One Lord

Today, church, I am beginning a new series, a sermon series called The Threefold Cord of God.

The Threefold Cord of God. And I'm going to be beginning reading at the book of Ecclesiastes.

So if you can join me, book of Ecclesiastes chapter four and verse 12.

What I'd like to do here today is to preface this message by encouraging, I want to highly

encourage everyone to take notes today for the remainder of this series because there's a lot

that God has placed in my heart. There's a lot that I want to share with you. And I believe that

it's all good stuff and it's all going to strengthen your foundations, gonna strengthen your faith.

Amen. And it's gonna help us all grow together. How many of you want to grow in the Lord? Amen.

Ecclesiastes chapter four verse 12 says, though one may be overpowered by another,

two can withstand him and a threefold chord is not quickly broken. A threefold chord is not

quickly broken. Now I'm going to jump to the New Testament, Ephesians chapter four and verse five.

Ephesians chapter four and verse five. Ephesians chapter four and verse five and it simply reads

one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Someone say, amen. I'm going to begin this series today by

teaching on one Lord. Someone say one Lord. I'm going to invite you to pray with me. Father,

we come before you today. We thank you for your presence that we feel in this place. We know that

our gathering is not in vain. Every time we gather, Lord, you are in our midst. You promise, though.

But God, we didn't come just to worship. We didn't come just to lift up holy hands in song and in

praise, but we also came to be edified by the word. And I pray, God, right now that you would

touch the ears and the hearts of all who are in this place today, those that are watching via

live stream, God, I ask God you would anoint their hearing and understanding so that those that have

an ear to hear, would hear what the spirit is saying to the church and anoint my lips of clay,

God, that I can dissect and expound upon your word. I can strengthen the faith. I can help Lord

dissolve any questions, any doubts, Lord, any confusion there may be, Lord, concerning who you

are. Lord, I pray that we would leave this place with a fresh revelation, a fresh fire in our hearts,

Lord, to serve you. I ask this in Jesus name. Someone say amen. Amen. You may be seated in God's

presence. I invite you to bear with me today, church. I have a lot to cover. So I want to begin

by sharing that in 1952 during a groundbreaking excavation at the Khuram Caves near the Dead Sea,

an extraordinary discovery was made. These caves, long concealed from the eyes of the world, began to

unveil secrets of ancient Jewish life that had been buried for millennia. Among the artifacts

we covered were sets of telethon. These are small leather boxes that bear the sacred words of the

Shema, which was a profound declaration about God. This declaration was so significant that God

instructed Israel to teach it diligently to their children, both inside and outside of the home,

both in the morning and in the evening. It was so essential to their daily life that God told them

to bind it as a sign on their hand and on their heads, as frontlets between their eyes. In fact,

even their houses were to bear the declaration of the Shema on their doorposts and gates.

Practicing Jews today still do this when they pray or visit the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Now

one may ask what kind of message would be so important that their whole lives had to resolve

or revolve around it, that it had to consume their conversation and adorn their bodies

and even mark their houses? What one revelation could serve as the bedrock of their spiritual

identity and even ours today? The answer to that question becomes crystal clear when you learn that

the beginning of the Shema comes from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4, which says this,

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Amen. Hallelujah. When Israel recited the Shema,

they were not merely repeating words. They were affirming their belief in a singular,

all-powerful Creator who transcends time and space. They were setting themselves apart

as a distinguished people, apart from others, apart as strict monotheists,

distinguishing Jehovah God from all the multitude of deities that were worshiped by surrounding

cultures and nations. This declaration, Deuteronomy 6, 4, which was a part of the Shema, set them apart

as God's people in the world. And today, church, we do not need to travel to the caves of the Dead Sea.

We only have to open up our Bibles and see that there is no other like God.

No equal, no rival, no other besides the Lord who deserves all of our worship. I wonder if we can

clap our hands right now and just thank God. He is deserving of all our worship. The oneness of God

passed down from Judaism to Christianity is the cornerstone of our apostolic faith. Amen.

