FELLOWSHIP & SHARING IN THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS

Transcription

1 FELLOWSHIP & SHARING IN THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS The idea f a "cmmn unity" between all thse wh belng t Jesus seems t be largely ignred, in these days. It may, at times, be acknwledged in the "thelgical" realm, but it is grssly neglected - r even ppsed - in everyday life. Even the idea f "fellwship" - ne f the expressins f this cmmn unity - has becme stripped f its riginal meaning - and nw ften implies nthing mre than cming tgether fr heavy eating and shallw cnversatin. But gluttny and frivlus speech are a far cry frm the way f life that belngs t us - and is required f us - as children f the Mst High Gd. This study fcuses n varius dimensins f cmmunity, fellwship and sharing, as fund in the New Testament. It fcuses bth n the facts, which are t influence ur perspective n the way we shuld live, as well as n the cmmands, which are t influence ur actins. (The cntext, as always, must be taken int cnsideratin.) This is what we must strive fr, if we want t escape the shallw, superficial, institutinalized "Christianity," which surrunds us. It may lk quite impressive t peple, with all its prgrams and activities, but it makes Gd want t vmit. (Cmpare t Revelatin 3:14-22.) PART 1: FELLOWSHIP, COMMUNITY, SHARING... A. With Gd 1. "Gd" r "the Father" 1 Jhn 1:3 - Our fellwship is with the Father. 1 Jhn If we claim t have fellwship with him, yet walk in darkness, we lie... / If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellwship with each ther (Gd / us) "Jesus Christ" 1 Jhn 1:3 - Our fellwship is with... [the Father's] Sn, Jesus Christ. 1 Crinthians 1:9 - Gd... called us int fellwship with his Sn, Jesus Christ, ur Lrd. [The wrd "Lrd" means "Master."] 3. "The Bdy/Bld f Jesus Christ" 1 Crinthians 10:16 - The "cup f blessing" is a participatin/sharing in the bld f Christ; the bread is a participatin/sharing in the bdy f Christ. [Nte the cntrast t v. 18, 20, which mentins participatin/sharing in a pagan alter and the demns represented by it.]

2 4. "The Hly Spirit" 2 Crinthians 13:14 - May... the fellwship f the Hly Spirit be with yu all. [Nte: This verse culd be understd as saying either: 1) the Hly Spirit is the surce f that fellwship, r 2) we are in clse fellwship with him. Either interpretatin wuld give us a true statement abut peple wh belng t Gd.] Philippians 2:1 - If yu have any... fellwship with the Spirit... be ne-minded (etc.). B. With Gd's Blessings, Character, etc. 1. Blessings f the Gspel ("Gd News") and Salvatin Rmans 11:17 - [Based n an analgy: the grafting f wild live branches int a cultivated live tree, even thugh it is cntrary t their wild nature:] Yu Gentiles (nn-jews) were grafted int the tree (symblizing Israel) & share in the nurishment that cmes frm the rt (symblizing the Jews' frefathers, t whm the prmises were given). [= Yu get t share in the blessings, etc., that came as a result f the prmises given by Gd, t the Jew's ancestrs - even thugh these prmises were nt riginally given t yu.] Rmans 15:27a - Yu Gentiles (nn-jews) have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings. [secnd half f the verse: Therefre, yu Gentiles (nn-jews) have an bligatin t share with them (the needy Christian Jews) yur physical blessings.] 1 Crinthians 9:23 - Paul: I d all things fr all peple... fr the gspel's sake. [The gspel = the "gd news" abut salvatin.] He did this s that, tgether, they culd share in its (the gspel's) blessings. [Paul was willing t give-up any f his "rights" and privileges fr the gd f thers.] 2. Grace (Undeserved Kindness) Philippians 1:7 - Yu all share in Gd's grace with me. 3. Divine Nature (Gd's Mral Character) 2 Peter 1:4 - Because f Gd's prmises (see v. 3), these tw things are nw pssible: 1) Yu can nw participate / share in the divine nature [= Yu can have/develp his mral character in yur life (which means, yu can becme "like Christ")] and... 2) Yu can escape the crruptin in the wrld, which is caused by evil desires. 4. Glry 1 Peter 5:1 - Peter witnessed Christ's sufferings in the past. [He als shared in them, in the sense f 1 Peter 4:13]. In the future, he will share in Christ's glry - a glry that will be smeday be revealed (made knwn) t all. [See 1 Peter 4:13 & ther verses in the sectin abut suffering & its blessings. Sharing in Christ's glry is made pssible because f ur willingness t als share in his sufferings.]

