Bible Themes On Fellowship

Speaker: William Woodson
Date: May 9, 2000, Tuesday Evening Worship Service - (During a Gospel Meeting May 7 Through 10, 2000, by the Northeast church of Christ, Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Main Scripture References: John 17:20-21; 1 Corinthians 1:9-10; 1 John 1:3-7, 10; 2 John, verses 9-11
Theme: The New Testament Church (Matthew 16:18: And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

I’m having a wonderful time being here. I hope you are having as pleasant and enjoyable a time as I am. I came here a stranger. In fact, other than knowing John, I did not know a soul in Albuquerque. Now, I feel almost like ya’ll are home folks. If ya’ll just come on over to Lawrenceburg and live over there, we could go to church, and have a lot of fun together. But I know…you’re not going to do it, so you’ll just have to stay here, and when the water supply runs out, come on over! We’ve got a creek that periodically overflows, it has got so much water in it. Ya’ll don’t know what a flood is. I know you’ve read about them…there’s one in the Bible. But we’ve had one, and so we have plenty of water over there. And if you run out over here, just come on over. Jeanne [Brother Woodson’s wife] and I’ll but some water in the soup, and we’ll just have a good time together. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being with you. I’m glad to be here tonight. I look forward to tomorrow night and hope that all goes well with you. Thank you for coming.

Tonight, I want to think with you about some Bible Themes on the subject of Fellowship. Let me begin by pointing out that the New Testament teaches very clearly that the church is to be united. We are to be united with Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are to be united with one another in love, in Truth, in the power of our hearts and our lives, so that we become involved in each other’s life in terms of Christian virtue and growth and strength. It is very, very difficult to destroy a body of people who are united in love with God, in love with each other, and in love with the generation that they are seeking to reach for the glory of God. The Bible teaches that very, very clearly.

There is also the question that rises: Are there matters of teaching and conduct which necessitate the breaking of fellowship with an individual involved? That’s a very important question. Are there matters of such a nature that even in the midst of the love of God, the love of each other, and the love of the body of Christ, it becomes necessary that an individual be removed from the fellowship and the unity of the body of Christ? That’s a very serious question to consider. It is not one, therefore, to be answered flippantly, or lightly. Oh, I know there is, in the mind of some, a kind of “shootout at the OK corral,” and whoever has the gun out the quickest and shoots the fastest is going to be standing when the fracas is over. That’s…not…the way of the church. We are not in business to harm each other. We are not trying to hurt each other. We are trying to help each other go to heaven. And all that we are attempting to do is dedicated to that noble and worthy goal.

Now, are there occasions when unity with one individual or more may have to be broken? If so, what are those conditions?

I suggest, then, that we begin by looking at some passages from the Bible:

Number One: John, chapter 17, verses 20 to 21 . Our Lord, in a prayer that was offered to God shortly before He was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, said these Words: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their Word; 21 That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” This becomes a diamond of Truth. Jesus wanted you and me, and all of the children of God, to be one—one in faith; one in practice; one in the kind of life that we live; and to be one in the same way that the Father and Son are One. This is to be done, He said, through the Word—through the Word that the apostles would preach; through the Word that would be written by inspiration. And when this Word is followed in the heart of those who listen to it, and their lives are guided thereby, the result is the unity of the people of God. It is as natural that the people who follow the Word of God be united as it is for the sun to rise in the morning, and set in the evening.

The idea that there can be a lack of unity is almost beyond acceptance, and yet, there are, the Bible teaches, occasions where such is necessary. Notice in this statement, 1 Corinthians 1, verses 9 and 10: “God is faithful, by Whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

Notice that we are “called unto the fellowship.” There is a calling of people by the Gospel. That Gospel invites them to follow God’s Son, and in following Him they love God and all that God teaches. Others of like faith are in fellowship with them. When I know that you believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him, and I believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him, there arises between us—or, there should arise between us—a mutual love for one another as we both love God and His Son. God calls us into the fellowship.

And He says, “I want you all to “speak the same thing.”—speak the same thing in the teaching of the Word of God. Don’t have one person teaching that this verse says “Yes,” and another person teaching that this verse says “No.” That’s not right. We all preach the same Truth according to the Word of God“that ye all speak the same thing.”

Further, “…that there be no divisions among you.” When an individual, by word or deed, sets about to create, intentionally or otherwise, trouble in the church, he…has…stepped…onto dangerous ground. God’s Word says there is to be “no divisions among you.”