Advent | Week 4

Good morning. How are you guys Jasper?

I don't do this to you, but there's one thing to announce,

we got the Bible reading plan for January is going to be

available very soon and what we're doing for this year for

our Bible. Reading plan is taking you

through a five-day plan. And so you'll get through the

whole Bible in a year but the five-day plan allows you the

weekends. It's a Monday through Friday

plan, so it allows you Saturday and Sunday either maybe to catch

up on. But you didn't get to that week,

read something else or maybe meditate a little longer about

some of the review your notes from what you had been reading.

That will be available on our website before too much longer

and so if you don't have a Bible reading plan going into 2022,

something you do already. We encourage you to look at that

and you'll hear a little bit more about that next week.

And and on Bible reading all together.

Also so, Anyway, well as I do hope you had a Merry Christmas.

Ours has been full of You know, just sickness.

So it's been, we had a good time overall.

It's been a good good weekend, but I'm tired and exhausted.

And so I come to you very depleted feeling today.

I haven't been sick yet but just take helping Patricia.

Take care of of the kids is, got me a little worn out if I'm

being honest. And so, but I could not forego

today's sermon today. Serving, I think is important to

wrapping up this. The series that we've done this

Advent season, and this one's on fellowship with the Triune God.

So fellowship with the Triune God, everything we've been

looking at really has come to a crescendo.

I hope in this one. I did that.

You can now have fellowship with God, which is largely due to the

fact that Christ came Christ, came Christ, lived, Christ,

died, a perfect sacrifice for our sins, Christ rose again.

And now sits on. Throne ruling over all of

creation. Everything has been put under

his feet and so you and I though now walking in this life we have

as Christians we can have fellowship with this God daily.

We have fellowship with our Triune God and that's really

what I want to talk to you about is the good news of foreign to

us. God has come the good news of

that is that you and I are now reconciled to God by faith in

Jesus Christ. And so we are not at odds with

him any longer, which we Looked at last week we've kind of

focused on that over the last two services that we've had with

our candlelight service and then last Sunday service.

But let me pray for us and then we'll we'll dive into a brief

excerpt ation on Second Corinthians 13.

Heavenly Father we love you. And God I thank you for today.

I think you for your word. I thank you for the time we

have. Now two to read it to hear from

it. Lord, would you, would you be

with us today? I asked it, Lord, by your spirit

that you Luminate these, these verses for us.

Help us father to understand them.

Help us, Lord to know what they mean.

Help us to walk in them and Lord, I pray that you help me.

Now, it's never dependent upon me, but if I were ever tempted

to think so, today is not one of those days.

Father, I am completely dependent upon you and your

spirit today for the encouragement of the Saints for

their strengthening, for their healing, for their ability, to

walk with you Faithfully. And Lord, I Thank you that

you're with us now, in Christ's name, we pray.

Amen. Amen.

So if you have your Bible turn to Second Corinthians 13, that's

where we'll we'll get started today.

And second Corinthians. The Apostle Paul concludes this

wonderful letter. It's a second letter that we

have record of. It's probably the third.

It seems the way. This one is worded that there

was actually one in between first and second but this is

second Corinthians and it's a letter full of expectations and

warnings and rebukes and encouragement to walk Faithfully

with the Lord. And then Paul concludes with

this very A reinstatement, which acts as a benediction it acts as

a final little prayer of sorts and he says this, he says in the

grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, sorry, verse 14.

S early as 13 verse 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus

Christ and the love of God and The Fellowship of the Holy

Spirit, be with you. All the grace of the Lord Jesus

Christ, the love of God, and The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,

be with you. Also present in his statement as

the Trinity, Paul was assumed the Trinity.

Paul knew knew about the Trinity because the spirit had revealed

himself in such a way for him to write about these things.

And so we've talked about this as we walked through.

The Trinity over the last few weeks is that the way God

reveals himself is in Trinity. It's one Essence.

It's one being in God who exists in three persons.

And so there's three, distinct persons within the Trinity who

have different roles and have different parts, they fulfill.

And so, but all of them working together as God not separate,

not not Rogue, not on there. Old, but in unity.

And so 2nd Corinthians. 13:14 Paul is offering a very

trinitarian statement here in the purpose of the letter was

not a trinitarian letter, he wasn't teaching trinitarian

theology, but this is how Paul understood our relationship to

God was through the Trinity. And I think this is why it's

important for you. And I is that we need to

understand our relationship with God as a relationship with a

Triune God, that that this God exists in three purse.

