness, so this doesn't mean we have a
perfect full understanding, but we have examples that God has given us where we can believe and
understand, okay, there's three persons in this one God. In my opinion, the best example is the
fact that we were created with a body, soul, and spirit. There is one of me, and yet there's three
of me, right? There is one of you, and yet there is three of you, and there's certainly a distinction
between the body, the soul, and the spirit. Now here's the thing. Is this a perfect example?
I don't think there's a perfect example to understand the Trinity, but we can still look
at things that God has made to have a general idea, or here's another example. The Bible says
that a man shall leave father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be
one flesh, right? And so you would say, well, you know, they're individuals. There's two of them,
and yet there's one. Now of course the Trinity is three persons, not two, okay? So don't try to add
a mother-in-law or father-in-law or whatever. It's like that's not a perfect example, but it
gives us an idea that they're individual, and yet they're one. Or you can look at a basketball
team. You've got five individual players, and yet they form one team, right? Some other examples,
and look, here's the thing. I don't think these examples are perfect, but I think they are helpful.
One example is the fact that an egg has three parts. You've got the shell, you've got the yolk,
and you've got the whites, and together you've got the egg. Now here's the thing. Quite literally,
that is partialism, which is not what we believe about God, but it's still a decent example to
explain so someone can understand. I'm not saying the examples are perfect, because that's not
exactly what we believe about the Trinity, because we believe Jesus was fully God on His own,
not just part of God. But it is an example that I believe is helpful. Another example
that you often hear is that water can be a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Now once again,
it's not a perfect example, because that's actually teaching oneness, right? And so I'm not
saying the examples are perfect, and I'm not saying we have a perfect understanding about the Trinity,
but I get it. There's three persons, and yet there's one God. I don't have to get overly
philosophical. It's what the Bible teaches. I have enough of an understanding without having
a perfect comprehension, and I believe it, right? Go in your Bible to Matthew 3, Matthew chapter 3.
And as I said, I believe the body, soul, and spirit is by far the best example, because
man is made in the image of God. It's quite a coincidence that there's three parts to man,
and three persons to God, right? So point number one, there is one God. Point two,
God exists in three persons. Point three, God always has and always will exist in three persons.
This is an important point, this idea of God being three persons, because it's not that God
chose to be three. That is the wrong idea about the Trinity. God is three by nature.
That is the correct understanding. It's not that, well, God chose to be three, but He can do
whatever He wants. He can be four if He wants. No, He can't. God is three by nature, okay?
That's who God is. It's not like, well, at the beginning, there's this one God, and He said,
you know what? I think I'm going to be three persons. That's not what the Bible teaches.
God is the three in one by nature. Now, do I have a perfect understanding? No, I don't,
but that is what the Bible teaches. Matthew 3, verse 16.
And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water,
and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and lighting upon Him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. In this verse, these verses, we see all three members of the Trinity.
Bible mentions God the Son in verse 16, Jesus Christ. Bible mentions the Spirit of God,
the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, in verse 16. And then there's a voice from heaven,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. That's God the Father. So you have God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. All three members of the Trinity are represented.
Now, what I would say is probably the most dangerous offshoot of the Trinity that is false
and is a heresy is the idea of oneness. And oneness is the idea that God can take on a bunch
of different forms, and He can be three or four or five or six or seven or eight or nine or ten.
That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches God is the three and one by nature.
And this is a common verse people point to and say, Well, see, in Matthew 3 16,
you have all three members of the Godhead. And that's true. I will say this, though.
Recently, I finished the most famous oneness Pentecostal book by David Bernard. And what he
believes and teaches is that God can have simultaneous manifestations at the same time.
So what he teaches in Matthew 3 verse 16 is, Well, the reason why you have all three persons
is because God's manifesting Himself in three forms at one time. Basically, He believes in
Hinduism, right? Oneness Pentecostals. And look, if you've gone soul winning and you run into
oneness Pentecostals, are they receptive to the Gospel? No, they are not. They're not receptive
at all. They are very dogmatic on this issue. It's like, No, I don't believe in the Trinity.
They're dogmatic about it. Now I want to give you some quotes from this book by David Bernard,
because he doesn't just believe that God has chosen to manifest Himself in three forms.
He believes that God has manifested Himself in a lot of different forms. Here's what it says.
We should note that these three titles are not the only ones God has. Many other titles or names for
God are very significant and appear frequently in the Bible, including terms such as Lord,
parentheses, Jehovah, Lord, Word, God Almighty and Holy One of Israel. The oneness view does
not deny the Father, Son or Holy Ghost, but it does refute the view that these terms designate
persons in the Godhead. God has many titles, but He is one being. That's not what we believe.
