Text: I John 1:5-2:6<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Fellowship has often been the center of controversy<\/p>\n
A. Part because the word has been misused by both denominationalists and Christians.<\/p>\n B. But it also has been area of trouble because we don\u2019t always know where to draw\nthe line.\n
II. What is fellowship<\/p>\n
A. Definitions<\/p>\n
1. Sun\u0113theia<\/i> – A mutual custom or habit, acquaintance, friendship, fellowship.<\/p>\n
2. Metoch\u0113<\/i> – Partnership, fellowship, sharing, common interest, participation.<\/p>\n 3. Koin\u014dnia<\/i> – Communion, association, partnership, fellowship, sharing,\ncontribution.\n B. Fellowship is a group of people who enter into an agreement and share a common\ngoal. They work together to obtain that goal \u2013 pooling both their resources and\nefforts.\n
1. A local congregation illustrates this meaning.<\/p>\n
2. Christians work together to accomplish the commands of God.<\/p>\n
3. They worship together.<\/p>\n 4. They are partners in a common effort \u2013 participating to reach a common\ngoal.\n
III. Who we have fellowship with<\/p>\n
A. God and Christ – I John 1:3<\/p>\n
B. The Holy Spirit – II Corinthians 13:14<\/p>\n
C. The apostles<\/p>\n
1. I John 1:3 – Through the witness they shared with us.<\/p>\n
2. Acts 2:42 – Through the doctrine they taught us.<\/p>\n
D. With fellow Christians – I John 1:7<\/p>\n
IV. How our fellowship is shown and defined<\/p>\n
A. It is a working relationship<\/p>\n
1. Laborers together – I Corinthians 3:9<\/p>\n
2. The service or ministering to the saints – II Corinthians 8:3-4<\/p>\n a. This was a working relationship between Christians who were\nseparated by many miles.\n b. They agreed to pool their resources to accomplish their common\ngoal of aiding needy saints in Jerusalem.\n
3. Here fellowship is demonstrated by the common actions taken.<\/p>\n
B. It is a shared belief<\/p>\n
1. Romans 1:12 – A mutual faith<\/p>\n 2. It is a mutual faith not only between Christians, but also between each\nChristian and their God.\n 3. Fellowship is not just the things we do, but it is also our common set of\nbeliefs, when we hold on the same truth.\n
C. Fellowship is not predicated simply on whether a person was baptized.<\/p>\n
1. Baptism does add one to the Lord and the church – Acts 2:44-47<\/p>\n 2. However, it does not imply that all baptized believers remain in that\nfellowship.\n
D. Some are too tolerant of the misbehavior of others. They reluctant to sever ties.<\/p>\n
1. Such was the problem in Corinth – I Corinthians 5:1-2, 6-7<\/p>\n
a. Sin was in their midst, but they were reluctant to act properly.<\/p>\n
b. To tolerate sin is to corrupt the church.<\/p>\n c. They needed to sever their ties with the sinner so that he might be\nsaved and so that their worship would remain pure.\n 2. Corinth was not the only church with this problem of tolerating sinners –\nRevelation 2:14-16\n
a. Here was a church with members who were teaching false doctrine.<\/p>\n b. Jesus demanded that they repent or lose him as an ally and face him\nas an enemy.\n c. It is our duty to oppose those who deviate from the way, whether it\nis by deed (as in Corinth) or by word (as in Pergamum).\n
3. Here is another case – Revelation 2:20<\/p>\n
a. The church at Thyatira was harboring an unrepentant sinner.<\/p>\n b. As Corinth was warned, this woman\u2019s sin had spread to other\nmembers. An infection out of control.\n 4. Tolerance does not spread Christianity, it destroys it. Welcoming those\nwho deviate from the truth ruins church.\n a. Churches who fail to discipline may attract more people, but they\nfail to produce more Christians.\n
b. We must uphold truth to remain in fellowship – I John 1:6-7<\/p>\n
V. How are the lines of fellowship drawn?<\/p>\n
A. First, it must be extended to those who are Christians<\/p>\n
1. This means those who have heard and believe – Hebrews 11:6<\/p>\n
2. They must have repented of their sins – Acts 26:16-20<\/p>\n
3. They must confess their Lord and Savior – I John 4:15<\/p>\n
4. They must put on Christ in baptism – Galatians 3:26-27<\/p>\n
B. It is extended to those who remain in the truth – Acts 2:42<\/p>\n
1. Those who walk in the light – I John 1:6-7<\/p>\n
2. Those who live in the light of God\u2019s Word – II John 9<\/p>\n
3. A companion of all who keep God\u2019s precepts – Psalm 119:63<\/p>\n
C. It is withheld from those who refuse to remain in the truth<\/p>\n
1. The ties of fellowship can be broken.<\/p>\n
2. The man in Corinth was turned over to Satan – I Corinthian 5:5<\/p>\n
3. Some shipwrecked their faith – I Timothy 1:19-20<\/p>\n
4. Some fall away and are restored – James 5:19-20<\/p>\n
5. Some fall away never to be rescued – Hebrews 6:3-6<\/p>\n
D. Fellowship also does not exist with those who remain in the world<\/p>\n
1. There is no common ground – II Corinthians 6:14-18<\/p>\n 2. Some here have mentioned that what once was unnoticed has become an\nirritant.\n a. As a Christian keeps his language pure, the foulness of those\naround him becomes more noticeable.\n b. As a Christian learns to be sober-minded, the child-like behavior of\nthose around him becomes difficult to ignore.\n 3. We cannot leave this world. We have to interact with them – I Corinthians\n6:9-10. But it doesn\u2019t mean we have to like what they do.\n
