So if you look at 1 John chapter 5 and look at verse number 20,
1 John chapter 5 and verse number 20 it says,
And we know that the Son of God is come,
and have given us an understanding,
look, Christ has come to give us an understanding, right?
That we may know Him that is true,
and we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ, look at this,
this is the true God and eternal life.
The title for the sermon this morning is,
The True God, The True God.
Last week we had a look at the Holy Scriptures.
That was the first point that we're going through in our statement of faith.
On the Holy Scriptures we had said that God had promised to preserve His word,
and that we've got 66 books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,
which doesn't just contain God's word, it is God's word.
And not only that, we've been blessed with a perfect translation into English.
So the Bible that we use to preach from this church is the King James Bible.
And so if we're going to base everything that we teach and believe on this Bible,
then this Bible is also going to reveal to us who the true God is.
As I said, the title for the sermon this morning is,
The True God.
Why would it have to say that the true, why doesn't it just say God?
All right, this is the God.
It says this is the true God, because there are many false gods.
Okay, that's why.
There are many gods, believe it or not, believe there are many gods,
but they're false gods.
They're not true, okay.
The only one that is true is the God that we learn about from the scriptures.
You see, you can even go and speak to many Christians,
and they've got an idea of who God is from their imagination.
You know, people say, well, God is love, and of course, God is love.
And you know, there are some Christians that have a hard time accepting
that God can cast people in eternal torment in a place like hell,
you know, for rejecting salvation, for rejecting His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But if we want to know the true God, then we must know Him holy,
how the Bible describes God.
We can't just have a preference of how God is.
You know, we must accept God by the way the Word of God reveals it unto us.
You know, my wife, you know, she's accepted me as her husband.
Okay, she's got to accept me for who I wholly am.
She can't just be like, well, I like this part, and that's my husband.
The parts that I don't like about my husband, that's not really my husband.
No, you know, if she wants to know me, she's got to know everything,
you know, all parts of me.
Okay, if we want to know God, we must know Him in the fullness
that the Word of God reveals unto us.
Now, again, why is it so important that it says this is the true God?
Because not just looking at the next verse.
Verse number 21, little children.
Little children, who's that referring to?
Believers or non-believers?
Believers.
Little children, believers, keep yourselves from idols, amen.
Keep yourself from, what?
You say, but pastor, I'll never worship some statue.
Now, you know, I'll never put an image of Jesus Christ with his long blonde hair and blue eyes
like the Roman Catholic churches do.
You know, I'm not going to sit down and worship some drawing or some image or some statue,
but notice that if you turn your eyes away from the true God,
you are worshiping idols.
You are serving idols.
You see, false gods are idols, that's what they are.
You know, you may call Him God, you may call Him Jesus,
but if it's not the Jesus of the Bible, it's an idol.
Little children, little children.
This is why it's so important for us to go through this.
We can't just, ah, well, we know who God is.
Well, little children, keep yourselves from idols, amen.
Okay, in reference to knowing who the true God is.
Now, when we think about the true God,
and as I said to you, as we go through the statement of faith,
you know, I'm updating what we've currently got as a church,
but again, it's not going to be a change of beliefs,
it's just further clarification, more detail as to what we believe.
It's really come to my understanding,
how important it is that we clearly define who our God is,
who our true God is.
And so, in our statement of faith, and again,
if you disagree with this, you've got to let me know, okay?
If you agree with this, let me know, okay?
I'm happy either way.
Let me know if you agree with what we're going to have in our statement of faith,
but this is what we're going to have under the true God.
It says we believe in the one true living God,
the creator and supreme ruler of heaven and earth,
perfectly holy, worthy of all possible honour, confidence and love,
existing in three distinct persons, revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature,
co-equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfection.
So this is going to be the statement of faith that we have under the true God.
You say, well, why?
Why did you just mention there the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit?
Didn't you just say there is just the one true God?
Of course, there is one true God.
In fact, even in this very same chapter, 1 John chapter 5,
and this is why it's so important that you've got a King James Bible in your hands,
1 John 5 verse 7, it says,
For there are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
Who is the true God?
The true God is three in one, the Father, the Word,
or we know him as Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
and the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, these three are one.
See, we believe in one God, but who is three distinct persons.
You say, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
You know what?
It doesn't have to make a lot of sense to you.
If this is what the Bible teaches, this is what we are to believe.
This is what we are to believe.
Like, what did we see earlier?
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
You know what?
If your God is not one God in three persons, you believe in an idol.
You believe in a false God, okay?
The Bible reveals to us, and we saw in the same chapter, the true God.
One God in three persons.
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one, okay?
Now, as I covered last week, your modern Bibles, they've corrupted that verse.
They want you to believe in some other God.
You know, they don't want you to believe in one God in three persons,
and so 1 John 5, 7 is sometimes completely removed,
or all it says is there are three that bear record, or three that bear witness.
And so we must have a King James Bible in our hands.
And I'm going to prove to you from other scriptures,
you know, it's not the only scripture that we have about the triune nature of God,
but I'll prove to you as we keep going in this,
that we believe in one God, yet one God in three persons.
Not one God in a hundred persons, all right?
It's not like, well, God just decided to reveal himself in three persons.
You know, why did God, we don't know why God, no, no.
God is one in three persons.
This is his nature.
God does not change, all right?
God does not change.
It's not like God could have revealed himself to us in ten persons,
or he could have done it in a thousand persons.
