Who is it that we've come to worship this morning? There's only one object of our worship, and that is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who are not three gods. but three persons who exist as one God. And I introduced that concept to you last week, one that you're very familiar with. None of us can comprehend the fact that God is triune, that he is three persons, yet one God. It's an incomprehensible truth, but it's a truth that's nevertheless taught in the Bible. And so we can apprehend it by faith, even though we can't completely understand it or comprehend it. And so because it is incomprehensible, the Athanasian Creed gives us boundaries to fence the mystery, but it doesn't try to explain the mystery. But here's what it says. We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Did you hear the two boundaries that the Creed puts there for us? One is, you must not confuse the persons. That is, the Father is not the Son, is not the Spirit. But secondly, you must not divide the substance. That is, God has one nature and all three persons share the same nature with one another. It's not three identical natures, nor does each one of them share one third of the nature. All of them share the same complete nature of God. Well, because of these things, because God has only one nature and one substance, how do we distinguish the three persons from one another? Well, historically, the church has said two basic things, distinguish them. One is what are known as eternal relations of origin. I know you're sitting there thinking, it is early, pastor. Are you really going to dump that on us this morning? But it's eternal relations of origin, which are known as the divine processions. And these divine processions are reflected in the divine missions. Now, what does all that mean? First of all, the three persons are distinguished from one another by the divine processions. Our Confession says it this way, The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar properties and personal relations. So as mysterious as it is, we speak of the Father eternally begetting the Son, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit eternally proceeds from both the Father and the Son. But when we think about this being God, because God is eternal, it's not that Jesus was begotten of the father at some point in time. It is from all eternity. He's been begotten of the father. And from all eternity, the spirit has proceeded from the father and the son. In other words, there was never a time when the father was not the father. And there was never a time when the son was not the son. And there was never a time when the spirit was not the spirit. They have eternally existed in this in this manner. And it's something you can't wrap your head around, it's something incomprehensible, and yet it's all throughout the pages of Scripture. How often does Jesus refer to himself as the only begotten son of the Father? And then the missions of the Godhead reflect the processions of the Godhead. And you say, what in the world does that mean? Well, each of the persons of the Godheads, very often there are, though they're of one undivided essence, there are specific works attributed to each of the distinct persons. For example, the Father did not die for us, nor did the Holy Spirit die for us, but the Son did die for us. That's a distinct work of the Son. So in God the Father, we have redemption appointed. In God the Son, we have redemption accomplished. And in God the Holy Spirit, we have redemption applied. And yet, these unique missions are reflections of their processions. Now, let me help, think with me through this. The father is begotten of no one, nor is the father sent by anyone. But the father begot the son, and it's the father who sent the son into the world. The Spirit of God proceeds from both Father and Son, and how is the Spirit of God poured out? It is the Father who sends the Spirit through the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and gives Him to us. Now, all this is not meant to be merely some sort of intellectual exercise this morning. It's meant to tell you that the Father is God and the Son is God and the Spirit is God. Take away the doctrine of the Trinity and suddenly you're going to be denying the deity of Jesus Christ. And you're going to be denying the deity of the Holy Spirit or thinking that somehow the Son and the Spirit are less than the Father. And they're not. They're equal with the Father because they share the same indivisible nature. So what's the point of this this morning? The point is this. It means that the Father is God, Jesus Christ is God, and the Spirit is God. Here, O church, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And the only object of your worship is this one true and living God who exists as three persons. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise God, all you creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that's who we're to worship this morning. Let's pray. Father, we pray that the Spirit would be poured out through the merits of Jesus Christ, such that you would enable your people to worship you in spirit and in truth. Father, we pray that for anyone here who is outside of Jesus Christ, that this very day they will hear the gospel of your Son. and that the Father will call them effectually through the work of the Spirit to God the Son that they might be saved from their sins. We pray for your mercies to be poured out upon us. We want to meet with the living God. So we pray that you'll enable us to worship you in a way that is pleasing to you and acceptable to you. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.