The oneness of God. Yet, there is a popular but false doctrine called the doctrine of the Trinity.

It's been accepted by the majority, mainline, mainstream Christian churches, both Protestant

and Catholic in the world today. And this doctrine of the Trinity describes God as consisting of three

separate and distinct persons. And these supposed three persons are co-equal, co-adept,

are co-equal, co-eternal, and coexistent, each supposing to have their own equal power.

But does the Bible teach that God is a Trinity? And if not, where does this doctrine

originate? And why is it so prevalent in the world? I want to for a few moments today, Church, and

for those that will at some point watch or listen to this message, this is going to be crucial,

provide a brief history of the Trinity. Brief history, time periods, key figures, and the triad

or tritheistic theory that has evolved over time. I told you I want you to take notes throughout

this message and throughout this series, but this is one that you might want to get your cameras on,

take a picture of, so that you can refer back to it later. But the doctrine of the Trinity or the

belief in God as three persons will find its trace or its origins traced to the Babylonian and Greek

philosophy rather than the Bible. Babylon during the or around the third millennium BC was the

originator of a triad deity made up of Nimrod, Tammuz, and Semi or Semi-Rhesus. So it began in

Babylon, and I'm talking about ancient Babylon. You study the history of Babylon, there were

different periods where they came to power. I'm talking about the first period that we read about

in Genesis chapter 10. Then in the fifth century BC, Greek philosopher Socrates influenced by

Genesis 10 · chapter mention

spirits that he considered to be demons, this is on his own account, developed his own triad deity

consisting of Zeus, Apollo, and Athena. His student Plato, which came along in the same century,

expanded on Socrates' triad theory and expanded this, proposing a similar concept which has become

to be known as the Platonic Trinity, composed of God, the ideas, and the world spirit.

These beliefs persisted through Plato's protege, Aristotle, who then imparted them to Alexander

the Great, who was a world conqueror and helped spread these ideas throughout the world. Now I'm

giving you a speed train, speed track history lesson here today, but you can if you'd like to

dig in to this and discover even more historical details. But the concept of a tritheistic God

or Trinity eventually infiltrated the church in the second and third centuries through

church figures like Justin, Martyr, Tertullian, and Origen, who began to blend these ideas with

Christian teachings. Around 200 AD, Tertullian was the first to assert the tri-personality of God

or the tri-unity of the Godhead. He brought it into the church or he solidified its place

in Christian teaching. Tertullian was one of the first to use the phrase three persons in reference

to God. One of the first to mention the word in Latin Trinitas or Trinity that we would use in

English to refer to God. Then in the fourth century, during a special council, the Council of

Nicaea, which was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine, established that the father and the

son were separate. It was at this summit where these group of scholars and theologians of the time

got together and they laid the groundwork for the official doctrine of the Trinity. The

Trinitarian doctrine was laid. The groundwork was laid there. And Constantine was not motivated

by a pursuit of knowledge of the true God. He was motivated by consolidating power and power.

He's given a lot of credit and you can study it out for yourself for converting to Christianity.

But when you really look at it, what he was trying to do was consolidate all these religions into one

to make himself ruler over everything. And so what he did was he called this council together

and they began to lay this groundwork. Then later on in the same century, another council was called

the Council of Constantinople. This was summoned by another Roman Emperor. And during this council,

this sort of convocation, and what they did is they separated the father and the son. They picked

up where the prior council left off. I guess some of the graphics is cut off. I don't know if you

can raise it a little bit, but some of it got cut off. And if we are not able to show the rest of it,

then we'll email it out to everybody. How's that sound? Amen? But this other council, they

separated. They worked off of the Council of Nicaea and they separated the Holy Ghost from

the rest of the Godhead. Between these periods, a key figure in the church named Augustine notably

shaped the concept of the Trinity in the Roman Catholic Church. Regarded as the founder of the

Christian tradition in the Western world, Augustine was actually heavily influenced by Greek thought.

