Fellowship of The Spirit (Part 2)

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May 23, 2021

Program for WVNE Life Changing Radio (Worcester / Boston) Link to the full sermon - • The Communion of The Holy Spirit (2 C...

The Number of The Beast 666 (Things to Come Part 3)

00:00: Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.
00:06: Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:13: Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist
00:19: D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.
00:27: If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.
00:36: Examine yourselves. I'm not in the place of God to pass this judgment, but you examine yourself.
00:44: So how do you go about examining yourself? We talked a little bit about this, but you could ask, am I engaged in evil deeds?
00:53: You know, it's easy to say, well, you know, we're all sinners. We all, everyone sins and that's true.
00:59: But, you know, you need to take a little bit more of a serious look at it and say, am
01:04: I engaged in evil deeds? You can ask when you sin, do you confess your sin before God or do you just continue in it?
01:16: Do you love your sin or do you hate your sin? Do you desire to continue in your sin?
01:24: What do you believe? Do you believe every word that proceeds from the mouth of God or do you not like some of the teachings of the apostle
01:32: Paul or James or Peter or whoever? Look at second
01:37: Corinthians 13 verse eight, because part of this saying that Paul and Timothy are disqualified.
01:45: They're saying they're not preaching the truth. But what does Paul say for we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
01:55: So they were busy examining the apostle Paul and Timothy. They should have been examining their own hearts.
02:04: And I really believe that this is true because the ones accusing Paul were the ones who were guilty.
02:10: Right. I really believe this is true, that the most judgmental people are usually the most guilty people.
02:18: Right. Because deep inside, they know they know their own corruption. So almost to alleviate their own guilt, they are always pointing the finger at others.
02:29: So they go around looking for other people to judge. Otherwise, they might have to look in the mirror.
02:35: This is what we don't want. All right. This is what a local church does not want.
02:42: And obviously, this would be a source of division where everybody is just going around looking to judge somebody else.
02:51: And that leads to what? What did Paul talk about a couple of verses ago?
02:57: Whispering, slander, backbiting. So then what should we do? Well, if somebody and we preached on unity last year around this time,
03:06: I think it's good to have a sermon on unity. At least at least once a year, if not twice.
03:12: It's an important subject. But some common advice, you know, if somebody is repeating something that's false doctrinally, you know, go to them.
03:23: Maybe you misunderstood. Maybe they just repeating something they heard. You know, go to them, be polite, have a conversation about it.
03:30: All right. Start that way. But if somebody irritates you, normally churches don't have problems because of doctrine.
03:37: I mean, if you're going to fight any battle, that's the battle to fight over false doctrine.
03:43: But usually in a church, the problems that rise up are what? Personal disputes, right?
03:48: This guy just irritates me. Or this woman, you know, they get bothered.
03:54: If somebody irritates you, what do you do? Let it go. Let it go.
03:59: You probably irritate somebody at some point. Hey, if you can't let it go, if you really can't let it go and you think, no, this is a big deal.
04:10: I can't do that. Go to the person respectfully and just say, hey, you know, I noticed that you said this or you do this.
04:17: Try to have a respectful conversation about it might not go well. But, you know, if you really try and they see that you're trying to be kind and courteous, sometimes you come out of that stuff better friends than ever.
04:31: Right. Also, if you find yourself thinking or saying something negative about another brother or sister in Christ, try pointing out the positive things about them.
04:44: If feelings of bitterness start rising up against someone, make sure your prayers are rising up higher.
04:52: Amen. What's the title of the message? The communion of the Holy Spirit.
04:59: So think about that word for a moment. Communion. And I know when you think communion, you think of eating the wafer, the bread and drinking the cup.
05:07: That's not what we're talking about, although that is part of it. But the whole concept of communion carries the idea of community.
05:17: Right. You can see the word community is in that and that word. So we said fellowship. Right. Intimacy.
05:25: Unity. It's our relationship with God. Our relationship with other people through the spirit of God.
05:32: The same Holy Spirit that was in the apostle Paul, the same
05:38: Holy Spirit that dwelt and filled the apostles on the day of Pentecost. That same
05:44: Holy Spirit is within you. And that same Holy Spirit is within your fellow brother or sister in Christ.
05:53: You know, in the flesh, we all have relatives. Right. We're related in the flesh through what?
06:00: Blood. We're related through, you know, today when I say DNA, we're related to one another.
06:07: But in the spirit, in the spirit of God, we are all related to one another.
06:14: So that unity is there. And you know what? It's going to continue on forever.
06:20: And because of that, we need to learn to get along. I mean, this is what you've heard before,
06:27: I'm sure. We're going to have to live together with one another in heaven for all eternity.
06:33: We need to start learning how to get along down here. As I said at the beginning, spiritually speaking,
