2013 Advent Midweek Worship: The Trinity in Advent The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen. Our Advent midweek worship has been focusing upon that blessing written by God’s apostle Paul, printed on the cover of your bulletin, “the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit are among you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). There is one and only one reason we know about the heavenly Father’s love for us: we know about the Father’s love solely because of “the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The very same thing can likewise be said of the Holy Spirit: we can only know of the existence and presence of the Holy Spirit among us because of one thing: “the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What does the Holy Spirit do for us, according to this heaven-sent blessing that Paul has written? The Holy Spirit creates our fellowship, one with another. The Spirit’s gift of fellowship among us has provides us with many blessings, perhaps even more than can be counted. Here are a few things that the Holy Spirit’s gift of fellowship does for you. · First, the Spirit’s gift of fellowship allows us to look beyond the sins and weaknesses we have come to know concerning one another. At the risk of over-simplifying, perhaps we could go so far as to say that, where “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” assures each of us that our own sins are forgiven, “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” makes it possible for us to forgive, forbear, and even look the other way concerning the sins of those around us. When the Christians in the book of Acts “devoted themselves to the fellowship” (Acts 2:42), they were taking great pains to “bear with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2) in the same manner that we likewise bear with one another today—all by the power of the Holy Spirit. · The fellowship of the Holy Spirit has also forged and preserved our connection to the Christian saints who have gone before us into the eternity of God. Stated another way, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit holds us together with “angels and archangels and all the company of heaven” (Preface to Holy Communion). Thus it is written, “we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1). It is also written, “you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23). There is only one way you could ever know about this family-relationship, this deep personal connection, this communion you have with the host of heaven. That one way is “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” So, too, there is only one way for you to be so forbearing, forgiving, and patient with one another as you are. That one way is “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” God’s blessing, spoken through the apostle Paul, wants you to know that the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit is now among you, around you, and between you.” The fellowship of the Spirit is the glue that holds each of you together with all other Christians. The fellowship of the Spirit is the cushion that continually stands between you, in order to minimize the bruising and damage you might inflict upon one another. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the miraculous power that turns your hearts toward one another, rather than against one another. How has the fellowship of the Holy Spirit come among you? It has come to you by “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” in whose Advent we rejoice. When Jesus comes, so also come the Father and the Spirit Paul’s blessing begins with the Second Person of the Trinity—God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ—because our Lord Jesus is that one person of the Trinity who makes the others known. The only way we know about our dear Father is the presence of the Son among us. (Where there is a Son, there must be a Father.) So too, the only knowledge we have of the Holy Spirit is through that knowledge which God the Son has given. All this simply means is that, when we want to see God, we must look at our Lord Jesus. · Looking at Him, we see the Father’s love. · Looking at Jesus, we receive the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Everything—in heaven and on earth—everything always begins and ends with Jesus. Thus Jesus Himself has declared, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
