The Trinity

I hope you slept well last night and that you are feeling fresh, alert and focused because today, we are going to look at the topic of the Trinity as part of our series on Elim’s “Core Beliefs”.

St Augustine, one of the greatest and most influential Christian thinkers of all time, spent 30 years of his life writing a colossal work of 15 volumes that he simply, but perhaps rather unimaginatively called, “About the Trinity”. He was, then a bit of a whiz at our topic today and this is what he said about it after all that study: “. . . in no other subject is error more dangerous, or inquiry more laborious, or the discovery of truth more profitable.” In other words, when studying the Trinity, it’s vital to be accurate and get it right; it is very hard work to understand it; but, there can be a real blessing if you persevere. That, if you like, gives us both our challenge and our target for this morning’s message.

I should point out though that St Augustine also said: “if you deny the Trinity you will lose your soul “ which, I have to say is bad enough but possibly just as worrying for anyone in my position this morning, he went on to say: “if you try to explain it you will lose your mind!“ Thanks Pastor!

I’m sorry to say too, that this is not the only bad news. In fact, I need to come clean right from the start, that there is no actual mention of the word “Trinity” anywhere in the pages of the Bible! Now, I think you’ll agree, for someone about to lead a Bible study on the subject, , that’s a bit of a setback – it’s like having the rug pulled out from under your feet.

But yes, rather disappointingly, none of the writers in the Old Testament or the New Testament use that term at all and it took until around 170 years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus before a chap called Tertullian came along and used the term for the first time. So, “the Trinity” is not a Biblical term - it’s a theological term introduced by theologians to help us grasp a concept, which while not stated explicitly in the Bible, is nevertheless, as I hope we’ll see this morning, very much a part of its truth.

With the help of the Holy Spirit I’m hoping to achieve three things this morning.

1.First, I want to try and lead us into having a personal glimpse of the reality of the Trinity – now how many sermons offer you that?

2.Next, I want to take us on a short sprint through just a little of the Biblical evidence that supports the doctrine of the Trinity.

3.Finally, I’m really hoping, and praying, that we get to see that far from being a dry and dusty topic of interest only to theologians, or perhaps to those without Sky television, a Smartphone, or anything better to do, that the Trinity is in fact of fundamental importance to all of us as we seek to live our lives for God.

Page 16 of the little blue book, “The Message”, on which this series is based, gives Elim’s definition of the doctrine of the Trinity. It says: : “We believe that the Godhead exists co-equally and co-eternally in three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and that these three are one God, sovereign in creation, providence and redemption.”

If you are anything like me you might find it helpful to get the big picture of the Trinity clear first before getting into the detail. So let’s begin with “a glimpse at the reality of the Trinity” by looking at the account of what happened on the day that Jesus Christ was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. Let’s read the account from both John’s Gospel and from Matthew’s gospel.

John 1:29–34 (NIV84)

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

Matthew 3:13–17 (NIV)

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

To help us grasp the significance of this event I want you to try and imagine that you were actually there at the time. Caught up in that vast crowd of people beside the Jordan River, like the others there, you have been stirred by the wave of stories about John the Baptist passing from one to another. You found yourself drawn by these testimonies to find out the truth for yourself and have trekked to the Jordan. You are now completely engulfed in the exhilaration of the moment and are being pulled into the experience as you hear for yourself the magnetic, powerful, and even at times terrifying, preaching of this wild looking Nazarite. With beard to his waist and hair to his knees, this desert prophet, John the Baptist, is everything and more than you’d been led to expect from the stories that had brought you here. The reputation and message of this man had swept tsunami-like through the nation and literally multitudes were flocking to hear his message and being profoundly moved - almost impelled, to respond personally to his fiery and insistent call to repentance; a call emphasised and magnified by his own strange appearance, alien lifestyle and total and tireless commitment to his message. As you gather with these crowds by the banks of the Jordan, John the Baptist, is at the very height of his ministry and many, though John was strongly denying it, were now beginning to suggest that this man might at last be the promised Messiah.

