True Fellowship - Zac Poonen Mar 13, 2011

so this is the fourth message in the series that I began three weeks ago dealing with New Covenant truths we first spoke about worship then about holiness and then about faith all these existed in Old Covenant times but the worship was more emotional and physical in the Old Testament in the New Covenant we worship in the spirit holiness was external in the Old Covenant in the New Covenant it's inward primarily faith was primarily for material things and physical healing in the Old Testament now it is for victory over sin and an inner walk with God and when Christians don't understand that they live in the Old Covenant I'll tell you this the vast majority of believers I've met live under the Old Covenant in all these areas worship holiness and faith and that's because they have not known the truth that would set them free and that was the burden with which I shared those truths I don't think one hearing off it would necessarily bring you into the New Covenant you probably need to listen to it again and ask God for revelation the revelation of the Holy Spirit but all these three things I mentioned so far were dealing with the individual but God doesn't want just individuals who are holy and have faith and worship him floating around he wants to make them into one body Christ died not only for individuals he died to make Jew and Gentile one to make people of different races and communities one to make husband and wife one so today I want to speak about true Fellowship and in the New Covenant we have this word fellowship which is never found in the Old Testament what they had in the Old Testament is probably friendship which is what many Christians have today fellowship is a very deep word it's a new covenant word and that is what makes people into one body in the Old Covenant they had a congregation it was a huge congregation it was what people call a mega church today's only thirty thousand Israelites was six hundred thousand but they were not one does a huge crowd and a lot of Christians are impressed when a church is large and have great numbers attending and they were excited when their numbers increase and that's because that thinking is still Old Covenant in the New Covenant it's not a congregation that Jesus is building he said he's building his church and what's the difference between a congregation and a church it's like the difference between a pile of bricks and a house is the difference between body parts cut and put in an anatomy laboratory and a functioning body there's a lot of difference so the Lord is building a church people who are united one with each other I want to show you a verse in John 14 verse 12 John 14 verse 12 we read about something that Jesus spoke that every believer could experience John 14 verse 12 he said truly truly I say to you he who believes in me do you believe in him it's not just for apostles and prophets everyone who believes in him there are two things he said we could do the works that I do he will do what did Jesus do he did the will of God that in his case that meant raising the dead and walking on the water and feeding the fight out and in your case it may be just being a good mother or a good father or whatever it is but the will of God that is what Jesus did on earth for thirty three and a half years and what Jesus was saying is that everyone who believes in Him can fulfill the will of God for their individual lives then the second part of that verse greater works than these will everyone who believes do do you know that every one of us is supposed to do a greater work than Jesus did when you read a verse like that you need to stop and think about it what is this greater work that I'm supposed to do I'm a believer and that is what Jesus himself could never do in his entire life isn't that amazing what was it that he couldn't do he could not make eleven of his disciples one with each other he worked with them labored for them prayed for them in John 17 Oh father I pray that there may be one as you and I are one that was the burden of his heart but he did not succeed on the last night they were still arguing who is the greatest and they were fighting for leadership exactly like a lot of Christians today they were just the same and he was so disappointed when God made Adam and Eve he wanted them to be one as husband and wife but how quickly the devil came and separated them God was disappointed throughout history God's been disappointed he was disappointed with Israel that's the message he was sent through the prophets and finally he poured out his spirit on the day of Pentecost so that we could accomplish what even Jesus could not accomplish make two and more people one with each other that's why Jesus said in John 14:12 that I'm you will do greater works than I do because I go to the Father when I go to the Father I'm going to send a helper the Holy Spirit and when he comes you'll be able to do something which even I could not do now every one of us if you're really a serious Christian you must take that challenge this is not just for apostles and prophets it's for mothers and and young people and everybody Lord I want to be able to do this which you couldn't do in your lifetime do my part to build the body of Jesus Christ a local expression of the body of Christ and it must begin in our home it's in our home that - people need to be one husband and wife that's where the devil brought the first separation so I want to speak three things in relation to fellowship first of all the tremendous power there is when such a fellowship is built not friendship but fellowship turn to Matthew chapter 18 there are only two places where Jesus spoke about the church first in Matthew 16 and then in Matthew 18 and in Matthew 18 verse 20 we read these words which we could say is like a definition of a church when Jesus