Biblical Fellowship: The Importance of True Biblical Fellowship – Msg 2 – 1 John 1:1-10 – Bible study
The Importance of True Biblical Fellowship
Message 2
1 John 1:1-10
by Cooper P Abrams III
INTRODUCTION:   Last week we look at the Acts 2:44-47 which shows us what is the meaning of true biblical fellowship. When Christ founded the institution of the local church He set the example for what all churches should be in the future. The example is that:
- 1. They continuing together in one accord.
2. They preached and taught the Gospel exhorting people to believe. V40,43
3. They had fellowship together. v44-45
4. They practices the ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
5. They Prayed together.
           Fellowship is an important word for the believer in Christ. It is a key word in 1 John.
          Fellowship The prevailing truth this Epistle reveals is that salvation should bring men together with God in a close relationship and together with other believers. Fellowship with one’s brothers and sisters in Christ brings happiness, purpose and strength and comfort. It is God’s plan and also His command. From many years of experience I think I am correct by saying that you can gauge whether a person is in true fellowship with the Lord, by their fellowship with their fellow believers. Their attendance and participation in their local church indicates their fellowship with the Lord.
          Fellowship In affect the Apostle John is saying, “You and I may be in fellowship one with the other, IF we are in fellowship with the Father and the Son. This Epistle is written to help you get and keep that fellowship.”
I. Question: Why is the world not in fellowship with each other?
- A. The Simple Answer: Sin entered in the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. It spoiled man’s fellowship with God. It spoiled man’s relationship with one another also.
ILLUS: We saw the looting in New Orleans after the hurricane. The unsaved man is ruled by his carnal nature therefore is selfish and in truth unloving. I was also noted that many of those who are helping the victims, are making a great to do of their acts….seeking to be patted on the back for helping someone it need. Folks…biblical love does not seek a pat on the back or recognition, it serves its fellow man and does acts of love because it is the right thing to do…in showing God’s love to others. It is in truth…walking in the light.
- 1. The man who truly loves God will be sure to love his brother. He who does not have or losses the fellowship of God will be sure to find human relationships breaking up as well.
2. God made the family, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. The result of the Fall of Man into sin man was that man became separated from God and his fellow man. There relationship with God was broken and man became selfish.
ILLUS: Dan Quayle, brought the problems with the family in America into focus during the 1992 election campaign. Everyone joined in and began to agree and offer advice as to how to restore family and moral values to America. I was pessimistic about the country returning to family values. I hoped it would happen, but I did not see any evidence of making any progress then and it is much worse now than it was then.
Change to moral and family values comes with turning to God. It comes when men begin to walk in God’s light. America is not doing that. The Supreme Court, has ruled that killing of an unborn baby in a mother’s womb is legal. Today, the Congress is grilling John Edwards, President’s Bush’s nomination to the Supreme court. The Democrats are openly stating they will fight his confirmation if he plans to rule to overthrow Roe vs Wade that legalized abortion. The liberals in our society hate God and want to remove every mention of Him publicly. They as said that prayer is not constitutional in schools and public meetings. Our courts have taken the Ten Commandments from public view. They have made rulings which established the foundation for same sex marriages. It has affirmed the right of pornographers and pedophiles to put pornography on the internet under the guise of free speech. That is not turning to moral and true values.
Many are pleased with having a President who professes to being a Christian. However, he seems to have no influence in turning America back to its biblical roots.
- 3. The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden saw their nakedness and hid. The were ashamed before each other of their nakedness. They made leaves to cover themselves, or to hide one from the other.
Man has been doing just that now since that fateful day. We all hide from one another. We wear masks trying to hide what we truly are but deep down we are ashamed.
Cain and Abel were brothers. We say, “blood is thicker that water.” But for many that is not so. Sin separated Cain and Abel and led Cain murdering his own brother.
The results of sin grew and men became more and more perverse. Men built cities to protect themselves from one another.
