Dear Christian friends:

Someone breaks the law, perhaps he robs a bank. Later the police arrest him and put him in jail. He is accused of bank robbery.

Now the District Attorney must prove to the jury that he is the man who robbed the bank. The D.A. must find some witnesses, persons who saw the man rob the bank and who will testify in court and say, "I saw him rob the bank. He is the man." If the D.A. can find two or three witnesses he will have a stronger case than if he only has one witness.

In court the judge and the jury may doubt one witness, but not two or three witnesses. Two or three witnesses make a strong case for the D.A. to prove the accused person guilty. No one will doubt about it.

In our text we have three witnesses who testify to us about our salvation. These three witnesses take away our doubts and fears that are caused by our sin and guilt. Sometimes we have a hard time believing that God loves us and forgives us and accepts us as His dear children. So God has given us three witnesses to testify to us about God's love for us sinners.

These three witnesses are not men or women. Men can lie when they testify. They are not angels. Who are these three witnesses? They are the three persons of God - The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Today is Trinity Sunday. On this day we join with Christians all over the world to praise the Holy Triune God. So let us attend to our text and see the three persons of the Trinity testifying of each other. In doing that they make us feel sure about our salvation.


Our text is a continuation of last Sunday's text where Jesus tells us about the Holy Spirit, our Comforter. Remember this happened on the night before Jesus was crucified.

Jesus testifies to us that the Father sent Him and gave Him the power and love to be the Savior. Jesus says, "Everything the Father has is Mine." (verse 15a) God the Father gave His wisdom, love, mercy and power to His Son, Jesus, so that He will not fail in His saving work. God the Father planned to save the world from sin and eternal death, and He planned that His only Son would be the Savior. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17) Our choir just sign-sang the hymn, "For God so Loved the World." That hymn emphasizes this truth very clearly and beautifully.

Jesus testifies to us that God is His Father who sent Him here to earth to be our Savior. And God the Father testifies the same truth to us. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, after Jesus came out of the river, a voice spoke from the cloud. It was the voice of God the Father testifying that Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, was also His eternal Son and the Savior. The voice said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)

Can we doubt about God's love for us? Can we doubt_about our salvation? No! We have the testimony of Jesus the Son and of God the Father. Doubts away!

Furthermore, we have the testimony of Jesus in our text about the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells His disciples that later on the Holy Spirit will testify to them about His saving work. Now they can't believe it. It is too much for them, Jesus leaving them and dying. They are not yet ready to accept that. So Jesus says to them,

"I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear (accept) them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." (verses 12-13a)

Jesus testifies that the Holy Spirit is a true witness of Him and that they will need the Holy Spirit or else they will never understand or believe about why He must die on the cross. Jesus testifies that the Holy Spirit only can make anyone understand and believe about His death and His arising from death. The Holy Spirit must help men believe that Jesus died according to God's eternal plan, that Jesus' death was not an accident. The Holy Spirit helps men to see and believe that the Jewish church leaders, Pontius Pilate, Judas and the other enemies of Jesus were fulfilling God's eternal plan when they condemned Jesus to die on the cross. The Holy Spirit must show that God used their sin and wickedness to fulfill His plan of saving the world. Only the Holy Spirit can help men see and appreciate the wonderful wisdom and love of God in the death of Jesus.

Jesus testifies that the Holy Spirit is the true witness of God. With the Spirit's testimony we can believe in Jesus and rejoice in Him. Without the Spirit's testimony we cannot believe and are lost.

We can depend on the Holy Spirit's testimony. Jesus tells His disciples, "He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak....He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." (verses 13b-14)

When a witness seeks his own glory we may doubt about his testimony. We say, "He has a conflict of interest." But when the witness has no personal interest in the case, we can depend more on his testimony that it will be the truth.

That is true of the Holy Spirit. He does not seek His own glory when He testifies about God's plan of salvation. He seeks only to give glory to Jesus the Son. Therefore His testimony is true. We can depend on it 100%!

Doubts away! We have plenty witnesses, much better witnesses than men in court. We have the three witnesses of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let us believe that God loves us and forgives us and gives to us eternal life!

Let us also, while we wait for Him to come again be busy doing His work, so that others may hear the testimony of the three witnesses and be saved with us. Jesus has commanded us, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

Amen.