It's, and so it's not three Gods.

We are not, we are monotheistic. We're not polytheistic.

We worship one, God, and we'll talk more.

We have talked a lot about that, but will mention some things

about it today. But here, what we get is a small

picture of what communing with the Triune God is supposed to

look like, how it comes to us how we relate to God.

And and really, I think that second Corinthians 13:14 Is a

2 Corinthians 13:14

very short, it's a one-sentence way of saying, what Paul says in

Ephesians 1:3 through 14 and just a few pages over.

Ephesians 1:3–14

But let me just read it out loud to you.

I had written down a paragraph summary, but but I would rather

just read it to you in Ephesians 1 verse 3.

Ephesians 1:3

Listen to how Paul describes, this Triune work to the Church

of Ephesus. He says blessed be the God and

father of our Lord. Jesus Christ who has blessed us

in Christ, with every spiritual blessing.

In the Heavenly places even as he chose us in him before the

foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless

before him in love, he predestined us for adoption to

himself as Sons through Jesus Christ.

According to the purpose of his will.

The praise of his glorious Grace with, which he has blessed us in

the Beloved, in him. We have Redemption through his

blood, the Forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of

his grace, which he lavished Upon Us in all wisdom and

insight making known to us, the mystery of his will according to

his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, as a plan, for the

fullness of time to unite, all things in him, things in heaven

and things on earth. In him, still talk talking about

in Christ, in Christ, we have obtained, an inheritance having

been predestined. According to the purpose of him

who works, all things according to the counsel of his will so

that we who were the first hope in Christ might be to the praise

of his glory in him. You also, when you heard the

word of Truth, The Gospel of your salvation and believed in

him were sealed with the promised.

Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance?

And until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his

glory. Amen.

And so there you see that God the Father saves Us by his love,

through his predetermined plan of adoption as Sons through

Jesus Christ, and it's an act of free Grace and he Stills Us by

the promised. Holy Spirit, who is the

guarantee? T of our Eternal inheritance to

the praise of his glory. That's my summation of Ephesians

Ephesians 1:3–14

1:3 through 14. And so what happens is, God

brings us you were not in fellowship with God.

God brings you into fellowship with himself, by his own

actions. God is at the foundation.

God is in the middle of the process.

God is at the end of the process of your salvation.

He's at the beginning, the middle and the end it is Act of

God through and through, this is why John in chapter one of John

says that that he gave them right?

Who believed in Christ, he gave them right to be children of God

and he says, not by their birth rights, not by their will and

not by their exertion, but by God.

And so there's an act of Grace at the foundation of your

salvation, you were saved by grace.

Race through and through. Amen.

And this is what we see when Christ descends into the

Brokenness of creation into the Brokenness of our world, as we

looked at, even in Sunday school this morning, it wasn't just

Humanity. That was fractured by the Fall.

It was all of creation. That was fractured by the fall.

And in fact, what we read in Romans 8 is that all of creation

is yearning. It's longing for the day of

restoration when God will redeem, All things, who make all

things new? So it's not just humans that are

broken, but the whole world is broken.

That's part of the curse on the atom, right?

Thorns and thistles will come from the ground that you work.

But God has by his grace brought us into fellowship with himself

by himself. His act.

And so, when we speak about fellowship with God, I think

it's important or at least helpful to the discussion to

distinguish between a couple of things to make some distinctions

here. I think fellowship with God,

this idea of fellowshipping, with God, Comes with, it's

almost an umbrella with two points under it.

The first would be this is your union with Christ is the is the

foundation of your fellowship with God, your union with Christ

is the foundation. Now your union with Christ is

what we just read about in Ephesians 1.

Your union with Christ is the work of God from the beginning

of the world to And for adoption as Sons, you and he'd United you

to himself through Christ Jesus. It's an act of marvelous Grace

that you were once in darkness and now you are in Marvelous

Light. You were once dead in your

trespasses and sin and sins and now you are alive in Christ

Jesus, because of the great love and mercy, which God hath shown

for us in Christ. Paul goes on to say you are

saved by grace. You're saved by grace and so

your union with Christ is this. Once for all action that takes

place, it's called justification.