No, okay?
It's not just that the Bible tells us he's one in three.
This is his very nature.
His very nature cannot change.
This is who our God is.
One God in three persons.
Can you please turn with me to 2 Chronicles in your Old Testament,
2 Chronicles chapter 15.
We're going to play off this thought of the true God, the true God.
2 Chronicles 15, please.
And as you know, the history of Israel,
well, specifically the history of Judah here.
Many times, you know, we see them, you know, turn away from the Lord,
and before they were taken into captivity, things got pretty bad.
They were far from the Lord, weren't they?
And it says, because the Jews were so far from the Lord God at this time,
it says in 2 Chronicles 15 verse 1, I just want you to notice this.
2 Chronicles 15 verse 1.
It says, and the Spirit of God,
so there's the Spirit, by the way, of God came upon Azariah, the son of Obed.
And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him,
Here ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin,
the Lord is with you while ye be with him.
If ye seek him, he will be found of you,
but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Now again, this is in light of the southern kingdom.
They started worshipping other gods, right?
They did not want to believe in the God of the Bible,
and so this warning is being taught here by the prophet Obed.
And then look at verse number 3.
It says, now for a long season,
so this has been going for a long time,
now for a long season, Israel have been, look at this,
without the true God,
and without a teaching priest, and without law.
So notice that the Old Testament nation of Israel,
or Judah specifically here, has gone a long season, a long time,
without the true God, without the true God.
And this is why we need to be refreshed from time to time.
Who do we believe in?
Who is this God of the Bible?
Who is this God created of all things?
Who is this God that saved us?
We need to go back to His word, bit by bit,
because we can see here,
even the people of God under the old covenant
had forgotten who the true God is.
They were worshipping some form of God,
but He wasn't the God of the Bible.
He wasn't the God that saved them.
It says there in verse number 4,
verse number 4,
But when they in their trouble
did turn to the Lord God of Israel,
and sought Him, He was found of them.
You see, God wants to be found,
but we need to seek the true God.
And brethren, the moment you got saved,
the moment you placed your faith on Jesus,
you said, Lord, I want to seek the true God.
And the only way to the Father is through the Son.
See, God is triune in nature.
And we'll soon see how the triune nature of God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit plays a role in your salvation.
You see, as it said there about the Old Testament Israelites,
and when they in their trouble
did turn unto the Lord God of Israel,
and sought Him, He was found of them.
If there's anyone here this morning
that is not sure of salvation,
you're not sure that you're going to heaven,
then you need to seek the true God.
Not just God, but the true God.
The God of Israel,
the God of the Old Testament,
the God of the New Testament,
God in three persons.
If you're not sure about your salvation this morning,
please speak to me after the service.
Okay, or speak to the person
who maybe has brought you to church, all right?
Now look, if you guys can go to Jeremiah 10,
go to Jeremiah 10.
I'm going to read to you from 1 Thessalonians 1.
You go to Jeremiah 10.
And as we are going through this statement of faith,
this series and our statement of faith,
our doctrinal beliefs,
it is very much a Bible study.
There's going to be a lot of Bible references, passages, okay?
Because we don't want to just say we believe something,
and we just believe it because we believe it.
We want to make sure we're able to go back to God's Word
and confirm these truths, okay?
So you go to Jeremiah chapter 10.
I'll read to you from 1 Thessalonians.
Now we're talking about a New Testament church here,
a Gentile church, the church of Thessalonica.
It says in verse number nine,
for they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you,
and how you turn to God from idols
to serve the living and true God.
The living and true God.
What had the Thessalonians done?
They had turned from idols.
They had turned from their false gods.
What is salvation?
You've got to turn from your idols.
You've got to turn from the things
that you're trusting in to be saved.
And if you think salvation is based on how good I am,
how good I am at keeping the commandments,
then you're trusting in the idol of yourself.
You just turn from self.
You just turn from whatever church you're trusted in.
You just turn from the false gods you've been trusted in
and put your trust and faith alone in the true God.
That is salvation, okay?
Your faith and trust in the true God.
You're there in Jeremiah chapter 10.
Look at verse number 10.
Oh, the other thing that I wanted to reference there.
It says, turn to God from idols
to serve the living and true God.
You see, another great truth about our God
is that He's living.
He's alive.
His presence is here this morning right now.
His Holy Spirit is doing a great work in our hearts
and in our minds so we can further understand
the truth of His word.
He's a living God.
You know, we come to church, yes,
to be in fellowship with brothers and sisters.
Yes, to hear the preaching of God's word.
But don't forget the presence of God is here.
A living God.
A God that wants to be in fellowship with you.
That wants to teach you great things.
A God that is changing you to be more like His son,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
We serve a living God, all right?
Jeremiah chapter 10, verse number 10.
It says here, but the Lord, look at this,
is the true God.
He is the living God.
You see, anything else that people call a God,
it's a dead God.
Can you believe people actually get down and worship
a piece of wood, a piece of stone?
It's about if we just layer it with gold and silver.
We make it look really wonderful and beautiful.
It's a dead God.
It cannot answer your prayers.
It cannot help you.
It cannot save you.
Our true God is the living God.
And look, it continues there.
And an everlasting King.
And this is why I don't get overly concerned with politics.
And I know we have wicked governments.
I know we have wicked politicians across this world.
But our God is the everlasting King.
Man, our righteous King.
You know what?
And governments in place,
one day they're going to have to answer to God
for what they've done.
