Amen, amen. Some years ago, I received an article about a study that questioned 246 full-time pastors who had fallen into sexual immorality. the late Dr. Howard Hendricks. How many of you guys have heard of Howard Hendricks? Probably most of you if you've been around. A well-known and much-loved Bible teacher of the 20th century conducted this study of these 246 pastors. And as far as Dr. Hendricks could discern, all of these men were born-again believers. But after interviewing each one of them, he identified four common characteristics in their lives. Number one, none of the men were involved in any kind of personal accountability. Number two, none of the men maintained a daily time of personal Bible reading and prayer. Number three, over 80% of them became intimately involved with the other woman after spending significant time with her, often in a counseling situation. And number four, without exception, all of the 246 men had been convinced that that sort of thing could never happen to them. Now folks, whether or not you are involved in full-time ministry or not, there are some big lessons that each and every one of us, pastor or plumber, young or old, male or female, can take away from this study. So my question is this, for you all, are you ready? Here are some big lessons that we can take away this morning. And this is just my introduction here. First and foremost, you can write these down. In isolation, sin thrives. In isolation, sin thrives. Satan loves and lives in the darkness and he works tirelessly to keep us all there as well. And he does this because lies live best where? in the dark. That's exactly right. Our heavenly father knows this and that is why he intends for each and every one of us to be actively involved in a local body of believers called the church. God has created the church to be many things and only one of which is a community of people who help each other fight the good fight That is, fight sin, live victorious Christian lives in a dark, sinful, very perverted world. In the church, God calls us into relationships where we speak the truth to one another, Ephesians 4.15, 4.25, confess sins to one another, right? James 5.16, and love each other enough to pursue the other person if they begin to stray. I think of Matthew 18. I think of Galatians 6, one through two, and James 5, 19 through 20, just to name a few. So that's number one. The second lesson that we can all learn is that in isolation, flirting with sin often results, falling into sin. Flirting with sin results in falling into sin. Sin is a slippery slope, right? The longer you walk along that edge, that knife edge though, that edge of the abyss, the greater chances that you will fall into that abyss. In other words, the more we place ourselves in dangerous, compromising situations, the greater the chance that we, or that a fall into sin will happen. As God said to Cain, do you remember this? The very beginning in Genesis chapter four, sin is crouching at the door, right? And it's desires for you. And then in the words of Peter, Satan is roaming around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to what? to devour, 1 Peter 5, 8. Folks, we all need to flee from sin and not flirt with it. A third lesson that needs to be learned is that in isolation, pride blinds us to our weaknesses. Most of us probably believe that such a serious sin would never happen to us, that we would never stoop so low, fall so far, just as those 246 pastors had. But Paul warns us against such an attitude in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12. It says this, therefore let him who thinks he stands, what? Help me. Take heed that he does not fall. Beloved, the strongest man in the Bible, who is he? Samson. And the wisest man in the Bible? Solomon. And even the man after God's own heart, David, were all overcome by sexual sin. So don't be fooled. Don't be mistaken. Don't think that you're above this temptation. No one is. Therefore, all of us must work hard at placing hedges of protection around ourselves, and one of those hedges, as we're gonna see this morning, is a local church. And finally, we could probably go on and on and on, right? But again, like I said, this is only the introduction. Finally, the fourth lesson to be learned is that in isolation, purity is lost. Purity is cultivated by loving Jesus, by reading the word. We've seen this this summer, right? By prayer and by fellowshipping with other believers. And somewhere along the line, each one of these 246 men began to drift. Their prayers became less passionate. The promises of God's word grew dusty. His commands were no longer a delight, and their love for Jesus became something spoken of in the past tense. Now how do you know that, pastor? Because their desire for God's word had dried up. None of them were having daily devotions. They no longer read it. They no longer missed it. The newborn baby longing for the pure milk of the word as Peter describes a true believer in 1 Peter 2.2 had what? Had dissipated, had disappeared. Now perhaps you're wondering, why in the world would I spend so much time in this introduction on something as discouraging as a study of 246 fallen pastors? I mean, pastor, why would you do that? Because when I read it, I was reminded how crucial it is for each and every one of us to be actively involved in our local church. Once again, sin thrives in isolation. I want you to write down this verse, and I want you to get to know it very well. Proverbs 18, one. If you don't have it underlined or highlighted in your Bible, you should. It says this. He who separates himself does what? Seeks his own desire. He quarrels against all sound wisdom. And that was a proverb written almost 3,000 years ago, and oh, how true it is