SPEAKER A00:00:01 - 00:00:56
Hello, I'm Kaysie Vokurka. Welcome to Let God Speak. Today we explore one of the most beautiful blessings in all of scripture, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Stay with us on our Sabbath School lesson discussion as we close out our study of Corinthians, discussing these 3 gifts that reveal the heart of God and his plan for our salvation. On our panel today, we have Corinne Knopper and Alan Fisher. Welcome to the program.
SPEAKER B00:00:56 - 00:00:57
Hello.
SPEAKER A00:00:57 - 00:01:28
Let's have a word of prayer before we open God's Word. Dear Heavenly Father, we just come to you now and we want to invite your Holy Spirit to be our teacher. We are thankful for the opportunity to study this topic from Corinthians and to learn about these key attributes which you want to give each of us in our Christian experience. And we just pray that you would shut us in with your presence and guide us now through your word. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER B00:01:28 - 00:01:29
Amen.
SPEAKER A00:01:30 - 00:02:31
Paul closes his second letter to the Corinthians with words that summarize the Christian experience. He speaks of grace, love, and fellowship— gifts that flow from our triune God. These gifts bring joy, restoration, unity, and peace into the church. We discover how grace changes lives, how God's love sustains us, and how the Holy Spirit creates true Christian fellowship. As we begin, let's see what God's Word teaches us about these precious blessings. So first of all, we're going to have a look at 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9. We can read that together, and it says, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. Corinne, what does this verse teach us about the grace of Jesus?
SPEAKER B00:02:31 - 00:02:57
The grace of Jesus is seen because He was so willing to go and leave heaven to come and save humanity, you and for me. And He sacrificed everything so that we could have that beautiful, precious, eternal life that is promised to And the grace is undeserved for each of us because it's a gift that's come from God so generously.
SPEAKER A00:02:57 - 00:03:43
Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? That picture of what He did for us in leaving heaven to, to, yeah, to save us. Being willing to descend to poverty for our, on our behalf. Yeah, amazing. Alright, let's have a look now. We're going to jump across to Romans. And we're going to look at chapter 16, Romans 16 and verse 20. And in this verse it says, it says here, and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. And of course we're focusing on the grace here in this verse. Alan, why did Paul constantly emphasize grace? We see it many times in his letters.
SPEAKER C00:03:43 - 00:04:08
Well, Paul knew that our salvation is entirely dependent on God's grace, that we can't earn God's favor through our own efforts. Like he writes here in Ephesians 2:8, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And so, yeah, grace sustains us from beginning to end. Mm.
SPEAKER A00:04:09 - 00:04:19
Yeah, it's like that foundational thing of what we experience, isn't it, when we encounter God? So Corinne, tell us more about what makes the grace of Jesus truly amazing.
SPEAKER B00:04:19 - 00:05:09
To me, it means that grace gives us what we do not deserve, and it takes away, it holds away that condemnation that we all deserve as human beings, sadly. And then Positively, it offers us forgiveness, reconciliation, and hope. And that's written for us in the Bible. And I'm going to read from Romans chapter 5 and verse 8, and it'll tell us more here. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So that was just something where God's grace is just reaching out to each of us when we're at our worst moments.
SPEAKER A00:05:09 - 00:05:22
Yes, it's amazing, isn't it, when you think about how, yeah, that verse, when we were, while we're still sinners, you know, we're in the midst of it, we don't have anything to recommend us to God. And in that moment, God takes the first step.
SPEAKER B00:05:23 - 00:05:23
Beautiful.
SPEAKER A00:05:23 - 00:05:31
And comes out to us and offers us the salvation that He Did, you know, He sacrificed so much to give to us, didn't He?
SPEAKER B00:05:31 - 00:05:34
He absolutely did. Yes, beautiful.
SPEAKER A00:05:34 - 00:05:51
Incredible picture. So all of this naturally would mean that, you know, if we have an appreciation for it, it would mean that there's some sort of response that we should have. And can you tell us about that, Alan? What kind of response should we have for God's grace in our lives?
