Oneness, Modalism, Catholic Trinity Exposed - Pastor Jonathan Shelley | Stedfast Baptist Church

Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

I'm finishing this evening a series

that we've done on doctrine.

So if you go to our doctrinal statement,

at the very end it has a list of false doctrines

and the last one listed was against Pentecostal oneness

and modalism being exposed,

basically being against our view

and belief of the Trinity.

I do wanna expand that just slightly this evening

and I'm also gonna include a little bit

about what I call the Catholic view of the Trinity.

And I know this sermon's gonna be very doctrinal,

but I am gonna try and make some practical applications

at the end.

So I do wanna just kinda quickly go through some points

of why I believe in our views and of the Trinity

and why their view is wrong.

When it comes to Pentecostal oneness or modalism,

essentially they just believe that God

is a singular entity that manifests himself

in different modes.

That would be the idea of modalism.

So there's not three separate persons,

there's not three separate minds,

there's not three separate,

persons is really the best word we can use,

three selves for their view of the Trinity.

There's just one self that's manifested himself

as a father, as a son.

And again, when it comes to modalism,

there's been times in past where they'd say

he's only at one mode at a particular time.

The most modern view, the Pentecostal oneness view

or current modalism view says he can be

in all three modes simultaneously.

In many cases, some will even say

that he's not even limited to these three modes

and could manifest himself as Aunt Jemima,

cook you up some pancakes.

So there's definitely a lot of views here,

a lot of different variations to some degree.

But the essence is, is God really three persons,

three distinct persons, is he really three selves

or is he just this one entity

that's just one thing pretending to be three, essentially.

And of course, then the logical conclusion

for these individuals is,

have you been baptized in Jesus' name?

Okay, and then they'll slap you around and dunk you

and they will baptize in Jesus' name only

because they don't believe that he's really

the father, the son, and the Holy Ghost

as three separate persons.

So that's just kind of by way of introduction

so we know what we're talking about.

So let's see what the Bible says about God though.

Look at verse four.

It says, I have glorified thee on the earth,

I have finished the work that thou gave us me to do,

and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self

with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Now I think this is a great verse

when you're talking about the Trinity

to explain a few different things.

Number one, the Bible says that the father has his own self.

So how could I read this verse

and then say that they're not having separate selves

when the text plainly states

that the father has his own self.

So it couldn't really get any clearer.

And notice that the timeline that we're talking about here,

he says thine own self, he says with the glory

which I had with thee, notice this before the world was

because some people will say,

oh, well, let's talk about the incarnation.

Like the father has his own self

and then Jesus has his like incarnated self

and that separate.

No, he's talking about a timeline before the incarnation.

He's talking about before the world even existed

that the father had his own self and had glory

and the son was with him and he had glory

and they shared this glory together.

So they have this similar glory.

He says glorify thou me with thine own self

with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

So he's wanting the same glory that he had

that Jesus had prior to the creation of the world.

And this couldn't really get any clearer.

So what do we believe?

We believe that God is three distinct persons.

And one of the ways that we understand this

is that they have their own names.

Look what it says in verse 11.

And I am no more in the world,

but these are in the world and I come to thee holy father.

Keep them through thine own name.

Those whom thou has given me that they may be one as we are.

If they're all the same entity,

there's no distinction in persons,

why would the son say this is thine own name?

Like wouldn't it be his name too?

Because if there's no distinction,

then you can't have separate names

and you can't say your own self.

You can't say your own name.

None of those things even make sense.

It would be a lie.

And of course Jesus is not lying.

We're getting some of the most intimate details

in John chapter 17, between the father and the son,

John 17 · chapter mention

how they love each other.

Of course it would make their love a sham

because it's just ultimately somebody talking about

how much they love themselves apparently

by their own logic.

So really the gospel of John

gives us a really good in-depth look at

the distinction between the father and the son.

And we see, hey, they love each other.

They have their own selves.

They have their own names.

And of course when we include the Holy Ghost,

it's the same.

The Holy Ghost has his own self.

The Holy Ghost has his own name.

And of course there's love between

the father, the spirit and the son.

And so all of these attributes carry between all three.

However, we're just emphasizing and focusing in on

the two in this particular moment.

But let's go to John chapter six,

let's go back for a moment.

And not only does the Bible say they have their own self,

not as the Bible only say they have their own name,

the Bible describes a separation of wills.

And again, I'll go to John chapter six specifically

because many times in other sections of scripture

that clearly differentiate wills,

they still try to have a weasel their way out of argument.

So in the Garden of Gethsemane,

when Jesus Christ says, not my will but thine be done,

they'll say, oh well that's Jesus distinguishing

between his quote human will and his divine will,

which this is a weird way to interpret the Bible.

The Bible never makes this distinction.

This is something that they're bringing to the text.

And it's coming from an idea

of what they call the hypostatic union.

And they'll say, oh well Jesus has these two wills

fused together as this divine will and human will.

And then they'll tell you which one he meant

throughout the scripture.

Whereas the Bible doesn't really make a distinction

of will within the person of Jesus Christ.

It's not talking about some kind of a bipolar experience.

We never have that brought up in any kind of sense

where Jesus arguing amongst himself

or combating this in and of himself.

So, you know, but why I go to John six

is because from a timeline perspective,

we're not even bringing up the incarnation

and we're talking about a separation of wills.

And so this totally destroys their idea

that there's no such thing as separate wills

when you look at what it says in verse number 38.

It says, for this is Jesus speaking

for I came down from heaven,

not to do my own will,

but the will of him that sent me.

So again, I came down from heaven.

That is prior to the incarnation.

If he's coming down from heaven,

he's not incarnated yet

because the incarnation is being in Mary's womb.

So he's coming down from heaven.

And why is he coming down from heaven?

He's giving you the motivation

and the reason why he came down from heaven.

Why did he come down from heaven?

Not to do his own will.

How is that even possible if there's only one will?

It's possible because he's saying,

hey, the father is the one sending me.

If Jesus came of his own will,

then that sentence doesn't even make sense.

Yet the Bible says so many times

that the father is the one that sent the son.

So there has to be a distinction in wills

for that statement to even be true.

If the father is, if you just go somewhere

and your dad didn't tell you to,

that's not doing your father's will.

If your dad says go somewhere

and then you go, now you're doing your father's will.

But there has to be a distinction in will,

otherwise that statement can't even be true.

So of course we have Jesus coming down from heaven,

not to do his own will, but the will of him

that sent him.

And notice this in verse 39, it gets really clear.

And this is the father's will which has sent me.

I mean, how much clearer can you get?

Hey, hey, this is what God the father's will was

and he's sending me and it's not my will

and it was his will.

And that's why it came down from heaven.

It just completely shatters all of their ideas.

And of course then they'll just throw all these labels,

you're polytheistic now, or you're tritheistic now,

or you just throw all these labels

and it's like, how can I be wrong

for just quoting the Bible?

Like you can call me whatever you want,

Muslim and a Jew and every other criticism

they wanna label you as,

oh, you're bringing up ancient heresies.

I'm just bringing up what the text says.