Okay, God's going to judge these wicked people.
And so even though we get sometimes discouraged
by our governments,
please don't forget who the King of Kings is,
who the Lord of Lords is.
Okay, it's the true God, the living God,
the everlasting King.
And notice, who is the true and living God,
the everlasting King here?
At his wrath, the earth shall tremble.
Hey, we serve a God that gets angry.
Okay, did you know that?
Okay, and again, a lot of people think,
oh, God doesn't get angry.
Right, it's just Santa Claus, as it were.
All right, just waiting to give people gifts
on Christmas Day if you've been good.
If you've been naughty,
well, you'll miss out on the gifts.
But you know, no, no.
Look, God is full of wrath.
The earth shall tremble,
and the nation shall not be able to abide his indignation.
Indignation is a form,
is a strong form of hatred.
See, God can hate the wickedness of our nations.
Verse number 11.
Thus shall ye say unto them,
the gods, little G, little gods,
that have not made the heavens and the earth,
even they shall perish from the earth,
and from under these heavens.
Verse number 12.
He, that's the true God,
he have made the earth by his power,
he have established a world by his wisdom,
and have stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
You see, the true God that we worship,
what do we learn here?
He is the creator.
It says he have made the earth by his power.
We serve a powerful God,
a God that created all things.
Yes, a God that created you in your mother's womb.
A great God, a great power.
This is why we're able to go to God in prayer.
Say, God, I have a need.
God, I'm in a difficult situation.
God, I've got trials and tribulations.
And God, there's persecution.
I need your help, Lord.
Because he's got power.
True God that we worship has power
to change the natural world.
He's supernatural.
He's beyond creation.
He can change the natural world
just to answer our prayers.
Not just that, but he made.
He established the world by his wisdom.
He's the creator, once again, of all things,
this God that we worship.
Please turn with me to another passage.
John chapter 17.
John chapter 17 and verse number 1.
I hope I can communicate to you
this true God, right?
This powerful God, this living God to you.
You know, I guess in many ways,
you know, I have a fear of God
when I come to preach God's word.
But when I'm trying to describe to you
who God is from his word,
there's great fear, okay?
Because I don't want to communicate some idol.
I don't want to communicate some false God to you.
I want to accurately describe to you
the God of the Bible here.
In John chapter 17, verse number 1.
John chapter 17 and verse number 1.
These words spake Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour is come.
Glorify thy son,
that thy son also may glorify thee.
Look at this.
As thou has given him power over all flesh,
the Father has given the Son power over all flesh.
We saw the true God earlier.
He has made the earth by his power.
He's given this power to his Son,
Jesus Christ,
over all flesh.
That he should give eternal life
to as many as thou has given him.
And this is life eternal.
Look at this.
That they might know thee,
the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent.
You see, Jesus Christ came
to teach us of the true God.
You know, when we learn about God in three persons,
when we read the Old Testament,
it's not as clear as the New Testament.
But you still find God in three persons
in the Old Testament.
A hundred percent.
And I'll show you later on.
I'll give you an example, okay?
But when Christ came,
he came to further help understand
the true God that we worship.
And the Father had given all power to his Son.
You see, the Lord God is one,
but yet again, one in three persons.
Even here, the Father,
look what Christ is saying.
Father, the hour is come, verse number one,
glorify thy Son.
Look, to glorify is to uphold.
It's to praise.
Jesus Christ the Son is asking of the Father,
Father, glorify me.
See, Jesus is not just a man.
You know, he's God.
God Almighty.
Glorified by the Father.
Imagine that.
So then the Son can glorify the Father in return.
See, they are one.
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
these three are one.
This is the only true God, okay?
I said earlier, there are many gods,
but there's only one, only one true God, okay?
And again, for us as a church,
we understand that false religions worship false gods.
It's easy for us.
Even within some that call themselves Christians,
we can identify, we can say,
hey, the God of the Mormons is a false God.
We can easily say the God of the Jehovah's Witnesses
is a false God.
But again, we need to be cautious
even within our Baptist churches
that we understand the true God of the Bible
because there are many pastors
that are afraid to teach to you
that God is full of wrath,
that God is full of indignation.
There is more to God than just, you know,
the sweetness and love and mercy.
And these things I love.
You know, I love God's mercy.
I love God's long suffering
and his love toward us
because it's through that love
that he offered up his son to die in our place,
to give us salvation,
and these things are true.
But let's not overlook a God that hates wickedness.
Let's not overlook a God that hates sin
because I think it can be very,
I don't know, it can happen amongst believers.
Well, I'm saved and go to heaven.
I guess I'm just gonna live my life how I desire.
There are gonna be consequences.
God will step in and judge you for your weakness.
You cannot lose your salvation, praise God.
Jesus Christ has paid for all of our sins,
but you can make your life very difficult.
You know, full of conflicts, full of problems,
unnecessary conflicts, unnecessary problems.
Okay, if you desire to live a life
that does not please the Lord,
God will come down hard upon you.
Okay, and if you've lived as a Christian long enough,
you'll know times when God has come down hard on you.
Okay, and you just need to look back
and instead of complaining about the true God,
to be thankful, God, thank you for looking at me.
Thank you for judging me, Lord.
Thank you for chastising me, Lord,
because you revealed certain problems
that I have in my heart,
certain problems that I have in my life,
and Lord, help me to fix this.
Help me to live a life that pleases you.
