THE DOCTRINE OF THE DIVINE TRINITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 76, 1 April 1899, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE DOCTRINE OF THE DIVINE TRINITY.

(By thf Late Cakok Bates.)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.—2 Cor., xiii. 14.

The text teaches by implication, not formally, that the doctrine of the Divine Trinity (to which our attention is directed to - day) is a doctrine Avhich is commonly spoken of as a great mystery; and because.of its mystery it is often rejected, Those who reject it regard the doctrine as representing what is utterly unintelligible, unknowable, unthinkable. And yet such people do not reject other mysteries regarded by some as equally great. Professor Huxley has said somewhere, "That the mysteries of the Church are child's play compared with the mysteries of nature." We cannot safely reject a doctrine on the ground of its mystery, for the same objection may be urged against the speculations and facts of science. All man's life is involved in mystery, and his fullest knowledge is but partial.

Whilst much is said nowadays about the mystery of the Trinity, Holy Scripture is silent upon, the point. (Indeed, the doctrine of the Trinity, as we find it stated by theologians, is not to be met with in the Scriptures.) It is taught incidentally, not formally. It is assumed rather than asserted. Holy Scripture speaks of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It does not use the word person in speaking of them, nor such terms as substance, essence, and the like. Take the text as an example of Scriptural usage. There we read of the "grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the love of God, and of the communion of the Holy Ghost." Such is the testimony borne by the benediction formula to the threefoldness of the God-head. Let us consider each, clause separately. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. By grace is meant the good will, the favour of Jesus Christ. It is as though we asked that all the blessings that Christ has brought to men may be ours —the blessing of Divine pardon, of spiritual cleansing, of reconciliation with God; the blessing of God's light and love abiding in the soul; the blessing of the resurrection from the dead, and the life of the world to come.

The love of God. The love of God is the source of all blessing1. All good things come from the Father of light. By the love of God we are to understand the active benevolence of God towards all His creatures. God's gifts to- us of life, and health, and friends, and a^l things that are necessary both for our souls and bodies, are proofs of His unfailing love and goodness. "He left not Himself without witness," says S. Paul, "in that He did good and gave men from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling- their hearts with food and gladness." The love of God truly comprehends all blessings. We speak of the power of God, the protection of God, the guidance of God, the peace of God—but all these are summed up in the one brief but comprehensive formula, the love of God. If the love of God be with us, then all is with us that it is possible for man to have from God. "I am persuaded," says S. Paul, "that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor" things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from .the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The communion of the Holy Ghost. By this is meant the fellowship, the companionship of the Holy Spirit, or, in other words, the indwelling1 and working of the -Holy Ghost in our hearts. He is to be' within us as our "Divine Guest and companion, to en-, lighten, strengthen, and guide us: to fill us with God's peace, to fashion in us a character like unto Christ's.

We read in the Epistle to the Galatians that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. These virtues and graces are certainly the characteristic evidences of the Holy Spirit's working in human hearts. But there are other and more masculine virtues which are equally his fruits. Isaiah speaks of the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord. It was as the Spirit of Power that the Holy Ghost came upon the Apostles and made them fit pioneers of the Kingdom of the new birth. We need, in addition to the gentler virtues, the spirit of manly strength and wisdom and foresight and determination. We need the spirit of impartiality and justice. We need the spirit of high and lofty aims, which sees beyond the exigencies of the hour and the petty claims of vanity, self-conceit, and personal ambition, and Avorldly interests. Above all we need, on all sides, in this age of moral limpness, the spirit of downright honesty and truthfulness, which, scorns all subtlety and trickery, all hair-splitting in public as well as in private life, all wilful concealment of meaning, all deliberate ambiguity. We need the spirit to repudiate with.plain directness all violations of the simplicity which is in Christ, who has taught us that our yes should mean yes, and our no should mean no. These are gifts of the Spirit which our generation sorely needs, and we know that if we ask we shall have.

Such is the general meaning of the apostolic benediction. Here we have stated for us in simple words a prayer for the blessing of God upon His people—a blessing in comparison with which all other blessing-s are as nothing. A man's true well-being consists not in what he has but in what he i s _not, in the possession of wealth and earthly distinctions, but in an irreproachable character and a devout Spirit.

One danger we must guard against. It is that of reg-arding- this oft-re-peated benediction as a mere form of words; suitable to the close of a devotional service, and serving as a hint that people may prepare for departure. The religion 6f Christ has no place for empty forms. It lends them no sort of countenance. It commands nothing, sanctions nothing, permits nothing which may, be regarded as formality. It is essentially a religion of reality. The Apostolic benediction speaks of a blessing which all shall have, if in the spirit of faith and reverence they sincerely desire it. "Ask, and ye shall have, seek and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

The God Avhom we serve (whose nature we humbly contemplate today) is akin to us—He is the Father of our spirits—we are taught to-call Hiia^athea^weeajseexhpijeid:

to be followers of Him as dear chil» dren. It is thus we are encouraged to worship Go<l—to worship a Being whose moral, intellectual, and loving nature is the $axne in kind' as out own: Who is the perfection of our spiritual being: who is within us a spirit so vital and creative that we are enabled to gTow into His very image; and who, in proportion as we grow, communicates to us, in fuller and fuller life. His own.goodness, leva and joy. -

Preached in 'the Holy Trinity Church, Devonport, Jumc 9, 1895.