Article 9 is the proof of the previous article regarding the Trinity of persons in one God. In earlier articles we have heard and read that we do not have to prove that there is a God. It is clearly stated in Art. 1 that we "believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth, that there is one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God." We did not try to prove that there is a God, for the proofs are everywhere, if we only have eyes to see them. The proofs are found in nature and in our own hearts, for we have an innate knowledge of God. The proofs of God's existence are also clearly revealed in Scripture.

However, the existence of the Trinity cannot be known just by viewing nature and the beauty of God's creation. The Trinity is revealed in God's Word and, because there were many who denied it and who did not believe in a triune God, our forefathers felt the need to give proof of the existence of the Trinity.

Since the time of the apostles, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity has always been defended by the true church against the errors of the Jews. The Jews do not believe in the Trinity, for they do not confess that Jesus of Nazareth is the eter­nal Son of God. The Mohammedans believe in a god called Allah, with Mohammed as his chief prophet and Jesus as one of his prophets, but they do not acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and therefore do not believe in the Trinity.

Marcion and Manes were false Christians and heretics who lived in the days of Augustine. Marcion believed that there were two Gods, the God of the Old Testament, a very severe, cruel, and harsh God who meted out terrible pun­ishments, and the God of the New Testament, a loving and gracious God who saves people. This is an obvious error, since the God of the Old and New Testaments is one and the same. Manes, who influenced our church father Augustine in his youth, had more or less the same ideas as Marcion. He held to a sort of dualism, believing in a power of good and of evil. Thus they did not believe in a triune God.

Praxeus and Sabellius said that there is but one person in God, but that He manifests Himself in three different modes of existence. Thus Christ can only be distinguished by His human body. Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antiochius in 260, claimed that Christ was a human being from Mary, and that later the Logos (as we read in John 1, "and the Word was made flesh") united Himself with the man Christ in a new personality. This is a doctrine in which there is no place for the eternal Son of God. Arius taught that the Son was the first creature created by the Father, Who then gave Him supernatural ability and power, so that we may worship Him as God. But then He is not really the everlasting, only-begotten Son of God.

Today there are many other errors concerning the Trinity. There are modern theologians who deny the atonement of Christ and that He is the Son of God. The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity, saying that there is one God, but not three different persons.

A review of the above-mentioned errors shows us that there is much opposition against the doctrine of the Trinity. Therefore it is good that we can prove that there is a triune God. How did our forefathers prove this? We read the an­swer in Art. 9, that it is from the Holy Scriptures, and chiefly from what we feel in ourselves, that is, a testimony which we feel in our hearts.

It is important that we begin first with the testimony of God Himself as He reveals Himself in His Word. God's Word tells us that whatever we believe and whatever we may relate about our own conversion must always be based upon that Word. On the other hand, even if we know the entire Bible and the doctrines based upon that Word, and even if we are able to prove with many texts the existence of the Trinity, but have never yet experienced the operations of the Trinity in our own hearts, then we are poor, blind, and ignorant creatures.

Where in the Bible can we read about the Trinity? We cannot find the word "triune" or the word "Trinity" literally in the Bible. However, we can read that there is one God. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deut 6:4). This text proves that there is one God, and not three differ­ent Gods. We do not say that there is a Father God, a Son God, and a Holy Ghost God. No, there is but one God. Article 9 points out that there are proofs already apparent in the Old Testament, even though they are revealed more clearly in the New Testament.

The first proof in the Old Testament that there is more than one person in the Godhead is found in Genesis 1:26, where the Lord said, "Let us make man in our image." There are some who say that here the Lord uses the plural form as it was sometimes done by royalty who refer to themselves in this manner, e.g., "We the king." However, this is incorrect, since the Hebrews did not use the plural form in this fashion. Whenever they spoke of "us" or "we," it was always an indication that there was more than one person involved, and that is what we read in Genesis 1. In Genesis 19 we read, "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Go­morrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven." Again it speaks of more than one person. In Psalm 33 we can see that there are three persons mentioned, namely, the Word, the Father, and the Spirit. Also in Psalm 110 we read, "The LORD said unto My Lord (Christ), Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool."