And his view of God was not shaped by the Bible, but it was shaped by the Platonic Trinity,

Plato's version of God, Plato's teaching of God, which emphasized reason and philosophy over direct

biblical revelation. And by the time Augustine died, most of the truth of the books of Acts

or the book of Acts church had been buried under the teachings of the supposed church fathers.

However, these church fathers did not get their understanding from God or the Bible, but they were

influenced by the philosophies of Greek men and even Babylonians who lived hundreds or thousands

of years before Christ. What I am trying to lay out for you here today is for you to understand

that the doctrine of the Trinity, no matter how prevalent, no matter how widely accepted it is in

the world, both in the church and by non-religious, not even religious people kind of buy into this idea

of this Trinity, finds its roots in pagan philosophy, not in the Word of God. And just

because it has been perpetuated and taught and fully accepted and fully taught and fully embraced

by Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church in particular, doesn't mean that it is true.

Doesn't matter how long something is taught, if it's false at the origin, it's false entirely.

Amen somebody, hallelujah. So the Trinity is a distorted view of God that is rooted in pagan

philosophy, not the Bible. Because if you read the Bible without the lenses of the supposed church

fathers, you will plainly see that God is unmistakably and indivisibly one in His nature.

Amen somebody. Come on, can you clap your hands and give God some praise for that?

Am I talking to a group of believers that believe what I'm saying today?

Hallelujah. God is one. He's one. And it is important for us to see where these ideas come from

and how they originate and how we got to where we are as a society, as even Christianity as a whole.

And I believe more than ever that it's important for us as apostolic believers to firm up our

foundation in what it is that we believe because our beliefs are being challenged like never before.

Amen somebody. Our beliefs are being challenged and it is up to us and it's up to me as a pastor of

this church to make sure that we have an understanding of where these things are rooted and how they find

their place in religion today. But let's talk about the oneness of God because I didn't come to teach

about the Trinity. Amen. When you survey the scriptures you will find not any reference to

the word Trinity. Nowhere in the entire Bible, both in the Old or New Testament, does it speak of God

as a Trinity or three persons. Now let me ask you a question today. Let me ask someone that may be

watching this today or another day. If the Trinity were so important and such an essential doctrine

and essential to understanding the nature of God, my question to pose to you today is why didn't Jesus

ever teach about it? Why didn't the apostles teach about it in the first century church of the book

of Acts? If the doctrine of the Trinity was essential to understanding who God is, why did

it the apostle Paul who wrote the majority of the New Testament epistles not in one letter, in one

verse, or in one chapter ever touch on or explain this doctrine and all of his writings if it was

that essential. The New Testament writers had no concept, this is the reason, no concept of the

doctrine of the Trinity because the doctrine of the Trinity hadn't been invented yet.

So there was no concept for it and they as those who are Jews converted to Christianity

came from a strict monotheistic Jewish background and we today as apostolic people, are you hearing

me today? I want to have everyone's undivided attention right now. If something is distracting

you please put it away unless you're taking notes. We as apostolic people are strict monotheists.

What does that mean? Monotheism comes from two words,

manos meaning alone, single or one, and theos meaning God. We are strict monotheists, meaning

we are strict believers in one God, one Lord. What's interesting is that even the proponents of the

Trinity, if you've ever talked to someone who believes or teaches the Trinity, they would be

surprised. They will usually say that they believe in one God. Most of them won't say I believe in

three gods. They'll say I believe in one God, one God in three persons. They explain him in plural

terms, composed of three parts are persons in the Godhead. I want to say today that you can't have

ways. He's either one or he's not. He's either one or he's three, but he can't be both. As apostolic

we are strict monotheists, meaning we let the Bible speak for itself. And if you read the Bible

and without any other influence and any other uh any other philosophy or any other teaching of man,

if you would just read the Bible at its face value, you would walk away. You would come away

with a revelation that there is only one God. It is only when the doctrines of men and the inventions

of men and the teachings of men begin to influence and contaminate, then that's when people start to

believe other things about God. But nowhere in scripture does it say that God is a holy two,

that God is a holy three, but there are over 50 verses that call him the holy one. Hallelujah.

