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Series Code: IIWSS

Program Code: IIWSS024050S


00:00 ♪♪♪
00:15 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
00:16 brought to you by It Is Written.
00:18 We're glad you're joining us today.
00:20 We are on a journey through the book of John,
00:22 looking at many of the great themes
00:24 in the Gospel of John.
00:27 Thirteen lessons, we are on lesson number 11.
00:30 Right now we're looking at
00:32 "The Father, the Son, and the Spirit,"
00:35 an interesting study coming right up.
00:37 But let's start with prayer.
00:39 Father, we ask that You'll bless our time together
00:41 as we look at one of the most significant
00:43 and interesting subjects in the Bible, and that is,
00:46 well, really, You.
00:47 So we ask that You would bless our time together
00:49 and help us to gain a greater understanding of You.
00:52 We thank You in Jesus' name,
00:54 [both] amen.
00:56 Well, we're happy to have with us once again
00:58 one of the co-authors of this quarter's
01:00 "Sabbath School" lesson, Dr. Tom Shepherd.
01:03 He is the senior research professor of New Testament
01:06 at the Theological Seminary, Andrews University.
01:09 And, Tom, we're grateful to have you,
01:11 but as I mentioned, you're a co-author.
01:14 Tell us a little something about the other co-author.
01:17 >>Thomas Shepherd: All right, the other co-author
01:18 of this lesson is Edwin Zinke.
01:21 And Ed Zinke is an old friend of mine.
01:24 He was for a time one of the associate directors
01:27 of the Biblical Research Institute.
01:30 Now, if you don't know what that is,
01:31 the General Conference has a set of biblical scholars
01:35 and theological scholars who are resident there
01:39 in the General Conference, and they help to resolve
01:43 and study issues of theology
01:46 and biblical interpretation for the church worldwide.
01:50 So it's an important role that they play,
01:53 and I'm glad that they have
01:55 this Biblical Research Institute.
01:56 They also have a committee that goes along with it
01:58 of all kinds of scholars who come together twice a year.
02:01 So, Ed was, as I said,
02:04 sometime in that position and studied theology
02:08 at the University of America, I think, in Washington area.
02:14 And he and his wife have also-- are now philanthropists
02:20 and are doing good work helping a number of people.
02:23 So, just a shout-out to Ed, thank you so much
02:26 for being part of this writing of this lesson study.
02:30 >>Eric: Well, we thank you, Tom, for being with us.
02:32 And, Ed, we are very, very grateful for all the time
02:35 and effort that you put into bringing this all together,
02:38 so very, very grateful.
02:40 We're looking here at "The Father, the Son,
02:42 and the [Holy] Spirit."
02:44 Let me just ask this question.
02:46 You've got three persons of the Godhead, if you will.
02:49 Let's talk about the Father first.
02:52 What does John have to say about the role of the Father
02:56 in his gospel?
02:58 >>Tom: Okay, so what we're gonna do here
03:00 in this study is look at each member
03:03 of what theologians and Christians for many years
03:08 have called the Trinity.
03:09 That term doesn't appear in the Bible,
03:12 but that doesn't mean that the doctrine is not taught there
03:15 of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit
03:17 and how we have three in one.
03:20 They are three persons in one God who helps us
03:26 and is the Creator and the Lord over the whole universe.
03:30 So let's talk and see what John has to say.
03:34 We want to understand what the Bible teaches
03:36 and follow what the Bible teaches.
03:37 So we read John 1:1-3.
03:40 "In the beginning was the Word,
03:42 "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
03:45 "He was in the beginning with God.
03:47 "All things were made through Him,
03:48 and without Him was not any thing made that was made."
03:52 Now, this passage specifically refers to the Word,
03:56 and we know down in verse 14,
03:57 "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
04:00 and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son
04:03 from the Father, full of grace and truth."
