Our Perfect, Future Fellowship

If you have your Bible, we are going to be camping out in 2 spots this morning, 1 John 1 and Revelation 7. What I want to do this last morning is look at fellowship from two perspectives and that is really all we are going to look at this morning. Some of it we have sort of covered the last couple of days anyway. All weekend we have talked about fellowship and fellowship is such a key component of the Christian life so we are going to talk this morning about a perfect fellowship that we can have now and the perfect fellowship that is to come. When we talk about fellowship with other Christians, I think that many of us would think that describing it as perfect seems like a stretch. I’m sure that there are Christians that you know that if you were told that you have to spend a full 24 hours with that you might pull your hair out. Completely understandable thought process. In fact, C.S. Lewis back in the early 1940’s wrote a very popular book that is still read today called The Screwtape Letters. Any of you ever read it or heard about it? It’s by no means a perfect book but I love it and I see myself going back to it all the time. The plot of the book is that there is a demon named Wormwood that has been assigned to a particular gentleman and he keeps reporting back to his Uncle Screwtape what is happening and Screwtape will write him letters in response to what is happening. Basically Screwtape is trying to guide Wormwood to make the life of this man as miserable as possible, to keep him as far away from Christ as possible, but the man becomes a Christian. Wormwood asks Screwtape what he should do and this is how he responds: “I note with great displeasure that your patient has become a Christian. There is no need to despair. One of our great allies at present is the church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread but through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes I our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erect on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather in oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy which neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print. When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbours. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like “the body of Christ” and the actual faces in the next pew. It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy’s side. No matter. Your patient, thanks to Our Father below, is a fool. Provided that any of those neighbours sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous. At his present stage, you see, he has an idea of “Christians” in his mind which he supposes to be spiritual but which, in fact, is largely pictorial. His mind is full of togas and sandals and armour and bare legs and the mere fact that the other people in church wear modern clothes is a real — though of course an unconscious —difficulty to him. Never let it come to the surface; never let him ask what he expected them to look like.” What is it that Screwtape is really saying? He’s saying to Wormwood, “Look not all hope is lost because even though your patient has become a Christian, he still needs to meet other Christians and once that happens, we have room to come in and tempt.” There’s this idea in the mind of people as to what Christians should look like and when that isn’t met, there is this moment where the fellowship that should be there is broken or at least disfigured. What we need to understand is that true Christian fellowship does not start with us. We are certainly part of it but true Christian fellowship does not happen just because a bunch of people that have something in common come together. No, Christian fellowship in order for it to really be fellowship is when God the Father brings us into fellowship with God the Son so that we would all partake in eternal life. I want you to see this reality through what the Word of God says. I want you to see if you are a Christian where you are now and ultimately where you are going. Let’s pray and then we will look at 1 John 1:1-4

1 John 1:1–4 NASB95

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

Perfect Fellowship Now

A lot is happening in these verses and we don’t really have the time to walk through every element of these 4 verses but to sort of summarize the first 2 verses, the apostle John is reminding the believers that he is writing to that he is an eyewitness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. By this point in John’s life, the Gospel has come under attack by a number of different false teachers and doctrines and John’s entire purpose in writing this letter is so that people would know that what the apostles have taught for all these years can be trusted. The apostles did not create some elaborate story but saw firsthand, touched firsthand, things concerning Jesus Christ and the Gospel. John is saying, “Don’t mess with false gospels. It is possible to know the truth because that truth, that life, has been manifested, or clearly shown, to us.” John is saying, “the teachings of the apostles are not hiding anything from you that you truly need to know in order to be saved.” There’s no second level, there’s no greater knowledge that we need to get to in order to be saved. Quite frankly, you never graduate from the Gospel. I think it’s important to reiterate at this point that everything that you truly need to know in order to be saved, God has clearly put in His Word. If there was something else that we needed to know or to do in order to be saved, God would have put it in Scripture. Salvation has been and always will be by faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. There is nothing else and there is nothing more. That which God does He does perfectly and that includes our salvation. Salvation then really is a restored fellowship between guilty sinners and a perfect Savior. What Jesus Christ does is He restores the broken relationship between God and man. That which we were powerless to do on our own He does. This is why in verse 3 John says that our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. That fellowship, that perfect restored fellowship with God, is that just for the apostles or is it for everyone? In verse 3 John says, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also.” Why? “So that you too may have fellowship with us.” Fellowship is really a key component of the Gospel. John Stott said, “The purpose of the proclamation of the Gospel is not salvation but fellowship. Yet, properly understood, this is the meaning of salvation in its widest embrace, including reconciliation to God in Christ, holiness of life, and incorporation in the Church. Fellowship is a specifically Christian word and denotes that common participation in the grace of God, the salvation of Christ and the indwelling Spirit which is the spiritual birthright of all Christian believers. John could not have written that you also may have fellowship with us without adding and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, since our fellowship with each other arises from, and depends on, our fellowship with God.” So as we see in these verses and really from the entire Gospel. Fellowship starts with God and if there is no fellowship with God first, there cannot be fellowship with each other. That coming together through Christ is the common denominator of Christian fellowship. Without Christ there is no fellowship. There can’t be. Now understand that as a Christian, you have more in common with the middle eastern Christian than you have with the American unbeliever that looks exactly like you. How so? Because only Christians can say that they have been purchased by God for salvation and now have the Holy Spirit living inside of them. No one else can say that. Because of what Jesus has done, if you have come to faith in Him, you now have fellowship with God. You cannot become more saved or more justified than you already are at this very moment. As a Christian at this very moment you have fellowship with God and because of that there is now a fellowship that we have with each other. The way that you interact with each other should be centered upon the shared fellowship that you have with Christ. What this looks like then is that if you are struggling to love a fellow Christian stop and think of what it cost for Christ to fellowship with you. If anyone should ever had struggled to love me, it should have been Christ. If anyone was ever unworthy of love, it was me. And yet while I was still the enemy of God, Christ gave His life for mine. Romans 5:10 reminds us: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” That reconciliation, that fellowship with God is happening now. And if God is willing to fellowship with the very people that put His Son to death, surely we can fellowship with those that have been saved by the same Savior that gave His life for us. What’s important to remember is that the imperfect fellowship that exists between Christians right now won’t always be that way. The day is coming where those minor annoyances, those minor disagreements won’t exist anymore. Turn to Revelation 7:9-17 and look where all of this is heading.

