The Lutheran Hour
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"God’s Mystery is God’s Blessing"
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Text: Matthew 28:16-20
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PRAYER:
O Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; to You all Christians give glory and to You all people of every nation, even unbelievers on the day of judgment, will bend their knee. Blessed Holy Trinity, from Your fountain of grace flows forgiveness and hope. From the seed of Your living Word grows all truth. From the innermost recesses of Your heart bursts forth righteousness, holiness, and mercy. O Holy Trinity, draw all people unto Yourself, stabilize the weak, give confidence to the doubting, and console the dying. O Holy Trinity, we worship You as one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, always giving You all glory forever and ever. Amen.
On this program two weeks ago, we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. “I will always be with you” — with these final and departing words, Jesus assured His followers His departure did not mean permanent separation. Just the opposite is true. Jesus’ promise “I will always be with you” has been the foundation of hope for Christ’s followers in every century. Therefore, let these words give you hope also when days are difficult, strength when hours are demanding, and consolation even when your best friends give up on you.
Yes, when your spouse is taken in death; when a dear friend moves to another part of the country; and when you feel so alone, then remember your Savior’s promise, “I will always be with you.”
These glorious words, this gracious promise that Jesus is “always with us,” are not the only words Jesus spoke just before He ascended into heaven. Our blessed Savior also gave the most far-reaching command ever spoken to any followers. Jesus said: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).
When Jesus gave His marching orders to His followers, to take His Gospel of forgiveness and salvation to every part of the globe, Jesus did not establish this command on the authority of some vague god somewhere. Instead, Jesus said, “Baptize people in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” By this name and upon the foundation of His Holy Trinity, the Church of Jesus Christ has been established. And, in name of the Trinity–the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit–the Gospel of God has been empowered in a way the devil himself can never stop.
Travel around the world and you will quickly see great cathedrals named after the Trinity; cemeteries named after the Trinity; one of the colleges of Cambridge University is called “Trinity College;” and now even a major religious broadcasting company is called “Trinity Broadcasting.” This name “Trinity” is not merely a human or secular “brand” name. “Trinity” means a name of which there is none higher.
Like a blood transfusion that enables a dying person to live, so also the constant sign of the Cross and the speaking in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, gives all believers new life. Calling upon the Trinity will enable you today to live and move with new vitality. Living with Trinitarian protection permits each of us to exist freely and victoriously in a culture of spiritual confusion and even darkness. You and I need the daily and hourly power and the protection of the Holy Trinity because, as St. Paul says, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
With Christ’s clear command dominating their minds, the first followers of Christ were like a tiny spark that ignites a forest fire. As obedient foot soldiers of the Gospel, they went out proclaiming the spark of Christ’s command in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As soon as the Christian Church was established by Christ Himself, then through the devil-defeating power of the Trinity, people were rescued from hellish despair and saved unto a heavenly hope. In St. Paul’s day, Christian churches were established even in sin-filled Corinth, a city overrun with a culture of decadence and spiritual death. Celebrating the Trinity, however, is more than a momentary glance backward. This hope of victory anchored on the Trinity is still available today. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have not changed one iota in the past 2,000 years. What the Trinity did in Corinth, these three persons of the Godhead graciously desire to do also in your heart today.
So then, as you launch forth in life with courage and prepare to make the Trinity the foundation upon which you stand and the shield you intend to use to defend yourself against the evil one and the central theme of joy-filled songs you sing, don’t let anyone tell you before you can trust the almighty power of the Trinity you must first intellectually comprehend the Trinity. Don’t waste your time, friends. Don’t waste your time trying to fathom the Trinity. You will never do it.
In 1637, a French mathematician claimed to have solved a mathematical mystery which had stumped fellow mathematicians since the time of the Romans. For whatever reason, this French mathematician died shortly thereafter without publishing the answer to this age-old mathematical mystery.
But then, after a lapse of some 400 additional years, in 1993, Newsweek Magazine announced the long sought solution to the mathematical mystery had at last been found by a professor of Princeton University lecturing at Cambridge University in England. So exciting was this discovery that within an hour the good news of mathematics and logic was announced in Boulder, Colo., Berkeley, Calif., and at other technical colleges and universities all around the world.
