Man, the title of my sermon this morning is the Trinity in Scripture, the Trinity in Scripture.
We're going to start here in 1st John chapter 5.
But first of all, let me say this, and I want you to pay very careful attention to this.
The sermon that I preached on Wednesday night, everybody in this church needs to listen to
that sermon.
Okay, so if you weren't there on Wednesday night, you need to download that from the
church website, or you need to go on YouTube and find that.
You need to hear that sermon in addition to the sermon that I'm preaching this morning.
I'm not going to re-preach Wednesday's sermon, I'm going to preach something different.
And so, you need to listen to it.
And if you don't have access to the internet, or you don't have a way to download that and
listen to that, then come see me and I will get you a CD of that, because I want every
single person in our church to listen to that sermon on the Pentecostal oneness doctrine
debunked that I preached on Wednesday night.
This is a heresy that crept into our church, thankfully it was only a few people affected,
but these Judases, Tyler Baker, Elliot Ray, Rick Martinez, and now Russell Bops, those
four have been going around teaching this garbage, spreading this around secretly, being
careful who they told it to, approaching people that were new to our church, or people that
were young, or people that were in their very tight-knit circle of friends, okay.
This heresy that they've been teaching of modalism or Pentecostal oneness doctrine will
not be tolerated.
This is not an optional doctrine.
This is not a little difference of opinion.
This is not another take that they have on the Trinity.
This is an out and out rejection of the Trinity and a teaching of hardcore oneness or modalist
doctrine.
Funny, they can't show you the difference between what they teach and modalism or oneness
doctrine because it is textbook modalism.
This morning I'm going to preach the truth to you, get Wednesday's sermon, but I have
another mountain of evidence here, and frankly I'm probably going to preach on this tonight
also just because there's so much material I can't even get through it all, so I better
jump right in.
1 John 5, verse number 7 is probably the most famous verse on the Trinity, and we're going
to start reading in verse 6.
The Bible says,
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water
and blood, and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one.
That's the famous verse, these three are one.
Then it says in verse 8,
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood,
and these three agree in one.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness
of God, which he hath testified of his Son.
Now let's just get our bearings here first of all.
What does the Trinity teach, and what does this modalist oneness heresy teach?
Well the Trinity teaches that there's one God who is composed of or made up of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
But they are three that are distinct, one from another.
Modalism or oneness doctrine teaches that there's one God, and he is just one Spirit,
one entity, who just reveals himself in different modes.
So he'll reveal himself as the Father, as the Son, as the Holy Ghost.
Those are just three different modes, and it's sort of like, I'm a husband, a pastor,
and a father, but I'm the same person, but I'm just acting in three different capacities.
Or the illustration that these heretics were using was, it's like a one man band.
It's just God picking up a different instrument and using a different instrument.
You know, he's the guitarist, then he's the drummer, then he's the whatever.
But that's a lie, that's false doctrine.
The Bible is very clear that the Father is not the Son.
The Father is not the Holy Ghost, the Son is not the Holy Ghost, that the Father is
the Father, the Son is the Son, and the Holy Ghost is the Holy Ghost.
Now these three are one, and they together collectively comprise one God, made up of
Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.
That's what the Trinity teaches.
I'm going to prove that to you from the Bible.
Now let's start out in the famous verse, because I think a lot of people miss the context of
what this verse is even saying.
At the beginning of the verse it says, there are three that bear record in heaven.
Don't miss that.
What does it mean to bear record?
Well right here in this passage, we see that that term is used synonymously with testifying
or bearing witness.
Imagine going to court and someone testifies, someone bears record, someone bears witness.
What God is saying here is that we have multiple witnesses to the truth of the Gospel.
And the Bible says here that there are three that bear record.
At the end of verse six it says, it's the spirit that beareth witness, because the spirit
is truth.
The spirit says there are three that bear record.
Verse eight, there are three that bear witness in earth.
Verse nine is key as well.
If we receive the witness of man, the witness of God is greater.
So what does it mean when it says we receive the witness of man?
It means that when two or three people testify of something, we receive that accusation.
Because the Bible said that in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established.
One witness can't rise up against someone to cause them to be put to death.
There has to be two or three witnesses.
So God's saying, look, we will accept the witness of two or three men, but how much
more would we accept the witness of God when there are three witnesses?
Now what if I went into the courtroom and said, you know, okay, I am Pastor Steven Anderson
and then I testify.
And then the judge says, are there any more witnesses?
Yes, I'm going to call my second witness, Steven Anderson the father.
All right, let me call my third witness, Steven Anderson the husband.
That's not three witnesses.
Me in three different modes is not three witnesses.
Now go to John chapter eight.
This is the only thing I'm going to show you from the book of John, because my whole Wednesday
night sermon was only in the book of John.
And this morning's sermon is going to be everywhere else.
But first I just need to expound this important truth from 1 John 5, that there are three
that bear record in heaven.
The three witnesses and the Bible says in John chapter eight verse 13, the Pharisees
therefore said unto him, thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not true.
Jesus answered and said to them, though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true.
For I know whence I came and whither I go, but you cannot tell whence I come and whither
I go.
Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man.
And yet if I judge, my judgment is true.
Why?
For I'm not alone.
But I am the father that sent me.
It's also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true.
I'm one that beareth witness of myself and the father that sent me beareth witness of
me.
That's two totally distinct witnesses.
That's the context of 1 John 5, 7.
So why don't you get that context and bring that into 1 John 5, 7 where it says there
are three that bear record in heaven.
If it was all the same person in three different modes, that's not three witnesses.
And so there are two heresies that we need to avoid.
Number one, we need to avoid the heresy of saying that the three are not one.
That's where you get into people who deny the deity of Jesus Christ.
You're Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Only cults would do that.
Every born again child of God acknowledges that deity of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is fully God.
Jesus is God.
There's no question about that.
But the other heresy is to go in the other direction and deny that there are three witnesses.
That there are three that bear record in heaven and that God is composed of the father, the
son, and the Holy Ghost and say no, no, no, it's just one spirit, one person, one entity
just revealing himself in different ways.
Go if you would to Genesis chapter 1.
And again, some of the best scripture to debunk this stuff is in John, which is the most basic
book that we give to every new believer, and in Genesis, which is a starting point.
I mean, most people when they start reading the Bible, if they don't start in John, they
probably start in Genesis.
They probably just open it to page 1.
So this is a doctrine that's laid out from the beginning in scripture.
And so my first point this morning is to go through all of the scriptures in the Old
Testament that teach this plurality of three, not just one but three that are one.
Okay.
That's something that you can carry all throughout scripture.
The Bible says in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26, and God said, let us, notice, let us make
man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
And this can't be God talking to the angels or anything because the angels are not in
God's image.