There are other examples in the Old Testament, as in Gene­sis 22, where it speaks of an angel of the Lord. When we read who that angel was, it appears that the angel was also God, so God sends God. "The angel of the Lord" often indicates Christ appearing as an angel. For example with Lot at Sodom and with Abraham in the plains of Mamre. In the Old Testament we also often read of the Spirit of the Lord, and that that Spirit is God. All these examples and proofs declare unto us that there is more than one person in the Godhead.

We mentioned earlier that the proofs of the Trinity in the New Testament are clearer than in the Old Testament. Atha­nasius, the champion of the truth in the debate with Arius, said, "Go to the Jordan, and you can see that there is a triune God." For there in Luke 3 we can see clearly the Son of God being baptized, the Father speaking, "This is My be­loved Son," and the Holy Ghost descending upon Jesus in the form of a dove. We read in Matthew 28:19 and hear every time the sacrament of baptism is administered that the Lord Jesus Himself said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Each Sunday when the blessing is laid upon the congre­gation, we hear it from the words which are found in 2 Corinthians 13:14. In John 15:26 we read that the Lord Jesus says, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth." Then we see that there is not only Christ, but also the Comforter, the Spirit of truth. Read also 1 Peter 1:2, "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ."

One of the clearest proofs in Scripture supporting the doc­trine of the Trinity can be found in 1 John 5:7, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (that is, Christ), and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." There are theologians who say that this text is not in the old manuscripts, and even Luther did not include it in his first translation of the Bible into German, but Erasmus, a well-known scholar, Kuyper, and many other theologians proved convincingly that this is God's Word and may not be omitted.

There are many more texts which prove the doctrine of the Trinity, such as John 5:26 and Luke 1:35. My friends, it is to no avail, however, if we only know this doctrine from Scripture and have been baptized in the Name of a triune God, but have never felt or experienced the operation of the Trinity in our hearts. Permit me to ask you some questions.

In speaking of some of the operations of the three different Persons of the Trinity, you must not think that in mention­ing a certain work of one of the Persons, that the other Persons of the Trinity are excluded. If, for instance, we speak of creation, then we often say that it is the specific work of the Father. Yet we also read that the Son created, for "by the Word of God the heavens and the earth were made," that is, by Christ. Also the Spirit was involved in the work of creation.

Likewise, a triune God is active in the work of salvation. For the Father is the electing cause, the Son the meriting cause, and the Holy Spirit the applying cause of salvation. Thus each Person has His specific personal work. This does not mean that the three Persons have distributed in this manner the work of salvation among each other. No, all the works be­long to all Persons. The Father never works without the Son, and the Son never works without the Father, and always by the Spirit.

As we stated earlier, a triune God worked in creation, and likewise a triune God is working in the human heart. You should not say that the Spirit only is working, for it is a triune God who works. When the Lord begins in the heart, what do we feel? Oh, I would say sometimes there is such a drawing, a drawing which we cannot explain. There is a drawing to things which we did not like before. There is a draw­ing to the house of God, a drawing to hear God's Word, a drawing to God's people and to the reading of old writers. You cannot understand where this drawing comes from, and say, "Why am I thus?" This drawing, my friends, comes from the Father, for Christ says, "No man can come to Me unless the Father which has sent Me draw him."

It is the Father who is working when you feel that longing to go up to the house of God, when you are hungry and thirsty for the Word of God. Then we can hardly stop reading God's Word or some good book, because it is our food and our drink. We must not make a foundation out of it, for we cannot always distinguish between common work and saving grace, but if the Lord is drawing irresistibly, then there will be felt some of that drawing and that longing. Then it will be as if we are drawn from our former friends, the world, and our former entertainments, and are being drawn to another occupation and another people.

And now the important question is, did you ever feel this in your heart? Was there ever a time in your life that there was that drawing which you could not explain? Was there such a hunger, not only of being interested, but a desire to leave your former company and friends because your heart was with God's people, even though you felt you did not belong there? My friends, do you know of that drawing? Al­though we would usually say that it is the Spirit's work, actually it is the Father working through the Son by the Holy Spirit in the human heart, inclining it. In the Dutch we have two words which have one letter difference, over-bulging and overtuiging (conviction and inclination). What an essential difference! Through the drawing of the Holy Spirit comes this inclination, and it is irresistible.

When we speak of the different works of the three Persons, we can say much more. We will mention only a few works of the Father. He is the One who made the plan of salvation (Gal. 4:4-5). He is the One who elected to salvation (1 Per. 1:2). He is the One who created all things (1 Cor. 8:6). He is the One to whom we ascribe also the works of providence, as providing for all things (Mat. 6:26). He is the One who maintains justice, as we read in Lord's Day 5, requiring that payment must be made (1 John 2:1).

