Dr Greg Bahnsen - A Godly Attitude: A Godly Attitude Toward Fellowships (Part 4)

This morning we come to the fourth and final in our series of discussions of our life as a congregation, specifically looking at ways in which God has a general requirement for us in some area and and yet a more intense and specific requirement that bears on our life as a congregation of Jesus Christ. We look first of all at the requirement of worship and noted that the Bible calls us to worship God and serve him in all that we do. And yet the Bible also has a special requirement for worship, the worship of God's people congregated on the Lord's day to bring glory to his name and hear His Word. We look secondly at the biblical requirement about time and how all of our time is in God's hands and belongs to Him. And yet a special token of that fact is seen in the Sabbath day, where one day is set aside from our ordinary labors, a day of rest and worship unto the Lord. Thirdly, we saw with respect to money that there again is a general requirement. All of our money is to be used in a godly way. We are to be a contented people. We are to be a people that do not worship mammon, but rather worship God. And yet specifically, God wants 10% of our money to be dedicated to his use, dedicated or contributed to the local congregation as your tithe. Something which is a moral obligation. One which, if neglected, shows that you have a sacrilegious attitude toward life because you would actually robbed from God. And so in these three ways we see again a general requirement. All of our lives, all of our time and all of our money are given to God. And yet there are special requirements in each of those areas too. We have a specific time of worship congregationally. We have a specific tithe of our money that is given. We have a specific day of the week that is set aside to show that all of our time belongs to God. Now, this after. Excuse me, this morning, we come to the question of fellowship. And I'd like us to turn in our Bibles to Galatians, the sixth chapter. And without telling you where you will find it, I want to suggest that you will see that again the way this is structured, the way God's Word teaches us, our requirement about fellowship has to do with a general requirement toward all men, but then a very special requirement toward God's people. Galatians, the sixth chapter. I'll begin reading the first verse. Hear this as it is God's very word. Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of Gentleness, looking to yourself, lest you also be tempted bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each man prove his own work, and then shall he have his glory in regard of himself alone and not of his neighbor. For each man shall bear his own burden. But let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teaches in all good things be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that sows unto the spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap. If we faint not so. Then as we have opportunity. Let us work that which is good toward all men, but especially toward them that are of the household of faith. See with how large letters I write unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh. They compel you to be circumcised only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For not even they who receive circumcision do themselves keep the law. But they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as many as shall walk with this rule, peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God. Henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen. And thus far the reading of God's word. All the lonely people where do they come from? All the lonely people where do they belong? Words. Well known words from the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby. A song speaking of two individuals in particular, but two individuals taken simply as a sample or an illustration of a pervasive problem throughout the human race. The problem of loneliness. Who are all these people? Who do they know? What do they live for? Who cares for them? All the lonely people. Well, the Bible tells us that man is a social creature. Man was made by God to have fellowship with others. And how do we know that? Well, if you look at the very beginning of your Bibles, at the creation of man, you'll notice that man is defined. Man is given his purpose. Man cannot even understand himself properly apart from what God says he was made for. And what was he made for? He was made to be fruitful and to multiply and have dominion over all of the Earth. To be fruitful and multiply. And I hope I don't have to explain to anyone that Adam couldn't conceivably have fulfilled that mandate all by himself. God called upon man to live in fellowship, first of all with his wife. And then, of course, with his family. And then with the civilization that would develop and grow out of that original union. The very definition of man's life, then the reason for which he was put on the earth, required that man live in fellowship, that man not be alone. In fact, in Genesis 2:8, you remember the declaration of God. It is not good that man should be alone. And that is a value judgment which is primitive in the sense of original, foundational, one which is going to govern all of mankind's affairs from that point on. It is not good that man should live alone. And so whatever romantic ideas we may have