0:07 Good morning family. [clears throat] It really challenged and blessed my heart to hear you young people and children saying our memory verse. I've never been in a church where the memory verse for the week has been 1 Thessalonians 4:3. 0:26 Uh, I'm thankful that we are a church that is memorizing that verse. Children, if you young people, if you can take it to heart to flee, it's how it's described in another passage. Flee from sexual immorality. 0:46 Some of you children that memorize it don't even know what that is. That's okay. You will. You will be tempted. And the sooner at a young age, if you can remember, you want to know what God's will is for your life, 1:03 he says it very this is the will of God. Flee sexual immorality. When you're tempted to look with your eyes, tempted to speak with people of the opposite sex like they do and the 1:18 rest of your friends do, flee. abstain. Have nothing to do with that. If you feel that pull, don't engage it for even a second or a minute. If you leave the door open toward lust, even an inch, 1:36 entertain that look, it will lead you into more and more misery. Uh it'll make you a prisoner [clears throat] and it'll destroy your life. So fight it, dear young people, especially you young boys and young men. 1:55 Battle it and remember that Jesus was a man. And I think about this in the wonderful way in which God ordained for Jesus length of life. It included those years when men are tempted the most. I believe teens and 20s. 2:14 And throughout his life, you must believe this. Jesus was tempted as he walked and got more and finished the way of salvation. He was always perfect. Um perhaps that draw was less. I don't know. We don't have to try to 2:33 understand too much about the flesh of Jesus. But we know he was tempted in all points as we are. And for you young boys, young men, you older men, if you're in this battle, which I hope you're fighting it, not yielding to it, 2:50 remember Jesus, one tempted like you in all things. Able to sympathize with you when you fall, able to sympathize when you feel that pull and reach out to him, cry out to him. This is the will of God though that you 3:09 abstain from sexual immorality. So I'm very encouraged. I hope you'll you'll take that to heart. It's a good verse. I think it's the third year in a row we've memorized it. It's usually around this time of October when all kinds of evil is on full 3:26 display as I'm sure you see. Sadly, it gets worse. And uh sadly, Christians participate in that evil, evil holiday that's coming up this week. It's sad. It grieves me when I see it. Um and the the glorification 3:45 of evil, glorification of death and de demons, demonic activity and um uh ghosts and all of that. Yeah, it's true. We have nothing to fear with the evil world. But the Bible does say, 4:04 "Have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness." It it shocks me how many Christians participate in Halloween and allow their children to. If only they could see the demons that are hovering over this earth. Be alert. The Bible says, "Be sober. 4:26 Your enemy, he's out to get you, is prowling around you. If you knew that there was a lion out there, would you leave the door propped open? Would you say, "Ah, what? You know, it's just he can't fit through the door. Oh, 4:41 he'll find a way." And be watchful. Don't be drawn into it. Sure, some of you children, maybe you're in your classes and people will ask you, "Oh, what are you going to do for Halloween? What how are you going to get a lot of 4:57 candy?" Don't be ashamed to say, "I'm sorry. We don't celebrate that." You won't regret it. If you can learn that boldness now to stand for the truth, to stand for your conviction, it will benefit you much tremendously when you're older. I'm 5:16 thankful. You know, one of the reasons I believe that God has given me grace to stand for convictions, and I know I haven't always been faithful. I don't want you to get the impression that I was somehow a very faithful person. But 5:27 today, I I more and more I'm able to stand for my convictions with boldness and speak with boldness. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the grace of God. But it's also because I was raised in a home where we weren't 5:39 unashamed. We were taught I saw my parents live it out that what we saw the Lord uh his will for us, we weren't ashamed to say. We weren't embarrassed about it. And sometimes that meant we didn't have a lot of friends or 5:52 our neighbors kind of looked at us as the weird people. It's okay. I've not suffered. I tell you, I've gained spiritually. And the strength of conviction that that built up in me at a young age when I was four, five, six years old. I didn't even 6:07 know it is there today. It's given me strength to be a bold witness. Even now, parents, we owe it to our children to show them that we're men and women of conviction. When the Lord shows us something in his word, it doesn't matter if all of 6:22 Christianity turns away from it. We will not. Not legalistically, not judgmentally, not comparing ourselves with others or even thinking that we're better than them, but walking that narrow way. One day Jesus will come and 6:36 he will show us that every single word in this book, he meant in a Christendom that cuts this out and scratches that out and say, "Well, this is for that culture and this is for that period of time and all of that." And I'm 6:50 will I'm ready for that day. And likewise when you face and so parents we owe it to our children to to be people of conviction to not be ashamed to stand for Jesus Christ and for his truth and to stand for purity and light 7:09 as uh as the exact opposite of darkness and evil and impurity and immodesty. And when we stand for that, sure your children may be made made fun of at school, but that's nothing compared to how Jesus was made fun of when he hung 7:26 on the cross for my sin, for our sins. So children, take courage this week. If you face situations or whenever you face situations in life, God is on your side to help you. He will help you. Ask him to fill you with the Holy Spirit and 7:43 keep your heart pure. Keep your heart pure. I'd like to speak today about fellowship. As you know, uh it's in our name, River of Life Christian Fellowship. And that it just happens to be in our name. But that is one of the things we 8:02 seek to emphasize in the church. Many churches, have you seen I wrote a little booklet about it because the Lord really impressed that on my heart some years ago. And then he made me walk through the reality of it. That as I saw 8:15 it, there were three categories of people of Christian gatherings. One was congregations, which is people who really wanted a relationship with God, but they weren't really integrated into each other. In fact, I think the church 8:30 that I came from before I came here to Colorado was like that. There were many hungry godly people but it was a mega church huge and there wasn't a knitting together into a body and I saw those those are congregations good good preaching good teachers 8:47 usually gathered around a dynamic speaker sometimes that speaker could just be a good ortor good speaker but sometimes it could be a godly speaker godly preacher and a lot of people who've been blessed by that man gather 9:01 around and it becomes a congregation that loves to listen to his teaching and they really want to follow the Lord. They're drawn to that teaching, but there's no fellowship. There's no integration. There's no care. There's no 9:15 I mean there's some aspect of care, but there's no sense of commitment like I'm here to live and die with you, brother. This is my priority. I don't have any other priority that comes ahead of these things. That's so those are congregations. 