We believe that God exists in three persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost,
and to Him, there's not three persons in the Godhead, but God takes on different titles or
roles. For example, I am a husband, I am a father, and I am a preacher. There's three
manifestations of Brother Stuckey. That's what they believe. God chose to be a father, He chose
to be a son, He chose to be a Holy Ghost. It's like, no, we believe there's a distinction between
God the Father and God the Son, and not just the title, but there is a distinction between them.
Later on in the book, he gives a list of titles or manifestations of God just in the book of
Revelation, and here are 25 that he lists. 25 different titles. Faithful Witness,
according to David Bernard, the most famous oneness Pentecostal teacher. Faithful Witness,
First Begotten of the Dead, Prince of Kings, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End.
Look, I don't speak Greek, but this is very bottom level. Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and end of the alphabet, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,
it's the same thing. What are you talking about? It's explaining that Jesus Christ is the beginning
and the end, because He wasn't created. The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,
but He sees this as different roles. It's like, this is very basic Greek for someone who knows
nothing about Greek. The Alpha and Omega, that is the beginning and the end. Then He says,
number six, one which is, was, and is to come, the Almighty, Son of Man, first and last,
beginning and end, first and last, Alpha and Omega. What don't you understand about this?
It's clearly explaining about Jesus. It's explaining who He is. It's not complicated,
because it tells you about Jesus. He's the faithful witness, the first Begotten of the Dead,
the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. It's all representing
and explaining who Jesus is. That one person of the Godhead, it's telling you who He is.
It's not a different role of God. I mean, you can see the way they interpret the Bible is very
different than the way we would interpret this. He says, number 10, He that liveth was dead and
is alive forevermore. Number 11, possessor of the seven spirits, 12, one on the throne, 13,
God, 14, Creator, 15, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, 16, the Root of David, 17, Lamb,
18, Redeemer, 19, Faithful, 20, True, 21, the Word of God, 22, King of Kings, 23, Lord of Lords,
24, Offspring of David, 25, Bright Morning Star. It's like, are you kidding me? Because when you
read the book of Revelation and the Bible's saying the faithful witness, it's saying that
person of the Godhead is faithful. That person of the Godhead is true. And in fact, Jesus Himself
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He's saying, I'm true. And the Bible talks about in the
Old Testament, the true God, right? And you can see they understand the Bible very differently
than the way we do. Why? Because they're not saved. They don't believe that God the Father
sent God the Son to die for the sins of the world. They completely deny that, right?
And He says here, despite the prominence these manifestations have in the New Testament,
plan of redemption and salvation, referring to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost,
it does not appear that God can be limited to these three roles, titles, or manifestations.
God manifested Himself in many ways in the Old Testament. He revealed Himself in many theophanies,
including human forms and angelic forms. And then He gives a list of king, Lord, bridegroom,
husband, brother, apostle, high priest, lamb, shepherd, and the Word. And it's just like,
what are you talking about? When Melchizedek appears in Genesis 14, it is an Old Testament
appearance of the Son of God, that person of the Godhead, that person of the Trinity.
I don't understand how you can read the Bible and not see that there's three persons,
for there are three that bear record. Not four, not five, not 300 million,
but there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
Turn your Bible to Genesis 1. Genesis chapter 1.
Now, here's the thing. The Trinity is not really that disputed here in the Philippines.
I mean, Catholics understand the Trinity. They believe it.
When we're preaching the Gospel, one thing I'm very thankful of is the fact that Catholics
believe in one God, that Jesus is God, and they believe in three persons of the Godhead.
They believe in the Trinity. Now, if you're going soul winning in a Hindu country,
it's like, good luck. I've told stories from when I was preaching in Guyana, and Guyana is
a country that's 75% Christian and 25% Hindu. And you know what? I would try to talk to everyone,
but everybody is of Indian descent, basically. So you start talking to someone, it's like,
yeah, do you go to church anywhere? I'm a Hindu. And you're thinking, oh, no.
It's like, why couldn't they just be a general Christian? Because it'd be a lot easier to get
them saved, right? But the Bible says here in Genesis 1, I want to show you this. At the very
beginning, we're seeing this. Genesis chapter 1, first chapter in the Bible, we see multiple
persons of God. The Bible says in Genesis 1, verse 26, and God said, let us make man in our image,
after our likeness. Verse 27, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created
him, male and female created he them. Verse 26, our image, that's plural. Verse 27, own image,
that's singular. How is that possible? Because there's one God that exists in three persons.