picked up from movies or novels or westerns or something about, you know, like the Lone Ranger, the man who's out. Even he had Tonto, of course, but the man who's out there, you know, who's all by himself, or the notion of going off and being a hermit and living in the desert or up at the top of some mountain. You know, you may think sometimes because of the way your life is so hassled that that would be nice. But it is not good. Man is not meant to be alone. In fact, the Bible tells us man was created as the very image of God. And significantly, when the Bible tells us of man being created in the image of God, these are the words we read. And God said, let us make man in our image. After our likeness us, let us make man. What is the plurality referring to there? Why is it that man is made in the image of God? Who speaks of it being our image rather than his image singular? Well, that's because there's a plurality and a fellowship and a communion within God himself, within the very character of God. There's Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And that triune God made man to be their image. One God and three persons. There was to be one human race that had fellowship, person to person to person. That's part of the image of God. To reflect that kind of communion, it is not good, it is not natural, it is not proper. For man to be alone. We are not made to be lonely people. We are not made to be we loners. And by ourselves, we were all made to have fellowship with others. That is to say, we were made to express love to other people and to receive love from other people. And to one degree or another, we all feel that need. And to one degree or another, we all feel that requirement, stop and think about that. You just can't live without in your heart of hearts, knowing you need friends, you need someone who cares for you, you need loved ones. And you not only need to be on the receiving end of that relationship, there is an equal need within you to be in a giving relationship, to give for others, to sacrifice for others, to show compassion and affection for others. We all respond to that feeling and we all learn to cope with the need for companionship in one way or another. Now, because of the diversity of ways in which we cope with those felt needs, we sometimes are led into strange theories of human nature that say some people don't need others. But I think that's dealing with a symptom and not with the underlying situations. Some of us, because of hurts or past frustration in friendships, have learned to cope with that internal need in a way that might, in an external fashion, say to others, I don't need you. But it isn't true. And as much as you may try to hold that down within you, the fact is that you were made in God's image and you were made for fellowship with others. You were made to love and be loved. There's that basic need for fellowship. And the question is, are we learning to cope with our need for companionship and fellowship in a godly way? Are we learning to cope with it in the most biblical way possible? And before I can suggest to you what the Bible would tell you about fellowship and how you need to gain fellowship, we need to deal at the very outset with a major complication and an obstacle to fellowship, and that is man's sinful condition. From the very beginning, the human race was made and intended for fellowship with God and for fellowship with one another. But you see, something took place, didn't it, that shattered that original ideal. And what took place is that man fell into sin, man fell into rebellion against God. And in falling into rebellion against God, man not only cut off fellowship with God for himself, but man cut off fellowship with fellow human beings. Because when we live in rebellion against God, that means we live for ourselves. And self oriented people are not loving people are not self giving people. And so a terrible Disruptive factor is entered into the picture. According to the Bible, that's man's fall into sin, a sin which is destroyed. The original intent of God for fellowship. Fellowship with God and fellowship with one another, you say. But God has produced a remedy for that, and he certainly has. The promise of that remedy is found in Genesis 3, verse 15, where we are told that the seed of the woman will one day crush the head of the serpent. And that is a beautiful promise and one which is worthy of full exposition. That's not the main point this morning, however. I want you to see that in that very same place where God promises salvation, where he talks about the remedy for the disruption of fellowship with himself and man, he envisions a continued enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. In fact, God says, I will place enmity there. It will be unavoidable. It isn't just that I predict it. God establishes that that is the case. There is enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Who are we talking about? Well, the seed of the woman refers to all those who are born into covenant relationship with God, those who believe him and love him and try to serve him, those who confess their sins and trust in God's provision of salvation. That's the seed of the woman, the godly seed that's in this world. But then it's also a seed of the serpent. You remember how Jesus said to his opponents and John's gospel, you are of your father, the devil. Jesus speaks of people being born