9:31 And then there's clubs on the other side of it where it's all about doing things together. And in some cases they even form a little commune or a colony and they live together and they have a common pot of money and they have all their meals 9:45 together and it's just a club. It could be religious but it's not the church where the primary thing is your attachment to that group. It's a club. The primary thing is not attachment to Jesus Christ. So I think about those congregations 10:01 like vertical beams seeking relationship with God. Clubs is those that are just horizontal beams and then the cross is both of them where it's devotion to Jesus Christ. First of all, my devotion to him must always be primary. And if you see a real cross, 10:19 the vertical beam is always longer than the horizontal beam. That's begins with that where I die with Jesus on the cross. But the it's still not a cross. A vertical beam, no matter how nice it is or how long it is, is still 10:35 not a cross. When you add that horizontal component, that horizontal bar, it becomes the cross, becomes the church where both are together, a simple pure devotion to Jesus and a commitment to the brotherhood. It's a verse in 1 10:52 Peter chapter 2. If you could turn there with me, please. 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 17. Oh, let's read verse 16. Act as free men 11:16 and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bonds slaves of God. It's a very important verse to understand the new covenant. A lot of people say, "Well, in the new covenant, I've been set free." Many 11:29 maybe they came from old covenant denominations where they had legalism and all of that and they come out of that and they think, "I've come into the new covenant." No. Here's perhaps one of the most powerful verses of the new 11:42 covenant. 1 Peter 2:16. You've been set free. Now act as a free man, but don't use that freedom to cover your evil. If your heart has not been changed and you have been have you come and you've come out of the old covenant, it's actually 11:59 probably going to end up worse for you because that freedom in the new covenant can become a cover for evil. And I've seen people who have come out of old covenant groups, even old covenant cults, let's say, and I talk about the 12:16 freedom in the new covenant, but there's even more evil in their lives. pornography, lust, uh cheating on their wives, and fi financial impropriety and jealousy and all kinds of evil, but that they didn't have when they were in 12:32 those religious circles. So, what a tragedy it would be if God brings us out from an old covenant religious, even a cult, and then it becomes my freedom becomes a cover for evil. But use it as bonds slaves of God. Never 12:48 forget that in the new covenant we are bond slaves of God. Then he says in verse 17, honor all people. Honor the king. He says at the end of that verse, there are many Christians sadly who speak dishonorally. 13:07 Dishonoringly, is that a word? About the president, whether it's this president or the previous president or past presidents. And if you've done that, whoever the president was, whether he aligns with your party or not, if you 13:20 have dishonored the king, you have dishonored God because of what he has said. Honor the king. Honor all men. Honor the king. Fear God. And in the middle of that, he says, "Love the brotherhood." It's a very simple word, three words, 13:37 love the brotherhood. This love for the brotherhood can only come through the Holy Spirit. If we are to be not a congregation and not a club, but the church, we need the Holy Spirit to put that love for the brotherhood in the church. I 13:54 want to encourage you, brothers and sisters and children, as you think about what I'm speaking on today, that you examine your heart to see whether there really is a commitment. I believe that most, if not all of you, have a 14:07 commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. At least if you've been here for a few weeks or months, you know the preaching in this church is so high that you better have a commitment to Jesus 14:18 Christ of some sort to make to keep coming to this church. And that's okay. So, I believe that that's that's there. But it's easy for us to lose a commitment to the brotherhood where my own interests, my own things that I like 14:32 to do, my own family and and my own likes take a priority over a commitment to the brotherhood, a love for the brotherhood. And if you find that in your life, as you examine, as you think back and say, am I really committed to this brotherhood? Is this 14:48 is this where I'm seeking to constantly be invested in? My commitment is here. my my I sacrifice my other commitments to be here for the meetings of this church and to be integrated into this church to love and care for this church. 15:02 If you find that that's lacking, then I want to encourage you to encourage you to to grow in that. Uh you know, it's it's interesting if you read this phrase that often comes, but we'll just go I'll show you one example of that in 2 Corinthians 13 15:17 verse 14. [clears throat] 2 Corinthians 13 verse4, Paul ends his letter to the church in Corinth this way. He speaks about this being with you all. The first thing he says is the love of God. Let the love of God be with you. I think that's 15:37 something we understand. Jude says it this way. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Let the love of God always be with you. Isn't that a good parting word to say? Let the love of the father be with you in all you do this this week. 15:51 Whatever you go through, whatever trial you face, remember you have a father in heaven who loves you. Don't lose sight of that. And let the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does grace mean? Grace is power. Power to overcome sin. Romans 6:14 says 16:08 you are not uh slaves to sin because you um sin will not be master over you because you are under grace. So that's a proof that you're under grace is that you have power to overcome sin. So let the grace the power of the Lord Jesus 16:23 Christ be with you to overcome sin as well. Another good parting word when we leave each other's midst and then he says and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. fellowship that is fellowship with the Holy Spirit. But because the 16:37 Holy Spirit is in with in me and in you if the Holy Spirit is in you as well, the consequence of truly being filled with the Holy Spirit is there's a fellowship that's caused. Now, that cannot happen until you're filled with 16:50 the Holy Spirit. Before they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostles, the