today. And that's why I wanna speak to you today about fellowship. This is one of the spiritual disciplines. As we're looking at the runway a couple weeks down, or the landing strip a couple weeks away. Folks, I cannot stress for you how important genuine fellowship is among God's people. As a matter of fact, it's so important that it was one of the four pillars that Luke describes in Acts chapter two of the early church. So let's open our Bibles up to Luke chapter two. And please stand with me out of respect for the reading of God's marvelous word. And yes, we've read this a couple times already this summer, but we've looked at each one of these different aspects of the early church. And let's begin with verse 37. in order to see the context of verse 42. Verse 37 says, now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? And I love this in verse 38. Peter said to them, what? Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself. Verse 40. And with many other words, he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation. So then those who had received his word were baptized, and that day there were added about 3,000 souls. Now that's all the context. Now listen to Luke's words in verse 42, describing the priorities of that very first congregation of believers, and here it is. They, were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. You may be seated. Now if you're visiting with us this morning, We're taking a little hiatus from our normal exposition through the book of Romans and we've been focusing our summer series on godliness through discipline. and talking about all the different spiritual disciplines. And so far we've looked at what the scripture has to say about reading God's word or the apostles' teaching, about prayer, about giving, expository listening, and, and, and. And so today we come to this all-important topic of Christian fellowship. Notice that it's number two listed on this list. So why is fellowship so important? That's a really good question. Emotionally, think about this, healthy people crave community. And why is that? Because that's how God made us. Healthy people crave community. I should say emotionally healthy people, excuse me. And therefore we have all kinds of clubs, we have all kinds of groups, gangs, leagues, teams, societies, associations, networks, fraternities, and movements. All of those things have been created over hundreds and hundreds of years, really over the millennia. But all those leave a person longing for more. Spiritually healthy people, that is Christians who live in faithful response to God's work, God's work, using his word through his spirits, have already found the community that everyone else is searching for. And they found it in what the Bible calls fellowship. God has created us for fellowship. But some Christians foolishly think that they can remain spiritually healthy apart from breathing the fresh air of biblical fellowship. Now, there are differing degrees of that soul malady, ranging from those who don't go to church at all, to those who slide in in just the very last second into service, right, and then rush out of the building as soon as the last song is sung, or take any and every excuse that they can not to come on church, or not to come to church. Then there are others who believe that the only fellowship that they need takes place when they rub shoulders with other Christians at work or in their neighborhood or at school, at play. And they think, I don't really need the local church because I'm part of the, you've probably heard this before like I have, universal church, right? Now it is true that we certainly can have some measure of fellowship with other Christians wherever we go, wherever we meet them, but consistent, listen carefully, consistent, life-sustaining fellowship in the New Testament is inseparably joined to intimacy within a community of born-again believers. Once again, listen to how Luke described the early, what was it, gang? in Jerusalem, fraternity in Jerusalem? No, it was the early church, was it not? Verse 42, they were continually devoting themselves. This is the 120 and the 3,000 who just got saved. So it's 3,120. Just kidding, kinda, right? That's what we know so far. But they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. And perhaps you're thinking, I can see why that early church needed to have such fellowship. I mean, they were facing all kinds of persecution, all kinds of imprisonment, and even death. But why should I fellowship with the members of a local body of believers specifically, especially if I live so far away, right? I have to drive so far. And especially if I have such a hectic schedule and have regular contact with other believers outside of a church setting. Why would that apply to me, pastor? And those are good questions, and by the time we're done with this morning, I hope to convince each and every one of you that fellowship within a church body is absolutely vital to your spiritual health, it's vital to your spiritual growth, and vital to your spiritual protection. Let's look at what happens in the context of fellowship. This is number 2A in your outline. In fellowship, spiritual life is shared. In fellowship, spiritual life is shared. The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia. That's the Greek word. And it can be translated, listen, here's the translation possibilities. Fellowship, participation, communion, communion. partnership, or community. In short, it has the idea of sharing in something. And at the time that the New Testament was being written, this word was used in secular Greek writings to refer to people sharing in business enterprises. It was used to describe legal relationships, citizenship, marriage, and especially friendships. In all these instances, a bond existed between differing parties or a group of people. God then inspired many of the biblical writers to use that same word, koinonia, to describe one of the priorities of the early church as we just read in Acts 2.42. But get this, he didn't just use that word in Acts 2.42, he also inspired the apostle Paul to use this word as a description of the believer's relationship with none other than who? Jesus, who is the Christ. Listen to this, write down these verses. 