Imagine your excitement, your anticipation, as you stand among that huge crowd listening to every word from the booming voice of the wild man preaching and demanding a response. It is as though the very atmosphere is calling out to the throng to repent and come to God. Imagine how you feel as you see one after another, competing, pushing forward, to launch into the waters of the Jordan to be baptised for the forgiveness of their sins. Perhaps, you are even near enough to see Jesus arrive at the river - aware now that His time has come. Having laid down His carpenter’s tools for the last time in Nazareth, he has walked the 70 dusty miles to Bethabara on the Jordan. You actually hear John the Baptist in his bellowing voice, moved by the Holy Spirit, declare before all that this man, is the “Lamb of God” who “takes away the sin of the world” and the hair on the back of your neck stands up on end. Your heart is pounding and your mind is in overdrive as you try to come to terms with what you are witnessing here.

Then, pressing forward you are right on the river bank as Jesus goes into the waters to submit to baptism. You hear John deferring to Jesus and wonder for a moment how such a great man as John, so fiery and full of power, could be suddenly so submissive and be suggesting that he was the one who should be baptised, not Jesus. You hear Jesus affirming that it is right to fulfil all righteousness and then see him plunged under the waters and then arise. Like a bolt from the blue it dawns on you in vivid personal revelation that this Jesus is the Messiah – the Son of God. Then, wonder of wonders, looking up, it’s as though the skies have opened, and with your own eyes you see something you cannot describe but just know inside is the very Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, descending, swooping down out of the heavens like a dove to alight and remain on Jesus as He stands there still soaked by the water. Then suddenly, you hear it, a voice like none you’ve ever heard before, fills the ears and hearts of all around, with such penetrating power, and holiness that neither a syllable of the sound nor an iota of the meaning is lost on any present. You hear with your own ears the reverberating voice of the Father speak out those sweetly intimate words: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

If you had been a witness to this event, you would surely be able to testify yourself to the truth of the Trinity. There would be no doubt in your mind about what you have seen. In the company of a huge crowd of people all intent on finding God’s best for their lives and ready to commit themselves to God’s mercy and forgiveness, you have witnessed in the space of just a few short minutes, an event that you could never forget in a lifetime - the THREE persons of the Trinity all present at the same time.

•You have seen Jesus recognised by John as the Messiah and confirmed by the very voice of the Father to be the Son of God;

•You have heard with your own ears the Father’s audible voice breaking through from Heaven.

•You have watched with your own eyes as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as he rises out of the waters of baptism.

For you, at that moment, there would be no doubt in your mind that the God whom you worship, the One God, manifests Himself as three distinct persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

But perhaps too, while experiencing or reflecting on all this, you would also have picked up certain other aspects of the Trinity.

1.You might have picked for instance, that John, whose whole ministry focus was the need for repentance from sin, instantly knew on seeing Jesus that He didn’t need to be baptised as a sign of repentance for His sins. John immediately recognised that Jesus was completely sinless – clear evidence that He was in fact the Son of God.

2.You might have picked up the significance of the Father’s phrase, “with You I am well pleased “ which though rendered in English in the present tense is actually timeless in intent and indicates that the Father is pleased with His Son at all times. “With you I am always and eternally pleased”, the Father was saying. The Father’s love and delight in Jesus never had a beginning and will never come to an end. This love, as we shall see, is the very hallmark of the Trinity.

3.You might have been moved by the complete and perfect commitment of the Son to fulfil the Father’s eternal, but also terrifying plan, of redemption for the world. For Jesus, significantly aged 30 at this time, according to Luke 2:23, the age at which priests are appointed, and now ceremonially washed as required by the Law through His baptism in the Jordan, rose from the waters, to begin His priestly role as the suffering and sacrificial servant, the Messiah.

4.And, if you had known then what we know now, you might also have realised that as the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus to empower Him, that Jesus was to live His earthly life, NOT out of His own divine resources and power as the Son of God, but instead to live as a human being, dependent FULLY on the presence of the Holy Spirit that remained on Him. He was to be the example, the forerunner, of the life that you and I are called to live as Christians, a life accessed by faith and resourced and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Having then witnessed for ourselves the reality of the Trinity, it’s now time to put on your spiritual trainers as we take a short sprint through just a little of the Biblical evidence that supports the doctrine of the Trinity

The Trinity has been described by some as a Divine mystery, and so it is only really available to us, as we make a faith response and receive a personal revelation of its truth. We are NOT therefore looking to PROVE the Trinity, because as a spiritual mystery it cannot be contained within the constraints of a simple logical explanation. That would be like trying to pour the waters of all of the world’s oceans into a small glass - it’s not going to happen, it’s impossible! Instead, we’ll simply try to spark some personal revelation by looking at what the Bible says, and let the Holy Spirit do His work in our hearts.

