The Core of Christianity, Part 2

Welcome & Announcements: Daniel

Fellowship Sunday:

After service today, there will be a fellowship dinner in the basement.

Please come, even if you did not get a chance to RSVP.

Small Groups: 

This coming Thursday (January 20th @ 6:30 pm), we will be meeting at Daniel & Lynette's new house.

Content: We will be watching a series called, Gentle & Lowly. 

Sunday School: 

We will not be having Sunday school this week, but will continue next week.

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church - Chapter 1

What is a Healthy Church? - Chapter 5

There will be a brief volunteer training time before Sunday School this week.

John Hutcherson from Frontline Mission will be with us on February 13th.

Call to Worship in Song:

Across The Lands

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us

Scripture Reading: Someone Needed

Old Testament Text: Psalm 133 New Testament Text: Ephesians 2:11-22

Offering & Pastoral Prayer: Daniel

Since I mentioned last week about the ordinance in the state of Indiana, I will mention it again today. If enacted, it would criminalize faith-based counseling to minors on issues related to human sexuality with the threat of a fine from the police of $1000 per day. While we do not condone Conversion Therapy, 31-21’s definition of “Conversion Therapy” casts such a wide net that it knowingly or unknowingly undermines:

personal liberty (people should have the right to select the counselor of their choice),

parental rights (parents must be the ones who choose their child’s counselor),

religious liberty / the separation of church and state (faith-based counselors must have the freedom to counsel people based on their deeply held religious convictions without government harassment or discrimination).

The second reading of Ordinance is scheduled for Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m.

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication

1 John 1:1–4 ESV

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Prayer

Last week we discussed the significance of the historical reliability of the CORE of our faith.

We answered the question, where does a Christian’s authority reside?

We talked about the foundation of our faith being upon the shoulders of the apostles and prophets.

C. Crucified

O. Obedience

R. Resurrection

E. Eyewitnesses

Some implications of this being the boldness which we may possess as we discuss with non-believers.

We also talked about the objective nature which our faith rests upon.

Namely how we don’t debate with subjective experience, rather we stand upon objective reality.

What is the reason for the wars we see on the news?

The way you answer that question will reveal what you believe about humanity as a whole.

Is it a lack of compassion from mankind?

Is it a lack of the right laws and ordinances in the land?

Or let me ask this, what would fix all of these problems?

This week we turn our attention to ask the question....

What does this CORE produce in believers?

Another way to ask this would be, what is the experience of a Christian?

1 John 1:3 ESV

that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

The Apostolic band that we talked about last week is anxious to declare to these believers.

They’re not just sharing for any reasons.

It is a purposeful sharing.

A proclaiming with intentions for deeper fellowship.

They do not wish to keep this message to themselves.

They wish that YOU and I would actually join them in this experiencing of fellowship.

1 John 1:3 ESV

3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Again, John is in no way trying to be secretive or withhold information from these believers.

All that he has seen and heard and touched he has proclaimed to them.

Then he gives the purpose for this proclamation for this seeing and hearing and touching.

FELLOWSHIP

What is fellowship?

κοινωνία

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. κοινωνία

close association involving mutual interests and sharing, association, communion, fellowship, close relationship

The word is about a close relationship.

A sharing of our lives with another.

The word, “community” at its root level is actually based off of this word.

It is to share with one another at the deepest level.

It is the interaction with a group of people around mutual interests and sharing.

Now this isn’t fellowship around baseball or football…

It is a like mindedness around this message and person that John has already spoken of.

At a foundation level, it is likeness with one-another.

Sometimes it is helpful to see what a word means negatively to understand it fully.

Paul talks about this kind of fellowship in 2 Corinthians 6....

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

We always want to make that passage only about marriage but if you look closely it actually has more to do with false teaching.

Listen to the stark contrast that Paul uses, light and darkness.

He says that what fellowship could the light have with darkness?

What do the two have in common?

The answer is NOTHING!

They don’t have COMMONALITY any longer.

Paul is saying that to the heart that has been made alive to the things of God, he has no commonality with someone who is still dead in their sins.

For John, he is saying that all that he has seen and touched and heard, he is proclaiming that there may be a LIKENESS between them.