1 Corinthians 1.9, God is faithful through whom you are called into fellowship with his what? With his son Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul then used this word also to describe a believer's relationship with the Holy Spirit. How about this verse, 2 Corinthians 13, 14. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Would that include us, do you think? Okay, so far we have the church, we have Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit, and then we find the Apostle John, once again, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, use this same word to describe our fellowship with God the Father and God the Son. 1 John 1.3, what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. So there we have all three members of the Trinity and the basis for this spiritual supernatural bond that Christians have with one another is the fellowship that we first have with Him. That's what unites us, correct? I have a relationship with the living God and so do you if you know him and that unites us together. How many of you guys have been overseas and couldn't even speak the language with somebody and they were born again believers and instantly you knew that there was a bond there? I've had that experience time and time and time again, I kid you not. What a blessing. You just look in another man's eyes, another woman's eyes, and you say, that brother knows the Lord, and is so excited to see you. Listen to what one Bible scholar said about 1 John 1, 3. He says, anybody in fellowship with Jesus Christ is also in fellowship with anybody else in fellowship with Jesus Christ. That makes sense. This is our common ground. It is not social, economic, intellectual, cosmetic, or anything else superficial. Our common ground is that which is pulsing through the life of every Christian. The heartbeat of God. Our common ground is that we possess a common eternal life in our children of the same family. Amen. It is this vibrant, vigorous word koinonia that the Bible uses when it describes a spiritual bond and dynamic relationship between people in the body of Christ. And together we are participants in a living, suffering, dying, inheriting, reigning with Jesus Christ type of community. You get Romans 6-6, 6-8, 8-17, Philippians 3-10, 2 Timothy 2-12. Go look these verses up, you guys. There's way too many to comment upon. We have communion in eternal life. We are partners together in the great commission. and we share a common gift, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Thus, Christian fellowship, my dear brothers and sisters, is unique. No other fellowship can compare to it. Not that between lifelong dear friends, listen to me very carefully, Brothers or sisters, physical brothers or physical sisters, or parents, or children, not even the love between a husband and wife can compare if Christ is not the bond there. You can't. One Bible scholar I read described true fellowship as life touching life to bring blessing and spiritual growth. You know, so many marriages that one or the other, either the husband or the wife, is not married to a believer. And usually church on Sunday is such a time of a breath of fresh air for that person because there's no real communion, no real fellowship with that unbeliever. By now it should be obvious that Koinonia is far more than just attending a worship service once a week, though it certainly can occur there as well. Beloved, what many believers, and especially I think many American believers, fail to realize is that fellowship extends far beyond that merely of socializing. eating bagels and donuts and drinking coffee together between 10 and 10.30, right? Does not necessarily mean that true biblical fellowship has occurred. Listen once again to another quote that was too good to leave out. It is not a good sign when a person sees no difference between munching sweets and eating a square meal. Equally, it is not a good sign when Christians see no difference between social activities in Christian company and what the New Testament calls fellowship in Christ. All I can say to that is well said. Think of it like this. Think of it like as two concentric circles, right? And the larger circle is socializing. And then the other inner circle is fellowship. Fellowship always takes place within the context of socializing. But we can socialize without having genuine fellowship. Do you realize that? You can be talking about your work, about sports, about the weather, the economic downturn going on, and none of that would be comprised of true biblical fellowship. Again, socializing is the large of the two circles because it involves sharing the common things of human life. All people can do that, and all people do do that to one degree or another, and that's a gift of God and very much part of being human. But Christian fellowship is different. Christian fellowship involves the sharing of spiritual life with one another. Listen to what Don Whitney writes. He says, two or more Christians can sit together for hours, talking only of the news, the weather, the sports, while completely ignoring their need to discuss directly spiritual matters. I'm not saying that every conversation between Christians must include references to Bible