God is Triune and Sovereign

Acts chapter 4 verse 1 to 31. My name's Linda for those who don't know me.

Acts 4:1–31

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,

greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of men came to about 5,000.

On the next day, the rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander,

all of whom were high priestly family.

And when they set them in the midst, they inquired,

By what power or by what name did you do this?

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,

Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man,

by what means this man has been healed?

Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,

by him this man is standing before you well.

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men,

they were astonished.

And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying,

What should we do with these men?

For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

We cannot deny it.

But in order that it may spread no further among the people,

let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.

So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John answered them,

Whether it's right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge.

For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

And when they had further threatened them, they let them go,

finding no way to punish them because of the people.

For they were all praising God for what had happened.

For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old.

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said,

Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them,

who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

Why did the Gentiles rage and the people's plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.

For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus,

whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,

along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants

to continue to speak your word with all boldness,

while you stretch out your hand to heal,

and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken,

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Amen.

Well, my name's Dave.

I'm one of the pastors here.

If you're new this morning, a warm welcome to you.

And there's a few people who used to be in this church who are here today.

I see Sam and Heidi.

Good to see you guys from town.

And Nick.

It's great to see you.

All right.

Why don't we pray as we come to God's word?

Let's pray.

Lord, we always need your help to understand what you say.

But Lord, perhaps especially this morning,

as we contemplate who you are in and of yourself,

that you are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

and that you are sovereign over heaven and earth and everything in it.

Lord, these are weighty, wonderful truths.

And so I pray that your spirit would be speaking to each one of us,

giving us the eyes of faith to see you and love you and trust you

and obey you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, my prayer is probably going to contradict my opening question,

but does it really matter in life to know that God is three persons,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all fully God, but there is one God?

Do you find that that's necessary to know in your everyday life?

Does it really matter?

Have you already switched off because of the incomprehensibility of that statement?

It sounds like something that belongs in academic textbooks

and between big-brained Christians having some philosophical discussion.

It sounds like that's where you talk about the Trinity.

Now, obviously, you're expecting me to say, of course it matters in real life,

but simply just saying, of course it matters, Scripture teaches it,

I'm not okay with that.

How does it matter?

Why does it matter?

Let me come at this from a different angle,

and partly because we're trying to do two massive doctrines here,

the doctrine of the Trinity and God's sovereignty,

and, yeah, it's been a weighty week.

Good luck.

Let's bring drawing this together in one sermon,

and it'll take a lifetime.

I think it actually gives us a helpful question,

looking at the doctrine of the Trinity from this angle.

What comfort is it simply knowing that God is totally sovereign over all things?

What comfort is it knowing simply that he's in control?

Because our hearts might think, okay, he's sovereign, but that terrifies me.

He might take my loved one.

He might frustrate my goals.

He might never forgive me.

Sovereignty alone, I suggest, is not a great comfort if it's on its own.

What we need to know is, is God inherently loving?

So this morning we continue our travels through worldview-shaping truths

that we learn from the beginning in Genesis,

and my goal this morning as we consider the Trinity and God's sovereignty

is not to prove to you or justify to you that they're scriptural.

That would take too long to do,

and I'll leave it to you to do your own study and research.

That's not my goal this morning.

My goal primarily is working out what difference does it make

that God is triune when it comes to thinking about who God is in himself,

why he created everything and us,

what sin is and what salvation is and how he brought it about.

And once we know all that in the light of the Trinity,

I think we can come back to that question of

why it's so comforting to know that he is completely sovereign.

So if I've lost you already, let's try and step through this, okay?

Let's start by first considering who God is in and of himself.

If we see God as essentially the creator,

the power who made everything else,

if that's how you view God, he is the creator.

Of course that is true.

We've seen that clearly in Genesis.

He is the only creator.

But if that is fundamental to who God is,

then he needs a creation to be the creator.

He's dependent on there being a creation to be a creator.

The principal of a Bible college in the UK, Michael Reeves,

he's the author of the Bulletin article,

he puts this humorously and hopefully you see the humor in it.

He's very much a scriptural man, so don't be put off by what he says.

