Fellows in a ship

The ever-famous Christian song from 1887 by  Anthony J. Showalter and elisha Albright Hoffman (used in movies like True Grit, etc.) starts:

What a fellowship, what a joy divine
Leaning on the everlasting arms
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Leaning, leaning
Safe and secure from all alarms

"There’s an old lie of the religious system that says, while you can never break your relationship with God, you can break your fellowship with Him, and that’s just a lie right out of the pit of hell from people who don’t even know the definition of the words in their own language," says Richard Jordan.

“The word fellowship means partnership. Fellows in a ship. It’s when the same thing happens to everybody. You know what happened on the Titanic? It sank. You know where that left everybody? In the water. They all got wet. Now, some of them survived, but a whole bunch of them didn’t and the point I’m making is they were all in the same boat.

“Fellowship means a 'bunch of fellows in the same ship.' It means we share in a common lot together; a partnership. Communion is another word. Literally, to be in fellowship with God is to share things with God that belong to Him. If you don’t share God’s life, you know what’s going to happen to you? You don’t have life anymore.

“That business in Christian circles about being ‘in fellowship, out of fellowship, back in fellowship and then back out of fellowship,’ is a misnomer that, I was going to start to say snuck into the Christian life, but it didn’t sneak in; it just walked in with jack boots; a big noisy entrance!

“What it has to do with is an absolute complete misunderstanding of what ‘fellowship’ is in I John. It’s all this incorrect business about keeping a ‘short-accounts system,’ where you confess your sins to keep your fellowship with God going.

“Anybody who tells you, ‘You don’t have to worry about breaking your relationship, but just confess to keep it open,’ is somebody who never read the Book of I John!

"If you’re going to quote I John 1:9, don’t forget to quote I John 2:12, will you, because He says in that verse, ‘Little children, your sins are forgiven.’ There’s a verse written to Believers. I John 1:9 is not written to Believers; it’s written to identify who Believers are.

"I  John 1:9 says, [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“What was it that John the Baptist called them to do? It was the ‘baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.’ They went to John confessing their sins—did exactly what Leviticus 26 and other passages said they were to do—in order to be restored back out of the corrupt, apostate religious system they had been taken by.

*****

“The great definition of 'eternal life' is in I John 1:3, but that’s also what He’s talking about with having a fellowship that is with the Father and with the Son; it has to do with possession of that life. John 17:3 says, [3] And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“When He says in the next verse, [4] I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,’ what work is that that He’s finished?

“It’s two more chapters before He hangs on the Cross and says, ‘It’s finished,’ so it can’t be that work; the work of redemption. It’s something else that He had to do. Do you ever wonder why Jesus ministered on the earth for 3 1/2 years? What was He doing?

“How did He know at the end of 3 1/2 years that it was time to quit and go to Calvary and die; that the hour had come for that to be accomplished? He was doing something during His earthly ministry, and He says the night before He dies, ‘I’ve finished it; the work that you gave me to do, I’ve finished.’

“What’s Christ talking about here in the passage? John 17: 6: [6] I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

“He says in verse 8, [8] For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

“You know what He’s talking about? He’s talking about the training, the work, the giving of the message to the apostles, and through them to the ‘little flock.’ That work is completed. Now, He’s completed His work as the son of David and now He, as the son of Abraham, can go to Calvary.

“In all of that you come to verse 12: [12] While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

“That’s one verse that will help you to understand who the Lord’s talking about; He’s talking about the apostles because one of them was lost. He’s talking about the ‘little flock’ in Israel.

“Verse 13-17: [13] And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
[14] I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
[15] I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
[16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
[17] Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

“Now, that’s the issue there. When He says, ‘I’m writing these things that your joy might be full,’ this is what He’s talking about: ‘So you might be a part of those the Father has given me; you might be part of the true fellowship with the Father and me.’ ”

*****

"The only time in the Four Gospels we’re told Jesus Christ rejoiced is in Luke 10:21: [21] In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

“It’s fascinating what He rejoiced in. There’s the ‘wise and prudent’ in Israel, but then there are some people who are like ‘babes,’ who have just simple faith; ‘childlike faith,’ as Matthew calls it.

“Christ says, ‘Be a part of that group of people who rejoice in the real deal. You’ve got a real reason to rejoice, not just in the things you’re able to accomplish, but in the fact that you’re really a part of something.’

“I John 1:3-4 says, [3] That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
[4] And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

“The purpose of the Book of I John is that the people he’s writing to would be able to have fellowship with the ‘little flock.’ Literally, the ‘we’ and the ‘us’ in the passage is the 12 Apostles.

“They’re the ones who declared and did the things in verses 1 and 2: [1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
[2] (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

*****

“God forms that ‘little flock’ through the ministry of those apostles and in the ages to come the 144,000 will be the catalyst comparable to the 12 back in the Book of Acts. The issue is coming to the place where you have fellowship with the Father and with His Son; that you’re a part of the real genuine fellowship in Israel: ‘And these things we write.’

“That expression ‘that your joy may be full’ is very important because it really identifies the purpose of the book and the group of people Christ’s talking to. In Luke 10 is a fascinating passage where the Lord sends out His disciples and they come back to Him.

“Specifically, Luke 10:16-20 says, [16] He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
[17] And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
[18] And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
[19] Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
[20] Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

“In other words, they are a part of His program to dislodge the Adversary from his plan of conquest over God’s kingdom and authority and from Satan’s policy of evil to place himself in God’s position. They’re a part of that restoration and reclamation program to take away from the usurper that which he has and they’re invested with this authority.

“At this point, the kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus Christ and His Spirit working through them, and that’s why there’s this tremendous conflict between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light at that time. They have that power and they’re rejoicing in all that.

*****

“When Jesus says in John 15:11, ‘These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full,’ that’s a comment He’s making to the 12 Apostles.

"There are only 11 of them at the time (Judas has exited already), but this is in the Upper Room the night before He dies and He’s there with that inner group of people--the ‘little flock’ at its core--emphasizing, ‘I’m telling you these things so that your joy might be full.’

“He continues to talk to them in John 16:23-24: [23] And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
[24] Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

“Come to John 17 in the Lord’s prayer. Again, the Lord’s Prayer is not the 'Our Father' prayer of Matthew 6. It’s not the 'Disciples Prayer.' It’s the prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ prays the night before He dies as recorded in John 16. Here’s the REAL Lord’s Prayer.

“John 17:13 says, [13] And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.’ When He says ‘now come I to thee,’ that’s Christ coming to the Father. The ‘they’ there is going to be the 12 Apostles, in particular, and who they minister to, in general. Go back to verse 1: [1] These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

“Seven times in this passage Christ identifies some people the Father has given to Him. We looked at Isaiah 8 where Isaiah prophetically quotes the Messiah as saying, ‘[18] Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.’

*****

“You can go back into the Old Testament and see this issue about the true fellowship with the Father and with the Son, how it was established, how it was corrupted and how it’s going to be restored. As you do that, you need to get these things kind of rolling around in your mind.

“That expression of Isaiah’s about ‘the children whom the Lord hath given me’; in John 13 He says to the apostles there, ‘Little children,’ identifying them. They’re the children, in the sense that they’re the leaders of this ‘little flock.’ The verse says, ‘Fear not, little flock, it’s your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’

“As John 17:3 says, [3] And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“That’s what Christ says in I John 1.  Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son. They share something in common with the Father and with the Son; they share an identity together, they share LIFE together."

(new article tomorrow)