defined the church he spoke about two or three Matthew 18 verse 20 where two or three have gathered together in my name it's not day gathering themselves together they've been gathered together by the Holy Spirit for the glory of the name of Jesus two or three brought together by the Holy Spirit for the glory of the name of Jesus Jesus is in the midst and that is the type of unity that the Lord is speaking of and when we gather together like that there must be a unity there which is described in the previous verse verse 19 Matthew 18 verse 19 he says again I say to you that if two of you these two or three who are gathered together it's not enough that they gather together they must agree and the word agree is a greek word called symphony Oh from which we get the english word symphony these two must be in symphony and when they're in symphony if they ask for anything it will be done by my father in heaven a lot of prayers can be answered when can get to people in symphony complete agreement with each other and what is the primary purpose of this prayer that we go to the previous verse we got to see these verses together Matthew 18 verse 18 whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven the Bible speaks about three heavens the Apostle Paul was once taken up to the third heaven which is the immediate presence of God the first heaven is the universe that we see between the two is the second heaven or what the Bible calls the heavenlies where satanic powers have their headquarters Satan doesn't live in Hell he lives in the second heavens and from there he he can visit the earth with his demons and he creates confusion in homes confusion in churches I mean he started in the Garden of Eden and he's been active in the human race ever since now these powers and their activities have to be bound on earth and one person alone cannot do it you've got to be jesus said that two of you have to agree and then when you bind something on earth it'll be bound up there in the heavenlies and satan's activity stopped and when we lose that person who's been bound by Satan he is loosed this tremendous power when two people become one or three now you may not know it but the devil knows it very well and that's why wherever he sees two people who want to be one he's determined to divide them whether it's husband and wife that's why you see divorce so rampant on earth today and unfortunately the church sanctions it too sometimes they're working the church is working with the devil when does that God hates divorce God hates any type of separation but that's the work of the devil trying to separate what God has joined together and in a church - as soon as he sees two people working together he'll bring some misunderstanding some confusion you don't realize what he's after he's out to destroy the work of God and therefore we must begin in our home in our home god United you with your marriage partner has husband wife so that you might be a force for him in your home and keep your home free from the influence of the devil God unites you together and if you allow the devil to bring a separation between you and your marriage partner the devil comes in between between your husband and wife when he brings a separation he comes in between and the ones who suffer are your children the greatest work that you can do for your children is to be united with your husband or your wife I'll tell you that's the thing that will you will not be able to bring up your children in the fear of God if you are not united with your husband they will suffer loss because when there's a gap the devil comes right in in in a church it's very important that the leaders of the church and those who work together must be united if this if there's a gap there the devil comes into that church wet too you need only two or three who are united totally agreed and in symphony it's very important I remember once in my home church where a couple of the instruments were not playing together there was a discord there and I picked it up and it disturbed me and I heard the Lord speaking to my heart saying that doesn't disturb me and I was surprised God's not disturbed if the music is not good we're disturbed and the Lord said to me I'm more disturbed because there's a husband and wife here in this church who are not in symphony there is discord there I'm disturbed because a couple of brothers here are not in fellowship with each other I'm disturbed because there are two sisters here who won't talk to each other that's the discord God hears in his ears not the music he's not bothered about the music that's human ability that can't musical discord can never open the door to the devil but discord between people in a home or in a church is opening the door wide for the devil it doesn't matter how much you pray how much you read the Bible how much you go to church you just need to have discord in your home to have the devil running your home ruining your children bringing confusion into your finances and everything else these brings havoc into a home into a church it's unity that's why jesus prayed so much for unity there's a tremendous power there and the devil has tried his best through all these years in christianity 2,000 years to prevent Christians from seeing this and I find very few people seeing it I praise the Lord for the way God opened our eyes first of all me and my wife we've been married 43 years now and I think of numerous mmm faces pressure and particularly if you serve the Lord like I've been serving all these 43 years we become targets of Satan our children become targets of Satan with sickness and problems and this and that and the other and I'll tell you something in all these 43 years the devil has never succeeded how I did my wife and I decided we may have financial difficulties anything but we're gonna be one we're not going to let