04:05 So we know that the Word refers to Jesus, the Son of God,
04:10 but the verse,
04:12 the very first verses there relate Him to the Father.
04:16 And you saw in verse 14, the Son,
04:19 "the only Son from the Father," okay?
04:22 So I sometimes ask people,
04:24 how many individuals do you have in verse 1?
04:28 And you have this "with the Word," okay,
04:31 and then you have "the Word was with God"--
04:33 that sounds like two-- and "the Word was God."
04:35 That last verse kind of confuses people.
04:37 That last part they kind of say,
04:38 "Well, how can you be with God and be God?"
04:42 Well, in Greek it's more clear.
04:45 In Greek it's clear that the Word was with God--
04:48 there's two individuals, all right?
04:49 So the "Word" is Jesus, and "God" here
04:52 is referring to God the Father.
04:54 "And the Word was God" doesn't mean
04:55 that He's the same individual as the Father,
04:58 but that He has the divine characteristics,
05:01 the same divine characteristics as the Father.
05:04 So what we hear from this is the Father and the Son,
05:08 both are divine, and They are together.
05:12 And the Word, Jesus, the Son of God,
05:15 was the one who created the world.
05:18 So, you know, that's what we hear in these verses.
05:22 But there's some other verses we should look at.
05:24 We should look at John 3:16-17.
05:26 We've read those before in this passage.
05:29 But now we're kind of asking a little bit different question.
05:33 We have--we're asking
05:34 the question of theology, all right?
05:37 Now, theology proper is the study of who God,
05:41 God the Father, is.
05:42 Christology is the study of who Jesus the Christ is.
05:47 Pnuemanology-- isn't that a good word?--
05:49 "pnuemanology" means that's the study of the Spirit.
05:52 Who is the Spirit? So,
05:53 we're looking at theology, Christology, and pnuemanology.
05:59 But right now, we're focusing on theology.
06:01 So we want to mine from this text,
06:03 what can we know about God the Father? Okay.
06:06 >>Eric: "For God so loved the world that He gave
06:08 "His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
06:12 "should not perish but have everlasting life.
06:15 "For God did not send His Son
06:17 "into the world to condemn the world,
06:19 but that the world through Him might be saved."
06:22 >>Tom: Okay, so it's very clear.
06:24 It's a beautiful verse, isn't it?
06:26 God loved the world. "God so loved the world."
06:30 He loved the world in this way. What did He do?
06:33 "He sent His Son, that whoever believes in Him
06:36 should not perish but have eternal life."
06:40 He didn't send the Son to condemn the world.
06:41 He sent His Son to save the world.
06:44 So God the Father is the sender.
06:48 Now, They are co-equal,
06:51 but One member of the Godhead said,
06:53 "I will go as the Redeemer to the world to save them."
06:58 And One sends, and we'll find out
07:00 what the Spirit does as well, but God loved the world.
07:04 Of course, Jesus loved the world.
07:06 He loved the disciples.
07:07 So They all have the same goals in mind,
07:11 but They have, like, different functions, okay?
07:14 So we should also look now
07:16 over at chapter 5, verses 19-23,
07:20 where Jesus is defending Himself against the charge
07:24 that He's been breaking the Sabbath.
07:26 And we'll see what He says about the Father here.
07:29 >>Eric: "Then Jesus answered and said to them,
07:31 "'Most assuredly, I say to you,
07:33 "'the Son can do nothing of Himself,
07:35 "'but what He sees the Father do;
07:37 "'for whatever He does,
07:38 "'the Son also does in like manner.
07:41 "'For the Father loves the Son,
07:42 "'and shows Him all things that He Himself does;
07:45 "'and He will show Him greater works than these,
07:48 "'that you may marvel.
07:49 "'For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them,
07:52 "'even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
07:55 "'For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment
07:58 "'to the Son, that all should honor the Son
08:01 "'just as they honor the Father.
08:03 "'He who does not honor the Son
08:05 does not honor the Father who sent Him.'"
