What is Healthy Biblical Fellowship?

A few weeks ago, I was asked to travel to another church area and provide the congregation with a sermon. And since it was just a few days before the Fourth of July, I gave a sermon on American history and how we can become spiritual patriots for Jesus Christ. After the sermon, I was approached by a gentleman who wanted to argue with me about a topic that wasn't even connected with my sermon. He immediately launched into me and asked me a few questions. And he wanted to point out to me how wrong the church and I was, and wanted to emphasize how wrong we were and how right he was. It was a question regarding the sin Ham committed against Noah, as mentioned in Genesis, chapter 9. Well, I listened to the explanation. I thanked him for his comments. And I told him that I respected his opinion on the matter, that I would give it some thought, and I appreciated what he had to say. But this wasn't good enough for this particular gentleman. Since he pointed out to me that he had been in the church much longer than I have, he wanted to emphasize dogmatically that he was right and I was wrong.

Well, the episode became the spark for this sermon today, which is entitled, Healthy Biblical Fellowship. Many people don't understand what biblical fellowship really is or how difficult biblical fellowship can be. Biblical fellowship can be a lot of work.

Good biblical fellowship can be very hard because we have to come into an environment and we have to put other people first. And we have to put ourselves second. Fellowship is the heart and core of having healthy relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It takes a lot of work and a lot of effort to fellowship in a productive way. If we don't fellowship in a productive way, it can be very destructive.

It can be offensive. It can divide the church. It can cause a lot of problems. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, fellowship is defined as, and I quote, the companionship of individuals in a congenial atmosphere and on equal terms. Secondly, a close association of friends or equals sharing similar interests. And the third definition is comrade-ship. First thing I'd like to do today is I'd like to commend and thank all of you for being good examples of biblical fellowship.

I hear comments from other church congregations about how warm and friendly Cleveland is. I received emails and comments from people in our congregation who have told me that I've been in the church for 30 years and never felt the sense of family that I do right now that I do today in the Church of God.

So I'd like to commend this congregation, God's people, here in Cleveland for setting a great example regarding biblical fellowship. But we can all improve. In putting this sermon together, I noticed areas that I certainly need to improve on. It's my hope that you may see a few things in here that would benefit you as well.

So today I'd like to discuss the topic of healthy biblical fellowship in greater detail, certainly more detailed than I had ever studied the subject before. And I think it'll help us all to be able to communicate in fellowship with one another in more productive and beneficial ways.

First, let's go to Genesis 2 and verse 2. Let's begin by seeing how important the process of what we call communication is to God. This isn't necessarily an example of fellowship because they're not equals. This is the great creator of the universe talking to his creation and his relationship with them. But I want to emphasize how important communication is with God because part of fellowship, a big part of fellowship, is how we communicate with one another.

Whether we do it in a way of giving deference to another person, a way of honoring and caring for them, or whether we approach fellowship with the attitude that it's about me and what I have to say and what I think is important. Let's go to Genesis 2 and verse 2. It says, on the seventh day God ended his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. He set it apart because in it he rested from all the work which God had created and made. And of course, we still do that today. We honor the Sabbath day.

It's one of the Ten Commandments. It's a very important part of our belief system. Verse 4, this is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth in the heavens before any part of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God it had caused it to rain on the earth and there was no man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face to the ground. And the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.

So he became a living nafesh. Verse 8, the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Well, God takes the first step toward his long-time desire to expand his family because it's all about family. To God he's not selfish, he doesn't want to control everything, he doesn't want to own everything, he wants to give it all away. That's the kind of God that we serve, that we have the privilege of being part of his family at this time. So it didn't take long, unfortunately, before Adam and Eve, his beautiful creation, disobeyed their creator and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And that started the cycle of where mankind is today. Let's now go to chapter 3 and verse 7. Here's an important thing that I want to point out regarding communication.