06:40: God's children already have this unity. It's just about making the invisible spiritual reality visible.
06:47: It's about promoting unity, walking in it on a weekly basis, on a daily basis.
06:55: But I would challenge you, walk in this fellowship, walk in unity on a moment by moment basis.
07:05: And when this happens, when people see that, it's a great testimony to others. Right. Remember what
07:10: Jesus said in John 13, verse 35. By this, all will know that you are my disciples.
07:19: What? If you have love for one another.
07:25: I just want you to think about the Corinthian church. Speaking of unity or disunity,
07:31: Corinth was a large city. It was a very immoral city. You had people in the church from all different backgrounds.
07:39: Rich, poor, educated, uneducated, Jew, Gentile.
07:46: There were people. Think about this. There were people who grew up in paganism and idolatry.
07:54: Worshiping alongside a Jewish person who was raised as a devout Jew. Sitting next to a pagan and they were worshiping together.
08:02: How is that even possible? Well, Jesus said in Mark 10, 27, with God, all things are possible.
08:12: You say, okay, yeah, right. It's possible, but it's going to be really, really difficult. It doesn't have to be.
08:19: It doesn't have to be difficult. It's not that hard when you have the love of God in your heart.
08:26: You know what D .L. Moody once said? He said, faith makes all things possible, but love makes them easy.
08:36: How do you bring such different people together? Well, turn to Colossians chapter 3 for a moment.
08:44: I think this is such a great passage that if implemented, that if we walk in these things daily basis, moment by moment basis.
08:51: Wow. The peace and the contentment and the unity and the joy we will experience.
08:58: Because if you think about it, any given local church and there are some churches, it's more true than here.
09:06: But even here, the people in this church are different. Right. There's some people in the church that are a lot like you and you share things in common.
09:14: There's other people that are very, very different. And in any church, there are people who come together, their friends, their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
09:24: If it wasn't for Christ, you would never spend time with this person. Right. Just not that you have anything against them.
09:31: It's just you never would have come together. But that's what Christ does. That's what the communion of the
09:36: Holy Spirit can do. He can bring together anybody. Look at Colossians chapter 3, starting in verse 8.
09:48: Colossians 3 verse 8. Paul says, but now you yourselves are to put off all of these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
10:03: Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.
10:15: And this is the great statement of unity in verse 11, where there is neither
10:22: Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian,
10:28: Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
10:36: Paul says something similar in Galatians chapter 3 verse 28. He says, there is neither Jew nor Greek.
10:42: There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female, for you are all one.
10:49: There's the unity. You are all one in Christ Jesus. What does the enemy like to do?
10:56: Well, the enemy likes to do the opposite. You're all one in Christ Jesus. The enemy likes to pit one group against another.
11:05: The enemy likes to pit male. And isn't this what we're seeing? We hear it every day.
11:10: You pit male versus female. Black versus white. Rich versus poor.
11:18: What does that lead to? Anger, wrath, malice. But the
11:24: Holy Spirit leads us to do what? Put off these things. In Christ we are to have peace and unity.
11:33: We are to be one. Jesus is all. Is Jesus all? Can you say that honestly? To me,
11:39: Jesus is all. And he's in all. I'm not into creeds, but that's a good creed.
11:47: Christ is all. Jesus is all. Put that on the front door. Paul continues in verse 12, speaking of the new character, of the new man in Christ.
12:01: He says, therefore, as the elect of God. You're the chosen of God.
12:07: You're the elect of God. This is a high calling. You're holy and beloved.
12:14: So because of that, do what? Put on tender mercies.
12:20: Kindness, humility, meekness, long -suffering. Wouldn't you rather be around someone like that, where there's kindness, meekness, patience, as opposed to anger, malice, wrath?
12:36: Verse 13, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
12:50: But above all these things, above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
12:56: And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body.
13:03: And be thankful. Don't forget that. Be thankful.
13:09: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
13:21: Lord. Isn't this an encouraging passage? You know, some people, they'll sit down and they'll open the newspaper or turn on the
13:27: TV and just get wrath and anger and malice for a half an hour. You could be spending time in the word of God and have your soul refreshed.
13:37: Verse 17, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the
13:44: Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. So you want unity in the body of Christ?
13:52: That's how you have it. You want unity in the home? That's how you have unity.
13:58: Look at verse 18. This is how you have unity. Wives, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the
14:05: Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the
14:18: Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged.
14:27: Okay, do you want peace in the workplace? Say the church, yes. The family, yes. You want peace in the workplace?
14:32: Spend a lot of time there. Look at verse 22. Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh.
14:42: Not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing
14:49: God. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the