The text says this is the father's will

and the son has his own will

and he's not coming down from heaven

to do his own will, but the will of God.

Well, but you just don't understand philosophy.

Well, it sounds like your philosophy is trash.

Yeah, I get that Greek philosophy

before it was even introduced to Christianity

believed in this one will.

But guess what?

They were wrong.

They were wrong and so I don't,

you know what I don't need to do?

I don't need to marry Greek philosophy with the Bible.

You know what I can do?

I can correct Greek philosophy with the Bible.

Instead of trying to marry the two

so as to appease a Greek audience.

Oh, it's surprising the whole world's Greek

when the New Testament comes into play

and so some people married the two ideas

and came up with bad theology.

And bad views of who God is because they're not safe.

That seems totally reasonable.

I wonder if, I don't know, maybe the New Testament

warns me about philosophy.

Oh yeah, there's verses directly saying

to be warned of philosophy and tradition

and man's ideas of who God is

and how you can't find out who the true God is

through wisdom.

It's through the scripture that we understand

who the true God of the Bible is, okay?

So there's a lot to preach on.

There's a lot to talk about,

but I'm just showing very clearly the distinction.

It says that of all which he hath given me,

I should lose nothing but raise it up again at the last day

and this is the will of him that sent me

that everyone would see at the sun

and believe it on him may have everlasting life

and I'll raise him up at the last day.

So again, we see this distinction of will.

Now, I want to go to 1 John chapter number three

for a moment, go to 1 John chapter number three.

Now, I would say this and other authors

and other people have said the same thing as me.

You know, I could just quote what Matthew Henry

in his commentary said 400 years ago

on John chapter six, verse 38,

and he said, not that Jesus and the Father

have a competition of wills though.

You know, yeah, Jesus may have his own separate will

from the Father, but they're not in competition

with one another and they're in perfect unity

and they're in perfect submission.

You know, the sun is in perfect submission

to the Father's will.

So therefore, you could argue they have one will

and the sense that it's always perfectly aligned.

You could argue that they have one mind

in the sense that it's always in perfect unison

and they have the same attitudes,

the same ideas, the same vision, the same.

I mean, in some senses it is the same,

but what it's not is it's not technically

and literally the same, we still have a separation.

They still have their own set of consciousness

and because of that, hey, there's a separation in wills.

Now, when we look at first John chapter number three,

you know, this is where people get mad

at our particular view

and I'm kind of differentiating again now

from modalism into a Catholic view

because we've already destroyed modalism.

Like we don't even need to go anywhere else.

Like we've totally just debunked it.

Like hey, they have their own separate wills,

their own separate cells, their own separate names.

I mean, what else do you need at this point, okay?

But then the Catholics will come along

and they'll say, well, yeah, they're three distinct persons

but person doesn't really mean person.

And you're like, okay, what's a person?

And they're like, well, a person

is not what you think a person is.

And you're like, oh, okay, well, then what's a person?

Well, it's not what you think.

I get that, but tell me what it is

and they won't tell you what it is.

They have no definition, okay?

I'll just tell you, the Catholics

have no definition of a person, zero.

But you say, okay, then what's the difference

between the father and the son?

And they say, relation of origin.

Like what does that mean?

It's like, well, the son is begotten of the father

and the father's not begotten

and the spirit proceeds from the father.

And you're like, okay, so then,

what is the difference?

And it's like, well, the relation of origin.

It's like, well, Jesus doesn't have an origin.

It's like, you're right.

So what's the difference?

It's just a word game.

And then you're like, okay, then what's a person?

Does a person have a mind?

No, does it have a will?

No, does it have a name?

No, does it have anything different?

Like, is there anything different?

And they're just like, no.

So there's nothing different.

And you're just like, well, how is this not oneness?

And then they're like, well, we say three persons.

So it's basically, you take modalism

and you just say three persons, now you're Catholic.

Okay, that's really the Catholic theologian version

of the Trinity is this divine simplicity,

hypostatic union type of a theology

that's mostly coming from St. Augustine

and then revised by Thomas Aquinas.

And again, Thomas Aquinas is in around the 1200s.

And his view is basically just Greek philosophy

with Christian labels, okay?

And again, what is important about this

is they believe at the root level

that God is not a person, he's attributes, okay?

So you want to understand,

divine simplicity is the most retarded doctrine

that makes no sense

and it's very difficult to even explain to anybody.

So I'm just boiling it down to what it really means.

Divine simplicity just means God is attributes,

he's not a person.

So they'll say, God doesn't have love, God is love.

What is it?

God is love, okay?

And then it's like, but then they'll say this,

but God has no emotions.

What?

Wait a minute.

God is love, but then God has no emotions

and they're like, yes.

What does that even mean, you know?

And you start realizing like philosophy

is the dumbest thing you've ever heard in your entire life,

okay?

They start philosophizing and then again,

God is omniscient, okay?

God is all knowing.

So what they end up doing is they say

and they say God is immortal.

God is immortal, God is incorporeal,

God is invisible.

So he has no body, no parts, no emotions.

And he's just like, what is it?

He's love.

What is love if you have nothing to love

and you're not anything?

Like love is something that's shared between something,

right?

Something loves something.

It's silly to just be like, he just is love.

What does that even mean?

And again, they just make it where he's not really

a person anymore, he doesn't really have a shape,

he doesn't have a form,

he doesn't have a place that he dwells,

he's just attributes.

Now this is why it's scary is because then they'll say

since it's just attributes and one of those attributes

is immortality, then they'll say that God cannot die,

therefore, Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross,

did not die in his divinity, he died in his humanity.

And you're like, okay, what does that even mean?

You'll hear things like the God part didn't die,

the human part died.

Okay, you're just like, what?

Like what does that even mean?

Okay, but here's the thing, what does the Bible say?

Okay, well look at first on three, verse 16,

hereby perceive we the love of God

because he laid down his life for us

and we ought to lay down our lives with the brethren.

Doesn't the Bible say that God laid down his life for us?

Well then why wouldn't I just believe that?

Why wouldn't I just believe that God died in a sense?

Okay, let's go to another verse,

go to Romans chapter number six,

go to Romans chapter number six.

And here's the thing, you know,

don't we believe that like our salvation

was acquired to us by God?

If God didn't die, then who died?

And how is our salvation accomplished

by a non-deity figure?

Oh, okay, so then a non-deity figure

was perfect and sinless

and performed all these miracles and forgave people sin.

It's like, well, that was the God part.

It's just like, okay, but then the God part

didn't die for our sins.

Like, you know, it just starts making the gospel weird.

And it makes Jesus weird and you're always slicing him up.

And what's so silly about their little hypostatic union

is they'll say, well, hypostatic union

means that Jesus is 100% God, 100% man.

And you can't separate the two.

And you're like, well, that sounds good.

But then they separate them all day long.

So it's just like, well, do you even believe

your own doctrine here?

Because they're constantly talking about this God part

and human part and whatever.

If he's inseparable, then okay, that sounds good.

But you know, I believe, and I think the Bible

is really clear, that God is an identity,

not just attributes.