SPEAKER C00:05:51 - 00:05:58
Yeah, well, grace isn't just something that we receive, it's something that we need to respond to, as you say.
SPEAKER A00:05:58 - 00:05:58
Mm.
SPEAKER C00:05:58 - 00:06:38
And we should respond with gratitude and obedience and devotion to Christ. We read here in Titus where Paul says, Titus 2:11-12, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. And so, yeah, grace trains us, as it says, to live godly lives. That should be our response of gratitude for the grace that God gives us.
SPEAKER A00:06:38 - 00:07:13
And there was quite a lot of points in that verse about transformation, wasn't there? You know, it's, it's going to have quite a pervasive influence in our life. if we really accept that grace, which is an amazing thing, especially when you see it in action. So let's just remember in 1 John 4:8 it says— and this is just to summarize it— it says that God is love, which is one of the most succinct verses in the Scripture describing God's character. What does that tell us, Corinne, about God's character?
SPEAKER B00:07:13 - 00:07:24
Well, in verse 8, it says, he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And that love is not merely something that God just does.
SPEAKER A00:07:24 - 00:07:24
Hmm.
SPEAKER B00:07:24 - 00:08:00
It's actually who He is. And that shows through from Him. And every act of that salvation then flows from His loving nature. And God's love then initiated our redemption, because when you go A few verses down, 1 John 4:10, it says, in this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. How beautiful was God for that.
SPEAKER A00:08:00 - 00:08:01
Yeah.
SPEAKER B00:08:01 - 00:08:02
Saving grace.
SPEAKER A00:08:02 - 00:08:37
It is amazing. I really love to read 1 John because of how eloquently John writes about the love of God. It's just so precious and rich when we look in this passage, you know, let us love one another, love is of God, everyone who loves is born of God, etc., etc. It's just beautiful. And so it's amazing to let our minds sink into those— that thought of God's character. So, Alan, tell us, how is God's love demonstrated most clearly to us?
SPEAKER C00:08:37 - 00:09:01
Well, it's most clearly demonstrated by what Jesus did on the cross. We all know John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life. And so, yeah, Calvary is the ultimate proof, the ultimate demonstration of God's love.
SPEAKER B00:09:01 - 00:09:02
Yeah.
SPEAKER A00:09:03 - 00:09:18
Yeah, and that is a— it's a love that's unfathomable, isn't it? To be willing to go to that length for someone else. Like, it takes a lot just to let that sink into our minds, doesn't it?
SPEAKER B00:09:18 - 00:09:23
Even if it was just for one, just for me or you.
SPEAKER A00:09:23 - 00:09:41
Yeah, absolutely incredible. Yeah, good to be reminded of these things. So thinking about our church environment and the different elements that God wants us to experience, why is love essential in the church, Corinne?
SPEAKER B00:09:41 - 00:10:00
Why is it? Without love, all our spiritual gifts and the activities that we've been gifted, there'd be no, no value whatsoever. We couldn't use them because love binds all the believers together. And it reflects God's character.
SPEAKER C00:10:00 - 00:10:01
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER B00:10:01 - 00:10:41
What and who He wants us to be as well. And 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 and verse 2 will give us a little bit more insight. And it says, and though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, But I have not love, I am nothing. And that means without that love, I really am nothing, because love is that beautiful foundation of Christian unity for us all.
SPEAKER A00:10:41 - 00:11:04
Yeah, that's a powerful picture, isn't it, to keep in mind? Because often when we look at church life, we think of like, we see you know, prophecy or preaching. And in this passage, it talked about speaking in tongues as well, faith, knowledge. You know, sometimes we look up to those things as being almost the essence of Christian experience because that's what we see—
SPEAKER C00:11:04 - 00:11:05
Yes.
