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You don't have to try to whip up bravery to face whatever the future holds. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you, the love of God is with you, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with you.
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God is with his people, and what a tremendous blessing that is. Thank you for joining us for this Friday edition of Renewing youg Mind. And we are concluding our time in HB Charles jr. S series, Blessing and Praise, and today he considers one of the most famous benedictions in scripture. Here's Dr. Charles, now the pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida.
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We are considering selected passages of the Bible where there are recorded doxologies, declarations of praise or benedictions, statements of blessing One of the most famous benedictions is recorded in Second Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 14. It is called the Grace and it is arguably the most well known of all of the benedictions around the world. This passage is commonly used by pastors to announce God's blessings on his people as they scatter from the place of worship. This benediction is beautifully stated, theologically rich and spiritually comprehensive. Even though it is very brief, it is an ocean of truth in just a teaspoon of words. Often called the grace, this benediction is the only benediction that directly mentions all three persons of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each are mentioned in this benediction. But even though we have a picture of God in all of his fullness, this is not about the Trinity. It is about the saints. And it is about how Father, Son and Holy Spirit are at work together to give assurance to those who are in Christ Jesus. It is about the blessings the saints receive from the Godhead, specifically grace, love and fellowship. Second Corinthians is Paul's sequel to First Corinthians. Would be leaders have risen up in that church to undermine Paul's influence to overthrow Paul's leadership. Paul wrote First Corinthians to address the problem and it only exacerbated the problem. It seems as if 1 Corinthians gave them ammunition to keep waging war against Paul. So 2 Corinthians is the most personal and biographical letter of Paul in the New Testament is as a shepherd here he's just opening his heart to the flock, pleading with them. But in this personal letter we see all of the troubles that plagued the church at Corinth. This verse, the Grace, is his final statement to this troubled church. And in his final statement, this most personal letter has nothing to do with Paul. He points them godward and says the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. You all. Warren Worsbee said it well that the church is a miracle and it can only be sustained by the miraculous ministry of God Himself. No amount of human skill or talent or programs can make the church what it ought to be. Only God can do that. He's right. Only God can do it. But here we see that God is willing to do it. The Godhead is at work to make the church what it ought to be, providing grace and love and fellowship. In fact, this benediction says that we can face the future with confidence that the abundant blessings of God are with his people. This Trinitarian benediction gives us a triple assurance. God is with us. First, it says that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you. Paul wrote definitely 13 letters in the New Testament, and his letters regularly appeal to grace. He is known for the doctrine of justification by faith alone. But truly, grace is more Paul's watchword than faith. We are saved by faith alone because it is by grace alone. And here Paul points us to grace. What. What is grace? It is God's unmerited favor. It is his undeserved kindness. It is the goodness of a superior showing favor to a inferior who is unworthy. I heard one old preacher simply say that grace means it could have been another way. In fact, it should have been another way. We give God every right and reason to condemn us, to judge us, and yet because of Jesus Christ, he shows us favor. The grace of God is ultimately seen in his saving work in Christ. Salvation is the purest expression of his grace. Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 says, by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God so that no one may boast. Herein we find the way of salvation. We are saved by grace. God has chosen us in Christ. By his grace he has called us to Himself. By his grace he has justified us through faith in Christ. By his grace he is sanctifying us. By his grace he will glorify us. By his grace. We are saved by the finished work of Christ, which is God's gracious gift to us. But in a real sense, there is this ongoing work of grace. If I may say so, it is Christ Himself that dwells within the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is Christ Himself dwelling within. In Second Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 9, Paul says, For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for our sake became poor so that we, through his poverty might become rich. He became poor for us. It's a picture of his humiliation in the Incarnation and His crucifixion. And that gracious Savior is with us. He dwells within us. We live and face the future with the assurance that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with us. It is the ongoing blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ on our lives. R. Kent Hughes comments here that the picture of his grace remains tilted over the saints waiting to pour out fresh expressions of his love. We are beneficiaries of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. John Calvin called this the whole blessing of redemption. The blessings of our salvation indeed can be stated no better than this, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1:3 we are told that we should bless God because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Christ Jesus. These blessings can be succinctly stated in one word, grace. This grace is sufficient because of its source. It is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Note the full title. It is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus, referring to his humanity, Lord his sovereignty Christ His Deity. We are beneficiaries. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul affirms this earlier in this letter. He had a thorn in the flesh, and he prayed three times that God would remove it. The Lord refused and said, my grace is sufficient for you. And so as he ends this letter, he says, face the future with confidence, because you're not traveling by yourself. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you. Friends, that's enough. But it's not all. He secondly says, the love of God is with you. The love of God is with you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Again, all three persons of the Godhead are mentioned in this benediction, but it's somewhat out of order. We typically refer to the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but this is no academic theological statement of the Trinity. This is a declaration of praise that presents the Godhead experientially. In a real sense, you cannot know the love of God until you experience the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says, not only the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the love of God be with you. God is a God of love. Verse 11 he begins these final greetings by saying, 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. God is the God of love. In fact, First John 4:8 says, God is love. God personifies love. It is essential to who God is. Mercy is his restraining love. Grace is his forgiving love. Providence. This is overseeing love. His wisdom is his guiding love. Calvary is his proven love. Heaven is his eternal love. If it has to do with God, it has to do with love. He is the God of love, and his love is with us. Oh, friends, this does not discount the fact that he is the God of law. He's a holy and just and righteous God. But in Christ, he has poured out his love to unworthy rebels like you and me. First John 4:8 says, God is love. How do we know that God is love? Because he woke us up this morning and started us on our way. Well, there are people that don't believe God exists, but he woke them up this morning, started them on their way. We know God is love. First John 4:8. Because 1 John 4:9 says, in this was the love of God manifested, that God sent His only Son into the world that we may live through Him. The love of God is with us, and it is perfect love from a perfect God. God does not love us because we are lovable. We are lovable because God loves us. His love is perfect and his love is permanent. Human love fails because human love changes. A person who loves you dearly today can change their mind tomorrow. Sometimes we may give them reason. Sometimes they don't need a reason. But this is not our God. Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 22 and 23, says, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His compassions never come to an end. They are new every morning, and great is your faithfulness. Consider these two statements, friends. God could never love you less than he loves you right now. God could never love you more than he loves you right now. He loves us perfectly. He loves us permanently. You know what this means? It means you don't have to be haunted by your past mistakes. You don't have to be overwhelmed by your present circumstances. You don't have to be worried about future uncertainties. The end of Romans chapter 8 declares that nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The Prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, was walking down a country lane with a friend. They passed by a barn, and on top of the barn was a weather vane. And on the weather vane was the words God is love. Spurgeon complained, that is the wrong sign for that weather vane. The weather vane moves with the blowing of the wind, but God's love is constant. His friend corrected him and said, charles, I think you misunderstand the sign. The sign is meant to indicate whatever way the wind blows, God is still love. Isn't that good news? Whatever way the wind blows, whatever the storms may be raging in our lives, God loves us and his love is with us. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with us, and the love of God is with us. That's enough. But it's not all. 