They sinned, they ate of the fruit, the forbidden fruit, they should not have eaten of it, since then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. You see, brethren, this is what God always intended, not a God that's far away in the third heaven. Not so far from us that sometimes we just feel so alone and isolated from our creator. He was a creator who wanted to walk in the garden, who wanted to talk to his creation, who wanted to have a relationship with them. So they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord and among the trees of the garden. And you know, ever since this time, mankind has been hiding from God ever since, throughout history. Verse 9, then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? So God wanted to have a relationship with his creation. He wanted to communicate with them. He wanted to care for them. He loves his creation. The being who later would become known to us as Jesus Christ comes to the garden, and he wants to talk with them. He wants to teach them. He wants to spend time with them. Again, I wouldn't call this fellowship because the relationship is not in equal terms. It's more like a father and a small child type of relationship. He's the supreme creator. He's all-knowing. They're immature. They lack knowledge. However, my point is that communication, which is an essential part of good fellowship, communication is very important to God. It's so important that he gave us his word to talk to us, and he gave us prayers so that we can talk back to him. You see, communication is a two-way street. But this world, of course, is much larger than just one man and one woman, much larger than Adam and Eve. So let's take the next step and see if fellowship, if communicating with one another, because the world would grow much larger than a single man and a single woman, let's see if communication with one another would be important to God. Let's go to Leviticus 23 and verse 1. Leviticus 23. 1. Moses was inspired to write the words of God. He says, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, The Feast of the Lord you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. What is a convocation? Well, a convocation is a convention. The Hebrew word is mikra, and it means called out to an assembly. It means a rehearsal. It means gathering together. So he says here, You shall proclaim to be my holy conventions. From the very intention God did not intend for Greg Thomas to sit at home on the internet on the Sabbath day and fellowship with himself, or torture his wife by fellowshipping with her alone. Now, granted, I certainly understand that there are sometimes distance problems, there are health problems, there are very legitimate reasons that we can't come to church. I certainly understand that. But the point is that the rule of thumb that God is emphasizing here is that his feasts are holy conventions. And why are they holy conventions? Because we need each other. We need the fellowship with one another. I need you. I need your influence, your example, your encouragement. And hopefully you feel the same way about the other folks sitting in this room and sitting around you. God intended his people to come together to encourage and enlighten and edify one another. I cannot do that by myself alone, by isolating myself in my home. So it says, You shall proclaim to be holy convocation. That's one time that phrase is used.

These are my feasts. Six days work shall be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. We're here today. That's the second time that phrase is used. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord your God and all your dwellings. These are the feasts of the Lord. Holy convocations, that's three times. And you shall proclaim them at their point of times.

Now, by now, what does the number three represent? It's the number of finality. I mean, God says it. It's important to him. It's important that he wants his people to fellowship together. So important that he commands it. That he makes it a part of his feast. And we have to begin associating feast fellowship.

Feast gathering with God's people. That is just so important. And of course, the Sabbath is a feast day. So again, God states for emphasis three times that his feast days are a holy convention or assembly. Now, I have attended a lot of conventions in my lifetime, especially when I was in my sales career. I would go to exciting conventions like the National Association of Electrical Distributors. Doesn't that really sound exciting? But you know, I've never attended a convention and found out that I was the only one there. Funny how conventions are like that. Every time I went to a convention, there were people all over the place. And there were keynote addresses. And then between the periods of time in which we would sit in a room and listen to each other, there was plenty of time for what they called in the world networking. And you would talk to one another and you would sharpen up on your skills and you would encourage, what do you do? And what part of the country are you from? And you would learn about that person. And they would learn about you and you would share and grow and bond to the process of being part of that convention. That's exactly what God intended on his feast days. So why does God want his feast to be a public meeting? He wants us to fellowship with one another. He desires that we edify and encourage and strengthen each other. I cannot do those things if I am at home alone. I can't encourage you. I can't edify you. You can't strengthen me if I isolate myself at home. That's why fellowship is so important. God wants us to learn to love one another to the degree that when one of you cry, the rest of us tastes salt. That's how much he wants us to learn to love one another. He wants us to share our burdens, to pray for each of our needs, to rally around one of us when we're suffering and we're going through a trial or a problem in our lives. This is what fellowshiping is all about. Again, I cannot do those things if I am disconnected from God's people on the Sabbath or the other feast days.