1 John 1:3 ESV

that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Communion about the CORE

Think about this, here is the old Apostle John.

Likely at this point the last surviving disciple.

And he says that all of this….

Persecution.

Rejection from the community.

Martyrdom

All that they have experienced....

He experienced so that these communities coming after them would have fellowship.

A likeness between them.

A likeness of mind.

A likeness of character.

A likeness of relationship.

There are only two axioms by which we can have fellowship.

Horizontal Communion

Who do we find fellowship with?

From this text, we see three layers of horizontal fellowship....

1 John 1:3 (ESV)

3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us;

The first layer is the....

Fellowship with the Apostles

1-3 John Chapter 1: Apostolic Fellowship (1 John 1:1–4)

Yet the message itself is plain enough: divine fellowship demands apostolic fellowship. Put metaphorically, if we want to hold the hand of God (stay in fellowship with him), we must hold the apostles’ hands (stay in fellowship with their God-appointed and God-approved testimony concerning Jesus Christ).

If we want to know that we have fellowship with God, we are demanded to have fellowship with the apostles.

That is to walk in step with and walk in accord with the apostles teaching.

Gospel Life Baptist Church

This is important because it begins to draw a clear fence around this community.

And that fence IS a good thing.

It is what happens every-time we bring someone into membership here.

Every time we baptize someone into this body of believers.

We are saying that they are standing in fellowship with US as we stand in FELLOWSHIP with the APOSTLES.

And vicariously, we are standing in FELLOWSHIP with GOD.

Hypothetical Question: If a church is claiming to gather and they have mutual interests with one another and close relationship with one another but the gospel of Jesus Christ is not at the center, is it a church?

Answer, NO.

It may get tax benefit’s, it may be a nonprofit…

but it is not a church in the apostolic sense.

We are not just another social club.

John is not advocating that we are just like any other social organization.

The second layer is the fellowship that we share with Christians throughout history....

1 John 1:3 (ESV)

that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us;

Christians throughout History

They were given a commission and the gospel to carry out this commission. They also passed on this same apostolic commission, and likewise the same apostolic gospel as the message of this call.

The potent message handed to us by the apostles is that which continues to animate us. We treasure it, we guard it, we pass it on the next generation and to the nations.

This is not a passive reception either: it involves, as we noted, guarding it. We must actively receive it, guard it, and pass it on to the next generation.

The Nicene Creed was written in the fourth century.

Faith of our Fathers: A Study of the Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed

We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

The word for catholic just simply means “universal”

Essentially this is saying that there is only ONE holy, UNIVERSAL body of believers, which stand on the foundation of the apostles.

For John, he is saying that all Christians in all ages have a common experience.

Now you may wonder, “Why is this important for us?”

It is very important when we are seeking to determine has someone actually had a run in with the real thing.

Because what will happen is someone will say, “Oh, I had this marvelous experience, but you shouldn’t question me on it.”

“I one time experienced ‘god’ in this most magnificent way, but don’t press me to consider the validity of this claim.”

“I will have my own ‘god experience’”

MLJ very helpfully made an observation for our experience.

It has often been said, and rightly so, that every true revival of religion is a return to the first–century religion; every re–awakening that takes place is just a return on the part of the Church to that which is described in the book of the Acts.. Revivals repeat one another;

He is essentially saying that all revivals are actually a going back to what was previous.

They aren’t creating something NEW.

They are actually experiencing the same OBJECTIVE truth in a new and FRESH way.

He goes on to say that people may enter those experiences differently, but it is truly the same experience!

To put it another way, the Christian experience is based upon the receiving of eternal life; God is the giver of eternal life in Christ — the same giver, the same gift and, therefore, the same experience.

He goes on to say that...

It is an experience that we can test, we can ask it questions, and that is the only way to safeguard ourselves against the false mysticisms and the false teaching which would masquerade as true Christian teaching, but in reality is nothing but something psychological or perhaps even psychic.

We need to be aware of this in the coming years because this will be the error of the next generation.

Not a generation of atheism but a generation of syncretism.

A generation which brings together an amalgamation of different religions and experiences.

But all experiences, we should be able to test against what historically has been true of Christian experience.

