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: but,
again, it is positive. 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, the fellowship of the
people of God. Unceasingly, by
any and every means, those evil
powers will seek to destroy that
fellowship, because that fellowship
spells their final undoing.
Therefore fellowship can never be a
neutral, passive kind of thing.
You have got to fight for it, you have
got to stand for it, you have
got to be positive about this. Let some
rift go on, and just see the
havoc that delay over putting that right
will work! If you have the
Spirit - and of course I am addressing
those who are supposed to have
the Spirit - you should know that, if
you are out of joint with
another member of the Body of Christ
to which you belong, it is, as it
is with a dislocation in the natural
physical body: there is an ache,
a perpetual ache....
By that inflammation and ache the
Holy Spirit is giving a positive
witness against this thing. But 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 in Jesus name.