More Than Just Fellowship

Delivered on 8/27/17 at Camp Layman

                                                                     
 
Philippians 1:3-11
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
 
What is the definition of “fellowship”?
 
Webster Dictionary:
:  companionship, company looking for the fellowship of friendly people.
:  community of interest, activity, feeling, or experience
    their fellowship in crime.
:  the state of being a fellow or associate.
:  a company of equals or friends :  association a fellowship
:  the quality or state of being comradely meaningful communication for building trust and
   Fellowship.
:  membership, partnership.
 
This is the world’s definition of “fellowship”. According to our text, it goes beyond the word. Because of Christ, it is “More Than Just Fellowship”.  “I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.
 
I love our times of fellowship, don’t you? This weekend is another testimony of the bond that we have…which is in Christ. This weekend would have been possible if it wasn’t blessed by our Lord Jesus. Everything about this weekend is just perfect. The fellowship, games, stories, and of course the food.
 
We joke all the time about how much Baptists love to eat, but I think that, one of the reasons we like to eat so much is because of the fellowship that goes along with it. Those times are wonderful and I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for them.
But is that all that fellowship is? Is fellowship just limited to the times when we have picnics and dinners together? Is fellowship just limited to the times when we love on each other before and after our services together? No, it’s not. Because those things are really just expressions of our true fellowship. True fellowship goes much deeper than handshakes and hugs. True fellowship is the kind of fellowship that Paul shared with the church at Philippi. The kind of fellowship that endured even when they were apart. The kind of fellowship that continually increased, despite trials, prison and persecution.
 
In many of Paul’s letters, he begins with a prayer of thanksgiving. He thanks God for the people he’s writing to. But in this letter to the church at Philippi, that thankfulness seems to overflow. Paul had a very special relationship with the church at Philippi. They weren’t a perfect church. Neither are we.
 
It is truly surprising to me on how God can build His church. You have a building full of people, that are all different. Each and every member is different. We all have our issues, and querks, and yet, God in His power can make His church well. Considering the fact that we are all messed up in our own ways. And yet…God makes it work!
 
In many of Paul’s letters, he begins with a prayer of thanksgiving. He thanks God for the people he’s writing to. But in this letter to the church at Philippi, that thankfulness seems to overflow. Paul had a very special relationship with the church at Philippi. They weren’t a perfect church. There were some issues going on that he would address later on.
 
They weren’t always unified. They had trouble discerning false teaching. They weren’t always focused on what they were supposed to be doing and weren’t all heading in the same direction.
They were far from being a perfect church.
 
Charles Spurgeon had this to say…
 
Spurgeon was pastor of the huge Metropolitan Tabernacle in London and wonderful things were happening there. Thousands would come each Sunday to hear him preach. During the week, they would give out tickets to get in because there wasn’t enough room for everyone that wanted to, to come in. But all of these great things were happening and a lady came up to Spurgeon one Sunday morning after the service. She said, “Mr. Spurgeon, I don’t believe that I will be joining your church.” Spurgeon said, “Why is that?” She said, “Because some things are lacking. It is not quite a perfect church.” Spurgeon looked at her and said, “Ma’am, when you finally find the perfect church, please do not join it. Because if you join it, you will only ruin it.”
 
 
 
That’s funny, but it’s true. There are no perfect churches. There never have been and there never will be. And the reason that there are no perfect churches is because churches are made up of imperfect people. And Philippi was the same way. But in spite of that, they were still very special to Paul. Maybe that’s because he knew that he wasn’t perfect either.
 
Later on his letter, he would remind them of…
 
Philippians 3:8-10
8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.
 
Paul knew and gives us an example, that any righteousness in him wasn’t his. He knew it was Christ’s. And he knew that the same Jesus that saved him was the same Jesus that saved the people in the church at Philippi. They were all the same…we’re all the same.  And because of that, he was able to see them, not for their imperfections… but he was able to see them for who they were in Christ.
 
And because of who they were together in Christ, they were able to have true and real fellowship. In this passage, we see how that fellowship played itself out in two parts. Their fellowship was a gospel fellowship and it was a grace fellowship. First, it was a gospel fellowship.
 
Philippians 1:5-6
5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
 
For a church to work, and have fellowship, it needs a Gospel Fellowship. That kind of Gospel fellowship has an understanding of the past, and it has a glorious hope in the future. Which is built in Christ, formed by Christ.
 
Sometimes the past is glorious. Sometimes it’s forgettable. Sometimes the future looks promising. Sometimes it looks bleak. But there is no organization on the face of the earth that has what we have in Christ. (The Christians, The Gospel born Christians) There is no organization on the face of the earth that has the hope and the promise and the forgiveness of the Gospel. Everything else will soon fade away. But the True Gospel remains forever.
 
