The New Covenant Life ＂Fellowship＂ — Sandeep Poonen

Fellowship as a Distinctive Blessing of the New Covenant

I've been speaking on the new covenant. I'm going through about six or seven of them. I Wanted to speak today on fellowship, and it's going to tie in with what we've heard. Today the word fellowship is a word that is not found in the old covenant.

It wasn't an old agreement word it is one of the characteristics and the benefits of being in the new agreement. I want to ask all of us a question as we've been hearing today. What is the greatest benefit of being a Christian?

What is the greatest benefit of? Being Under the new covenant. God took us out of the old covenant. Tore it up and gave us a new covenant. What is the greatest benefit? We've talked about this before but it is a repeated thing that we must keep on holding on to the greatest benefit of being under the new agreement beats everything else among a lot of good ones that you may be thinking of him is That we get to partake of the divine nature.

You can't beat that and So when we say that we are part of the new agreement that we are part of the new covenant. Dear brothers and sisters dear family of God, let us never never let anything come close to that supreme benefit that me broken wretched worm.

Has the opportunity to partake to share to be one with the divine Nature not divine virtues. Divine nature. This is by far the greatest perk. It's like me going to work and they offer free water and I glory in the water, but not realize that I got a paycheck.

Thousands of dollars coming in and I go to work every day like hey, I get free water. This is what a lot of us Christians do with the new covenant when we say we're gonna go to heaven. How can we compare going to heaven compared to being one with the divine nature.

Doesn't even come in the same league and We've been missing the paychecks. We've been missing going after the paycheck saying God. The reason why you've put me into the new agreement is that I can have fellowship.

Union with the divine nature. This is straight from scripture 1 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 4 that God has given us beautiful magnificent promises by which we partake. That word fellowship. That's that word.

That's exact same word. It's translated elsewhere as fellowship that we fellowship with the divine nature. This is the thing we must long for. Children getting sick not sick. Children getting healed not getting healed.

Pastures crown Goliath's What does it matter? Trivial compared to Fellowship with the divine nature. Even David didn't have it, but he had a heart that was after God's heart. That's what it means to be a man after God's heart is to be a man in the new covenant who wants the divine nature.

Fellowship With the Father, the Son, and Other Believers

This is fellowship, so if you go to the next slide I use these words to define the word fellowship it's to have communion to have Unity. So the two words that I think of when I think of fellowship of fellowship and unity.

2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 4 and what we see about this word fellowship, and this is so Amazing it we have to meditate on these words that are I believe that all of us have not at all unpacked these words that the fellowship we ought to have to another brother and sister in Christ is The fellowship that we share with the Father and the Son.

Stern to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1 verse 3. 1 John chapter 1 verse 3 says what we have seen and heard. What did John see and hear. He saw the physical Jesus. He saw the physical Jesus walking on water and he says what we saw and heard.

We proclaim to you All just because of one reason not so that you can also walk on water not so that you can also multiply the bread. All so that you also may have fellowship. Union unity with us and here's the fellowship.

I have this is the fellowship. We have is with the Father and the Son. Equal. What is the fellowship that we must have with the Father and the Son. Unconstrained unlimited that's how much access we have through Christ to the Father and He uses that same fellowship to say vertical horizontal that same fellowship must be there and the fellowship that word is Unity.

I could use that word unity because for us unity is probably an easier word to understand. So the same unity that I have with the Father and the Son I have with one another. Now I cannot have Unity with one another if I don't have unity with the Father first.

This is not a unity with everybody on this world because we're all humans. That's what New Age will say. New Age will say we all have to accept one another because we're all humans and we all come from Mother Earth or all kinds of different things like that.

That is not where our unity comes from. Our unity doesn't either come from people who call themselves Christians. Because many will come in the last day saying I was had the label of Christian. Not only that I cast out demons in your name and the father will say and the son God will say I never knew you.

So it's not even unity with all people who claim to be Christians. But it is with everybody whose longs and desires and is striving and has that unity with the Father and the Son themselves. For any such person I must long to have the same unity that I claim to have with the Father and the Son with the other brothers and sisters.