disciples were a band of people, 13 men, Jesus and the 12 disciples, and they spent all their time together for three and a half years. And was that the 17:07 church? No, it wasn't. Because there was an outward togetherness. You can say they were together, but they weren't one. There was an outward togetherness. If you watched Jesus and his disciples going around, you say, "Man, that's a that's a 17:21 tight-knit group of people." Dear family, we're not called to be a tight-knit group of people. We're called to be one. There's a difference between a tight-knit group of people that were like, "I'll go to I'll go to war for 17:33 you, and I'll defend you, brother. I'll defend you, sister. I love you so much." Cuz those are just words. And at some point down the road, you might feel a little bit annoyed with me or offended with me, and you're like, "Yeah, I don't 17:44 love you anymore." happens all the time in churches. It happened in this church as well. So, I we don't want to just be a tight-knit group of people that one day could separate and disintegrate. I hope you don't want that for your 17:57 marriage either. A tight-knit couple. That's not marriage. Maybe it's the marriage in the world, a tight-knit husband and wife. That's great. But our goal, brothers, sisters, and children, is to be made one. Once you become one, what is there to 18:14 separate? A tight-knit group of people can still be separated. As much as that glue is that holds you together, if it's two that are still holding on tightly together, you will one day perhaps become two. You might look like you're 18:29 one, but if you're made one, like my body is one now. Now to me, imagine my body. Think about your marriage or think about our church. like your body. Can you say well you know we're a group of people made at some point if you separate my body the head 18:47 from the body let's say it's not like now there's two Santos it's death and you realize that when the separation comes in in your marriage or separation comes in in the church it's death if you've really been made one now 19:02 if you were just a congregation or a club before that then yeah you were always three or 10 or 30 or 50 or 100 and you hung together for a while and eventually you became your 100 again or in your marriage you were always two. 19:18 You weren't really made one. You were always two and after some time maybe even after 30 years of marriage that two because they never became one go back to being two. This happens in the world happens in Christendom. That's not 19:33 fellowship. Fellowship is two becoming one. If you read in Acts chapter 2, and I've used this picture before, I hope you'll remember it again as I remind you of it. Think about it like multiple pieces of silver or gold. If 19:49 you get 120 pieces of gold and put them into a bag, one common bag, and you tie the bag tightly, and you say, "We become one. We're all in one bag. We're all fit into this building." Right? Are we Is that fellowship? Is 20:05 that the church? No, that's still 120 different pieces of gold that are all in one bag. At some point, one of those pieces could say, "Yeah, you know, I've been here a long time and I didn't like this. I have that criticism about this 20:18 and the elders, they do this or they do that. Yeah, it's time for me to find another bag to go fit into." So, they can leave and go and find another church. You open the bag, you can take that piece out because those 120 pieces of 20:30 gold are still 120 pieces of gold. But you empty out that bag, the contents of that bag and pour it into a fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit. And all those 120 pieces become are melted. Like we sing on that song, spirit of the living 20:47 God, fall fresh on me, break me, melt me, mold me, melt me, melt me first, melt me. So that me and my wife, who were two, have gone into the fire, baptized into the Holy Spirit. And now those two pieces have been melted into 21:04 one. And likewise at a church that those hundreds of people are now not hundreds but melted into one or multiple dozens of family units. No. Melted into one. Is this happening in your life? Brother, sister, children, parents. Are you 21:22 leading your family into a deeper oneness in this church? That's fellowship. We sang about it. We clapped. We had the tambourine with it. But this is fellowship. It only comes through commitment, sacrifice, making uh being made one. And that happened on the 21:39 day of Pentecost where those 120 pieces of silver, 120 pieces of gold were dipped into the fire of the Holy Spirit and melted into one. And God made one new church. And now he's looking for those not who will be added to that bag, 21:55 but who will also likewise be take up their cross, deny themselves, follow Jesus, be baptized into the fire of the Holy Spirit, and be melted into that one new man that he is building. There is one bride of Christ. And that bride of Christ, sure, it's 22:11 represented by churches all over the world. We're not the only church. You know that. We've said that from the very beginning. In fact, we may not even be the the best church in the world. I don't know. That's for God to decide. 22:20 But the commitment to the church and to the body of Christ is proved by our commitment where God has placed us. Not this here today, gone tomorrow lone ranger mentality where I flit around. I don't like this church. I go there and 22:35 I'm looking for something that will feed my ego and feed myself. If you're looking for a church that you'll feel comfortable in, this isn't the church for you. Maybe there are other churches where you'll feel comfortable. the church that 22:49 we're seeking to be is the one that you're uncomfortable because you're in the fire cuz you're on the cross dying with Jesus and that's uncomfortable. It's not pleasant. It's not enjoyable. I almost always go from away from this 23:01 meeting feeling convicted and conviction hurts. Conviction is uncomfortable. And I thank God for that because that's the only way to be made one. And if you hear a convicting message, if you hear the truth and it hits home to 23:17 you and you sort of just sweep it under the carpet like I'll wait next week, maybe the the message will be a little less shaky. This isn't this isn't that kind of church. You know that. I think you all have been here long enough to 23:28 know that. But that uncomfortableness is the Holy Spirit melting me, breaking me, melt and and molding me to shape it into what he wants RLCF to look like. So that when he looks at RLCF, he doesn't see as many as are sitting here in this room. I've said 23:47 it often to before. We're not looking to grow from our number to another number more. Let's say a new family joins. Okay, now we've gone we've added 10 more to our midst. gone from 150 to let's say we go to 200. Okay. Does that mean 24:00 growth? No. What Jesus is looking for is have you grown into one? You added another member to the church. Okay. But did that make the sum of total of the church one or did it increase the numbers? Yes, physically our numbers increase. Sure. 24:19 But like I always say, Jesus stops counting at one. If you were one and then you