Can you please turn with me to Exodus chapter 20?
Exodus chapter 20 and verse number one.
As I said to you, probably more Bible verses
than we normally have in a church service.
But Exodus chapter 20, of course,
is the famous chapter on the Ten Commandments.
Okay, and when God used Moses to go to Mount Sinai,
giving him these Ten Commandments,
you know, that God would establish his covenant,
this Old Testament with this physical nation of Israel.
It was so important that these three,
the first three commandments would just teach us
about this God that delivered them out of Egypt.
Exodus chapter 20 and verse number one.
It says, and God spake all these words, saying,
these are the words of God, very clearly.
Verse number two, I am the Lord thy God,
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
Brethren, who is the God of the Bible?
Who is the God that we come this morning to worship?
The God which delivered Israel out of the land of Egypt.
That's the same God that we worship.
It's not changed.
Sometimes people have this idea of God,
well, God was a little bit rough in the Old Testament,
but he's really mellowed out in the New Testament.
Like, that was like the Old Testament God.
You know, the New Testament God is much nicer.
It's the same Lord.
It's the same true God that we worship.
You say, pastor, I was never delivered out of Egypt.
As far as I know, you know, my descendants probably
were never these people that came out of Egypt.
But don't forget the spiritual truth.
What is it that caused them to eventually come out of Egypt?
Remember when God laid down these plagues upon Egypt?
The final plague would kill every firstborn.
And what did the Jews have?
What did the Israelites have to do?
They had to apply the blood of the Passover lamb, didn't they?
That was the final thing.
To come out of Egypt, they must have taken that Passover lamb,
applied the blood on the doorposts,
and God would pass over them,
and then they would be delivered out of Egypt.
Brethren, you've applied that Passover blood as well.
Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been applied to you.
Spiritually speaking, you've also come out of Egypt, okay?
We're no longer people of this earth.
The Bible calls us sojourners.
We're just passing through.
Our real home is in heaven, okay?
Our mansions are above.
We're laying up treasures in heaven,
not upon this earth, hopefully.
That's what you're doing, okay?
Because that's our home above.
We're just passing through.
We too, spiritually speaking, symbolically speaking,
have come out of Egypt because the blood of Christ
has been applied to us.
Look at verse number three.
In light of this, God says,
thou shalt have no other gods before me.
No other gods before me.
So please, if you don't like,
if there are elements of God
that you don't appreciate in the Bible,
don't create a God of your own imagination.
You're like, well, maybe that part's wrong.
Maybe how Pastor preached about God, that was wrong.
I don't like to think about that with that God.
Look, when you start doing that,
you're putting other gods before him.
You gotta be careful, even in our minds,
that we understand the God of the Bible.
Look at verse number four.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above
or that is in the earth beneath
or that is in the water under the earth.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.
I mean, tell this to the Catholic church.
Why?
Well, you know why, okay?
They're not saved, okay?
They worship a false god, other gods.
God says, don't create these images.
Don't bow yourself down to them.
Verse number five again.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them.
This is why.
For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God.
God is jealous for your worship.
God is a jealous God.
In fact, God also says that his name is jealous.
Now again, in 2022, people have a hard time understanding jealousy
because they think jealousy is a negative feeling,
a negative connotation.
No, the word you're thinking about that we commonly use
for jealous as a negative term,
the Bible uses the word envy, envy for that.
See, jealousy is a good attribute to have.
Jealousy is speaking about the things that belong to you
and you're keeping that safe and protected.
I am jealous for my wife.
I don't want my wife just hanging around with a whole bunch of dudes, okay?
And I'm sure my wife doesn't appreciate me
hanging around with a whole bunch of ladies, all right?
We are jealous one for another because she belongs to me
and I belong to her, okay?
Hey, I'm jealous for my children.
Hey, I'm jealous for New Life Baptist Church
because God has given me some authority in this church
and I want this church to be a chaste virgin for our Lord Jesus Christ.
See, jealousy is good.
And if God is a jealous God,
God is telling this nation,
your worship, your service belongs to me and me alone.
Brethren, everything that we do in our life
ought to please God,
ought to be in service for God.
Everything that we do
because our God is a jealous God.
He's not changed.
Even in New Testament times,
even in 2022, our God is still jealous for your worship,
jealous for your praise.
Jealous for your love.
Make sure that you've got the true God of the Bible
as the God that you serve and worship.
Verse number five again,
thou shalt not bow thyself to them nor serve them
for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
You know, if you hate God, the God of the Bible,
there are going to be consequences
of your hatred toward God to coming generations.
If you want the best for your children
and your children's children
and your children's children's children, okay,
then worship and serve the true God, okay?
The moment you say, nope, don't like that God,
man, your actions, the way you bring up your children,
what they learn about what's important, okay,
they're going to become corrupted in their minds
about the true God.
There will be consequences.
There are going to be damages that you cause
in the life of your children
up to the third and fourth generation,
as it mentions there.
Verse number six, rather than that,
we want verse number six,
and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me
and keep my commandments.
I need God's mercy.
I know you need God's mercy, okay,
because we're not perfect people, okay?
We still make mistakes.
We still sin, don't we?
We still have a selfish will.
Many times that is contrary to God's will.
And boy, instead of God causing great turmoil in our life,
we say, Lord, be merciful to me.
Lord, please help me, all right?
Please help me in my sinful condition.
And God will be merciful to you.