Isaiah 47 and verse four says, as for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name,

the holy one of Israel. Hallelujah. God declared himself in Isaiah 43 and verse 10,

before me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord,

and beside me there is no Savior. Somebody give God some praise today. Hallelujah.

Some might wonder, what about these titles? What about these titles? Father, Son, Holy Ghost.

It's true that God has certain titles, just like we do in our lives. It's true that God is known

in different ways, just like we are in our lives. And yet we remain one undivided entity.

Titles are titles. They are not separate persons. The title of father

the title of father simply refers to God's relationship to man as the father of creation.

Amen. As the giver of life. The title of son refers to God in flesh.

God became flesh as the son of God, as the son in our redemption.

The title of Holy Ghost refers to God in activity, the indwelling spirit of Christ,

the comforter, the seal, the earnest of our heavenly inheritance. These titles describe

three roles of God. They describe three manifestations of God, three ways that God is known,

three ways that God has revealed himself to man. But these are titles. They are not separate

persons in a Godhead. They are not separate centers of consciousness within a Godhead.

They are simply roles, ways in which God has revealed himself, ways in which God has made

himself known to people. The word of God clearly states in 1 John chapter five and verse seven,

this is a very powerful and important verse today. For there are three that bear record in heaven,

that bear record in heaven, the father, the word, which is the son, the word made flesh,

and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Someone say they're one. Come on, say it again.

They're one. God is not one in three. God is not one with three distinct persons or personalities.

God is not one with three different characters and three different modes of operation or three

different, you know, mindsets. God is one, but has made himself known in three manifestations.

For instance, I today am one person. Hello, my name is Jacob. Nice to meet you.

Jacob is my name. That's the name my parents gave me. Amen. That's my name. That's me.

But I am known in different ways, depending on the setting that I am in. Amen. I am still Jacob,

but I am also father. Why? Because I have children. They better never call me Jacob.

I want them to call me father or dad, even better. But when I am relating to my wife,

she is my wife. I am her husband, and I don't want her calling me father,

but she can refer to me as her husband.

And I don't want her calling me father, but she can refer to me as her husband.

When I'm here or when I am functioning my role as a pastor, you may not call me Jacob. You may

not call me husband or father, but you may call me pastor. Why? Because that is the role

that you know me by in this environment. But I am still the same person. I am not different people.

I don't have split personalities. God doesn't have split personalities. God is one. And we come to

know Him as the Father through creation and the Giver of all things, because that's what a father

does. A father blesses and gives. Amen? Giver of life, Giver of blessing. We come to know Him

as the Son when we are born again, because it's through His blood and through the work that He

accomplished for us on the cross that we become divine partakers of salvation. Amen. Thank God

that He became a Son and He dwelt among us. Amen. And we know Him again through the infilling of the

Holy Ghost, when we speak with other tongues and the Spirit of God takes residence in us.

But let it be known today that He's still the same God. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. God doesn't

change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Somebody give the Lord some praise

this afternoon. This is so important to us, so vital to our doctrine, so vital to who we are

as oneness people, Jesus name people, apostolic people. And we have got to make the revelation,

the preaching and the teaching of the oneness of God front and center like never before. Front and

center like never before, because this is the doctrine that the devil wants to cheat us of.

This is the thing that the enemy wants to rob us from or dilute or confuse. But here again, we see

there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and John 1, 1 tells us that

that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God. And in verse 14, it says, and the Word

was made flesh and dwelt among us. So the Word is Jesus and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.

They're all one. They're all one. And Jesus is God incarnate.