Pretending that God is on a dating website, he says,

single God, non-smoker, seeks attractive creation with good sense of humor.

His point is, if God is a singular God,

then for him to be creator,

he needs creation to fulfill him in who he is.

In what sense, if God is singular,

can we say that he is essentially loving?

Because for eternity past,

who has he been loving?

Before anything existed,

if he was by himself, satisfied on his own,

he can't love another.

Why would he be motivated to?

To help us even further to appreciate the wonder of the Trinity,

I want to look at a critique of it.

I heard just a few months ago a prominent Muslim speaker

trying to refute it.

His name is Muhammad Hijab from the UK

and apparently, according to this podcast,

he has formal permission to speak about the Islamic faith.

So somehow he's got formal religious permission.

Here's what he says.

Look at the Trinity, for example.

The idea of three all-powerful entities,

that the Father is all-powerful,

that the Son is all-powerful,

the Holy Spirit's all-powerful.

The Quran says about this,

chapter 22, verse 91,

it says,

Allah has not taken any Son,

and he did not have any Creator with him.

Had that been the case,

they would have competed

and tried to outstrip one another for power.

End quote.

Do you see the objection to the Trinity that Muhammad is raising?

Of course the Trinity is a mystery.

Like, Christians can't quite define it.

We can say what it isn't,

but that's not the fundamental objection here.

Muhammad is saying, and he says that the Quran says this,

he can't imagine a God who would share power.

He could not be threatened by the glory going to the other two persons in the Godhead.

They would compete.

They would try to outstrip one another.

I think that just is a backdrop that sheds light on what the Christian Scriptures say.

That the Father has forever poured all of who he is into his Son.

And the Son has delighted in giving himself to the Father,

in the joy of the Holy Spirit.

There's no competition.

There's no trying to outstrip one another.

The Trinity isn't a mathematical problem for you to solve.

It tells us that at the core of who God is,

is relationship.

Mutual, self-giving love is core to who God is.

That all his power is to the service of love.

Completely united and harmonious,

as in their purposes to create the world

and move all of history towards the cross

and then towards their common goal for all history.

They are completely united.

So, do you think of God as fundamentally power, creator?

Or do you think of God as fundamentally the eternal loving community?

Relational, self-giving,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So, why?

Why did the eternal divine community create a universe

if they had no need to?

They were self-sufficient in their love for one another.

Why?

Well, the ultimate answer is to display his glory.

But what does that mean?

What does it mean to display his glory?

A way to understand that is that

God wants others to know him.

I'm going to quote Michael Reeves again

because he can say it better than me.

Jesus Christ, God the Son,

is the logic, the blueprint for creation.

He is the one eternally loved by the Father.

Creation is about the extension of that love

outwards so that it might be enjoyed by others.

The fountain of love brimmed over.

The Father so delighted in his Son

that his love for him overflowed

so that the Son might be the firstborn among many sons.

We saw in Genesis 1 and 2,

the Lord's goal in creation is rest with his people,

with his image bearers.

I think this makes more sense of why God speaks of himself

in Genesis in the plural.

Let us make man, mankind in our image, in our likeness.

Now some see this plural us as a plural of majesty,

like a king might say, we welcome you.

So some think it's not talking about the Trinity

but majesty of God.

But apparently there's very few examples of that

in the Old Testament.

So it seems unlikely.

Others suggest that it's talking about angels.

God is talking about angels.

Let us make man in our image.

But nowhere in Scripture does it say

that we are in the image of angels.

Repeatedly we're told we're in the image of the Creator.

Could this triune love be why we image God

best or fully, completely in community?

Why he made male and female?

Why?

Where the clearest image in creation,

before the church came into being at least,

is the climax of Genesis 2,

two people becoming one flesh in marriage.

Could that be why?

To display persons united in self-giving love.

Not to compete and outstrip one another for power,

but self-giving love.

That's the picture of marriage.

Because it images who God is, the triune God.

Now knowing all this,

God creating, because he is triune,

it tells us about his purpose.

We aren't slaves to do the hack work

that God doesn't want to do.

He doesn't need us to do the hack work.

He didn't need us out of loneliness

or because he needs a creation to be the Creator.