went to two, he says, "No, that's not growth." That may be growth from the human standpoint. Oh, you went from one to 10. You know, church, I hear 24:33 this about churches. Come, they write books about it. We'll start this program. We'll tell you how to grow your church from 10 to 50. We did it. We went from 100 to a thousand in one year. Here's how you can do the same. I'm not 24:43 even interested in that garbage. I want to know how to become one. Our church went from 100 to one. Oh, now that's a church I want to be a part of. where we become united. My marriage went from two to one. That's a marriage 24:57 that's growing. And then God added children. You didn't. Yes, you grew numerically, but you grew to be one. Pray this for your families, brothers, sisters. Pray this for our church that we'll be one. In Acts 2, it says in 25:13 verse 42, look at the things that they devoted to themselves to after they were filled with the Holy Spirit. the teaching of the apostles. That's why we emphasize in this church good teaching, godly teaching. We don't allow 25:25 just anybody to come and preach from this pulpit. It's not because we're exclusive or think that we're better, but because we want to know that what they're going to teach us is in line with the apostles teaching, the preaching of God's word to the apostles 25:37 teaching to [clears throat] the breaking of bread. That's why we break bread regularly. To prayer, we have meetings regular nowadays. Even every day some groups of us are meeting and praying. We have prayer meetings all the time. And 25:49 but it says to fellowship. Sometimes that's easy to forget. And by fellowship, I don't mean I know we call it the fellowship meal. It's the goal is that you would have fellowship, but just eating food together or me visiting you 26:01 once in a while in your house or us getting together and having our kids play in the park. That's not fellowship. That's why I want to speak about fellowship. What does it mean to really have fellowship? Dear family, if we 26:13 don't take this to heart, the time will come when the devil will find a wedge in. He'll be able to get a wedge in the in the church and bring division and bring separation. And we're not here to, you know, we're not here like, oh, we 26:26 don't want this person to leave. We're not attached to each other in a human way, but we want to build fellowship. We want to really became become one where now that think about that 120 pieces separate pieces of gold that have now 26:40 been that was the number of there on the day of Pentecost that's why I use that number that have become one piece one block of gold now how do you bring division there now you got to really one of those pieces has got to stop has to 26:54 extregate himself from the fire and stop walking in fellowship and that that's a more painful process so if the Lord is really making us one. That is the oneness that will preserve us in a way that's pleasing to him. In Colossians 27:08 chapter 2, we see that this is a work that the Holy Spirit does. You cannot try to be one with your spouse, with your husband, with your wife, with your children, or with the church. It's not something you can do. If you could do 27:24 it, it would be a human work, and it could be destroyed. Remember this any human work can be destroyed by human work any you know that we talk we talk about this in security in in the field that I'm in that as secure as you make 27:38 it because we made it secure there's somebody else a crook a criminal of some sort of hacker who's going to try to find a way to break that security and and companies employ people to come and break they call them hack days you come 27:50 in and see we'll pay you $1,000 or more even if you can break our system and what what's the goal they want to find out can our system be broken and often they can. That's why hackers are still around to this day. And and so remember 28:05 this, if if what you have is comes by human effort, if you and your wife were able to figure out how to have a good marriage in your own strength, one day is going to fall apart. what we and likewise in a church if we have figured 28:21 out how what some sort of secret sauce secret formula to be to not fight with each other and to kind of just be somewhat committed to each other in this church in a human way one day that will fall apart. What we need is the Holy 28:34 Spirit to knit our hearts together. When the Holy Spirit does the work, no human effort can ever destroy that. And the church that Jesus Christ is building, the gates of hell will never prevail against. He said in Matthew 16, so 28:49 Colossians 2, he says uh and this is Paul's burden. He says, "I want you to know verse one, how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for the church in Leodysia and for all those who have not personally seen my face that their hearts may be 29:05 encouraged having been knit together in love." Knit together in love. Have you seen knitting? I'm not I don't knit. I I would make a mess of things if I tried. But I've seen knitting happen and it's pretty fascinating. Think about 29:21 this piece of yarn and this other piece of yarn getting hooked onto a a knitting needle, I think they call it. And then it's weaved together. And sometimes when I've watched it, I imagine myself like that piece of yarn that's being twisted 29:35 like this and then twisted like that and twisted like that and twisted like that and and it just seems endless. I mean, Megan worked on a blanket for years and still working on it. It's one of those things and I think of that like the 29:45 church, but it's a wonderful blanket. It's so warm. And that knitting together of those individual pieces of yarn. If I just put those pieces of yarn over me, I'd still be cold. But now those have been knit together into a blanket. And 29:59 that blanket, that knitting together, that closeness together brings warmth. I remember once somebody, a visitor came to our church and told us later, "Man, I came in here. I felt like a warm blanket was put over me. I don't I don't pride 30:10 we don't pride ourselves on it, but that's what we want. But how's that going to happen? Is it oh, we sing songs that everybody likes or we welcome everybody uh and we make them feel welcome and like, you know, be friendly 30:21 to them. No, it's this knitting when we allow ourselves to be knit together by the Holy Spirit because I am taking up my cross. I'm being filled with the Holy Spirit in secret. God sees my heart and he's able to take that 30:34 piece of yarn and take that other piece of yarn beginning in our homes, husband and wife and then our children and then those families are being knit together into one blanket. This is what the Holy Spirit is talking about here. And the 30:48 apostles tasted that this was the burden of their heart. Um, in 1 John chapter 1, here's John. He wrote first John, the letter of first John, much later in life, perhaps when he was 31:07 90 years old or so. And at that point, he'd walked with God for about 60 years. John was in his late 20s when he was a disciple of Jesus. And then for 60 years, 60 plus years, he was faithful planting churches, spent a lot of time 31:21 in prison. He's the only apostle that lived died of old age as far as we know, lived into his 90s that we know. And um uh but here he is as he's reflecting and he's here. Here's somebody who actually walked with Jesus, the physical Jesus. 