Well, in a somewhat similar way, for centuries philosophers and theologians have been trying to figure out the Trinity. These attempts however have always been futile.
The story is told about the great theologian St. Augustine who lived 354-430 A.D. As Augustine struggled with this question of how to understand or how to explain the Trinity, he claims to have had a dream. His dream was this. One day St. Augustine was walking along the seashore. During his walk, he came upon a little boy. This young lad had dug a hole in the sand and was dipping water out of the ocean into the little hole in the sand.
After watching the boy for a while, Augustine finally said to him: “What are you doing?”
The little boy said, “Sir, with this pail I am going to dip the water of the entire ocean into this hole in the sand.”
“But,” said St. Augustine, “you will never be able to do that. It is too foolish!”
“You are right,” said the child. “And it is just as foolish for you to try to empty the mysteries of the infinite Triune God with the little dipper of your mind.”
Yes, because the doctrine of the Trinity is so un-understandable, so unexplainable and so far from the grasp of the human mind; and, because the Holy Trinity is so powerful in enabling and protecting God’s children in their mission, this is why for centuries the Christian Church has sung with great joy:
“Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, three we name thee; Though in essence only one, Undivided God we claim Thee And, adoring, bend the knee While we own the mystery.”
The time for speculation and doubt is over. The time to raise up the name of the only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the God of the Bible is now. At this very moment, the devil is working very hard to undermine all Bible-based teachings that the Holy Trinity is the one and only true God.
After setting forth the Biblical understanding of the Trinity exhaustively and from every conceivable point of view, the Athanasian Creed, one of the oldest Christ-centered confessions of the Christian faith, closes by affirming, “This is the faith which except a man believe faithfully and firmly he cannot be saved.”
I beg you today, don’t take the name of the Trinity lightly! The Trinity includes the name of Jesus and there is no other name under heaven whereby you can be saved! There is no other way and no other name! Jesus died for your sins. His death on the bloody cross paid fully for all your sins and failures. The Bible says, “without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).
Data recently provided by secular institutions now confirms the struggle, the deep spiritual struggle, in the minds of millions between whether to believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit or whether to be open to accept any other religion that “seems” right. Some religions that “feel” good–this life and death spiritual battle is slowly but surely being won by Satan.
This is not merely my opinion. According to the findings of the American Religious Identification Survey developed by the Center for Graduate Studies at the University of New York, more Americans than ever consider themselves irreligious. This simply means they don’t consider themselves to be Christian. The percentage of Americans who now call themselves Christian fell dramatically from 86% in 1990 to only 77% in 2001. This study further stated that 16% of our culture now has a totally secular or a non-spiritual outlook on life. “Twenty-three percent of those who now call themselves irreligious once had at least some level of faith. At the same time, while Christianity in our culture is losing, non-Christian faiths including Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, New Age, Sikh, and others continue to show significant growth.” This is not my opinion, but the results of a very serious study.
Therefore, the apostle Peter warns “Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, prowls around seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Knowing, therefore, the devil is near you hoping to take your eyes of faith off the Trinity, you must be prepared. So when you are tempted to embrace a religion or a faith that promotes or even permits any faith other than the “Trinitarian Confession” of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then say like Jesus did, “Get behind me Satan.” Get away from me.
On your own you cannot stave off the devil. But the Good News is this–God will help you. He will enable you through His Word and Spirit. God will empower you. Therefore, each morning as you rise, do as the early Christians did and begin your day by making the sign of the cross and saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Then, in the name of the Trinity, ask God for protection for the day. Thank Him for all His blessings. And, begin with a positive attitude that the God of the Bible–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–will guard and keep you and your family throughout the day.
No better way has God given you to unleash the devil defeating-power of the Holy Trinity–the Father, Son and Holy Spirit–than to pray daily or even several times a day the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples and the prayer He now desires all of us to use. This is called the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is recorded in the Gospel(s) of Matthew and Luke (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4).
In speaking about this prayer, one Bible scholar explains the Lord’s Prayer brings the whole of God, the entirety of God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–into our lives. “When we ask in the Lord’s Prayer,” this scholar points out, “for bread to sustain our earthly lives, that request immediately directs all our thoughts to God, the Father, the Creator and the Sustainer of all life.”
Then, “when we ask” in the Lord’s Prayer “for forgiveness, that immediately directs all our thoughts to God the Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.”
