Turn to your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 2.
Book of Acts, right after the Gospels, after chapter 1, chapter 2.
The Bible reads in Acts chapter 2 verse 41, Then they that gladly received his word were
baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls, and
they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking
of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders, and signs were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions
and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house
to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and
having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved.
Let's bow our head and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word, salvation, time to not be bare
minimum Baptist, to understand the importance of what you asked us to do, to go out, love
the lost, preach your message of salvation, allow you to be filled with your Spirit, and
help anyone here to be edified.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Title of this message this afternoon, or this evening, is Fellowship.
You know, while you guys maybe know this or not, coming here to the island of Oahu means
more to us than maybe meets the eye.
We have been going through a lot here on this island, and everyone has throughout this last
year, I'm sure it's not been easy for anyone, but the subject of fellowship is really important
Christian doctrine that we need to remember is a core foundation to our faith.
The Bible says elsewhere in the book of Romans chapter 1, we live from faith to faith, and
as it is written, the just shall live by faith, right?
So did you know that the word fellowship is only mentioned 17 times in the King James
Bible?
Now two of those times were mentioned in the Old Testament, so that leaves, let me reverse
my math, 15 times in the New Testament.
One of which is in this passage right here, and notice what it says, look down at your
Bible if you would, at verse 42.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of
bread and in prayers.
So the Bible's telling us that when we go out, do the work of God, learn to love one
another as ourself, and get more children of God to come into his family, we have a
bigger family to have fellowship with.
What does this word fellowship mean?
Because we understand it in a Christian context, right?
Constantly we use it in our church and amongst brothers and sisters, right?
I was fellowshipping with John.
We had fellowship at church.
But in just a secular sense, it means the same thing.
The Bible, or not the Bible, but the dictionary teaches companionship, community of interest
activity, feeling the state of being a fellow.
So obviously companionship is friendship, fellowship is friendship.
Being brothers and sisters in Christ unites us more than any other thing can in the rest
of the world.
My sister taught me a saying a long time ago when I was a kid, and she said, blood runs
thicker than water.
And at that time I wasn't saved, I didn't understand what she meant.
And obviously later on I realized what she's saying is that it's more important to be with
your ohana or family than even people of this world.
But you know what?
As I got saved, I realized it is true.
Blood does run thicker than water because we are all saved by the blood of the land.
It's the blood that unites every single one of us here today as brothers and sisters.
Every single one of us are a part of the ohana or the family of God.
And the importance of this subject, fellowship, should never be taken for granted.
You know, there are people across the planet and other parts of the world that cannot fellowship
together, cannot come together as a church, are truly persecuted for their faith, hindered
from coming together, stopped, prevented, even put to death and imprisoned.
And we're not in that state today.
One day it may come.
But nevertheless, as the Bible clearly teaches in the book of Hebrews, forsake not the assembly
of yourselves together as the manner of some is, and so much the more as we see the day
of Christ approaching, let us remember the importance of this subject of fellowship.
You know, like you were mentioning earlier, Brother Shawn, you know, the people of this
world will go around and work a secular job.
And I don't know about you, but I have friends that aren't saved.
I'm sure every one of us has people we know that we're friends with, that are unsaved,
regular Joe, to some guy that you work with, or a neighbor, or a friend, and you know,
as Isaac pointed out earlier, love your neighbor as yourself.
You know, I just introduced myself to the neighbor just the other week, and I'd been
here for a month, and it seems to be that a lot of older people tend to friend us just
because I guess we're old souls or something like that.
But the neighbor looked like he had a decade on me, and he was like really taking it back.
I introduced myself and my wife, and he's just like, well, hello there, I'm so and so,
and I'm not going to drop his name, but long story short, we let us see what the Bible
wants us to know about this subject, because there is good fellowship, and there is bad
fellowship.
Good fellowship is amongst brothers and sisters in Christ, and even the unsaved.
But there is a brother that sticketh closer than a friend, or a friend that sticketh closer
than the brother.
I got that backwards.
So long story short, the Bible's teaching us that I have more in common with everyone
here than I do with even a biological sibling of mine who's not saved.
Because what's it worth when that person dies and goes to hell, but I'll know all of you
for an eternity and will be with the Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the examples of this word of the 15 times it's used in the New Testament is found
in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 20.
You turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14.
First Corinthians 10, 20 says, But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to what devils, and not to God.
And I would not that ye should fellowship with devils.
He cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils.
He cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils.
Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?
So like I mentioned a moment ago, I have unsaved friends that are truly my friends.
But I don't have what I have with you guys as I have with him.
And if it came down to it, understand this, you know, there is a last loaf of bread and
one of you guys needs it or one of my unsaved friends needs it, I'm going to give that loaf
of bread to you because we have more in common.
And I'd hope that as we all understand, we need to love that guy, we'll break out some
bread and also share it with him as well.
But there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
Not only that, in 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14 it reads, Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
And what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial?
Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
For ye are the temple of the living God, and God hath said, I will dwell in them and
walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.