This is not how it was in the old covenant. You had individual people like David like Jeremiah like Elijah lone prophets walking around. Trying to fulfill their ministry, but when Jesus came he sent people out two by two.

Even when Paul had a fight with Barnabas and they split up. He had this much knowledge of the new covenant to say I need to find somebody else. Paul was clearly more qualified more gifted than Silas, but he knew he needed to be united.

Fellowship was so critical. So when we encourage people to meet together with the Saints to fellowship with one another to have times. It is not getting together to have coffee and chat about sports scores.

It is supposed to be something that is because I have a relationship with the Father and the Son and If I find that somebody I'm having fellowship with doesn't seem to have a fellowship with this Father and the Son.

I will find that I can't have fellowship with that person. They're interested in just making money. They're interested in just having a comfortable life. They have not seen that the greatest benefit of the new agreement Is to grab a hold of the divine nature.

But when I find some other brother who's just been born again yesterday and who's also gripped that this can be possible my arms should be open wide and I must Seek to have fellowship with them. So I wanted to share some of the things that I think of as I think of fellowship.

From the Unity of the Spirit to the Unity of the Faith

Which is another word for that is unity in the next slide. The basis of our fellowship is unity of the spirit. That's the next line. Okay, unity of the spirit. That's Ephesians. We can turn to Ephesians chapter 4 because there are two words.

I owe 100 of what I speak today as almost any other message to my dad. So this is something that I can tell you almost word for word. I just steal from my dad because he's shown me everything I know about this because I don't know anybody else teaching it this way.

One of the greatest perks of the new covenant, which is fellowship is mostly Misunderstood and made so superficial. That we don't understand the great calling we need to have in fellowship. Ephesians chapter 4.

I therefore brethren Urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling which you have been called with all humility and gentleness. With patience showing forbearance to one another in love being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in The bond of peace the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

The unity here is the unity of the Holy Spirit. So what I have been saying so far is the beginning of the unity I have with anybody else that at the fellowship I need to have is with somebody else who has the unity of the spirit where the Holy Spirit has come upon them and they too Have the spirit living in them.

That is the foundation. That's the basis on which The whole we can have fellowship with anybody else. From there on if we keep going we go to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 13. Which says not just the unity of the spirit But the unity of the faith.

So I start from having a unity of the Holy Spirit I need look the unity that I'm seeking to have the Lord asked me to have is with others Who have the Holy Spirit also dwelling in them, but then I need to be seeking to grow in unity until I get to a unity of the faith.

Unity of faith. So what does that mean for me? Unity of faith is where There is nothing of myself and Everything about God think about that. It is nothing of myself and Everything about God that is the unity of the faith.

We know that when we are Christians, we don't have this attitude in which we're nothing and God is everything. We have the seed of that through the Holy Spirit. But what God wants us to grow is to grow in the faith and to grow in faith.

To where my fellowship is with a group of people Who are all nothings and to whom God is everything. Don't worry about it. Just let's see that where God is not where we are nothing and God is everything.

So, let me ask you this. Can I have fellowship with you? Here's what I have to have fellowship with you. What I need to have from myself and here's what I need to have with you. I don't care where they coming to NCCF I don't care what doctrinal statement you believe I can have fellowship with you.

If I bring to the table the spirit of I am nothing and God is everything and You bring to the table. I am nothing. My ego is nothing. My ambition is nothing my thoughts about myself or nothing. God is everything you find two people who do that.

They can be perfectly united. Now Jesus and God have this Attitude about themselves that everybody else is nothing and God is everything so they come with this. And so when we seek to have fellowship with the Father and the Son we can truly have fellowship.

Union with the Father and the Son. When we come to God with Lord, I am nothing Lord you are everything that is faith. It is impossible to please God without faith because he who comes to God must believe that God is.

That means God alone is I am NOT. I'm nothing God you are and that you're a reward of those who diligently seek me. So if I have to have fellowship with God I must come with faith, which means I am nothing.

God is everything if I want to have fellowship with any one of you. Both of us must come with this attitude of I am nothing and God is everything. This is the unity of the faith that God longs for it says in verse 4 13.

Until we all attain to the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God that God is everything. To a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. So I hope you've understood the starting point and I hope you've understood the final point that we start with the unity of the Spirit and We end up with the unity of the faith.