31:37 He was there. In fact, he was the one that they called him the one who just Jesus loved or at least he called himself that. We don't know. uh the one whom Jesus loved, he had such a close relationship. He felt so comfortable 31:47 with Jesus that he leaned his head on Jesus' breast at the last supper. This was John and he's saying, "Listen, I've touched it. I've held it. I know what true love is. Let me tell you about it." First John 1 verse one. What was from 32:01 the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life, that is Jesus. and the life that same life know he could have easily said Jesus who the 32:18 concerning Jesus but he calls him the word of life there 1 John 1 vers1 it's a beautiful picture that we're given about Jesus that you don't just think of him as somebody just this Jesus but specifically his function as Jesus who 32:33 is the word that brings life where everything I hear in the church and from God's word results in life in me the Word of life. This is Jesus. I hope he is the word of life to you today. Make this your prayer this week. Lord, I want 32:48 you to be the word of life. I heard a lot of teaching today. We sang a lot of songs and those taught me as well. But now, Lord, let that word that you've given me be be life. I want you, Lord Jesus, to be the word of life for me. 33:00 And that life was manifested. And we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us. What we have seen and heard we proclaimed to you also. Why did John take such pains to 33:16 proclaim this so that you too may have fellowship. This was the goal that you too would be drawn it. Not that okay you'll give your life to Jesus sign decision card and go away thinking I'm a believer because I heard such and such message. I said the 33:31 sinner's prayer and I go on with my selfish self-centered life. No, we have taken such pains to teach you these things so that you too would have fellowship. Fellowship with us, he says, and indeed our fellowship is with the father. So if 33:47 you want to have fellowship with us, it better be because we're having fellowship with the father. It's not just come and join our church, come and become a member, put your tithe there when we pass the plate, which thank God 33:58 we don't do that. It is. We want you to be drawn into fellowship with us because we have fellowship with the father. He goes on to talk about that. How do you have fellowship with the father? Verse 7, 1 John 1. Let's read verse 6. If we 34:13 say as probably every church in the world says today, we are Christian. We're followers of Jesus. What are they saying? We have fellowship with Jesus. If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in. So this is the 34:28 first step to building a church in which there is fellowship is first of all make sure that we have fellowship with the father. If we say that we have fellowship with the father and with him and yet walk in the darkness. In other words, if I come to 34:42 your house on Tuesday or I look at your life on Thursday or when you don't know that I'm watching if the father sees that you act a certain way on Saturday, you walk in darkness. You you secretly continuing in sin and you're not grieved about it. You're 34:58 hiding your sin. If we say we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, you're a liar. We lie and do not practice the truth. But it's very simple to have fellowship with the father. Walk in the light. Verse 7, as 35:12 he himself is in the light. Whenever the Lord shows you something, convicts you about how you spoke to your wife, how you spoke to your husband, how you uh treated that person, how you were ungrateful or unkind or jealous or all 35:25 that. When he convicts you about it and you confess it, if we walk in the light as he himself in the light, we have fellowship with one another. You see how it's it it just happens. You don't have to try to do it. And verse 9, he says, "If we confess our 35:41 sins, he is faithful and just, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin." So this is what John saw and knew. Let's turn to John 13. This is John writing, I think, a little earlier, but he's reflecting to that time when 35:55 Jesus and he were at the last supper. And G and Paul later on, sorry, John later on describes that as this is what we want you to have. We've tasted it. We're tasting it even now. Fellowship of the father. I sat with Jesus. I leaned 36:12 my head on his shoulder and I was the one whom he loved and we had this and we did that and oh, he spoke to us with such and he washed our feet and and then we saw him die and then he rose again and he let us put our fingers in his 36:22 nail prints and then he he he just he was there with us. He had breakfast with us and we we touched him. We talked to him. We saw him ascend. We've seen it. We've touched it and we want you to have the same thing that we still have even 36:35 though he's in heaven. And what was that? We see that in John 13. This fellowship is described this way. John 13:35. By this all men will know that you are my disciples. How will they know? You know, we speak in this church about being disciples. 36:54 How will the world know? This is a church of disciples. It says, "If you have love for one another," it's interesting. He didn't say because you're pure, because you're overcoming sin and all of that. Yes, that's true. We must be pure. We must be overcoming 37:07 sin. But he said the world, non-Christians or unconverted people who call themselves Christians will come in and observe your life and they will see your love for one another and say, "These must be disciples of Jesus." 37:22 Have you thought about that? Is that the testimony? And I The Lord spoke it to me this way. Um, often when I've been to churches, visiting churches before I came here to RLCF or even sometimes when I visit, when I go to a church, I find a lot of 37:37 people are very friendly. Oh, they want to go meet you, talk to you, like, hey, welcome. Yeah, where are you from and get to know you and all that? And I I thought we're sometimes like that, too. I think if there's a visitor, we'll 37:47 we'll invite them, come stay for lunch, and we'll get to know you and all that. But is that how they're going to know that we're disciples? A lot of Christians, a lot of people are looking for a church. they feel welcomed. 