He says let us make man in our image.
And plus, that's debunked in the next verse because it says so God created man in his
own image.
Notice the singular.
In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them.
So right here it's let us make man in our image after our likeness and then it's so
God made it in his image.
One God that is made up of three, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
And so that's why that conversation can even make sense, let us make man in our image.
It's very clear.
Go if you would to Genesis chapter 3, Genesis chapter 3.
The Bible says in Genesis 3 verse 22, and the Lord God said, Behold the man has become
as one of us to know good and evil.
And now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live
forever.
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from
whence he was taken.
Go to chapter 11, that's another instance.
So we've seen it in chapter 1, we've seen it in chapter 3.
Let's go to chapter 11 of Genesis.
Chapter 11 verse 5, the Bible reads, the Lord God, I'm sorry, and the Lord came down to
see the city and the tower which the children of men builded and the Lord said, Behold the
people is one and they all have one language.
And this they begin to do and now nothing will be restrained from them which they've
imagined to do.
Go to let us go down and there confound their language that they may not understand one
another's speech.
Go to Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah chapter number 6.
So we're going through some Old Testament scriptures right now to show that this doctrine
is not unique to the New Testament and even if it were something that was not revealed
until the New Testament, it's revealed hundreds of times in the New Testament.
I mean I showed scores of times on Wednesday night from the book of John alone but this
is something that you can actually see even in the Old Testament.
And Jews have a real hard time with those plurals in Genesis 1, Genesis 3 and Genesis
11.
The ones who reject Jesus Christ, I mean, they choke on that.
They have no answer for that because it's so clear that God is saying let us, our image,
our likeness and so forth.
Look at Isaiah chapter 6 verse 8, the Bible says, also I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
whom shall I send and who will go for us?
You see that?
Who will go for us?
Then said I, here am I, send me.
Go to Isaiah chapter number 48 verse 15, Isaiah 48 verse 15.
Verse 16 in Isaiah 48 is a pretty powerful Old Testament verse on the Trinity and so
don't miss this.
Isaiah 48, we're going to start reading in verse 15.
The Bible reads, I, even I have spoken, yea, I have called him, I have brought him and
he shall make his way prosperous.
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning.
From the time that it was, there am I and now the Lord God and his spirit has sent me.
Now that's an Old Testament verse that contains all three members of the Godhead right there
in one verse.
Because Jesus is saying that from the time that it was, from the beginning, I am.
He said from the beginning, there am I and now the Lord God and his spirit have sent
me.
So the Son is sent by the Lord God and his spirit.
Now if you look at this, it's very similar to what Jesus said when he said before Abraham
was, I am.
He said hey, even before it was, there was I and there's the Lord God and his spirit
has sent me.
Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord thy God which
teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
Now go back if you would to, we're going to get back into this, but while we're in Isaiah,
let's deal with one of their proof texts from Isaiah.
Let's go back to Isaiah 9-6.
This is basically the verse that their whole doctrine hangs on.
If you listen to all the rest of their arguments, they are bizarre, they're convoluted, they're
turning scripture on its head.
Really this is their only verse where you can even look at it and say, okay, I see what
you're saying.
There's one verse like that.
But what you have to understand is that you can never just base your whole doctrine on
one verse and turn the rest of the Bible on its head.
That's exactly what the work salvationists do with James 2.
And these people keep saying, well, if I can just show you one verse, then, you know, then
case closed.
No, wrong.
Because, you know what, I could show you one verse on getting baptized for the dead.
The Mormons have a verse that they point to.
I could show you one verse on work salvation.
But guess what?
They'd both be out of context.
I could show you all kinds of things using one verse because heresy is always based on
one verse that's twisted and taken out of context.
No, no, no.
When you have a hundred verses saying one thing or a thousand verses saying one thing
and then you have one verse, you can't just say, well, here it is, case closed.
But look, Isaiah 9, 6 is their one verse because the rest of their arguments are dumb.
Okay.
This is the only one that you can even stop and go, hmm, or scratch your head about.
But I'm going to show you it does not mean what they're saying it means.
And by the way, this is the same exact mistake that Sam Gipp is making with Isaiah 7, 14.
It's an identical mistake.
Let's look at it.
Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 says this, for unto us a child is born.
Obviously this is Jesus.
It's a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon
his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace.
So this is their one verse to say that Jesus is God the Father because right there it says
his name shall be called the Everlasting Father.
Now first of all, let me stop and say this, that these modalists, where the whole doctrine
even came from in modern times, is from the baptism issue of baptizing in the name of
the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Ghost, verses in the name of Jesus only.
That's where this whole modalist doctrine even comes from in the 20th century.
There's an ancient heresy of modalism, but it was dead for a long time and it was picked
up again by the Pentecostals in the early 20th century around 1914.
But here's what's funny is that these modalist heretics in our church or these modalist oneness
Pentecostals, here's what they say, yeah, but what's the name of the Father?
What's the name of the Son?
What's the name of the Holy Ghost?
They're saying that the Father is not a name.
That's why they're saying there's no name revealed in the New Testament except the name
of Jesus.
So they're not acknowledging that the Father is a name.
They're saying that's not a name, it's a title.
This is what modalists teach.
Father's a title, Son's a title, Holy Ghost title, but what's the name?
Jesus, because that's what they claim.
But then all of a sudden in Isaiah 9-6, now all of a sudden Father's a name again.
You know, so which one is it?
You see what I mean?
The two biggest proof texts are Matthew 28 and Isaiah 9-6.
These are their two biggest proof texts and they're at odds with one another because in
one of them the whole point is, well, the Father can't be a name, that's just a title.
The name of the Father actually means Jesus because that's his name.
And then over in Isaiah 9-6 it's like, well, no, no, boy, it says his name is the Father.
Is Father a name or not?
Okay, but beside that confusion and ridiculousness, let me just show you what this means.
Go back to Isaiah 7-14.
Keep your finger in Isaiah 9.
In Isaiah 7-14 it says, therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.
In the New Testament, the Bible defines this for us since we don't speak Hebrew.
It says Immanuel, what's being interpreted as God with us.
Now is that the name that Jesus was actually given when he was born?
No, the name that he was given is Jesus.
So why does it say that his name shall be called Immanuel?
Why?
Because that is his attribute, God with us, he was God with us, so that's why his name
is called Immanuel.
That's where Sam Gipp gets it wrong.
These guys are making the same mistake.
Go to Isaiah 9-6.
Front unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.
The government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful.
Now is Jesus' name really supposed to be Wonderful?
Hello my name is Wonderful?
Think about that.
Is that actually what this is saying when it says his name shall be called Wonderful?