Non-Christian

Maybe you’re here today and you’re not a Christian.

I don’t want you to think, “Oh I can just pretend to have fellowship with these people.”

I would encourage you to consider looking at a Christian community.

Not just look at them with your eyes.

Step into one and see how they love one another.

What does an authentic experience of the Christian faith look like?

1 John 1:3 ESV

3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

The second kind of communion that we must share is VERTICAL communion.

Vertical Communion

Fellowship with God

Notice what John says, he says that our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

If we desire to be part of this fellowship, we must go through the Apostolic witness.

BUT, we can never have fellowship with ONE ANOTHER without first experiencing FELLOWSHIP with God.

Because at its most basic level, God must first change our hearts for us to have a LIKENESS of MIND with HIM.

So to tell a man, “Just have fellowship with God!”

Is IMPOSSIBLE!

Fellowship must always come from above before it can be reciprocated.

How does this communion come about?

Let me give you an example from a familiar passage of Scripture.

When Jesus was in the Upper Room, in John 13… the heart of communion is expressed.

Jesus knew that His hour had come.

He knew His time was short with the disciples.

There was nobody to wash their feet.

Rather than condemning the disciples for their self-centeredness

Rather than chiding them for their disrespect

He stands up from dinner and puts on a towel to wash their feet.

Peter expresses what we all would think in that situation, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

John 13:7–9 ESV

7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

What we are witnessing is the beginning of fellowship.

The first movement of fellowship with God is HIM COMING TO US.

It’s not what we do for HIM, it is WHAT HE HAS DONE for us.

It is actually HIM SERVING US. Mark 10:45 “45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

Him washing OUR feet.

John 13:10 (ESV)

10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean...

What Jesus is saying here is that the person who has trusted and believed in Him is already pure.

He is PURE because the lamb of God has been pierced on their behalf.

He is PURE because the Son of God has made them pure.

The fellowship that we share as Christians has literally been purchased by the blood of Jesus.

We should only ever discuss fellowship with God as a holy and amazing reality.

Like Moses and the burning bush, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

We are standing on Holy ground as we consider this reality.

As Paul warns us, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Get this: Our Fellowship with God is first about what He has done on our behalf.

Before you start thinking about working and striving to maintain fellowship with God

Consider how He has served and purchased you, “while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly”

And then he goes on in John 14 to tell us how HE is SENDING the HOLY SPIRIT to His own.

Faith of our Fathers: A Study of the Nicene Creed “Holy”

It is then in the Holy Spirit that we have communion or koinonia in the mystery of Christ, and are made members of His Body. The personalizing incorporating activity of the Spirit creates, not only reciprocity between Christ and ourselves, but a community of reciprocity among ourselves which through the Spirit is rooted in and reflects the Trinitarian relations in God himself.

The Holy Spirit creates the likeness of MIND, HEART, and DESIRE between Christ Himself and US.

But how is this vertical fellowship expressed?

And then we get the last of the HORIZONTAL fellowship.

One-Another

We don’t have fellowship with one another without first fellowship with God Himself.

Now it may seem that last week I really bashed against experience,

but I want you to see that we don’t fundamentally stand upon our experience.

But as we stand upon their shoulder’s, our experience of the Christian faith is extremely important.

Christians are not men and women who are hoping for salvation, but those who have experienced it.

Every time we gather.

Every time we take communion together.

Every time we sing songs about our poor estate and the beauty of our Savior.

When fellowship is the sweetest, your desire is the strongest that others may have fellowship with you, and when, truly, your fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, you earnestly wish that the whole Christian brotherhood may share the blessing with you.

If you never have a desire to share in fellowship with your brothers and sisters, I would encourage you to examine yourself to know if you first have fellowship with God.

Communion

Since this is the first time we will be taking communion in a little while, I want to take a minute and say that if you’re not a Christian here today, you can go ahead and allow the elements to sit in front of you.

Please don’t feel any pressure to take them.

Also, if you’re a Christian here today, consider Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 11:27–29 ESV

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Please take a minute and confess where you have sinned this week before you take of the bread and the cup.

The Bread

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

The Cup

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 ESV

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.