08:07 >>Tom: Okay, so very much again, Father, Son, Father, Son,
08:10 very combined in Their purpose and Their goals,
08:13 They have a somewhat different function,
08:16 but They're both doing the same thing to save people,
08:20 to be a blessing to them.
08:21 The Father loves the Son, and the Father raises the dead,
08:25 and so also the Son does the same.
08:27 So there's a very clear familial-, friend-,
08:34 goal-oriented relationship between Father and Son.
08:38 So that brings us then to ask the question:
08:41 Well, what about Jesus?
08:43 What is the relationship between God the Father
08:44 and Jesus the Son of God?
08:46 We've seen some of that already,
08:48 but let's turn over to John 10, verses 22 to 30,
08:52 and we can get a picture there about Their relationship.
08:56 >>Eric: "Now it was the Feast of Dedication
08:58 "in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
09:00 "And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.
09:03 "Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him,
09:05 "'How long do You keep us in doubt?
09:07 "If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.'
09:10 "Jesus answered them,
09:11 "'I told you, and you do not believe.
09:14 "'The works that I do in my Father's name,
09:16 "'they bear witness of me.
09:17 "'But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep,
09:20 "'as I said to you.
09:21 "'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
09:24 "'and they follow me.
09:25 "'And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
09:29 "'neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.
09:31 "'My Father, who has given them to me,
09:34 "'is greater than all; and no one is able
09:36 "'to snatch them out of my Father's hand.
09:38 I and my Father are one.'"
09:41 >>Tom: Okay, so here you have again the Son and the Father.
09:45 Their motives are the same.
09:47 Their function, Their work, is a bit different.
09:49 The Father sent the Son, but He says,
09:54 "The works that I do in my Father's name
09:56 bear witness about me, but you don't believe me."
10:00 You know, now, He had given earlier a demonstration
10:03 or a metaphor about being the Good Shepherd
10:08 and that His sheep hear His voice.
10:10 He says, "I give them eternal life....
10:13 "My Father, who has given them to me,
10:15 "is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them
10:19 out of the Father's hand. I and [my] Father are one."
10:22 So you'll see then that "the Jews pick up stones again
10:24 to stone Him," and He says,
10:26 "'I have shown you many good works from the Father;
10:31 "for which of them are you going to stone me?' ...Jews answered,
10:34 "'It is not for a good work that we are going to stone You
10:36 "'but for blasphemy, because You,
10:38 being a man, make Yourself God.'"
10:40 So they clearly understood what He was saying,
10:42 that He was God.
10:44 All right, just one more passage we can sneak in here,
10:47 John 14:8-11.
10:51 >>Eric: "Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father,
10:54 "and it is sufficient for us.'
10:55 "Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long,
10:58 "'and yet you have not known me, Philip?
11:00 "'He who has seen me has seen the Father;
11:02 "'so how can you say, "Show us the Father"?
11:05 "'Do you not believe that I am in the Father,
11:07 "'and the Father in me?
11:08 "'The [works] that I speak to you
11:10 "'I do not speak on my own authority;
11:12 "'but the Father who dwells in me does the works.
11:15 "'Believe me that I am in the Father
11:17 "'and the Father in me,
11:18 or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.'"
11:21 >>Tom: Again, the same kind of idea,
11:23 Father and Son, same kind of direction,
11:26 same kind of motive.
11:27 "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father;
11:30 me and my Father are one."
11:31 Now, He's not saying we're the same individual.
11:35 That was clear from the beginning of the book.
11:37 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God."
11:41 All right, so, He is divine, but He's not the same individual
11:46 as the Father. There's two different individuals,
11:48 but They have very, very--
11:51 Their goals, Their purposes are the same.
11:54 And the Father sent the Son as the Redeemer into the world.
11:58 >>Eric: Now, this is a subject that,
11:59 not surprisingly, has confounded a number of people.
