2 Cor. 13:11-14 Godly Fellowship
Light of the Gospel • Sermon • Submitted
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· 97 viewsThe eternal fellowship of the triune God must be the basis of our fellowship with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Notes
Transcript
Godly Fellowship
2 Corinthians 13:11-14
Pray...
Reminder of elements for communion
End with a picture of the sermon…shared participation of those who are in Christ by remembering what He has done on our behalf…image of who we are and what we should be…one in Christ. Communion of the Saints.
Main Idea: The eternal fellowship of the triune God must be the basis of our fellowship with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Begin with the truth that sets Christianity apart from any other religion. The doctrine of the trinity. Often misunderstood. So much so, many cults are taught to begin arguing the trinity because many Christians do not know what they believe.
Though the text does not contain the word trinity, 2 Cor. 13:14, contains a clear presentation of the trinity in the form of a blessing.
The eternal fellowship of the triune God
The eternal fellowship of the triune God
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
This blessing naturally applies to each and every believer in the Corinthian church; Paul explicitly speaks this blessing upon “all” of the Corinthians. (Seifrid 497) Individual and corporate blessing. He does so by presenting the individual members of the trinity who offer a shared blessing.
“God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God.” (Wayne Grudem) 3 persons—each with individual distinction.
Each person of the Godhead can say I am, while the Godhead can say I am.
Personhood speaks to their perfect relationship…only way to explain the eternal love of God.
The relationship between the three persons and the being of God.
God’s being is not divided into three equal parts belonging to the three members of the Trinity. p. 118
The personal distinctions in the Trinity are not something added onto God’s real being. p. 119
The persons of the Trinity are not just three different ways of looking at the one being of God.
There are three distinct persons, and the being of each person is equal to the whole being of God.
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ “The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ” is the grace that comes from Jesus and belongs to him; ...resulting in the fresh experience of the wonder of Christ's saving gift of himself...(Seifrid 497)
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Crucial to note that in 2 Cor. alone Paul assigns love and fellowship to Christ as well…making clear that The Lord Jesus Christ is God.
Illus: Rabbi video calling the trinity heresy…saying that a person can be a messiah but he cannot be God.
If he is not God then we are still in our sins..Christ was the perfect sacrifice who dies in our place. The righteous sacrifice for unrighteous sinners...
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
the love of God “the love of God” is the love that comes from God, and likewise belongs to God. (Seifrid 497)
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The ultimate consequence of Christ’s grace and God’s love is “fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” (Hughes 236)
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit includes fellowship with the Father and the Son--Trinitarian fellowship--and then a profound fellowship with others who share in that fellowship. (Hughes 236)
Transition...the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The eternal fellowship of the triune God must be the basis of our fellowship with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
The eternal fellowship of the triune God must be the basis of our fellowship with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. Unique family...holy(nothing unholy, not used for other purposes) sign of the love that flows from and to those who are in Christ, who make up the family of God. When seeking to understand how to apply this greeting today, it is important to note that the timeless command given to the Church is to “greet one another.” The expression of that greeting can look differently among different cultures. Therefore, the specific form of the greeting is not as important as the act of greeting one another in the Church today. (GG Material)
(5 present imperatives--commanded continuous action) Consider them in view of who God is and what He provides for and expects from his children, from his family.
Finally, brothers(and sisters), rejoice
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
“(in the Godhead)...there is an infinite fullness of joy and happiness, so these should have an emanation and become a fountain flowing out in abundant streams as beams from the sun.” Jonathan Edwards (Piper, God’s Passion for his Glory, (150-151)
When we replace something else or someone else in the sentence...rejoice in ______. That joy will be temporary. Rejoicing in the Lord is eternal.
Aim for restoration
Is there any conflict in the Godhead? No. By the grace of Jesus and the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit should dictate our relationships with one another. We are not God, conflict arises. However, since the Spirit of God resides in us, we should seek to be restored to one another regardless of the conflict.
Comfort one another comfort involves need to be comforted. How do we comfort one another?
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
the triune God comforts us so that we may comfort one another. The Spirit(the Comforter) working in us and through us.
Agree with one another (the mind of the Father is the mind of the Son and the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons who are in perfect agreement.
Not agreement for the sake of peace at all costs. Unity in truth, in agreement with the will of God.
Active unity not passive unity...
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
Live in peace (trinitarian peace--the peace of God which passes understanding)
It will mean setting aside (division), vanity, and selfish ambition. It will involve learning to see others as bearing greater importance than oneself. It will mean learning to seek the things that concern others (Phil 2:2–4). Above all else, it will mean seeking the profound humility that has been given to us “in Christ Jesus,” not merely as an example, but as a gift (Phil 2:5).
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Does not mean it is up to us...seek our own solution our own way. The solution and the provision have been supplied...act accordingly. To experience this blessing the Corinthians have to take the initiative . . . Sovereignty never cancels out responsibility. (Naylor, 263)
HB Charles...“What holds the church together? ...The church is held together by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. This is why I can’t be a true Christian and say, “I love Jesus; I can’t stand the church.” Because if I’m saved, the Holy Spirit is in me. And the Holy Spirit is in you. The Holy Spirit in you is not going to tell you not to have anything to do with the Holy Spirit in me. If the Holy Spirit is in us, he will cause us to love one another. The Jesus in me will love the Jesus in you.” ....The Lord is the provision to reach his solution. “If it was has anything to do with God, it has everything to do with love. Mercy is God’s forgiving love. Grace is God’s undeserved love. Peace is God’s comforting love. The will of God is God’s unerring love. Providence is God’s caring love. The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ are God’s proven love. Sanctification is God’s nurturing love. Heaven is God’s rewarding love. Eternity is God’s unending love. (HB Charles)
this has been Paul’s message to the Corinthians from the beginning. He concludes where he began...
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
So What?
So What?
Let us rejoice in our fellowship of the Holy Spirit in the love of God by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
shared rejoicing…we are brothers and sisters with the same Father, same Savior, and same Spirit.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Picture of our shared union…through communion.
Let us humble ourselves before God and receive the picture of what we do not deserve
Prepare your elements
23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Let us pause, reflect, and receive…take both the bread and cup. I will lead us in prayer in a few moments.
Prayer
Next steps…down front, pastors in blue shirts to assist you.
Christmas Eve
International Mission Offering next Sunday shared offering. You can give to this offering year round.Close the 2020 offering from Parkwood to the International mission board on Dec. 31.