I want to emphasize that the very Creator himself intended fellowshiping to be part of the way that we keep the Sabbath and the way that we keep his holy days, which all point to Jesus Christ, which all reflect what Jesus Christ has done, is doing, or will do for this world. Let's go to Leviticus 7 and verse 29. I'm not going to go into the details of the offerings today. That certainly is not my goal. But there was one offering that is about fellowship. It pointed to what Jesus Christ would fulfill and it pointed to what Jesus Christ wants his church, his people, to do today. It was an offering called the peace offering. And again, I'm just going to go through this quickly because I want to give you food for thought. Leviticus 7 and verse 29. It says, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offering to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offering. His own hand shall bring the offerings made by fire to the Lord. The fat with the breast he shall bring, and the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord, and the priest shall burn the fat on the altar. But the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons. Also the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a heave offering from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of the peace offering and the fat, shall have the right thigh as his part. Now you might say, why is all of this important? Why are you reading this, Mr. Thomas? Because one of the unique things about this peace offering was that the offering was shared. Unlike the other offerings, it was shared by the priests, by God, and by the person offering. You see, it was shared. Everybody participated in sharing this offering. It's sometimes referred to as the fellowship offering in some translations because of what it represents. Again, it isn't my intent to go deeply into the offerings today, but I just want to mention a few things that made the peace offering unique because they tie in with our topic today. First of all, the animal sacrificed into peace offering could be from the herd or from the flock. It could be a male or a female.

Not just a male, like other offerings had to be. Only a male. It could be a male or a female. Paul stated in Galatians 3, verse 28, that there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. You see, one of the beautiful things about this peace offering is it reflected the fact that all of us are sharing fellowship together. We all have equal access to Jesus Christ. Everyone has the ability to fellowship together, male and female. We don't segregate our congregations. When I go down to a part of Ohio known as the Welsh Byway, these were towns that were primarily populated by the original Welsh immigrants around Rio Grande, Ohio, where Bob Evans Farm is.

If you go to the cemeteries, you find that the first generation spoke only Welsh. Their headstones are in Welsh. One of the things I always found interesting about a few of their churches that still stand is that they had separate doors into the church and a divider. You see, the women went through one door and they sat on this half of the congregation. The men went through a different door and they all sat on that part of the congregation.

You see, there was a segregation between male and female, but Paul reminds us that we are all one in Jesus Christ. And the reason what he said is so powerful is that during his time virtually all the Jewish synagogues were for males only. Women couldn't even go to attend the synagogue. Virtually all the synagogues were for circumcised Jews only.

But Paul says, no, that's not right. You see, Jesus Christ wants us to fellowship. Male, female, free, slave, Jew, Gentile.

He wants us to fellowship and be part of one another's lives. And again, that is reflected by the fact that the peace offering could be of a male or a female from the flock or the herd.

The second thing I wanted to point out is what I mentioned a minute ago. And this was an offering that was shared by God, by the priests, and by the offeror. All the burnt offering was the Lord's. It belonged to the Lord except for the skin. Most of the grain offering was for the priest, but the peace offering was shared by all, each receiving their appointed portion. Fellowshipping means that we share what we have with one another. If we have physical blessings, we should share them. If we have wisdom and experience that we've gleaned over the years, we should share that in our conversations. If we have a spiritual gift, we should share it. If we have more time or opportunities than other people, we should share that time and opportunities to help other people grow. So again, reflected in this peace offering was the concept of sharing with one another. And then the peace offering was unique in that there was a meal that was associated with the peace offering. The other offerings didn't have enjoying a meal together associated with it. It's well known in all human cultures that food enhances bonding and discussion.

The original concept of family dinner, which I know is kind of lost in our society today, but the idea of family dinner was for mom and dad and the kids that one time of the day to sit down and talk about what's going on today. What's going on in your life? What went on in school today, you say to your teenager? And they say nothing. Sound familiar? But all human cultures understand the bond that is created by sharing a meal with one another. That's well known business lunches. Mr. Swope could confirm that he's probably written a lot of business sharing a business lunch with someone. And at the end of the lunch, they said, okay, I'll buy from you because there's a bonding that occurs when you share a meal with one another. And that's the reason we have Sabbath snacks, every Sabbath. Well, in a similar way, we should come to services for a two-course spiritual meal, every Sabbath. Course number one is public worship. We have a service, and publicly we acknowledge our great God. We thank Him for His calling and for His presence in our lives. We worship and adore and idolize His magnificence and His greatness. That's the first meal, the first course. And the second course is fellowship with one another. Sabbath services picture the future marriage supper with the Lamb of God. The bride is assembled together to honor and worship Christ the King. And we share a spiritual meal together.

