The Blessing of Fellowship
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Intro:
Intro:
Good morning.
This morning I want to talk about one of the greatest blessings there is — The blessing of fellowship.
We’re going to look at this from two main perspectives:
Fellowship with God,
And fellowship with fellow Christians.
And then we also need to cover what happens when fellowship with both God and fellow Christians is severed.
Fellowship with God:
Fellowship with God:
This is a matter of utmost importance, because if we don’t have fellowship with God (we might phrase that “a relationship” with God), then we are lost — not saved.
That’s been the case with ALL of us at some point in our lives — for some, it might STILL be the case if we haven’t obeyed the Gospel, or if we are no longer walking in the light.
But for those who are saved, we are in complete fellowship with God, and that is the most comforting thought there is!
Turn with me and read from Ephesians: (Let’s survey through some of the highlights of this book — We won’t have time to cover everything I wish we could).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
Let’s skip ahead now to:
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
There are some other extremely important verses here, including “by grace you have been saved through faith” (v. 8), but I want to move on for sake of time to verse 12, which is what we want to highlight regarding the topic of fellowship.
that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
What does that mean?
That means we had NO FELLOWSHIP with God!
But look at verse 13!
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
That’s a blessing!
It’s the blessing of all blessings, and that leads us into our next point …
Fellowship with One Another:
Fellowship with One Another:
I’m incredibly thankful for the concept of the fellowship we have with the saints.
Can you imagine a world in which there wasn’t a concept of the church? Of accountability with each other? Of mutual encouragement? And of worship alongside each other?
God is God, right, so could God not have said:
“Okay, I want my people to worship me, and the way that’s going to work is every person is going to get an allotted time and place that he is going to come and worship me — This date and time — Be there or you miss your opportunity, and come alone!”
Could God have done it that way if He wanted?
Well, I suppose He could have … But He didn’t do it that way!
He chose in His infinite wisdom to add saved people to the glorious institution known as His church, and there TOGETHER they would worship Him!
I’m THANKFUL for that!
Aren’t you?!
I’m glad that when in John 4:21 Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well: “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father” — In Verse 23 - “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” — When Jesus said that, I’m GLAD that that includes the concept of fellowship with one another!
Incidentally, you do a study of the “one another” passages and the “together” passages sometime and I guarantee you will come away with a renewed appreciation of your brethren!
And one of those passages you’re going to come across is:
Acts 2:44–47 - “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity (or singularity) of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
That’s UNITY, and that’s FELLOWSHIP!
But what happens with the …
Severing of Fellowship?
Severing of Fellowship?
Because that’s the unfortunately reality that sometimes Christians’ relationship/fellowship with God is severed, which automatically means that Christians’ relationship with that person is severed as well!
Look with me at 1 John 1:5-10:
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
What’s that teaching?
It’s teaching that if we don’t keep walking in the light, then the relationship between us and God is severed because we walk in darkness.
God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all!
That’s why we read in Eph. 5:8ff says:
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
What does “sleep” mean in the context?
You’re dead! You’re DEAD!
You who once were alive are DEAD again because of your walking in darkness!
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
What’s the general principle taught in that verse?
Strength in numbers - God knew that, and I believe that’s why He gave us the church (in part)!
A 3-fold cord is not quickly broken, not easily broken — But CAN it be broken?!
Yes.
And brethren, sometimes FELLOWSHIP is broken!
Why?
Because of that all-important 3-letter word — SIN!
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
So what are we to do then, when a brother walks in darkness?
(We’re not talking about someone who occasionally stumbles — We all do that — We’re talking about an unrepentant brother or sister who WALKS in darkness.)
We’ve already seen it - “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Eph. 5:11)
Brethren, we CANNOT coddle, we CANNOT aid and abet, we CANNOT put up with, we CANNOT sweep under the rug, and we CANNOT even GREET one in his unrepentant sin! (2 John 1:9-11)
Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
What’s that depicting?
Fellowship!
Well, finally then this morning, what about …
Withdrawal of Fellowship:
Withdrawal of Fellowship:
This is one of the most heartbreaking subjects there is — It’s HARD!
I’ve only seen it happen 2 or 3 times that I can remember - Probably should see it happen a whole lot more, to be honest — I’ve got a book in my office called The Forgotten Commandment that deals with that very subject.
Tell me, is it the FORGOTTEN commandment?
Or is it just the commandment we don’t want to do because it’s too hard?
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
1 Corinthians chapter 5 — (Follow along with me in your Bible for this one please since this is a long passage).
One more passage - This one is a little long, too so turn with me in your Bible — 2 Thes. 3:6-7, 11-15.
How often does that occur?
Rarely!
How often should it be occuring? (I don’t know, but probably more often than it does. Of that, I’m fairly confident!)
Conclusion:
What have we talked about today?
Fellowship! It’s a WONDERFUL blessing!
What if that blessing is taken away?
The question is Why? And the only answer is — Sin!
Do you have fellowship with God this morning?
And do you have fellowship with His saints?