When You Believe In Christ, when you believe the word, which

you've received about Jesus Christ, you believe in the

gospel, the good news of the coming of Christ Jesus, his

salvation from sin, Can you are united with Christ?

Amen. United with Christ, you become a

CO are Ephesians 1 says You're an heir of Salvation, you're an

air of Eternity, you receive eternal life from God.

And so you're brought into fellowship with God.

You were once distant because of the Fall.

You're brought into fellowship with God because of the death

burial and resurrection of the perfect man.

Jesus Christ. Amen.

And then on the backside of that, there's an ongoing

fellowship with God. You're United with Christ.

By justification. And then there's an ongoing

fellowship with God that we might call communion with God.

And it's what I have in mind today as we think about

Fellowship wing with God, I want to talk to us a bit about our

communion with God, but I want to help us make these

distinctions. We live in a culture as we

looked about at last week, we live in a culture that largely

mimics what false religions need for salvation.

And that's Works based salvation.

We think often and by our action, maybe not by our

thoughts, but by the way that we live and the way that we think

about righteousness, the way that we think about Good Works,

the way that we think about evil Deeds, all of these things.

We we show that largely. We believe We are saving

ourselves by our good works. I think God has done a work to a

certain extent, but now it's up to you to maintain your

salvation. You understand what I mean?

We live in in a culture especially in the Bible though.

We're being a Christian is more about your church, attendance.

And whether or not you really attend, this kind of doesn't

matter. It's just as long as you

identify with the church, as long as you call yourself a

Christian and try to do good things, you must be a Christian.

Well, now you're just you might be a decent person from all

accounts. But none of these things, make

you distinctly Christian to be a Christian means that you have

United yourself with Christ Jesus by faith, meaning that you

are, you were putting everything on Christ for your Eternal

well-being, you're trusting him alone for your salvation.

Not sure works. And so, it is your faith in

Christ. Not your faith in your works.

That produces salvation. It's your faith in the finished

work of Christ, not your faith in your unfinished, works that

give you salvation. Amen.

And this is the, the fuel. This is the foundation and

really the the fuel of how we are to live.

And what Paul is laying out here in this benediction is something

that should catch our attention. He says things how many of you

know that the words in the Bible are intentional the written the

way they are on purpose, right? There's a purpose behind this

And so when Paul says the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the

love of God, and The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you

all, is he getting things out of order?

Did any of you catch as we were reading it, that Christ is

first, but Grace is first. But this seems to be a bit of a

contradiction of everything I've preached for the last three

weeks, right? That out of the Overflow of

love, God creates. It's a love.

That was shared among the Trinity from eternity past and

so God creates how the Overflow of his love.

And so, what does what does Paul do in does Grace received go

before God's love? Does God's love go before Grace

received? And how does the one or the

other instruct our fellowship? Paul starts with Grace but does

this contradict what I've been preaching?

Does it contradict a verse like John 3:16 Says for God.

John 3:16

So loved the world that he gave his only son From God's

perspective. Which is where we must start

from God's perspective and this is what I've been trying to show

love goes first out of the Overflow of love he creates out

of the Overflow of love he redeems out of the Overflow of

love. Amen.

And it's out of his love that we have the Overflow of Grace for

guilty, Sinners. And so, from man's perspective,

and the way that we relate to God, we don't.

This is why you end up with man-centered songs and worship.

This is why you end up with man-centered Theology and

preaching. is is if you think that God, if you misread John

John 3:16

3:16 to make it all about you. Then you end up with a lot of

man-centered theology in the songs that you sing songs you

hear on the radio. The songs are the words that are

preached in many pulpits. But for man's perspective it's

not that we don't receive the love of God.

Of course we do. From man's perspective though,

we relate to this love by grace. We know this love because of

Grace, you and I are incapable of knowing the love of God apart

from the grace of God, because we're guilty, Sinners apart from

the grace of God. Amen. and so, the And then the

spirit comes along in the fellowship, right?

It's a sign and a seal of this. Covenant of Grace, the spirit

helps us in our fellowship. Jesus said in John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

he's instructing the disciples after he told them that the hour

has come for his crucifixion. The disciples are getting really

stirred up. Judas is already left to go.

Do what he's going to do. And Jesus tells them in John

chapter. 14, not to be troubled. And then he promises the Holy

Spirit a comforter he says and the comforter is to come and to

provide the kind of Fellowship on an even deeper level than the

fellowship. They knew with God in Christ

Jesus because the comforter was going to come and dwell in you.