If you love the Lord, if you keep his commandments,
what did Jesus Christ say?
Words of Jesus.
If you love me, what?
Keep my commandments.
See, Jesus is the same God of the Old Testament.
Same thing, right?
If we keep his commandments, we love the Lord God,
you can expect a greater portion of mercy in your life
when you make mistakes.
And you will make mistakes, because we all do.
You probably won't go through the day
without making a mistake today, okay?
Because that's what we are.
Verse number seven.
Also, this is so important as well.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh his name in vain.
Again, our church, young people especially,
even my children, oh my God, please, no.
Okay, I know it's such a catchy phrase.
Please take that out of your vocabulary.
Okay, because many times when people are just quoting that,
oh my God, it is in vain.
God's not going to hold you guiltless.
He's going to hold you accountable
if you misuse his name, okay?
Our God is a jealous God.
Please don't just throw his name out of your vocabulary.
We've just emptied this,
and there's going to be consequences to those actions.
Please, I know how hard it is to fix this mouth,
because you get stuck a certain way, don't you?
Please make all the efforts you can to clean up this mouth
and speak of God carefully when you mention his name.
We saw earlier that in our statement of faith,
I had quoted, we believe in the one true living God.
I hope I can show you that we do have one God.
But again, existing in three distinct persons.
Now, you're there in Exodus,
so please go to Deuteronomy, not far away.
Please go to Deuteronomy chapter four.
What I want to make very clear is that we do worship one God.
Hey, when we say that God is three distinct persons,
we're not saying that we believe in three gods.
We don't believe in three gods, okay?
We believe in one God, one God in three persons.
Again, if you have a hard time with this,
welcome to Christianity.
Welcome to learning the Bible, okay?
You see, God wants us to put our faith into practice.
What we read in God's word,
even if it doesn't fully make sense to you, brethren,
even if you can't fully accept it, you say,
God, I'm just going to have to believe this.
Help me to believe this.
Lord, increase my faith.
Help me in my unbelief, God,
because I know that it's faith that pleases you.
And I'm telling you, something amazing happens
when you put your faith in God's word.
It all makes sense.
It all starts making sense as you continue to grow
and learn about the truth of God's word.
Deuteronomy chapter four and verse number 35,
it says, unto thee it was showed
that thou mightest know that the Lord, He is God.
Look at this, there is none else beside Him.
There is none else.
There's only one God.
We don't believe in three gods.
We believe in one God.
There is none else beside Him.
Go to chapter six.
Deuteronomy chapter six, verse number four.
Deuteronomy chapter six and verse number four.
It says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
One Lord, brethren.
Verse number five.
And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart
and with all thy soul and with all thy might.
God wants our love.
Love Him with your might.
Love Him with your heart.
Love Him with your soul.
And we also learn in the New Testament,
love Him with your mind.
Okay?
With all your mind, all your heart, all your soul, all your might.
Please go to chapter 32.
Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse number 39.
Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse number 39.
It says, See now that I, even I, am He.
And there is no God with me.
Forever in heaven, there is one God.
Okay?
God does not operate with some lesser gods.
All right?
There is one God.
And then it says, I kill.
What?
I don't like that part about God.
Look, this is what God, I kill.
And I make alive.
I like that part.
No, all of it.
You want to know the true God?
God can kill.
And God can make alive.
In fact, God offered His Son and brought Him back to life.
Okay?
What else does it say there?
I wound.
Ah, I don't like that part.
And I heal.
I like that part.
It's not like that Brevin.
You're going to like it all.
This is the true God.
Okay?
Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
No one can beat God.
You can't overcome Him.
Okay?
The strongest of all, the mightiest of all, the most powerful is the Lord God.
If God has something in His hands, it cannot be taken out.
That's why you can't lose your salvation.
Christ promises us that we're held in His hands and in the Father's hands.
And no man can pluck you out of His hand.
Once you're saved, you're always saved.
Praise God.
What can I get you to turn to?
Please turn with me to Psalm.
Psalm 86.
And while you're turning to Psalm 86, I'll read to you from 2 Samuel 7 22, which says,
Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God, for there is none like thee.
Neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
The Psalmist says there is neither.
There is none like thee.
This is why, you know, sometimes people say,
Can you explain the Trinity to me?
How can three be one and one be three?
How?
But there is none like Him.
There is only one God.
And you need to remember this.
And look, we can use illustration.
I use it sometimes.
If I'm going door to door and someone's having a hard time with the Trinity,
I'll use whatever that is to use.
My favorite one to use is,
Well, you know, my name's Kevin.
I'm one person.
You know, yes, you can see my body.
I've got a flesh.
But the Bible also says that I've got a soul and a spirit.
You know, even within man, there is three that is one.
In a time, there is past, present, and future.
You know, when it comes to matter, we got solid liquid gas.
But look, look, you know, and we can go on and on and on.
You know, we live in a three-dimensional world,
world length, breadth, and height, right?
I mean, there are so many threes to describe something that is one,
you know, when it comes to the world.
You know, there are things I've heard in church.
Let's say, well, there's an egg, and the egg's got a shell,
and there's a yolk, and there's whites.
It's free, but it's all egg, right?
And look, I'm not against trying to simplify things to some extent, okay?
Trying to help people process certain things.
But truly, you're never going to find any illustration, any object.
You know, you're not going to be wise enough to use
what is created to explain that which is eternal.
And there's only one God.
Like, we can sometimes describe man, because there are many men.