And then, “when we ask in the prayer for help for all future temptation, this request immediately directs all our thoughts to God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Strengthener, the Illuminator, the Guide, and the Guardian of our way.”
Yes, “in a most amazing way,” this Bible scholar concludes, the “second part of the Lord’s Prayer takes the present, past, and the future–the entire spectrum of our life–and presents our entire life to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.” In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to bring the entirety of life to the entirety of God and to bring the entirety of God the Trinity–the Father, Son and Holy Spirit–to the entirety of our life.
So, friends, look at our current culture, a population that even the most secular sociologists now openly admit is confused. Don’t move forward in life another day, not another hour, without affirming your faith in the solid and immovable foundation of the Trinity, the One true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Your heavenly Father loves you in spite of your many failings. The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is now interceding on your behalf at the throne of God every time you stumble and fall. The Holy Spirit of the blessed Trinity is at your side convicting you of your sin but then also assuring you that every last one of your sins has been totally forgiven. He, the Spirit, then also plants deep into your heart God’s gift of faith and hope.
Therefore, friends, leaving all feelings of discouragement and guilt behind you, say or sing the doxology of praise, that Christians have used for centuries:
“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for May 26, 2002
ANNOUNCER: For more about the Trinity, joining me today is Dr. Wallace Schulz. I’m Mark Eischer. Dr. Schulz, in today’s message you focused on what is certainly the greatest mystery of the Christian faith, namely the Holy Trinity. Some people will say, “I would become a Christian if only I could understand what it is I am supposed to believe.”
SCHULZ: Of course, that’s another good question. Anybody who says that, however, is really implying they would like to be God. Because you see, if we would be able to completely understand God, then we would be equal to God.
ANNOUNCER: So you’re saying that instead of trying to figure out God and have it make sense in some logical or reasonable way, we should rather simply accept Him as He has revealed Himself to us and rejoice in that?
SCHULZ: Absolutely. Rejoice in it. This is certainly what the apostle Paul is saying when he writes to Timothy, “By common confession, great is the mystery of Godliness. He, Jesus, was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world and taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16).
ANNOUNCER: What you were saying today is God has revealed Himself as the Trinity–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–and this is one of the great mysteries?
SCHULZ: Precisely. This is also why I made reference to the command that Jesus has given to all of us to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them also in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). By the way, we should never forget the very clear words of the apostle Paul which he uses to close his letter to the church in Corinth: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
ANNOUNCER: I think it’s important to point out the teaching, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, is taken directly from the Bible.
SCHULZ: I agree. I have heard quite often the teaching or doctrine of the Trinity is not even found in the Bible. Well, we have just heard the Bible speaks distinctly of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
ANNOUNCER: So what would you say to those people who may say, I believe but I have to first understand it?
SCHULZ: People that make these kinds of statements or have these kind of thoughts, I always direct to the words Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in the third chapter of the Gospel of John. You see, Nicodemus was a very learned man. But he was troubled by who Jesus was. He, too, wanted to understand everything before he believed. At one point Jesus said to Nicodemus, “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12). In a very wide sense, what Jesus said to Nicodemus, He is also saying to us. He is simply saying this: There are many things you and I come in contact with every day that we can’t explain.
ANNOUNCER: For example, look at how scientists all over the world are struggling to explain how life operates in an attempt to engineer life itself. But, that’s ultimately impossible, right?
SCHULZ: Correct. So, what we are saying is this. Jesus said to Nicodemus there are a lot of things in life you don’t understand and yet you believe or live with them; then why don’t you simply believe what God has revealed even though you can’t understand it?
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, what is the bottom line?
SCHULZ: God has revealed Himself as the Holy Trinity–Father, Son and Holy Spirit–three persons in one God. How is this possible? We don’t know. However, one thing we do know is this: God the Father has loved us so much that He sent His only Son into the world to die on the cross to pay for our sins and to make it possible for us to be saved from the judgment of our sins. So, even though we are spiritually helpless and hopeless, the Holy Spirit comes to us, reminds us of the seriousness of our sins, and brings God’s healing Gospel into our hearts. Then, we thank and praise God that He reaches down to rescue us and that He saves us to be with Him in paradise forever.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Dr. Schulz.