Heavenly Fellowship and the Emmaus Road

So you can go to the next slide. I just drew a little picture. Here's the journey we are on. We start with the unity of the Spirit but set your minds on things above. We ought to be growing more and more to have our mind set on heavenly things.

What happens when we are in heaven? I'm gonna be a little blip among billions of people. Billions of souls that have been saved by the blood of the Lamb who are dressed not in their own righteousness.

But in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I'm just gonna be a dot and So are you and we're gonna be all dots dots of nothing worshiping the Son of God. Full of faith. Full of this virtue of faith, which is I am nothing.

God you are everything. This is fellowship. This is not coming together to talk about the Bible. This is not coming together to unpack Haggai or Zechariah or Malachi. All those things Bible study, prayer, teaching, listening to sermons, having coffee with one another are all just Things to support what must be in our hearts to have fellowship.

Is am I coming with. I am nothing and God is everything and then is he coming with he is nothing. God is everything. Two people get together for five minutes and they have blessed fellowship. Two people can walk and they didn't even know it was Jesus and they can say didn't our hearts burn within us.

Has Jesus reduced them to nothing. So that they could see that God was everything you foolish men. Didn't you see that the scriptures were testifying about Jesus Christ? And he broke down all of their doubts till when the end of that walk to Emmaus and Luke chapter 24.

Their hearts were burning. We're nothing but God is everything he made a way out of nowhere. This is what we are to seek to have fellowship with other people we don't need lots of time. With each other we waste time.

Oftentimes I look I'm not talking but we can't talk about sports. We can't talk about music. We can't talk about interest. We can't do all the things. Of course we can and If you've seen my life, you've seen the way I've interacted with you.

That's the way I've been too. So I'm not saying that that's wrong, but let's not call that fellowship. The fellowship we have is equal to the fellowship. We have the father and the son and that is spiritual.

The physical the emotional they all add to it those are things that God has given us to add to give a little bit of joy to it, but it's not there if we don't have spiritual and The spiritual is where I am nothing and God is everything dear brothers who are married.

Sisters who are married bring that's fellowship that we ought to have with each other. I'm nothing. God is everything. Am I coming at my idea more important than yours? Are we seeking to resolve arguments with I am nothing.

I'm nothing your God is everything. Some people say you have to go with the attitude of honey. I'm nothing you're everything. It's not fellowship. What is true Christian marriage unity? Lord, we are nothing you are everything and when both husband and wife come to any decision with that attitude is unity this fellowship.

Humility, Gentleness, Patience, and Love in Fellowship

We have to seek for that dear brothers and sisters in the context of this church. And we must long for that now, we just don't presuppose every single conversation below. Hey guys, let's talk. I'm nothing you're everything.

Let's kind of have our whole half an hour. You've been around us, you know for long enough to know that's not how we act. This is not some new revelation. I got this week. It's become a little clearer but it's something that I've known for a while this has been taught to me.

But we must bring that with us that in every interaction especially with a member of this local church. Because these this is the Christians you see the most and definitely to your family. We must get better at bringing that spirit with us.

Lord, I am nothing you're everything. Let me bring that with me to the table and then he comes in and starts complaining about how hard he has it at work. It's difficult for me to have fellowship with that.

I'm not saying I can't listen to it. But I must with all gentleness of Galatians chapter 6 seek how to restore him back to faith. Do he realize hey man, you're nothing we're nothing. God is everything.

He's sovereign. He's got everything under control. Doesn't look like your child is getting better. We prayed doesn't matter. God is everything. Let's not speak words of doubt. Let's speak words of faith.

Not that my child will be healed. That's not the word of faith. The word is the faith is that God is good and God has everything under control. That is the word of faith that we can leave with. That though he slay me yet.

Will I trust him? This is faith. Contrary contradicts so much that we hear in Christendom. But we have to hold fast to this faith that Lord we are nothing. God is everything and it may be hard to tell that to Your wife when she's coming with something ask God to give you grace to wash Your spouse in the word.

We're nothing and let me demonstrate in my life that I'm a nothing. Let me set the example especially us men as leaders we must set the example. I'm a nothing. God is everything. And we find the best way to gently draw husband and wife.