And God the Father could say, I'm God. God the Son could say, I'm God. God the Holy Ghost could
say, I'm God. They don't have to gather together all the persons of the Godhead and say, well,
now I'm God. Because in their own right, each of them are God themselves, but there is one God,
because there are three persons in the Godhead. Look, some people that are oneness will point
to this and say, well, you know, the angels. It's referring to the angels. Man is not made
in the same image as an angel. Men and angels are different. Angels aren't made in the image of God.
The Bible says man is made in the image of God, not angels, right? And when you look at this,
our image, own image, it's pretty clear, well, there's one God, but you're seeing multiple
persons here in Genesis 1. Turn your Bible to Daniel 7, Daniel 7. And of course, the Bible says,
in the beginning was the Word, meaning Jesus was here at the beginning. I mean, people say,
well, you know what? The Son was created at the virgin birth. No, no, no, in the beginning.
In the beginning was the Word. It's not that God chose to become the Son at the virgin birth. No,
no, no. God always has and always will exist in three persons. We saw it in Genesis 1.
Daniel 7 is going to be a reference to the end times, and notice what it says in Daniel 7,
verse 13. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like unto the Son of Man came with the clouds
of heaven and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. So we have the
Son of Man. We have the ancient of days. We have God the Son. We have God the Father. The Bible
says that God the Son is going to sit on the right hand of God the Father, meaning that they're
different. Here's what I'm saying. When you get to heaven, you will see three persons in
the Godhead. You'll see all three. You're not going to see just one. You're going to see all
three. God the Son is going to sit next to God the Father, because God exists in three persons,
and you have God the Father and God the Son both mentioned being up there in heaven.
Go to Matthew chapter 2. Matthew 2. Matthew 2.
And look, obviously the primary thing that we focus on, which is point number four,
is that Jesus is God. And when we preach to the cults, you preach to INC, you preach to
Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses. The main thing you're trying to prove is that Jesus is God.
That's where the rubber meets the road. But at the same time, let's not mistake this. Let's
realize that God the Father and God the Son are not the same. There are three persons. We believe
in the Trinity. The Bible says in Matthew 2, verse 11, and when they were coming to the house,
they saw the young child with Mary's mother and fell down and worshiped Him. They're worshiping
baby Jesus in Matthew chapter 2. Why are they worshiping Him? Because He's God?
I mean, you don't see in Matthew 2 where Mary and Joseph say, whoa, stop. What are you talking
about? Our son's God? Why are you worshiping Him? Because they know He's God. Mary and Joseph are
aware of that. They don't say, whoa, what are you doing? Because look, if somebody started
worshiping my kids, like praying to my kids, can you answer my prayer, Ezra? I'd be like,
whoa, what are you doing? Right? I mean, that'd be very strange, wouldn't it? But they don't stop.
You say, why? Because Jesus is God. And in fact, Jesus has people worshiping throughout the New
Testament. Does He ever stop them? No. Now Peter, on the other hand, when they worshiped Him,
what did he say? Stand up, because I myself also am a man. He's like, quit worshiping me.
Now I'll tell you what, Peter would not have made a very good pope. Because popes have people bow
down and worship them all the time. And Peter, supposedly the first pope, says, stand up. Quit
worshiping me. I'm a man just like you. Right? Turn in your Bible to John 2. John chapter 2.
John chapter 2.
And notice what it says in John 2, verse 19.
Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple and building, and wilt thou rear it up in
three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. Then it says in verse 22, when therefore
he was risen from the dead. So what is Jesus saying? He's saying, destroy this temple.
And in three days, I will raise it up. Not I as in Matthew Stuckey. But he's saying, hey,
you kill me, you destroy my body. And in three days, I will resurrect myself. Jesus proclaimed
he was going to resurrect himself from the dead. Now when Lazarus was resurrected by Jesus,
I mean that caused people to be amazed, because they knew he was clearly dead.
And to everybody, that's like the greatest miracle ever, that somebody would rise again from the dead
that was dead. But Jesus resurrected himself. That kind of takes that miracle to a whole
other level, doesn't it? Where it's like you die and then you resurrect yourself.
Now here's the thing. You can point to verses in the Bible of God the Father resurrecting Jesus.
You can point to verses of God the Holy Ghost resurrecting Jesus. And as I just showed you,
you can look at God the Son saying he was going to resurrect himself. You say, well,
Brother Stuckey, does that mean God the Father is God the Son? No. What it means is these three
persons in the Godhead, they're working together. Now I don't have a full understanding of how that
process works of Jesus being resurrected, but all three of them are working together to do that. So
it's not like you've got these three persons, but they're like enemies with one another. They're
against one another. The example I gave of a husband and wife, twain being one flesh,
ideally the husband and the wife are going to dwell together and work together to accomplish
things for God. When it comes to the persons in the Godhead, not just with the resurrection,
you can look at a lot of different things, the creation and like 50 different things.