Jesus Christ is God.

It's not like, oh, well, if Jesus Christ put on mortality

and somehow is limited in his attributes

through that experience, he's now not God or something.

Jesus Christ is God, period.

Okay, and they'll act like you're saying something blasphemous

to say that when Jesus was on this earth,

that he didn't have every single attribute

that we attribute to God.

But I'm gonna explain why that cannot be reality, okay?

Now, Romans chapter six,

look what it says in verse number eight.

Now, if we be dead with Christ,

we believe that we shall also live with them

knowing that Christ being raised from the dead,

dieth no more.

Death hath no more dominion over him.

For in that he died, he died unto sin once,

but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

The Bible says that Christ died.

Christ is the holy one.

How are we gonna sit here and say, oh, well,

God didn't die, but Christ did,

so now Christ isn't God?

Because when you start creating these ideas,

you end up having a completely weird heresy

that the Bible actually does talk about.

Okay, to say that God died is not

some kind of a sentence that the Bible contradicts.

Of course, in verse the myth chapter number six,

in other places the Bible talks about God being immortal,

but you know what?

We're talking about the father in those passages.

And of course the father did not die.

The father has never died and the father is immortal,

but the Bible says that the son became flesh

so that he could die.

And you know what?

Jesus was deity while in the flesh.

He didn't cease being God,

even though he may not have all the same attributes

at that moment, okay?

Let's prove the attributes argument.

Let's go to, I think it's Mark chapter number 13

is what I want.

I'm trying to remember this one off the top of my head.

I think it's Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

We'll find it, all right?

Because again, what is one of the attributes

that we of course know the Bible says about God?

That he's omniscient, he's all knowing, okay?

Omnipotent would be another one, that he's all powerful.

Are we really supposed to believe that Jesus Christ

was omnipotent and omniscient while on earth?

I mean, why was he even learning as a child

if he's omniscient, if he's all knowing,

if he's all powerful at that moment in time?

Look at Mark chapter number 13.

Yeah, verse 32, the Bible says,

but of that day and that hour,

knoweth no man, know not the angels which are in heaven,

neither the Son, but the Father.

How can you be omniscient and make this statement?

Okay, so now you're stuck in a really weird land

if you're these Catholic people, okay?

Because either A, Jesus is lying.

Well, he was just talking about his human part.

But that doesn't seem like a lie.

If I was sitting here like, I do know the day and hour,

but the Son doesn't wink, wink, you know.

It's like, well, who's the Son?

You know, like, what are you talking about?

You know, it's just like, hey, do you know the day?

It's like, no, I just don't know the day or hour.

So wouldn't that just show that Jesus Christ

had some limitations while in the flesh?

That just makes sense.

It just makes sense that he had some limitations.

Let's prove it even more.

Let's go to Hebrews chapter number two.

Go to Hebrews chapter number two.

But see, this is when they start saying,

oh, you're teaching heresy

because now you're making Jesus not God.

No, because God isn't attributes.

See, they try to get you to accept some faulty premise

so then they can teach you a false doctrine.

They'll say, God is attributes.

He is attribute of all knowing.

So then if you decide that he's not all knowing

in some point in his humanity, that he's now not God.

It's like, but I never agreed to that.

Jesus Christ is God in identity, not in attribute, only.

Obviously, when not in the incarnated experience, we get.

Yeah, he had all those attributes.

I'm not trying to strip him of those attributes,

but hey, in the human experience,

the Bible is not teaching he had immortality

because that's the whole reason why he came

is so he could die.

Look at Hebrews chapter number two

and look at verse number nine.

But we see Jesus who was made a little lower

than the angels for the suffering of death.

Crown of glory and honor that he by the grace of God

should taste death for every man.

When it says little lower than the angels,

what is it meaning?

It's meaning by the body upon which he took himself

that he's not at the same level as an angel.

It's he's lower in the aspect of the composition.

It's talking about the composition in the sense.

And it's saying, obviously the angels

aren't dying, apparently.

So he's saying, hey, he's being lower than the angels

in a mortal state so that we could also have resurrection

so that the mortal could die

so that then we could have sharing his what?

Resurrection, he could die so then he could rise again.

If he can't die, then he can't rise again.

But he did die so that we could also die

and be risen again with him, all right?

So this is a really important idea

that he was able to be putting on mortal flesh.

First Corinthians chapter number 15

talks about the mortal versus the immortal.

And so we understand that mortality

is the idea of you being capable of dying.

One day we'll put on immortality, okay?

But right now we are in a mortal body

in a mortal flesh and we can die.

Here in chapter two, it'll look at verse 14,

for as much as the children are partakers of flesh

and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same

that through death he might destroy him

that had the power of death, that is the devil,

and deliver them who through fear of death

were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

So we're all in some ways,

subject to the idea that, hey, we're gonna die one day,

our bodies are mortal, we have a limitation,

we're flesh and blood.

And so Jesus Christ did the exact same thing.

He put on flesh and blood, he was made flesh,

the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

And of course in that state, the Bible makes it clear,

hey, he's a baby.

You know, we're not Muslims where we think

after Jesus was born in Bethlehem's manger,

he's like, hey, Mary, how's it going?

You know, that's like a Muslim view,

is that Jesus is having full sentences

right out of the womb, okay?

Because think about it, if he didn't lose

any of his attributes, then of course,

I mean, he could have spoke Mandarin to them, right?

According to the Muslims, according to their view,

he might as well just start speaking Mandarin,

he could tell them anything and everything,

he could do anything and everything,

but wait a minute, that's just not

what the Bible's teaching, is it?

It's teaching he really became a baby,

he really had to grow up, he really had to learn,

he really submitted himself to his parents,

he really experienced pain, you know,

all these different things that he's going through

so that he could know what it was like to be like us.

So he could know what it was like being us, okay?

I wanna look at, I wanna go to first John chapter four

because this point's very important

that he took on flesh and blood.

And of course, some people that are heretics,

of course, by all regards, not just we think they're heretics,

Catholics think they're heretics,

everybody thinks they're heretics,

is people who would say that Jesus Christ

didn't really show up in flesh and blood,

he just kind of is an apparition or a spirit

or something like this.

And this is a anti-Christ spirit,

look at verse John four, verse number two,

hereby I know you the spirit of God,

every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ

has come in the flesh is of God.

And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ

has come in the flesh is not of God.

And this is that spirit of anti-Christ

wherever you've heard that it should come

and even now already is it in the world.

So in some ways, people would deny

Jesus Christ came in the flesh,

I think in some ways they're just trying to say like,

oh, Jesus came in a metaphor

or Jesus came in a different way.

And this is like, no, he really came,

he was really born, he really died,

he really rose again, anybody denying that

is just an anti-Christ.

And there was a literal anti-Christ,

a guy named Tyler Doca,

he did say things like this,

he said that all of history was fake,

he said that Jesus did not actually come,

it was all a lie,

and that he was the real physical manifestation

of Jesus Christ.

In fact, so much so that he took all the passages

about the temple's measurements

and he would put like a measuring tape to his head

and he would try to show you how all those measurements

were his head specifically.