Whoever is the ones trying to bring their ego and bring their opinions and matter try to gently draw them to. We are here to have fellowship. We're here to be united. We're here to have communion. We're here to partake of the divine nature.

We can't come with 1 of Sandeep and commune with the divine nature. It's all fit for the garbage. 0 of Sunday can partake with 100 of the divine nature. We can't adulterate the divine nature with even the holiest of our thoughts.

It's not worth it. And so As we think about unity of the spirit. These are the words that I think of as I see in Ephesians chapter 4 the next slide as I think about unity of the spirit. When you think about united the very basis, so I'm going back to the foundation.

The things that virtues that we bring with us is. With all Humility walk in a manner worthy of the calling. What is the calling? What is to be worthy of the calling you want to know what's worthy of the calling.

Read Ephesians 1 through 3 chapters 1 through 3 and you've been loved and God's lavished everything for you in the beloved and. Then it ends with Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14 through 21 where we memorize that I bow my knees for the before the father so that I could be rooted and grounded in love and All that is so much.

Love walk in a manner worthy of that kind of love. I Beseech you brethren as a prisoner and treat you Ephesians 4 1. Walk in a manner worthy of that as you interact with other people walk with humility and gentleness.

Reminds me of Matthew 11 29 learn from me humility and gentleness with patience. Showing forbearance to one another in love. These are the virtues that we bring if we want to have fellowship in the spirit.

So though people are struggling though people are the lower maturity than them. We don't come after them. We don't come with them saying you guys what you useless. You don't understand new covenant. With all humility and gentleness with patience showing forbearance to one another in love.

This is how we preserve the unity of the spirit. Not lecturing not seeking to teach not seeking to lord over other people not seeking to instruct. Not seeing to just parrot what we've anyways learned from somebody else.

No with humility gentleness forbearance patience in love. This is how we preserve the unity of the spirit and then. That's Ephesians 4 from 1 through 6. But then how do we gain in the unity of the faith that starts with verse 7 onwards to verse 13?

Spiritual Gifts for Equipping the Whole Church

And this is where I want to explain a little bit the next thing. God has given grace To the church. That's what it was given. It says that He has given grace verse 7. According to the measure of Christ's gifts God decided how much grace to give and he gave it says in verse 11.

Some not all to be Apostles some to be Prophets some to be evangelists some to be professors and teachers. So don't Beat yourself up because you're not one of these because God gave it according to his gifts.

He gives certain people the apostolic ministry to be able to plant churches and to have oversight over multiple churches. God gives some people the ability to teach God's Word. God gives some people the gift to evangelize in a very special way more than just being able to communicate our faith.

God gives it to some not to all and it's according to his grace that he has given. But why has God given it only to some. Does that make them more special than others? No, God has given certain gifts to some.

Verse 12 such an important verse for every single one of us to understand for. The teacher is here for the Prophet is here for the evangelist is here for The equipping of all the Saints. So who's the most important person in the new covenant chain.

New covenant Church all the Saints. The pastor and the teacher and the the Prophet and the Apostles are all been given gifts. To dump it on you the Saints all of our Saints so that the Saints may be equipped for the work of service.

Are women excluded? No. Men excluded. No every single person. We just have different gifts and God selects. I don't you don't need to have 25 teachers. You just need one. You don't need so many evangelist one or two is enough.

I know how big your church is. I know how big your church can handle even if you were to either bring 50 people more new new people to here. You won't know what to do with it. I'll just give you one evangelist.

I'll give that other church. Maybe five evangelist. God bless you. Grace has been given to each church. Specific gifts and nothing we can do. No no amount of prayer meetings can give you the gift of teaching.

No amount of fasting. God chooses to give it to you. But it's not that glamorous or gift because that is only meant to dump it on all the Saints. So that every single Saint can do the work of service which is to build up the body of Christ.

So who builds up the body of Christ the teacher or the Saints the Saints? You me us together every single one that is why we're so much against the clergy. We're so much against any kind of priests that separate different classes of believers.

That's why I don't we don't believe that there's any class of People in this church. There are certain leadership roles that we have to play that we have three elders to help maintain order. That's it.