Is it saying that he actually is named Wonderful?
No it's not.
Nor is it saying that his name is actually named Counselor.
You see, Wonderful is an attribute of Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, is an attribute of
Jesus, Counselor is an attribute of Jesus.
And you say well where do you get that in the Bible?
Because the word name in the Bible sometimes is referring to a literal name, but sometimes
it means who they are, a reputation.
You say prove it.
Okay how about this?
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
And loving favor rather than silver and gold.
What does the Bible mean when it says a good name is rather to be chosen than riches?
It's not saying, man Stephen is such a cool name.
I'm so glad my parents gave me that name.
Is that what it means?
Or man faithful word is such a cool name for a church.
No a good name is rather to be chosen than silver, it means a good reputation.
It's who you are.
It's what your attributes are, your name.
How about this one?
He wanted to make a name for himself.
Is it saying he's sitting down and designing a new logo with a new name for himself?
No.
If he's making a name for himself, it's what his reputation is.
It's what he's like.
For example, how about this verse?
A good name is better than precious ointment, Ecclesiastes 7.1.
And the day of death and the day of one's birth, Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 3.
Because of the savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth.
Therefore do the virgins love thee.
That's not saying that a literal name is being poured out like ointment.
This is talking about who they are, what they're known as, their reputation.
Or what about this one?
Genesis 11 where it says, go to let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach
unto heaven and let us make us a name.
They want to be renowned.
They want to be well known.
They want that reputation.
Deuteronomy 25, 10, and his name shall be called in Israel, the house of him that hath
his shoe loosed.
Now do you really think that it's saying that you walk up to somebody and say, hello, house
of him that hath his shoe loosed, how you doing buddy?
That's a mouthful.
What it's saying is that his name shall be called in Israel, his name shall be called,
same wording, the house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
That's what he's going to be known for.
Oh, he's that guy who didn't raise up seed unto his brother.
He's that guy who had his shoe loosed.
He's going to be known that way.
How about this?
Your name's mud.
His name's mud.
That doesn't literally mean that their name is mud, but to call somebody's name mud or
to say in the name of, you know, or whatever, these are other uses of the word name.
It's that simple.
And also, you know, Isaiah 56, 5, there's lots of illustrations that, you know, even
unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than of
sons and daughters and so forth.
So when the Bible says, his name shall be called, wonderful, counselor, the mighty God,
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, none of those is a literal name because his
literal name was Jesus.
Emmanuel and all this other list are the attributes.
He has the attribute of being wonderful.
He has the attributes of the mighty God.
Why?
Because he is God and because in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
He is not equivalent to the fullness of the Godhead, but he has the fullness of the Godhead
dwelling in him.
I have the Holy Spirit in me.
It doesn't make me the Holy Spirit though, the fact that I have the Holy Spirit in me.
Not only that, but he is, the Bible says, the image of the invisible God.
Get that.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
That's why he could say, hey, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, I'm in the Father,
the Father in me.
I mean, it's sort of like if I said, well, you know, if you've seen John McPhail, you've
seen Jesse McPhail.
You say, I want to know what he looks like.
They're identical twins.
Okay, so the point is that when the Bible says here, his name shall be called, it lists
the attributes.
He has the attributes of God.
He has the attributes of the Father.
He represents the Father.
He came in his Father's name.
He's the image of the invisible God.
That's what it means.
Another example of this that I thought was a pretty good illustration is that of an ambassador.
Jesus represented God the Father because it said, no man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
He hath declared him.
Think about an ambassador from another country.
They represent that country.
They've come in that country's name.
They have the attributes of that country.
If they were in the United Nations and we said, Saudi Arabia got up and walked out of
the meeting.
People say that, or America got up and left the meeting.
China wouldn't even sit through the meeting.
Iran walked out when they said that.
Why?
Because that is the ambassador, the representative.
If you're just going to take this one verse and turn the whole rest of the Bible on its
head, then you just hit the road, Jack, and don't you come back no more because we believe
in the Trinity here.
The Bible is crystal clear in hundreds of verses and this is not going to turn the whole
rest of the Bible on its head any more so than just demanding that his name is literally
comforter or wonderful or I'm sorry, counselor, Emmanuel, or what have you.
Go to Hosea chapter 12, Hosea chapter number 12.
Also they have a problem anyway because they're pitting Matthew 28 and Isaiah 9-6 against
each other.
Their two biggest proof texts are at odds with one another.
Doesn't even make sense.
Jesus Christ has the attributes of being everlasting and being a father unto us.
He also represents the everlasting father.
He's the image of the everlasting father.
To just come out and say, well, no, Jesus is the father and the father is Jesus.
The son is the father.
The father is the son.
That is heresy.
That is false.
It's a lie.
Look at Isaiah.
I'm sorry.
Where did I return Hosea?
Here's another us because I wanted to show you the us, our like I did in Genesis 1, Genesis
3.
Here's another instance of that in Hosea chapter 12 verse 3.
It says, he took his brother by the heel and the womb and by his strength he had power
with God.
Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed.
He wept and made supplication unto him.
He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us.
Even the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial.
So Jacob is said to have spoken with us.
God says Jacob spoke with us there.
Now go back if you would in your Bible to Psalm 110.
Psalm 110, this is a pretty famous verse.
And it's another one that people who deny the deity of Christ struggle with.
People who deny the Trinity struggle with.
Jews would struggle with this.
This is a pretty powerful verse.
And that's why this verse, Psalm 110 verse 1 is used throughout the New Testament to
prove the deity of Christ.
The apostles are constantly bringing up the scripture to prove that Jesus is God.
But it's pretty clear from this verse that it's not oneness.
It's not modalism.
It's a trinity because look at Psalm 110 verse 1.
The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy
footstool.
Now how is that one person talking?
The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, hello, is anybody home?
Sit thou at my right hand.
There's not one throne with one guy sitting in it and yada, yada, yada, no, no.
The Lord said unto my Lord, that's the Father talking to the Son, sit thou at my right hand
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
And there's no mystery about what that means because that verse is quoted throughout the
New Testament.
That's how the apostles are constantly interpreting it from this scripture.
Look at verse 2.
The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.
Kill thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.
In the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth.
The Lord hath sworn and will not repent.
Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Go if you would to Psalm 45.
While you're turning to Psalm 45, I'll give you some New Testament quotes on what we just
read.
In Matthew 22, it says, what think ye of Christ, whose son is he?
They say unto him, the son of David.
He saith unto them, how then did David in spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said
unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
And David himself saith, in the book of Psalms, it says in Luke 20 verse 42, the Lord said
unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
David therefore calleth him Lord.
How is he then his son?