37:58 Sometimes I hear people discussing churches like a neighborhood post and so oh this church go there they felt so welcome when I got there they invited me to this invited me to that or everybody talked to me and now people say oh that 38:09 other church don't go there they're very they're very unfriendly nobody talked to me I sat there and I left and it was lonely but which one are we trying to be [laughter] okay maybe we don't want to be the unfriendly church but do we want to be 38:20 the friendly church where we go and meet everybody and talk to them no we want to be John 13:35 where What convinces the world that we are truly disciples of Jesus is they watch how we love each other. And I thought about it like this. There's a picture I 38:36 got an analogy. Let's say there was a child going to be adopted into a family. A child is going to be adopted into a family and they get to come and visit that family for a week or a month or a year, let's say. What would if I was 38:52 that child going to be adopted into that family? What would I want to see? Would I want to see how they treat me? Not really. Because of course they're going to be nice to me. I'm the one that they want to be nice to. I'm the the special 39:05 one. I'm the the one that's going to come into the family. I'm the newbie. So, of course, everybody will be nice to me. But I want to see if I'm really going to become a part of this home. I want to see how they treat each other 39:17 because one day that's going to be me in that home. If I'm really going to get adopted into that home, then I want to see how do they treat each other. the ones that they see week in week out, month in month out, year in year out. 39:31 How do they treat each other after 5 years of being in fellowship? Do they still love each other? Are they still kind to each other? Oh, it's easy to be kind to the newbie, to the visitor. That's because you just have to do that. 39:43 But now that visitor becomes a part of their family and you see their quirks and you and they rub you the wrong way and and they're unthankful. Like we saying, Lord, let me love when people are unthankful. This is the only way you 39:56 can build a church. And so, the only way to build church is really seek to love the brother whom you see, the sister whom you see, though, especially that one that Yeah. Yeah. She's a good sister-in-law, she's a good brother, 40:09 he's a good brother and all, but it's really it great the way they do this or the way they do that or that's the one. When God can put a love in your heart for that person and build the church out of that, you know they're disciples of Jesus. Otherwise, 40:27 we're just a club. Otherwise, we're just doing something that human ability can do. Look for that person in the church that you find it difficult to love. Cuz there are those and I might be one of them and I might say that. And seek to 40:40 let the Holy Spirit put a love in your heart. Say, "Lord, make me one with that brother. Make me one with that sister. This is fellowship. Everything else is just a club. And if you've been sitting here for one year, five years, 10 years, 40:54 15, I don't know if anybody's been here for 15 years, said 20 years, however long you've been here, say, "Lord, have I been growing in this? make me one with especially that one brother that I every time I talk to him or that one sister every time I talk to 41:09 her it's just like I don't even know what to say or it's awkward and and it's just quirky and they they have a different perspective of things and they sometimes they just say the first thing that comes out of their mouth and how do 41:18 I build fellowship Lord will you do that I don't want just a human attachment that will last only for a short period of time and when you do that there are no clicks in churches but otherwise there will There will always be that 41:33 like yeah I always talk to these people and we you know I thank God there are no clicks here in in this church but that could easily happen unless the brothers and sisters this is the essence of the message. If you're not allowing your 41:45 heart to be filled with the love of the Holy Spirit then whatever you think about how this you're integrated into this church is just a facade. It's just a pretense is going to fall away at some point. And watch for it. Be watchful. 41:58 Let the Holy Spirit fill your heart with love. I like how Paul, you know, sometimes I've been reading different times when Paul writes, it's like he's gushing over the saints. This is the mighty Apostle Paul. He's planted 42:11 churches and everybody is like, "Paul, we appreciate you." But look at how Paul writes about the saints, ordinary [snorts] believers whom he sometimes has to correct and discipline. But look at, let me give you a few examples. 1 42:22 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians 2. Um, here's one example. Verse 20. You are our glory and joy. Think about the mighty Apostle Paul. He's just gushing over this ordinary. Think about what this did for 42:41 a young brother or a sister maybe struggling to overcome a young teenager perhaps. And they're like, "Paul, you you mean I'm your glory and joy? Me? Poor me. You're the mighty apostle Paul. Paul had a love for the church, a love 42:56 for the saints. The next chapter, he says in verse 9, chapter 3:9, "What thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account." Now, what a powerful word. Here's Paul 43:15 describing the church. Can you describe the church RLCF this way? That's what the Lord spoke to to me. He says, "Sto, do you speak you think about the church this way?" Which says, "What thanks can I render to God for RLCF 43:28 in return for all the joy with which I rejoice before God because of this church?" Yes, there's the quirks. Yes, we have a long way to go. Yes, I'm aware of how far I have to go, but I rejoice. Think about speak Think about 43:43 your wife that way. Yes, she's got a long way to go. Think about your husband that way. They've got a long way to go. your children. They've got a long way to go, but rejoice over them. Um, second Timothy verse Paul writing to Timothy. Timothy 44:04 is a junior dis uh apostle, junior disciple and Paul basically raised him. But look at how Paul describes Timothy. He has to warn him and exhort him and all of that. But he says listen first of all let me tell you Timothy 2 Timothy 44:21 1:3 I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did by because I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day longing to see you even as I recall your prayers so that I may be filled with joy. 44:37 These are gushing words. What a difference it would make in our church if next time now when we go downstairs and have lunch together there we speak gushing words. other. Now, we don't want it to be artificial. We don't 44:50 want to be fake. We don't want flattery. Flattery is of the devil. But can the Holy Spirit do such a work in your heart that from within your heart comes gushing words? Do you think that if this was just Paul flattering 45:02 the Thessalonians or Paul flattering Timothy, the Holy Spirit would have borne witness to it and recorded it in his word? No. The Holy Spirit had done such a work in Paul THAT HE ACTUALLY FELT THAT WAY ABOUT THE CHURCH. 45:13 these ordinary brothers whom he sometimes had to discipline. But he really felt these are my brothers and sisters in Christ and we've been melted into one new man. This is another part of my body. And even if it's got a flaw, I want to 45:26 help it. If I have to discipline, it's because I care about this body. I care about Jesus Christ. Or will you gush over the body of Christ like you gush over him, the head? Then you've understood fellowship in the church. 