SPEAKER A00:11:05 - 00:12:08
At face value in church all the time. But really, yeah, it goes so much deeper to character, doesn't it? To our own character. Do we have the likeness of God and His love? Coming through in our own life, that is something that's really vital for us to keep in mind. So let's go back to second Corinthians, and this time we're going to look at chapter thirteen, and we are looking at verse eleven. And this has a particular phrase which we want to focus on. So verse eleven, second Corinthians thirteen says. Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. And so this is— we're focusing here, this is saying the God of love and peace. Alan, what hope does that give to us as believers to know that God is a God of love and peace?
SPEAKER C00:12:08 - 00:12:26
Well, it reminds us that God is both the source of love and peace and the embodiment of love and peace. And he can bring love and peace to our troubled hearts and churches. We can trust him to do that for us.
SPEAKER A00:12:26 - 00:12:49
Yeah, that's amazing, isn't it? It's something that certainly we don't find without God. People in the world struggle without God to find this love and peace that we naturally crave as humans, but we don't have it without God. So that's very interesting. So how can Christians experience God's peace, Corinne?
SPEAKER B00:12:49 - 00:13:16
I believe for me it is in trusting God and surrendering all of my worries to Him. That's a starter, and it's a gift to have His presence with me to be able to do that. God's peace then protects us amidst all of our life's challenges. And I believe that was written quite helpfully for us in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 7.
SPEAKER C00:13:16 - 00:13:16
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER B00:13:16 - 00:13:30
Because it does say here, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER A00:13:30 - 00:14:02
Yeah, interesting. And you mentioned about life's challenges, and the context of that verse talks about not being anxious about anything, which usually we struggle with that when we face challenges. And so this is saying, you know, give it to God in prayer and He's going to give you peace, which the world can't give us. So that's an amazing reminder of how God can give us peace in this life. Which is really precious. So speaking about God's love again, Alan, how does God love— God's love actually help us with loving others?
SPEAKER C00:14:02 - 00:14:32
Well, 1 John 4:11 tells us the answer to that. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. And so, yeah, when we understand God's love for us, it makes us willing to love others. To live at peace with them. And yeah, God's love becomes our model, you know, 2 Corinthians 3:18, the principle, by beholding we become changed.
SPEAKER A00:14:32 - 00:15:24
Yes, yes, yeah, absolutely. It's— we all need role models, don't we? Even we learn that from childhood about the need for, you know, having good role models. And to have Christ and God show us How to love is is really precious. Okay, let's have a look again at Philippians. We're going to look at chapter two and verses one and two, and see what we can see in here. It says Philippians two one and two. Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy. Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, and being of one accord, of one mind. There's a lot in that.
SPEAKER C00:15:24 - 00:15:25
There is.
SPEAKER A00:15:25 - 00:15:40
A lot of good things in that, and some of this we're going to continue to talk about. But Corinne, in particular, it says that believers are to be of one accord, right? How does the Holy Spirit help accomplish this in us?
SPEAKER B00:15:42 - 00:15:59
The Holy Spirit is the one that can change our hearts and help us as believers to focus on Christ rather than on myself. That is the best way I can explain that little bit there. And that's only just the tip of it.
SPEAKER A00:15:59 - 00:15:59
Yes.
SPEAKER B00:15:59 - 00:16:42
He produces humility and love in us. And then the Holy Spirit brings that unity and works within all of us. And Ephesians chapter 4 and verses 1 to 3 gives us a little bit more insight there, saying in chapter 4, verses 1 to 3, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, Bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
SPEAKER A00:16:42 - 00:17:12
Amazing. That verse has a number of elements we've been talking about, doesn't it? It's got love there. It's got peace. And then we've been touching on unity, which comes through the Spirit and the humility. Did you mention that? that, the humility that we need in order to have that kind of attitude. Excellent. So Alan, tell us a bit more. What is meant by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER C00:17:12 - 00:17:25
Well, the Holy Spirit brings us into fellowship with God firstly and with one another, and so that's what produces unity within the church.
SPEAKER A00:17:26 - 00:17:26
Mmm.