a gap come between us if there was a little misunderstanding we'd immediately acknowledge from ask forgiveness set it right and close the gap immediately so the devil would not be able to get in and we bind satan's activities when we have that power and liberate our children and set them free prevent the devil from being able to attack our children and I praise the Lord for the way the Lord's protected our home and all our four boys and all these years it is from that prayer if two of you agree concerning anything it'll be granted by My Father in heaven do you do that for your children do you stay together United with your husband and wife in prayer that is the greatest thing you can do for your family and I believe we need to do that especially as we approach the end of time when things are going to get much worse as we come towards the end I want to mention one other thing in this connection from Ephesians chapter 4 sometimes we think that unity means we must agree on everything that's not important agreement is a matter of the mind unity is a matter of the heart in Ephesians chapter 4 it says in verse 3 Ephesians 4:3 it says we must be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit the unity of the Spirit is the deepest part of us the unity of the Spirit between a husband and wife the unity of a spirit between the leaders of a church that is the unity we must preserve at any cost and then it goes on to say in verse 13 of the same chapter visions 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith the unity of the faith is unity of doctrine unity of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the stator of the fullness of Christ that takes a long time that can take 50 years to come to that unity of agreement and maturity but until then put those two verses together preserve the unity of the spirit until we arrive at that unity of understanding in everything it doesn't matter if a husband and wife disagree on many many things they can still be totally united in this spirit in fact our love for one another is tested more when we don't see eye to eye with each other we don't have to see eye to eye with each other on every single doctrine no we can be united in our spirit and that is the unity that God is looking for in order to drive the devil right out there is a power there which I believe many of us have missed which we should not allow to continue then the second thing I want to say is the basis for our fellowship and in that connection I want to turn to 1 John and chapter 1 1 John chapter 1 John the Apostle was wrote this letter when he was 95 years old he had already been a Christian for 65 years and he had seen the pathetic that's right pathetic condition of Christendom at the end of the first century if you read Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3 you see five out of the seven churches there were in a terrible condition when it lost its first love another only had a name that it was alive but it was dead and then another person another place the pastor was running allowing his wife to run the church in another place we read that they were lukewarm so bad that the Lord said I'm gonna spit you out of my mouth this was the condition of first century Christianity by the time came to the end of the century and John saw this and he knew what was lacking and he writes this letter and he if you read 1 John 1 John you see he doesn't write a single word about speaking in tongues or healing or miracles or prosperity or any of these things he talks about fellowship he knows what is missing all these other things won't solve the problem he's not against them he had all those gifts himself and I praise God for all the gifts of the Spirit that are available today but fellowship is most important and so he says in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 3 one should look at 1 John chapter 1 verse 3 what we have seen and heard he's talking about Jesus whom he saw with his own eyes we proclaim to you and the whole purpose of our proclaiming Christ is that you might have fellowship with us you'd never find a verse like this in the Old Testament because they didn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling with him there was no possibility of becoming one but now we can have fellowship with us and here's the basis of our fellowship our fellowship is with the father is that vertical fellowship that brings fellowship in the horizontal plane our Fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus so that is how we have fellowship with one another that's why the church is called a body Israel was never called the body of Jehovah they were called the bride of Jehovah but not the body body is a distinctively New Testament word expressing the unity of the church and that's a very interesting picture because what is it that makes brings unity in this body why is it these hands of mine I've never fought with each other for 71 years isn't that wonderful a husband and wife who never fought with each other for 71 years or a brother and sister brothers who haven't clashed is it because they're always hanging around with each other why is it my feet and my hands can work together think of a pianist whose fingers and feet on the pedals and eyes on the musical score and yours listening all function together it's not because they are hanging around hanging out with each other all the time I don't keep holding my feet in order to fellowship with it no I don't need to many people think if I spend more time with somebody I can have fellowship no you need to be connected to the head that's how every part of my body works together my feet and my hands and my eyes and my ears can all function together because there all connected to the head and if you're connected to the head here's a brother who may or may not have met for five years but if he's walked in