spiritually, not from above by the Holy Ghost, but being born from below, being born from the very depths of hell of their father, the devil. They are the seed of the serpent. Those who are unbelievers, those who will not come to Jesus Christ for salvation, those who live for themselves and continue to defy the gospel and the word of God. And God, from the very beginning, when he promises salvation, says, there will be enmity between these two people. There will be enmity between the world and God's people, between sinners and saints, between believers and unbelievers. And the Bible tells us it is imperative that God's people not have fellowship with the rebellion and the unbelief of the world. Ephesians 5:11 puts it very bluntly, categorically, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them. Have no fellowship, have no common cause, don't share in what the world offers, its unfruitful works, but rather reprove the Ways of the world reprove the sin that is found there. James 4:4 says, Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. That enmity has been established by God and we dare not transgress it. We dare not try to break it down, we dare not pretend it's not there, or we can live in oblivion to it. Because if you will make yourself a friend of the world, you automatically become an enemy of God. My son, of sinners entice thee, consent thou not. The author of Proverbs said at Proverbs 1:10. I've preached about this in the recent past. I hope you remember that the Bible calls on us to be careful that we not run with sinners, that we not consent to their ways, that we not give in to their influence in our lives, we not let their attitudes form the way we think, that we be rather transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we not be conformed to this world. My son, if sinners entice thee, don't run with them. Choose your friends well. Don't spend time with those who will bring you down morally and spiritually. Indeed, in First Corinthians 15:33, Paul says, Be not deceived. Evil companionships corrupt good morals. It's just at this point, Paul says that we are so prone to deceive ourselves. It's just at this point we're prone to make exceptions and to pretend that the principle is not true. He says, don't be deceived. You have bad companions, you're not going to have good morals. That's something that's supposed to be old fashioned. That's something that comes from a Victorian era. Right, wrong, that comes from the very mouth of God. And it's something that you'd better be careful to take into account when you choose those with whom you have fellowship. Okay, so the Bible tells us that there is an enmity between the church and the world, believers and unbelievers, God's people, God's enemies. And that enmity cannot be breached, it cannot be overcome, it cannot be forgotten. We cannot compromise with the world or else we become enemies of God ourselves. However, this does not mean by any means that we should avoid all social contact with unbelievers. You see, the enmity with the world means we don't imitate their works, we don't imitate their attitudes, we don't live in the way they do. But that doesn't mean we avoid unbelievers. Jesus put it this way when he prayed his high priestly prayer in John 17:15. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one in the world, but not of the world that describes God's people. That's right. We rub shoulders with unbelievers, with extortioners and sexual perverts and all sorts of of sinners in this world, those who do not believe the word of God or trust his Son. And Jesus does not pray that we would escape that. He doesn't say, I pray that you could establish some kind of place in the world where all of God's people could go and avoid sinful individuals. Jesus of course knows why that wouldn't be a good idea. The minute we try to establish some kind of perfect place like that, the first one of us who went there would ruin it. We're not going to get a sin free social situation in this world to live with. He doesn't pray that we be taken out of the world and away from all unbelievers, but he does pray that we would be kept from the evil one, that our contact with the unbelieving world would be a godly contact, one that is a witness to the light, one that is proper and pure. In First Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10, the apostle Paul deals with the same mistaken understanding of enmity with the world when he says, I wrote unto you in my epistle to have no company with fornicators. Not at all meaning with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters. For then must ye needs go out of the world. Paul says, you misunderstood me when I said don't have company with fornicators. I didn't mean don't ever talk to someone who's a fornicator, don't ever have social contact with them, because then you'd have to go out of the world. Jesus doesn't pray that we be taken out of the world. Paul says it's ridiculous to think you should have to go out of the world. What does he mean? Well, in the context Paul says, within the body of Christ, if someone claims to be a brother, claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ and he's a fornicator, then you must shun him. You don't have contact with him. That's an internal matter of discipline. But you notice how Paul treats that. Obviously we aren't supposed to leave the world. We continue to have social contact with the