So he's explaining that it's not that the Messiah is just a physical descendant of David,
but that he's actually the Lord, and that he predates David because the Lord said unto
my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Acts 2 34 says the exact same thing, pretty much.
Look at Psalm 45.
How about this?
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter.
Now let's stop right there and ask ourselves, who is being addressed here?
If we just only had this one verse, we just have this one verse, we read this verse, we're
reading Psalms, who's being addressed in this verse?
God.
Everybody see that?
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
So O God, he's saying, I'm talking to you.
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
Everybody got that?
Now look at the next verse.
Thou lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity, therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Now look at what this verse is saying.
He's addressing someone as God.
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
He says to that same person that God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of
gladness above your fellows.
How can that be?
How can God talk, how can basically it be said unto God that his God has anointed him?
Does everybody see what we're saying?
Okay, this is interpreted in Hebrews 1.
Let's go to Hebrews 1 and get the interpretation.
This is a scripture that on its face is difficult to understand, especially if you were living
back in the days of the Old Testament, and you see thy throne, O God, and then it says
therefore God has anointed you, O God.
How can God anoint God?
Think about it.
Is everybody following?
How can God anoint God?
Here's how God can anoint God.
The Father anoints the Son.
The Father is God.
The Son is God, and the Holy Spirit are God, because they all collectively make up the
Godhead.
I mean, it's pretty clear.
Look, let's see how it's interpreted in Hebrews.
It says in verse number 8, but unto the Son he saith.
So that proves right there that the one that's being addressed is the Son that's being addressed.
To the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
Thou ist love, righteousness, and hate and iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, who
are we talking about?
The Father, because the Father is often just referred to as God in the Bible.
Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
So in verses 8 and 9, two things are explicitly proven.
Number one, it's proven that Jesus is God.
Because unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God.
But it's also explicitly proven that there's someone else who is saying that to him, who
is also God, who is his God.
And since we know there's only one God, it makes perfect sense when you understand that
Jesus was in the beginning with God and he was God, because there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
And that's how God can say, let's make man in our image after our likeness.
I'm trying to make this simple, I'm trying to make this easy to understand, I'm trying
to make it as clear as I can.
And look, I can understand a new believer getting turned around on this, I can understand
somebody who hasn't read a lot of Bible getting a little mixed up on this, I can understand
especially when they're hearing false teaching, they could get spun around on this or confused
on this.
But you know what, if anybody has this explained to them and scripture is shown unto them and
they just still deny the Trinity, he that is of God heareth God's words, ye therefore
hear them not because you're not of God.
This is not some Bible prophecy interpretation, this is not some gray area, this isn't something
that is, you know, there's only a few verses and we have to try to figure it out.
This is something where there's just a mountain of scripture.
And something's wrong when you can see all this scripture on the, and if you could sit
through that sermon on Wednesday night with just 50 proofs from the book of John alone,
you know, something's wrong because this doctrine is laid out pretty clearly in the Bible.
And I can even understand somebody maybe, you know, misspeaking or explaining something
using a bad illustration, I mean, we, you know, everybody's done that where they maybe
use a bad illustration and then think back that, you know, oh, that wasn't the best illustration.
And obviously, any illustration we use to talk about the Trinity is gonna fall short
because God is God and, you know, we can relate him to things like, you know, we could say,
for example, it's like an egg, you know, the shell and the yolk and the white but it's
one egg, composes one egg or whatever or the body, soul and spirit composes who we are.
Every illustration is gonna at some point break down.
It's gonna at some point not measure up.
Those are just things that help us grasp the truth.
But when you can just sit there and just go into full-blown oneness Pentecostalism, full-blown
modalism and don't, look, do not for one second believe the lie that they're not teaching
oneness or that they're somehow like halfway between modalism and Trinity.
It is a lie.
There is zilch, zero, nada, different between what they're teaching and the oneness or modalism
doctrine.
It's just that clear.
And they'll try to say, oh, well, we're not saying that there's no distinction between,
you know, because I'm saying they're not putting a difference between the Father and the Son.
But they're saying, no, no, no, there's a distinction but listen to what they say when
they explain the distinction.
Here's what they say, oh, there's a difference between Jesus Christ as a human and Jesus
Christ as God.
They put a difference between the humanity of Christ and the deity of Christ but they
put no distinction between the Son and the Father and the Holy Ghost.
But they do a bait and switch.
We're talking about distinguishing the Father from the Son from the Holy Ghost.
They do a little bait and switch where they, oh, there's a distinction between the deity
of Christ and His humanity.
Don't you fall for their sleight of hand, okay?
Go if you would or let's just continue here in Hebrews 1.
Hebrews chapter 1 and let's read the whole chapter because there are multiple things
that they pull out of this chapter and twist and confuse.
It's bizarre.
But look at chapter 1 verse 1, God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by
His Son whom He hath appointed heir of all things by whom also He made the worlds.
Even just at first blush, this isn't, again, not one person, I mean you could read any
chapter in the New Testament practically and see fathers loving the Son, the Father sent
the Son, the Son returns to the Father, the Father anoints the Son, you know, come on.
But it says, you know, He's also spoken unto us by His Son whom He hath appointed heir
of all things by whom also He made the worlds.
So the Father made the world by Jesus Christ.
That's why it says that Jesus made the whole world.
Jesus is the creator because the Father made the world by the Son.
The Bible says, who being the brightness of His glory.
So Jesus is the brightness of God's glory and in the context here, He's the brightness
of the Father's glory, right?
Everybody following along, perk up, pay attention or you're going to be sucked in by these
people, you'll be next.
Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding
all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high.
Now stop and look at this, it uses the word person.
Now the Bible says that Jesus is the express image of His person.
Does it say Jesus is that same person?
No.
His person, okay, it doesn't say that He's the express image of Himself.
That wouldn't make any sense anyway.
If I say, Dustin, you are just the spitting image of yourself.
You look just like yourself.
But what if I looked at His Son or His daughter and said, wow, they are your spitting image.
Or what if I said to a twin that His twin looks just like Him?
That makes sense.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
That's what the Bible says.
No man has seen the Father, nobody can see His face and live.
Jesus is that image of the Father.
And so when the Bible says that Jesus is the express image of His person, of His person,
it's not saying that they are one and the same person, that they are equivalent to each
other.
That the Father is the Son, the Son is the Father, wrong.
He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
Being made so much more, so much better than the angels as He by inheritance obtained a
more excellent name than they.
For unto which of the angels said He at any time, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee.
And again, I'll be to Him a Father and He shall be to me a Son.
Is everybody getting all this?
And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith, and let all the
angels of God worship Him.
And of the angels He saith, who maketh His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of
fire.
But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness
and a scepter of Thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity.
Therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.
And Thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth.
This is also being said to the Son.
And Thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the works of Thine hands.
They shall perish, but Thou remainest.
And they all shall wax old, as doth the garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and
they shall be changed.
But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.
But to the angels said He at any time, sit on My right hand, until I make Thy enemies
Thy footstool.
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs
of salvation?
While we're in Hebrews, go to chapter 9.
Hebrews chapter 9.
Hebrews chapter number 9, verse 14, the Bible reads, How much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God?
Look, that's the Trinity, friend.
Jesus Christ, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself to Himself?
Is that what it says, that He offered Himself to Himself?
No, He offered Himself without spot to God, referring to the Father.
Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
For this cause, He is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for
the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament, they which
are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Point number 2, and no, they're not all going to be as long as point 1, go to First Corinthians
chapter 11.
First Corinthians 11.
So point number 1, we studied the Old Testament and saw evidence in the Old Testament.
Just on Wednesday, we just demolished modalism, demolished oneness with just the book of
John alone.
I mean, destroyed it.
It was embarrassing.
It was laughable.
It was just a total utter, just complete, just demolition, just game over.
Just put a fork in it, it's done.
But not only that, we just looked at a lot of Old Testament evidence, because we looked
at the stuff from Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Hosea, and then we also took it into the New
Testament, Hebrews 1, because Hebrews 1 is doing what?
It's referring back to that stuff.
Hebrews 1 was a reference back to Psalm 110, and back to Psalm number 45.
So we saw the Old Testament witness, that's what I focused on this morning.
But let's also look at number 2, that there is a chain of command in the Godhead.
If the Father is Jesus, and Jesus is the Father, and it's just God in different modes, God's
just one Spirit in different modes, or in different manifestations, then how is there
a chain of command in the Godhead?
Now let me just come right out and tell you that Tyler Baker, Elliot Ray, Rick Martinez,
and Russell Bops are saying there is no chain of command.
They flat out say there is no chain of command.
Not only that, they say that there's no difference in the will of the Father from the will of
the Son.
They're explicitly saying that.
Even though there's clear scripture that says, not my will, but thine be done, I've come
not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me, not as I will, but as thou wilt,
they're denying that there's any chain of command whatsoever.
Just like, and look, it's not that I have failed to teach people.
I have taught on the Trinity frequently, and not only that, I just talked about it a couple
months ago.
I knew I had just talked about it, and I couldn't figure out when I talked about it.
We were in Albuquerque, and Brother Berg reminded me, he said, hey, it was that sermon on the
shack.
Remember that book, The Shack?
Guess what the shack teaches?
Modalism, oneness, Pentecostalism.
Why?
In the shack, it says there's no chain of command between Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
They all submit to each other.
There's no chain of command.
Not only that, but in the book, The Shack, God the Father has holes in the hands, and
the Holy Spirit has holes in the hands that God the Father died on the cross for us.
This is known as, and this goes hand in hand with, and I know this is a weird, fancy theological
term, Patropationalism, is the doctrine that God the Father died on the cross for us.
That's a false doctrine.
It's a lie, and it's part of this oneness, modalist package.
There's nothing new under the sun.
This ties in with Hinduism as well.
You're like, don't get on the Hindus again, but look, I told you, remember the author
of The Shack was into Hinduism.
He named the Holy Spirit after a Hindu God in that book.
He taught all kinds of Hinduism.
In Hinduism, it's the same thing, where there's only one God in different manifestations.
That's what Hinduism teaches, one spirit that's in different modes, and that Krishna is an
avatar of their one true God.
That basically is what this modalist, it turns Jesus into an avatar of God, or an avatar
of the Father, when in reality, these are distinct, and these are not the same person.
There's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
This is what it's been traditionally explained as, God in three persons.
Like the song, holy, holy, holy, and it says, God in three persons, blessed Trinity.
We just sang that at Verity a while back.
It's not in our hymnal, but it was a chorus of the week in Verity Baptist, but that's
how it's been explained, because it's not one and the same person of just the Son is
the Father, the Father is the Holy Ghost.
It's just not biblical, but the shack teaches that.
You say, well, why bring up the shack?
The only reason I'm bringing up the shack is simply to illustrate the fact that I just
taught this two months ago, and I've taught this repeatedly, I've done other sermons.
Look, the Revelation DVD series, in episode 22, I went into a big 20 minute spiel, and
then I uploaded it as its own video a year ago, just to refresh it in people's minds.
I've done sermons on this, I've taught on this.
In fact, sometimes I felt like I was running 1 Corinthians 15 into the ground I was bringing
it up so much.
I didn't even know why I was bringing it up so much, but now I understand that God was
leading me to bring it up, because what if I hadn't have taught it?
What if I hadn't have brought it up?
It could have caused people to get even more confused, and even more people to be deceived,
if I hadn't have brought that up.
I'm thankful that God allowed me to preach on this multiple times without even really
fully understanding why I was spending so much time on that.
Look at 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3, the Bible says, but I would have you to know that the
head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ
is God.
The head of Christ is God.
Now what does that mean?
Well, when the Bible says that the man is the head of the woman, obviously that's talking
about authority.
We talked about the head of a company, the head of a corporation, the head of the church.
Who's the head of the church?
Christ is the head of the church, and he's the savior of the body.
So the head is the boss.
So the woman, who's her boss?
Who's her husband?
Well, who's the boss of Christ?
God.
That's what it says, the head of Christ is God.
Go to chapter 15 verse 22, because some people would say, well, you know, that's just while
Jesus was on this earth, you know, because that's what they want to make the big distinction
between the humanity and deity of Christ.
Hey, he put all that aside to become human.
But hold on, 1 Corinthians 11 is not being written while Jesus is walking on this earth.
Jesus has already died, been buried, risen again, and been glorified and seated at the
right hand of the Father, and yet Paul says, present tense, the head of Christ is God.
God is the head of Christ, meaning that there is authority structure between the Father
and the Son.
But even if we go beyond the present day, and we go way into the future, beyond the
millennial reign of Christ, we see that there's still a chain of command between the Father
and the Son.
And I say this, if Jesus is the Father and the Father is Jesus, then what would be the
point of even having a millennial reign of Christ?
I mean, think about that, because the Bible says that Jesus will reign forever and ever.
The Bible says we will reign forever and ever.
So what's the millennium then?
Why have a thousand year reign and then let's reign some more?
He's going to reign for a thousand years and then he's going to reign some more.
Here's why it makes sense.
Because of the fact that during the thousand year reign, Jesus Christ, the Son, will directly
reign on this earth.
He will be present on this earth, physically, bodily on this earth.
The Son of God will be on this earth ruling and reigning for one thousand years.
