Mystery and Truth

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, C

May 26, 2013

John 16:12-15

An Orthodox icon of the Most Holy Trinity at Mount Athos, Greece.

 Introduction

Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinity Sunday). All other feasts of the Church--Christmas, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost--celebrate various events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Trinity Sunday is the only feast day which celebrates a biblical doctrine.

As Christians, we believe in only one true God in three Persons or manifestations: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit. And yet the Father, the Son,and the Holy Spirit is one God. How could this be? Now I am tempted of just teaching today instead of preaching--by giving a dry, theological lecture on the Holy Trinity. Teaching and preaching are like the persons of the Holy Trinity: partaking in the same substance but having different manifestations!

I. "I have yet many things to say to you; but ye cannot bear them now." (v. 12)

Jesus said that there are many things he has yet to tell his disciples "but ye cannot bear them now"; i.e., they cannot possibly understand them at the moment. There are certain things that are beyond our human understanding.

At least twice before his death, Jesus foretold to his disciples about his impending Passion, Death, and Resurrection (see Matthew 16:21; and 20:17-19), the disciples did not understand it--it has yet to happen and it is inconceivable to the human mind. Perhaps we cannot understand the dimness in the minds of the disciples because we have two thousand years of hindsight behind us. But before Calvary, the disciples simply cannot comprehend of Jesus' talk of death and resurrection.

So it is with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. We believe in only one God; and yet believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is God. How did one become three and three become one? People have tried to understand the Trinity by using illustrations. But illustrations can be downright wrong ("an egg is composed of a shell, a white, and a yolk"--which are simply three different substances) or even heretical ("I am a husband to my wife, a father to my children, and a pastor to my congregation"--which is the heresy of modalism).

In the end, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a mystery--beyond human understanding. Any attempt to understand absolutely everything about God is an attempt to trivialize God. But if we reduce God to the extent that he is completely understandable, we have reduced him to a level that he no longer worth believing in.

II.  "But when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, he will speak; and he will shew you things to come." (v. 13)

A. One of the names of the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. We may not be able to understand everything, but it can be revealed to us by the Spirit of Truth. For example, the Bible is like a book just like any other human book: it is published using paper and ink and bound in the form of a book. Any book in the world can be read in an ordinary human way: just read it to be able to understand it; if you cannot understand some of the words, consult a dictionary. But the Bible is not just an ordinary book. It can be read just like any other ordinary book, but one needs the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man which is in him? So the things of God also knoweth no one, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which are freely given to us of God. Which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, explaining spiritual things by spiritual words. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit; for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.But the spiritual man discerneth all things, while he himself is discerned by no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:10-16)

B. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth because "he will not speak of himself: but whatsoever he shall hear, he will speak". The Holy Spirit will illuminate the truth that the Father has already revealed. He willnot invent any "new" truths, especially those which are not revealed in the Scriptures. It is unfortunate and sad that there are those who, claiming the power of the Spirit, who preach strange doctrines and practice spurious acts, which have no ground in Holy Writ. 

III. "He will glorify me; for he will take of mine, and shew it you. All things that the Father hath, are mine: therefore I said, He will take of mine, and shew it you." (vv.14-15)

The work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Father and the Son. He does not give glory to himself. In the Apostle's Creed, something is said of the Father ("I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth.") and much of the Son ("I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord..."). But of the Holy Spirit it simply states, "I believe in the Holy Spirit". However, the Nicene Creed states more:

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.

According to this Creed, we believe that the Holy Spirit, like the Father and the Son, is the Lord. (There is controversy with the words, "who proceeds the Father and the Son", called the Filioque clause--the Eastern Orthodox object that the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son.) He is Vivifier, the Giver of life. Because the Holy Spirit is God, he is also to be worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Prophets can say, "Thus says the LORD". We pray to the Father and to the Son. But can we pray to the Holy Spirit? The Bible dos not record anyone praying to the Holy Spirit. But since the Holy Spirit is God,we can rightly pray to him. There is an ancient prayer to the Holy Spirit: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.”

But the work of the Holy Spirit is to give glory to the Father and the Son. It is his work to lead people to God. Again, it is unfortunate and sad that there are those who overly obsessed with the Holy Spirit, even to the neglect of the Father and the Son. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity teaches us that we have one God in three persons, who are equal in kingdom, power, and glory. Amen.