Are we seven billion now, potentially, right?
We can kind of compare and understand in that regard.
But when it comes to God, there is only one God.
And the only way to know God is not through some illustration,
or some object lesson, it's through his word.
That's how we know God.
It's through his word.
Sorry, where did I get to turn?
Psalm, yes, Psalm 86.
Psalm 86, verse number 8.
It says, among the gods.
So there are gods?
Don't forget, only one true God.
These gods are what?
False gods, okay?
What people set up to be as gods in their hearts and in their minds.
It says for, sorry.
Among the gods, there is none like unto thee, O Lord.
Neither are there any works like unto thy works.
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee,
O Lord, and shall glorify thy name.
I can't wait for that to happen.
I can't wait for all nations to come and worship the true God.
It's going to happen.
That's what the Bible says many times.
It's going to happen, okay?
It's not going to happen now.
It's going to happen when Christ returns, okay?
When Christ sets up his millennial kingdom, okay?
Then there will only be one God ruling the reign on this earth.
And all nations will be subject unto Christ.
So this day is coming, okay?
It's not just some wish.
I wish all nations.
It's going to happen.
Even all of Australia one day is going to worship the one true God.
Verse number 10.
For thou art great and doest wondrous things.
Thou art God alone.
Alone.
There is only one God, okay?
And I know I'm reinforcing this over and over again.
But it's important.
It's important that we understand these fundamental truths of our faith.
You know, when it comes to certain fundamental truths like this.
When you walk away from it, you no longer have true Christianity.
It's so important that we understand the God that we worship.
Please turn with me to Isaiah.
Isaiah 43.
Isaiah 43, please.
Isaiah 43, verse number 10.
It says, ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord.
Do you believe that?
We are his witnesses.
How is this lost and dying world going to know the God of the Bible?
It's got to be through us.
It's got to be through his witnesses.
It's got to be through soul winners.
I thank all of you that go out door to door, okay?
You're doing the commandment that God has asked of us.
We are his witnesses.
And look, yes, we're witnessing of salvation,
but we're teaching people of the true God.
The true God of the Bible.
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 one,
and I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour.
So we go preach in salvation, don't we?
When we go door to door.
But look, it says here, I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour.
If we're going to teach people salvation,
we must teach them about God.
God sending his son, Jesus Christ,
and he's sending his son, Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ, who is God as well, amen,
who died in our place.
And so look, people say, well, who created God?
Well, God says before me, there was no God formed.
So there was no greater God that created the God that we worship, okay?
Neither shall there be after me.
God's not creating other gods.
There is only one God, okay?
The truth of the Bible.
Turn with me to chapter 44, Isaiah 44 verse number 6.
Isaiah 44 verse number 6.
Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
Isn't that interesting?
We just learned that there is no, beside me there is no Saviour.
When we read there, and his Redeemer,
the Redeemer is the Saviour, speaking of the same truth.
Isn't this interesting as we keep going in this chapter?
Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer,
the Lord of hosts.
So God's got a Redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
What do you think this is speaking about?
The triune nature of God.
That even though there's one God, God is three persons.
And of course this Redeemer is speaking of Jesus because it continues,
I am the first, and I am the last.
Who says these words?
If you know your book of Revelation pretty well,
Jesus Christ says it a few times.
These are the words of Christ.
I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.
So the Lord, the King of Israel, has a Redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
That's Jesus Christ.
And he says I'm the first and last, beside me there is no God.
You see, that's the challenge, isn't it?
Well, the Father has his Son, but besides there's no God.
I mean, because there's one God.
See, one God in three persons, not three gods, not two gods, not three gods,
not a hundred gods, one true God, one God in three persons.
Look at chapter 45, Isaiah 45, verse number 18.
Isaiah 45, verse number 18.
And look, I'm sure I've made the point already,
but these are great verses anyway, all right?
Isaiah 45, verse 18.
For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens,
don't forget, our creator,
God himself that formed the earth and made it,
he have established it,
he created it not in vain,
he formed it to be inhabited.
Look, there's no such thing as overpopulation.
God's created the earth to be inhabited, okay?
Inhabited.
He goes, I am the Lord, and there is none else.
There is none else but the creator of all things.
This is the God that we worship.
Now, please turn with me to the New Testament.
Go to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 28.
Matthew chapter 28.
And I already showed you in the New Testament,
you know, Christ has come, and he really, you know,
explained much more to us about the nature of God.
You know, when it comes to the doctrine of the Trinity,
most of this teaching comes from Jesus Christ, okay?
And it's not like something's changed in the New Testament.
Remember, Jesus Christ is God.
He's the redeemer.
He's the saviour.
He's the first and the last.
These are the words of Christ, if you know,
especially in the book of Revelation, all right?
But as Christ explained this great truth of the Father,
the Son, the Holy Spirit, again,
you can easily go back to the Old Testament
and start observing, hey, these truths were there,
identified from the very beginning, okay?
It's just that Christ has given us
that greater understanding of the nature of God.
And in Matthew 28, verse 18,
this is what we know as the Great Commission.
This should be the Great Commission
of every true church of God.
It says, and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying,
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Remember that?
We saw God who's all powerful,
God who has power over earth, all right?
Jesus Christ says, I've been given that power.
So Jesus Christ is God.
But he said it was given to Christ
because the Father gave it to the Son.
So explain that.
Look, this is God's word, okay?
All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things,
whatsoever I have commanded you.