Right? This is what happens in Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 with Pentecost the Holy Spirit falls on the

Believers, dwells inside believers. and Jesus says that

when the spirit comes, that this is, The father and the son,

taking up residence in your life.

And so by the spirit of God, Because of the grace received in

Christ, Jesus. Because of the love that that

was poured forth from you. Now have fellowship with God.

Amen, because of the fellowship, you have with the spirit, And so

I think what Paul wants his audience to understand is is

that Grace founds and fuels our fellowship with God.

I think Paul lists Grace first for a purpose He wants you to

remember the grace of Christ Jesus.

Which is from the love of God. And gives you the Fellowship of

the spirit. but this idea of communion of daily Fellowship,

it's fueled by grace. Communion is fueled by grace.

And it's distinct from your union with Christ, which is that

once for all time justification. Which comes through faith, in

Christ, it's founded on Grace, your communion.

It's fueled by grace and your union is founded on Grace.

Amen. And so you might be asking

yourself why does this matter what's the point of this?

Why I think the danger is this, at least the danger was for me,

still is at times, but for many years of my life, the danger was

this is that I saw, I saw a fellowship not as an umbrella of

Union and communion. I saw a fellowship with God as

just the thing. And so, how many of you sin each

day? Show me your hands you sent

every day. Yeah.

Have you had a sense of guilt or shame over those sins before?

Raise your hand? All right, few of you, most of

you, the spirit may not be present, okay?

the point is this is that when we if we think that Fellowship

communion with God is distinctly tied to our Union with God,

Didn't one my fellowship waxes and wanes, right?

Like a like a roller coaster. When I sin in a moment.

When I say something, I shouldn't I fly off the handle.

when my eyes behold things, they shouldn't when my mind thinks

thoughts, it shouldn't when I have desires in my heart that

are contrary to God's word, the Temptation is to think that God

is Is playing some sort of spiritual peekaboo with us.

That he hides his eyes. and then he's able to look at us again

when we're in, right fellowship, and now we're separated from him

again because we've sinned and now we're able to look at him

again because we've repented or ask for forgiveness. and you end

up on this spiritual roller coaster, but Christ was not

Christ was not born in flesh. Christ did not live a perfect

life and die a completely wrongful death.

The only person, the only person in history to ever died

unjustly. Christ did not rise from the

grave. Christ is not seated at the

right hand of God. Now making petition for you Able

to save Hebrews 7 says to the uttermost.

Those who draw? Dear to him Christ.

Did not do all of that, so that you can think that by your

Works. Your fellowship is either broken

or Unbroken. You've showing yourself.

You're putting yourself on too high a pedestal.

You're glorifying yourself if you think by your works, but

your relationship with God is broken or Unbroken.

There's no glory for Christ and thinking that you lose your

salvation in a moment and that you gain it back in another

moment. When you do the right thing,

either Christ died for you while you were still a sinner or he

did not But I'm going to choose to believe Romans 5:8 that says

Romans 5:8

while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

And so your communion does not disrupt your union, amen.

Your communion is not causing your union to fluctuate.

Now, your communion. Might fluctuate your fellowship

with God on the daily might fluctuate?

Because you have some responsibility in that.

You're not responsible for your salvation, you're not even

responsible. Totally for your sanctification.

You're not responsible for your glorification.

You are responsible though, for your daily pursuit of the Lord,

for your war, against the flesh. For your Walking rightly, with

God or not, you are responsible. But you must hear me your life

might be more difficult if you don't pursue the Lord, a right?

But if your faith is in Christ, you're not changing your union.

You might show a little more faith than someone else.

But you're not changing your union with Christ.

Your union with Christ. Is given to you by God.

And so if you're a believer in here then your union with Christ

is decided. And what isn't necessarily

decided is whether or not you'll wake up tomorrow morning and

pursue Christ or pursue your own desires.

Or shoot. Why wait till tomorrow morning?

What about after church? WIll you pursue Christ?

as a husband, as a wife as a mother as a father, as a child

as an employee, will you pursue the Lord Jesus Christ in your

life or Will he be something that just kind of sits on the

side to be experienced? At other moments, it's kind of a

loose Pursuit. There's a book.

Written by a guy named John Owen Puritan pastor and it's called

communion with the Triune God and actually just in and send

introduction the editor of the book is summing up.