But our role whatever gifts we have. There's no gift called an elder. It's just a organizational role, but even the gifts that are demonstrated in this church, whether it is prophecy or teaching or evangelism they're all supposed to be to dump into all of us so that every single person is Doing their part to build up the body of Christ.

How can you do that when you don't spend any time with anybody? How can you do that? If you're not seeking to be involved with other people in their lives? How can you do that? If you're not seeking ever God who have you put on my heart that I can reach out to?

Lord, I'm I don't have any gifts. I'm you know, I'm the quiet one I'll just I'm gonna be I'll sit in the back. I'm still, you know working on things. No Lord, you Ephesians 4 12 you have given all these prophets and teachers people like Zach wouldn't I really expect?

Well, why was he given? What is this ministry for for you? For you to build up the body of Christ. Are we doing that? That's what we ought to do. Until verse 13 and it's in that context that we can then understand until we all attain to the unity of the faith.

Maturity, Stability, and Every Member's Ministry

Which is in Christ imagine the unity that Christ had in all of his perfection. God says we all have to keep laboring until we get there as Verse next go to verse 14 as a result. We are no longer Tossed around.

So many Christians are tossed around by waves of doctrine. I'm talking but this isn't the church. This is not some we're talking about New Age and Hinduism and Islam. We're talking about in the church.

There's so many people tossed around verse 14 by every wind of doctrine and God says you don't have to be that way. You were supposed to be established and the local church was supposed to be the place in which you would be Established finding your role not looking for some big gift.

I'm the one who speaks. No, I'm here to lift up and Man is involved woman is involved. Children too if they're born again can be involved too and building it up one another. Christ causes the growth. But that last two bullet points are held together by the proper working of each individual part.

Read those verses verse 15 and 16 carefully when you got time at home and See the significance God has put in the body of Christ. Christ is the one who causes the growth, but it says that that each Individual part is what holds these pieces together.

You play such an important critical function in holding together based on each individual part working properly and Then of course that doesn't mean we're somebody. Christ's the one working through it all causing us the growth.

Fellowship as the Goal of Church Life

The desire for this message is to really amplify the need for fellowship and unity to be built up as I said Starts with the unity of the spirit with all humility and gentleness and forbearance and patience.

Until we attain to the fellowship the unity of the faith. But we are nothing. We're all nothing. God is everything the best. Gathering together of this on any Sunday was when God looked from heaven and saw the most number of nothings in this room.

The sermon may have been useless. Message may have been using music may have been useless. I did both of them so I can speak to. That may have been pitiful. But God said that was the best one that was the best one because it was the most number of Nothings that were ever collected at NCCF before and we ought to strive you can only act.

There's nothing we can do to help you with that. You have to decide to come before God and say God. I'm gonna bring my nothingness before you and I'm gonna bring your everything because just my nothingness is depressing and glorifying the devil if You don't also bring God's everything with it.

That's not faith. That's doubt. That's an insult to God. When God says we are everything in him. I want to share lastly some slides some things that my dad has written. I copied it last line. Unity is organic that means it's based on organisms organ think of body is organic not organized organizational and.

So that's why there can be no union between the living and the dead. That's why our unity of the Spirit is where this unity ought to be done started from. Satan hated the body of Christ when Jesus was on earth today cannot.

Satan cannot Attack the risen Christ. He tried to kill Jesus's body while on earth. He succeeded, but he didn't kill Christ and Today he can't attack Jesus anymore, but he can't attack Jesus's body. He is his primary target is the church.

Not society out there he's already got that in the control. He wants to attack the church through disunity. That's why his attacks are therefore directed at Christ's body. The church now listen to this last statement from my dad.

This makes our church Rather unique even compared to most Bible believing churches. Fellowship in a church is more important than evangelism. How many of us would say that's true? Luke chapter 15 verse 7.

This is where my dad again. You can find this there's a book that my dad has written called one body in Christ. It's on the obviously notes free. It's on the website. You should read it. I Don't know if he says it in there, but in one of his articles he wrote this Fellowship is more important than evangelism and where he got that was from Luke chapter 15 verse 7.

Where it says this is the story of the one sheep that was lost and he says in there There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents Than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. So the shepherd goes out and leaves the 99 to get the one sheep.