And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world, amen.
The words of Christ, okay?
What's Christ teaching us?
This all power that is in heaven and earth
is given to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
And even though Christ is not walking the earth today
in the physical form that he did 2,000 years ago,
even then he says at the end of verse number 20,
and lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world.
You see, Christ is here this morning.
Christ is here in Australia,
right here in the midst of us at New Life Baptist Church.
And in the midst of any good church
that worships the true God,
that knows the true God through his Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
Christ is in the presence of us all.
That's why church is so important.
Yes, to learn his word,
but just to be in fellowship with our Savior.
Christ is still here.
His Holy Spirit is working in our hearts,
teaching us the truth of his word.
God in three persons, amazing.
Please tell me you're in Matthew.
Go to Matthew chapter three.
Matthew chapter three and verse number 16.
And look, when we do baptisms,
we baptize people in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
because this is how Christ instructed us.
Say, why do we do this?
Is it tradition?
I guess it's tradition to some extent, okay?
But it's by commandment of Jesus Christ.
And it's because when we look at Matthew chapter three,
at the baptism of Christ himself,
it says in Matthew chapter three verse number 16,
And Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water,
and lo, the heavens were opened unto him.
Look at this.
And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lightning upon him.
So Jesus, if you could see this,
if you were John the Baptist,
or you're watching the baptism of Christ,
you see Christ, the Son of God,
being baptized in the water,
and as he comes out,
the Spirit of God descends upon him like a dove.
And look at verse number 17.
And lo, a voice from heaven saying,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
If there's a voice coming from heaven,
calling Jesus his Son,
who's speaking these words?
It's the Father.
It's the Father, isn't it?
The Father speaking these words to his Son.
I'm well pleased.
And the Holy Spirit of God
descending upon Jesus Christ like a dove.
So even at the baptism of Christ,
the triune nature of God was on show.
That would have been amazing.
It would have been amazing to see that, I think.
And so because we see the triune nature of God
at the baptism of Christ,
hey, when we baptize people,
we do the same.
We baptize in the name of the Father
and of the Son and the Holy Ghost.
We do this because
we're following the steps of Christ.
And when we've done a baptism recently,
we'll be doing another baptism soon again,
not in this rain, unfortunately.
We did have one lined up for today.
But when we do this, we need to remember
that God's full presence is there.
The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,
watching and observing that baptism.
Baptism does not save,
but it's a public testimony
that we have put our faith in this one true God,
one God in three persons.
Can you please turn with me to,
actually, go to John.
Go to the book of John.
And I better hurry up.
I've still got half a page of Bible verses here.
But John chapter 15 verse 26,
and you guys know half a page for me,
can easily be an hour.
All right, so let's hurry up a little bit.
But John 15 verse 26.
John 15 verse 26.
The words of Christ.
He says,
But when the Comforter is come,
Whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth,
so who's the Comforter?
The Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit,
which proceedeth from the Father,
he shall testify of me.
Of who?
Of Jesus.
Okay.
Again, Christ has come to teach us
this greater understanding of the nature of God.
God in three persons.
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit,
the Father testifying of the Son.
So even though we understand this about God,
one thing you must understand
is that the Bible is Christ centric.
Okay.
In order to have the Comforter,
you must have the Son.
In order to have the Father,
you must have the Son.
You see, to know the true God,
you must first know the Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's the Holy Spirit of God that comes
to testify of the Son.
Okay.
It's all Christ centric.
It's all through Jesus Christ
in order to know the true God of the Bible.
Now turn with me to another passage.
First Timothy chapter three.
First Timothy chapter three, please.
First Timothy chapter three.
Because there might be some of you that find,
this is just too difficult for me to accept, Pastor.
Three or one, I mean, that's not mathematical.
Three and one, I mean,
you know, if someone wrote one equals three in school,
they'd fail, you know, right?
But if you find this difficult to accept,
you know, please don't think
there's something wrong with you.
Okay.
Because even in First Timothy chapter three,
verse number 16.
First Timothy chapter three, verse number 16.
It says,
First Timothy chapter three, 16.
And without controversy,
and so, without controversy,
this is not controversial.
This is the great truth.
Okay.
It says,
Great is the mystery of godliness.
So it is mysterious.
What is mysterious?
God was manifest in the flesh.
God came in the flesh.
When we learn of Jesus,
a man walking,
yes, a hundred percent man,
a hundred percent God,
walking this earth,
it was God in the flesh.
The truth of the Jesus Christ
that we love and worship.
Look, it is a bit of a mystery.
All right.
Justified in the spirit.
The Holy Spirit again,
testifying of what Christ has done.
Scene of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
received up into glory.
So look,
it is challenging, I understand.
But the Bible says in Hebrews 11, verse six.
But without faith,
it is impossible to please him.
For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them,
that diligently seek him.
Reverend, if you want to please God,
you must apply faith.
You say, God,
it might be a bit challenging for me,
but I'm going to believe this to be true.
Okay.
And God says that he's going to be a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.
The more you seek the Lord,
the more you seek to understand
the true God of the Bible,
he's going to reward you.
Isn't that wonderful?
The more you know of God,
the more he rewards you in life.
But he must be done by faith.
I remember being a little child
going to my Baptist church.
I grew up in a Baptist union church
for most of my childhood.
And just like one day just thinking,
man, God in free purse,
how does that work?
And I think I might have gone to my youth leader
and said, can you explain that to me?