And he got like an alpha and omega tattoo

on his face or whatever.

Like he couldn't have been a more anti-Christ.

Like basically it was just like

reading the Bible anti-Christ,

like taking notes like this is what I should do.

Okay.

But it's just crazy.

And of course he said his biggest enemy

is the new IFB, you know.

Isn't that a coincidence, right?

The most obvious anti-Christ that I've ever seen

or ever heard of in my entire life,

just happens to then call out our movement specifically

and say that we're his biggest enemies.

Like shouldn't that be noteworthy?

You would think that's noteworthy.

It's kind of like,

it kind of makes me think of how,

you know, I crush some graven images

through our children at church or whatever

and make a big deal about all these graven images, right?

We smashed all of them and actually got a lot of attention.

Millions and millions of views.

I've gotten hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

of Catholic emails, voicemails.

They're all posting online about how I'm gonna be cursed

of God and I need to be curb stomped and die and whatever.

And then today, or maybe in the last 24 hours,

because it was a different part of the country

or the different part of the world,

but I think it was literally today,

a crucifix falls on a Catholic priest's head

and kills him right away.

He's like, oh, I'm cursed because I crushed a graven image.

And then it's like, no,

actually the Catholic priest is crushed by the graven image.

Okay, I mean, a coincidence, I'm sure.

I saw one of these Catholics said,

this is the most dramatic death of all time.

And I responded, I said,

actually it was Jesus Christ dying

in the cross for your sins.

You know, isn't it funny that this person's

washing a crucifix because what is a crucifix?

It's a picture of Jesus Christ.

It's like a literal 3D image

of Jesus being on a cross, okay.

And then the false prophet dies

and they're like, that was more important death

than the actual Jesus Christ

dying on the cross for their sins.

I mean, that should just go to show you

that Catholics don't believe the Bible.

They don't believe the gospel.

They don't believe Jesus Christ

died on the cross for their sins.

And of course they can sit there

and have a crucifix all day long,

but they don't believe what Jesus did

actually paid for their sins.

It's crazy.

It's crazy, okay.

People can just deny just clear plain reality.

And of course, you know, this anti-Christ,

you know, calling us out is not a coincidence.

I don't believe it's a coincidence

that this guy died either.

You know, you don't give all this love

to these false gods through your idols

and not get recompense, okay.

Their curse is gonna turn upon them.

I wanna go to Hebrews 10.

Go back to Hebrews 10.

Actually, no, no, sorry, sorry.

Keep your finger here.

Look at chapter five for a moment

and look at verse four.

The Bible says,

for what service born of God overcome at the world

and this is the victory that overcome at the world,

even our faith,

who is he that overcome at the world

but he that believe that Jesus is the son of God.

This is he that came by water and blood.

Even Jesus Christ,

even means specifically Jesus Christ,

not by water only,

but by water and blood.

And it is the spirit that beareth witness

because the spirit is truth

for there are three that bear record in heaven,

the father of the word and the holy ghost

and these three are one.

So again, what is the point here?

The point is that Jesus really did come physically.

He really had blood

and that blood was really actually shed for us

and that blood was applied to the mercy seat in heaven

so that we could have the forgiveness of sins.

The Bible says without the shedding of blood

there is no remission

and if Jesus Christ did not actually physically die

on the cross for our sins,

well then there is no remission.

But again, the Catholic Trinity wants to turn all this

into just non-deity stuff.

A non-deity died,

a non-deity's blood was shed

and somehow this non-deity

is just giving us forgiveness of sins.

Well then why isn't it just the blood of bulls

and goats at that point?

If it's just a random fleshly creation,

what's the difference between

some other random fleshly creation?

You know what's the difference?

Because one's God and one's not.

And it's not because of attributes.

And of course, how can God die?

Well, he has to put on mortality.

That's how a dog can die.

Obviously he can't die in his immortality.

We get that.

That would be a contradiction of logic.

So how does it happen?

Well, God has manifest in the flesh.

But obviously, him being manifest in the flesh

is a mystery to some degree.

How can we explain the mortal was once immortal?

How can we explain that a virgin can conceive?

But isn't that just the whole point of the Bible

that we have to believe some things by faith?

Some things are a suspension of natural law.

That would be called a miracle.

Yeah, hey, God speaking the entire world

into existence, isn't that sound a little bit interesting?

How does that happen?

I don't know.

How is Jesus Christ the root and offspring of David?

I don't know.

How did Jesus Christ have this crazy family tree

with harlots and weirdos

and all kinds of crazy things going on in his family tree?

I mean, you got one guy sleeping

with his own daughter-in-law

as Jesus Christ's own lineage.

But he's the root and offspring of David.

How does a virgin conceive?

No one even has any idea how that could possibly happen.

How can the immortal put on immortal?

We don't know.

But you know what, this is what the Bible teaches.

This is what the Bible says.

And why would it be so difficult for me to believe

that God can speak the entire world into existence

but he can't turn himself into immortal?

Like, that was a bridge too far?

The bridge too far was not that he spoke

the entire world into existence.

The bridge too far was that he could then

somehow enter his own creation.

Like, that seems a lot more reasonable, you know,

of a suspension of natural law

than your version anyways, okay?

So, hey, but do I, can I prove these things

with scientific experiments?

No, but you know what, I believe them by faith.

And without faith is impossible to please them.

Without faith, you can't even be saved anyways.

Now, of course, we have the Trinity

being mentioned here in verse seven,

very clear verse taken out of a lot of Bibles.

But notice there's three that bear a record of it.

Not one, there's three.

And what would be the point of all three

of those with the exact same witness?

Then there's not really any distinction here.

And notice in verse eight,

and there are three that bear witness in earth,

the spirit and the water and the blood

and these three are getting one.

Are those three things the exact same?

Why would the parallel example

be of three separate things

if the previous example was all the same?

I mean, the spirit's different than the water

and the water's different than the blood

and the blood's different than the spirit.

And it's like these are three witnesses,

but yet they agree in one.

And again, that's the whole point.

It's not that these three are secretly one

and you didn't know it,

one means unity in the Bible.

Because in John chapter 17,

John 17 · chapter mention

which we read for the beginning of our sermon,

it clearly says that Jesus wants us

to be one with them as they are one.

So are we now God?

No, he's saying he wants us to be in unity.

He wants us to have the same viewpoint,

the same attitude, the same doctrine.

He wants us to be one and unified with him,

not that we're gonna become him,

not that we're gonna turn into transformers

and become one big transformer,

not that we're gonna get our rings together

and summon Captain Planet.

No, what we're talking about

is that we're unified in purpose,

we're unified in doctrine,

we're unified in will and what we want to do.

That's what we're talking about here, okay?

Becoming one in that sense.

So the Father of the Word and the Holy Ghost,

these three are one in what sense?

That they all bear the exact same record in heaven.

The Father has the exact same record of the Gospel,

Lord Jesus Christ has the exact same record of the Gospel,

the Holy Spirit has the exact same record of the Gospel.

The Spirit on this earth has the same record,

the blood has the exact same record,

the water has the exact same record.