world. Secondly, our Enmity with the world does not mean that we are to treat unbelievers as our enemies, that is to say, with malice or with ill will. The Mosaic law forbids withholding help to someone who hates you. You notice that in Exodus 23:5 it says, and if someone who hates you has a donkey that is burdened down, you're supposed to go across the road and help them. Specifically someone who hates you. Not just your friends, not just the ones you're close to, but even those with whom you have enmity. You are not to display ill will. Proverbs 24:17 says, Rejoice not when your enemy falls and and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. The fact that we are at enmity with the world does not mean that we sit back and self righteously gloat when we see things go wrong. For unbelievers. Don't rejoice when your enemy falls, and don't let your heart be glad when he stumbles. When you see things going wrong for the unbelieving world, you shouldn't sit there fiendishly enjoying it. In fact, you should meet his needs. Proverbs 25:21 says, if you're enemy is hungry, should you laugh in his face? No, you should feed his face. If your enemy is thirsty, you give him something to drink. Meet their needs. Or as Romans 12:14 says, Bless them that persecute you. Bless and curse. Not notice it isn't like bless and curse them and say, well, you know, I just hate doing this, but I guess I have to because I'm a Christian. Treat you nice. It says, bless and don't add cursing to it. Bless them even if they persecute you, even if they hate you. You are to live in a loving, pure fashion toward those in the world. All right, so here we have the need for fellowship, and yet the obstacle to fellowship, and that is sin and the enmity that must be there. We must not compromise with the world. We must not be friends of the world. And yet the Bible says we aren't to act in a way that is standoffish or with ill will toward the world either. So how do we bring all this together? I want to suggest to you that we have a general requirement and a special requirement. You knew that was coming anyway, and that we can understand this, particularly if we remember God's common grace and God's special grace. The general requirement that is upon us is to imitate God's common grace toward the world. And there's no better passage in all of the Bible to teach us that than Matthew chapter verses 43 to 48, Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount. And Jesus says at verse 43, you have heard that it was said, you shall love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. Jesus says, now the Pharisees have their understanding of how to deal with fellowship and enmity. And what they say is, love your neighbor, hate your enemy. It's cut and dry, very simple. Jesus says, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you. Why? In order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward have you? Do not even the Publicans the same. And if you salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the Gentiles the same. Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus says, if you have this cut and dry idea that those who are in the world or those who are your enemies, you just hate them and then your brothers you love. You don't understand what it is to be the Son of the Heavenly Father. Because if you're going to be like your Heavenly Father and behave like him, remember that when he sends the rain, it doesn't just rain on believers, houses or crops and gardens, it rains on the just and the unjust alike. And when he sends sunshine, it isn't sunshine just for his people and then cloudy for those who are not his people. God sends sunshine and rain indiscriminately is what we call his common grace. It's not saving grace. It is not something that's going to bring people to know Jesus Christ as their Savior for all eternity. Nevertheless, it is an undeserved blessing. And it's an undeserved blessing that is given to all men in common. God is being good in some ways to all men. Common grace. And Jesus says we are to imitate our Father. If we don't, we're no better than the Publicans and the Gentiles says, if you only salute those who salute you, if you only do good to those who do good to you, I mean, that's natural. And even unbelievers can do that. It's the mark of God's people that they show good to all men. We salute all men. We try to be at peace with all men. And even our enemies we help when they are in need. Then turn to Romans 12, 17:21 Paul expounds the same point of view. Romans 12 at the 17th verse, Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. Avenge not yourselves beloved, but give place to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance belongs unto me I will recompense, saith the Lord, but if thine enemy hunger, feed him, and if he thirst, give him to drink for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good and so our general requirement with respect to fellowship and the expression of love, our general requirement is that we imitate the common grace of God, so that with respect to all men, we do those things which are honorable in their sight. With respect to all men, as much as it's possible, we are at peace with them. With respect to all men, even those who hate God and hate us, we feed them when they are in need and give them drink. We do not return evil for evil, but rather try to overcome evil with good, even as God does show