But then that ends, friend, it doesn't go on forever, because what happens at the end
of the thousand years, he delivers up the kingdom to the Father and guess what?
Then the Father actually literally comes and reigns on this earth and is present with us.
And we will see his face at that point.
At this time, no one can see his face and live.
Listen to me, when you go to heaven, you're not going to just look right into the face
of God the Father when you get there.
You will see the Lord Jesus Christ and that's why even when Stephen looked up and he saw
the glory of God, the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand of the Father.
And let me read that for you while I'm on the subject.
It says in Acts chapter number 7, you don't have to turn there, but in Acts 7, keep your
finger where we are in Corinthians, but in Acts 7, 55 it says, but he being full of the
Holy Ghost, this is Stephen, looked up steadfastly in heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus
standing on the right hand of God.
So is he looking up and seeing one person?
No, he sees the glory of God.
Why?
Because he can't just explicitly see the face of God the Father.
He sees the glory of God and he sees the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
So when we get to heaven, we're going to be face to face with Jesus, the Son of God.
Then we're going to return with him on white horses to rule and reign with Christ a thousand
years on this earth.
That's the Son of God right there.
That's different than after the great white throne when God the Father will personally
directly reign, not the Son directly reigning and the Father up in heaven, no, no, no.
He will dwell among them and we shall see his face and his name shall be at our foreheads.
That's different.
That's why it makes sense to have a thousand year reign of Jesus Christ, then there's just
God's reign.
Now, does Jesus continue reigning?
Sure, as the second in command, as the second in command.
It says we're going to continue reigning.
We shall reign forever and ever, but not as the top boss of our own planet like the Mormons
would teach, right?
You know, it's God the Father and look, there's no mystery about it.
Here's the chain of command.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
I mean, it's not complicated.
That's the chain of command.
Look if you would at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22 and I'll prove what I just told you about
the millennium.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
So we're talking about the resurrection.
But every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits.
So Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
He's the only one, by the way, who rose from the dead to never die again.
Other people who were brought back to life in the Bible, they all died again.
Like Lazarus is not still alive.
Lazarus came out of the tomb, but then he died eventually.
Now they probably waited a long time to bury him just to make sure, but he died.
Other dead bodies in the Old Testament where people like, you know, where Elisha raised
a dead body back to life or Jesus raised a few dead bodies back to life or when, you
know, when Jesus was crucified on the cross and rose again, it talks about how there were
some bodies of the saints that came out of the graves and walked into the city and everything.
Those people all died again.
Just like, you know, Lazarus and everybody.
The only person who truly resurrected from the dead to die again no more is Jesus.
He was the first fruits of the resurrection.
Because it says as an Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits.
Afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
This is the rapture, the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ rise first, we which are alive
and remain to be caught up together with them in the clouds.
So here's the resurrection of the dead timeline.
Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
That's known as the first resurrection.
There's the first fruits, then there's the first resurrection.
But there's another resurrection, a second resurrection.
Because the Bible says the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished.
So there's another dead coming to live again after the millennium.
And that's talking about the saved, only the saved.
Because the unsaved are never going to live again.
That's why it says I saw the dead small and great sand before God.
And they're cast into lake of fire if they're not saved and so forth.
And the ones who are saved, they live again.
That's why there's a resurrection unto life and a resurrection unto damnation.
Resurrect simply means to rise up again.
It doesn't mean that you're alive.
Because you say I saw the dead small and great sand before God.
The books are open, the dead are judged.
So there's basically, Jesus is the first fruits, then there's the first resurrection
at the rapture, and then there's a second resurrection after the millennium.
Look what it says.
Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christed is coming, verse 24, then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.
Now what do people not understand about this verse?
Christ reigns, and then he delivers up the kingdom to God, and even if someone were to
just read 27 and 28 and dispute it, if they just back up to 24, it tells them that God
here is referring to the Father.
He delivers up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall put down all rule and
all authority.
And look, by the way, stop right there.
If Jesus were not God, why would you have to specify even the Father, right?
Because look, the people who are reading this already believe in the deity of Christ.
I believe in the deity of Christ.
You believe in the deity of Christ.
I believe Jesus is God.
Every Baptist believes Jesus is God.
Every non-denom Christian believes that Jesus is God, okay?
We all believe Jesus is God, that's why when he says he's going to deliver up the kingdom
to God, he makes it real clear, you know, we're talking about the Father.
Why?
Because there's someone else we could be talking about when we say God.
We could be referring to Jesus or we could be referring to the Holy Ghost.
So he says, then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even
the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must
reign till, till, that means until he hath put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy
that shall be destroyed is dead.
See after the millennium, after the great white throne, there's a new heaven, new earth,
there's no more sorrow, no crying, no death.
No more death.
Death is destroyed.
He's going to destroy all enemies.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his
feet, meaning that the Father put all things under the son's feet, but when he sayeth all
things are put under him, it's manifest.
What's manifest mean?
It's obvious.
It's exposed.
It's obvious.
Obviously when it says the Father put all things under his feet, it's obvious.
It's manifest that the exception is he himself, that he is accepted, which did put all things
under him.
What's it saying?
The Father did not put himself under the son.
He put everything else under the son.
Everything except him.
That's why it says except at the end.
It doesn't say accepted like A-C-C.
It's E-X-C.
Accepted.
It's an exception.
Everything's under Jesus except the Father, okay, which did put all things under him,
and when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the son.
So once everything is, see, right now, we see not yet all things put under him.
The Bible says we see not yet all things put under him in Hebrews.
All things are not under Jesus' feet right now, but after the millennium and the great
white throne, everything will be placed under Jesus, everything.
So at that point when everything's placed under Jesus, when all things shall be subdued
unto him, then shall the son also be subject unto him that put all things under him that
God may be all in all.
So the chain of command is still intact at the very end, when everything's over.
The Bible calls it the end, then cometh the end, when everything's subdued, every enemy
has been destroyed, the last enemy that's destroyed is dead, and then at that point
Jesus will be himself subject unto the Father.
He will submit unto the Father.
Look, he submitted unto the Father on this earth, repeatedly saying that in John, to
the point of just a bizarreness that anybody would not see that he said that so many times.
He says in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, because in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it's not
my will but thine be done, not as I will as I.
It's in all four gospels, these statements about submitting to the Father.
We know that during the time of the New Testament, during the time of churches and where we live
right now and the book of Acts and 2017, 1 Corinthians 11 tells us the head of Christ
is God, and then even if we go all the way into the future, to the very end, he's still
submitting to the Father.
So how can these people say that there's no chain of command?
How can they say, oh, they have the identical will?
Folks, it's a lie.
It's a fraud.