verses, recent answers to prayer, or insights from today's devotional time, but I've observed that many otherwise committed Christians are so independent in their practice of the spiritual disciplines that they almost never talk about such things on a heart level. Now he goes on. And without personal interaction about the mutual interests, problems, and aspirations of discipleship, our spiritual lives are impoverished. Then at the end of the day, having merely socialized, we think we have fellowshiped. Only Christians can have the rich banquet of koinonia. But too often we settle for a little more than the fast food kind of socializing which even the world can experience, end quote. Well said, Dr. Whitney. Beloved, Since we share with one another in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have the indwelling spirit of the living God in us, that alone gives us more to talk about than the world can ever dream about. Does that make sense? Fellowship, true fellowship can happen anywhere at any time. Here's some possibilities. It can happen when two or more believers in Christ simply talk with each other about God and God's word. It can happen during SMAG. It can happen during HFGs. Fellowship occurs when Christians listen together as God's word is revealed through the preaching and teaching of his word. Fellowship takes place when believers pray with each other. It takes place in small group Bible studies, like on our Monday night. HFGs, it can be experienced when working in the church with another believer, when visiting the sick, taking a meal to someone during an evangelistic outreach, setting up and tearing down for a big event, or even while cleaning the church. Fellowship should thrive when Christians eat a meal together. It should happen when believing husbands and wives are home together in the evening, talking about what God's doing in their life. At the end of this morning's message, I've got a number of questions that you can use to really jumpstart that koinonia in your life, if that seems a little awkward for you to talk about spiritual things. All it requires is believers speaking together about their Lord. We don't have to go to some complicated definition of fellowship, right? Listen to what one Scottish pastor said about fellowship. He said, fellowship between Christians is a gift of God. It is a true means of grace. Christians are spiritual people, and they feel comparatively isolated in this world, but God gives them this compensation, that the fellowship they enjoy with like-minded brethren and sisters is marvelously therapeutic and sweet. Is that true? Folks, I love it when people come over and they're like, hey, pastor, I got some theological questions for you. Oh, good. Let's talk. Please. Right? Don't talk to me about the Seahawks. I have nothing to say. I don't know a single player. I don't know who the coach is. Now, don't go out and string me up because of that stuff. Some people think, well, you should know that stuff. Okay, maybe I should. I don't have enough time, right? Or whatever else. Talk to me about the Bible, please. Friend, and with you, yourself, not just me. I mean, you guys can talk to me about anything, but you guys know what I'm saying. Friend, God intends his children to enjoy the therapeutic sweetness of fellowship. He really does. In the reservoir where we may drink these refreshing waters of true biblical fellowship is the church. And that's where that early church found them during that time. It is in the church. So what are some other ways that God blesses his people through fellowship with their local church? This is number two B, near L.A., grace is experience. First in fellowship you experience the grace of God in ways that you cannot experience in any other type of community. And as we've seen already, after Pentecost, the members of the church in Jerusalem were, again Acts 2.42, continually, don't forget that word there, devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And those early Christians found something in fellowship that they couldn't experience in listening to the apostles teach or taking part in communion or in praying with other believers. Fellowship certainly happens during those other activities, but it is also an entity completely by itself, does that make sense? And that's why he listed all four of them. And while each one of these four pillars of the early church had a special irreplaceable role, it must also be said that koinonia, that of koinonia, that God chooses to touch lives through it unlike he does in any other way. Even the great apostle Paul knew that he needed that kind of fellowship with other believers. And he wrote these words to the church in Rome in Romans 15, 32. So that I may come to you in joy by the will of God, what is it? And find refreshing rest in your company. But that's a beautiful word picture of the blessing that fellowship should have among true believers. And Paul was looking forward to that. By God's grace, I get to travel to Germany after our time in Israel. And I'm really looking forward to it. I can write the same thing. I'm looking forward to spending time, refreshing rest in your company. I really mean that. It's a beautiful word picture of the blessings of fellowship among believers. And God gives us sustaining grace and strength through our fellowship with other believers. And without it, you will be a spiritual weakling. I know you might think that that's not necessarily the case, that you're so strong, you're so mature that you don't need that. But I think that's what happened with those 246 fallen pastors. They probably thought something similar. Listen to what one author had to say about this. I believe, he goes on, and I quote, I believe that one of the reasons