45:38 You've understood that the head is now attached to a body. It's one new man. Jesus and his church. Now Jesus will be above all and he'll always be exalted. But to love his body in that practical way is to love him as well. Only the 45:54 Holy Spirit can do that in a way that exalts Jesus. You know, it's like I thought about it like this that um if somebody speaks highly uh of my wife, it it makes me feel good. And if you're a husband, you know that if somebody 46:08 speaks highly of your wife, it makes you feel good. Oh yeah, that's my wife. Yes, you're speaking about I get a little bit of a good feeling about that. And that's how Jesus feels when you think highly about his bride, his church that is not 46:18 yet perfect. That's not still a long way to go. But that brother who's a part of the bride, the bride of Christ, you you love him. You speak uh honoringly to him. You care about him. You speak tenderly to your wife, to your husband, 46:33 to your children. This is the church. Children, you know this the story about a young boy who defeated the Philistines when he was a young boy. Who am I thinking of? >> Yes, I knew you would say that. That's right. I was thinking about him, but 46:46 actually I was thinking about somebody else. I was thinking of Jonathan. You know that Jonathan defeated the Philistines before David did. It was in our reading a few weeks ago if you read it and it just struck me so powerfully. 46:58 It was in 1st Samuel 13. You can turn there with me. Long before David came along and defeated the Philistines, another young man about his age, I believe, defeated the Philistines. His name was Jonathan. He was Saul's son. 47:12 And you read 1st Samuel chapter 13. This is see David's going to defeat Goliath in 1st Samuel 17. We got a long ways to go before we get to that. Meanwhile, David's out there probably taking care of bears and lions and all that and 47:27 taking care of the sheep, fighting against bears and lions. Meanwhile, what's Jonathan doing? He's defeating the Philistines. 1st Samuel 13 verse 3. Uh, okay. Let's read verse two. Saul chose for him for for himself 3,000 men 47:42 of Israel, of which 2,000. He's the king now. He's 30 years old. 2,000 were with Saul and Mcmash in the hill country of Bethl, while 1,000 were with Jonathan. Here's Saul the king 30 years old. He's got 2,000 men. And Jonathan is about 16 47:59 years old. Say, "Hey, Jonathan, I'm going to take 2,000. You, your 16-year-old, you only need a,000." What father would do that, right? He gives Jonathan a,000 and he takes 2,000. Okay. Well, Jonathan was like, "Okay, all I 48:13 got is a,000. Fine." Thousand were with Jonathan. Jonathan at Gibbe of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people east to his tent. And Jonathan smote the garrison garrison of the Philistines that were in Gibba. And the Philistines 48:26 heard and the Philistines heard about it. Um, let's go skip a chapter. Chapter 14. Again, it's not just once. This wasn't just a Goliath. This was garrisons of the enemy. 1st Samuel 14. Sorry. Yeah. 1st Samuel 14 verse 13. 48:45 Uh, Jonathan climbed up. This was so there was a um, [groaning] let me see if I can find it. Yeah. Yeah. There was a big gap between them. Yeah. There was a sharp that's in verse four. There was a sharp crack on 49:03 the one side. 14:4 and a sharp crag on the other side then and etc. And then look at what Jonathan does in 1st Samuel 14:3. Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet with his armor bearer behind him 49:21 and the enemy fell before Jonathan and his armor bearer put some to death after him. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about 20 men within about half a furrow in an acre of land. And there was a trembling 49:36 in the camp in the field and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled. Yes. little Jonathan, 16-year-old boy. And then later along, later on comes David and David kills Goliath. Sure, that happens. What do you think Jonathan 49:52 was thinking? He probably thought, "But man, I I I he all he did was the Goliath and and all he did was really just throw the stone and he got lucky and it hit his head." And sure, but what about me? I climbed this rock and I killed those people and 50:06 there's 20 of them. And what do you think went through? What would go through your head when you saw this young upstart coming along and stealing your thunder? And now they're singing about this guy more than your dad. They 50:22 want to make him king when you know that you're supposed to be king after that. This is Jonathan. He didn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. He didn't have the Bible like we do. But God, he was a God-fearing young man, I 50:35 believe. Look at this. 1st Samuel 18. Now, it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit. It's the same word we read in Colossians 2:2. It's a beautiful picture of the church. It's why I'm 50:53 showing you the story. Do you want to build a church? Do you want to be a part of the core instead of just being an outsider that comes and goes and yeah, this is your home, but you want to be a part of the core. This is the essence, 51:03 dear brothers, dear sisters, and dear children, where you allow the Holy Spirit to knit your heart to that of the others in this church. Really knit where there's no room for jealousy, no room for wanting this or wanting that. Where 51:17 you can see your brother receive a blessing, receive some honor, receive some anointing, and you're happy and you allow your heart to be knit, and you will fight for him, and you will defend him, and you see that God is using that 51:29 brother. Sure Lord, if this will bless your church, if this will further your kingdom, let me help him. Let me come underneath and lift him up. I who should be there according to human understanding. The soul of Jonathan was knit to the 51:44 soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as himself. What a beautiful picture of the church. Jonathan loved him as himself. Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father's house. Saul brought David. He's the jealousy hadn't yet come 52:02 in. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. No, Jonath is Jonathan instigating love with a person who he could easily be jealous of. He sees God blessing David and he's rejoicing that God is using 52:17 David. I don't know what all you're not told much about Jonathan, but perhaps he's in heaven today. And one day we'll see how what a beautiful picture this man who was so freed from jealousy could see another person his age uh who didn't 52:31 have rights to the throne come up and God bless him and he says, "Oh, I want to love you, brother. How can I help you more? How can I help God anoint you and bless you even more?" What a beautiful picture in your home. What a beautiful 52:42 picture in the church where you're seeking to further Jesus Christ by lifting up that brother who is doing the thing that you wish you could be doing. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 52:55 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, the princely robe which said, "You will be the next king." And gave it to David with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. It says, "Here, David, it's for 53:08 you. I see God's blessing you. It it will it will bless Israel. If God's chosen to use you, it will bless Israel. Here, let me give it to you. I don't want to grab. This is the spirit of Christ who said he did not regard 53:19 equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself and became one with us. And we see Jesus for a little while made lower than the angels. Read in Hebrews 2 that he might be lifted up. And now he has the highest place. Let's continue 53:38 reading chapter 19. This goes on for a while. I believe Jonathan was being tested and to the point where even his father now is telling Jonathan, "What are you thinking, man? THAT MAN IS STEALING YOUR JOB. THAT MAN IS STEALING 53:51 YOUR JOB." And his own father tried to plant jealousy into him. And Jonathan was unmoved. Chapter 19, 1st Samuel 19:1. Now Saul told Jonathan his son, and all his servants to put David to death. Jonathan could have thought, "Here's my chance. 54:07 Let me kill him. Then I go back to being the the one that all the ladies will sing about. Now they're singing about David. I want them to sing about me. But Jonathan, Saul's son, greatly delighted in David. This is I talked about Paul greatly 54:22 delighting in the church. When you see God bless somebody else and you see that they're using her or him in a way, can you greatly delight in that person? The person that you could easily be jealous about. So Jonathan told David, 54:37 Singh, now Jonathan is spying against his dad and saying, "Listen, Saul, my father is seeking to put you to death. I'm going to help you escape. Now therefore, please be on guard in the morning and stay in a secret place and 54:48 hide yourself. Look at this man, this young man fighting for his brother to protect him. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and I will speak with my father about you. If I find anything, then I will tell you." 55:01 Then Jonathan spoke. Then Jonathan goes to his dad, to Saul, and says, "Dad, David is really good. He spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, don't let the king sin against his servant David since he has not sinned 55:14 against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you." What a wonderful example. Next chapter, chapter 20, 1st Samuel 20:30. Saul, so here's two people. Saul, the longer he sees David rising, his star rising, this jealousy is getting 55:34 getting worse and worse and worse and worse and it's eating at him, eating at him, eating at him. I've seen it happen in churches where jealousy builds up where one person who used to have a gift, now another person comes along and 55:43 has a gift and they're jealous of it. It's eating at them, eating at them. They hide it. You can hide it for years and one day it'll erupt like it did with Saul. He hid that jealousy was there. Oh, guard against jealousy. This is the 55:55 point, brothers. It's not just a story. The point here is be watchful over that jealousy that wants to find a a rooe of bitterness. A little bit of jealousy. Oh, why couldn't I do that? Or why didn't you make me like a little bit of 56:07 jealousy and the devil will find a root there and it will destroy many. Hebrews 12, we're told. And here's two people watching David. Jonathan had more right to be jealous of David because he was the next could be the next king. Saul, 56:21 he's his his kingship is slowly declining. He's already the king. And watching David in Saul's heart, jealousy is growing and building and building and building and building. And in David's heart, Jonathan's heart, love is 56:35 growing. What will grow in your heart today, family? As you interact with in the church, what will grow in your heart? Will it be jealousy? You'll hide it for a while. Maybe your spouse won't even know that that's there. Will you 56:47 hide it and hide it and hide it? One day it'll explode. or will you let love grow in that garden? Verse 30, 1st Samuel 20:30, Saul's anger burned against Jonathan. And he said to him, you son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you are 57:04 choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame. Look at what he's trying to do. He's saying, "Listen, Jonathan, I'm protecting you. I want you to BE THE KING. WHY ARE YOU protecting David? Do I not know you're choosing the son of 57:17 Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he must surely die. 57:31 Jonathan's saying, he was a man like us. He was tempted to be jealous. But Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, why should he be put to death? What has he done? Then Saul finally had it. Verse 33. Saul hurled 57:45 his spear at his own son to strike him down. So Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death. Jonathan rose from the table, did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved over David 57:57 because his father had dishonored him. Here was his own father. David's not there. This is in secret. If somebody comes to you in secret and tells you some little bit of gossip, some juicy detail about the brother who you could 58:10 be jealous about, how will you handle it? This is how churches are destroyed. A little bit of jealousy is there and then somebody comes with a little bit of gossip and finds a hook to pull me out. Finds a little hook with that jealousy 58:24 to pull me out. Churches are destroyed. Family, let's take this to heart. He ends in verse 42 with this. Jonathan said to David, "Go." This is probably the last time they saw each other, I think. Go in safety. In as much as we 58:35 have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, "The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever." This is the church. The Lord is between me and you. I can't be jealous of you or jealous of you be 58:50 jealous of me. The Lord is between you and I. We made a covenant. Let's make that covenant. Not sign a paper. We don't have a membership form, but like to make a covenant in our hearts that the Lord will be between us, husbands 59:03 and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters and children in the church. Um, in Amos 1 is a wonderful verse we read also recently. He condemned Edom because they forgot the covenant of brotherhood. That phrase stood out to 59:18 me. Look it up sometime. Amos 1:9. Don't forget the covenant of brotherhood. This is what Jesus has made in his blood with us. He's not forgotten it. And perhaps you've preserved that covenant of brotherhood with Jesus. But what 59:33 about with your brother, with your sister, with the church? This is the way we're seeking to go. May the Lord give us grace and preserve us in that covenant of brotherhood. Heavenly Father, will you come and pour out your 59:43 Holy Spirit aresh and do in our hearts what only you can do? Build fellowship, Lord, in this church. true fellowship, a covenant fellowship where we're committed to each other and we're we're willing to make sacrifices and 59:55 allowances for each other, thinking of others as more important than ourselves. Help us, Lord, to increase in our commitment to your body here where you have placed us and bless us and do this Lord in different parts of the world 1:00:07 where you have your people gathered. We thank you do that in Jesus name. Amen.