Some of Owens thoughts. and this is what the editor writes, as a

kind of a summation of Owens thoughts, he says those who are

united to Christ or call to respond to God's loving embrace,

While Union with Christ, is something that does not ebb and

flow, one's experience of communion with Christ.

Can fluctuates, when a Believer grows comfortable with sin, this

invariably affects the level of intimacy, this person feels with

God, It is not that the Father's Love Grows and diminishes for

his children and accordance with their actions for his love is

unflinching. Amen.

It is not that God turns from us, but that we can turn from

God. Now Owen is not saying in an

unsaved sense. Then come the accusations both

from Satan and from self, which can make the believer worried

that he is under God's Wrath and Truth.

However, Saints stand not under wrath, but in the safe shadow of

the Cross and then And I have to wonder if Grace fuels your

communion with Christ, how much joyous is your walk with the

Lord. I mean, if you're going to

church begrudgingly, It's like, well, this is something I really

need to do. I know I need to do this, I need

to read my Bible in the morning. I really got to check that box

off to get through the Bible in a year and I need to be praying

to my goodness. I don't pray enough.

Man in journaling would probably help me.

Maybe I should pick up a journal in journal, Simon, goodness,

I've missed Home Group the last two weeks in a row, and it's not

looking like I'll make Sunday school this week, but I'll be

good to make it to church, but that's only twice in the last

month. You see what I mean?

That's Works based salvation. That's Works based

righteousness. That's Works based

sanctification. That's you thinking that, by

your works. You're saving yourself.

Now, all of those. Should act as like the check

engine light coming on in your car.

Their alarm Bells, their red flags, for sure.

If if I'm making it through Bible reading each day thinking,

I made it through another day, man.

You know, I got to check this box. if there's no desire for

the Lord to commune with God in your life, that's a red flag,

and it's likely as Believers anyway, as people who profess to

know Christ, it's likely that your desires are waning because

you've you've got desires for other things that are contrary

to God. Contrary to his commands and his

wants for you, his desires. And so your communion.

The fruit of your communion with God, May fluctuates.

But that's not changing your union with Christ.

All this kind of gets into that argument that Paul foresees and

Romans chapter 6, and Romans chapter 5 Paul comes off this.

Romans 6 · chapter mention Romans 5 · chapter mention

This wonderful look at The first atom and how we've all inherited

Sin from the first atom that we are.

Like he gone astray. That we're Sinners by one's man,

sinned, all have sinned. He says and then he gets into

the second atom, which is a reference to Christ.

He talks about Christ and how about one man's righteousness,

you become righteous. And so you inherit Sin from

Adam, but you can inherit righteousness from Christ by

faith. And and then what Paul foresees

as he's laying it on thick with Grace.

And Romans chapter 1, he asked the question should buy it, he

Romans 1 · chapter mention

says, should we go on sinning, so that Grace May abound because

in chapter 5, he's letting his hearers know that by Grace.

You're saved. And you're not changing that.

And so the question becomes from sinful man, I sinful Minds is

well I'll just keep sending Grace abounds.

And Paul says, by no means do. We do that?

Absolutely not. That would be trampling on the

grace you've received. That would be exchanging Grace

for lies, that would be exchanging Grace for sin.

We don't trample on the grace of Christ and then Grace is a

motivator for experiencing more Grace.

Grace is a motivator for wanting to know, God more fully, amen.

It's not an enabler, so that we might keep sinning.

I'm way off the notes at this point, so, Brothers and sisters.

What I don't want is for you to avoid understanding the Fountain

of Grace that you have. We live in this culture, where

your Christianity can ebb and flow, and you're in, or you're

out, you're in, or you're out, he loves me.

Loves me, not, he loves me, loves me.

Not right. And I don't think that that's at

all what God wants for his people.

It doesn't want you wondering whether or not you're in, or

you're out. He doesn't want you unsure of

Grace. And so, the bottom line is

really that all professing Christians should know this

unbroken Union. The should have a concept of it

should understand it. But we don't because we grow up

in churches where everything's man centered and work centered.

And in many ways. And so the sad reality is that

we choose to avoid the Trinity. The Trinity is the Fountain of

Grace. We choose to avoid understanding

God in this in this way. And as I mentioned in week, 1 of

the series, sometimes we do it just because we're told it's too

difficult to understand and so well must be too difficult to

understand why try. If the preacher saying, it's too

difficult to understand. Why the heck should I give a

care? It's just not true.

