I invite you to turn with me tonight to Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2 as we read a portion of Peter's Pentecost sermon in connection with Lord's Day 8. If you would turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 15, bottom of the page, Lord's day 8, questions and answers 24 and 25 in response to question 23, which asks, what are these articles in which we gave expression to the Apostles' Creed, as we did earlier tonight? We read together, first of all, Acts chapter 2, beginning at verse 22 through 42. Men of Israel, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him, I saw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence. Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life. And we are all witnesses of the fact, exalted to the right hand of God. He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven. And yet he said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter replied, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call. With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them, Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. And again, if you would turn to page 15 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, Lord's Day 8, as we express together what it is we believe concerning these questions and answers, 24 and 25. Question 24 asks, how are these articles divided into three parts? God the Father and our creation. God the Son and our deliverance. God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. Since there is but one God, why do you speak of three? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Because that is how God has revealed Himself in His Word. These three distinct persons are one true, eternal God. People of God, what do you believe about God? Again, that beautiful definition of true faith says, as we considered last week, true faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in His Word is true, It is also a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel that out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation. Not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in His Word is true. This means, beloved, that true faith believes about God, what God has said and what God teaches about Himself. Now, of course, many believe in something that they would call God of some sort or they believe in what they would call a higher power or a higher being, but they do not believe the true God because they don't believe the truth of God as taught in Scripture and that Scripture as summarized, for example, in the Apostles' Creed. For example, they may believe that God is in charge of the big things, the cosmic things, but He's not interested in the little things, for example, the little details of our life. Or they might believe that God doesn't know what's going to happen to me tomorrow, but He's there to help me pick up the pieces if something bad comes along. Or many other things. There are many, many wrong ideas about God. But you see, beloved, our faith and our salvation stands or falls with what we confess about God. God teaches, and we confess, that He is living, He is active, He is mighty, and He is triune. He is one God, yet three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as we sing, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Now, boys and girls, the Bible doesn't use the word Trinity. You will not find it anywhere in the Bible, but it's a good word used to describe God because that's what He is. And of course, the doctrine of the Trinity is not easy to understand. If someone tells you that they understand it completely, you can be sure they are lying. Even the adults here, I'm sure, would agree that this is hard to understand. The early church fathers struggled with understanding this doctrine, and so did the great reformer John Calvin. The simple fact is that none of us can fully comprehend this truth. True faith, again, we said, is knowledge and conviction as well as deep-rooted assurance, or as we said, knowledge, belief, and trust. And then the very first thing that we are instructed to have this knowledge, conviction, and deep-rooted assurance of is the triune God, the Trinity. Something that is hard to understand. But again, this is the right starting point because the doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to everything else we believe. If we have no true faith in who God is, then we can have no true faith in anything. If we don't believe in the God of the Scriptures, then nothing else makes any difference. We must begin with who God is. But take comfort, beloved, Because you and I, we can know what God's Word says about the Trinity. And we can have confidence that it's true. But it doesn't mean that we will fully understand it. You see, we are to understand the triune God, not necessarily with our heads, but with our hearts. We may not fully understand the one God in three persons, but by faith we can confess this truth of our God. In fact, we are called to confess this very truth of the triune God. And beloved, this confession then is a confession of our riches in God. It is a confession rooted in God's Word. And it is a confession that is necessary for salvation. And again, as we know, the Apostles' Creed is a confession of what we believe the Bible teaches about God. That He is triune. And answer 24 says we confess God the Father and our creation. God the Son and our redemption. God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. And what we have here is God's revelation of Himself through His mighty works. And these works then reveal our riches. That is, the believer's riches in God. And these riches then are proof that God is for us. That He is on our side. And we must remember, though, that anyone can make this confession with their mouth, but only those who truly believe with the heart possess, own, have these riches. Now, Peter talked about these riches on Pentecost when he said, especially in verses 32 and 33, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact, exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. There, Peter speaks of the three persons of the blessed Godhead and how the three work together for us. As you can imagine, it's not our purpose in one sermon to consider everything that there is to consider about the mighty works of God and the riches that we possess in Him. That's not possible even in a lifetime, I'm convinced. but by God's grace we will dig deeper as we go along and study God's Word as summarized in the Catechism and especially the Apostles' Creed. But this evening we want to notice that the riches we possess in the Triune God is that in Him we have the beginning, we have the continuation, and we have the perfection of our lives. And again, the first thing we confess about God is God the Father in our creation. As we stated earlier in our confession, we confess, I believe in God the Father, Almighty Maker of heaven and earth. Indeed, all things find their origin and their beginning in Him. Nothing exists except by His sovereign will, and this includes me. You see, we