12:03 And it's a subject that we can and should dig more deeply into.
12:07 One way that we can do that is with the companion book
12:10 to this quarter's lesson. Share with us a little bit about that.
12:13 >>Tom: All right, so the companion book is
12:14 a wonderful resource.
12:16 It's geared with the "Sabbath School" lesson.
12:19 It has 13 chapters, just like the lesson.
12:21 Each chapter has the same name as the lesson,
12:24 so you can't miss it.
12:25 And it provides you additional information
12:27 beyond the lesson quarterly,
12:29 beyond the teacher's quarterly.
12:30 And it's helpful for you to be able to have
12:34 a better understanding of what we're studying.
12:36 Some of these topics might be a little challenging,
12:38 but that is information to help you do a better job
12:42 as a teacher or to be better informed
12:45 for being involved in the "Sabbath School" discussion.
12:48 >>Eric: So if you would like to dig more deeply
12:50 into this subject of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
12:53 or the Holy Ghost, as He's sometimes referred,
12:56 this is an opportunity for you to do that.
12:58 You can pick that book up very easily at itiswritten.shop.
13:02 Again, itiswritten.shop.
13:05 Just look for the companion book
13:06 to the "Sabbath School" lesson study,
13:09 and you'll be blessed if you pick that up
13:11 and dig into it.
13:13 We're going to be back in just a moment as we continue
13:15 looking at the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
13:18 How do They work together?
13:20 How are They together? How are They separate?
13:22 We're going to be digging into that in greater detail here
13:25 in just a moment when we come back on "Sabbath School,"
13:28 brought to you by It Is Written.
13:30 ♪♪♪
13:35 >>John Bradshaw: You know that at It Is Written,
13:37 we are serious about the study of the Word of God,
13:40 and we encourage you to be serious about God's Word also.
13:44 Well, I want to share with you another way
13:46 that you can dig deeper into the Word of God.
13:49 And here it is: itiswritten.study.
13:54 Go online to itiswritten.study, and you can access
13:59 the It Is Written Bible Study Guides,
14:01 25 in-depth Bible studies
14:04 that will walk you through the Bible.
14:06 It's going to be good for you, and it's the sort of thing
14:10 that you will want to tell somebody else about
14:13 so that they can dig deeper into the Word of God
14:16 and come to know the things of the Bible intimately.
14:19 As you get into the It Is Written
14:21 online Bible study guides,
14:23 you'll understand the prophecies of the Bible,
14:25 the plan of salvation, and more.
14:27 So don't forget: itiswritten.study,
14:30 itiswritten.study.
14:34 ♪♪♪
14:39 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School,"
14:40 brought to you by It Is Written.
14:43 We are taking a look at
14:44 "The Father, the Son, and the [Holy] Spirit"
14:47 here in lesson number 11 of our "Sabbath School" study.
14:52 Tom, let's go back now. We've talked about the Father.
14:55 We've talked about the Son a little bit.
14:57 Let's take a look at the Holy Spirit.
15:00 What role does the Holy Spirit play in our salvation?
15:04 >>Tom: Okay, so it's interesting
15:05 that most references to the Holy Spirit
15:07 are in the last half of the book.
15:10 Now, the reason for that is that Jesus is leaving then
15:15 and going to the Father,
15:16 and He's going to send the Spirit.
15:18 So what we want to do, though, is see
15:21 in the first part of the book,
15:23 there's a valuable kind of discussion about the Spirit,
15:28 and it appears in that discussion
15:30 that Jesus had with Nicodemus, where He said to Nicodemus
15:35 that he had to be born "from above" or born "anew."
15:39 And Nicodemus, you remember, he said,
15:42 "How can a man be born when he is old?
15:44 "He can't go into his mother's womb a second time
15:46 and be born again, can he?"