SPEAKER C00:17:26 - 00:17:42
The opposite of this, I think, is like, you remember in 2 Chronicles 20 when Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel went out against the Moabites and the Ammonites and so on. And we read that they all started to fight one another.
SPEAKER A00:17:42 - 00:17:43
Yeah.
SPEAKER C00:17:43 - 00:17:51
And so they destroyed one another. So the Holy Spirit does the opposite of that. It brings us together rather than against one another.
SPEAKER A00:17:51 - 00:18:18
Yeah, yeah, that's an amazing thing, isn't it? Especially when there's people with different perspectives and personalities, as we often encounter in ordinary life and especially in church life. We need, we need some, you know, something to smooth it all out and bring us together. Excellent. Alright, so tell us again, we're talking about the Holy Spirit, a different aspect now, Corinne.
SPEAKER B00:18:18 - 00:18:18
Yes.
SPEAKER A00:18:19 - 00:18:22
The Holy Spirit's divinity, why is that important?
SPEAKER B00:18:22 - 00:19:07
I think because it tells us that only a divine person or part of that person of God can reveal fully and transform a human heart because they're part of the Godhead there. And in 1 Corinthians 2:10, it tells us But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. So, the Spirit is not merely just an influence. He possesses that divine knowledge and power to give to us, impart to us.
SPEAKER C00:19:07 - 00:19:08
Hmm.
SPEAKER A00:19:09 - 00:19:17
Yeah. Amazing. All the deep things of God, the things that seems like And we as humans wouldn't even have capacity to even delve into those things.
SPEAKER B00:19:17 - 00:19:18
No, we wouldn't think about it.
SPEAKER A00:19:18 - 00:19:33
But He knows that and He can, you know, the Holy Spirit can teach us those things, which is amazing. Okay, so Alan, tell us a bit more. What does, what work does the Holy Spirit perform in believers?
SPEAKER C00:19:33 - 00:20:06
Well, if we go over here to the book of John, John 14:26, It says, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said unto you. So the Holy Spirit teaches us, convicts us of truth, and empowers us to live the truth, sanctifies God's people. Mm. Spirit does all this for us.
SPEAKER A00:20:07 - 00:20:08
That's quite a lot, isn't it?
SPEAKER B00:20:08 - 00:20:09
Yes, it is.
SPEAKER A00:20:09 - 00:20:15
I love the fact there that it helps us with our memory. We appreciate that the older we get, don't we?
SPEAKER B00:20:15 - 00:20:16
Thank you.
SPEAKER A00:20:16 - 00:21:18
Bring to our memory the things that are important from his word at the time we need it. That's really, really valuable. So that's really excellent verse there to be reminded of. Okay, we're gonna— we're jumping around a bit. We are gonna go across to Galatians now. So Galatians chapter 4, and we're looking at verses 4 to 6. So it says here, Galatians 4:4-6, but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption As sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. So that is almost a snapshot of the story of salvation there. What does this teach us though, Corinne, about salvation?
SPEAKER B00:21:18 - 00:21:35
It is something that the full Godhead united together Does for us. The Father sent the Son. The Son then redeemed us. And then the Holy Spirit assures us that we do belong to God.
SPEAKER C00:21:35 - 00:21:35
Hmm.
SPEAKER B00:21:35 - 00:21:54
Because just like you said in verse 6, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts. And that Trinity works together for our salvation. Which is beautiful. Hallelujah, thank you, God.
SPEAKER A00:21:54 - 00:22:04
Yeah, yes, absolutely. All of those are involved in that, yes, in that passage and in other passages too. So why is understanding the Trinity important, Alan?
SPEAKER C00:22:04 - 00:22:40
Well, it helps us to understand the fullness of God's love and his involvement in our lives, that each, each member of the Godhead has a part to play in our salvation. Like we read in Matthew 28:19, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And so the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all working together. It helps us see the relational aspect of God's nature.
