Should we preach on the Trinity on Trinity Sunday? The answer is less obvious than you might think!
And what do we make of the triadic formula in Matt 28.19? Was it a later addition or part of the teaching of Jesus?
And how should we read the five imperatives from Paul in 2 Cor 13.11? Why is the triadic final greeting in the order that it is?
Mike Higton’s sermon on the Trinity using words of one syllable (mentioned early in the discussion) can be found here.
And for commentary on Matt 28 and the Great Commission, see the written commentary here
Buy me a Coffee
If not now, when?
Here is an example:
https://learn.ligonier.org/podcasts/things-unseen-with-sinclair-ferguson/praise-father-son-and-holy-ghost
Or here, by Anglican, Dr Michael Reeves- Delighting in the Trinity:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=piTiPb6CHmQ
Great with a holy kiss
This is the fourth mention of five mentions in the NT.
In the early church it was perhaps/probably the origin of “the peace”
Ergo, In the Apostolic Constitutions (possibly of the third century) we find the rubric, “Let the deacons say to all, ‘Salute ye one another with a holy kiss:’ and let the clergy salute the bishop, the men of the laity salute the men, the women the women.” The deacons were to watch that there was no disorder during the act (8:57). In the account given by Justin (Apol. i. 65) it appears as preceding the oblation of the bread and wine for the Eucharistic Feast, as it did in most of the Eastern liturgies, probably as a symbolic act of obedience to the command of Matthew 5:24. In the Western Church it came after the consecration of the elements and the Lord’s Prayer. It was intermitted on Good Friday in the African Church (Tertull. De Orat. c. 14) as unsuitable for a day of mourning. It may be noted as the survival of a residuum of the old practice, that when the usage was suppressed by the Western Church, in the thirteenth century, it was replaced by the act of kissing a marble or ivory tablet, on which some sacred subject, such as the Crucifixion, had been carved, which was passed from one to another, and was known as the osculatorium, or “kissing instrument.” Ellicott.
In the OT,, “ Kiss the son lest he be angry with you” and elsewhere was a sign of much reverence and fealty, which caused Christ some amazement that Judas greeted him with a kiss or betrayed Him so.
We in northern Europe shy away but in many European countries it is a norm.
However where there is deep fellowship and affection for one it is a quite common exhilaration of one’s devotion.
Morning by morning I still my soul on my own extract of Owen vol.2 re the communion we have with the Father (to which Sinclair Ferguson refers):
Owen bases these pages on 2 Cor.13.14: may the grace of LJC, love of F and f’ship HS… So while our communing with each person of the Trinity isn’t held exclusively with that person, it is held especially with them. That is, the fellowship we have with –
– The Father is in love
– The Son is in grace
– The HS is in sanctificn (he converts us) and consoln (he gives us the privileges Christ died to buy us)
Communion, = fellowship, is that reciprocal action of him giving himself to us, and us giving ourselves to him. Re t Father the special giving is sheer love, Tit 3:4; 1Jn 4:8-10; Eph.1:4-6; Jn 16:26f; Rom.5:5.
Wh is meant by God’s love? – it is (1) beneplaciti (purpose and goodwill/pleasure, Jn3:16 Rom 9:11f), and (2) amicitia personal friendship and approval, Jn 14:23) !
Many Christians are but little exercised in holding immediate communion with the Father in love; it makes us go heavily when we might rejoice. How anxious! Therefore:
1. Eye (view, regard) him as love. Let this be our first thought about the Father. Consider (i) whose love!!, (ii) what kind of love: eternal, free, unchangeable, distinguishing.
2. Receive his love. ‘Act thoughts of faith in God as love for you.’
3. Return his love
Consider:
1. It pleases him to be received into our souls as full of tender love towards us. It is Satan’s work that we think of him as austere. To think of him as tender in love for us gives him the honour he aims at, Rom.5:8. Don’t be afraid to have good thoughts of God.
2. It will endear your soul to him, enable you to delight in him, heal your indisposedness about time with him. To the extent that we see his love, to that extent will we delight in him.
Put this to the venture (test), therefore: hold daily communion with the Father in love for a few weeks. You who have run from him will not be able, after a while, to keep at a distance for a moment.
Lord, open our eyes to see that walking with You is not a matter of form but of power.
Thanks Peter,
It is excellent from John Owen, even in the Banner of Truth version Communion with God.
It is little known today nor the practical theology expounds.
So much could be abstract from the book, but it would not do the book, not Owen,nor our God in Triunity justice.
I don’t think there is anything like it, today.
Indeed Friends
Reading Owen and other of the Puritan writers as Richard Sibbes
[a favourite of Chas.Spurgeon who called him “that dropper of pearls”] or John Flavel, Richard Brooks….
They make our modern commentators bland and dry in comparison.
We are truly spoiled for anything less. Only Christ can and will satisfy
“To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life”
The awesome companionship of the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth. ,
Elihu asks, “Who is a teacher like him?” This highlights God’s unique ability to instruct humanity with ultimate authority and flawless insight.
Psalm 32 v 8 – 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with my eye.
32:9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding:
The glorious God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We are tickled to death that we are His children. Shalom
Some years ago I was struck by the realisation that the phrase “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is used elsewhere in 2 Corinthians (8:9) and that set me wondering what else Paul says in this latter about the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit. There’s a fair amount – certainly enough for a sermon based on how those threads (and their Trinitarian implications) flow through the whole of the letter, flavouring his theological arguments and applications.
That is interesting. Does that phrase occur anywhere else…?
Chat GPT tells me:
If you mean the exact phrase “the grace of Christ” (ἡ χάρις τοῦ Χριστοῦ), the clearest occurrence is:
* Epistle to the Galatians 1:6 — “the grace of Christ”
(“…him who called you in the grace of Christ…” ESV)
But the closely related expression “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” occurs frequently in Paul, especially in greetings and benedictions. Key examples include:
* Acts 15:11
* Epistle to the Romans 16:20, 16:24
* 1 Corinthians 16:23
* 2 Corinthians 8:9; 13:14
* Epistle to the Galatians 6:18
* Epistle to the Philippians 4:23
* 1 Thessalonians 5:28
* 2 Thessalonians 3:18
* 1 Timothy 6:21
* 2 Timothy 4:22
* Epistle to Philemon 25
* Book of Revelation 22:21
There are also references to grace specifically associated with Jesus Christ, for example:
* Gospel of John 1:17 — “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
* 2 Peter 3:18 — “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”
So, strictly speaking, the bare phrase “grace of Christ” is rare, but the concept is widespread in Pauline and later NT theology.
That’s a wider search than I undertook; but my sermon prep on this was way before ChatGPT or even widespread search engines, so I stayed in 2 Corinthians. Themes which keep surfacing may well have been on the author’s mind as he constructed the letter … (I remain convinced that reading the Bible at a faster rate can reveal things which get missed if we go two or three verses at a time – at “drone speed” one remembers things ten chapters apart and catches more resonances.)