You're not avoiding. You can you avoid the Trinity or

trying to understand what Ephesians 1 is talking about?

You're not just avoiding some brain teaser meant for trivia

games. You're avoiding knowing god.

You're trading what the Bible says about God for your own

understanding of what God might be like.

And so, you're avoiding Surety. You're avoiding knowledge in

that you're avoiding growth. You want to know the Sovereign

Creator and ruler of Heaven. The one who saves all, who call

on his name, you want to know him?

Amen. But when you do avoid, you avoid

the foundation and the Fountain of Grace.

Number minded of Ephesians 3 were Paul.

He's, he's praying there and he says this is his prayer in three

for the church at Ephesus. He's gone through chapter 1,

it's got through chapter 2, about you saved by grace, and

then in chapter 3, says that you he's talking about how you your

United together. Now, because of Christ, there's

no dividing wall of hostility more, between Jews and Gentiles.

You've been brought together as one people.

And he says, this is what I want you to know that you being

rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with

all the saints, what is the breadth?

And the length, and the height, and the depth.

And to know the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge that

you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Filled with all the fullness of God.

This is what is available to you.

Because of the work of our Triune God.

And so kind of getting back to John Owens Point Christians

aren't you're not haphazardly stumbling into being filled with

all the knowledge of God are all the fullness of God you don't

have Hazard Lee walk into that. It takes effort, it takes

intentionality, it takes Pursuits, it takes increased

desires, and decreased desires. You must put to death the old

man. The old manners of Life, the old

ways of walking, you must take on his new life which you've

received in Christ, Jesus, your lord and you do it by the power

of the spirit of God. And you think we'll how how do

we even begin that? Well, you must begin from the

security of your salvation. Because that salvation is

accomplished by the Triune God. And so you can be sure that God

who is unable to lie. As not promise you something he

will not deliver them. You must hold on to God by faith

in Christ Jesus. Eternal security, rest on God

Alone, eternal security freeze the Christian from fears and

doubts about their salvation, it enables you to focus on placing

yourself. In the streams of God's grace

each day to walk with him. You say, well, what are the

streams of God's grace? Is this a river?

I don't know about. the streams of God's grace, or anything out

there that puts you in the in the way of the flow of God's

grace. It's Bible reading with the

right heart. It's prayer.

It's singing. It's fellowship with the Saints.

It's participating in the Lord's supper or baptism.

And many other things like these.

It's, this is where we experience the grace of God

daily for our lives. so tomorrow morning, when I opened my Bible,

And I'm just going through a little plan with a dear brother

here and when I open my bible in the morning and I read my

chapters that are assigned to me for the day.

The posture of my heart in that moment matters.

Do I open these words? Do I open this book?

Like, it's a history book. You open it like it's some

textbook. Or do I open this book and read

it as though God is actually speaking to us?

The posture of your heart matters.

And so there's moments, I tell people all the time.

People come to me and say, Kyle, it just really struggle to read

my Bible like it doesn't feel fruitful, but I know I need to

do it. I'm just honest with him at,

like, reading your Bible. Like that is better than not

reading your Bible but we don't want to stay there and then it's

better to keep hearing the word of God, because nothing will

bless you guys. Nothing will jumpstart your

Warming, your heart's desires towards the Lord, like reading

his word. but if you're going to numbers to try to understand

Christ, maybe maybe jump to a different book of the Bible and

then This is why most people quit their Bible reading plan

after about February. But keep pressing forward, read

the Psalms and their struggles with God, the wrestling fears

and doubts and failures and hearts, that just weren't

affectionate read the word. Again, John Owen says this, he

says Grace must be understood as the ground of this relationship

with God. From first to last from

justification to preservation of the Saints, from God's

acceptance of us to his glorifying.

The Saints Grace is the bottom of the entire understanding of

the Saints security and privilege.

Before God, he goes on to say this Grace, however demands

rather than denies human response, amen.

But if we are to respond, rightly, we must know to who we

are responding. That's why from the beginning of

the series, I'm saying it's important for us to know who

this God is. Who saves us?

We want to know him because we can't worship him.

We rightly, if we don't know him, And knowing that God has

saved you on his own by his own actions is a beautiful truth

that does not deny your human response, it demands your human

response. Amen.