It's saying all points of evidence are lining up

and they have the exact same story,

the exact same message,

the exact same, notice this word, record, okay?

Did you notice that it says specifically in verse seven,

bear record, right?

Bear record and then look at verse 11.

And this is the record.

Hey, you wanna know what record the Father gives

and the Word gives and the Holy Ghost gives?

You wanna know what that record is

and this is the record that God has given to us

eternal life and this life is in His Son.

He that hath the Son hath life

and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life,

these things have I written on you

that believe on the name of the Son of God

that you may know that you have eternal life.

How do I know that I have eternal life

because of the record that God gave of His Son?

And that record is contained here in the Word

and the Word has that same message,

whether I read it in heaven or on earth,

whether I hear it from the Father

or from the Spirit or from the Son,

it's all the exact same record, it's all one.

It's the same Gospel, it's completely unified.

But is this saying that there's not three

distinct persons, that wouldn't even make sense,

the whole point is that there's a multiplicity

giving the same record?

Okay, that's the whole point,

that's the whole emphasis that we have.

And so again, God is not just attributes,

God is a person.

He is, hey, the Father is a person,

the Son is a person, the Holy Spirit is a person.

They have personal pronouns, they have personal names,

they have personal selves.

So we understand there's a difference

and separate minds as the Bible describes.

I was going to John chapter 16 now,

John 16 · chapter mention

I'll go to John chapter 16.

John 16 · chapter mention

So what do we learn so far?

Number one, they have, there's three persons

because they have their own selves,

they have their own names, they have their own wills.

And think about it, if the Son died,

which I would contest, I've showed clearly in the Bible,

that would be a difference between the immortal God,

the Father, and the Son,

because the Father did not die and the Son did die,

meaning that they're separate again.

Here would be another one is the separation of minds.

Look at John chapter 16 in verse number seven.

John 16 · chapter mention

This is talking about the Holy Ghost.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth

that is expedient for you that I go away,

for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you,

but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

How is this possible from a oneness theology

if the Spirit is Jesus?

Hey, you can't have me unless I go away.

Then you can have me.

It's just like, well, wait a minute.

That doesn't even make sense.

You're already here.

Like, hey, you can't have Pastor Shelley

until Brother Shelley shows up.

You know, if it's the Brother Shelley

wanting to show up until I leave.

You're like, what does that even mean?

Are you like Superman, Clark Kent?

You know, like what's going on?

Like Superman can't show up unless Clark Kent goes away.

Okay.

But it's like Lois Lane's like, you're the same person.

Okay.

That's weird, aren't you still Superman?

That's why she pulls out a gun and shoots him.

Cause she believes he's really Superman.

I mean, I don't know if you've seen the movie or not.

Okay.

Lois Lane shoots Clark Kent

because she believes that he's Superman so much so.

And guess what?

Clark Kent doesn't die cause he's Superman.

But it's weird to sit here and say like,

hey, oh, you can't have the Comforter

unless I go away when they're the same person.

You know what makes sense?

They're not the same person.

Okay, it's that simple.

Look at verse 13.

How be it when he, the spirit of truth has come,

he will guide you into all truth

for he shall not speak of himself.

But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak

and he will show you things to come.

How can the spirit not speak of himself

if it's all again the same person?

None of that makes any sense.

And I'll be honest with you,

that is the first time I ever got questioned

on if I believed modalism or even heard about it.

This is the first verse I went to.

I said, how could they all be the same person

if the spirit does not speak of himself?

Because it's just like,

that's the Holy Spirit saying like,

hey buddy, let me remind you

what the Bible actually says.

I didn't even know, when someone said like,

do you know what modalism?

And I said, I don't even know what it is.

And they're like, oh, it's all the same person.

Jesus is the Father, Jesus is the Holy Spirit.

It's like, well, how does that work

since the Holy Ghost doesn't speak of himself?

You know, it's like case in point, it's over.

Okay, you've already debunked it.

And again, doesn't this kind of illustrate

they have separate locations?

Like, how is he gonna be there simultaneously?

He's the same person.

He's like, hey, I gotta go away

so the other one could show up.

That kind of shows they're in separate locations,

doesn't it?

How about Matthew three?

When there it's like, you have the sun and the water,

you have the spirit descending like a dove,

and you have a voice from heaven.

Isn't that three separate locations?

How about Genesis one?

Go there for a moment.

Let's look at the more separate locations.

In the Old Testament, priority incarnation.

Again, they'll say, well, God is incorporeal.

I guess it depends on what we wanna say there.

Obviously, I don't think that he's got some mortal body

like we do, that's not reality, okay?

And obviously prior to creation,

he's not a created being, so that can't really exist.

But the Bible describes the spirit as moving.

Like what it says in Genesis one, verse two,

and the earth was out form and void

and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Well, how the heck is something moving

that doesn't even have any kind of physical body or anything?

And again, maybe it's not physical in our realm of reality,

but it's gotta have something to move.

I mean, what's moving?

Nothing's moving?

Yes, something's moving here, okay?

And it makes sense that in verse 28 or verse 27,

so God created man in his own image

and the image of God created he, him,

man, feel him out, created he, them.

Verse 26, and God said,

let us make man in our image after our likeness.

Who's the hour there?

Yeah, I'm ready, yeah.

Oh, well, you're just creating a multiplicity.

No, the Bible is bringing it up

in the first chapter of the first book.

You've got a spirit moving,

you've got something saying hour,

God saying hour, there's somehow sharing

and he's making something that's looking like him

and then it's like, we look like this

and he's saying, hey, man's made it in his image,

woman's not.

That sounds like he doesn't look like a woman.

So then why is every Catholic version of Jesus

got long hair like a woman?

Cause it's not what he looks like, okay?

So we've looked at a lot of different things,

these separate locations.

There's gonna be one more, go to Genesis 19.

Let's see this as well.

And of course, some people just don't care about this,

they never wanna talk about it.

You don't have to go this deep to serve God,

but you know what, why wouldn't we wanna have

the right doctrine anyways?

And when you do actually try to think

and figure out these things,

just start realizing, oh, the Catholic Church

is wrong on everything.

They can say trinity until they're blue in the face,

but many times when you really tie them down,

they kinda believe in like a oneness version

of God anyways.

Make sense, they're not saved.

Genesis chapter 19, this is when God

Genesis 19 · chapter mention

is destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.

Look at it in verse 24,

then the Lord reigned upon Sodom and Gomorrah,

brimstone and fire, from the Lord out of heaven.

Well, how does that work?

Is he incarnated here?

Is this another incarnation, or do you have the Lord?

And in fact, in this story proceeding,

you had the Lord appear unto Abraham and he eats.

How does that work?

The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ eats.

How does that work?

It seems like a lot of these people's view

doesn't accommodate these verses

and has no explanation for these verses.

And then they'll criticize me for actually

trying to come up with an explanation.

They'll criticize people that actually have a view

on this particular verse and say,

well, I think Jesus already had some glorified state.

He had a glorified body.

Wow, is that crazy?

