J.I. Packer

JESUS! In Word and Song

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Today starts volume 2 of JESUS! In Word and Song. See SONG in main menu for more information.

WEEK 28

TRINITY SUNDAY

“Trinity Sunday is a day when Christians think of the nature of God rather than, as with other festivals, commemorating historical events of special significance.”1

“[T]he three blessed Persons in the Trinity divided up the work: The Father planned, the Son put it into operation, and the Holy Spirit applies it.”2

God was so sure of the depth and expansiveness of your sin, of your inability to grasp how desperate your condition is (and, even if you were able, your complete inability to free yourself from it), that he was willing to harness the forces of nature and to carefully control the events of human history so that at a certain point Jesus would come to live the life you could not live, die the death that you should have died, and rise again, conquering death. Why did God go to this elaborate and sacrificial extent? There is only one answer to the question. God the Father planned it, God the Son was willing to do it, and God the Holy Spirit applied this work to your heart and mine because there just was no other way.3

“When God brought His work of revelation to its climax by sending into the World His Son and His Spirit, He thereby showed Himself to be tri-personal—three Persons in one God.”4

“God exists eternally as one God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person within the Trinity possesses the same essence and attributes of deity and is co-equal in power and glory.”5

“While each ‘personage’ is distinct in function, each shares together in the same deity and each reflects the divine attributes of the one living God.”6

[T]he Father plans, directs, and sends; the Son is sent by the Father and is subject to the Father’s authority and obedient to the Father’s will; and both Father and Son direct and send the Spirit, who carries out the will of both. Yet this is somehow consistent with equality in being and in attributes.7

“All that can be felt of God is in the Holy Spirit; all that can be known of God is in the Son; and all that is of God is in the Father.”8

 “It requires a whole Trinity to keep a saint of God.”9

To him that sits upon the throne,

The great eternal Three-in-One;

To him let saints and angels raise

An everlasting song of praise.10

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ENDNOTES

(28) SPIRIT, FATHER, Son

            1. “A Guide to Christian Festivals and Dates,” Church of Scotland, 4 July 2021 https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/festivals-and-dates.

2. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Gods Great Plan of Redemption,” Free Grace Broadcaster  236 (summer 2016) : 1.

            3. Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014) February 29th.

            4. J.I. Packer, God Has Spoken (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,1979) 47.

            5. New Hope Church Statement of Fatih, “2. God,” Spring 2021 https://www.newhopechurchofoxford.org/statement-of-faith.

            6. “Holy Spirit,” 2002-2020, All About God, 17 February 2021 https://www.allaboutgod.com/holy-spirit.htm.

            7. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2514.

            8. Horatius Bonar, Words Old and New (Carlisle, PA: THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1866, 1994) 340.

            9. Bonar, 332.

            10. J. Swain, “To Him That Loved Us, Ere We Lay,” 1838 Gadsby’s Hymn Book, 17 February 2021 https://bethlehemswell.com/hymns/721/.

11. Charles Spurgeon, “God’s Covenant in Eternity,” Free Grace Broadcaster 236 (summer 2016) : 6-7.

            12. Spurgeon.

            13. Spurgeon.

JESUS! In Word and Song

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WEEK 24

THE GREAT COMMISSION

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and made disciples of all nations teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:18-20 ESV).

“Jesus commanded his disciples and now commands us also to teach believers to observe all that he commanded.”1

“Men are ignorant of Divine things, and must be taught. Only those can be considered as proper teachers of the ignorant who are thoroughly instructed in whatsoever Christ has commanded.”2

Now to teach all that Jesus commanded, in a narrow sense, is simply to teach the content of the oral teaching of Jesus as it is recorded in the gospel narratives. However, in a broader sense, ‘all that Jesus commanded’ also include the Epistles, since they were written under the supervision of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore the New Testament epistles also endorse this view of the Old Testament as absolutely authoritative words of God, then it becomes evident that we cannot teach ‘all that Jesus commanded’ without including all of the Old Testament as well.3

“[T]here is only one method of evangelism: namely, the faithful explanation and application of the gospel message. [T]he test for any proposed strategy of evangelistic action must be this: will it in fact serve the word?”4

“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them [to].proclaim as you go saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matt 10:5,7 ESV). “[H]e gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction”(Matt 10:1 ESV).

To call persons to the ministry belongs only to Him who can give them power to cast out unclean spirits.”5  “[T]hey were to make disciples who obeyed the commands they had received.”6

[T]hree things Jesus did to shape disciples. Observation: He let them listen and watch as He lived. Impartation: He made sure they had authority and power in His name. Delegation: He sent them out to do what they had seen Him do—heal and deliver, both spiritually and physically, the helpless and harassed.7

Imagine what kind of disciples we might develop if we employed His simple, focused method: powerfully declare and demonstrate His kingdom, make sure disciples are filled with spiritual authority and power, and place them in front of dire human need that only the power of God can meet.8

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ENDNOTES

(24) Following His Lead

            1. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 27.

            2. Adam Clarke, “Commentary on Matthew 28:20,” 1832, Adam Clarke Commentary 22 June 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew-28.html.

            3. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994) 27.

            4. J.I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979) 86.

            5. Adam Clarke, “Commentary on Matthew 10:1,” 1832, Adam Clarke Commentary 15 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/matthew/10-1.html#verse-acc.

            6. Doug Newton, Fresh Eyes on Famous Bible Sayings (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2018) 139.

            7. Newton, 141.

            8. Newton, 142.

            9. “ . . . he . . . gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction” (Matthew 10:1 ESV).

            10. “These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them . . . proclaim as you go saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 10:5,7 ESV).