A Prepared Bride 14 - Loving Your Neighbor 2 – Fellowship

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:20-22 NIV

In this prayer, Jesus is asking for the Father to make those who would believe in Him to be one – one mind to obey His Word, one heart to fulfill His destiny and calling, one Body to do the work of His kingdom.

At one point in human history, man was of one mind and purpose but without God.

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel--because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Gen 11:1-9 NIV

Man had refused to obey the edict of God which was,

"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Gen 1:28 NIV

As is our penchant without Christ, and all too often with Christ, we want to do what we think best, what seems right to us, what we have decided is the best course of action.

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.
Prov 12:15 NIV

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Prov 14:12 NIV

So it was with mankind at Babel. Rather than dispersing throughout the world, filling and subduing it (having dominion over it), they chose narcissism, love of self over worship or love of God. They purposed in their minds to erect a monument to establish their place in history and around which they could rally to prevent their being scattered. They were therefore constructing a symbol of their defiance of God.

“The real motive therefore was the desire for renown, and the object was to establish a noted central point, which might serve to maintain their unity. The one was just as ungodly as the other. For, according to the divine purpose, men were to fill the earth, i.e., to spread over the whole earth, not indeed to separate, but to maintain their inward unity notwithstanding their dispersion. But the fact that they were afraid of dispersion is a proof that the inward spiritual bond of unity and fellowship, not only "the oneness of their God and their worship," but also the unity of brotherly love, was already broken by sin. Consequently the undertaking, dictated by pride, to preserve and consolidate by outward means the unity which was inwardly lost, could not be successful, but could only bring down the judgment of dispersion.”*

As the author of the previous statement pointed out, God had originally established a spiritual bond of unity and fellowship, a unity of “brotherly love” but which was broken by sin. As it is that Jesus came to reconcile man back to God (2 Cor. 5:18), so it is that He came to bring unity, a true oneness among His people.

We read His prayer in John 17; it is the undeniable will of God for His children, those who answered His call to be disciples, those who have accepted Him as Savior and Lord
“that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” It must be recognized that there is a specific purpose for this oneness - that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:21 NIV

The unity of the body of believers, this fellowship, this “breaking off a little piece of ourselves and sharing with others” is a sign to the unbeliever, an evidence that Jesus was sent from the Father! How incredible is that and at the same time how damning! If we function as we were created, in unity, then the world will know that Jesus is the Christ sent from the Father. However, the adverse is also true. If we are territorial, building our own empires rather than the Kingdom of God, if we back-bite and slander one another, if we fight over nonessential doctrine which we have created, then those looking on will simply call us fools and will not believe.

Paul needed to address this issue even with the first century church.

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 1 Cor 1:10-14 NIV

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe-as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. 1 Cor 3:1-9 NIV

Paul states here that these believers were worldly and incapable of receiving mature teaching because of their divisiveness. When Paul wrote the letters that we now have as the books of our New Testament, he wrote to one church in the city. For instance, the book that we refer to as Romans was written by Paul to

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Rom 1:7 NIV

He, indeed, wrote to one church because all the different gatherings throughout the city considered themselves part of one church, one Body, one family – the church at Rome. If Paul were alive, in the flesh, today and he wrote a letter to, let’s say, the church in Chicago, or the church in Sao Paulo or the church in London or the church in Bucksnort, KY, who would get the letter? The local ministerial association would have to have an emergency meeting to discuss the matter and review the letter. After dissecting it, each according to their own understanding, all references to judgment would have to be toned down or eliminated, especially those referring to sodomy or perversion. Several groups would take issue with the baptism by immersion verses. The inherent evil of the sinful nature would be taken to task by yet another. One faction would certainly stand up to proclaim that the letter was written specifically to them because they had the “Word of God”. Yet, another would discount it completely because it didn’t come from Peter or his duly appointed successor! By the time it reached the people, if it ever reached the people and was stalled in committee, one would have no idea what Paul’s original intent let alone what his original words were!

The condition of the church today is deplorable. Denominations and neo-nondenominations are all convinced that they have the answer and more dangerously that only they have the answer. Whether it has been around since the first century or is has just sprung up in the last, there is little evidence of what Jesus prayed for. No wonder the world laughs in our face.

Fellowship, the true communion of the believers is characterized by laying down our lives for each other,

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:12-13 NIV

by putting our brethren ahead of us,

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Phil 2:3-4 NIV

by service.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:12-17 NIV

Many are establishing their own empire in the name of the Lord, but the day will come when they will have an epiphany.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Matt 7:21-23 NIV

You may think that this speaks of the unsaved but I warn you that this speaks to those who use their gift for their own purposes under the guise of ministry.

Returning to fellowship – without this kind of true, spiritual bond, we cannot grow, we cannot reach our potential in God.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Rom 12:4-5 NIV

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 1 Cor 12:12-14 NIV

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Cor 12:26-27 NIV

We are a body. If you continue to read in 1 Corinthians 12, you will see that Paul saying that one body part cannot say that it doesn’t need another part. We each need the other. You cannot “be all that you can be” unless you are part of a living, growing, thriving entity.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Eph 4:14-16 NIV

The body grows as each part does its work! This is fellowship! This is communion! It is me doing what I am called and equipped to do, not necessarily want I want to do and you doing what you are called and equipped to do. If everybody is doing what they are supposed to do, that is want we call “Revival”. Revival is no more than everyone repenting for not doing what they should or for doing what they shouldn’t and getting about the Father’s business.

Then the world sees the unity and the love of the brethren and is drawn to that love and therefore to the love of the Father!

To return to story of the Tower of Babel, judgment came as a result of trying to achieve unity outside of God and refusing to obey His command. However, God did say,

"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Gen 11:6 NIV

Now, He has given us one language by His Spirit and nothing that He has planned for us shall be impossible!

*(from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)