APPENDIX SIXTEEN--
One God in Three Persons

On the "Trinity"

Muslims have a hard time with this Bible Truth

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We would insist that the three manifestations of God are not altogether that mystifying, nor incomprehensible. As we have pointed out, God being manifest as Father, Son, and Spirit reveals himself as One God who shows himself to man as three divine Persons. God, in all ages of man's history, is revealing himself through at least one of the Divine Persons of the Godhead. The word "Trinity" is not found in the Bible, though it is commonly used to speak of the Godhead revealed in the Bible.

One of the things we can note from scriptural references is that there are some limitations when it comes to God's residence here among, or with, human beings. One passage that shows this is when Lord Jesus is telling his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. To understand this, one needs some frame of reference, so we start here:

John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

There obviously has to be some period of time between the time Christ left to go prepare the mansions and when He will return to take His sheep to their mansions. For those of us who understand the Dispensations, or periods of time in which God moves in human history, this present period of time is called the Church Age. Muhammed, as an imposter, interrupted this age in 630AD and claimed to have a new revelation of the work of Allah with men. This is a counterfeit revelation for one simple reason-- Muhammed pushed Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, into the trach bin and claimed they have no work with men.

During this present age, millions of souls are being regenerated, reborn spiritually, to become children of God. One of the things that distinguishes Old Testament (Bible) believers from New Testament (Bible) believers is how God the Holy Spirit functions with believers. In the Old Testament, God dwelled AMONG His people in either the Tabernacle or the Temple. When Jesus walked in Palestine, he was with men in his physical person doing miracles and convincing men of faith that he was their Messiah. In the New Testament Age of the Church, God, as the Holy Spirit resides IN His children. We literally ARE His sanctuary or temple.

That said, here is where Jesus promised to dispatch God the Holy Spirit to those who belong to Him:

John 14:16-18 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."

It is important to notice here what Jesus Christ just said regarding the coming of God the Holy Spirit: "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you". That is a promise of God, and what it is indicating is that Jesus is saying is that the presence of the Godhead in himself is also fulfilled in the presence of God the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit comes he will continue the manifestation of God among men.

Jesus (a little later) continues on:

John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

Here is a critical thing to notice; Jesus said he would leave this earth physically before the Holy Spirit would come and manifest himself to man. This should be a clarifying thought as to the nature of the members of the "Trinity" or Godhead. Only one of them has chosen to be manifest on earth at any given time. This does not say that the three persons of the Godhead limit one another, but the Godhead has chosen to manifest itself in one divine Person at a time when offering men salvation in each Dispensation of time. The reason for this is that the Three Persons are One God, not three, as people claim who want to confuse themselves on purpose.

It is hard for the Muslim to understand this, for Muhammed made Allah a very anthropomorphic character, that is, Allah is made by Muhammed to behave very much as man behaves. The God of the Bible manifests himself as One God in Three Persons, and this cannot be reduced to physical earthly definitions. It is a mystery which God asks us to believe. If the Muslim insists in an Allah who behaves like a man, then he cannot have The God of the Bible, Father, Son, nor Holy Spirit, as his Savior and friend. Allah, and the God of the Bible, are 100% alien to one another.

This also shows why God the Father did miracles to manifest himself to Israel in the Old Testament, while Jesus Christ did miracles to manifest himself to Israel in the New Testament. The Holy Spirit empowers the believing Christian to do exploits and build the Church of Jesus Christ in the present age. This age is when God is revealing himself by his Spirit to the Gentiles, or all men on earth. In the future age of Messiah, Jesus Christ again will be present physically to manifest his power to men.

Continuing the above Bible text, Jesus Christ goes on to point out (at least one) role of the Holy Spirit when He comes to earth:

John 16:8-11 "John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. "

That is what He does. He holds back sin, unrighteouness, and curiously, he holds back judgment. But it is not curious when you understand what happens when He leaves the world.

Staying with the "one will leave when the other comes" principle, the Holy Spirit is withdrawn when Christ comes again to remove his Church. Here is where that happens, in the words of Paul as God inspired him:

2 Thessalonians 2:5-6 "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time."

There He is, the One who holds back sin in the world. The restrainer. Continuing:

v.7-8 "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"

The "until he be taken out of the way" part is when the Holy Spirit is taken off the earth, and every person who belongs to the Lord is taken with Him. This event is called the Rapture. Here is not the time to go into this in detail, but I should point out, as is indicated in this scripture, that the next thing that happens is the revelation of the antichrist.

The Rapture is the kick-off for the most awful period in human history, the Great Tribulation, when all the horrifying judgments (that were also held in check by the Spirit) recorded in the Book of Revelation will be delivered to the earth. This is so terrible for one simple reason-- NO person of the Godhead is present with humanity in a ministry of convincing men of sin, and righteousness, and judgment. The Godhead are at work in the world, as the Bible teaches in The Revelation, but men do not have the personal attention of the Godhead as they did in past Dispensations. Many believers will die as Satan has extreme liberty to rule the earth.

Christians won't be here for it. We will be enjoying our mansions at that point, waiting to return on white horses with the Lord Jesus Christ at the Second Coming. For those of you that will still be here, my condolences. It is not going to be pretty.

Now, the issue of who God is-- Allah, or the God of the Bible-- is a critical issue. Jesus Christ is not the Madhi, or, some good old fellow who will come back, marry a wife, and have a family. He is God with us, He is God who died for our sins in our place, he is God who came back from death to give us eternal life, and He is God the coming Judge of all man. Jesus Christ is one of Three Persons in the Godhead taught in the Bible. This truth is only believed by faith. It is not possible to explain God completely. All religions have their mysteries which cannot be explained. Muhammed's mysteries were all about how special he was, how he and Allah worked out Islam, and how you must believe that all Sharia law will make you holy. The mysteries of the Bible have to do with who God is and how he saves men and cares for them. If you will not accept the God of the Bible on HIS terms, you cannot have ANYTHING he offers. This is why the "Jesus" of Islam is a counterfeit and we reject him as an invention of a blasphemous prophet, Muhammed. The only true Jesus Christ is the Jesus of the Bible.

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READER:

I want to hear from Bible believing readers who are familiar with Islam, the Koran, Arabic, and Christian witness. What are your observations?

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