15:48 He took it kind of literally, it's a misunderstanding,
15:52 but maybe misunderstanding with an edge
15:55 because he didn't like the way Jesus was talking.
15:57 And the word "again" can actually mean "from above."
16:02 So that may make more sense of it:
16:04 "Truly I say to you, unless one is born [from above],
16:07 he cannot see the kingdom of God."
16:09 Well, then Jesus unpacks this in verses 5 through 8.
16:15 He describes this more, and lo and behold,
16:17 the Holy Spirit shows up there, so.
16:20 >>Eric: "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you,
16:22 "'unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
16:25 "'he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
16:28 "'That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
16:30 "'and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
16:32 "'Do not marvel that I said to you,
16:34 "'"You must be born again." The wind blows
16:37 "'where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it,
16:40 "'but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.
16:43 So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'"
16:45 >>Tom: Okay, so He says that the way
16:50 that you're born again, or born from above, is in two steps:
16:56 born of water and the Spirit. He's talking about baptism.
17:02 I sometimes ask students,
17:04 "Do you have to be baptized in order to be saved?"
17:07 And they quite commonly would say no, [laughs[
17:10 you don't need to be baptized in order to be saved.
17:13 Well, that's true enough if you don't have an opportunity
17:16 to be baptized, okay?
17:19 But if you could just go read 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 19,
17:24 you'll find it says baptism now saves you.
17:27 Now, Peter goes right ahead and says,
17:30 It's not the removal of dirt from the body,
17:33 but it's the appeal of a conscience,
17:35 a clean conscience to God.
17:37 So baptism is necessary because it's a confession
17:40 of our faith to God, that we believe in Him.
17:43 And it's a witness to the rest of the community
17:46 that we have given our hearts to the Lord.
17:49 Now, born of water, all right, that's water baptism.
17:52 Born of the Spirit is when the Holy Spirit comes
17:54 into your life.
17:56 And that happens when you turn to Him
17:59 and open your heart to Him, and He works on your life.
18:02 Actually, conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
18:06 Now, He says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
18:09 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
18:11 And then He says,
18:13 "The wind blows where it wishes."
18:14 Now, the word "wind" is actually the same word
18:18 as the word "spirit."
18:20 So He's playing on the words.
18:21 He says, "The wind blows where it wishes,
18:24 "and you hear its sound,
18:25 "but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
18:29 So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
18:33 Now, this is both interesting and scary
18:37 because it means that we are not in control.
18:41 The Holy Spirit moves upon our hearts
18:44 and moves us to do something.
18:46 And if we're sensitive to the Spirit's voice,
18:48 as the book of Proverbs says,
18:51 you'll hear a voice behind you,
18:52 saying, "This is the way; walk in it,"
18:54 then we will do what the Spirit says.
18:57 In John, chapter 12,
18:59 when Mary came and anointed Jesus with the precious perfume,
19:04 she was following the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
19:07 She couldn't explain necessarily why she did this,
19:11 but Jesus affirmed what she did, see?
19:14 So she was doing what the Spirit was showing to her.
19:17 So, the Spirit moves upon people, and we must be cautious
19:22 not to put people down when they feel moved
19:27 to do something by God's Spirit.
19:30 Of course, there are spirits that are not God's Spirit,
19:33 but if it's in accord with the Scripture,
19:36 we should be very careful.
19:37 In fact, we should always be careful about describing
19:40 any work of spiritual things as the work of the devil,
19:45 because the work, if you call the work of the Holy Spirit
19:48 the work of the devil, that's the unpardonable sin.
19:50 Not that the Spirit doesn't want to work with you,
19:53 but if you think it's the devil, you won't listen anymore,
19:57 all right? So that's one of the aspects of what John teaches us
20:01 about the Spirit. There's another--like I said,
20:03 most of these appear in the second half of the book
20:07 because Jesus is going back to the Father.
20:08 So let's read John 16:7-11.
20:12 >>Eric: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth.