You can look at charts online. Well, here it says God the Father, here God the Son,
here God the Holy Ghost. Is it a Bible contradiction? No. It's called there's three
persons and they're working together. Okay. Turn to John 20. John 20. We'll
look at a couple more places. John 20. John chapter 20, verse 27. John 20, verse 27.
And it says in John 20, verse 27, Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger and behold
my hands, and reach other thy hand, and thrust it in my side, and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. My Lord and my God. Does Jesus stop
and say, Whoa, I just wanted you to believe I got resurrected. Now you think I'm God? What
are you talking about? Is that what Jesus does? No. Because Thomas understands Jesus is God.
Because there's only one Savior. Isn't that what we saw in the Old Testament?
And Jesus is the Savior. I mean, there's one God. And so when he says, My Lord and my God,
Jesus doesn't say, Well, that's not true. What he says is, Thomas, because thou hast seen me,
thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.
Look, if he was not God, he would have stopped and said, Whoa, I'm glad you believe in the
resurrection, but where'd you ever get the idea that I'm God? But he's confirming the fact that
you're right, Thomas. I am God. Right? I mean, very clearly. I mean, the Bible says there's none
good but one. That is God. And people try to point to that to try to show Jesus is not God.
Well, see, Jesus said there's none good but one. That is God. Was Jesus good? Yes.
There's none good but one. That is God. And so when you say Jesus is good,
Jesus wasn't denying being God. What he's saying is, Hey, wait a minute. You can't look at me as
this good master because there is no good master because there's none righteous. No, not one.
There's none that doeth good. And so if you're saying I'm good, you're saying I'm God.
You can't say I'm good and righteous and then say I'm not God.
Right? Because there is none righteous. We're not righteous. We're sinners.
We don't deserve to go to heaven. We've sinned against God. We deserve the penalty of hell.
And because we cannot earn our way to heaven and we're not good, we needed somebody who was good.
Nothing wrong with saying Jesus is the good master, as long as you understand. It's not
that he's a normal man that's good. No, no, no. He's God. Right? Because there's none good but one.
That is God. Then in verse 31, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the son of God. But wait a minute. It just said that Jesus was God in verse 28.
Yes, Jesus is God and he's the son of God. You say, Brother Stuckey, you know what? I don't
fully comprehend this. Yeah, we cannot fully get a perfect grasp upon this, but it's clearly what
the Bible teaches. Look, there's some questions in life. Let me give you some examples. I don't
really understand how this works. I don't. I realize that when I hit this button, it goes
light or dark and that's good enough for me. I know that when I do this, all of a sudden it's
like, oh, now I can go to Google or Facebook or whatever. I don't understand the mechanics of how
a cell phone operates. I don't. I mean, there's a million things we use every single day that we
don't fully understand. Even our own bodies. I really don't understand the process of a human
being running and walking and how God has made us because we're like a machine on the inside. I mean,
it's not what I majored in. Right? It's way above my level of understanding. When I go home and I
press a button on what I call a computer, it's going to light up. Why? I don't have a perfect
understanding, but I know that if I press this button, then all of a sudden it lights up.
Right? I mean, I doubt anyone has a perfect understanding of the mechanics of a cell phone,
unless that's your trade, unless that's your business or line of work, but yet you still use
it and have no problems with that. Right? It's like, literally, my old job, all I did all day
long was Microsoft Excel. But here's the thing. I know how Microsoft Excel works, but I don't
understand the process of how Microsoft Excel was created. But I still used it every single day,
and I knew that if I do this, it's going to do this. If I do this, it's going to do this.
Right? Look, with the Trinity, there is no disputing the fact that there's three persons
and one God, and Jesus is God. Do you have a perfect understanding? Well, no, none of us do.
Great is the mystery of godliness, but there's no denying that's what the Bible teaches.
Go to 1 Corinthians 15. You say, well, Brother Stuckey, seeing is believing.
Okay, you need to see the resurrection of Jesus to believe it. You've got to see God face-to-face
to believe in God. Some things you take by faith. I mean, if my kids ask me, you know,
Dad, can you explain where did God come from? I'll be like, man, how do I answer that question?
I can't answer that so it perfectly makes sense. Right? I mean, it's obvious. It's like, well,
look outside. Can you tell that God is real? And my son Zeph is going to be like, yes.