And so it's the foundation of response.

It's the fuel of response. I love to that, God has not

Required something of us that he is not also giving us the stuff

to accomplish by his spirit. It doesn't require faithful

followship and then tell you go figure it out.

He's with you through and through.

Amen. So I think if we're to recover,

the beauty of the doctrine of the Trinity, then we must start

by becoming men and women who strive to understand our Triune

God and to worship Him rightly. There's a Creed written.

I got name athanasius. And this was at the height of

another controversy early in church history debates on the

Triune God. His substance is makeup.

How do we Define them in the statement?

Just starts with this wonderful sense.

We actually looked at it in Sunday school, several weeks

ago, but the whole statement, it's really quite lengthy.

But it's amazing. It's the best, I think.

Creed. We have summation of the

doctrine of the Trinity is called the athanasian Creed.

And this is how he starts in. At the end of like paragraph 1.

He says we worship one, God and Trinity, and The Trinity and

unity either confusing, the person's, and we're dividing the

Divine being You think, you know?

So one it's a it's a great statement because it's a

statement about the Trinity one being three persons But what I

love about it. Is the way it starts we worship.

Amen. That the point of understanding

the Trinity was not so that athanasius or anyone else could

walk around with a head this large Full of knowledge.

The point for athanasius and his cohorts was, we worship one God.

We worship. And so we must know who it is

that we worship. And when we recover, the

doctrine of the Trinity, we find, right, worship.

We find daily communion with God.

Can soar to new heights, And so the Trinity is necessary for

knowing god, it's necessary for communion with God daily.

How next week you're going to discover more about where those

streams of Grace lie. You're going to discover how it

is that you experienced unbroken fellowship with God.

Daily, But I think our takeaway for today is this.

That Grace founds and fuels our fellowship with God.

Grace founds and fuels our relationship with God, our

fellowship with God and so your fellowship with God is secure in

Christ Jesus, by the power of the Spirit Alive in you, and you

cannot undo. What God has done?

I think I first heard John MacArthur say it, but I'm not

sure he was the originator, but the statement goes like this.

If you could, if you could lose your salvation, you would and

then, And so what we're not advocating for is the kind of

faux salvation where somebody says I am in Christ, I believe

in Jesus I'm a Christian. Most people who say that won't

say they're in Christ will just say I'm a Christian And then

they live, like all hell. The rest of their life.

There's no fruitfulness right where the spirit of the Lord is

there is freedom of spirit of the Lord is there's new desires.

The spirit of the Lord is There's fruit.

Amen. And so, we're to be fruit

inspectors. Not first of others.

But first of our own hearts and minds and so I ask you what are

your desires? Look like, daily.

What is it that you're after? What is it?

What is it that fuels you from day to day?

Is it to glorify God and enjoy him forever?

Are you finding someone else to glorify something else to enjoy?

Did you stand to your feet? This morning?

We pray for you as we respond today.

The worship team is going to lead us in a song called abide.

Is that right? It's still correct.

Okay, abide is a wonderful little Anthem that goes

hand-in-hand with what we're talking about right now.

And so, as you sing this, sing it as a prayer.

Sing it as a prayer. I depend on you.

Let me pray for you. Father, we love you.

We thank you. Lord, for your word.

I thank you for these men and women, these boys, and girls.

God would you help us to be men and women boys and girls who

love the Lord Jesus Above All Else.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love which has been

poured out in Christ that in him we have received as John says

Grace upon Grace. That is Believers.

We have fellowship with you by the spirit, which is alive and

us. Help us to know this.

God, I can remember the moment that my life forever changed

when I came to understand that salvation comes from you, And

praise God. I thank you that you are not.

You are not dependent upon my right or wrong Fellowship, but

that you love me in Christ. No matter how many good things I

do and no matter how many bad things I do, your love is

perfect and your love. For me is I'm broken because

your love for your son is unbroken and I'm United to him.

But father would you help me? Would you help these men and

women? These boys and girls?

Would you help us walk Faithfully with you?

Where we have desires that go against your word?

Would you reveal them to us? Father, that we might confess

them and repentance? Help us to be good.

Quick repenters, truly putting to death, the Deeds of the flesh

that we might walk by the spirit of God.

Or does we sing this song? Now?

Would you be near to our hearts and Minds help us to be

children. Dependent upon their heavenly

father in Christ Jesus name. I pray.

Amen.