The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E92 - Fellowship

Episode Date: September 30, 2020

Howdy Church, if you got your Bibles, it is Devo Time. Philippians chapter 3. We're going to pick it up in verse 17. And I want to talk to, Paul's talking about discipleship. Remember? Justification, sanctification. And he does not go now to glorification, but what he goes to is an aspect of the Christian life that essentially without it, none of the sanctifying work is going.

going to happen in our lives. This is called fellowship. All right. Verse 17, brothers. Notice, really all through the Bible, but notice Paul's familial language. Like the people that he knows at church, he doesn't just call them buddies or acquaintances or fellow congregant. He calls them brothers. Now, a part of it is because if God, God is your father, then you are my brother, for sure. But I believe that there's also an intimacy here, a knowledge here. There's a band of brothers. Sisters, this counts for you too. I just don't have to say it over and over and over, but this is us, man. This is supposed to be family that when a church built on the gospel of Jesus Christ, trying to be a place that makes disciples,

it makes disciples, and makes disciples, man, we are family. I want to ask you. I want to ask you. I you, are you connected like that to a church? Or is it just the thing you attend? You see, a church is not supposed to be an event to attend. It's a family to belong to. And I'll tell you this too. And when it doesn't go your way, you don't just get to get up and leave. That's not how it works. I mean, you can have family business and you come behind closed doors and you get it done. And listen, and there's nothing. There's no problem right now. I'm not saying this because, you know, I don't know, I got a mean email or something. It's not at all.

But just in general, one of the major, major, major issues with American Christianity, and really the American Christian is this consumer that we have become. That, well, I like to go to this church because the music's a little bit better, and I go over here because the preaching's good, and I go over there because the kids' ministry is better. And people just pop from one church to the next to the next. Listen, if you are in like your fifth church in five years, Guess what the common denominator is?

It ain't the church. Paul says, brothers, this thing is a family. Now look where he goes next. Brothers, join in imitating me. This is an astounding, astounding claim of Paul. So I'm going to ask you this from a couple of different directions. One, are you living the kind of Christian life that you could rightly say to other brothers and sisters in the faith. Hey, here's what you need to do. You need to join in imitating me. The way I follow

Jesus, that's how you ought to follow Jesus. The way I pray, that's how you ought to pray. The way I read my Bible, that's how you ought to read your Bible. The way I do time management to make sure that I'm giving God my first, that's what you ought to do. Here, take a look at my bank account. See what I'm doing with my checkbook? Where my treasure is, there my heart will be also. You should imitate me. In my kindness and my gentleness and my forgiveness the way I do. Could you say that? Listen, I am a professional disciple maker. I've been a professional Christian for 28 years now. It's crazy. And this verse intimidates me. Yet this isn't the only place that Paul does it. In 1st Corinthians 111, he says, follow me as I follow Christ. Did you know that a part of what it means to be a justified and

sanctified, Jesus follower, is that you would look at other believers, brothers and sisters, in the faith, and you would say, the part of the reason that God put me and you together is so that you can imitate me. Now, and if you say it with any pride at all, then you've gotten it completely wrong. This is not what Paul's saying. He's not saying he's awesome, but he is confident in his journey of following Christ. So let me ask you, who is imitating you? Or another way to say it is, who is discipling, or who are you discipling? Because the number one way to grow in your discipleship is to become a disciple maker. I mean, I don't know if you've ever been in disciple group.

It's one thing to attend. It's a wholly different thing to lead it. There is this incredible reality of the catalyst of the responsibility of leadership to the growth of the Jesus follower. So who in your life can you say, imitate me? I'm going to follow Jesus, you follow me. If you are not discipling someone, whether official or unofficial, whether organic or through some program here at the church,

then you're not doing it right. You should open your eyes and begin that journey. You should pick a person. You know how we have one more person that we're praying for? Did they come to Christ? well, you should get two or three people to say, I want you to follow me as I follow Jesus. Brothers joining, imitating me.

And then secondly, who are you imitating? Who are you imitating? And he calls him brothers, so you can't pick me. You can't imitate me from the stage and on screen. That doesn't count. You need some people in your life that you know that have refrigerator rights at your house that are hopefully maybe a little bit older than you,

done a few things. For me, it's our elders. One of the major reasons I chose the elders that we have is so that I could do this thing here. I wanted some godly men in my life, and not only are they there to oversee our church and to hold me accountable and to tell me no a lot and all those things, no problem. But also, I want to follow around Rusty Pritchin and watch how he loves Amy. And I want to imitate Lars Peterson and the way he's caring for his grandkids. And I just want to be near Dr. Paul and just catch some of the words.

wisdom that he pours out. I want to imitate Elder Dan as his faith. He's got the biggest faith of anybody I know. Do you have people like that? I hope you do. If not, you're not doing it right. If not, join a disciple group and ask some older guy to mentor you. Actually, don't even don't use the word mentor. Don't freak him out. Just say, I would like to buy you breakfast once a month. And then in doing so, get to know him so you can do these kinds of things. If you are not in these kinds of relationships where you are pouring into people and people are pouring into you, then something is off in your understanding of ecclesiology of what the church, the body of Christ, is supposed to be. Brothers, join in imitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Do you see how connected Paul expects us to be? For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Why do we need each other? Because there are enemies of the cross of Christ and they are going to come after you. I mean, I've used the illustration 10 million times that the Bible says, Peter says, that the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. The lion always devours the one that's not in the herd.