SPEAKER A00:22:40 - 00:23:17
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I guess when you think about how we're made in the image of God, the fact that, um, you know, God has— you know, we are relational beings, we, we understand that as part of our life. And to realize that God has that within himself as a part of himself is amazing. Um, yeah, and yeah, it just helps us appreciate him more. So that's very interesting. All right, so How should church fellowship reflect the relationship within the Godhead, Corinne, in, in the midst of a church situation?
SPEAKER B00:23:17 - 00:24:00
I think our Apostle John, one of those gentlemen living with Jesus and around his time, he can tell us fairly clearly in John chapter 17, verse 21, that they all may be one As You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And that means that for us as believers, we should reflect that unity, that love and harmony that exists there with the Trinity.
SPEAKER A00:24:00 - 00:24:01
Yeah.
SPEAKER B00:24:02 - 00:24:17
Jesus prayed for us for this unity. And He did that amongst the followers all that time ago when He was here on earth. Christian fellowship should then reveal God's wonderful character in us.
SPEAKER A00:24:17 - 00:24:35
Yes. Amen. Yeah, absolutely. It's amazing. And it's that, that passage. Yeah. John 17 is precious. And it goes on to say, you know, the glory that Was given to Christ, you know, He wants us all to have. We're talking about God's character and His attributes seen in our lives.
SPEAKER C00:24:35 - 00:24:36
Yes.
SPEAKER A00:24:36 - 00:24:37
This all comes together with this, doesn't it?
SPEAKER B00:24:37 - 00:24:38
Yes, it does.
SPEAKER A00:24:38 - 00:25:22
Okay, we are going back to 1st— 2 Corinthians, rather, 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 11. We saw this a little bit earlier, and we're going to look at a different aspect from this verse. So, just to remind us, 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, finally, brethren, farewell, or some translations say rejoice, become complete, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. And this time we're looking at being complete, which the word complete can mean mending or restoring. So, Corinne or Alan, what does restoration mean? What does restoration look like in practical terms?
SPEAKER C00:25:22 - 00:26:05
Well, restoration involves forgiveness and reconciliation and the healing of broken relationships, and, but it requires humility and Christlike love. Like we read over here in Colossians 3:13, or starting in verse 12 really, he's telling the people to Have tender mercy and kindness and humility and long-suffering. Verse 13, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so also you must do.
SPEAKER B00:26:05 - 00:26:24
Yes, and that encourages us, doesn't it, Alan? It really encourages us to remain faithful and hopeful and that we can be like a Christian. Every Christian should be, we should be Christlike. That's where the name Christian came from. Do you believe that too?
SPEAKER C00:26:24 - 00:26:32
Absolutely, yeah. Restoration strengthens the church, pulls it together, builds it up.
SPEAKER A00:26:32 - 00:26:43
Definitely, definitely. Yeah, restoration, encouragement altogether is there. A final message, Alan, for our viewers from today's study. Do you have something to share?
SPEAKER C00:26:43 - 00:26:58
Well, the text that we started off with, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. That's God's blessing for his people today.
SPEAKER A00:26:58 - 00:27:14
Absolutely, and it's such a beautiful endpoint, isn't it, for this passage? 2 Corinthians. We've been studying this quarter, 2 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and just to be reminded of the grace of the Lord, the love of God, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER C00:27:14 - 00:27:14
Yes.
SPEAKER A00:27:14 - 00:28:34
So precious. Thank you so much for sharing today. The Christian life rests upon the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. These divine gifts bring salvation, unity, peace, and hope. God desires every believer to Experience a deeper relationship with Him and stronger fellowship with one another. I invite you to accept His grace, rest in His love, and walk daily with His Spirit. Thank you for joining us on Let God Speak. All past programs plus teachers' notes are available on our website threeabnaustralia.org.au. Email us on
[email protected]. Tell your friends about the program, and until next time. Until next time, let God speak to your heart through His Word. God bless. You have been listening to Let God Speak, a production of 3ABN Australia Television. To catch up on past programs, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 555 555. 13 49 73 34 56, or email
[email protected]. We'd love to hear from you. Thank you.