good to those who are being evil toward him and rebellious toward him, so we must as well the general requirement, then, of imitating God's common grace to be at peace with all men and to act in a compassionate way in a kindly manner toward all men, as much as lies in us now. We see that in our Scripture reading from this morning in Galatians 6. And I hope that as I was reading, you notice that verse 10 what I was predicting was going to come this idea of a general requirement with a special intensity toward God's people. Galatians 6:10 says, so then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of faith, broad and narrow, general and specific. Once again, you're to do good to everyone as much as you have opportunity. Don't live in hostility toward others. Do good to people. But more especially, Paul says, to the household of faith. If we're supposed to imitate God's common grace when it comes to the unbelieving world, the Bible teaches us we should imitate God's saving grace toward his people, common grace toward the world, saving grace toward the church. Do good to all men, Paul says, but especially to them of the household of faith, especially should you seek fellowship and friendship, especially should you seek compassion and exhortation and support, especially should you seek love in the household of faith and the appropriateness of that special love for believers is seen throughout this chapter of Galatians. In the first place, verse 10 says, they are our new family. Blood is thicker than water. We are told that's something that is supposed to remind us that when it comes to family, you have a special loyalty, right? You have a special intense love. You're supposed to remember those bloodlines. Well, as a matter of fact, that's not a particularly biblical way of putting it, blood being thicker than water. Jesus said that when it comes to the covenant, when it comes to the Gospel, when it comes to the word of God, that he's come with a sword to divide families. And we should not be governed by the idea of blood, then blood ties, but that idea of blood ties, that idea of family loyalty and commitment, intense love is appropriate within the family of God. And we are the household of God. And that's why, especially do we do good to our family, understood properly and theologically as the body of Christ, the appropriateness of special love, because this is our new family. Moreover, look at verse 18, the very last verse of the chapter. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Is there anything about the grammar of Paul here? Kind of set you back and make you ask some questions. Why doesn't he say that the grace of the Lord Jesus should be with our spirits? He doesn't. He speaks in the singular. He speaks as though the congregation at Galatia has one spirit. That's the way it's to be. That's the way we're to think of ourselves, as being congregated as one people, constituting one person, as it were, with one spirit within us. And the Lord Jesus Christ is with that spirit. We share the same spirit as God's people. In verse 15, we read that we're the new creation. Circumcision doesn't count. Uncircumcision doesn't count. The only thing that counts is being a new creature. Man was originally created for fellowship with God and fellowship with his fellow man. And we know what has taken place in the first creation. But God has now brought a second creation. God is now doing a new work of creation, and he's calling out of that sinful, fallen world a people for himself. And when it comes to that family, when it comes to that body, when it comes to this new creation, it makes no difference if you're a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or not, the only thing that counts is that you are part of the new humanity. You're part of the new creation. That God is bringing about. And verse 16 says, we are a new Israel. As many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them in mercy and upon the Israel of God. Paul now transfers to the Christian church at Galatia the benediction that originally was given to Israel of Old in the Old Testament. And not only does he give the benediction grace, mercy and peace, Paul says, this is upon the Israel of God. You are the Israel of God. You are his people. You are his chosen, elect nation. And in verse two, we remember that because Christ bore our burdens, we are to do likewise toward our fellow believers. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Remember how Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even the least of them, ye did it unto me. And so if we look upon one another as part of the new humanity, part of the new creation, those for whom Jesus died, then we want to bear their burdens and fulfill the law of Christ. We want to do unto them what we would even do unto Jesus. That's how intense this family relationship is. That's how important it is. And so, as we imitate God's common grace to unbelievers, the Bible would have us imitate God's saving grace to believers. I want you to turn in your Bibles to a couple of passages where this can be driven home to your hearts. John 13:34,35. Remember, in John 13, Jesus is in the upper room. He's speaking at length and for the last time to his followers. He's going to leave the upper room and go to the garden of Gethsemane, there to be betrayed and finally to be tried and crucified. And Jesus says to them, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, and