Discerning the Logos, Conclusion

Jesus gives the Father.

I have been struggling with the concept of the Trinity and have recently realized that I’ve gotten some things wrong. I am carefully re-reading Dorothy Sayers’ The Mind of the Maker and also recently re-read Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, a hauntingly beautiful and provocative book. These two books have me rethinking some things I previously believed and have shared. I am still struggling to understand this because it does not align with many things I have been taught. Help me think through this.

Let’s begin with a verse I misunderstood for many, many years.

“Wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith (Jesus), ye have heard of me (Acts 1:4).”

The way I read this today is that the promise of the Father is… (Drum roll please) … the Father. Before we move on, note the “ye have heard of me.” We’ll come back to that point in a moment.

If you believe the “promise” is the Holy Spirit, you’re probably pointing me to the next sentence to prove your point.

“For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence (Acts 1:5).”

Here are a couple of things I covered last week: 1. the Holy Spirit was already breathed out by Jesus. The disciples have already received Him. 2. Jesus has already been communicating with them through the Holy Spirit.

Doesn’t it seem strange that the disciples having already received the Holy Spirit were to receive Him again? Wouldn’t that be like sitting in baptismal waters and being told “Let’s baptize you with water again”?

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Person of the Godhead who Jesus called the Comforter. Each Person of the Godhead is Spirit (John 4:24). To relegate the Person of the Comforter as solely the Spirit of the Father, as we often do, is to diminish the Personhood of the Holy Spirit. It makes the Holy Spirit indistinguishable from the Father.

So, what, then, does “ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” mean? I read this as the disciples along with the Holy Spirit in them would be baptized into the Father. Why do I think this?

If we trace the life of Jesus, we discover three baptisms--the water baptism by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit baptism as the Dove descended, and His “baptism” of the crucifixion which He referred to as kindling fire. Jesus tells His disciples, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.” What is this baptism? I contend it is the baptism of fire or baptism into the Father.

Dorothy Sayers conceived of the Trinity as the Idea, the Energy, and the Power. The Power is the Holy Spirit, already given and received by the disciples, being reflected in Glory. All that is left is for the Idea, the Father, to release the Word into the world through the disciples.

Another reason I believe this refers to the Father is because of the phrase “which … ye have heard of me.” When had they heard this? When Jesus gave His disciples instructions when He sent them to the House of Israel:

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. ~ Matthew 10:16-19, emphasis mine

The next verse, Matthew 10:20 is particularly pertinent:

“For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”

The Spirit of your Father gave them the words to speak. If Jesus’ words were still applicable on the Day of Pentecost, the Comforter was not the Source of the speaking but the Spirit of the Father. And, of course, this is how creation occurs. The Father speaks the Word into being as He did in the beginning. What is the being created in Acts? The Church, the Kingdom, the Garden restored.

Let’s revisit a scripture I have used before: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John 14:23).” The “we” is plural. It’s not only the Holy Spirit who comes and lives within us. No, it’s God in Trinity--the We. The Logos is the Son with the Mind of the Father and the anointing of the Spirit--the Trinity in action. God is God only in Unity.

Let me recapitulate why I believe this is the Father on the Day of Pentecost.

1. The disciples were told to wait for the promise of the Father.

2. Jesus previously told them that the Spirit of the Father would speak through them.

3. The Spirit of the Father and the Holy Spirit are not the same Person since God is Spirit and each Person in the Godhead is distinct.

4. Jesus told His disciples they would undergo a similar baptism as His.

5. The Holy Spirit had been given and was with the disciples on the Day of Pentecost.

This brings us to the last step in discerning the Logos. Peter, standing with the apostles, is the one who speaks. What is speaking? The Logos, the Word, from the Father. I call this step dramatizing the Logos or doing what the Logos does. What was the result? He and the others became like Christ.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. ~ Acts 2:42-43

Oh, how much we limit God when we fail to recognize His Trinity in Unity! His Trinity of Spirit has been poured out--the Idea and the Energy and the Power. His law of love is written in our minds (Idea) and in our hearts (the Power) to reconcile the world to Him as our bodies (the Energy) carries us. “Many wonders and signs were … done through the apostles.” And are still being done today, through His disciples.

God’s fullness is a superpower that turns nonpersons into persons, turns our enemies into our neighbors, and turns our selfishness into selflessness.

“May (you) be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

The fulness of God is God in Trinity;

the Spirit of the Father and

the Spirit of the Son and

the Spirit of the Comforter.

The giving of the Son justifies us, washes our robes as white as snow, removing the stain of sin.

The giving of the Spirit sanctifies us, teaches us the Supremacy of God and the sufficiency of our obedience.

The giving of the Father glorifies us as the tongues of fire burn away all that hinders.

May we comprehend the breadth, length, depth, and height of God. May we know the love of Christ. May we be filled with the “fulness of God.” May we be able to not only discern but to be like the Logos. This is to indeed dramatize the Logos.

May it be so.

Amen.