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. This is one of the great explicit statements in which the Holy Spirit is placed alongside equally with the Father and the Son. That doesn't happen too often in the Scriptures, not because the Holy Spirit is not God, but the Holy Spirit is the shy member of the Trinity. If I May John 15, verse 28 Jesus says, When the Holy Spirit comes, he will bear witness about me. And in John 16, verse 14, Jesus says, When the Holy Spirit comes, he will glorify me. The Holy Spirit is the shy member of the Trinity. Whenever he shows up, he's always saying, look at Jesus. But here the Holy Spirit in all of his fullness is presented alongside God the Father and God the Son. And all three persons are involved in caring for the church and sustaining the church, building up the church and the saints who live therein. What is this fellowship of the Holy Spirit? Well, first it is direct fellowship. We have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. This statement is a blessing to the saints, but it teaches us something important about not just the Trinity, but the personality of the Holy Spirit himself. Who is the Holy Spirit? Two essential answers to that question. Holy Spirit, first of all, is a person is not an it or a force or a power. Scriptures show us how the Holy Spirit thinks and chooses and wills. The Holy Spirit is a person, and more than that, the Holy Spirit is God. God next five Peter confronts Ananias and Sapphira and warns them that they have lied to God. And in the same setting he says, you've lied to the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is God. And the proof of both the personhood and the deity of the Holy Spirit is affirmed here. In this benediction, you and I can fellowship with the Holy Spirit and so benefit from his ministry to us just as much as we do the love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. We have direct fellowship with the Holy Spirit. My father passed away when I was 16 years old. And the month later, the God that took away my father gave me a passage to comfort me in my grief. And I've lived with this all of my adult life. It is Romans 5, verses 3 through 5, where Paul says, but not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And I love that fifth verse of Romans 5. That hope never disappoints us. You will never be disappointed when you hope in God. Because the love of God, Romans 5, verse 5 says, is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that He has given to us. This is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit he lives within to give us constant assurance of God's love for us in Christ. So we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Think about that. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit means that the believers answer to the question, where is God? Is that he is within? By the indwelling presence of the life giver King, God lives within. And we are beneficiaries of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. But not only do we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we have fellowship through the Holy Spirit. I don't think we can dismiss the fact that Paul gives this benediction to this troubled church that is divided. There was trouble and division and sin in this church and in this final statement to this troubled church that is so divided, he commends them to the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit binds us to God, but it also binds us to one another. It binds us to God. Notice how he uses the conjunction and here the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit binds us to God, but it also fellowship binds us to one another. Even though Paul spends this letter defending himself, listen to his closing word. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Not just those who I like, not just those who are on my side, not just those who don't get on my nerves, but the Holy Spirit be with you all. It is a reminder that there is no place for divisions and cliques in the Church of Jesus Christ. Anyone who is trying to build or nurture an us versus them mentality in the church is not of God. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you all. The love of God is with you all. And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with you all. Father and daughter would take afternoon walks. One day they walked further than typical. The houses were bigger. The streets were longer, the faces were unfamiliar, and dad was concerned that his baby was overwhelmed by the new experience. He leaned over and said to her, dear, do you know where you are? Smiling, she said, no, Daddy. Do you know how to get home from here? No, Daddy. Are you afraid? Still smiling, she confidently said, no, Daddy. He said, well, baby, you are a brave little girl not to know where you are and not to know your way home and not to be afraid. With an even bigger smile, she says, daddy, I don't have to be brave. I'm with you. You don't have to try to whip up bravery to face whatever the future holds. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is with you, the love of God is with you, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with you. Amen.
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Amen. Daddy, I don't have to be brave. I'm with you. What a beautiful picture of the Gospel and the presence of God in the life of a believer. You're listening to Renewing youg Mind, the daily discipleship podcast of Ligonier Ministries. I trust you've been encouraged these past few days as we have spent time in the series blessing and Praise our teacher Dr. HB Charles, Jr. And if you'd like all eight messages in this series, we will be glad to send it to you on DBD to thank you for your donation in support of Renewing youg mind@renewingyourmind.org or when you call us at 800-435-4343. In addition to the DVD, we'll unlock the messages and the study guide in the free Ligonier app so you can take these messages with you on the go. Simply respond before midnight tonight by calling us at 800-435-4343 or by using the link in the podcast. Show notes and in advance. Let me thank you for your generous donation. Next week you'll hear messages from RC Sproul on persecution and the assurance of faith. I know you'll be encouraged all week when you join us beginning Monday here on Renewing youg Mind.
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Sam.