 
 
You see, it didn’t matter what had gone on in the Philippian church in the past.
It didn’t matter because they shared a fellowship with Paul in the Gospel from the first day until now. Their fellowship wasn’t based on their mood. It wasn’t based on their feelings. It wasn’t based on how many mistakes they had made or how they had blown it with each other in the past. No… their fellowship was built in the Gospel of Christ.
 
That meant that whoever they were in the past had been covered by the blood of Christ. That meant that all of their past sins were wiped away. It meant that all of their present sins had been wiped away. And it meant that their future sins had been wiped away. From the first day until now, they had ALL been paid for through Christ.
 
And because of that, verse 6 says that they could be confident. Confident in what? Their ability to do the right thing all the time? Their ability to overcome problems? Their ability to bond together and be unified? Their ability to see changes coming and deal with them? How could they be confident in those things? The fact was that they didn’t really have the ability to do any of those things. But people in a Gospel fellowship don’t have confidence in the things that they can do. No…people in a Gospel fellowship have confidence in the things that Jesus is doing. People in a Gospel fellowship have confidence that Jesus will finish what He starts. Despite the fact that the members are not perfect.  Jesus is the One that makes it work!
 
Because of who Jesus is. And that gave them a bond that was deeper than any fellowship you and I can ever imagine. Fil-Am Baptist Mission Church is far from being perfect. And it doesn’t take a whole lot of insight to know that your messenger is not perfect…far from it. But thank God that our perfection is not what we are to have confidence in.
 
Gospel fellowship comes from understanding that, despite our imperfections, Christ has been working in all of us. And Gospel fellowship comes from understanding that, despite how imperfect we might be today, Christ is still working in us. And He will continue to work in us.
 
Not only does true fellowship consist of Gospel fellowship, it also consists of grace fellowship. Look at verses 7-8…
 
Philippians 1:7-8
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
 
God’s desire for His children, His church is to also have a Grace Gospel Fellowship. So… Paul is saying that they have true fellowship because they share in the Gospel and because they share in God’s grace. They have Gospel fellowship and they have Grace fellowship.
 
True fellowship isn’t manufactured. It isn’t casually built with plans and programs and team-building exercises. True, grace fellowship is forged in the fire. Because it’s when we’re in the fire that we really need the grace of Christ to bring us through, isn’t it?
 
Paul could have never made it through what he went through apart from the grace of Christ. And because of the love they had for each other, when Paul was in prison, it hurt the Philippian church as much as it hurt him. Isn’t that the way we should be toward each other? When one of us hurts, shouldn’t we all feel the pain?
 
Galatians 6:2
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
 
No maturing Christian can ever say, “I don’t need the church”, because Jesus tells us that we need each other. That is why God builds churches, no “one” Christian is ever called to be alone.
 
Not only did the Philippian church share in Paul’s imprisonment, they shared in his work. Grace fellowship meant that they shared in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel. They were together in the defense of the Gospel. They were together in the confirmation of the Gospel. Do you know what that means? It means that they lived lives that confirmed the truth of the Gospel to a watching and waiting world.
 
It showed in the way they handled grief. It showed in the way they handled adversity. It showed in the way they dealt with opposition. It showed in everything they did. When Paul was in prison, they loved him and hurt for him. But they didn’t despair. They didn’t despair, because their hope was in Jesus. And they trusted Jesus. And when Jesus made them a promise, they believed Him.
 
In Conclusion:
 
I have no doubt in my mind that we love each other, we care for one another. And… I hope that whenever we are apart, we have the same mindset as Paul, when he said… “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy”. We do have a wonderful fellowship together. And it is much deeper than just sharing meals together, stories, games, and so on… What we have is “More Than Just Fellowship”.
 
What we share is far deeper than any flaws or differences. What we share is far deeper than any past hurts or difficulties. What we share is the saving power of Jesus Christ. And by His grace and by His mercy, He reached into time and chose you, and I. He chose us and washed us and cleansed us with the blood of His Son. He gave us a new set of clothes…righteous clothes to cover our filth and shame.
We stand before Him and before each other as heirs and joint-heirs with His Son. Each of us deserves the exact same thing. And each of us has been given the exact same thing. The ground is level at the foot of the cross where we stand. And because of that, we have confidence. Not confidence in ourselves. Not confidence in our abilities. We have confidence in Christ.
 
The bond that we have…the fellowship that we have does end here. It is forever. He’s not finished with us. “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.
 
This is our life. It is who we are as believers in Jesus. We have been called here together. And we’ve been called here to share in a Gospel fellowship and in a Grace fellowship. And I thank God that He’s working us toward that and won’t quit until He’s accomplished it in us.
 
Let Us Pray….