Three Great Truths
June 7, 2009 Trinity Sunday
2 John 3-11 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
About ten years ago I was read an article about a Confessional Lutheran Bishop in Sweden, Bo Giertz. He wrote that there were three big lies: 1) There is no God; 2) There is no devil; 3) Everyone can be saved in his own way. I know that we could certainly add to that list, but those are definitely three big lies that get told repeatedly. When I read about those three big lies, I decided to prepare a sermon about three big truths. That same day, Leah got out of school at noon, so I picked her up and took her to lunch, then brought her back to the church with me. Remember, this was ten years ago, so she would have been in 7th grade. Over lunch, she asked what me what I had to do that afternoon, and I told her I had to finish my sermon. She asked what it was about, and I told her “three great truths.” She said, “Oh, you mean Father, Son and Spirit.” I told her that was pretty close to what I would be saying. So this morning, this Trinity Sunday, I am going to once again address those three big lies with three big truths.
There is a story circulating on the Internet about a professor of philosophy who is a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God couldn’t exist. His students were afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic. For twenty years, he taught this class and no one ever had the courage to go against him. Sure, some argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him, because he had a reputation. At the end of every semester, on the last day, he would say to his class, “If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!” In twenty years, no one had ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He would say, “because anyone who does believe in God is a fool. If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. Such a simple task to prove that he is God, and yet he can’t do it.” And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces. All of the students could do nothing but stop and stare.
Most of the students were convinced that God couldn’t exist. Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up. Finally, there was a freshman who happened to get enrolled in the class. He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about this professor. He had to take the class because it was required for his major and he was afraid. But for 3 months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said or what the class thought. Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped. Finally the day came. The professor said, “If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!” The professor and the class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom. The professor shouted, “You FOOL! If God existed, he could keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!” He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away, unbroken. The professor’s jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man and then ran out of the lecture hall. The young man who had stood up proceeded to walk to the front of the room and share his faith in Jesus for the next half-hour. 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God’s love for them and of his power through Jesus.
TRUTH #1: THERE IS A GOD! In answer to that first lie, there is the true God, the Creator of us all and the Father of all believers. He is a God of justice and of mercy, of righteousness and of love. This one, true God was not content that the crown of His creation should perish in their sin. He planned a way for us to avoid the deserved consequences of our actions. He made a promise right after the first sin to take care of the problem. Yet sin leads people to doubt His word of promise, even His very existence. This has always been a problem. Twice in the book of Psalms we read The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1, 53:1) One of the ways God answers that challenge is seen in the way that He has revealed Himself to man, especially the name by which He is known, the name He gave to Moses from the burning bush: YAHWEH, which means “I Am.” When people say, “There is no God,” He simply answers with His name, I AM!
TRUTH #2: Not only is there a devil, but there is also the one who destroyed Satan’s kingdom and power: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the one who gave His life on the cross as an offering for the sins of the world. It is because the devil is real and has brought sin into the world that God sent a very real Savior into this world: His Son. Although Satan would like nothing better than for us to think he is not real, we have all experienced how very real he is. He is that voice that tells you to go against better knowledge and do those things you know are wrong. He tries to convince you that there will be no consequences for your actions, so do whatever you want. His goal is nothing other than to drag you down to hell with him. And he is always on the job. You see plenty of evidence of how real and successful he is just by looking around you. You see him at work in your home, causing turmoil and strife. You see his success in the market place, where people are rude and callous toward the feelings of others. His reality is seen in the filth that calls itself entertainment in this country.
Jesus came to combat all those things. He took on the devil, toe-to-toe, and the devil was no match for the Son of God. He should have known after tempting Jesus in the wilderness that he could not win. Perhaps Satan hoped against hope that Jesus would stay dead after having offered Himself as payment for the sins of all people. But Jesus rose. He is alive, and He has won the victory for all people. By His death He destroyed death, and by His rising again from the dead He has vanquished Satan. Hebrews 2:14 tells us Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil. Jesus faced a very real enemy, Satan, for you. And He defeated Him for you.
TRUTH #3: The third great truth involves the third person of the one true God, the Holy Spirit, and that truth can be stated this way: The Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. That cannot happen without the Holy Spirit. If it were true that everyone could be saved in his own way,
- by serving idols;
- by doing works that he or she thinks are good or worthy;
- by bringing great sacrifices like giving all your goods to the poor or offering your body to be burned;
- by being kind to your neighbor;
If it were possible to save yourself by these kinds of things, there would be no need for faith in Christ and no need for the Holy Spirit to implant the saving faith in us through the Gospel.
There are those well-meaning individuals who ask, “Can’t a good and upright person, a person of high moral character, a person of intellect and integrity, cannot such a person earn God’s favor?” That is a subtle seduction. We would like to think that we have a part, no matter how small it may be, in achieving salvation. But the Scriptures tell us that our part is NOTHING. God does it all. He reminds us through Saint Paul that faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17. That Word of God, the Gospel, is the power of God unto salvation. And also, no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor 12:3). Salvation is not humanly achieved; it is God’s outright gift of grace–not of works, lest people would boast.
Leah was pretty close when she said the three truths are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons make up the one true God who loves us and gave Himself for us and works to lead us to faith. The lies will continue. But we know the truth. We have the truth. Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