That's what we do on the Sabbath day. We hear messages, we fellowship, we share a spiritual understanding in a meal together. Jesus Christ fulfilled the purpose of the peace offering, but you and I, as living sacrifices, can reflect the purpose of that peace offering every Sabbath, every feast day, by how we fellowship with one another. Well, let's now go to the New Covenant and take a look in the New Testament, the New Covenant, and see how much this concept of fellowship was emphasized. We'll begin Acts 2 and verse 38, certainly a scripture that we're familiar with. Peter's famous words in his sermon on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2 and verse 38. Then Peter said to them, We're added to them. That's a lot of people to be baptized in a day. Verse 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread, that is enjoying meals together, and in prayer. So let's first talk about this word, fellowship. It comes from a Greek word, and every scripture that I will read from this point on in the sermon, where the word fellowship is, it's this Greek word. It's koinoya. Konoya, which means a partnership. It means joint participation, social intercourse. It means that we are together as a team, as partners, trying to do something together. It also means distribution, and it's translated fellowship.

Now what teaching did they have to unify them in fellowship? What could they fellowship about? They had the apostles' doctrine. That's what it says here in verse 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Now let me ask you a question. This isn't a trick question. It's an honest question. Was the apostles' doctrine perfect or complete?

The answer to that question is no. The apostles' doctrine wasn't perfect or complete. The apostles were teaching that Christ would return in their lifetimes. He didn't. At this point in time, they were teaching that salvation was only possible for the Jews. God had opened up salvation to Jews and Gentiles.

But here's the key. In all of the important and essential doctrines regarding salvation, they were correct, and they were faithful, including who and what is Jesus Christ, salvation and repentance, the power of the Holy Spirit, respect and obedience for God's laws and commandments, observance of the New Covenant, holy days, preaching the gospel, prophecy, the resurrection, and their desire to be part of the kingdom of God. But they weren't perfect. They weren't complete. They focused on the important issues and not on things that are tangents and not on things that are minor issues that had nothing to do with their salvation.

The type of sin that was committed against Noah has nothing to do with my salvation or yours. It's a tangent issue. It's not really that important. It might be interesting, perhaps, but it's not important.

And you see, today, brethren, the Church of God tenaciously clings to the apostles' doctrines. Now, we have a term for it today. We call it the fundamentals of belief.

And I believe in our fundamentals of belief, or of good conscience. I could not stand here as your pastor if I did not believe in our fundamental beliefs. Now, are there small areas of doctrine in which I may not agree with the Church of God wholeheartedly or 100%? The answer to that question is yes, there are. But they are not important issues. And they're certainly not for me to stand before you and promote my own agenda and promote my own teaching. My job is to focus on the fundamental beliefs, what we call the apostles' doctrines. And that's what the Church of God clings to today. Are we perfect or are we complete in all knowledge today as the Church of God? Well, the answer is no. I came into the Church in 1971. I could spend the rest of this sermon telling you the changes, how much more mature and complete and understanding that we have become since that 40-year period. But what hasn't changed is the apostles' doctrine. It was the same in 1971. It was the same in 31 A.D. and the Church of God clings to the apostles' doctrines today. So we are not perfect or complete in all knowledge. But we can believe and we can be sure that God will reveal things to us when the Church of God is ready. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 4. Paul writes, I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. I'm going to read verse 9 from the translation of God's Word for today. It says, God faithfully keeps His promises. He calls you to be partners with His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, Jesus Christ has lots of partners. His partners are everyone whom He is called and given His Spirit to. So if I'm going to be a partner with Jesus Christ, I also have to be a partner with His other partners. I have to be a partner, I have to fellowship with other like-minded believers that He is given His Spirit to. Paul is talking to a congregation here known as Corinth, and they together as the body were the fellowship of Jesus Christ. It was a partnership similar to sharing of the original peace offering mentioned in the Old Covenant or the Old Testament. Fellowship is to include God, our relationship with God, and our relationship with one another. But fellowship can go awry when we take truth and knowledge in what is very strongly held by us to a particular point that we cross a line. Let's see how this was occurring in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31.

The context is Paul talking about gifts, and maybe one of the problems in Corinth was that they had very talented people. It was a congregation that was blessed with a lot of spiritual gifts. And sometimes when you're given that much, you struggle. When you're that blessed as a congregation, you struggle with the kind of issues that Paul is talking about here today. Here's what he says in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31.