20:15 "It is to your advantage that I go away;
20:17 "for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you;
20:20 "but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
20:23 "And when He has come,
20:25 "He will convict the world of sin,
20:26 "and of righteousness, and of judgment:
20:29 "of sin, because they do not believe in me;
20:31 "of righteousness, because I go to my Father
20:34 "and you see me no more;
20:35 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
20:40 >>Tom: All right, so this very clearly lines out
20:42 the work of the Holy Spirit.
20:44 Jesus is going away, He says,
20:46 and He actually says to the disciples,
20:48 "It's to your advantage that I go away."
20:50 Now, I think most disciples would say,
20:53 "I don't know about that. I'd rather be with Jesus."
20:56 But Jesus could only be in one place
20:58 because of His becoming a human being.
21:01 The Spirit can be everywhere, right? And so He says
21:04 it's really to your advantage because then the Helper--
21:08 this term sometimes is called the "paraclete."
21:11 He is the one who comes by our side to help us out
21:16 and to give us what we need,
21:18 the help that we need at different times in our life
21:21 and all through our Christian experience.
21:23 And He says, when He comes, He's going to do
21:25 three things in convicting the world.
21:28 Now, that's not necessarily the Christians.
21:30 He's going to convict those who are not of His fold yet.
21:35 And He says He's going to convict them of three things:
21:38 of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
21:40 All right. And then He says,
21:41 "Sin, because they do not believe in me."
21:43 So it's a sin not to believe in Jesus.
21:47 And the Spirit, when Jesus went away,
21:49 now the Spirit is the one that brings conviction about that.
21:52 He says, "Concerning righteousness,
21:54 because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer."
21:57 So Jesus is the embodiment of righteousness,
22:01 just as He and the Father are one in Their purpose, right?
22:06 So without Jesus here,
22:07 we need the Spirit to convince us
22:10 about righteousness, what it's like, Jesus is like,
22:14 and then concerning judgment,
22:16 "because the ruler of this world is judged."
22:18 He's going down, and the world needs to know that;
22:22 Satan is not going to win this war.
22:24 God is going to win this war, and the Spirit is all wrapped up
22:28 in that great purpose.
22:30 >>Eric: So I'm going to read one other verse here
22:32 about the Spirit, back just a chapter in John 15, verse 26.
22:38 It says, "But when the Helper comes,
22:40 "whom I shall send to you from the Father,
22:42 "the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
22:45 He will testify of me."
22:48 So here we see all three of Them kind of wrapped together.
22:51 Help us unpack that. >>Tom: Yeah,
22:53 so He says that when the Helper comes,
22:56 "whom I will send," all right, so "I and the Spirit"
23:01 are two different individuals, all right?
23:03 "The Spirit whom I will send from the Father," all right?
23:06 So the Father is separate; the Spirit is separate;
23:08 Jesus is separate; there we have the three, all right?
23:11 It's all in this one verse.
23:13 "He who proceeds from the Father,
23:16 He will bear witness about me."
23:17 So He comes from the Father; He talks about Jesus.
23:20 This is an interesting thing.
23:22 As you study the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
23:25 you find that They tend to talk about each other.
23:28 The Father says,
23:30 "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
23:33 The Spirit points to Jesus.
23:36 Jesus points to the Father.
23:38 They're all pointing at each other
23:40 because They're all about service.
23:42 God is the God of love, the God who serves,
23:45 the God who creates, the God of joy,
23:47 the God of happiness, the God of peace.
23:50 And it's all His desire that
23:52 that's what will happen in our life.
23:54 Now, if you turn your life over to God,
23:57 that's what's going to happen in your life.
23:59 You're going to have peace, you're going to have joy,
24:02 you're going to have patience.
24:03 These things is what God works in us
24:06 as we turn our life over to Him.
24:08 The Spirit is the one who brings that conviction
24:10 that you and I need that, see? And then we trust in Jesus,
24:15 and we receive from the Father His blessing.