This is something that, you know, I'm going to have to stop with the sermon at that point
simply because, you know, we're out of time and I'm going to preach on this again tonight.
And look, this was not a repeat of Wednesday night's sermon.
So don't think to yourself, well, hey, I already heard this.
No, no, no, you need to go home and listen to that Wednesday night sermon.
You need Wednesday night's sermon and this morning's sermon and tonight's sermon.
These three are one, friends.
Three witnesses.
Look.
Wait a minute, he's saying the Wednesday night sermon is the Sunday morning sermon.
Well, I guess you only need to listen to one then.
Three different modes of the same sermon.
No, no, no, these are three totally different sermons, but they're all preaching the same
truth.
Okay.
So the point is that you need to hear the Wednesday night sermon.
You know, I believe that this morning's sermon was pretty clear.
If not, maybe you need to go listen to it again.
But honestly, you should come back tonight and hear even more because there's just so
much on this subject.
And these guys have been nefarious.
They've been devilish.
They've been diabolical.
And I didn't really, when I fired Tyler Baker, I didn't realize how bad it was because I
just found out a bit.
I had no clue about this last Sunday.
No clue.
Did not see this coming at all.
And I found out about this on Monday morning.
And it wasn't until I came out and said, hey, we fired him.
He's teaching heresy.
He's going around to eat.
And I had a list of all the people that he admitted teaching it to.
But then we went to the preaching class on Tuesday night.
Who was at the preaching class on Tuesday night?
Put up your hands.
A lot of hands, right?
There were about 30 guys total that were there.
I did a quick little head count.
There were about 30 guys on Tuesday at the preaching class.
And there were a whole bunch of people standing up.
Oh, yeah.
He talked to me about it.
Oh, yeah.
He told me about it.
And then I like how Elliot says, oh, yeah, I was telling one of these guys about it.
And he told me to stop the car and let him out of the car.
He didn't even want to take the ride from me.
But then they act like I'm crazy for thinking that this is a big deal, attacking the Trinity.
Because these people are saying that the doctrine that all Baptists teach on the Trinity is
all wrong.
We need to get on this new doctrine, divers and strange doctrines.
But people got up on Tuesday night and they testified.
And they said, oh, yeah, he talked to me about it at this event.
He talked about it on this occasion.
And look, Elliot came out and said, you know, it's being made out that Tyler Baker was the
mastermind of this.
But that's not really how it happened because, you know, Elliot figured it out on his own.
So we're supposed to believe that all these guys just independently figured this out on
their own at the same time in the same church.
Everybody else in the whole, you know, independent fundamental Baptist world and even Southern
Baptist world all believes in the Trinity.
But these guys just all coincidentally all just started finding this stuff.
But it's because they all are lifted up with pride.
And it's like they all don't want to be playing second fiddle.
So it's like, well, you know, he didn't really come up with it.
I came up with it on my own.
And by the way, we had people testify because Tyler Baker's like, oh, I came up with this
on my own from the Bible.
But then in the next breath, it's like, oh, well, I just had a question about this one
verse and then Rick and Elliot pretty much taught it to me.
OK.
But not only that, but then you listen to what Elliot said according to the witnesses
that stood up in the preaching class.
And you know what they said?
They said, well, Elliot told us about going on YouTube and watching debates between Oneness
Pentecostals and Trinitarians.
And he was telling people in church, oh, the Oneness just destroyed the Trinitarians.
That's where it came from.
Elliot's online watching a bunch of Oneness Pentecostal crap.
And then they all get together and they feed off each other and they get all puffed up
and vain in their fleshly minds and get this stuff.
Oh, I got it from the Bible alone and my two buddies, one of whom was going around talking
about watching Oneness Pentecostals on YouTube, debate the Trinity and win.
Unbelievable, friend.
Un-be-stinking-lievable that these guys would turn around and then say, it's not Oneness.
And that's what the guy who told me that said, he said, well, if it's not Oneness, why are
you bragging about the Oneness guy winning a debate?
No Oneness guy ever won a debate on this and if he did, somebody else needs to fill that
Trinity slot.
Put a five-year-old in that Trinity slot who's got a few memory verses memorized.
And look, I know that there are probably some people, because they're emotional about this,
because they're friends with these people who are going to say, hey, you're being too
harsh or you're too mean or you're overreacting and all this stuff.
But let me tell you something.
These people are my friends too, but you know what, I don't care.
Because if my own friend says, come, let's go worship other gods, what does the Bible
say?
Your friend that's in your own bosom.
You're supposed to be the first one to lay hands on him and after that all the rest of
the congregation.
So to sit there and say, oh, but these guys are our friends, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
If your friends are blaspheming and teaching heresy and trying to split the church, and
that, look, that's what they were doing.
They were telling people to move to Jacksonville, Florida.
I thought it was all innocent.
Did you all hear me a few weeks ago say, hey, I think it's great if people want to move
to Jacksonville and help them start the church.
I think it's great.
Did I discourage that at all?
No way.
You know why?
Because I was naive.
Because I thought it was innocent.
You know, when you're innocent, you think other people are innocent.
So I thought it was all so innocent.
I'm just thinking like, yeah, great, you know, get him a running start.
How can you not say that I did not love him and want to help him when I've done everything
to try to promote him and be a blessing and try to get him off to a good start.
Any of those people that were moving there could tell you that they came to me and told
me that, and I said, great.
I didn't say a negative word about it.
I said it was great.
But that's because I didn't know what was really going on was that they were saying,
well, you need to go to this Jacksonville church because it's going to be closer to
the truth, quote, closer to the truth than faithful word.
First of all, it's not about being close to the truth.
We're not close to the truth around here.
We believe the truth around here.
We're not just, you know, blindly trying.
You're getting warmer.
Wait, three or one.
Okay, you're getting warmer.
The God is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
We already know what we believe on God.
We know who Jesus is.
We know the Trinity is a biblical doctrine.
But to sit there and be on our payroll, look, two different people, two different people
called me and said this.
They called the church phone number because they wanted to move to Phoenix, Arizona and
join our church.
They called to get information about housing and jobs.
And you know what he told them?
He told them the weather here is too hot.
The economy is no good.
You ought to go to Jacksonville.
And both of them had decided to move to Jacksonville because he's on our payroll working for our
church answering our telephone and like Absalom saying, no, no, no, David can't help you.
He's kissing them and hugging them.
And both of these guys told me he called them on a weekly basis just to check in, to say
hi.
Something I don't have time to do because I'm working.
I'm working my butt off.
I don't just, sorry I don't go around and kiss every owie and kiss every person and
be there for every moment in your life, all 350 of you.
You know, I'm working for God.
I have people that work for me to help me in the daily administration.
But then Absalom, what did he say?