And he's like,
he couldn't really give me a good answer.
I was just thinking,
how does that kind of work?
And then just as a little child,
I said, you know what?
I don't have to figure it out.
That's what God said.
So that's who God is.
And then from there,
didn't bother me anymore.
It makes perfect sense to me.
There's one God,
one God in free persons.
And to me, it's a beautiful,
wonderful truth.
It's a fundamental of the faith.
It's a fundamental of this church.
Can you please turn with me to
Ephesians chapter two,
Ephesians chapter two.
And as you're turning to Ephesians chapter two,
I'm going to read to you
from first Peter chapter one, verse two.
You go to Ephesians two,
I'll read to you from
first Peter chapter one, verse two.
I spoke to you how important it is to understand,
or just to realize that
when it comes to your salvation,
that the triune nature of God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
were all active the moment you got saved.
Okay.
It says in first Peter chapter one, verse two.
Elect.
Yes, we are the elect.
Elect according to the full knowledge
of God the Father,
look at this,
through sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ,
grace unto you and peace be multiplied.
So how is it that we have access to the Father?
We were sanctified by the Spirit.
Hey, we were born of the Spirit.
You see, before you were saved,
you were spiritually dead.
And the moment you trusted Christ,
you were born again,
not in the flesh,
but born again in the Spirit, sanctified.
The new spiritual man within you,
that new creature is sinless,
it's perfect, okay?
And is by this new Spirit that you've received,
that you can commune with the Spirit of God,
that you can know God, okay?
Your Spirit never sins,
this flesh sins unfortunately, okay?
But even when this flesh sins,
the Spirit remains perfect, sanctified.
Okay, by the Holy Spirit of God.
But it was by the blood of Christ,
the sacrifice that gives us access to salvation.
You see, the trial nature of God
is involved in our salvation.
You're there in Ephesians chapter two,
verse number 13.
Ephesians chapter two, verse number 13.
But now in Christ Jesus,
by the way, Ephesians,
again, a Gentile church, okay?
But now in Christ Jesus,
ye who sometimes were far off,
are made nigh, or made near,
by the blood of Christ.
See, Christ had to die
for us to be made near unto God.
For he is our peace,
who have made both one,
and have broken down the middle wall
of partition between us,
having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments,
contained in ordinances,
for to make in himself of twain
one new man, so make in peace.
Look at verse 16.
That he might reconcile
both unto God in one body,
by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby,
and came and preached peace to us,
which were far off,
and to them that were nigh.
Look at this.
For through him, that's through Jesus,
we have access by one Spirit
unto the Father.
Okay?
So once again,
just trying to show you that our salvation
God was involved.
All free persons.
Okay?
In our salvation.
You know, we've been given access to the Father.
What does that make us?
If God is our Father,
then now we're children of the Father.
We're God's sons and daughters.
Praise God for that truth.
Okay?
But you see, it's by the blood of Christ,
and it's through the Spirit of God
that we've been given access to the Father.
Now in conclusion,
you know, I said to you that Christ revealed to us
this triune nature of God,
and all you need to do to understand,
like, you know, I said the Old Testament is not so clear.
It's a little bit more cryptic,
but you'll find it,
is all you need to do is go back to the book of Genesis.
So let's go to one more passage.
Genesis, please.
From the very beginning,
the very first chapter of the Bible,
the very first chapter,
now that we understand what Christ has revealed to us,
this triune nature of God,
and then I want you to do this,
as you read through your Old Testament,
I want you to start paying attention
and see if you can find the triune nature of God in the Bible.
But the Bible says in Genesis chapter one,
from the very beginning,
verse number 26,
when God created man,
it says,
and God said,
let us make man in our image.
What?
God, you're saying,
there's one God,
let us make man in our.
So God, singular, us, our,
a plurality, right?
You see, it's already there.
It's already there in the Bible.
Okay.
And look, some people try to work around this,
saying, well, the angels are the us.
What, are the angels our creator?
God's the creator.
There's no one else God says.
That's the creator.
Can't get away with this.
Bible says it.
Okay.
And God said,
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 the earth,
over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him,
male and female created he them.
And so this is why my favorite,
of understanding three in one,
my favorite,
is because we're created in the image of God.
You know, we have body, soul, and spirit.
I like that.
Even mankind is a triune being.
But at the same time,
you don't want to take that illustration too far.
Because we are a created being.
God was never created.
God is eternal.
God has always existed.
Okay.
What did God do for millions of years
before God created everything?
There was no time.
In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth,
the heavens and the earth.
Okay.
In the very beginning,
God created that.
There was no time before that.
But God is eternal.
He's always been.
He always will be.
He's the first and the last.
And I'll just quickly read to you
a very famous passage.
You guys know it.
John chapter one, verse one.
In the beginning was the word.
Who was the word?
That's Jesus, right?
In the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God,
and the word was God,
the same was in the beginning with God.
With God, was God, why?
Because there's only one God.
Okay.
And when God created all things,
the trial nature of God was already there.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
created all things.
We worship one God in three persons.
In conclusion, once again,
the doctrinal belief of our church
when it comes to the true God,
we believe in the one true living God,
the creator and supreme ruler
of heaven and earth,
perfectly holy, worthy of all possible honor,
confidence, and love,
existing in three distinct persons,
revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
co-eternal in being,
co-identical in nature,
co-equal in power and glory,
and having the same attributes and perfection.
Okay, let us pray.