It became a matter of what is mine and what is yours, as each man lived for himself. Man’s ruin became very apparent.
B. This is why the world is not in fellowship with each other. Sin rules where men walk in the darkness, and there is rebellion against God and truth. And Romans 6:23 tells us what we all can see around us that the “wages of sin is death.”
- God wants believers in a local church, loving and caring for one another, supporting one another. It is not something that happens automatically. It takes time and effort. However, if we do not seek the company and fellowship of each other we do not show forth God’s plan, but rather mimic the world around us.
The fact the world walks in darkness is one reason God instituted the local church which Ephesians 5:22 says he gave his life for. The Lord provided for us a haven of rest away from the world and its sin, with fellow believers. The local church is a refuge in the perverse world we find ourselves in. Sadly, many do not avail themselves of God’s provision for us.
II. CHRIST IS THE ONLY ANSWER TO RESTORING FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN MEN.
- I had a mental health professional once ask me if they could visit with me and get my perspective on the subject of mental health. I looked forward to meeting with them and discussing the matter, but they never called. If they ever do, I will not offer human advice, but God’s advice who made us. God is what is missing in people’s lives and with Him there is peace, satisfaction and joy, without Him there is confusion and an deep ungentleness as to who we are and what we are doing here.
A. Christ came to restore fellowship of man with God and always with one’s fellow man. He did it first by providing the means whereby man can be in fellowship with his Creator.
- 1. The Gospel brings men together as nothing else does.
2. Most of the organizations of man are little more that mutual admiration societies, or platforms for to strut.
ILLUS: The radio show host, Ted Malone, whose radio show came on early in the morning, told of the Idaho shepherd who wrote: “Will you, on your broadcast, strike the note ‘A’? I’m a sheepherder way out here on a ranch, far away from a piano. The only comfort I have is my old violin. It’s all out of tune. Would you strike ‘A’ so that I might get in tune?” Malone honored the request. Later he received a “thank you” note from the distant shepherd saying, “Now I’m in tune.”
One of the purposes and responsibilities of personal and public worship in our church is to enable us to keep tuned to the Great Shepherd. One of the joys of the Christian life is to help others recapture the missing note! What a blessing to be in tune with God and in tune with one another. What a tragedy it is that some people seem bent on seeking to cause divisions and have not real interest in being in fellowship with those around them.
- B. The Bible tells us believers are to love their neighbor as their self. It teaches we are to serve each other. The message I recently preached on 1 Corinthians 13:1-8 on love is one of the most important messages in God’s word. It presents the highest achievement of a man is to know God, and to serve Him by loving and serving others.
- 1. God says to us, we must help each other and “by love serve one another.”
2. God says no redeemed man “liveth unto himself.
3. The child of God is redeemed from that very thing!
C. The early church understood this truth. It was one the first things it did was to “have all things in common. It does not refer to communism. What happened was that each one helped the other. The one who had shared with the one who had a need.
D. It worked for awhile. But sadly and with deep regret we know that there are always the Annaiass and Sapphiras. It is true that Ananias had attempted to deceive the apostles, and it is true also that this was a crime; but still, the principal magnitude of the offense was that he had attempted to deceive God. They wanted the praise of men, forgot about God and lied to God, saying they were giving this great sacrifice to God and yet keeping apart of it for themselves.
- 1. They had outwardly professedly devoted it to God.
2. It was an attempt to deceive Him. It implied the belief of Ananias that God would not detect the crime, or see the motives of the heart.
3. They allowed themselves to be tempted by the Devil and scummed to him.
D. Lets take a look at some principles about Biblical fellowship that pleases God.
III. WALKING IN THE LIGHT BRINGS FELLOWSHIP AND TRUE FELLOWHSIP IS BASED ON COMMUNION WITH GOD.
- A. The lost world knows nothing of Biblical fellowship.