He knows that. I mean, it's also inside of your conscience. We know that.
But we don't have a perfect understanding because we were created inside of time,
and God is outside of time. And some things you just take by faith.
Lastly, point five, there is an authority structure in the Trinity. There is an authority
structure in the Godhead or the Trinity. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 23,
But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's
that is coming, then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father. The Bible says God the Son is going to deliver up the kingdom to God the Father.
You say, why? Because God the Father has the authority over God the Son.
Didn't Jesus say, not my will, but thine be done? And He left us an example that we should obey
all of God's will. But Jesus said, not my will, but thine be done. Right? When He's in the garden
of Gethsemane and He didn't want to go through the suffering. And that's another thing where
it's hard to fully comprehend how Jesus was all God and all man, but that's what the Bible teaches.
Right? And God the Father is the authority over God the Son. God the Son is the authority over God
the Holy Ghost. Look, if you have a family of three, a husband, a wife, and a child,
the husband is the authority over his wife. Amen? Husbands? You don't have to be afraid to say,
amen. Right? It's clearly what the Bible teaches. And that wife, let's say it's a son
that they have. That wife is the authority over their son. Right? I mean, it's not a matter of,
well, men are above women. No, it's in marriage, there has to be someone who's the authority.
In a company, there's got to be someone who's the authority, someone who's the boss. It's just
the way it works. And God the Father is the authority over God the Son. God the Son is the
authority over God the Holy Ghost. Just as a husband would be the authority over the wife,
and the wife would be the authority over the son. Both would be the authority over the son.
So if mom says, do this, then the child has to do it. If the father says, do this,
the child has to do it. Now, does this mean that I am better than my son, Ezra?
No. But it makes me the authority over him. Does this mean that I'm the authority over
Christabel, I mean, that I'm better than Christabel or Zeph? Well, no. They're
just as human as I am. It's just a matter of the fact that I have the authority over them.
And my wife has the authority over our kids. Because there's an authority structure.
And the Bible even gives that as an example when you understand a family than you think of God.
But here's the thing. When it comes to the Trinity, there's also an authority structure.
It's not like, well, you've got three persons of the Godhead. Let's just take it to a vote and do
it by two to one majority. Right? There's an authority of God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost. Now, what you see throughout the Bible is they're working
together to do things. I mean, the Bible mentions Jesus being the creator of the world.
All things were made by him. He created the world. But then you see God the Father mentioned
as the creator. You say, why? Because God the Father created the world through his Son.
So there is an authority structure of God the Father over God the Son.
So our five points here today. Number one, there is one God. Number two,
God exists in three persons. Number three, God always has and always will exist in three persons
because he's the three and one by his very nature. Number four, Jesus Christ is God.
And number five, there is an authority structure to the Trinity of God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. Let's close in word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you for allowing us to be here today and ask you to help us to apply this term to our lives.
Help us to have a better understanding of you and the things the Bible teaches about your nature
and the three persons of the Godhead God. And I ask you to help us to be able to explain this
to people as we preach the gospel to all the various different cults that deny Jesus being
God or deny the Trinity God. Help us to be able to explain to them what the Bible says
so they can be saved. God, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. For our last song, let's turn to hymn number 215.
A wonderful day, a day I will never forget.
After the converting heart, it's all waiting for Jesus to come again.
Oh, a clever, compassionate friend,
giving the evil by heart.
Shout his name with joy, telling him he'd be all that was to come.
And when he come, and when he come, and for he be all that was to come.
And at the cross, the Savior reigns.
He reigns.
My strength shall wash away, and my light will surge today.
When they come in glory, fill my soul.
Say it again, everybody.
Lord of the Spirit, we pray for the Lord.
We pray for the Spirit, we pray for the Lord.
Lost if I could, he threw cover and spoke.
Oh, what a standing is mine.
When the church of Jesus came, and as the Savior reigns.
You have the honor of receiving properly, safety of grace is near me.
Heaven came down with glory, fill my soul.
And at the cross, the Savior reigns.
My strength shall wash away, and my light will surge today.
Heaven came down with glory, fill my soul.
Now I look back and sort it through, after the passing of time.
I have a future in heaven for sure.
Oh, what a standing is mine.
And it's the Lord's cross because of the cross today.
And at the cross, I believe.
Grace is eternal and glad is the word upon his face, I receive.
Heaven came down with glory, fill my soul.
And at the cross, the Savior reigns.
My strength shall wash away, and my light will surge today.
Heaven came down with glory, fill my soul.
Amen.