that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another. Now, this verse sometimes bothers people because they say, well, the Old Testament teaches that we're supposed to love one another. And yet Jesus calls this a new commandment. Well, I want to suggest to you that the reason that it's new is because Jesus is going to give an illustration of love to that you never would have understood from the Old Testament law. And a kind of love that applies intensely and specifically among his disciples, a love that imitates what he would do by going to the cross. Jesus says, a new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Even as I have loved you. Now John, who wrote this gospel, understood, I think the intention of Jesus here. If you'll turn to First John 3:16, the First Epistle of John, the third chapter, verse 16. Notice what we are told hereby. Know we love because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. You want to know what love is? You want to understand what love in its full, intense New Testament sense is? Look at what Jesus did. He went to the cross. Love is God's saving grace that dies for the loved one. And John immediately adds, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. If you understand that this is your family, if you start re categorizing your thinking so that you can see how you are drawn together as the new creation and the new people of God as a new family, then you should be willing to die for each other. Jesus said in John 15:13, Greater love has no man than this than a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I tell you. Greater love has no man than this. What a beautiful verse. There is no greater love than self sacrificial love. Jesus says, I'll show you how much I love you and how much you are my friends. I'm going to go to the cross for you now. You see, if I die for someone else, that may be a wonderful sign of love. But you know that in that it's not totally pure, totally to be commended. Because when I die, I deserve to die. I'm a sinner. But Jesus wasn't a sinner. Jesus was sin free. Jesus was the one man who lived throughout all of human history, the one man who lived, who did not need to die because he had not sinned. He had never turned against his father, had never rebelled, had never transgressed the laws of God, had never done anything unkind to anyone at any time. He had never been selfish, he had never turned against the holy requirements of God, and he was willing to die for his friends. Greater love has no man than that that Jesus should lay down his life for us and call us his friends. And John says, reminding us of that, and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. Well, that puts, I hope, some real thought into your heads this morning. I hope that you're not just hearing those words and saying, oh, we know all about that. That's right, we're supposed to love one another. That's fine. Do you understand the kind of love you're supposed to have for those who are in the household of faith, you're supposed to be willing to die for each other. Are you? If you look around the congregation this morning, I wonder how many people, could you honestly say you would die for them? We can do that maybe in the abstract, maybe we can write that down on a piece of paper, but you know, the living reality is far from that. Now, I want to suggest one of the reasons why it's difficult for us to really internally, emotionally feel that commitment that would die for those who are in this congregation. One of the reasons why it's difficult in all honesty to feel that is because we aren't very close to each other. Now, I don't mean to say that we're terribly far from each other, but what I mean is we're not close enough to one another. We don't share enough of one another's lives and hopes and dreams and hurts. We don't have enough fellowship with each other that would lead us to spontaneously say, I'd give up my life rather than to see him or her hurt. And by the way, if the Bible says we are to be friends toward one another in such a self giving way that we'd actually die for each other, then isn't it obvious that anything short of dying is something that's obligatory upon us as well? If I'm supposed to be willing to die for you, why should I not call you when you're sick and tell you I care? You say, well, I'm so busy. It's so hard. Yeah, but it's a lot easier than dying. And the Bible says, be willing to die for your fellow believer. You see, if we're going to have the kind of fellowship that God calls us to, a fellowship that imitates his saving grace toward one another, we're going to have to work on knowing each other and, and caring for each other. If you think that the 20th century world is going to automatically make it easy for this kind of fellowship to develop, you don't understand the wiles of Satan. You don't understand the way he loves to make use of what is a blessing and turn it into a curse. You know what we have? We have the blessing of automobiles and freeways in Southern California. And it is a blessing. But you know, it can also be very subtly used as a curse because that means we can live far away from each other, and we live far away from each other. That gives us a sense of anonymity, a sense of isolation, a sense of detachment, and that's a great curse. Because man was not made for that kind of thing. Man was made to love and be loved. And