Perfect Fellowship to Come

John writes:

Revelation 7:9–17 NASB95

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

In these verses, we see where all of this is heading. Our concern with this passage is not immediately what is meant by the great tribulation. No matter how one interprets the tribulation period, if it is 7 years or if it is the entire period between Christ’s resurrection and second coming, we see what the end result ultimately will be. John sees a great multitude which can’t be numbered and it is a diverse group. On that day, every nation, every tribe, every people group, every language will be represented before the throne of God. We will be diverse but we will have this in common: we will have all been made new by Christ and we will all worship Him. We will all stand victorious through what Jesus has done. No more sin, no more sorrow, no more hate, no more hurt, but we will stand before our victorious Savior and sing with a loud voice, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” So what will the fellowship look like? We won’t we be bored I know that much. We know from verses 15-17 that we will stand before the throne of God where we will worship Him, where we will feel the perfect embrace of His presence, where we will receive the full reward of our lives devoted to the Lord. Beyond that we will serve the Lord day and night but understand that service, work itself is not a burden or a chore in a perfect, sinless world. Adam worked in the garden before the world had fallen. Work is not a bad thing. To serve God in Heaven, who knows what that will entail but one thing is sure, it won’t feel like a pain, it won’t feel like a burden. There will be fulfillment, there will be purpose, and at the same time there will be a sense of perfect rest. At the end of verse 15 we read that He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over us. This is said to reinforce the perfect peace and presence of God that will be totally encompassing in Heaven. It will be like a great shelter that nothing can remove. We will be in a place where there is no hunger and no thirst where the heat of the sun will not beat us down any longer. Keep in mind that as John was writing this letter at the end of the 1st century, hunger, thirst, and heat was a common threat to those in the Middle East. There was always a concern as to whether there was enough food or water to sustain one’s self. In Heaven, that is never an issue. Robert Murray M’Cheynne said, “At present we are like a flock in the wilderness, our soul often hungry, and thirsty, and sorely tired. Often we feel as if we could go no farther, but must lie down and die. Often we feel temptations too much for us, or persecutions too strong for us to bear. When we are with Christ we shall hunger no more, all our pains shall be ended. Learn to glorify Him in the fires, to sing in the wilderness. This is the only world where you can give God that glory.” I love the end of that quote. It is only in this life where we can give God glory as we endure these things. There is no need for the sun because the glory of God itself will constantly be before us. Revelation 21:22-25 says,

Revelation 21:22–25 NASB95

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;

Constant access, constant beholding of God Himself. And then think of this great reassurance: God Himself will wipe every tear from our eyes. In Revelation 21:3-4 we read:

Revelation 21:3–4 NASB95

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

The beauty of this moment is that it isn’t just a moment, it isn’t just a day, it is the eternal state of believers forever. It is the state that not just one of us will be in but every single believer throughout all of history. Past, present, and future will all stand together in perfect fellowship with our perfect Savior forever. It will never end. Do you remember what John Newton says in his hymn, Amazing Grace? “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.” What brings all of this together is Jesus Christ. Without Christ, none of this happens. Thomas Schreiner said, “Praise God there will be a countless multitude in the new creation; salvation isn’t limited to a few but includes more than can be calculated, enjoying the lavish greatness of God’s grace. The key to history is the cross of Christ. Believers enter the new creation because the blood of the Lamb was shed for our sake. The stain of guilt is removed by His atoning sacrifice. Seeing the grace and beauty of this great salvation causes both saints and angels to swell with praise and joy. The sorrows and troubles of this present world won’t last forever. The day is coming when the entire universe will be God’s temple, and He will wipe away our tears. The Lamb will be our shepherd, satisfying every need and filling us with unspeakable joy.” Perfect fellowship is coming. Perfect fellowship with our Lord and perfect fellowship with each other. That day is coming. Are you ready for it? Well how do you prepare for that now in an imperfect world filled with imperfect people? I think patience and humility are key. Recognize that the fellowship you experience now will be perfected in eternity. It won’t be a gradual learning experience either. The moment that you enter Heaven, every complaint, every issue, every annoyance will be done away with. That Christian is your brother or sister in the faith right at this very moment and not only will he or she be perfected, you will need to be and will be perfected too. On that day the wolf will lie down with the lamb, the Calvinists will be at peace with the Arminians, those that baptized and don’t baptized babies will finally agree together, and the Baptists will still look down at the dancing of the Pentecostals but they will do it with more understanding than they once did. What can you do now to prepare for that day? One day you will be home and you will be surrounded by Christians from every tribe and nation and tongue and fellowship will finally be perfect. Let’s pray.