If creation is the overflow

or the extension of the Father's love for the Son,

then the purpose of the creation is

he wants to share his life with us.

He wants to draw us in.

So what about sin?

How does the Trinity help us understand sin?

Well, knowing all this gives us a new angle.

In previous weeks,

we could see that sin is,

at the root of sin,

is not listening to the speaking God,

not trusting that his words are the words to life.

Last week, we looked at the idea of worship,

that we were created to love, trust and obey God,

and yet we turn away and try and love and trust

and obey created things.

Now we can add,

considering God is triune,

sin is a rejection of relationship with God.

Now, rejection is something we've all experienced

to one degree or another, isn't it?

And it cuts to the bone of what we were made for,

doesn't it?

Whether it's the critical or absent parent

or peers targeting you,

just shredding you with words

or completely letting,

not including you,

or whether it's a lover leaving you,

either literally or withdrawing their emotional warmth,

rejection is,

it cuts to the bone, doesn't it?

Of what we were made for.

I think this shows us,

it gives us a taste of how offensive rejecting God is

and his love for us.

Christian psychologist Larry Crabb puts it like this,

each of us fervently wants someone to see us

exactly as we are,

warts and all,

and still accept us.

But our sin is,

we don't look to the Lord to be that someone.

We turn to other people,

other relationships to be that someone,

and they are empty systems,

they let us down.

They can't know us completely.

They're not gracious like the Lord.

In our darkened thinking,

we look to people

to satisfy our relational thirst

when it should have been found

in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When Adam and Eve were in the garden,

they were dependent on God.

They wouldn't have known it at first

because they were just being totally full

of relationship.

But once they turned and rejected God,

suddenly that dependence turned into an emptiness

that we still feel today.

So the Trinity helps us understand

who God is,

helps us understand why he created us

to overflow,

to draw us into knowing him.

It helps us understand what sin is.

It's rejecting that relationship with him,

seeking it in other things,

other people.

So let's have a look at salvation.

How does the Trinity help us understand salvation?

I think it helps us understand what it is,

what salvation is,

the essence of it.

I think the Trinity helps us understand

how we're saved

and what the saved life produces.

And for this,

I want to base it in Acts 4,

our reading this morning.

Now Peter and John,

just for context in Acts 4,

Peter and John have just been released

from their own arrest and trial.

I've never been arrested,

not yet,

and I don't know what it's like,

but that must be a scary experience.

All the more,

they appeared before the same high priests

who weeks earlier,

Annas and Caiaphas,

who condemned Jesus.

These are the same authorities

and yes,

public opinion is protecting them at this point.

It's protecting them,

but they saw,

in the case of Jesus,

how quickly that could change.

Like,

Hosanna in the highest one week,

crucify him the next.

So yes,

I don't think they took comfort from that.

The people who hold the keys in society

had orchestrated their leader's death

and now they threaten them.

You better stop speaking.

Now I'd be terrified.

What harm they could cause me

and my family

and this new church

that is very young.

That is a scary situation.

But what do they pray for?

They don't pray for safety.

It's an incredible prayer.

They don't pray for deliverance.

I'm not saying it would be wrong

not to pray for that.

They don't pray for it.

Their prayer

even highlights the case of Christ.

That suffering was the Lord's will

and so suffering might be

the Lord's will for them.

They know full well

that the world is gathered against Christ

and so to follow him

is putting yourself in the firing line.

They pray for boldness

to keep drawing attention to Jesus,

to keep speaking about Jesus.

It's an incredible prayer.

I can think of only two reasons

why they would pray for boldness

rather than safety.

I think the first option

is that

they pray for boldness

because the mission

that God has given them

is so essential to who they are.

It's their identity.

It's their life.

They must carry out this mission

for them to be who they are.

They must succeed.

I think that's one explanation

but

my own experience is that

such zeal

if it's who you are

this mission

I don't think that kind of zeal

produces humble self-sacrifices.

I think that produces

demanding results.

It produces

bulldozing people

to make sure

you

you

you fulfill your mission.

Why?

Because my sense of self

is at stake.

I have to have it.

I think the second option

is much more likely

and I think it's much more

in line with the New Testament

the rest of the New Testament.