But there's something that characterizes these 99. They are ones who are have no need of repentance. Why do they have no need of repentance. Because they're constantly judging themselves before God and are constantly saying Lord we are nothing.

That's the state of the 99 that God says I can go and bring one other sheep into this midst. Otherwise I bring this one lost sheep into a midst of people who are just fighting at each other and biting each other.

It may be better out there than to bring him into a church which Christians are fighting with one another and are not repenting over their sins because they're all thinking there's somebody all trying to seek that they be the greatest all seek that they may have a ministry and God is saying I'm more interested in getting two people.

Where two or three are gathered in my name and the only thing that matters about these two or three people is that God's name. Is there? That's enough. Because they're not fighting with one another then God can send evangelists and he can go and bring one more and He knows that when they bring him into this flock of two or three.

Those sheep are not gonna bite him and say you go massage my hooves or whatever it is. That's not gonna be how the sheaves work. The sheaves will be like come and be one of us. It's not gonna be well.

You're gonna have to do your time on the outskirts before you come in and really be one of us. That's not the heart of the 99 if that is the heart of the 99 which is maybe there in many churches. Maybe it's true about NCCF.

Maybe that's what's timing up. That's what's limiting our growth. Maybe because God says I don't see a bunch of nothings here. I don't want to bring outside sheep and bring them into this place and have them just be bit all over by ego and culture and cultural preferences and Whatever else intellectual preferences.

God wants us to be a bunch of nothings and when he sees a flock of 99. Which they have no need of repentance because they're already repenting and judging themselves and walking in the light as he's in the light.

God says I can bring other sheep to him very easily. Fellowship. Such an important word. Dear brothers and sisters the most greatest perk of the new covenant Is to partake of the divine nature. Far exceeds anything else.

Longing for the Divine Nature

Ask God What what does it mean? What will it be like if I tasted of your nature? What will be my response to temptation? Not to sin. How will I respond? When I see the temptation. To love money. I Know I must resist the love of money.

But Lord, I want to taste your divine nature. What is God's response? To sexual lust. Hates it. It's the even temptation of it. I want that nature. I'm not settling for victory over sin. I Want to have that revulsion to sin that God has.

That's divine nature. Throw out a track record. We want that dear brothers and sisters, this is the perk the greatest benefit what incredible lives and We'll never have his divine nature. We'll never have it, but we can taste of it.

God is God. God's gonna have his own nature. That's his nature. Don't believe we're gonna have it. It's my best understanding of the doctrine, but we can taste of it. And I want a taste of it more. I don't want to settle for just me saying I didn't lust after women today, or I didn't run after money today.

But were you attracted to it? You're longing for it. Please don't be condemned dear brothers and sisters. Please don't be condemned. You have not sinned if you didn't give in to temptation. But I want to have the nature of Jesus Christ.

I want to have the nature of God the divine nature. That has that revulsion for it and it's just say Lord. I want to have a hatred for it. I want to have this hatred for this unforgiveness that I keep holding on to.

I want to have not a Lord help me to better be better. But I want to have a hatred for the anxiety that comes into my heart. That makes me doubt whether you're a good God. I want to have a hatred to this love of money that keeps coming up 25 times a day.

I'm gonna fight Lord. I'm gonna do the best I find if I fall. I know I have your blood to cleanse me. But Lord, I'm not looking just to have a good track record today. I'm looking also at my appetite.

I want my appetite to be like your appetite. Some of you this may be the first time you've heard of it. Some of you this may be a repeated time you've heard of it. But we know this is not going to be the last time you hear about it.

We'll remind you over and over again as I need to be reminded too. The greatest perk of the new covenant is the divine nature. David was not such a man like that. Man after God's own heart. He never got it wasn't available to him in the old covenant.

He wanted it. That's why God says I'll send Messiah through this guy. I know he's gonna commit adultery. I know he's gonna commit murder but he wants my heart and That's what we are seeking for. Preserve that you can start today.

Set your track record aside and say Lord. I want to aim much much higher. I want your nature. I want to see something of this in 2018 2019 2020. Lord. Let me start today to have a longing for it to catch myself and say what are you doing so deep?