If I had all the gifts to speak in tongues, or the ability to understand another language, or spontaneously speak and translate into many languages, but I have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. He says, if I don't have love, even though I have the gift of tongues, all I do is make noise. All I do is irritate people. Verse 2. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could move mountains. So he says, if I could tell you exactly what prophecy is going to occur from this moment out until Jesus Christ returns, if I could tell you every step that Europe would take and the Middle East nations would take, and I could tell you all of these things, but I don't have love. I am nothing. He doesn't even say I'm a little. He doesn't say I'm partial. He doesn't say I'm halfway there if I have these things. He said, if I lack love, I have nothing. If I understand all mysteries or all knowledge, if I study the Bible from cover to cover, and I could tell you analogies and representations and symbols that you've never even conceived of or thought of before or revealed you to things that you've never heard.

He says, though I have all faith, the kind of faith that literally could move mountains, if I have not love, I am nothing. Zero. He says, that's what I would be. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, though I'm a martyr and I'm willing to go through the most horrendous type of death, but have not love. It profits me nothing. It doesn't gain me a single thing in the eyes of God.

Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. And obviously there were people in this congregation who were pretending to be the smartest man in the room. And that can be a problem. There were people walking around parading themselves, puffed up, because some had the gifts of being able to speak in tongues. Others had the gift of understood prophecy. Others had the gift of understanding mysteries that most of us would never comprehend. Others had the gift of faith, incredible faith. But Paul says they lacked love.

They were doing it for the wrong reasons. They were parading themselves. They were puffed up. Love does not behave rudely. It doesn't have a conversation. And when you say, Bill, thank you for your input, I'm wrong. That's rudeness. That's not the kind of fellowship that we want to have. It does not seek its own. It's not provoked. It thinks no evil. It does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail.

Whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. So Paul is emphasizing the importance of love along with these spiritual gifts. Brethren, it's not about how much we know or think we know. It's about what we are that matters to God. Our hearts, our minds, our attitudes. And I am fully aware of the fact that there are critics on the Internet who ridicule us for having an emphasis on love.

And I know very well that there are some who would prefer to obsess over women's head coverings rather than the concept of what Paul is talking about here. There are some who would like to get on the Internet, and every day is, here is another thing that all of you are doing wrong because I'm spiritual, I'm superior, I'm the one in knowledge. So all three of you listen to what I have to say on my blog.

I realize there are people like that. I understand there are people who want to take the truth of God and make it 999 do's and don'ts. And if you violate one of those don'ts, then God doesn't love you.

Then you're not quite up to my standards while you're not in the superior class like I am. I understand that there are people like that. People out there, I am not a church, but here's my PayPal link, you're welcome to send me your money.

I understand there are people like that out there. But I personally will choose to focus on Christ and what he said. And he said in Matthew 22 that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. I understand that there are people whose entire theology, whose entire worldview of the church and Jesus Christ is built on the foundation of the book of Leviticus.

My foundation is built on the books called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And from the words and the life of Jesus Christ is how I filter the rest of the scripture. From the very God of the Old Testament who walked in the earth is how I filter the rest of the scriptures. I don't filter them through the writings of Paul.

I don't filter them through the book of Leviticus. I filter them through the words and the actions and the example of the mediator of the New Testament known as Jesus Christ. But when people interpret their worldview from the Pentateuch, then everything is about judgmentalism, do's and don'ts, trying to please God continually. The great God who's just looking for one flaw in your life to punish you and to come down on you and to keep you out of his kingdom.

Unfortunately, that is a worldview that many people have and it's distorted and it's not biblical and it certainly doesn't coincide with what is taught in the New Covenant. Let's go to Philippians chapter 1 and verse 1. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 1.

Paul writes to this congregation Philippi, Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making request for you all with joy. That's a little different than a lot of what I see in the Internet, frankly. A lot of so-called blogs. What they want to do is they want to examine everybody for every potential flaw and judge everybody and judge everything who isn't exactly like them.

I'm right, you're wrong. That's what they think truth is. That's what they think understanding of Scriptures is. He says in verse 5, "...for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." So Paul commends the congregation here in Philippi on their ability, the fellowship with excellence.

He says, from the first day this congregation was formed. It was blessed with this ability. And again, brethren, I have to tell you that this congregation, many people have commented to me about what a wonderful job, how warm and friendly that the Cleveland congregation is, about what a great job people do to make visitors and everyone feel loved and welcome when they come through that door. And I commend you on that, and I thank you for that.

Now let's go to chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. Chapter 2, Philippians, beginning in verse 1. Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, and again, I'm glad that he adds that dimension. It's the gift of the Holy Spirit that we share with one another. Remember, the Holy Spirit, the Eve of Christ's death, he said, my Father and I will come and make our home with you. It's that Spirit that resides in Jesus Christ, that resides in the Father, that resides in all of those in this room who have been baptized and received the Holy Spirit to the laying on of hands. That is the fellowship that we all have, the fellowship in the Spirit. Continuing in verse 2.