3 C. With Peple - "Reciprcal" Sharing [the same type f sharing is expressed by each f thse invlved] 1. Individual Peple Ding Things Tgether (examples) Luke 5:10 - James and Jhn - Simn's fishing partners. 2 Crinthians 8:23 - Titus = Paul's partner and fellw-wrker Philippians 1:5 - They (Paul & the Christians at Philippi) were partners (in many ways) in spreading the gd news abut Jesus. 2. The Expressin f Lve and Cmmunity... with ther believers (a general statement and tw examples) Acts 2:42 - All the believers... devted themselves t... fellwship, etc. Galatians 2:9 - The leaders (the apstles & thers, in the church at Jerusalem) gave Paul and Barnabas the "right hand f fellwship." [They acknwledged them as partners.] Philemn 1:17 - Paul t Philemn: If yu cnsider me a partner, then welcme him (Philemn's runaway slave, Onesimus, wh was returning t Philemn) the same way yu wuld welcme me. 3. The Expressin f Lve and Cmmunity... with thse wh are enduring trials/persecutin Hebrews 10:33 - Yu were willing t assciate publicly with (t be a partner with) thse wh were being insulted and persecuted. 4. The Sharing f One's Faith with Other Christians Philemn 1:6 - I pray that yu will be active in "living-ut" the faith we share. [The fcus here is nt in "sul-winning" - which sme peple call "sharing the faith" - but in the day-t-day expressin f ne's faith, within the cmmunity f believers. It is cnnected with the lve we must have fr Gd's peple - that is, fr ur spiritual brthers and sisters.] 5. Telling Others Abut Jesus, S That They Als Can Have a Part in Our Fellwship 1 Jhn 1:3 - We prclaim the things we have seen and heard s that yu als may have fellwship with us (als with the Father and the Sn). 6. COMMENT: Nte that few, if any, f these verses fcus n the mutual sharing f material pssessins. This des nt imply that such sharing is wrng, but it des shw that there are many ther things t share, besides mere physical bjects! (Mst instances f "sharing" f pssessins will be fund in the next sectin.)

4 D. With Peple - "Directinal" Sharing [the sharing is initiated by ne persn and received by anther] 1. With Thse in Need (Sharing Material Pssessins With Them) Rmans 12:13 - Share with the believers wh are in need. Rmans 15:26 - The Christians in Macednia & Achaia were pleased t make a cntributin t (= t share with) the pverty-stricken believers wh lived in Jerusalem. [See als v. 27, which reminds us that we nn-jews are sharing in the spiritual blessings that belng t the Jews.] 2 Crinthians 8:4 - The Macednian Christians pleaded fr the privilege f sharing in this expressin f serving/helping the Jewish believers. 2 Crinthians 9:13 - Many peple will praise Gd because f yur genersity in sharing with the Jews (and with thers). Philippians 4:15 - Yu were the nly grup f Christians wh shared with me, as far as "giving and receiving" were cncerned. [Paul shared spiritual blessings with them, which they received; in return, they prvided fr Paul's physical needs - physical blessings which Paul received. See als v they als shared in his trubles.] 1 Timthy 6:18 - Cmmand the rich t be generus and willing t share (and als t d gd things, etc.). Hebrews 13:16 - Dn't frget t d gd things & t share with thers: Gd is pleased with these types f "sacrifices." 2. The Sharing Between a Learner and a Teacher; the Sharing f Material and Spiritual Blessings/Pssessins Galatians 6:6 - Thse wh are taught/instructed abut the Wrd shuld share "all gd things" with their teachers. Philippians 4:15 - Yu were the nly grup f Christians wh shared with me, as far as "giving and receiving" were cncerned. [(See als the previus sectin.) The Philippians helped Paul by sharing their material pssessins with him; Paul helped them by sharing spiritual blessings/pssessins with them.] NOTE: Each f them - the teacher and the learner - are invlved in "directinal" sharing, each sharing with the ther smething that the ther has need f. The Galatians 6:6 passage desn't necessarily imply the sharing f material pssessins (thugh it desn't exclude them, either). Hwever, the Philippians 4:15 passage des imply the sharing f material blessings/pssessins (as well as the sharing f spiritual blessings/pssessins). 3. The Sharing f Frmerly Unrevealed Truths abut Gd's Salvatin t the Gentiles (nn- Jews) Ephesians 3:9 [KJV manuscripts] - Cncerning the "mystery" abut hw Gentiles culd inherit the prmise f salvatin (thrugh Jesus Christ): [MOST TRANSLATIONS] - Paul helped peple understand by "explaining" it; [KJV] - Paul helped peple understand hw the Gentiles culd "share" in these matters. [Bth translatin grups cmmunicate apprximately the same message, but in slightly different ways.]