They pray for boldness

even though it could cost them

their life.

Why?

Because they already have

eternal life.

And this eternal life

is producing

a new desire in them.

Jesus describes

what eternal life is

like this

and hear the Trinity in this

this is what eternal life is

this is what

we enjoy now

and we'll have in full later.

John 17 3

and this is eternal life

that they know you

it's relational

know you

the only true God

and Jesus Christ

whom you have sent.

here the believers

are confident

that they are

in right relationship

with the sovereign Lord

who created all things.

Here they are confident

that they belong

to the Christ

of Psalm 2

that they have found

refuge in him.

Here they are confident

that they've

tasted

the promised Holy Spirit.

Here they're confident

that they are

the true people of Israel

they are the true people

of God

not the Jewish leaders

because they've already

tasted eternal life.

They know the Father

through the Son

by the Holy Spirit.

And I think

they draw to mind

in the case of

what happened to Christ

how it is

they were saved.

that it was

the Father's plan

from the very beginning

to forgive them

and draw them

into eternal life

at the cross.

That this self-giving God

who created all things

pursues sinners

like me

who rejected his love

and treated his love

as if it's cheap

as if it's an optional

add-on.

He pursues us

how does he save us?

Instead of pouring out

his love

on his Son

that he's done

for eternity

he pours out

his wrath.

They know eternal.

They know they are saved.

They know that they can

call on him

as Abba Father.

And I think

this explains

why they pray

for boldness

and not for safety.

they have eternal life.

And a new energy

moves in them

a new passion.

It's not an energy

of self-seeking

and self-protection.

It's an energy

that goes outwards

that wants others

to come into this life.

They want to draw attention

to the life

they've found

in knowing Jesus.

Now I don't think

these believers

are heroes.

I think their prayer

for boldness

is actually admitting

that they don't have

the boldness.

They

don't have

this energy

in themselves

to sacrifice themselves

so that others

will come

to have life.

That's not

come naturally.

But

they have a desire

for it.

There's a new

orientation

and the Sovereign Lord

as the Holy Spirit

comes and shakes them

and fills them

with their spirit

to keep pointing

to Jesus.

The Sovereign Lord

is only too pleased

to answer their prayer.

It's the Lord

who wants

to draw others

to himself.

It's not that

these believers

are the heroes.

It's that the Spirit

is the one

producing this energy

in them.

So if God

in and of himself

is essentially

relational

and self-giving,

if creation

is the

eternal

community's love

overflowing

to draw us in,

if

we were brought

into salvation

by the Father

pouring out

his wrath

on his Son

to forgive

our rejection

of his love,

then

to come back

to that question

at the beginning,

it is a great comfort

to know

that this

triune God

is the Sovereign Lord

of all things.

Look at how

the disciples

focus on the cross.

Verse 27,

they recall

what happened

to Jesus.

The peoples

were rallied

against Jesus.

The motives,

Pilate,

through wanting

to keep the peace

in his area

rather than

administering justice,

that sinful

motive of Pilate,

the sinful

motives of the

religious leaders

who wanted to

keep their system

of religion

so that they're

on top,

that sinful

motive.

God didn't

prevent them.

He allowed

that to happen

but verse 28,

all this

was to do

whatever your

hand and

your plan

had predestined

to take place.

Our hope

is that the

Lord that we

see at creation

is still the

Lord.

He is above

the darkness

and the chaos.

He is the one

who brings order

out of chaos.

He is the one

who brings light

out of darkness

but he does it,

he wins,

by letting darkness

win the day

and then turning

the results

for his purposes.

That's incredibly

sovereign.

I think that's

more sovereign

than just stopping

darkness from

doing anything.

The sovereign

Lord is totally

hands-on

in every moment

and the cross

gives us

every confidence

that the Lord

is working for

our personal good

and that he is

going to restore

all things.

So I just want

to finish by

looking at those

two things.

How does

knowing that

the trying God

is sovereign

give us confidence

for ourselves

and for the

whole world?

I just realised

what I asked

there,

they're pretty

big questions

that I won't

satisfactorily answer

but let's have

a go.

So what about

ourselves?