So again, it's the gift of the Holy Spirit that we share with one another and that we also share with Jesus Christ. He gives some excellent points on healthy fellowship that I want to focus on for a few minutes. First of all, he says being like-minded. That's very important. We may all have our own particular beliefs and doctrinal issues that we think is the truth. We've convinced ourselves, this is the truth. I believe this is the truth.

We may be convinced, even sure, that what we believe on a particular issue is good and right. And you know what? That's fine. And I support your right to live according to what your conscience dictates. But, brethren, the Church of God is not the place for any of us to promote our particular beliefs, no matter how truthful we may think they are.

If we believe the Church needs to correct a doctrine or needs to change something, needs to change a teaching, for example, there is a process that occurs within the Church. You can submit any information you want, and it will go through committees, and it will be studied and analyzed. But that process is not the local congregation. It is not here that we should do that. The problem, you see, is let's say we talk about a doctrinal issue, and I have a truth. I believe that this is right, and it's true. And you believe differently, and you have the truth of that doctrine. And a third person believes differently, and they have the truth of that doctrine.

Then what is that going to cause? That's just going to cause dissension. That's going to cause problems. And I'm just humble enough to believe that maybe all three of us are wrong. That's a possibility. So why have dissension and argument and problems over a truth that was deeply held that we might believe is very important that we want others to know about? So, brethren, if your truth is different than my truth, and our truth is different than someone else's truth, we'll never be like-minded in fellowship.

We'll never have healthy or productive fellowship with one another. Let's talk about his phrase, same love, which is a phrase Paul uses here in Philippians. Same love, love is outgoing concern for others. It means not getting in someone's face, they're trying to teach, or enlighten them on the Sabbath. You know, people work hard all week, and they come to services to worship and joy. They don't want to be confronted with someone's doctrinal agenda. They don't want to be corrected. They don't want to be told that they're wrong.

They came here to worship and enjoy fellowship with people of like mind. He uses the phrase, one mind and accord, and that means that we realize that there's a dividing line between salvation issues that are very important, and then a lot of stuff that frankly isn't. It means don't major in the minors. When we get excited about a topic, when we get into something, it's very easy for us to begin to major in the minors.

Another phrase he uses is selfish ambition and conceit. And I realize that some people crave attention, and for some people being a know-it-all draws them the attention that they desire. I know that some people believe God's given them the authority and the ability to teach others, and that to do so is their calling. But the only thing I would ask anybody to do is temper that with some of the experiences that I had in the early 1970s coming into the church.

For example, the very first Sabbath I attended, an individual came up to me and informed me. This is 1971. Now that the government has printed new money, and within six months, all dollars are going to be recalled, and you're just going to get one dollar of the new money for ten dollars of the old money, and after a certain date, the old money will be worthless. And that this is the beginning of the mark of the beast, and this is absolutely going to happen.

That was his truth. And I can assure you, as passionately as he presented it, he believed with all of his heart that he had a special truth. Well, he was wrong, wasn't he? Within a couple of weeks, I had a gentleman come up to me with a Nazi obsession. Nazis are everywhere. Nazis are going to take over the... Hitler isn't really dead. Really? Well, what about that skull? No, no, no, that's not true. Hitler really isn't dead. The Nazis are going to take over the United States. And he was all frantic and excited because that was his agenda.

You see, he wasn't coming to church the fellowship. He was coming to church to promote his own personal truth, his own personal agenda. And that is not what fellowship is about. These things may have been truth to these people, and they may have sincerely believed them, but they had deceived themselves. Another phrase Paul uses here is the lowliness of mind. That means, while we're fellowshiping, to have an attitude of a learner, a disciple, in contrast to trying to show everyone that we're the smartest person in the room.

That's very important. It means we don't argue with others or try to convince them of a truth that we have. Another phrase he uses is, esteem others better than yourself. This means that we respect others and we give deference to them. Rather than trying to impress others, we serve them with honor and with patience. So it isn't about impressing other people with how much we know. It should be serving people with the gifts that God has given us.

And he says in another phrase, final phrase I'll focus on in his Scripture, looking out for the interest of others. That means that we don't aggravate or provoke others with our point of view. And I understand when we become passionate about something, when we think we have a truth, we may have a tendency to get in other people's face and to literally aggravate them, to bully them, to provoke them to our point of view. That's not a good thing. That is not healthy biblical fellowship. We know that we don't like to be aggravated. I mean, I don't like people in my face.

