Sermon Notes: Holy, Holy, Holy....God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity

Today is Trinity Sunday...the day we focus our scriptures and thoughts upon the Holy Trinity of God...God in Three Persons...God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit... 

Most Christians have sung that hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy" at some time in their lives...I know I've sung it many many times.

(Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir singing Holy, Holy, Holy)

1. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! 

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee. 

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty, 

God in three persons, blessed Trinity! 

2. Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, 

casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; 

Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, 

which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be. 

3. Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, 

Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see, 

Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee, 

Perfect in power, in love and purity. 

4. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! 

All Thy works shall praise Thy name, in earth and sky and sea. 

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty, 

God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

But how often have we actually stopped to think about just WHO this "Blessed Trinity" is?  The concept of "God in Three Persons" seems to be a difficult thing for most people to grasp.   Our guest lay-minister today termed the Trinity as "The Great Mystery...Three personalities of God in One Essence...The Trinity".  We understand The Trinity to be God The Father; God The Son; and God the Holy Spirit. 

Our speaker today shared several vignettes focusing on the relationship between the Father and Son first of all...

Jesus, the Son,  the 2nd Person of the Trinity, God in the flesh...Who, when He came to earth in the flesh, had some "limitations" because of being in human form...

According to Matthew 24:36, Jesus did not actually know when the second coming of the Son of God would be...

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."  NIV

Another example was the miracle of turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana...
See John 2:1-11.  When Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to him to tell him that they had just run out of wine, He said to her in verse 4:

"Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."

Nevertheless, Jesus went ahead and told the servants to fill six waterpots with water, and so they did. And then He told them to draw some out and take it to the master of the feast (verse 8), and when he tasted the water that was turned into wine, he declared in verse 10 that they had kept the good wine until now!    

Jesus, in His human form, was often faced with challenges to balance his needs for rest and times of solitude away from the crowds with the pressing needs of those around Him. Even though He knew "his hour had not yet come" to be sacrificed for the sins of the world,  He could not ignore the pleas of those who were suffering.  

One such example was the story of the woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon, found in Mark 7:24-30.  This woman was a Gentile, and she had a daughter with an unclean spirit.  In verse 24, we see Jesus had gone to a house where He had hoped to rest and wanted no one to know where He was for a while...perhaps He needed a "vacation"... but the scripture says "He could not be hidden".  His fame was too great...

But this Gentile woman heard about Him, and fell at His feet, begging Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  Jesus said to her in verse 27, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  This meant that He came first for the Jews, the chosen people of God,  but this woman was persistent (and I believe Jesus knew she would be, and was testing her faith, but that is my opinion), and she said "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."    And Jesus said to her (vs. 29) "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter..."   It was not quite yet His time to minister to the Gentiles...and yet, Jesus honored this woman's great faith.

Jesus, God the Son, was paving the way for God, the Holy Spirit, the 3rd Person of the Trinity, to come after His death and resurrection and ascension into heaven...Read John 16:1-16...

7.  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away;

for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you."

13.  "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth;

for He will not speak on His own authority,

but whatever He hears He will speak;

and He will tell you things to come.

14.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

15.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

Finally, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave His Great Commission to all of us who believe in Him and belong to Him...His time had finally come...as well as the time for the Gentiles to be included in this great commission:

Matthew  28:18-20

18.  "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of 

The Father, and of the Son, 

and of the Holy Spirit,

20.  Teaching them to observe 

all things that I have commanded you;

and lo, I am with you always, 

even to the end of the age." 

Amen.

What is this "mysterious relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...?"... "God in three persons, Blessed Trinity!"

We were admonished to search the scriptures for ourselves, get into the Word of God, The Bible, and as the Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy in II Timothy 2:15 ~

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,

a worker who does not need to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth."

And then, go and do as the disciples were taught, and make disciples of all nations...

baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit...

And God, The Trinity...God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, 

will be with "you always, even to the end of the age."

This rainbow stretched across our path as a reminder that God is with us always...

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given.  I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously.  Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said.  Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear...  That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts.  So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our Pastor. He is improving day by day, but will still be out of the pulpit for a few more weeks. Next Sunday please pray for my hubby, as he will be delivering the message on Sunday morning.  I hope I will be able to give a "good report" of his sermon notes! :)