It's just a crazy idea that he's wrestling with Jacob

and has a body.

How else did he wrestle with Jacob?

It's crazy that he ate in Genesis and has a body.

It's crazy that in Genesis 19,

he's walking around and raining fire down from heaven.

That's crazy.

I'm crazy for believing that.

I'm crazy for believing when the spirit moved

upon the face of the waters, something was moving, right?

That's crazy.

How is that crazy?

That's just what the Bible says.

I'm just trying to explain it.

And then they'll be like,

you believe all these ancient heresies.

It sounds like there's other people

who believe the Bible back then apparently.

I don't know.

Go the way to Hebrews chapter one.

Go to Hebrews chapter number one.

You can call me whatever you want.

You can put whatever label you want.

But hey, I affirm the Trinity.

There's three persons in one God.

But when I say person, you know what I mean by person?

Person, yeah, exactly.

You know what I mean by person?

Mind.

You know what I mean by person?

A state of consciousness.

You know what I mean by person?

Hey, they have their own body, whatever that is.

You know, is it a human body?

No, but is it some kind of body?

Mind, will, name.

I mean, what you think of a person.

Why wouldn't we use a different word

if person didn't mean person at all?

What I'm not gonna say is it's limited

to a relation of origin.

And then just hide behind that.

And don't you think,

hey, person doesn't really mean person?

Well, then why don't you come up

with the word that it means?

Like, haven't you had enough time to say like,

hey, that's a misleading word.

Then give us the right word.

You know why they're not giving us the right word?

Because there's no word to describe their non-definition.

That's why they still just keep using the word person

and then be like, but it's not what you think it means.

Well, what does it mean then?

It's just the Catholics.

It's like salvation by faith,

but faith isn't what you think it is.

Faith is just works.

And then you're just like, okay, what is works then?

You know, like, let's just redefine every word.

And this is dangerous when you're redefining

the words of the language that you're speaking.

Okay, why don't we just speak plainly

and let the Bible mean what it means?

Hebrews one, the Bible says in verse number three,

who being the brightness of his glory

and the express image of his person

and upholding all things by the word of his power

when he had by himself,

purged our sins, sat down on the right hand

of the majesty of high.

Now again, people that get mad at me,

they'll hear me read this verse and say,

oh, they love to use this word person here,

but that's not what person means.

Person doesn't mean person here.

What does it mean then?

Homo euseus, because that's the Greek word.

And you're like, well, what does that mean?

Person, you know, it's just like, okay.

Homo euseus, you know.

It's just like, the word games,

how about the fact that just the son looks like the father?

Isn't that just really easy to understand?

And hey, I like the word person.

If you want to say that God is three persons,

I think it's totally biblical

because the Bible talks about the person of Christ

and second Corinthians.

It talks about him being the express image of his person

here in Hebrews chapter number one.

If you want to call themselves,

I think that's biblical.

You have expressly stated in John chapter 17

John 17 · chapter mention

that he has saying, hey, glorify thou me

with thine own self.

Of course, the word self is used to describe

the distinction between the father and the son.

Person is used to describe the distinction

between the father and the son.

Minds, wills, names, all of these things

are just what the Bible explicitly teaches.

Well, that doesn't sound monotheistic.

Well, it sounds monotheistic to me

because there's one God in these three persons.

Sorry, you don't like it.

Sorry, you don't like God, but that's your fault.

Go to Hebrews 10.

I'm just gonna go to a couple more places.

Well, God, I think, you know,

I believe in the hypostatic union.

You can believe that if you want,

but here's the thing.

You can claim any term that you want,

but if people are teaching things

that aren't in line with the Bible,

why would you wanna cling to that term?

I heard a fundamental Baptist preacher get up and say,

why believe in divine simplicity

as long as you define it right?

And I'm like, okay, well, how do we define it then?

And then he just defines it in the exact opposite way

that divine simplicity is interpreted.

And I'm like, what's the point in that?

What if I'm like, why believe in Satan?

As long as when you mean Satan, you mean Jesus.

You know, it's just like, why would I do that?

Why would I just totally take the opposite

of a word's definition and then try to embrace it?

I guess so that you can be deceitful then.

So then you can be like,

oh, I believe in divine simplicity too, right?

Yeah, we're cool.

Yeah, I'm a theologian.

Yeah, church fathers, brah.

And then when someone calls you out on it

because it's got all this heresy attached to it,

it's like, oh, well, it's my definition of it though.

It's just like the false prophet that says,

yeah, salvation is my faith.

But if you don't have works, do you really have faith?

And when I say faith, you gotta follow all the commandments.

Faith means following all the commandments,

doing everything that God said perfectly and never sinning.

She's like, wow, that's faith, really?

Yeah, it's faith alone.

Not of works.

And you're like, what's work again?

I don't know.

It's just like, hey, let's not redefine words.

If a word doesn't match what you believe,

then change words.

What's the point of even having words

if they don't actually mean what we think they mean?

What's the point of having a translation

if it doesn't actually mean what it says?

Wouldn't you just improve the translation?

Why did we refine into the King James Bible?

Why didn't we just stick with the bishops?

Or why didn't we just stick with the,

is it because, hey, sometimes the wording

wasn't as accurate and we wanted the wording

to be dialed in and saying the exact same thing

as the underlying source?

If it's not saying exactly what the underlying source says,

then change it because we want the translation to match.

But here's the thing, the King James says

what the Greek says.

The King James says what the Hebrew says

in the Old Testament.

And you know what words actually mean, what they say.

I get mad at people constantly trying to change.

Well, it's not what the word means.

Look, there are a couple times in the Bible

in the King James Bible where because of our modern

understanding of a word, we could get a little bit confused.

I get it.

I get it that, hey, there's the word nephew

in 1 Timothy and it technically is referring to a grandson.

And so we get a little bit confused by this one word.

And if someone were to say, hey, I'm gonna update

the King James Bible and I'm gonna fix that one word,

I really couldn't throw stones at that particular person.

But you know what?

The people that are getting these modern Bibles,

they're not fixing this handful of words

that it's like, they're not changing B some to broom

and changing nephew to grandson.

They're just taking out 11 verses in Mark.

They're just taking out Acts 837.

They're taking things that just make total sense

like faithful, or they're not faithful

to the ones they're friends, but they're taking out

the words of a Talber go down as wounds

and they turn it into something like dainty morsels.

It's just like the words of a Talber are as wounds

and they're like dainty morsels.

It's just like, bro, you didn't help us out with that.

Okay, they're changing hell into Gehenna or something.

Are they changing it into another word

that we don't really are familiar with?

Okay, Hades or something.

And you're just like, well, let's just stick with hell.

I was in a debate with a guy and he's like,

when people die, they go to the shadow realm.

Like the shadow realm.

Is this like Dungeons and Dragons or something?

Like, why can't we just say hell?

I mean, it's only four letters.

You know, can you get much simpler?

It's like Hades is five.

Let's just drop a letter and get down to hell.

You know what I mean?

But obviously, people want to be cool and edgy

and all this.

Look, just be a fundamental Baptist.

