It cannot be done. It might have been acceptable in a different circumstance. (From Forerunner Commentary). Through these come fellowship and experience with Them throughout the remainder of life and access to God's merciful grace when we fall short. Though redemption through the blood of a lamb (Christ) freed them from sin's dominion and death, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai shows that freeing them is not all that God had in mind. Verses 43-45 add, "Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Such strays are in an exposed position because they lack the protection afforded by the large numbers of others of like kind. That is where Christians are headed. As we concluded our recent series on God's Design for the Church, we looked at 18 different costs of negelecting fellowship with other believers. When Abraham offered Isaac, it was far greater in value than the offering of a lamb, ram, or even a bullock. There is a tension between the two extremes of excessive guilt and feelings of worthlessness in contrast to the casual, careless, irresponsible, "God will just have to take me as I am" disregard of our responsibility to glorify God in all we think, say, and do. Our reasons for attending God's feasts are very important. That is what Luke 2:26 tells us: God's Spirit revealed to Simeon that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. For those who have repented and accepted His sacrifice, there is increasingly more responsibility to continue this cleansing process in cooperation with and submission to Him. Unlike Jacob, they had not repented. However, the marriage feast is prominent, illustrating the full benefits of God's truth: fellowship with God, excellence, abundance, and happiness. Thus, the definition of eternal life must include quality of life. But how do we "come back" when we never had a relationship with Him before? They are content with a more distant relation. Who has the easier time dealing with temptation—God or us? "Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?" It is not just the death of Christ but the effect of His death: reestablishment of communion with God, of fellowship with Him. We do not have fellowship with people that we do not agree with. Prayer! He rewards those who, as a way of life, seek Him in anticipation of His treating them with patient, respectful kindness, even abundance, as He works to create us in the image of Jesus Christ. I am walking in darkness and have broken fellowship with God (1 John 1:5-6). The aim set before us here, however, is too high for the taste of many. What happens to us when we are around people who are pessimistic, angry, fearful, whining? "Fellowship" is from the word "koinonia" which means “communion, fellowship, sharing in common." The Bible shows three stages of coming to God. Do we really want fellowship with God? In order to build a relationship with God, those steps must be reversed: 1. 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. Is there an example there? God is quite concerned about His people and His spiritual body. The offering of a son is of greater value than the offering of any animal. Genesis 3:24 says that the Tree of Life is guarded. Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba were places of pilgrimage, places people went to observe the feasts. Israelites may have journeyed to Bethel, but Amos shows that no transformation occurred. The conclusion is inescapable: The peace that God gives is directly linked to sacrifice and love. Our communion with Christ is our enduring fellowship with Christ. Prayer is talking with God and if we have a close, intimate relationship with Him, it will naturally lead to prayer that is from our hearts to God’s. We can see our own lives in their examples. It will always help the other person in the long run. We should use this time to show love to our brethren and to motivate them to perform acts of kindness and service for others. Sin, a defiled life, is acceptable, and their attitude seems to be that God will just have to be satisfied with children who will not strive to overcome. This idea is later reflected in New Testament teaching about our spiritual transformation into the image of God (II Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:12-15, 20-24; I John 3:2). They heard God's Word. This occurs largely because our carnality drives us to compete rather than cooperate. Jesus' mission among the Jews was to “loose” them from crippling influences and bring them to uprightness. The protection of the flock is available. Is it part of the fellowship? Is Heaven the Reward of the Saved? It seems as if God intends us to conclude this as it is the last thing in the Creation Week that He draws our attention to. What we often lack are His perspective and truth. Peter summarizes this idea in I Peter 2:24, "[He] Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed.". He wants us to come to know him – to be with him – to spend time with him. 2 God, being triune in nature (Father, Son, Spirit), is in relationship with Himself. It follows, then, that if the more God rubs off on us, the more we become like Him—the more successful our battle against temptation becomes. All of these exhortations show a clear need for us to be part of an organization of God's people. This is why world travelers with the church say that they can go into another congregation and know that it is of the same Spirit as the one that they traveled from. We will