- ILLUS: I had the privilege to preach a Revival in the town where I pastored my first church some years earlier. It was a wonderful time fellowship. The pastor was called to preach under my ministry. When I was in Virginia he called telling me he is pastoring a church now in Suffork, VA and wanted me to come to his church. We have had differences, but our friendship was deep because it is based on our relationship with God. That’s what brought us together and keeps us close.
There was young woman there in the service and she looked familiar, but I could not place her. She immediately came to me and beamed as she explained that I had lead her to the Lord almost ten years earlier. She seemed so happy to see Carolyn and myself. WHY? We have a common, and ETERNAL bond! We are children of God.
- 1. I have had friendships with many over the years, and enjoy seeing my friends again. But how special to see a brother or sister in the Lord you have not seen for a long time. That’s a cherished event only a child of God really knows. The world’s earthly associations are nothing in comparison to it.
It is a poor reflection on a father, mother, sister or brother who does not show care and concern for their family. The same is true for a local church as well.
2. Note that I said the relationship between believers is an eternal one. It will surely be greater in heaven.
3. “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father.” Gal. 4:6
Do you see the truth here? One result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is fellowship between brothers and sisters in Christ. Believers are the family of God and the Holy Spirit binds us together.
B. Our home life should be one of caring for one another and helping one another.
- 1. It destroys this precious gift of God for believers to be at odds one with the other.
2. Selfishness, pride, having an unforgiving heart, criticism all destroy all the blessing God means for us to have even now.Have you ever seen selfishness bring folks together, Have you ever seen pride, holding a grudge, demanding to have your way, gripping, nagging or criticism bring people together? Have you ever seen it make people happy. Have you seen it produce love and a common bond between people?
The answer is NO! True love seeks to be in fellowship with others.
3. I have preached several messages on the joy that God intended be in the believer’s life. The heart searching truth is that with fellowship in you life with God and with other believers, you can not be used of God!
NOTE: V4. John wrote these things so their joy would be full. Not the phony faked kind we see so much of, but the real thing. God cannot bless a person, even his own child, who harbors a bitter spirit.
IV. FELLOWSHIP IS BASED ON A GODLY CHARACTER. V3-4
- A. Folks may I state that the joy and unity in the family of God is based on godly actions.
- 1. What I am talking about is a godly character? The dictionary says that character, “it is a distinctive mark.”
2. The ability to show love is based in one’s character. The Bible says to the person who has by faith trusted in Christ and been born again, “because we are sons, He has sent froth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.”The character of a believer comes when he is saved. It comes from God!
3. We can not have fellowship and unit or experience truth love unless we acknowledge and live according to the Godly character God gives us.
B. Saved people can become bitter, live in pride and be selfish. These sins break fellowship with God and with others as well. We must walk in the light! V7
- 1. Folks the fellowship with Christ brings fellowship with other believers. It brings fellowship with the local.
2. Why is this local church and most across the nation so poorly attended and supported by some?
- The reason, is plain. With some folks who profess Christ there is a problem. The first problem is in their relationship and fellowship with Christ Jesus. The closer one comes to Christ, the closer we are drawn one to the other and need one another.
Lots of professing Christians are more interested in temporal things than in having true fellowship with the Lord and with their fellow church members. The fact is it is not important to them and if it were they would be in church and be a vital part of what the local congregation is doing.
V. TRUE BIBLICAL FELLOWSHIP IS BASED ON CONFESSION OF SIN.
- A. Have you ever tried to be reconciled to someone with whom you have a disagreement with or when there was hurt feelings without confession of wrongness on someone’s part?
- 1. I believe 1 John 1:9 is the most neglected verse in the Bible, and I believe for the child of God is the Greatest promise.
2. For the present it is greater than the promise of heaven, because what would heaven be without a fellowship and communion with our Savior?
3. I am not impressed with streets of gold, but I long for that perfect communion with Christ my Lord! I long to be free from this sinful body. Thank God, for this verse, that I can NOW be in fellowship with my Lord. It is a present reality, not a future promise.