connection with the head all the time never allowing a break in fellowship with the father and if I walked in fellowship for five years without break a break in fellowship with the father when we meet together we let perfect fellowship even though we never met each other for five years did we hang out together for five years no but we walked in the light in fellowship with our Father that's how we fellowship one with another but when the connection with the head is broken you may still be a member of the body of Christ think of a paralyzed hand when a hand gets a stroke is it still a member of the body it certainly is is the blood flowing in that hand yes but it's a useless member that's the trouble with a lot of Christians their connection with the head is gone the blood is cleansing their sin sure but they don't have power they are not filled with the Holy Spirit and what they need is to have a connection with the head and when two people can't get along with each other it's like one hand connected to the head and the other hand paralyzed or sometimes both hands paralyzed and it's if you can't get along in fellowship with a born-again person whether husband wife brother sister it always always means one or both of you have lost your connection with the head and the great tragedy in Christendom is that we have multitudes of believers who glory in the fact that they're members of the body but they don't recognize they're paralyzed and useless they're not functioning and when you know if my right hand is paralyzed it makes double the work for my left hand you know that if my right leg is paralyzed it makes double the work for my left hand and that's exactly what's happening in the body of Christ some people just don't have a connection with the head they're lazy they don't have any sense of responsibility towards the body and they add the burden on others and God is disappointed the Lord wants us to have fellowship with him and thus fellowship with one another turn to 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7 in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7 we read if we walk in the light that is the way we have fellowship we have fellowship it as he's in the light we have fellowship with God and therefore fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin so this is the basis of fellowship in in felt with your fellowshipping in the father it means you're immediately confessing your sin to the Lord and the blood of Jesus cleanses you that means you don't keep any unconfessed sin in your heart it's immediately confessed and set right and two people are walking like this immediately setting things right with God we'll have perfect fellowship with each other it's because that type of immediate setting things right is not being done that fellowship is broken now this is not an Old Testament concept they couldn't have this type of fellowship with the father because they didn't know God his father they didn't have the Holy Spirit this is a wonderful privilege we have in the New Covenant and I want to say one more thing in this connection what does it mean to walk in the light each of us has a different degree of light depending on how close we have come to God the Christian life is a life of growth like a child growing up in a school you join in the nursery class the kindergarten and you go all the way up you could go up to PhD but it's step by step by step by step and if you have three or four children you know that they're all in different grades they're not in the same class and we need to recognize that in the church too we're not all in the same grade we're are different levels of spiritual growth and the great mistake that some Christians make is to expect another person to know as much as they do in terms of the Lord a 10th grade student a high-school student will know much more than someone who's in the kindergarten and he doesn't expect that kindergarten brother of his to know as much as him I mean that's understood in school but sometimes we don't recognize that in the church what does it mean in practical terms in practical terms the more we know God like our spiritual education growing we become more sensitive to sin that's the mark of walking in the light I know that I'm walking in the light and not standing still in the light but progressing in the light when I become more and more sensitive to sin I recognize certain things as sin in my life which I did not recognize a year ago or five years ago now that other person it could be your wife it could be a brother he may not have come to that grade of in his education and so he may not be so sensitive to certain things which you see as sin and if you expect him to recognize his sin what you see a sin you're a foolish just like a 10th grade student a high school student expecting an elementary school student to know as much as he he knows that's foolishness and if I expect another brother to be as sensitive to sin as I am maybe he's in a lower grade it's not because he's a sinner it's just not grown as much I'm foolish I need to make allowance for the fact that he may not have light now if you don't recognize this you will not have fellowship with somebody because you'll be inwardly judging that person all the time the reason why Christians judge others either inwardly or verbally is because we expect everybody to have as much light as we have that let me tell you is the height of stupidity it's as stupid as a tenth-grade student expecting a first grade student to know as much as he knows it's as simple as that walk in the light you have and let that person walk in the light he or she has not in the light you have you know I thank God that when I was 25 years old and I did a lot of stupid things like all 25 year olds do even after we are born again I thank God that God did not expect me at that age to walk