You got to get in the herd. You got to be protected. Because here's what happens if you don't. Their end is destruction. Their God is their belly and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. There is a group of people. And you work with them and you live with them

and you should be praying for them and you should be sharing your faith with them. but their belly is their God, they glory in their shame, and their minds are only set on earthly things. And honestly, they don't know any better, because they're lost and they act lost. And you've got to have people in your life that keep an eye on you to make sure that as you are engaging

with those people in this world, then you are not being influenced by them, but you are the one that has influenced them towards the cross. And he says, so watch out for that. But big transition, our citizenship is in heaven. And from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. So much here. In chapter three, up to chapter four, verse one, Paul covers the gamut of salvation. He covers justification, sanctification, and glorification. All that together is our salvation. And then right here in the end, what he throws in, the context by which we are going to grow in our faith and the context to which we are glorified one day, in other words, when we get to heaven, you ain't going to be there alone. The point is Jesus, and yet we are citizens of that kingdom. We are citizens of heaven. He is using group language, plural language. So if we are citizens

together, family together at the banquet table of God one day there, then why in the world are you trying to walk out your Christian faith alone here? You're not getting ready for heaven. Do you see it? He lays out justification by faith alone in Christ alone that a righteousness does not come from us. Then he talks about sanctification. We've got to set our eyes on Jesus

because we have not yet attained the goal that he has for us to be like him. So forget what's behind, press on towards what's ahead. And then he's about to get to because there is coming a day when Christ will transform our lowly, to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things unto himself.

And then the thing that he throws in there to help in that process is, and you better make sure you're surrounded by some brothers. You better make sure that you watch out for the negative influences in your life, and I'm talking about negative people influences, and the way that you're going to watch out for those negative people influences is by your family, your church family. church, if you don't have that kind of accountability, if you don't have that kind of brotherhood around you, you're not doing it right. You're not doing it right. And then he says,

therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for. Who loves and longs for you? Like if you're not at church, who really misses you? If you're not in disciple group, do you have people that love and long for you? He calls them his joy, his crown. He says, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. You see, we covered this a couple weeks ago in church, that God is love, and that if we can be loved, that's what beloved is, that's God's, that's God's title for his children, be loved. But it's also a command. If we can be loved by God, then loved people, love people. And when people love one another, what they can say is, hey, listen, I want you to follow me and imitate me, not because I'm awesome, but I follow an awesome Savior.

And I may stumble and I may fall, but when I fall, I fall on grace, and he picks me back up. And so if you stumble and you fall, then he'll pick you up too. And you're, because you love people, because you love and long for these brothers and sisters

that God has put you in church family with, you are pouring into some followers of Jesus, and then you are being poured in by some mature believers in Jesus. This is, what the church is supposed to be. As Jesus justifies us, as we are sanctified, as one day we will be glorified, we are in this thing together.

So maybe you need to do something about it. Maybe you need to pick up the phone, reach out to somebody, spend some time with them. Maybe you need to be bold enough to say, hey, listen, like I've done in my life right now, I've got three guys that I just intentionally spend time with, and I'm just trying to do this thing. I'm just saying, follow me as I follow Jesus. And I've got some older guys in my life that I just humbly asked, can I learn from you, please? And graciously, they said yes. And as we are in that brotherhood, as we are in those relationships, again, I've already been justified at the cross. I am being sanctified. And God is using these men in my life, the ones that are pouring into me and the ones

I am pouring into. God is using these men in my life for me to be ready that in a twink of of an eye one day, we will be glorified. And again, that is the church. Get all to sideline, get in the game, join the team. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, I do thank you for our elders. God, I thank you for the role that they play in my life and in the lives of so many here at our church. And God, I thank you for the men and women that have been discipling a whole bunch of men and women and students and kids here at our church. And Lord, I pray that for the man, the woman, the student is listening right now, and they don't have these kind of relationships. God, I pray that they would take a step, a step of faith,

and that God, they would be blessed for it. Jesus, if you didn't do ministry alone, but gathered some men and women around you, then surely, surely, we need a crowd around us to. Lord, I pray that happens through this church. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.