why great sections of the modern church are so often sluggish and feeble compared with our counterparts of one or two centuries ago is that the secret of fellowship has been lost. Christ rebuked the Laodiceans for complacently supposing that they had all that they needed when they were actually in a state of spiritual bankruptcy. Do you remember that? He said, we're rich, we have everything, right? And he says, you're blind, you're naked, and you're dead. He goes on, I believe that he would rebuke us for talking so glibly about the happy fellowship we have with each other when lack of fellowship really is one of our glaring shortcomings. A body in which the blood does not circulate properly is always below par. And fellowship corresponds to the circulation of the blood in the body of Christ. Excuse me. We gain strength through fellowship and we lose strength without it. That is so true. My dear, dear brothers and sisters, when you distance yourselves from fellowship with the church, there's a very real sense in which you distance yourself from the grace of God himself or itself. So don't do that. Stay close to the place where God loves to be gracious. And when you're close with God's people, you experience the grace and the gifts given to others. And that brings us right to our next point. In fellowship, spiritual gifts are shared. This is number three B. God gives each Christian spiritual gifts that are to be used for the education of the church. The apostle Peter taught this in his first letter in 1 Peter 4.10. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4.10. God has gifted you for the purpose of ministering to others. And he's gifted others in your church with gifts that you don't possess to be used in ministering to who? to you, to us. Listen to what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in Ephesians four. Verse 15, but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ. Is that God's will for our lives? Some of us or all of us? Let me go back and reread that because it's so important. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ, okay? Follow me, verse 16. from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working," here he says it again, of what? Each individual part, which causes, right? Causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. How important are all of us? Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, and underline and highlight it, very important. I'm realizing how good plastic works as a sound shield to the children's room. I should have thought about that before I said, oh, plastic is fine. The Puritan John Owens said this regarding the passage we just read. It is the greatest and most glorious description of the communion of the saints that we have in the scripture. Wow, that glorious description is of a church body that grows stronger because of its fellowship. He's talking about Ephesians 4, 15 through 16. Do you see the sharing together, the koinonia that occurs, my dear brothers and sisters, when every joint, that is to say, and he says each individual part of the body is involved in building up of itself in love? That's what it takes. Folks, there's no way that that can happen if only part of us use our gifts to minister to each other. When the pastor, elders, deacons, and 20% of the others do most of the work, then that means that the gifts that God has given to the rest of the body are not being used. And if they're not being used, then we as a body are the poor fort, and we're not functioning the way that God intended for us to function. Folks, listen, if we are a church of about 500 people, then we should be known as a church of 500 servants, amen? Brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter how old or how young you are, whether you think you're a leader or not, whether you've grown up in the church or it's your first week here, God has a spiritual smorgasbord called koinonia from which you are invited to feed on and be strengthened from. And that is God's will for all of us. Not just the early church, that 120 and the 3,000, but you too. You too are to bless others with your spiritual gifts. Now, let's keep moving on. Our next point is that in fellowship we're encouraged to grow in godliness. When we come to church, we're encouraged to be faithful with our Bible reading, right? I often say something like that, or prayer, or public and private worship, or serving, or a hundred other things that we talk about on a regular basis. For example, when I'm discouraged about my own personal prayer life, but when somebody then shares with me an exciting answer to one of their prayers over this past week, guess what that encourages me to continue to do? Pray, exactly right. But without fellowship to stimulate good spiritual habits, we inevitably slide into bad habits, leading to spiritual weakness. And listen to what the writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 3.13. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today. Is it still called today? Yup. so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Oh, that must be a danger, otherwise he wouldn't have said it. Now think about this, in order to encourage one another day after day, we must fellowship. And what happens if we don't? Well, the writer of Hebrews says that sin will happen. Sin will deceive us, it will blind our eyes, it will stop up our ears and harden our hearts to the things of God. It's what he tells us right here. And many Christians discount fellowship, but zealously practice all the other spiritual disciplines, albeit in isolation, but they do, like Bible reading, prayer, And what inevitably happens that they become spiritual, you ready for this? Eccentrics. Weirdos. It's a little bit more contemporary word. If you don't know what eccentric is, he is a weirdo. They become spiritual weirdos, hardened and warped in areas unbeknownst to themselves. It's like not having a mirror in your home and you just go around daily, never looking in the mirror, and somebody comes over and they're like shocked. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Everything okay? Yeah, everything's fine, why? They hop from church to church to church, smiling but never softening to share in the life and body of the church. Or with a face hardened by bitterness, they may become so sharp-tongued towards organized religion, and I've heard that so many times. But one thing is for certain, when they reject the fellowship of the saints, they are not becoming more like Jesus. That is for sure. I don't care, whatever else you call it. Jesus even defines his relationship with us as fellowship. We just heard it, right? In 1 John. Folks, that's precious. What do you think we're gonna be doing in heaven for all of eternity? Hello, shipping. We gonna be talking about the Seahawks? I'll bet you my bottom dollar, I'm not a betting man, that won't be a topic of our conversation. Listen once again what the writer of Hebrews so clearly says in Hebrews 10, 24 and 25. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day Drawing near. Beloved, here God warns us not to forsake our own assembling together. And this becomes even more imperative, more important as we see the end times getting closer and closer and closer. Another one of God's commands that cannot be obeyed without fellowship is to love one another. Do you realize that? For in fellowship, love, that's where love is found. Apostle John said this in John 13, 34 and 35. He said this, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Can you imagine Jesus saying, hey, I love you, all you apostles, and never spending any time with them? What are the characteristics of Jesus? He spent all kinds of oodles of time with his disciples. Now verse 35, by this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Well that's not all Jesus said. Listen to John 15, 12. This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. And after Christ returned to heaven, John wrote this in 1 John 3, 23. This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of the Son of Jesus Christ and love one another just as he commanded us. Now while it's true that we can show love towards someone in their absence, like mowing their lawn, preparing a meal for them, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, we normally give and receive love in person. In order to love the people in your church and in order to be loved by them, you must, you must, you must spend time with them. You cannot say that you love someone and yet not want to spend any time with them, right? And seriously think that an all-knowing God in a watchful world is going to believe that. No. There is an inherent risk in fellowship. Can you kind of guess what it might be? Because of the personal nature of fellowship, no one can hurt a believer as deeply as another believer. The more we have in common with other believers, the more we have shared life together, the more vulnerable, therefore, we are to getting hurt. And the simple reason why that sometimes that happens is because we're still all yet sinners. None of us are perfect. You will say things that offend me, I guarantee it. But it says, blessed is the man who overlooks a transgression. I will say things that offend you sometimes. I don't mean to. I've overlooked something, right? And it's not intended. And so we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Most often, it's oftentimes never intended. Well, guess who experienced that? David experienced that. One of the saddest, most poignant of all of his Psalms, he wrote these words in Psalm 55, verses 12 through 14, he said this, for it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide myself from him. Listen to what he says. But it is you, a man my equal, my companion, and my familiar friend, We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in the throng. Do you remember when Absalom was creating a rebellion against David? And he fled Jerusalem, and there was a counselor there by the name of Ahithophel. And so basically, Ahithophel's words were like the words of God, everybody listened to them. Maybe this man was a hythophil, I'm just guessing. But David prayed to the Lord, God, make his counsel like naught. May it come to nothing. But such a sad experience has sometimes come to us as too, for we're all still sinners and even believers can sin against each other. However, it's also true that no one can love you quite like the brothers and sisters of your church family can. When the world thinks that you're worthless, no one can build you up as well as your church family can. No one is quicker to pick you up when you fall down than those who share in the forgiveness of God with you. No one will listen more patiently and compassionately to the stories of your pain than the people of God in your church family. No one will pray to God to heal you or guide you. or provide for you as the church of the living God will and no one will stick by you when you're in trouble as those with whom you've had fellowship. Such exceptions can be found in every church to one degree or to one degree or another out of each one of these assertions. The bond of fellowship creates expectations that sometimes go unmet just as the bonds of matrimony do. Anybody married longer than a week know that. And the sweeter the fellowship among the believers, the more bitter the occasional disappointments. I get that. But my dear, dear brothers and sisters, I believe it is much, much better to have experienced true fellowship