You don't have to affirm divine simplicity.

You don't have to affirm all these Catholic theological terms.

You know what?

Let's just believe what the Bible says.

And who cares about these labels?

Who cares about the church fathers?

Most of them are probably dead and in hell anyways, okay?

I would love for some of them to be saved.

Like I would love for John Christ's dome to be saved.

I just want to give him a high five

about what he said about facts.

He's like, the guy is based on that issue, okay?

And I'm sure that there's probably some that are.

There's probably in the first century or something.

But saying Augustine, I don't believe he's in heaven.

I believe he's a Satan Augustine, if you ask me.

So I'm not interested in all these church fathers.

I'm interested in what the Bible says.

You know the fathers I'm interested?

Paul, Peter, John, Abraham, our father Abraham.

You know, it's like, oh, we're gonna talk about

church fathers.

How about the one where it says our father Abraham?

Okay, that's our father.

You know why they don't want to talk about

father Abraham?

Because he's not their father, that's why.

Hebrews chapter 10, look what it says in verse five.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Wherefore, when he comes into the world,

he say, a sacrifice and offering, now what is not?

But a body has thou prepared me.

Notice it says, thou and me.

Jesus is saying, you prepared me a body.

He didn't say, I prepared myself a body.

There must be a distinction in the persons, isn't there?

And of course, why did he have to have this body

so that he could die and taste the death?

I wanna go to one last place, go to Hebrews four

and I just wanna make a quick application here.

Why is this important?

Well, it's important first of all

that we have the right view of God.

It's important that we give honor

to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

as the Bible would have us do.

Of course, things are done in the name of the Father

and the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Ghost.

So obviously we wanna understand them.

We wanna understand their different functions

in a sense.

You know, the Bible brings this up

in 2 Corinthians, we talked about it.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost.

Of course, the Holy Ghost dwells inside of us

as say believers and will never leave us nor forsake us.

He's that comforter, he reminds us of the scriptures.

Of course, we have Jesus Christ

who sits at the right hand of God, the Father

and he's an advocate for us with the Father.

So when we sin, we can go to the Father through the Son

and we can ask for forgiveness

and ask for grace through the Son

and what he's done for us.

So we understand all the different functions.

We pray to the Father through,

obviously the Lord Jesus Christ is our advocate

and with the help of the Holy Ghost

and we wanna understand their different functions

and roles and how they interact.

This just gives us a greater and deeper appreciation

for the things of God

and the different ways that we can access

the help that he's given to us.

But one of these of course

is the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

And you know why I dislike strongly

this idea of limiting what Jesus did or something

is not truly appreciating it.

God as the Son, God manifests in the flesh,

he really did experience things

that he could only experience if he was limited.

This hypostatic union makes Jesus like a terminator

or something where like he just has

on the screen all the information is always coming up

and then he's just like pretending

like he doesn't have it or something.

He's like, no, he really was limited.

I mean, think of what the Bible is saying here in verse 15.

For we have not an high priest

which cannot be touched with the feeling

of our infirmities,

but was in all points tempted like as we are yet

without sin.

What does the word infirmity mean?

The word infirmity means weakness.

How is it that Jesus was touched with our infirmities

because he really had to go through

the human experience was just a weak experience.

There are weaknesses to us being in this mortal state.

Weakness is like being hungry.

He really hungered like feeling pain, like being tired,

going through all these different human experiences

that he really had to go through.

He was after 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness.

The Bible says he hungered.

He knows what it's like to feel hunger.

He knows what it's like to be upset.

He knows what it's like to be betrayed.

He knows what it's like to be disappointed.

And why?

Why?

Because when we go through difficulty,

when we go through issues,

we can appeal to Jesus and he knows what it's like.

You can't go through an experience

that Jesus doesn't have parallel to.

Jesus knows what it's like to be told to do something

that he doesn't wanna do and he submits anyways.

Not my will, but by and be done.

So every single lady that's ever existed

that's so mad about having to submit to someone,

hey, you know what?

Jesus Christ had to submit to the Father's will.

And you know what he was asked to do?

He was asked to bear the sins of the entire world.

He was asked to die a murderer's death

that he didn't deserve.

He was asked to be stripped naked

and publicly ridiculed and spat upon

and beat with a court of whips

and have to carry his own cross.

The Bible says that he despised the shame.

He had to die on the cross and then go to hell.

Who's been asked to do that?

Who's been told that they have to submit to that?

The Bible says he prayed at least three times

going in there and the sweat was coming off of him.

As of great drops of blood, he was in such agony.

The Bible says he was in agony

and the Bible says that he had to have angels come

and even strengthen him

to even go through this particular experience.

And then it's just like,

oh, my husband wants me to go to church.

Just submit and go to church.

Really?

My husband wants me to make him laundry,

you know, do his laundry.

He's just like, wow,

what a cross that you have to carry, you know?

I mean, it's just like it's insane

in many cases, the complaining.

Now look, are there some people

that actually have real burdens?

Yes.

Are there people that are going through real problems

and real difficulties and real suffering and real shame?

Oh yeah, there is, but you know what?

Jesus understands what it's like.

You know, I may not always understand what it's like.

Your spouse may not understand it.

Your parents may not understand it.

You know, obviously they're constantly talk

about this disconnect from boomers and like Generation Z.

They'll be like, get a job.

And they're like, well, back in your day, you know,

apparently you just had to do nothing

and you get a free house.

You know, that's what they act like.

They act like, oh, back in your day, you know,

the wives, I've seen this like comedy meme.

It was like a cartoon.

And it was like, back in the fifties,

this is what it was like.

And it was like a guy walks into like a job interview

and they're just like, do you have any experience?

He's like, no, here's a free job,

a free house and a free car.

And then he like shows up at his house

and then this guy walks up and he's like,

here's my virgin daughter.

Do you want to marry her?

And the guy's like, I don't know.

And she's like, I'll cook and clean

and do everything that you say.

And he's like, all right.

And he's like, this is what it was like for them.

And I'm like, never did that ever happen.

Okay.

But, you know, some people think that

and then they feel like, oh, they can't relate

to what I'm going through.

And, you know, in today's world, women are whores.

It's like, have you ever heard of the 60s and 70s?

Yeah, women are whores now.

But boy, I'm telling you in the 60s and 70s,

they were all just straight lace virgins.

You know, it was just such a great time.

It's like, bro, women have been whores throughout history.

The Bible's bringing up in the book of Proverbs

how they're on every corner.

Oh, well women used to be virgin, everyone's a virgin.

It's just like, let's go back to Proverbs for a moment.

Okay.

What does Proverbs say?

Who can find a virtuous woman?

Oh, but if we go back to the 50s, right?

That's the answer to everything.

It was like, hey, how can we find a virtuous woman?

1950s America.

That's the only time it ever happened.

You know, the women that were playing baseball

and, you know, the league of their own,

they were all these just submissive, godly housewives, okay?

All the factory workers came home

and they were just so obedient and just so godly

and so on.

Really is the boomer generation, when we look back,

like if we look at them now,

are they submissive, god-fearing women

or they have short haircuts

and are going to these Zionist churches

and are so rebellious?