Elim’s doctrinal position on the Trinity is the classic Christian position – it’s not something they have made up themselves; it is the truth accepted by all the mainstream Christian churches – not only the Protestants - the Anglicans, the Methodists, the Baptists, the Brethren, the Pentecostals and so on, but also the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In Elim’s words, the core of the doctrine of the Trinity is that “God exists . . . in three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and that these three are one God.”

It seems to me then that there are two things we need to do to see the truth of this. First, we need to see that the God we worship is ONE. Then, we need to see that this one God is in fact also THREE. Simple!

1.Let’s look then to see whether the Bible tells us that there is ONE God – that God is one?

Many verses in the Old Testament tell us very plainly that God is one. The famous verse, Deuteronomy 6:4: says: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” In Isaiah 44:6 we read:“. . . I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” And in Isaiah 46:9: “. . . I am God, and there is no other;” But in case you are thinking that this is only an Old Testament idea – we also find lots of evidence in the New Testament too. For instance, just taking Paul’s letters as an example, we find him telling the Roman church in: Romans 3:30 (NIV84) 30 . . . there is only one God, telling the Corinthians in: 1 Corinthians 8:4 “. . . that there is no God but one” and telling the Ephesians in : Ephesians 4:5–6 (NIV84) that there is “ 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all,”. Get the picture? God is ONE. It could not be clearer.

Some people though are in fact so impressed by references like these that they use them to reject the whole idea that God is a Trinity. Interestingly though, the Hebrew word translated “one” in that Deuteronomy passage: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one” is the word “ehad” which is the same word used in Genesis 2:24 to describe Adam and Eve becoming “one flesh” where it clearly indicates the UNITY of these two people within the PLURALITY of that first marriage. The Bible isn’t suggesting that Adam and Eve literally became one person but rather that they are distinct persons completely united at a fundamental level in a permanent commitment and relationship. So you could say that while this verse is declaring that “the LORD is one”, it also provides foundational evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity.

Both the Old Testament and the New then strongly affirm what we call MONOTHEISM – that is, that there is one God. And though Christians, from the start, affirmed that Jesus Christ was uniquely God come in human flesh, there is no Bible evidence to suggest that they ever believed themselves to be anything other than believers in one God – quite the reverse.

So, God is ONE, but is He also THREE?

This, of course, is the tricky bit. So let’s be clear what we are saying here before we go any further and start looking for evidence.

We are NOT saying that there are three Gods - this is an error that theologians call “tri-theism”. Nor are we saying that God is one being who took, or takes, on three different roles at different times. This is an error that theologians call “modalism”. God didn’t reveal Himself first as the Father, then as the Son and finally as the Holy Spirit or even sometimes as the Father, sometimes as the Son and sometimes as the Holy Spirit. No. The Bible tells us that there have always been and will always be, three distinct “persons” who make up God. In fact, you and I witnessed them for ourselves, all present, together, at the same time, just a moment ago as we looked in on John’s baptism of Jesus!

The Father is and always will be God. Jesus did not become God when He was born at Bethlehem or when He rose out of the water at His baptism. He always has been and always will be God. There has never been a time when the Holy Spirit was not around and was not God. Rather, we are saying that God is eternally manifest and revealed as three distinct and infinite persons. Whilst having different and identifiable roles, each operates as one in purpose, will, and action, and critically, all share equally in the divine essence – none is either superior or inferior to the other. On this basis, the Father is wholly and eternally God, the Son is wholly and eternally God and the Holy Spirit is wholly and eternally God. So, if you like, it’s wholly, wholly, wholly as well as holy, holy holy!

So, HOW can we show that each of the three persons of the Trinity are God?

Well, to put it simply, suppose that you fixed up with God to meet Him outside Starbucks for a coffee. No, perhaps we’d better make it Costa - better coffee (!), and I think they pay their taxes! How would you recognize God when He arrived if you hadn’t arranged for Him to be wearing a red carnation? Well, you would recognize God by His characteristics, by what He looks like - what the theologians call His attributes.

We can find the attributes of God indicated throughout the pages of the Bible, but because we only have a limited time this morning we’ll just consider three – perhaps the most obvious distinguishing characteristics of God. If we can find evidence of these characteristics being present in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then jackpot! We’ll have found our Trinity.