Oh, you know, sorry David doesn't have time for you, but I do.
Come here.
That's what's been going on.
That's look, that's devilish.
That's nefarious.
If you don't agree with the doctrines of our church, why are you on staff?
Why are you answering the phone?
Why are you calling these people back when they called us and telling them and then look,
this oneness doctrine was the tool that they were using to promote their new church over
there.
And just to make this crystal clear, because there are a whole bunch of people in Jacksonville
that were all excited about them getting there, and there are a whole bunch of people
who already moved there and were going to move there, and there are some people in our
church and other churches who are still moving there because the wheels have already been
set in motion.
They had other reasons to go there.
So don't get me wrong, not everybody who was moving to Jacksonville was part of this.
I just named the people who were part of it.
I'm not protecting any of them.
The people are Rick Martinez, Elliot Ray, Tyler Baker, and Russell Bops.
Those are the four bad guys here.
And if I find out about anybody else that believes this crap, I'm going to throw you
out of the church and name your name in front of everybody.
He said, I don't like those tactics.
Well I don't like you coming into our church and teaching lies, and as the bishop and overseer
of this flock, it's my job to protect from Judas, coming in and creeping in with this
junk.
And a man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition is rejected.
And these guys have all had way more than that.
And so there are other people who are still moving there for other reasons from other
churches or they already got the job, they already bought the house, they sold the farm,
they're already there, or other people who are just in Jacksonville.
Look, at first I felt the worst for them because they were the biggest victims here.
And don't you dare make Tyler Baker a victim to me.
Oh, we need to stop being so mean to Tyler.
Why don't you shut up?
We're the ones, Garren and brother Segura and I are the ones who had to put up with
his lazy rear end.
We're the victim.
We're the ones who are getting trash talked by these people.
We're the ones doing all the work while he sits on his butt in there just stroking everybody's
ego while we do the real work around here.
Go ask those two guys if I'm telling the truth.
And I thought the real victims are the people over in Jacksonville.
But you know what?
I got good news for you.
Brother Romero is sending his best guy, his right hand man, Adam Fanon, to go found a
church in Jacksonville, Florida on the same day that brother Baker was going to start
it.
Excuse me, I keep saying brother Baker.
I thought that he was probably saved and I said on Wednesday night I still thought that
he could be saved.
But after watching his hour and 18 minute video, I don't believe that he's saved anymore.
That was the turning point for me where I believed that he was a total Judas.
But I'll tell you right now, thank God for brother Romero.
And thank God for brother Adam Fanon.
Look, God works all things together for good.
So don't get all down and depressed or discouraged.
God allowed this to come out.
We could have easily just accidentally sent him out if it weren't for the intervention
of the Rodriguez's and the Madison's that brought this to us.
Without that intervention we could have accidentally sent this guy out and then way more damage
would have been done.
God allowed this to come out at this time and I believe that it's all going to work
together for good.
And that God's got a plan.
And I believe that Adam Fanon is going to be great and that him coming to Jacksonville
is a part of God's plan to use this all for his honor and glory.
He's from there originally, that region, he's got a lot of connections there and I spent
several hours with him.
I like him.
And he's not even on the payroll at steadfast.
He does more work than our guy was doing that was getting paid, Tyler Baker.
So I'm pretty excited about that and I'm just warning you, you know, don't you come
to me with sympathy for the devil.
Go listen to your Rolling Stones or something if that's what you believe in.
Don't come to me with that sympathy for Judas.
Oh, he cried.
Yeah, you know who else cried?
Esau, Judas Iscariot and Bill Clinton.
That's who else cried.
And self-pity, self-pity is not love.
Just because somebody cries, it doesn't mean that they love you.
I mean, yeah, of course he feels bad that he screwed up his life, lost everything, ruined
a perfect opportunity, got busted, got caught.
Of course, of course you're going to cry when you get busted.
Look, do your kids ever cry when they get busted and caught and then they go do the
same thing another time?
I want to make this real clear in case I haven't already.
If you believe in this oneness, modalist junk, get out of this church.
You're not welcome here.
And if I find out that you believe in it, you're thrown out of the church as a heretic
after the first and second admonition.
Yeah, you're running a cult.
No, actually I'm running a church that would do the same thing that every church, every
Bible believing church believes in the Trinity.
Every single one.
The cults are the oneness cults.
Just go on non-Trinitarianism on Wikipedia and look at the list of people who believe
in it.
And if you say, well, you're talking about me, good.
And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Because this is not an optional doctrine in this church.
You must believe in the Trinity to be a part of our church.
We don't have to agree on everything.
You can disagree with me on a bunch of doctrines.
You can disagree with me on Bible prophecy.
You can be pre-trib.
You're welcome.
Pre-tribbers are welcome.
But they're wrong.
Yeah, exactly.
But look, let me make this clear.
Pre-tribbers are welcome.
Hey, I don't care if somebody says, hey, I believe that Israel is the greatest country
in the Middle East right now.
I love Israel.
And if the U.S. doesn't support Israel, God's not going to bless them.
Look, if you believe that, you're still welcome to come here.
I mean, look, if you come here and you say, hey, I think rock and roll music is great,
you can still come here.
You can come to this church and say, I believe that Babylon is any city in the world.
And you're welcome to come here.
I'm serious.
Look, you can come to this church and you can disagree with me on communion.
You can disagree with me on breastfeeding.
You can disagree with me on home birth.
You can disagree with me on birth control.
Go pump yourself full of birth control.
But let me tell you something.
You cannot come to our church and be a part of the body here if you disagree on salvation.
Now, obviously, people don't throw people out their first week for disagreeing on salvation
because a lot of times people have to come for six, seven, eight, nine weeks and then
they get salvation.
But I'm talking about people who've heard and understood the truth and they're just
like, no, I reject salvation by faith.
Or I reject the eternal security believer.
Because obviously, look, we've had people that come and they give the wrong answer on
salvation.
They keep coming.
You've got to give people several months sometimes.
Sometimes it takes a while for it to click with them.
The seed's got to be watered.
But look, if you're dead set on disagreeing on the gospel or on the King James Bible being
the right Bible or on the deity of Christ or on the Trinity, I mean, these are not optional.
These are non-negotiables.
And we need to understand the difference between non-negotiable fundamentals and other secondary
doctrines, right?
And if anybody has any questions about this, feel free to come talk to me after the service.
I'm not going to rip your head off.
Okay.
But if you come to me with this modalist crap and try to convince me of it, I will rip your
head off.
Because I'm not interested.
I'm not interested in learning about modalism.
Not interested in learning about oneness.
I know what it is and it's not allowed.
So if that's a deal breaker for you, well, good, because it is for me too.
It's like we're on the same page.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.