The seventh in a series of 17 sermons
Series Theme
This series of sermon follow the articles of the Belgic Confession to present an bird’s eye view of the main doctrines of the Bible.
Readings reproduced on this page:
The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1996, 1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Readings
Numbers 11:18–29 (NIV84)
18“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it.
19You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days,
20but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” ’ ”
21But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’
22Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?”
23The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”
24So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent.
25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again.
26However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp.
27A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
29But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
Text
John 14:15–28 (NIV84)
15“If you love me, you will obey what I command.
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25“All this I have spoken while still with you.
26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
Belgic Confession
Article 9: The Scriptural Witness on the Trinity
All these things we know from the testimonies of Holy Scripture as well as from the effects of the persons,
especially from those we feel within ourselves. The testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, which teach us to
believe in this Holy Trinity, are written in many places of the Old Testament, which need not be enumerated
but only chosen with discretion.
In the book of Genesis God says, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” So “God
created man in His own image”__ indeed, “male and female He created them.” “Behold, man has become
like one of us.”7
It appears from this that there is a plurality of persons within the Deity, when He says, “Let us make man in
our image”__ and afterwards He indicates the unity when He says “God created.”
It is true that He does not say here how many persons there are__ but what is somewhat obscure to us in the
Old Testament is very clear in the New. For when our Lord was baptised in the Jordan, the voice of the
Father was heard saying, “This is My dear Son;” the Son was seen in the water; and the Holy Spirit appeared
in the form of a dove.
So, in the baptism of all believers this form was prescribed by Christ: Baptise all people in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
In the Gospel according to Luke the angel Gabriel says to Mary, the mother of our Lord: “The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and therefore that Holy One to
be born of you shall be called the Son of God.”