The three attributes I have chosen are:

1.God is omnipotent –that is, God is all-powerful;

2.God is omniscient – that is, God is all-knowing; and thirdly,

3.God is omnipresent – that is, God is present everywhere at the same time.

So let’s look at evidence of OMNIPOTENCE first then.

Is the Father omnipotent?

Well the prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 32:17 (ESV) 17 ‘Ah, Lord GOD! (that’s YAHWEH – and it relates to the use of “Father“ in the New Testament) It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” Well if the Father made the heavens and the earth – that is surely sufficient evidence to support the case that He is omnipotent. Literally, NOTHING is too hard for Him.

Is Jesus, the Son omnipotent?

Well think about Jesus woken from sleep in the boat on the lake by His frightened disciples fearing for their lives in the violent storm. Jesus just stands up and rebukes the angry winds and waves with a “Quiet! Be still!” and they instantly obey. That’s impressive power! Or think of His amazing miracles or His power over sickness, demons or death wherever He went. But sticking with creation - Paul declares of Jesus in Colossians 1:16 (NIV84)” 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” I think the evidence is conclusive – the Son is also omnipotent.

And, is the Holy Spirit also omnipotent?

Well, it is clear that He also participated in the creation of the earth as the first two verses of the Bible tell us: Genesis 1:1-2 (NIV84)” 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” But the Holy Spirit’s creative power is also evident elsewhere in such verses as Job 33:4 (NIV84) where Job’s young but wise friend Elihu declares: “4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” And David, speaking of the creatures of the world says this: Psalm 104:30 (NIV84) “30When you send your Spirit, they are created,“ So obviously there is plenty of evidence that the Holy Spirit is also omnipotent.

Nothing perhaps provides a clearer picture of the omnipotent power of God than creation. While, men and women, who of course are made in the image of God, can be spectacularly creative – look at the scientific advances that are now being made, or the fantastic engineering feats or new electronics technologies, or the brilliant creative works of artists, authors, film producers and the like. But spectacular as these are, we do not yet show any ability to bring something out of literally nothing. That is an attribute of God – and the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Bible tells us, can each do just that.

Secondly then, are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit OMNISCIENT? Is there evidence that they are all-knowing?

In John’s first letter he tells us of the Father: 1 John 3:20 (NIV84) 20 . . . For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” In Hebrews 4:13 (NIV84) it says”13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.” And there is a brilliant passage in 1 Chronicles where David is passing over the plans and responsibility of building the Temple to his son Solomon and we hear David say in 1 Chronicles 28:9 (NIV84): 9 . . . “for the LORD (YAHWEH, Father) searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.” God the Father knows everything, not just our deeds, the things we openly do, but even what is going on in our hearts and in our thought life! God the Father is indeed all-knowing. He is omniscient.

Listening open-mouthed to Jesus as He explained what was about to happen to Him, John records the disciples, the people who knew Him best, saying this: John 16:30 (NIV84)” 30 Now we can see that you know all things . . . ” In John 4:29 (NIV84) we read the testimony of the woman Jesus had spoken to at the well. She declared to the townspeople: 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Jesus sees our deepest secrets. So, the Son too is omniscient.

What about the Holy Spirit? Well in 1 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV84) we read:” 11 . . . In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” If the Holy Spirit knows the Father’s thoughts and the Father as we’ve seen, knows everything, then the Holy Spirit Himself knows everything. So, the Holy Spirit too, the Bible tells us, is omniscient, He knows everything.

Thirdly then, are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit OMNIPRESENT? Are they present everywhere?

Well about the Father Jeremiah says this: Jeremiah 23:23–24 (NIV84) 23 “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD (YAHWEH, FATHER), “and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.” Nothing could be clearer, the Father is omnipresent.

What about Jesus? Well of course we know that while living on earth as a man, Jesus was constrained by His humanity like the rest of us, to one place at a time. But looking forward to the time when He was to be glorified and seated again at the right hand of the Father in Heaven and teaching His disciples about prayer He said: in Matthew 18:20 (NIV84)” 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” - that is, any and every two or three, anywhere and everywhere at any and every time and indeed, at the same time! And, before His ascension to glory, as Jesus gives His disciples His commission he said in: Matthew 28:20 (NIV84) 20 . . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” That’s every “you” at the same time and for all time. To my mind that makes Jesus omnipresent.

