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The Sermon for Trinity Sunday, May 31st, 2026
The Lessons: Genesis 1:1 – 2:3; Psalm 150; 2 Corinthians 13:5-14; Matthew 28:16-20
The Text: 2 Corinthians 13:14
The Topic: The Blessed Trinity
INTRODUCTION
In Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel, Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror write:
“Consider the Biblical teaching about the essence of God. He is one God, three persons. Throughout the ages this concept has caused no end of confusion and frustration to theologian and layman alike. Much has been written and said about this eternal truth. But by no available means is it more beautifully expressed than in the music of Bach’s trio sonatas for organ. Musicians through the years have marveled at the artistic excellence of these works. They have one melody in the right hand, one melody in the left, and yet another in the pedal line – all sounding at once, each retaining its own identity, yet together forming beautiful harmony. The composer intended this to be an expression, a tonal picture, of the eternal mystery of the Godhead.”
Tertullian (ca. 155-230), a church father and apologist, wrote:
The church is like the Trinity. It is a plant, with the Father as a deep root, the Son as the shoot that breaks forth into the world, and the Spirit as that which spreads beauty and fragrance.[1]
EXPOSITION OF TERTULLIAN’S STATEMENT
How is Tertullian’s statement about the Church true? First, everyone becomes a member of the Church through Holy Baptism, which must be administered in the Name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Every Christian, as well as all Christians collectively, is planted in the Lord Jesus Christ through Baptism, and this brings us all into union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because God the Father has adopted us as his children (Galatians 4:5-6; Ephesians 1:5) in Christ, we as the Church have the Father as our “deep root.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the true Vine (John 15:1-10), and Christians are the branches, while the Father is the viticulturist (a modern term for vinedresser or husbandman). Through us Christians, the branches of the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ reaches the world with the Gospel message, and through the Spirit conforms our lives to his, so that both by our words and by our behavior, the Holy Spirit’s beauty and fragrance will spread through the world. St. Paul speaks of the fragrance of the knowledge of God being spread through the proclamation of God’s word in these words:
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
(2 Corinthians 2:14-17, KJV)
EXPOSITION OF 2 CORINTHIANS 13:14: THE GRACE GIVEN US THROUGH THE BLESSED TRINITY
Though the doctrine of the Trinity is not taught explicitly in the pages of the New Testament, the Councils of Nicaea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381), and Chalcedon (A.D. 451) decreed it. The Church Fathers in the fourth century confirmed it, and the doctrine of the Trinity is reflected in our Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and, in detail, in the Creed of St. Athanasius. But the truths of the divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as well as their unity, are revealed in the Bible. For example, the Trinitarian formula for Baptism as commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:19, in stating that Baptism must be administered in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, shows the equality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God in three Persons. Secondly, at the conclusion of today’s Epistle Lesson, we find this valedictory greeting:
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 Corinthians 13:14, KJV)
St. Paul prays that three graces will be with his readers when he bids them farewell. Firstly, he begins with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Lord Jesus Christ through whom all Christians come to salvation by faith in him for the forgiveness of sins. It is by this grace that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:7-10), are being saved (1 Peter 1;8-9), and will be saved (1 Peter 1:5). Grace consists of all that God gives us so that we may fulfill his will and be conformed to Christ’s godly character.
Secondly, he prays that the love of God will be with his readers. This means the grace of knowing the love of God the Father. The love of God the Father is shown first in creating each one of us, and then in giving his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Also, as we continue to keep the Lord Jesus Christ’s commandments we will remain in His love, and therefore in the Father’s love (John 15:10). The love of the Father is shown not only in these ways, but also in the discipline that he administers to his children for their spiritual good (Hebrews 12:1-13).
Lastly, St. Paul prays for the communion, or fellowship, of the Holy Spirit to be with all his readers. What does this mean? Fellowship is companionship and communion, of the Holy Spirit with the believer daily, as the believer seeks God in prayer, meditates on the truths of God’s word, and listens to God in silence. The grace of the Holy Spirit’s communion with the believer means that he will guide the believer and the Church corporately into all the truth that God deems necessary to reveal at any time. The Holy Spirit will even reveal aspects of the future that pertain to a believer’s life, and to the life of the Church (John 16:12-15). The Holy Spirit brings discernment of the truth about oneself, about others, about the Church, and about the world. If we listen to the Holy Spirit, we will learn a lot more about ourselves as well as the kind of people God wants us to be.
CONCLUSION
If we aim to live purposeful lives doing the will of God, we must live life in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
[1] Quoted on p. 42, Craig Brian Larson & Phyllis Ten Elshof (General Editors): 1001 Illustrations that Connect. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, Christianity Today International, 2008.