5 E. With Suffering, as Well as with the Blessings That G alng with this Suffering: Patience, Encuragement, Glry, etc Crinthians 1:7 - Yu have shared in ur sufferings... yu will als [share] in ur cmfrt/encuragement. 2. Philippians 3:10 - I want t knw Christ and... what it means t share in his sufferings... s that I may als "attain" the resurrectin frm the dead. [Thse wh share in Christ's sufferings will als share in his resurrectin, and all it encmpasses. (See 1 Peter 4:13, belw.) Paul can attain the resurrectin nly because f his assciatin/cnnectin with Christ.] 3. Philippians 4:14 - It was gd fr yu t share in my trubles (emphasis prbably n Paul's needs). [See als v. 15, which mentins ther dimensins f this sharing.] 4. 1 Peter 4:13 - (Abut painful trials...) Rejice that yu share in the sufferings f Christ. When his glry is revealed, yu will be filled with jy (in cntrast t their present situatin). [They will receive blessings, glry, etc. At the present, they may experience pain, but the time will cme that they will experience jy - and this jy will last frever.] 5. Revelatin 1:9 - Jhn - yur brther and sharer / cmpanin in: 1) the suffering, 2) the kingdm, and 3) the patient endurance - all three f which are urs because we are in Jesus. 6. Hebrews 10:33 - They nt nly endured suffering, but they were willing t assciate/be a partner with thers wh were als suffering. 7. SOMETHING TO CONSIDER: Many peple want the blessings... but they're nt willing t accept the suffering that cmes first! F. A Few Misc. Passages 1. Participatin/Sharing in What an Alter Symblizes (if yu sacrifice at that altar) 1 Crinthians 10:18 - Peple wh eat the sacrifices participate/share in what the altar symblizes. [Fcus: the incmpatibility f sharing in the Lrd's bdy/bld (v. 16) and (at the same time) having fellwship with the demns represented by a pagan altar. Yu can't have a part in/with bth!] 2. Participatin in Humanity - Jesus Willing t "Share" Human Nature with the Rest f us Hebrews 2:14 - Since Gd's children have flesh/bld, Jesus was als willing t share in their humanity (s he culd cnquer the devil & free us frm death). 3. Partnership in the Gspel (Gd News) Philippians 1:5 - They were partners (in many ways) in spreading the gd news abut Jesus. S whenever Paul prayed fr them, he prayed with jy.

6 G. Things t AVOID having Fellwship/Partnership With Nte: In sme f these verses, a direct prhibitin against the activity will nt be fund. Instead, the cntext shws that it is wrng. 2. Sins 1 Timthy 5:22 - Dn't share in ther peple's sins Revelatin 18:4 - [Regarding the "Babyln" f prphecy] Cme ut f Babyln, my peple, s yu wn't share/participate in her sins (and experience her punishment f plagues). 3. Darkness and its Fruits (spiritual darkness) 2 Crinthians 6:14 - What fellwship des light have with darkness? Ephesians 5:11 - Have nthing t d with [dn't share/participate in] the "fruitless" (wrthless) deeds f darkness. Instead, expse them fr what they are! 4. The Wicked Wrk f Apstates (peple wh have departed frm the faith) 2 Jhn 1:11 - Anyne wh welcmes a deceiver/antichrist shares in his evil/wicked wrk/activities. [Dn't welcme him!] 5. Killing Peple wh are Righteus (example: killing the Prphets) Matthew 23:30 - The hypcritical bast f the religius leaders/teachers: "If we had lived in the days f ur ancestrs, we wuldn't have helped them [participated with them] in killing the prphets!" [Actually, they were just like their ancestrs, and they were abut t d smething even wrse than them, by killing Jesus!] 6. Demns 1 Crinthians 10:20 - I dn't want yu t be partners with demns. [See v. 18; als the cntrast t sharing in the bld/bdy f Christ - v. 16.] PART 2: SOME OF THE THINGS WE HAVE IN COMMON A. Preliminary ntes: 1. The Bible uses the idea f "cmmn" in tw ways. In a "psitive" sense, the Bible describes the early Christians as having many things in cmmn. They als shared things, as the need arse. They were all part f a cmmn bnd, since they had all fllwed the way f Jesus. 2. The Bible als uses the wrd "cmmn" in cnnectin with the Jewish ceremnial regulatins. In this sense, the cncept has a "negative" cnntatin. It is used in the sense f being the ppsite f "special" r "set apart (fr smething gd)," and is usually translated by wrds such as, unclean, unhly, r impure. Because this use f the wrd is s different frm ur present fcus n "sharing" (and s different frm the way mst peple tday use the wrd "cmmn"), verses that have this fcus are mitted frm this study.

7 B. Cmmn pssessins f believers 1. Acts 2:44 - The believers... had everything in cmmn. [They shared with thse believers wh were in need.] 2. Acts 4:32 - They shared [had in cmmn] everything they had. See v fr examples f this. See chapter 5 fr a "bad example" f sharing. Ananias and Sapphira lied by claiming that they were sharing all, thugh they were actually sharing nly part. Keeping part f the mney was OK; lying abut it was a sin deserving death. C. Cmmn faith/salvatin 1. Titus 1:4 - Paul called Titus his "true sn" in their "cmmn faith." 2. Jude 1:3 - Jude says we all share the same "cmmn salvatin." THE NEW TESTAMENT GREEK WORDS USED IN THIS STUDY: PART 1: Fellwship, Cmmunity, Sharing... - The Greek wrds used in this part f the utline can be divided int tw subgrups: 1) kinne, kinnia, kinniks, and kinns - which carry the general idea f "sharing," and 2) sugkinne and sugkinns - which carry the idea f "sharing tgether." PART 2: Sme f the Things We Have in Cmmn... - All the verses in this part f the utline use the Greek wrd: kins. Dennis Hinks 1987, 2000