Finally then, what about the Holy Spirit, is He omnipresent? Well we need look no further than Psalm 139:7–10 (NIV84) for a very clear statement that He is. “7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit then are each individually and together omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. So that’s the jackpot! They are all God, and God, though clearly ONE, is equally clearly THREE! So when you’re waiting outside Starbucks or Costa for that coffee with God, you’ll have no problem recognising Him when He arrives – even if He forgets to wear a red carnation.

But just in case there is any doubt lingering in your mind, let’s allow the Bible to summarise:

•Of the Father we read in: Isaiah 45:22 (NIV84) 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God (YAHWEH, Father), and there is no other.”

•Of the Son we read in that wonderful prophetic scripture that we often hear at Christmas: Isaiah 9:6 (NIV84)” 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, . . . “

•Finally, of the Holy Spirit we read in the account of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:3–4 (NIV84)” 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? . . . You have not lied to men but to God.” A clear confirmation that the Holy Spirit is God.

While much more could be said on this, let’s finish by giving this study a practical focus and see how the Trinity can affect our lives as Christians. I want us to see an amazingly brilliant aspect of the Trinity that God impressed on me right from the start as I began to study for this message. In fact, this is so good that I really think that this is the key thing that God wants us to take away from our study this morning.

1.We have already defined the Trinity, but it might help to describe the Trinity as: a perfect COMMUNITY based on a perfect RELATIONSHIP comprising the three eternal persons, each of infinite power, and yet UNITED in such total intimacy and oneness, that they function perfectly in different but completely complementary and interdependent roles to accomplish their shared purpose.

2.Now here is what God impressed on me. In the very essence of God the Trinity, of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is LOVE. Let me confirm that from the Word of God. 1 John 4:8 (NIV84) says:” 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God IS love.” It is this love that defines and cements the relationship of the three persons of the Trinity and produces their perfect unity. Paul speaks of the binding power of love in Colossians 3:14 (NIV84) where he says: “14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” It is love that binds the Trinity together.

3.This love though, is a very special kind of love. It is NOT romantic love; it is not sexual love; each of which, without denigrating either, carries a strong element of the selfish, of self-satisfaction. Even at its very best such love is reciprocal; it’s heart, at best, is the mutual benefit of the parties involved. The Greek word for love used in 1 John 4:8 “God is love” is agápē and agápē love describes an utterly selfless love, not based at all on self-interest, or motivated even by mutual interest. Rather it is a unique love that will go to literally any length at all to secure the well-being of another. The love that the Trinity exudes and lives and IS, is agápē love. And, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each contribute this kind of perfect, utterly selfless love, as part of the community and relationship that we call the Trinity.

4.Now here’s the really brilliant bit. In that well-known verse: 1 Peter 1:23 (NIV84) , which is speaking about us as Christians, it says:“ 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,. . .”. As new creations in Christ we receive the agápē love of the Trinity through that eternal, “imperishable seed of God” at the conception of our newly created spirit. If you like, when we are born again we get the agápē gene. If we don’t have it, John is saying in 1 John 4:8, we don’t know God – we aren’t God’s children. But, if we are God’s children, then no matter what our feelings may tell us, we do inherit the agápē love of the Trinity.

5.So the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, brings us, gives us, in the new life that is born in us when we become Christians, the agápē love that is part of the very essence of God Himself. That is a very precious thought! And here’s part of the beauty of it. Just as this love is part of what makes the community and relationship and unity of the Trinity, the Trinity, so agápē love is also what makes the community and relationship and unity of the church, the church. As individuals, while we are very much aware of our shortcomings, we need to see that this latent agápē love will come bursting out in our lives as we we give ourselves to live more and more in a self-less submission to the Holy Spirit and to a total commitment to what the Father calls us to do as individuals.

As I close this morning, and invite the worship team to come back up, I want to read to you three scriptures that speak very clearly about our special relationship with the Trinity and then leave you with a challenge.

1.Ephesians 4:6 (NIV84)” 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and IN all.” That’s a verse that tells us that the Father is IN us.

2.Colossians 3:11 (NIV84)”11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is IN all.” That’s a verse that tells us that the Son is IN us.

3.1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV84) 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives IN you? That’s a verse that tells us that the Holy Spirit is IN us.

Our personal challenge from the doctrine of the Trinity this morning then, is to accept and act by faith on this amazing truth that the agápē love of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is IN us.

Now in the words of : 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV84) 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God (the Father), and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.