and sometimes be hurt than never to have experienced fellowship at all, amen? Just as the blessings of a godly marriage outweigh the occasional hurts and unmet expectations, and just as the joys of parenting outweigh the labor and the disappointments, so too the robust benefits of biblical fellowship far away the intermittent experiences of misunderstanding or sin. But you must make deposits if you want to make withdrawals. Correct? You want people to be there for you, then you must be there for them. Just because you share a pew with someone does not mean that you necessarily share life with that person. Attendance and fellowship are not the same thing. Those who make the biggest contributions to fellowship receive the greatest outpourings of love in return. For in fellowship, spiritual needs are met. This is number 6B in your outline. Spiritual people need to talk about spiritual things. You guys know that? Jerry Bridges writes this. He says, spiritual fellowship is not a luxury, but a necessity vital to our spiritual growth and health. You must have been reading the same verses that we've looked at so far this morning. Another author concurred with that thought. He said this, he said, the fellowship of sharing with one another what we have received from the Lord is a spiritual necessity, for God has not made us self-sufficient. We are not made so that we can keep going on our own. That's not why God made us. The story is told of an old pastor who went to visit a church member who had been neglecting fellowship. The man invited him in, and they both sat down next to the fireplace. Without speaking, the pastor looked thoughtfully into the fire for several minutes. Then taking the iron poker, he pulled out one of the red-hot coals from the front edge of the fire. Soon it lost its glowing warmth and became dark and cold. Suddenly the pastor pushed the coal back into the company of the other embers and it quickly returned to its former glow. I see what you mean, pastor, the man admitted sheepishly. I'll be back this Sunday. Now maybe you've heard this story before, like I have. I've heard it several times. But it still makes a powerful point. the strength of your spiritual fire is directly related to the fellowship that you have with others in the body of Christ. You will not be able to maintain your spiritual fervency without the spiritual fuel God supplies through koinonia. And from stem to stern, the Bible highlights both a need for and value of fellowship. Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 10. And he says, all the more as you see that day drawing near. Do we see the deception and the darkness growing or is it getting better? I don't know about you, if you've been asleep or in a coma. But our world has changed, and it is changing at a breakneck speed. I don't know when the Lord's gonna come back. He could come back today. I hope it is today. But he says, all the more as you see that day drawing near. So my dear brothers and sisters, we're gonna need this type of fellowship. more and more as each subsequent day goes on. And beloved, I want to be absolutely clear about something this morning. It's in fellowship that sin is avoided. This is number seven. If you neglect fellowship, it's not just that you're missing out on blessings and robbing others of blessings that you should have been giving to them, but I believe that you're also sinning against God. Now, pastor, why in the world would you say something like this? Because the Bible says it. Listen to what it says. Again, look at Hebrews chapter 10. Let's read this carefully. and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of son, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. This verse not only condemns those who don't attend church, would you guys agree with me there? Okay, but it goes further and condemns those who don't fellowship there. Did you see that? That's to forsake the assembling together, as well as to neglect, here it is, encouraging one another, I believe is a sinful violation of this inspired text. Not going to church is a sin, do you realize that? We all miss church from time to time, that's not the sin I'm talking about. But like, I don't need church, I'm good, I've got the Bible, I've got a personal relationship with Jesus, I'm good, right? That's sinful. But he says something different here. He goes on, he says, encouraging one another. So how should we be assembling together and encouraging one another? And folks, you can't do it by only sitting in the worship service, even though that's certainly one aspect of fellowship. A lot of the encouragement that's spoken of here obviously has to do with, excuse me, face-to-face interaction. And that can take place in an infinite number of ways, and it will happen as you make your church a priority for you and your family. And over the years, I've had, or I've heard many, many reasons why people have cut the cords of fellowship with their church. I've heard all kinds of reasons. But not one of them has ever sounded like something that Jesus would do. John Wesley put it best when he said this, there's nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian. How about that as a quote? Might wanna write that one down. There's nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian. John Wesley. And as we draw to a close this morning, Consider for a moment that in fellowship, the cost of being involved in others' lives is counted. There is a cost to be counted. Earlier this morning, we looked at 1 John 1, 3, which declares that the foundation of our fellowship with Christians on earth is our fellowship with God in heaven. Do you remember hearing that in 1 John 1, 3? We have fellowship with God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. He