Now obviously

there's so much

we don't know

about the Lord's

purposes in our

sufferings,

our circumstances

are not

self-interpreting

in the moment

but

you know this

verse well

or I hope you

do,

Romans 8.28

this is what

he's promised

and we know

that for those

who love God

all things

work together

for good

for those

who are called

according to

his purpose

and what is

that good

in verse 29

we're told

for those

whom he

foreknew

he also

predestined

to be

conformed

to the

image

of his

son

in order

that he

might be

the firstborn

among many

brothers

that's the

good

that we're

promised

we're going

to be made

more like

Jesus

in everything

that we

come across

whatever

sin you

feel is

too strong

for you

to get

rid of

whatever

sin

others

have

caused

or done

harm

against

you

whatever

loss

and

heartache

we can

be confident

he's using

it all

to make

us like

his son

now why

is that

such good

news

it's such

good news

because

being more

like the

son

and knowing

the son

means we

know the

father better

we're being

drawn into

that eternal

community

or to put

a long

term

perspective

on it

he's getting

us ready

for glory

an eternal

weight of

glory

that's not

worth comparing

to our

sufferings

he's getting

us ready

for that

eternal

community

and I

think

Romans 12

says it

really

succinctly

what this

kind of

confidence

that God

is working

good in

us

can give

us

we can

be joyful

in hope

we can

be patient

in affliction

and we

can be

faithful

in prayer

joyful

in hope

patient

in affliction

and faithful

in prayer

well how

is the

trying

God

working

all things

for good

what we're

told in

Colossians 1

that he

is moving

all history

towards his

goal

sin

and

Satan

and darkness

and the

world

opposed to

Christ

are not

in control

not ultimately

he is

going to

Colossians 1

through Christ

reconcile to

himself

all things

whether on

earth or in

heaven making

peace by the

blood of his

cross

our own

sin

won't have

the last

word

death

won't have

the last

word

the world

rejecting

Jesus

won't have

the last

word

the sovereign

Lord will

have the

final word

he will

unite

all things

in his

son

do you

hear the

trinity

statement

he's

uniting

all things

in his

son

he will

have the

final say

that's

our hope

and

obviously

we can't

get this

confidence

by looking

at our

own

lives

because

my heart

is often

a sinful

mess

and the

pain is

too big

for me

to bear

and we

can't look

at it

looking at

the state

of the

world

going

oh wow

I see

progress

our

confidence

has to

be looking

at the

cross

that he

turned the

worst evil

for the

greatest

good

that we

might be

reconciled

to him

as we

gaze at

the cross

that's when

we get

this new

energy

bubbling

in us

because

we've

tasted

the love

of God

the

triune

God

a God

that is

essentially

self-giving

wanting

to draw

people

into

life

when

that

energy

is

flowing

in us

it

just

gives us

a new

orientation

in life

that we

want to

draw

as much

attention

to the

son

to the

life

we've

found

in the

son

of God

whether

in

prosperous

times

or in

the

trials

we want

the

attention

for

others

to

see

life

is

found

in

Christ

let me

pray

let's

pray

sovereign

Lord

we thank

you that

we can

address

you as

father

and I

pray that

you would

help each

one of us

and as a

church go

deeper and

deeper in

understanding

what it

means for

you to

be father

as we

look at

how you

relate to

your son

Lord help

those of us

who have

had

fathers that

haven't been a

good image

of you

help

those of us

in particular

to discard

that image

and see

who you are

through Jesus

and Lord

I pray that

you would

fill us

with this

same spirit

your spirit

that wants

to draw

others

into your

eternal

love

Lord we

confess that

this

isn't

an energy

that naturally

resides in

us

I would

much rather

be self

protecting

and looking

after my

own interests

but I

thank you

that

in Jesus

we have

your spirit

to

want

to

and have

the power

and courage

to draw

attention to

the life

we found

in him

and I

pray that

for each

one of us

whatever

hardships

that might

mean

whether

relationally

or at

work

or our

plans

I pray

that you

would give

us boldness

to count

your love

as more

important to

draw attention

to than

whatever else

we're chasing

in Jesus

name I

pray

Amen