There are also specific works which are ascribed to the Son. He is the One who purchased salvation (Heb. 9:12). He also is the One who pleads for that people that they may be saved and may be kept in their salvation. He is the Advo­cate (Rom. 8:34). He is the Word through whom the Father created all things, and He will be the Judge at the end of this dispensation. Then Christ will be given the throne of the seat of judgment, before which we must all appear (2 Cor. 5:10).

What is now the work of the Holy Spirit? It is to apply Christ and all His benefits (Titus 3:5). It is to dwell in the hearts of all true believers (1 Cor. 3:16). The Holy Spirit gives both spiritual and natural life. In the springtime when the trees bud and new life is seen in nature, it is by the Spirit of the Lord that the face of the earth is changed. The Spirit also changes the face of the heart by calling and equipping men for special service. It was the Spirit who called Paul and Barnabas and separated them for their specific task. It is the Spirit who says to the one, "Go!" and he goeth, and to another, "Come!" and he cometh. It is the Spirit who (not on His own, for we know that the Father does so through the Spirit) inclines the heart, calling, sending, directing, and qualifying.

What can we do without the Spirit? Without the Spirit we cannot pray, we cannot sing, and we cannot preach. My dear friends, I hope that you will never forget that you are fully responsible for what you do with the Word of God and with the callings that come unto us. Do not sit back and say, "I will wait for a more convenient time." We are bound to the means, and are not an inert substance, such as a piece of wood. Do seek the Lord in His house, and on your knees. Even if you cannot pray, ask Him that He will teach you to pray. But remember that without the Spirit we can do nothing. Oh, how dependent we all are upon the Spirit's operation to equip us and qualify us, even if that task is only a short prayer!

There is a people who confess, "Yes, there is a rich Christ, but I am such a poor sinner. I don't know how to come to Him." That is now the Spirit's work, to bring those two together, to lead the sinner and to glorify the Son in his heart. The Holy Spirit also gathers and leads the church. It is not the minister who builds the church, for he cannot do it, but it is the Spirit. Ezekiel saw that valley of dry and dead bones, over which he was told to prophesy. Even when those bones were all joined together, there was no life, no breath, in those dry bones. It is the Spirit who quickens; the Spirit builds the church by the means which the Lord has given.

My friends, is not this a time more than ever to cry for that Spirit? You say, "I cannot even cry." Oh, I know that even that cry is a gift, but you have a mouth to speak and knees to bow. If we are now unconverted, and our children are unconverted, should there not be a time when we gather to­gether, or go into our inner chambers, and say, "Oh Lord, blow with Thy Spirit upon this garden." It is the Spirit who leads the church. Christ leads them from the Father by the Spirit.

It is the work of the Spirit of which we read in Ephesians 2:22, and also in the inspiring of the writing of the Holy Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:21). Men were moved and inspired by the Spirit when they wrote those words. The Holy Spirit also prepared the human nature of Christ, as we read in Luke 1:35.

Dear reader, these are the precious works of the Holy Spirit. But now the important question is, Is that work of the Spirit found in our heart? Do we know of the drawing love of the Father and that longing love for the Word of God?

When the Spirit comes upon those dry bones, then we begin to flee, we begin to walk. Then there comes a time that the Father draws us, as a lost, hell-worthy sinner, to bow under His righteous sentence of death. He draws us to the feet of the Son and, by the operation of the Spirit, we will hunger after the Bread of Life and thirst after the Water of Life. It is the work of the Spirit to call and to comfort the church of God, and it is the operation of the Son to deliver and to redeem.

Do we know something of these operations in our own heart? Do we know of a time when we saw the Deliverer and He gave us light? He is the Life, the Light, the Truth, and the Way. Did we see the way open where there was no way? Have we seen Him as the Truth and the Life, oh, as the Water of Life to drink of Him, and to taste of that Bread? Do we know something of the Spirit's work in sealing the benefits merited by Christ unto our heart?

My friends, there are two kinds of proofs concerning the Holy Trinity, namely, those that are found and based on Scripture, and those which God's people feel and know in their hearts. What do you know of it? May the Lord graciously teach this indispensable knowledge to our soul's salvation to you and your children.