says this in verse three, what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Now as we ponder this particular verse, think about what it cost God to provide us with such a tremendous privilege as fellowship with him. What was the cost? The privilege of participation in eternal life and glory, as well as the privilege of enjoying the best relationships in this world right now, in this time period, were paid for by the death of God's Son. Thus, if it costs God so dearly to provide the privilege of fellowship, My dear, dear brothers and sisters, it may cost you something as well. And one of those costs, I'll list a couple of them off for you, how about that? One of those costs is gonna be time. You may live far away from a church where you can find true fellowship, but I believe with all my heart that a good church is worth the drive. In Africa, it'd be worth the walk maybe. Or in Brazil. My wife tells of families that would all get on one bicycle together and bike wherever the church building was. It may cost you time. Second, it may cost you initiative. You may need to take the lead to make fellowship intentional. Folks, don't just wait around for others to invite you over. Take the initiative to have people over in your life. Invite them out for coffee. Go bless them with a meal. Love to see the meal list. My wife tells me about how quickly meal lists fill up. Praise the Lord. Should that not be the case? As I was studying for this message, I ran across a story about a couple who were new to church. Listen, I love this story. They attended for a couple of months, but no one invited them over. But instead of getting upset about it and leaving the church, they systematically invited every family over in the course of the following year. And by the end of that year, they had become dear to everyone in that church, no doubt. No doubt. Now in order to make this really practical, Let me give you a few potential questions that you can use to get the fellowship ball rolling, right? Feel free to write these down and use them. You guys can go back, if you miss any of them, you can go back online and look at the slides. Here's a good question for you. What have you seen God doing in your life lately? What's something the Lord has recently taught you through his word? How about that? You don't have to ask him about their Bible reading. Just ask him, so what's God taught you recently? Your study of Romans or whatever you're studying. What do you believe are your spiritual strengths at this stage in your Christian walk, your Christian life? Where are you experiencing slow goings right now spiritually? In other words, What's been difficult lately? How are you doing with your Bible reading, time of prayer, family devotions, church attendance, giving and serving? Some of the spiritual disciplines that we've been talking about. What's the most meaningful thing that has happened to you since the last time we talked? What's the most important decision facing you in the near future? I'll pray for you. Have you read anything recently that has helped you spiritually? How is your ministry at such and such a place going? Please pray for me as I'm ministering here or over there or with this person. How can I pray for your family? For you personally? Please pray for me and my family that we would, you fill in the blank. Folks, these are just a few sample questions that you can use, right? My dear friends, if you're born again, then God has created you to be a social being, and specifically as a believer that you would fellowship, and he has made fellowship for you too. If you're the kind of person that goes from group to group, right, looking for fellowship in independent Bible studies, men's or women's groups in all kinds of different churches or any other parachurch organization everywhere but the local church, then prepare to be disappointed. No Christian organization can ever take the place of the one institution that Jesus Christ has lived and died to create, and that is his church. There's no plan B. There's only plan A for this world until he comes back. I'll close with a quote from British theologian Alistair McGrath. The Christian is not meant to be nor called to be a radical or solitary romantic wandering in isolated loneliness through the world. Rather, the Christian is called to be a member of a community. And amen to that. That community of my dear, dear brothers and sisters, my dear friends, is none other than the church of Jesus Christ. And so let's each and every one of us treasure that community as we should, as God's word calls us to, day after day and all the more as we see that day approaching, amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this reminder this morning about fellowship. And Lord, your word really does speak from stem to stern. The vital necessity true believers should desire and really should pursue and plan on and plan for with one another. Whether it was Old Testament saints as we read in the David and the Psalm, Oh Lord, we see all throughout the New Testament your plan for the church. So Lord, I pray that where we have fallen down, Lord, I've fallen down so often, please forgive me. In the same breath, I thank you for the complete forgiveness that we have through Jesus, who is the Christ. We thank you for that blessed forgiveness. And I pray that each and every one of us would begin thinking your thoughts after you and doing the things that you call us to do. And I pray that fellowship would not be a weakness, but a strength for this body of believers. And Lord, especially as we see that day drawing near. Thank you again for this time. Pray for your hand of blessing among this body of believers. Pray this for your glory, honor, and praise in Jesus.