So just because I have friends that I know at work or in general that are unsaved, when
someone's walking by in my life, it should be, and in your lives, common that you're
around other brothers and sisters in Christ.
We go to church three to thrive, twice on Sundays, one midweek service, soul winning
maybe two or three times in the week, well, at least a minimum of one would be nice.
And we hang out with each other so often that when you go to the supermarket, to the mall,
to the beach, or somewhere, it should be that the people that are next to you are brothers
and sisters in Christ.
And the world should look at that as an example, like, man, these birds tend to flock together.
Christians seem to, like, travel in packs, and that's all right, you know, the rest of
the world travels in packs, let's us travel in packs.
I'm proud to be a Christian, and we should not, in this today's climate, try to hinder,
suppress our Christian faith, our fundamental truths.
You know, I know that in this time, on this trip that we've had, we've had families with
people that have children, and you know, we don't, one of my other brother's children
are a part of our church, and it's good to see that the kids growing up in a church like
this are different than the kids of this world, and you guys need to know more than you can
maybe fathom, that the world's changing in very drastic ways, and your parents bestowing
on you the importance of, like, these fundamental truths will carry with you for the rest of
the world, and you will see one day, you will look back at these days and thank your parents
for all the wisdom they just bestowed on you guys.
But Ephesians chapter 5 verse 11 says,
So, what type of fellowship do we have?
Brothers and sisters in Christ.
It's okay to hang out with people of this world, but we shouldn't be equally yoked with
them, but there is a group of people and have no fellowship with them, the unfruitful works
of darkness.
These are your sick, twisted reprobates.
These are people who are children of the devil.
Did you not know there is a spiritual war going on today?
I don't think I need to tell you guys, I'm preaching to the choir, but the world doesn't
know out there that there is a spiritual war going on, and the children of the devil are
out to seek and to destroy.
That's the war, the waging of war that we are involved in.
This is why we want to do our part to pack travel in numbers, because it's just a common
fact that, I mean, I used a dog analogy last time, but I'll use a dog analogy again.
Dogs tend to travel in packs, okay, and dogs are pack animals, and the children of the
devil are traveling in packs as well.
So if we travel in packs, it will actually put them to flight.
They'll realize what is in front of them and see that the unfruitful works of darkness
cannot be around the light, because righteousness has no place with unrighteousness.
And turn, if you will, to Philippians chapter 1.
While you turn to Philippians chapter 1, I'm going to read from 1 John chapter 6.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, in reference to the Lord, and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The Bible is teaching us that we understand that salvation alone is by our faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, all of our sins are covered.
Like I said, we are all covered by the blood of the Lamb.
We are brothers and sisters in Christ.
But if you choose to be an idiot and walk in the old man, or look like the rest of the
people of this world, you have no fellowship with the Father.
If the love of the world is in you, the love of the Father is not in you, that's not to
say you're not a child of God.
I know when I was a kid growing up, I was a bad kid from time to time, but the Bible
taught me, even at a young age, the importance of honoring my Father and Mother in the Lord,
which is a symbolic relationship between us, the children of God, with our Father which
is in heaven.
And when we choose to follow His commandments, when we choose to walk in the light, which
we just heard earlier, is the easier path.
You don't need to worry about what the rest of the world is doing.
Don't covet them, don't envy them, don't have fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Philippians chapter 1 verse 3, I'm going to leave you here.
Notice what it says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always and every prayer
of mine for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship in the Gospel from
the first day until now.
Be confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ.
He even added it is meet for us to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart,
in so much as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, ye
all are partakers of my grace.
So in the verse 5 it says, for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now.
Look, there are brothers and sisters in Christ that I know that don't do what we do, that
don't go and share our faith with the lost, they don't go to church, they barely show
up once every Sunday or once every Christmas or call themselves a Christian on a document
but don't do anything in practice to share their faith and this is why even within the
family of God you have people who are close to God and you have people that are far away
from God.
We want to pull them in the right direction.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2, preach the word, be instant in season out
of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
So when I see brothers and sisters laboring in the Gospel, the apostle Paul who wrote
this book, the Philippians, obviously an inspiration of the Holy Ghost, constantly has shout outs
for brothers and sisters that labored with him, my fellow laborers, Priscilla and Aquila
and all the other shout outs that he gives.
You guys are going to end up going back to the mainland here shortly, not that long from
now and you know I hope that we'll see each other on earth again one day which I believe
we will.
You know as family we tend to, like I said, flock together and I want you guys to know
that the door here at Shur Foundation Baptist Oahu is open for you guys.
Whenever you want to come back to Hawaii and labor with us, I'm going to say Amen, come
on down, let's kill the fatted calf, and let's eat, and let's fellowship, and let's work
together.
Let's bow our head and have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing us to gather together to hear your
word preached.
Please be with everyone so that they can travel home safely this evening and let us always
to be giving you honor and glory in Jesus Christ's name we pray, Amen.
And the land is dark and the moon is the only light we'll see.