we know now that that love is especially to be found within the congregation of God's people. And so what is fellowship going to mean for you? I'm going to suggest in closing this morning, some very quick ideas. First of all, it's going to mean learning to live a risky life. One of the reasons we don't share in one another's lives is because we're afraid of being hurt. And I think I know most of you in this congregation well enough that I could probably tell you what some of your most intense hurts are. But you see, we all need to know each other that way. We need to be able to open up to one another in such a way that we take the risk of someone saying, oh, that hurt you, that's too bad. You say, oh boy, I wouldn't want anyone to do that. I wouldn't want people to know how much that hurt me. And so we don't take the risk. We don't open up to others. We're very self sufficient little cogs in a machine, as it were. We go about our business and everyone else goes about their business. Everything falls into place and, and there's nothing emotional and nothing personal about it. There's no risk. And this congregation needs to risk a lot more in getting to know each other. Secondly, it's going to call for some sacrifice. I think it's axiomatic for us that we find time for the things we really think are important. I'm amazed at how people can squeeze certain social events and pleasures into their lives and their busy schedules. And yet when it comes to finding time to get to Bible study or to prayer meeting or to a church social, we all have excuses that, well, really, it's not that they're illegitimate. I don't think any. Well, I suppose it's possible. I don't think usually people lie about their excuses for not coming. But I wonder if they think about those excuses, how important should they be over against the desire to know someone in such an intimate way that you would die for them. You see, you're never going to feel that if you don't share a life with the people in this church. And that's going to call for some sacrifice on your part. And thirdly, that's going to call for putting the needs of others above your own. We look at church and I suppose you've heard this said before. I don't have anything new to offer on this, but it's an accurate observation. We look at church and we often say, what can it do for me? And when we come to church, we think about that. I'm coming to church because I'm going to get something out of it. And of course, if everything goes well, that is going to happen as well. But, you know, you should go to church not just to worship God, but to be with his people. In the Old Testament, the tabernacle was called the tent of meeting. And I think that was a purposeful ambiguity. The tent of meeting. Who's meeting at the tabernacle? Well, God and his people are meeting. That's the first meaning of it. But you see, those who want to meet with God meet with one another, too. And so it becomes the tent of meeting in the social sense as well. And so it is with church. We come to meet with God here, but in meeting with God, we meet with his people. And that means we should come and want to meet with the needs of others and put their needs above our own. Consider the grace of Jesus Christ as it's been demonstrated in history and in your life. Philippians 2 says, Jesus did not think of himself, but he rather put the needs of others above his own. And so when we come to church, we should come with that attitude. Fourthly, fellowship is going to call for a great deal more compassion. We have compassion here. This sermon is not. You people are at zero, and it's about time you started doing something. No, the point is, I wonder if we understand that, especially of the household of faith language, if we have that kind of fellowship that's developing toward a friendship whereby we give our lives for one another. And if we're going to, we need more compassion than we show. Compassion means weeping for those who weep. And when you think about the prayer requests that we've heard over the last three or four weeks in this congregation, just those alone, and they aren't everything that are on the hearts of our people. You know that. But you see, there's a lot to be weeping for and a lot to be rejoicing for. And I wonder if we share that with one another, if we make a point of going out of our way, either at fellowship time or during the week, making a phone call, making a visit to say, I care for you and I know even if I can't do anything concrete, I want you to know I'm your friend and I'm praying for you and I'm weeping too, when you hurt. We need that kind of compassion to feel what the others feel and that Leads then to the idea of hospitality, too. You're not going to develop a risk relationship, a sacrificing relationship, a relationship where you put the needs of others above your own and true compassion. If you restrict your fellowship to what we call fellowship in our bulletin. Just not going to happen in 20 or 30 minutes every week. Friends, you can't see everybody in this congregation for 20 or 30 minutes. I can't either. We can't get to know each other that well. And so how are we going to get to know each other? Well, of course we can come to other church events, but even beyond that, we need to start demonstrating a genuine hospitality toward one another. We should enjoy having one another in our homes and sharing that. A time where we informally, not