I don't like people telling me that I'm wrong and trying to correct me all the time. Not that that is a problem. I mean, I don't have the background of a pastor. I worked in the world. And every day I was told I'm wrong. So being told wrong isn't the problem. I'm quite used to that. But it's the attitude behind someone saying something like that that is the problem. So in closing, I'd like to give a couple of healthy guidelines to beneficial fellowship. And I hope that these will help us as a congregation who already has a good reputation in this area, help us to get to another level of fellowship.

Because I want us to have a nationwide reputation. And, man, those people in Cleveland are the warmest, friendliest people. The fellowship is incredible. They talk about spiritual things. They're there to help. They let you know they're going to pray for you in times of need. They just show so much love and caring for every visitor who walks through that door. So the first point is to talk about spiritual things like the fulfillment of prophecy.

That is unraveling before our eyes. The preaching of the Gospel. What Christ has done in your life. How are you called? What opened your mind to the truth? The spiritual lessons you've learned. If you've been in the church for five years or 25 years or 50 years. Your faith. Things that have strengthened your faith that you have learned. Answered prayers in your life. We all have those kinds of stories about answered prayers.

And sound biblical topics. But let's major in the majors. And not major in the tangent issues. Not major in the minors. Another thing we can do is to love others by asking them how they're doing. How is your week? How are you doing? I say you've had knee surgery. How is your knee doing? It's that kind of concern that we should be showing to one another. We should encourage and strengthen.

And edify means to build. That comes from a Greek word. When they say edify, it means to build something up. If you and I are building a home, how far are we going to get if we walk in there and say, Well, the architect said we should have green canoe. I think the architect said the carpeting should be blue. No, I think the architect said we shouldn't have carpeting. Well, how far are we going to build that home? How well are we going to do building that home? If everyone is coming in with their truth. You see, it's the apostles' doctrine.

Those fundamental beliefs. The majors that we need to be focusing on. Because that is everything you need to know to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the grace of God. When people walk away from us after we have talked to them, they should say to themselves, Wow, there goes a positive ambassador for Jesus Christ.

There goes someone who just made me feel uplifted. Someone who just made me feel like I'm the most important person in the world. Someone who just encouraged me and strengthened me and makes me thankful that I came here today to worship God and to be with God's people. That's what people should be saying to themselves after a conversation and when they move on. And the third point I would like to bring across before our final scripture is to avoid disputation.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 23, he said, But avoid foolish, ignorant disputes knowing that they generate strife. And that's what disputes do. They just generate strife. They don't help us to move on to perfection. They don't make us any smarter or any wiser. They just generate strife. And if someone starts to dispute with you or promote their own truth, respond in a Christian way, give them a big smile from ear to ear, and shake their hand and excuse yourself and move on. But don't dispute with them. Don't get in a shouting match.

Don't get angry. Don't get frustrated. Just move on and pray for them. Let's take a look at our final scripture, 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9. See what the Apostle John had to say late in his life. 1 John chapter 1 verse 1. 1 John 1.1. John wrote, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. So he says, look, John says, I was there. I touched Jesus Christ.

I smelled Jesus Christ. I handled him. I saw him with my own eyes. I was there as an eyewitness, he says. Verse 2. The life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life was with the Father and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our, that's all of us, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. Isn't that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit? You know, that really should be the hallmark of our fellowship.

We should radiate joy and excitement and enthusiasm to be in God's presence during services, to be among God's people. What a delight we should feel to be among people of like mind, of God's people, that your joy may be full. Verse 5. This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. But if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, Jesus Christ was our example. He was the perfect servant leader. He loved people to the point of being willing to give up his own life for individuals so that we could have access to the Father and salvation. So he says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So if we haven't been hitting the mark, if we haven't been fellowshiping in the way that we've discussed today in the sermon, then let's reboot. Let's improve, even though we're a very strong congregation in that, regardless, even become better.

We not only have an opportunity today after services, but next Sabbath, we have folks from many different congregations in Ohio that are going to be joining us for the cookout and campout weekend. So let's continue as the Cleveland congregation to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord, and let's fellowship together in a positive and healthy way that builds one another, because that's what God wants us to do.

By doing that, we'll be following the perfect example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a great Sabbath!