24:18 >>Eric: Now, we've been focusing much of our time,
24:21 almost all of our time, in the book of John.
24:23 Let's expand it just a little bit more.
24:25 We're talking about a big subject here,
24:27 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
24:29 How frequently do we find the Father,
24:31 the Son, and the Holy Spirit together in the New Testament?
24:34 >>Tom: Okay, some years ago--I'm the pastor
24:37 of the Eau Claire and Dowagiac churches in Michigan--
24:42 and some time ago, I was, before I was pastor,
24:45 I was head elder. We did a series of sermons
24:48 on the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Adventist church.
24:51 And we gave it to our different elders and the pastor and I,
24:54 and, you know, we were teaching these.
24:56 And when I was looking over, okay,
24:58 so who will be assigned to these different preaching on this?
25:03 When it came to the doctrine of the Trinity, I said,
25:06 "You know, I better teach this one,"
25:08 because I didn't want some young person
25:09 that was from the seminary to, you know, step into something
25:13 and mess himself up by saying something
25:14 that, you know, wasn't quite straight.
25:17 So I said, "Well, I better-- I should talk about that."
25:19 Now, so being a scholar, I said to myself,
25:20 "Well, I should see how often the Father, Son,
25:23 and Holy Spirit, the Trinity, shows up in the New Testament."
25:26 So the easiest way to do that-- you can do this at home--
25:30 the easiest way to do that is to look up all the references
25:32 to the Spirit, right? Because the Spirit is the one
25:35 that's referred to the least in the New Testament.
25:37 So I went and then I looked and said,
25:40 "All right, so in this passage nearby,
25:42 "is there any reference to the Father or God
25:46 or Jesus or the Lord, and the Spirit?"
25:51 And I was surprised.
25:53 I found more than 40 passages, more than 40 passages
25:57 in the New Testament that have a reference to God,
26:01 to the Lord, to the Spirit,
26:02 or to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
26:04 more than 40 references.
26:06 This is not a small doctrine of the New Testament.
26:10 This is an important biblical doctrine, and it's clear there.
26:13 Now, it's not in all of the expansions
26:16 that Christians later did and different things they said.
26:19 But the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
26:21 the doctrine of the Trinity, is a clear biblical doctrine.
26:25 And we should not be confused about this.
26:29 >>Eric: And somebody may say,
26:30 "Okay, sure, but what does this mean to me today?
26:35 "Here I am living many years beyond Bible times.
26:39 "How critical is it that I understand the triune God,
26:43 "the Godhead, the Trinity?
26:44 What difference does this make to me in my day-to-day life?"
26:47 >>Tom: Well, it really is an important difference
26:49 because when you understand the Trinity,
26:52 you understand that the Father is the one--
26:56 "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son."
26:58 You understand Jesus, you understand
27:00 that you have a Savior who came to this world, died, rose again,
27:04 is now at the right hand of God, and is coming again.
27:07 And They're in heaven, but you have the Holy Spirit
27:11 who comes to be with you, to encourage you and help you.
27:14 My friends, remember that God is on your side.
27:19 God wants you to be saved.
27:21 The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,
27:23 are all working for our salvation.
27:26 And it's actually a beautiful doctrine.
27:29 It's a beautiful teaching,
27:30 and it's a very biblical teaching.
27:33 >>Eric: A very biblical one, and it shows us again
27:35 just how much the statement is true that God is love.
27:39 He cares enough about you to save you.
27:41 He wants to open the gates of heaven for you.
27:45 And we trust and pray that
27:46 during our study of the book of John,
27:48 you have sensed those hinges opening.
27:51 We're going to be back again next week as we continue looking
27:53 at these great themes in the book of John.
27:56 We invite you to join us here on "Sabbath School,"
27:58 brought to you by It Is Written.
28:00 ♪♪♪
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Revised 2024-12-04