Sermon File

In the Name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

The Holy Trinity (2026)

Children of the Trinity                                                                                                                 Rev. Toby O. Byrd

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19, ESV) 

Today we celebrate Holy Trinity Sunday, but many who profess the Holy Trinity as their God know little about the Holy Trinity; who they are and what role they have in our lives. So, let us today, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, answer these questions.

Everywhere we turn we hear statements about God. Now for certain it is the task of the theologian to study and teach the Scriptural truth regarding the Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, their essence and their attributes, but the philosopher, he seeks to deny or clarify the necessity of God, and politicians, they invoke the blessing of God upon countries and people but are they sincere or merely spouting a political talking point. Furthermore, we witness interfaith events between Jews, self-professed Christians, and Muslims all claiming to worship the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, while whole-heartedly denying the Holy Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To cap all this off, we’re also offended by those who violate the First and Second Commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me, and You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:3, 7, ESV) denigrating God in times of disaster and chaos, literally saying God does not exist so why ask for prayer during these difficult times. So, except for the first case, we see that much of the world fails to accurately address or know the Holy Trinity, preferring instead man-made gods who do not exist. We know the world faces problems which are rooted in sin, and sometimes it tries take an occasional excursion into the divine hoping for a solution, but without a clear understanding of the Holy Trinity, the world will get it wrong every time.

For certain the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a mystery to human reason. No man by his own intelligence comprehends the mystery of three distinct persons in one holy, undivided, and indivisible God. No man on their own can fathom how there can be God and man in the one person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. No man can fathom the existence of the Holy Spirit who proceeds both from the Father and the Son. Therefore, man’s limited human reason is incapable of understanding this first principle article of faith, but nonetheless, the Holy Trinity is a reality.

No one claiming orthodox Christianity would deny the use of trinitarian language, God the Father, God the Son, and the God Holy Spirit that is so prevalent in the liturgies, lectionaries, and prayers of the church. Indeed, this is the way the Holy Scriptures speak of God. The three ecumenical Creeds of the Christian Church; the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed each speak of the Holy Trinity in this way. Thus, from its inception the Chrisian Church has always worshipped the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for they are its Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

The opening verse of Holy Scripture says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:1–3, ESV) Furthermore, St. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1–5, ESV) Thus, relying on the Holy Spirit inspired and inerrant Word of Holy Scripture, we see from its opening verses existence of the Holy Trinity: God the Father who created through His Word, God the Son, the Word who, “became flesh and dwelt among us,” (John 1:14, ESV) and God the Holy Spirit who hovers over the face of the waters.

At Creation God the Father, the First Person of the Godhead, said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 1:26; 2:7, ESV) Here Scripture affirms that God made man in His image, the image of the Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Furthermore, having made man in His image, He made man superior to all the other creatures on earth for in breathing into the nostrils of Adam the breath of life, God breathed into man an immortal soul. He did not breath such into the other creatures He created. Thus, from the dust of the earth, God the Father forms man into this most beautiful creature, one with whom He desires to give a share in His own immortality. Therefore, the Christian Church believes, teaches, and confesses that God the Father is the One who made the world and all its creatures, specially creating man from the dust of the earth to rule the earth.

Christ, the Second Person of the Godhead, the Son of God, was sent to earth by His Father to be born of the Virgin Mary to suffer and give His life for the forgiveness of our sins. Regarding His birth, St. Luke writes, “And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus . . . The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:30-31, 35, ESV) Regarding Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph, Mary’s husband, was visited by an angel of the Lord, who said to him, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” (Matthew 1:21–23, ESV)

This Child to be born of Mary shall be the Redeemer of all mankind from sin, death, and the devil. This Child is God’s answer to the promise He made in the Garden of Eden after the fall of man when the image of God within him was lost, when the sinless nature of man was for all time corrupted by sin. God promised to send One who would be the seed of the woman, who will return man to his former image; return him to the image of God. This promise is fulfilled when on the Altar of the Cross, while breathing His last breath, Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34, ESV) And when asked by the thief at His right hand to remember him when He returned to His heavenly kingdom, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”” (Luke 23:43, ESV) Then, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30, ESV) His mission of the redemption of man is complete.