in a structured, scheduled relationship, get to know each other. How's that going to happen? You say, well, it seems so mechanical if we just sign up our names and so forth. Yes, it does. I'd rather have that than no hospitality at all among us. It's going to happen. When you go home and you purposely plan to have people over to your house for dinner, you just can't come to church and say, oh, well, now I wonder if there's some time we can get together with these people and who have we not seen and so forth. You ought to go home and say, you know, I want to make sure I get to see everybody in the congregation this year. And that's going to call for some foresight, it's going to call for some planning and then following up and making invitations and making sure people feel welcome and so forth. But we start doing that, then we'll start getting to know each other. We'll start sharing our mutual cares and woes and also the things that excite us. Hospitality, I think, is going to be the underlying key to success for us. And then finally this morning, loyalty. Loyalty to this congregation. You know, there's nothing wrong with visiting another church occasionally. There may be reason to do that sort of thing. And there's certainly nothing wrong with having other Christian friends outside this congregation. I would think it unnatural if you didn't. But you see, there's something about that, especially of the household of faith language, that should make us think that we should be pursuing above all friendships and commitments and support within our own congregation, where we share a common faith and practice, where we are committed to the same discipline, where we have the same life together. Maybe I can illustrate it this way. Imagine that there was someone, a Bible believing evangelical Baptist person in the state of Connecticut that's pretty far away. I hope no one knows anybody in Connecticut, but here is someone who is a believer, a genuine believer, a Baptist in Connecticut who's having open heart surgery and is in need of financial support. Imagine that you have someone now in your own local congregation. Identical circumstances, open heart surgery needs financial support. However, this person is someone you worship with week in and week out. This is someone who is committed to the same discipline. This is someone. I'm not trying to put down the Baptist. Virginia. This is someone who shares an understanding of God's covenant too. You agree theologically, you have the same kind of life and worship with one another here. Now, is it not obvious to you that all things being equal, as I've set up this scenario, it would be very strange if you sent money to this person in Connecticut to help them, but you wouldn't help the person in your own congregation? Yeah, I think it does. And the reason for that is because we understand this idea of loyalty to God's people. Loyalty to God's people in a particular place where we are part of God's people. Loyalty to your own congregation. I want to suggest that when the opportunity for Bible study arises and you have some competing Bible study opportunity out there in the world, really, all things being equal, unless you have some special consideration, you really should be supporting your own Bible study. Get to know the people of this church. Hear the teaching that comes from the elders of this church. And when you have the opportunity to go to some family social and a church social, the very first thing that comes to my mind is how am I going to be able to explain to my family without hurting their feelings? I know that, but I hope that automatically we should say, of course I'd rather be with God's people than even with my own blood relations. When it comes to a social relation, when there are those, we don't have many conflicts like that. But they're good for illustration. They're good for testing our priorities and where we stand. So what is our relationship? What is our fellowship? To be well, toward all men. It's to be one that's peaceful. Well meaning the relationship of doing good as opportunity arises. But then more particularly, we should show a saving grace type relationship toward God's people, toward our own congregation. A love and a friendship that's willing to die for the needs of others. And if we're going to be willing to die, we'd better get to know each other. Let's pray. Father, we do ask you to increase our fellowship that you would increase our loyalty toward one another our sense of compassion and love that for the members of this church. We pray that you would teach us to do that that we might be genuine friends that model our relationship after that of Jesus Christ. We would take to heart the exhortation that if Christ died for us, died for us as his friends, we too must be willing to die for each other. We pray that you would forgive us for hearing those words in the past so often taking them in a very sterile way in a way that doesn't lead to action or makes any changes in our lives. We pray Father, you'd forgive us for giving formal assent and not following up with substantial obedience. Teach us to love each other. Give us true hearts that care that rejoice with those who have reason to rejoice and equally mourn with those that have reason to mourn. Help us to share in that one spirit that Paul spoke of. We might appreciate our life together as the new family of God. For we pray in Jesus name Amen.