E. Fellowship cannot exist with false teachers – II John 9-11<\/p>\n 1. We withdraw our fellowship from the heretic – Titus 3:10-11. A heretic is\none who does not teach the truth.\n 2. Fellowship must not exist with those who divide the brethren – Romans\n16:17-18\nVI. The question sometimes comes up as to why we don\u2019t join with some of the projects\ngoing on in this city.\n A. It is a simple matter that those participating in them are not faithfully following\nGod\u2019s laws. What common ground to we have that we might work together?\n B. An example of what happens is seen in the National Council of Churches. It was\nsupposed to be a way for various denominations to work together. It became a\nbody of such liberal-minded false teachers that even the Methodists have pulled\ntheir support.\n C. It is also why I am reluctant to announce meetings of other churches in the area\nwhen I know that a few of their practices are not in accordance with the teachings\nof God.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Text: I John 1:5-2:6 I. Fellowship has often been the center of controversy A. Part because the word has been misused by both denominationalists and Christians. B. But it also has been area of trouble because we don\u2019t always know where to draw the line. II. What is fellowship A. Definitions 1. Sun\u0113theia – A mutual custom or habit, acquaintance,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[253],"class_list":["post-15700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-fellowship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18293,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-contribution-mentioned-in-romans-1526-isnt-that-making-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":15700,"position":0},"title":"What about the contribution mentioned in Romans 15:26? Isn’t that making fellowship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What\u00a0you have said\u00a0has been\u00a0very\u00a0helpful and I am growing in my understanding now. This is what you said: \u201cFellowship is\u00a0a description of who they were. They were a people of one heart and one soul. Thus fellowship is\u00a0a description of their state or attitude toward each other. When people turn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-have-meals-in-the-building-since-eating-together-is-an-expression-of-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":15700,"position":1},"title":"Can we have meals in the building since eating together is an expression of fellowship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone has been arguing with me about fellowship and they say it is okay to have meals together in the building because eating together is an expression of fellowship. He says, \"If eating together and having fun together is not an expression of fellowship, then what is it?\" He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24655,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fellowship-a-word-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":15700,"position":2},"title":"Fellowship: A Word Study","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Becky Rene It is essential at this point that we understand how our spiritual fellowship is expressed. So we will take the time to examine the noun \u201cfellowship\u201d (koinonia) in all the contexts in which it appears. Some of the verses are difficult to understand because the translators have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/fellowship.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19118,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-philippians-310\/","url_meta":{"origin":15700,"position":3},"title":"Can you explain Philippians 3:10?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am still studying all about fellowship. It is a very interesting study. Now I think I understand what you have been saying that fellowship (koinonia) is a noun and it helps to think of it like we do the word \"friendship.\" So if two people are friends, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/false-teaching-and-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":15700,"position":4},"title":"False Teaching and Fellowship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Frank Jamerson Sentry Magazine, December 2000 The issue of false teaching and fellowship is not a new one. The following is approximately two pages from an eleven-page article, published in January 1975, that I commend for your consideration. \"All of us must accept the fact that we have fellowship (live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18232,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":15700,"position":5},"title":"Fellowship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As hard as we try to keep terms pure and free from the influence of denominations, we still sometimes find things creeping into our language. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People wanting to call the minister, \u201cpastor\u201d even though it properly belongs to those who oversee the congregation - the elders. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Similarly, the desire to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}