A "Living Epistle"

THE SPIRIT OF HIS FELLOWSHIP If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. (Philippians 2:1,2 NIV) The fellowship of the Spirit is___ the spirit of fellowship: Christ's Fellowship is not a passive thing: it never can be a passive thing, because all the hosts of hell are out against it. If there is one thing that hell is against, it is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and the fellowship of the people of God. Unceasingly, evil powers will seek to destroy that fellowship, because that fellowship spells their final undoing. Therefore the fellowship of Christ can never be a neutral, passive kind of thing. If we have the Spirit - and of course I am addressing those who are supposed to have the Spirit - we should know that, if some part of our fellowship is out of joint, in it's doctrine, it's focus on Christ or with another member of the Body of Christ to which we belong, it is, as it is with a dislocation in the natural physical body: there is an ache, a perpetual ache.... Something is wrong. That inflammation grieves the Holy Spirit and is giving a positive witness that there is something that needs attention. And if you go on long enough, the Holy Spirit will withdraw and leave you to it, just because He is positive. He will not brook persistent negatives on these things; He just will not have it. He is going on and saying: "All right, if you are determined to stay there, you can do so. I am going on." And there arises a very, very serious situation. That is, of course, grim and terrible. But it all gathers round this truth that the Holy Spirit is positive on the matter of fellowship.... We must challenge our hearts about this. The Holy Spirit, normally, is always positive - I could almost say aggressive. He is never negative, He is never neutral. If He has to pause, it means that He is waiting for something; for it is not His nature to do that - He would go on. May the Lord fill us with the mighty energy of His Spirit! Gleaned from ___ The Cup and The Fire - by T. Austin Sparks.