But then we pretend like all those women

were these magic awesome housewives.

It's like, what are you, you're just confusing everything.

Sorry, there's a rant, but what's the point?

The point is, even if your parents don't get it,

Jesus gets it.

And you know, as men, it's like, hey,

we have to bear all these burdens

and we have all these difficulties

and hey, inflation and our government sucks

and our government's constantly lying to us

and there's all these conspiracy theories

and I'm so disenfranchised

and I always have to be bombarded with text messages

about voting for the lesser of two evils.

Is that just me?

Who else is getting text messages about voting every day?

It's just like, goodnight.

It's just like so annoying.

It's like, vote, this is the most important election ever.

Isn't that every election?

This is every election's most important elections

and it's like everything just gets slightly worse.

That's, you know, it's just like,

this is the most important election

and always just gets slightly worse no matter what.

But you know what, Jesus knows what it's like

to have bad politicians.

I guarantee in the first century Rome,

you know, Pilate and Herod weren't that great.

He knows what it's like to be run through

the political system or the criminal justice system

and be falsely accused.

He knows what it's like for someone to abandon him.

He knows what it's like to someone give him

that kiss of death like Judas did.

He knows what it's like to have his own brother

and not believe in him.

He knows what it's like to work so hard

and so tirelessly and only do good

and then people just trash him.

I mean, he comes into cities and he heals everybody,

does good to very, and then they wanna throw him

off a cliff.

He knows what Jews are like.

Some of you guys are like, man,

I know what the Jews are like

and nobody's with me.

Jesus knows, all right?

Jesus knows what they're like.

Jesus knows what they're really capable of doing, okay?

Jesus knows their deep and dark secrets.

He knows what's going on behind the scenes.

He knows who's running the world.

Oh, but you don't know Satan.

Jesus knows who Satan is.

He had to be tempted of the devil

and the wilderness for 40 years.

I'm gonna, 40 years, sorry, 40 days, excuse me.

I'm just telling you like,

hey, this is an important doctrine to realize

that Jesus really went through these experiences.

He really knows what it was like

and so when we go through difficulties,

when we go through problems and issues,

what are we supposed to do?

We're supposed to pray to the Father,

going through the advocate of Jesus

and realizing, hey, we have a high priest

that knows what we're going through.

He knows what it's like to have suffering.

He knows what it's like to be burned out.

He knows what it's like to be tired.

He knows what it's like to be hungry.

He knows what it's like to be betrayed.

He knows what it's like to have to do something

you don't wanna do.

He knows what it's like to have to be in a humble position.

Well, but my life would be better

if I had more fame or money or attention.

Jesus didn't get that.

If they just knew who I was,

if I just got that big break,

it's like Jesus is the king of kings

and he's still not getting that big break.

He's still looked down upon, spat on.

I mean, he despised the shame,

is what the Bible says.

And you know, sometimes people are gonna treat you poorly.

Oh, my boss doesn't give me the recognition I deserve.

Did Jesus always get the same recognition?

I mean, Jesus heals 10 lepers

and only one even came back to say thank you.

Jesus knows what it's like to help somebody

and they don't even care.

Jesus knows what it's like.

I mean, think about how many people that he got saved

in his ministry and they don't follow him.

They want nothing to do with him.

And this is just his earthly experience.

I mean, we think about just what we know about the Gospels.

Jesus went through so many experiences

that we're aware of, that we know of.

And he only did good

and he constantly was received with rejection, hatred,

being an outcast, despised, ridiculed, mocked, laughed at,

only doing good.

And so, you know, we can learn from these experiences

and we should appreciate these experiences

and it should help us when we go through difficulty.

You know, we will go through difficulty,

we will go through persecution,

but you know what, Jesus knows what it's like.

And so, don't feel like you're alone.

The devil wants us all to always feel like we're alone.

And the devil wants us to feel like

we're going through something nobody really understands.

But here's the thing, Jesus always knows

and Jesus cares.

Does Jesus care?

He does.

He does care.

You have a friend in Jesus, when we sing these songs,

we're not just singing them, just to sing.

It's real.

And if you're looking for human companionship,

you probably will always feel wanting

because humans can't always understand everything,

but Jesus does.

And you know, just like Jesus wasn't alone,

he had the Father and he had the Holy Spirit with him.

We have Jesus with us and we have the Holy Spirit with us.

And so, please don't feel alone.

Please don't allow yourself to get discouraged.

Please recognize that we have the Son as an advocate.

He cares about us.

He loves us.

You know, just like the Father loves the Son,

God loves us.

It's not, you know, the Bible's not a story

about some person loving themselves

and pretending to be three.

He really is the Father, Son, Holy Ghost,

and he really does love.

And it really illustrates, I mean,

the love that the Father must have for us,

that he would literally give up his Son.

That's a lot of love.

Well, I just don't feel like God cares about me.

He really cares about you.

He's already demonstrated the most love

he could possibly show towards you.

Well, I don't think God cares about my situation

or my life or my goals.

No, he cares about you more than you can realize.

He has the hairs of your head counted.

For some of you, that's not hard, all right?

Okay, some of us, it's more than others.

But hey, he's got zero counted,

even if that's the number.

He cares about you, all right?

He's got a big zero for you.

And you're like, oh man,

have he cared about me out of hair?

No, he does care about you.

He sent Jesus Christ, obviously,

to die on the cross for all your sins.

He cares about you, okay?

And obviously, the Holy Ghost loves us so much

it'll never leave us or forsake us.

So you have three.

Even if you feel alone,

you have three that care about you.

You have the Father, he cares about you.

You have the Son, he cares about you.

And you have the Holy Ghost

and all three of them care about you.

Isn't that enough?

It should be enough that the Father loves you.

It should be enough that the Son cares for you.

It should be enough that the Holy Ghost

will never leave you.

The love that God has for us should be enough.

And so I think it's important to understand the Trinity.

And you know, I don't care about the labels

and all the persecution, they're nuts to them.

Let the crucifix fall on their head,

you know what I mean?

Let's go to prayer.

Thank you Heavenly Father so much

for the love that you've given to us

through the gift of your Son.

Thank you.

Jesus Christ for the work that you've done for us

and the Holy Ghost for comforting us.

I pray that anyone in this room

that is going through difficulty, through struggle,

that you would just help remind them

that the love you have for them,

the grace that you have for them,

the communion that you have for them,

I pray that people would lean into God,

they would lean into the promises of Scripture,

that they would lean into the fellowship

of the Holy Ghost, that you could comfort them,

you could remind them of Scripture,

you could help them to pray and seek you,

and that you could give them the peace,

the passeth all understanding.

I pray if people are going through real problems

and real issues, God, that you would just please

give them grace, that you could just please help them

to see favor in that area of their life,

and they could trust you.

I pray that if people are falling victim of sin

and difficulty, that they would lean into church

to reading their Bible, getting closer to God,

and that you would help them.

And I pray that you would help us to all realize

that we have three that care about us,

the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,

in Jesus' name we pray amen.