If I confess my sin, he will forgive and cleanse me!!! What a wonderful verse.
Have you ever tried to make up with someone with whom you had a disagreement and they flatly refused to settle the matter and restore friendship.
Not so with our Savior….! If we genuinely repent…meaning to turn from our sins…He will forgive readily restore our fellowship with Himself and all the blessings that go with that relationship.
C. Christ says He forgives and restores us to RIGHTNESS! That is the meaning of righteousness.
- 1. Being Right with God. How terrible a state to be in to be out of fellowship with ones wife, husband, children, mom or dad, or friend.
2. How empty is life when there are walls between us and what loneliness there is in being separated.
VI. WHAT THEN IS THE ANSWER?
- A. The counselors of the world give little hope. They fail and what success they have, by their own admission is short lived and does not last. They a-nes-ti-ize people, they can not cure or help.
- 1. Would you want a pain killer to live on or medicines that cures.
2. We are told to love one another, and yet we find it so hard to do.
B. The answer is simple.
- 1. V7 says, If we walk in the light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.
2. What is “walking in the Light.” Light means truth! We walk in truth.
What does truth do to pride, selfishness, bitterness, hypocrisy? When one accepts the truth, he sees himself as God seeing him.
The light of God’s word is truth and truth exposes what is wrong.
ILLUS: While holding a Bible study Coalville, Utah some years ago a couple that was coming left the Bible study. They had some supposed religious experiences that were clearly contrary to the Word of God. I took the Bible and showed them as clearly as I could that what they were doing was not biblical. But, they would not accept the truth of God’s word and they left the group. It continued because others were true believers. Those that continued the Bible Study walked in the Light. The truth brought them closer together. For those who would not accept the truth is caused separation and division.
- C. Why all the denominational differences? The Bible says it is a light problem. People are not walking in the light.
D. Folks darkness is no choice for the true Christian! It is light that enables us to see things clearly. We believe the Bible and follow it.
1. Light helps us see danger.
2. Light exposes wrong attitudes, wrong thinking and wrong relations.
3. Thank God for light.
F. Having the light, meaning God’s truth, shows us the way, but it is only part of the path that leads to true fellowship with God and each other. Knowing the truth without acting or living it is of no value to us.
- 1. The light of the truth shed on our failure leads to confession. After seeing the problem admitting it to the Lord and confessing it to Him is the next step, and after it comes fellowship with Him. Walking in light brings fellowship with God.
2. ILLUS: There have been times in my life since I trusted Christ and became a child of God, that I have sinned and have been out of fellowship with God. One time that comes to mind lasted for several months. I had made a promise to God concerning giving some money for building a needed building at a church I had visited in March 1977 before the Lord called me to preach.
I did not keep my word and made all kinds of excuses trying to justify me not keeping my promise to the Lord. While attending my church, my pastor preached a message from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit brought deep conviction to my heart. For a time, I tried ignored the Holy Spirit that was bringing conviction, and fought Him and stubbornly refused to admit by sin. It was destroying me in side, and I had no relationship with God. Oh, I went to church, I even taught a Sunday School class, but deep inside I knew!
What a joy, the day God broke me! What joy to confess it and have God to forgive me! Two months after I got the matter right, God called me to preach! What a joy has been this path God has given me.
It is not all roses and honey, there have been many valleys and hard times. I have often wanted to quit, but because I was in fellowship with Christ, I can say,
- (Psalms 23:1-6)1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Does God not tell us something important in this Psalm? Isn’t He telling us of His presence, protection, guidance and fellowship with us? He is talking about the fellowship that walking in the light brings.
Conclusion:
- 1. First to know true fellowship one must first know God. You can only know Him through His Son.
2. As a believer, fellowship and unit with others is only available to those who walk in the truth of God’s Word. Who live obedient lives unto Christ.
Further, when the fellowship is broken it can only be restored by confession of the thing that broke it…which is always some sin…
3. Then God restores fellowship, to Himself and for you to others.