Our Lord Jesus gave up His life on the sixth day of the week, Good Friday, the same day of the week when His heavenly Father completed His work of Creation. On the sixth day of the week His mission to redeem man from sin, literally to recreate man, was finished and He rested on the seventh day (the Sabbath) in the tomb. But on the day after, the eighth day, His heavenly Father raised Him from the dead as a witness to our own resurrection on the Last Day. Thus, St. Paul can rightly say Jesus, “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession.” (Titus 2:14, ESV) And again he can say, He came “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:5, ESV) 

God the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead, is the Sanctifier of men. The Holy Spirit is sent both by God the Father and God the Son, so that men may know God and the things of God. St. Paul testifies to this truth when writing, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12, ESV) Furthermore, he writes, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14, ESV) “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3, ESV) Furthermore, that “hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5, ESV)

Without the Holy Spirit man cannot know the Son or the Father. Jesus said, “Whoever hates me hates my Father also . . . But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (John 15: 23, 26, ESV) It is the gift of the Spirit that renews your heart, clarifying for you the knowledge to know God the Son and God the Father. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit, you cannot engage in daily combat with your flesh, the world, or Satan. It is necessary for the Holy Spirit to be in you, proclaiming the Word of God in your ears, reminding you that you are a child of God, that your will is captive to the will of God. His presence within you sanctifies your life, giving you the proper knowledge of the Holy Trinity and of yourself, giving you faith in the salvation worked for you by the Holy Trinity, and giving you freedom in Christ Jesus to serve and love God and your neighbor. He gives you the words for prayer, indeed prayers too deep for words, and He delivers these gifts through the divinely appointed Means of Grace; God’s Word of forgiveness, the Gospel, and the Sacraments. All these are yours when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Which brings us to the verse of the day: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19–20, ESV) 

Baptizing you in the name of the Holy Trinity. What significance this passage of Holy Scripture has in the life of a disciple of Christ. Baptism is a holy act performed by God upon the children of men, making them children of God: Children of the Trinity!

God the Son puts His Word of promise in the water of Baptism and faith takes hold of Christ as those blessed waters are poured over the baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three persons of the Trinity are present in the waters of Baptism, pouring out the promises of Baptism on the baptized, for Baptism is not just water, but the Word of God in and with the water that performs the promises of Baptism. Sadly, too many are not aware of God at work in Baptism. Some believe that Baptism works simply by the performance of the rite, faith is not necessary. Others teach that Baptism is an empty ceremony having no power to bestow the salvation promised by God’s Word. But these beliefs are false and lead many into the error that Baptism is not God’s work but the work of man.

St. Peter refutes such foolish teaching, saying in his sermon on that first Pentecost day to those who asked what must they do to be saved, “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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38–39, ESV) Baptism grants the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit who in turn grants the gift of faith. Furthermore, St. Peter, when comparing Baptism to the flood, said, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 3:21, ESV) Baptism is more than a symbolic bath which only removes dirt from the body, it is more than an ordinance, a symbol, a sign of grace already obtained or to be obtained, it is more than a mere mark of obedience.

Baptism is a Means of Grace, a sacrament for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism saves. In those blessed waters, God adopts the baptized making them Children of the Trinity, He robes them in the righteousness of His Son Jesus, He forgives all their sins, rescuing the baptized from sin, death, and the devil, all while granting eternal salvation to everyone who believes in these promises of God in Baptism.

Baptism in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit connects the baptized with the death and resurrection of Christ. St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” (Romans 6:3–7, ESV) The old Adam within you is drowned in those blessed waters, and you are raised, born anew, set free from sin, and placed on the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying path for restoration to the image of God, that image Adam had before his fall in the Garden.

Moreover, St. Paul makes it clear that Baptism is God’s work that changes you from what you were to what you are today, writing, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3–7, ESV) Baptism is God’s divine power of regeneration and renewal that changes the unfaithful to faithful, from worldly to heavenly. Baptism is God’s work that makes us His children: Children of the Trinity.

Thanks be to God because of the working of the Holy Trinity in us. Through the blessed gift of faith given us in Baptism we can confess with St. Paul, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6–11, ESV)

We have been reconciled with God, and we are now Children of the Trinity, having been collectively elected, redeemed, and sanctified by the Holy Trinity who did all this for us that the gates of heaven may be opened to our eternal life in God’s kingdom of glory. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.