with the wisdom I have today when I'm 71 thank God for that do you expect someone else do you expect your little young son or daughter to walk with the wisdom you have acquired over so many years that's the height of stupidity they're at a lower level they are growing encourage them we can't have fellowship with someone if you expect that person to know as much as you know or to live according the light that you have to walk in the light means the light you have that is the basis of fellowship no want to say something further about this fellowship in Ephesians chapter 4 in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 16 Ephesians 4:16 we read about this body of Christ Ephesians 4:16 the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies now I want you to notice this verse carefully the whole body it's speaking at the end of the verse about the growth of the body as it builds itself up in love but in the middle it says being held together by that which every joint notice that we're joint supply that refers to fellowship I'll give you an example when we think of the human body think of a hand think of a forearm is a very strong brother and the upper arm is another strong brother but the most important thing there is the joint there must be give-and-take it could be a strong husband and a strong wife or individually strong but they need to function together that means when this muscle pulls upward the other muscle must yield and when this muscle pulls this way this muscle must yield the joint is the most important thing but very often we have strong brothers who can't get along with each other husbands who think they're very spiritual and wives who think they're very spiritual but can't get along with their like a hand like this what's the use of a hand like this that can't bend at all it's useless and if they do Bend there's such a lot of creaking noise there's so much of arthritis in the body of Christ do you have a creaking noise when you try to fellowship with your husband or wife or with some brother that's not meant to be you see there's no noise at all in a normal body not at all and that's the way true fellowship that which every joint supplies don't be proud that you're a strong brother or you're a strong sister do you have fellowship how is the joint functioning between you and your husband and you and your wife that is most important how do you work together with other brothers in the church and I'll tell you something it's better to be a weak brother to be a weak husband and a weak wife but have joints that don't make any noise that's much better it's that is fellowship sometimes we are so proud of our Bible knowledge and our understanding how zealous we are doing this that for the Lord that's like a strong brother but you can embellish it with somebody else you're useless in the body you're good as a single forearm what's he using that God's building a body and the most important thing in a body is fellowship that joint supplying something that bring people together working together otherwise I often think of many Christian churches like if you go to a medical college you go to the anatomy laboratory there and you'll see hands and legs and eyes and stomachs and all lying around there but they're not a body and I look at many churches they're just like that there's a hand there there's a leg here there's a stomach here there's an eye here and you're there and they're all pretty good on their own but they're pretty useless together that's not a body what are you saying there are thirty thousand members there I'd rather have two or three who function together this is the true church and the same thing you go into a home once use wonderfully spiritual husband wonderfully spiritual wife but they can't get along with each other useless is only the devil who's happy with such a home so remember this functioning together we need one another let me give you an example of that into a second Corinthians even the great Apostle Paul needed younger brothers to help him second Corinthians in Chapter seven look at second Corinthians chapter seven you read there about the Apostle Paul saying in verse six second Corinthians seven six God who comforts the depressed comforted us by the coming of Titus not one thing you need to see there is even the Apostle Paul got depressed sometimes he was so honest to admit it but he didn't stay in that depression that's the thing I want you to see he says comfort me strengthened God who strengthens the depressed don't just rejoice in the fact that Paul also got depressed read that God strengthened him in his depression so he got over it and how did he get over it he got over it by his younger brother Titus was probably half his age coming and encouraging him have you ever allowed a brother half your age to come and encourage you that's probably what you need to get over your depression that's what Paul got the body we need one another the great Apostle Paul needs a young brother called Titus I thank God for the number of times I sit in my home church and sit during a weekday meeting and don't speak one word and I listen to young brothers get up and share the word and it blesses my heart they bless me they strengthen me we believe in building the body of Christ where every person is important the third thing I want to mention now we've seen the power of fellowship the base of the fellowship we want to see how fellowship works in a body and I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians in Chapter 12 in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 we read about the body being many members it speaks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in that chapter and the unfortunate thing is a lot of people think of gifts as the main thing and they're longing for this gift and that gift and the other gift now when it comes to the