are saying, this God is my Father, who made all things, even me. Great and small, detailed or not so detailed, He made them. He made me, therefore I owe my life to Him. I am completely dependent on Him for my existence. And I do not function outside of His control. Unfortunately, in a day of genetic engineering and test tube babies and cloning, as well as the make-believe cartoon world of human creations, we tend to forget who really is the maker of heaven and earth. But this truth means that we don't control our own destiny as much of the world believes. You see, along with His creation, in His almighty power, beloved, God governs and provides for His creation. Again, even me. He determines our days. He fills our days. He directs our paths. One of the true riches we enjoy is that because He is the source and the ruler and the governor of all things, then nothing takes place outside of His will. He is in control of all things and there is no earthly power, no power at all that can compare to or overthrow God. And to deny this truth then is to play the part of the fool who says in his heart, there is no God. But then we also confess a second person of the Blessed Trinity. God the Son and our redemption. He alone, beloved, is our only help and our hope. His work is the only ground of our salvation. Redemption. Being purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. To have our penalty paid for. To have God's wrath satisfied is another one of the riches that believers have in God. Again, we confess, I believe in Jesus Christ, His, the Father's, only begotten Son, our Lord. And then we specify in the Apostles' Creed the humiliation and the exaltation that were included in His redeeming work. Peter also specified those things in his sermon. He makes it very clear. Men of Israel, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did among you through Him as you yourselves know. Then he goes on to say what they did to Him. You crucified Him, but God raised Him up again. God exalted Him. And therefore, whoever believes in Him shall be saved. But again, what are you really saying? What are you and I really saying when we make this confession? You're saying, I have a need for a Savior. Because I have rebelled against the Lord who made me. I have separated from the One who owns me. Because of my sin, I have been cut off from my life source. I need a Savior. And this Lord Jesus Christ is the One I need. He is the only One who could and who would save me. And how then do I come to know and to believe all of this? Well, through the third Person of the Blessed Trinity. God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification. You see, congregation, we call these our riches. Because if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, these belong to you today. This very hour, this very moment. Your redemption is not something in the future, or the completion, the finale of it is to be sure. But you don't have to wait until Christ comes again in order to be redeemed. I am redeemed today. and my sanctification is also a present reality today at this very moment. The Holy Spirit is working in me today. How do I know? Because I believe in Jesus Christ. If it weren't for the work of the Holy Spirit, I would not believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ accomplishes redemption and the Holy Spirit applies it to our lives. Sanctification means to make holy. And the Holy Spirit begins making one holy the same instant that one is born again in Christ Jesus. And He continues that process until one is made perfect in heaven. The Holy Spirit applies to us the riches of Christ. We confess that with regard to true faith. My sins forgiven, been made forever right with God, have been granted salvation. He applies to us the riches of Christ and leads us back into the service of the Father and restores our whole life under the glory of God. To make the confession, I believe in the Holy Spirit and all that goes with it. I believe a holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. To make that confession is to say, my God doesn't quit on me. He doesn't leave me to fall back into the pit that He has already pulled me out of. But the God who saves me in Jesus Christ is the same God who comes to live in my heart and to lead my life day by day that I might live in a way that honors Him. To make this confession is to believe that this God is so loving He doesn't leave me alone. He not only made me and redeems me, but He leads me through this life because I can't lead myself. Beloved, we continue to struggle with sin in this life, each and every one of us. I trust that's not a surprise to any of us here. But our comfort given by the Holy Spirit is that even though sin still works in me, it doesn't have dominion over me. Even though Satan is still busy, I am no longer his slave. Death is still an enemy, but it has lost its sting. And all of this, because of God's grace and good pleasure. Brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus Christ is not going to let you go to hell if He has saved you once by pouring out His blood for you on the cross. He won't allow it. He sends His Holy Spirit to safeguard His possession. Our creation, our redemption, and our sanctification, these are the riches we have in our triune God. And because of this, we can have confidence for living. In this God, we have the confidence that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. our entire life is founded, preserved, and wrapped up in this triune God. You see, beloved, if you take away the Father, we do not exist. If you take away the Son, we are still under the curse of sin. And if you take away the Holy Spirit, there is no new life, and we never ever then begin to serve God. And this must be more than just the confession of our mouth. It must be the confession of our life. We are called to live under the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God. And why do we confess all of this? Because this is a confession rooted in God's Word. This is what God Himself teaches. Since there is but one God, why do you speak of three? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? because that is how God has revealed Himself in His Word. These three distinct persons are one true eternal God. When we speak of the Father in creation, the Son in redemption, the Holy Spirit in sanctification, of course there are some who would accuse us of believing in three gods. We also confess in our other confessional statements. In the Belgian Confession, for example, in Article 1, we confess we all believe with the heart and confessed with the mouth that there is one only simple and spiritual being which we call God. And article 8 says God is one in essence, yet distinguished in three persons. We are consistent in our reformed creeds and confessions. Why? Because God is consistent in His Word. There is only one God, not three. Deuteronomy 6 verse 4 says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Psalm 115, verse 3 says, But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. Isaiah 42, verse 8 says, I am the Lord. That is My name. I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. Paul in 1 Timothy 2, verse 5 says, For there is one God. And when God commands us in the first commandment, you shall have no other gods before Me. And he's not saying that there are other gods beside him. Because there are not. He is saying that we may not put our trust in anything else and therefore make something else God in his place. God has so revealed himself in his word to be one God. But he has also revealed himself as three distinct persons. Again, the truth is we cannot comprehend this, let alone explain it. Someone has said regarding the Trinity, in the Bible this is so clear that it is beyond discussion, and yet so deep that it is beyond explanation. But this is God's revelation of Himself. Isaiah 63 speaks of the Father and the Savior and the Holy Spirit. The angel Gabriel said to Mary, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. Jesus said in Matthew 28, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And again, verses 32 and 33 of Acts 2, God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact Exalted to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. See, here too, the three names, the three persons are clearly referred to, yet it is clear that these three are the same God. Peter speaks clearly, simply, without apology and without lengthy explanation about the exalted Son, about the poured out Spirit and about the promise of the Father. You see, Pentecost is not simply a feast of one of the three persons, as I think we tend to often make it, but it is a feast of the triune God. As the Holy Spirit was poured out by the Son from the Father. God testifies of Himself that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equally God in one divine being. They are not each one-third God that you take this one God and split Him up into three, but they are all 100% God. And they are all equal. None of the persons is subordinate to the others. And they all three equally possess all the essential properties of the Godhead. Eternity, infinity, incomprehensibility, changelessness, perfection, almighty, wise, just, good, holy, whatever else can be said of God. Congregation, one God in three persons. Of course, this doctrine has been attacked by heretics over the centuries claiming that either Jesus was not fully God or He was not fully man, or claiming that the Holy Spirit was not God. But again, the Christian church has stood firm in her confession of faith in the triune God. In her creeds, the apostles, the Nicene, the Athanasian creeds. Again, because this is what the Bible teaches. Can we believe it? Yes, we can and we must. Because it's the truth. God tells us that. And because believing and confessing the triune God is necessary for salvation. Someone else has said about the Trinity, if you try to explain it, you will lose your mind. If you try to deny it, you will lose your soul. Salvation begins and ends with God. It's His work from start to finish. And therefore, salvation depends on who God is. And the truth is, is that He is a triune God. The Bible says of Jesus that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we might be saved. You see, only God could come in the likeness of sinful flesh and still, at the very same time, be God on the throne in heaven. Only God can go away and prepare a place for His sheep and still live in the church and in the hearts of God's people and pray with groanings which cannot be uttered. Think about it, there is no salvation or hope of salvation in any other concept of God, any other idea of God. There is no salvation in deism. With deism, when God created the universe, it was as if He wound it up with a gigantic rubber band or set it spinning like a giant top and now has nothing more to do with it. It's just spinning until it runs out. Deism thinks of a God who is far away and does not enter the lives of man. There is no salvation in pantheism which says God is in everything and everything is God. therefore, you see, there is no supreme God to rule over all things. There is no salvation in polytheism, which means that there are many gods. If that's the case, you see, then there is no one supreme and sovereign God over all. If God is simply love and not just, there's no salvation there, because His justice is not met. If He is simply just and not love, then there's no salvation there either, because we cannot begin to satisfy God's justice apart from His love poured out in Christ Jesus. Beloved, redemption and salvation are possible only if there is a Father who loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him by the power of the Spirit should not perish but have everlasting life. To be children of the Father, it can only be through the Son. Jesus said, no one comes to the Father except through me. To be servants of Christ, it can only be through the Spirit. Paul says, no one can say, Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Every time we witness the sacrament of baptism, we are reminded that the way to God is the way of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Beloved, we are called to be children of the Heavenly Father who cares for us and whose law we must obey. We are called to be servants of the Son who has redeemed us from all the power of the devil and from all of our sins. And we are called to be temples and instruments of the Holy Spirit who has filled us so that we might be holy even as God is holy. If you don't know this God, then you are called by Him to repent of your sins and to forsake the false gods that govern your life in whom there is absolutely no hope and look alone to the triune God alone who gives life and gives it abundantly. And if this is the God of whom you can say in true faith, I believe, then you have the comfort of being owned by God the Father who made you, of having been redeemed by God the Son who died for you. And that you are being sanctified by God the Holy Spirit who lives and works in you. And rejoice then, beloved, in the promise of the Father given to you, in the work of the Son accomplished for you, and in the presence of the Holy Spirit who works in you. People of God, to have true life means to believe and confess the God who gives life, who redeems life, and who sanctifies life. This is where your confession must begin and can only begin because your life depends on this God. Amen. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we do thank You for that gift of faith. That gift of faith through which, by Your grace, we believe the things that we might not fully understand, O Lord. The gift of faith through which we trust that that which You have given to us in Your Word, that which You teach us in Your Word, is the truth. Whether we can make sense out of it or not. The gift of faith, O Lord, through which by the power of Your Spirit we receive all of the riches which are ours in the triune God. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your work for us, in us, and through us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.