Most apostolic I talked to do not, many of them who have grown up in church all their life,

probably heard messages, probably heard teachings, still do not have a solid understanding of

Christology, which is the study of Christ, and therefore struggle to explain

and therefore struggle to explain or defend the doctrine of the oneness. The fallacy of the Trinity

and the true doctrine of the oneness is fully realized in Christ. Jesus is the incarnation

of the one true God. Under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians

2, 9, for any him dwells all someone say all come on, say it again, say all all the fullness

of the Godhead bodily in Jesus Christ dwells all of the character, the attributes, the qualities,

the personality of God are all wrapped up in the man Christ Jesus. All the fullness means

that Jesus was fully God and fully man 100% God and 100% man that in Christ dwells all of God's

nature. He is the full expression, the full embodiment, the full personification of God Almighty.

Hallelujah. To put it another way, the one and only God of the Old Testament that the saints of

old in the Old Testament, the Hebrews, the Jews worship is that same God who manifested himself

in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. And it's the same God that we worship here today in this

church. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, Jesus is not Jehovah Jr. He is not the second person of the

Godhead. He is not a clone of the God, the father. He is God himself. Jesus said, I am my father,

I won. Hallelujah. Somebody give the Lord some praise today. Let me give you some more Bible.

I'm just going to be a few more moments. Jesus is God. Thomas, when he confessed Jesus and worship,

he said, my Lord and my God. Hallelujah. Romans chapter five and chapter nine in verse five,

Christ came who is over all the eternally blessed God. Colleges 1 15. He is the image of the

invisible God. Second Corinthians chapter five and verse 19. God was in Christ reconciling the world

to himself. First Timothy two and verse five. It says for there is one God and one mediator

between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Somebody give him some praise today. Hallelujah.

I get excited when I think about this. I get excited when I think about the goodness of God

and the oneness of God. It really lights a fire in my spirit because I'm thankful that I belong

to a body of people. I'm thankful that I was brought into this thing. I'm thankful that I'm

not confused, but I've got a clear understanding that the Lord is one and his name is Jesus.

First, Timothy chapter three and verse 16. And without controversy, great is the mystery of

godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit seen by angels,

priests among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up into glory.

How many of you know his name today? Titus chapter two and verse 13. Looking

for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.

The great message of the gospel is not that God sent his son to do his job for him,

but that God came himself, that he who is rich became poor, that through his poverty,

those who are poor might become rich. Oh, that he who is divine put on humanity

so that us who are humanity can be partakers of the divine. That is the message of God.

How many of you are thankful for the gospel? That is the message of the gospel is that he is

Emmanuel, God with us. And we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace

and truth. This is what we have come to see today. This is what we have come to get a hold of today.

He became a man that we might lay aside the man and put on the Holy Ghost and make it to heaven.

Somebody say amen today. Come on, somebody say amen today.

We live in a generation where people don't get too excited about oneness preaching anymore,

and that saddens me. We only want to hear about my miracle that's coming.

We only want to hear, come on now, we only want to hear my blessings on the way.

We only want to hear, you know, you know, God deal with my haters and all that.

We won't, we only want to hear messages of healing and all that. But can I tell you that none of

those things are going to hold you? Hey, yeah, can I drag out a witness out there? Can I get an amen

out here? Those things are not going to hold you. You know what's going to hold you? Doctrine's

going to hold you. But doctrine's not fancy anymore.

And yet that's the very thing the enemy is using

to confuse people. I'm going to say something, I'm going on record right now.

You will never catch me attending a Trinitarian church. Unless it's for a wedding or a funeral,

I don't belong there, and neither do you.

You got quiet. What business do oneness people have, even flirting with?

Oh, but they have, but there's miracles over there, but there's healing. Many will say in that day,

did we not cast out devils in your name? Did we not heal the sick in your name? And he will say,

depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.

Maybe this is too old school for some of you, but it's what we need to hear.

Somebody said, well, why does any of this matter? Can't we just say,

pastor, can we just say it's all the same?

Does this matter? Can I just attend that church, even though they're Trinitarians, even though they're

baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, even though they do,

but as long as I know what I believe, can I go there? Really. It's funny, you wouldn't say that

about anything else in life. Can I just go, I love the music program there, I love the music

program there, I love the, you know, they've got a world-class puppet ministry, and I'd like my kid

to be there. You know what, start a puppet ministry here at City Light,

but don't sell your soul for some false doctrine.