fruit of the Spirit we want all of them every believer must have love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faithfulness meekness and self-control galatians 5:22 and 23 we all we need all of them but when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit and all the many gifts of the Spirit we don't need all of them God does not give to some he gives more to some he gives more spectacular gifts but every one he gives some gift and it says here that the Holy Spirit determines second Corinth sorry 1 Corinthians 12 verse 11 he gives these gifts according to his choice as he wills not as you want I can't go to God and say Lord I'd like the gift of healing there is one gift we are all encouraged to seek that's the gift of sharing God's Word what's called prophecy in the New Testament otherwise he determines what each of us has to get now the point is this the great danger is of devaluing the gift God has given us or exalting ourselves because God has given us a special gift these are the two dangers feeling inferior or feeling superior and both are mentioned here in 1 Corinthians 12 first of all in verse 15 1 Corinthians 12 verse 15 if the foot should say oh I'm not a hand so I'm not a part of the body is it therefore less a part of the body you know the feet are always covered up in socks and shoes and the hand is always visible and the foot can feel jealous of this other brother or who's got a more public ministry more gifted more visible to others and Here I am tucked away inside or think of someone something that's not even seen like the heart nobody sees the heart is it important or not you know I often think of myself as the tongue in the body of Christ speaking speaking speaking very visible prominent appreciated honored but I think of a lot of brothers and sisters who are the heart who pray for me back in my home churches wherever I travel I ask them to pray for me and folks here too and prayer is like pumping the blood from the heart do you think I could speak the heart stopped pumping the blood I drop dead I thank God for those people who pray and pray and pray and never get recognized on earth so don't feel that because your function is less visible it's not important think of the heart completely unfeasible never seeks any honor but keeps on pumping pumping pumping pumping supplying blood to the whole body is a tremendous ministry and some people have a unique gift in that to function to help people to encourage people privately never stand in a pulpit so there are different functions in the body and you should never say oh I'm just a useless member the other danger is 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 21 the opposite danger the eye saying to the hand I don't need you you're not as important as me 1 Corinthians 12 verse 21 the eye cannot say to the hand I have no need of you and he goes on to say even the head that's Christ this is the most amazing part the head does not say to the least member in the body I don't need you imagine Jesus saying to us I need you I think of that time when Jesus was going into on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and he sent a message through his disciples to go and bring a donkey and he said if anybody asks you why you're taking it say the Lord has need of him the Lord needs that donkey that's always encouraged me even if you're like a donkey the Lord has need of you remember remember the Lord even spoke through a donkey once by the way if the Lord has need of you there's no the head does not say to the feet I don't need you and how can you ever look at another brother who may not have the gift you have and even think in your mind oh the church can get along very well without him it cannot even the Lord doesn't say that do you ever look at your wife or husband like that well you're just a pain in the neck you're no use the Lord doesn't say that he values that person even if it's not if he's not gifted or capable every member is valued this is the body of Christ it was not there in the Old Testament I just want to ask you my brothers and sisters are you disappointing God by not recognizing fellowship in your home in your in the body we need to value one another that's the first step recognize that we need one another and if the body of Christ is to fulfill its function in these last days before Christ returns I tell you we're not going to bind Satan by doing healing and miracles and preaching prosperity it just will not happen look at the confusion in churches that preach all that it's going to come where he finds brothers and sisters who are united homes were husband and wife are united where they value one another and thereby have power to bind Satan's activities on this earth and glorify Christ let's pray there's something practical you have to do now that you've heard God's Word and you know what you need to do perhaps what you need to do is go and ask forgiveness from someone for not valuing that person maybe your husband or your wife the despising way you've spoken to each other the havoc you have allowed the devil to work in your home because of disunity between you and your husband or wife the children have suffered your finances have suffered but it's not too late come back to the Lord in repentance and say Lord it's gonna be a turning point in my life today I surrender my life to you I don't want to just live a holy life myself I want to build fellowship with my wife and my husband with the brothers and sisters in the church Heavenly Father I pray in Jesus name that it will be sold not just for many here but for everyone we pray in Jesus name Amen thank you

Channel: alcf

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Keywords: Sermon, message, zac poonen, alcf, true fellowship

Id: HbrgwT9T0SM

Length: 42min 23sec (2543 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 14 2011