never enter into God's acceptance and fellowship based on any work of offering we sacrifice to Him. It is not confined to making a witness so that people might have this held against them in a legal sense by God—as if God were saying, "I gave you My word, but you didn't respond to it.". Commentator Albert Barnes makes some interesting points on Revelation 3:20: (b) that we recognise the right of him who dwells in the house to open the door to us or not, as he shall please. God wants us to learn patience and forgiveness (Colossians 3:13), striving to be "kindly affectionate," humble, and self-effacing in our dealings with one another (Romans 12:10). Win or lose, God is always Undefeated. It means to be regular, faithful and steadfast in your prayer life. How do we in our daily actions put God first? Fellowship is not just friendly conversation and geniality. Fellowship With God. The medium that brings this all about is sacrifice. We must drop every excuse and every justification. Since we are called to love God and love the things/people that he loves, then we are also called to love people. They explained that their forefathers, the ancient Israelites, received a sign from God, manna, and called it bread from heaven (John 6:31). INTRO: Today, I want to talk to you about fellowship with God. Is the church only a spiritual organism? Jesus set an example for us when he slowed the pace of his life to spend time with the Father. If we understand the symbolism, their enemy was Satan. 4. Brothers and sisters. All mankind is separated from God because of sin, but Jesus came to bring us back into fellowship with God, IF we obey Him. We hope you find your time spent here a blessing. Our Creator has designed experiences to bring this question to mind so we might consider as many ramifications of it as possible. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27). In other words, the ladder brought God to Bethel. This kind of life is not subject to change, whether over time or from culture to culture. I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me as we simply read God… God is always the same. We live in an era when people are apathetic about having a true relationship with God. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. Comparing these two verses from Proverbs suggests that a certain chastening is required for cleansing. Perhaps the biggest question to ask is this: When did we hear the "still small voice" today and hide from God's presence? Sometimes a person desires so strongly to be independent of this kind of community relationship that he separates himself in order to be completely free from the suspicions, distrust, offenses, and other hardships that occur within a group. . In other words, sacrificing has to continue. Point #2: Genuine fellowship is destroyed by sin. Eventually, from there, he went to Rome to face the authorities there. God also understands rebellion. We would never stay home because we were tired. Have we ever considered why more "mighty deliverances" do not occur to us? This is why it is so vital for us to share life with Him. John 6:44 clarifies our first coming to God: "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." (18) And the LORD God said, " It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." This scene of the leper coming to Christ pictures divine reconciliation, since what is holy and what is profane usually do not mix. The most important piece of furniture inside the Holy of Holies was the Mercy Seat, a wooden chest overlaid with gold. If the spiritual organism is the only important aspect, why even have congregations? In this context, "life" means more than endless or eternal life. Most Bible experts and scholars agree that there is no biblical support for this idea at all and that such changes were made much later by (human) church leaders. 4:30; 1 Thess. Eternal life! If admitted, he comes and dwells with us; if rejected, he turns quietly away—perhaps to return and knock again, perhaps never to come back. The Bible, though ultimately written for His spiritual children, focuses on ancient Israel because she is comprised of God's chosen people. The far more important question for the converted is, "Does He not have the right to do as He pleases with us, since He is not only our Creator, but He has also purchased us from our spiritual bondage to sin through the payment of His sinless Son's lifeblood?" Their relationship was broken. In His mercy, God fulfilled what Jesus said in John 6:44, and began to draw us. It is not just Christ's sacrifice on the stake, for it just culminated a whole series of sacrifices that began in heaven when He sacrificed His glory as God, became a man, and subjected Himself to the Father's will perfectly. No prayer, no relationship. There is absolutely no scripture in the entire Bible that tells of God "de-sanctifying" His Sabbath Day! The quality of the fellowship depends upon all of these things. To have fellowship with God, we must recognize that He is absolutely holy (1:5). When we commit the occasional sin, are we no longer acceptable to God? 7. Likewise, Satan's spirit permeates our environment, influencing us unless we choose to counteract it. When we are busily engaged in hectic activity on God’s behalf (at least at the time it seems that we are engaged in God’s business) we can forget what Jesus said in Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. 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