I'm talking as a pastor right now. Can't we just say it's all the same?

No, because doctrine affects your whole life. It affects your salvation. Why? Because there's only

one name that can save you. There's only one name. You be careful who you listen to.

You need to go through your podcast and your,

hmm, I'm gonna get in trouble now, it's all right. Go through your YouTube channels.

Who have you been listening to? This generation is very weak,

very weak in the doctrine, and we wonder why. Listen, it's not just the pastor, it's all of our

jobs. Parents, hello.

Gotta teach it to our children. We gotta draw hard lines in the sand.

And this is who we are. We are apostolic. Woo, Jesus. Woo, God. We are holy, we are one name.

Pentecostal, apostolic people.

Woo, God. We are holy, we are one name. Pentecostal, apostolic people.

Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in the oneness of God, will determine and affect

the salvation of you and your children. Why? Because neither is there any other name. There's

no other name under heaven. Given among men, where my we must be saved. There's only one name.

And as we move along in the next few weeks, we're gonna see how

everything is founded on this, the oneness of God. It affects how we live,

our lifestyle, the standards of our life. It affects how we baptize. We don't baptize. Oh,

we'll just, we'll just baptize in all the names. We'll cover all the bases. You know what I mean?

Like the name of the father, son, holy spirit, who Paul preached, who preached in the name of Jesus.

Who preached in the name of Jesus. No, no, no. Baptizing in the name of Jesus is not about checking

off a box on a list. No, it is the only name. Believing in one Lord also determines your victory

over the devil. As the Bible says in James 2 19, as I finish, you believe that there is one God.

You do well. How many of you want to do well? I said, how many of you want to do well?

If you want to do well, the first thing you want to do to do well, you got to believe in one God.

Amen. He said, you do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. You know that the demons

and the devils are oneness. Even the devils of hell are oneness. They believe that there is only

one God. And that's why they're terrified of him because God is not divided among himself.

He is one. And so the oneness of God is not only our doctrine, it's our deliverance.

Shh. Would you stand with me today? Hallelujah. I came to preach this into your heart. I came to

teach this. I came to do what God assigned me to do today. As we begin this series, the threefold

court of God, we're going to be looking as we did today as one Lord, next week, one faith, the week

after that, one baptism. And we're going to continue to see the oneness of God manifesting

the oneness of God taking its front and center place. We've got to defend this doctrine church.

We've got to believe this doctrine. We've got to teach this doctrine and we cannot compromise it.

No matter what this is worth fighting for. Oh God, I'm going to shout that. I feel the Holy Ghost

right now. This is worth fighting for. I don't want my children to grow up and leave the apostolic

church and find some other trinitarian non-denom church and say, well dad, I feel the Holy Ghost

over here. It's all the same. I don't know. That's not good enough. I need all of my children. I need

my whole family. We got to stay in this thing. We've got to believe it. We've got to internalize it.

We've got to cement it in our hearts. And we've got to tell the world about it. We've got to tell

there are trinitarian friends of yours. You need to start that Bible study with them. I'm in the

Holy Ghost right now. You need to start that Bible study. Don't be afraid. You know, study.

Get ready. Study up for that Bible study. Get prepared. Get all your verses in line. Get the

chart that I showed today and explain to your trinitarian friends and co-workers where their

doctrine came from because I'll tell you 99.9% of them don't even know themselves where it came.

They think it's in the Bible somewhere. But you get out your Bible, you Holy Ghost-filled tongue

talking apostolic young woman or young man of God, brother, sister, you get your Bible out and you

explain the scriptures to them and you show them just like Philip did with the eunuch explaining

from Isaiah. Show them that God is one and Riel, my eye-filled depth, there's a Holy Ghost revival.

There's a one this revival that God's going to bring, but he's looking at us.