Showing posts with label breaking of bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breaking of bread. Show all posts

Thursday 21 March 2013

Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy

On Purim, the Jewish people recall their miraculous deliverance from their enemies 2,400 years ago. But newt week we start a festival week of an important occasion for Jews and Christians we should not forget.

After the rabbi Jeshua (Jesus) was triumphantly welcomed as a king, seated on a donkey,  in the city of Jerusalem, he called his talmidim or disciples to look for a room to celebrate an even more important deliverance and a confirmation of the promise to Abraham and corroboration to Moses that God had prepared Him a people to be sanctified and to receive a Holy Land.

Purim may remind us of our human frailty and vulnerability. We see how close all the Jews in the Persian Empire came to being wiped out overnight at the whim of a foolish, capricious leader. Jews are particularly reminded of the precariousness of their condition. Yet, Purim also affirms that while oppressors come and go, God’s promise and covenant with his people, Israel, is everlasting. The Jews of the Persian Empire, after all, were saved, reminding us that God never deserts His people.

When the Judaic people were slaves in Egypt God tried to convince the Pharao to let them go, but the plagues God had send to him and his people did not bother him so much. For that reason, not wanting God's people go and not recognising the Most High Elohim, God took to the bloodsign which all people after this occasion should remember for always.

People should know what god has everything under control and that His Word shall always become reality. And those who do not listen at the end shall always come to know and see what the Hand of God shall establish.

We all know different songs, musicals and shows where the song “Let My People Go!” catches the full attention of everybody in the theatre.

Egypt had the People of God to go.

In 40 chapters, 1,213 verses the Holy Scriptures brings us in the Book of Exodus the greatest adventure story ever told.


The Israelites Leaving Egypt
The Israelites Leaving Egypt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The book of Exodus continues the story of the redemptive history that God began in the book of Genesis. The original purpose of Exodus was to help the people of Israel understand their identity as God’s special people, and to learn about their covenant obligations to him. They were to see themselves as God’s “firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22-23) and as a “kingdom of priests” (19:5-6), called to bring God’s blessings to the nations. Exodus describes how the Lord delivered Israel from Egyptian oppression (chs. 1-15), brought her into covenant relationship with himself at Mount Sinai (chs. 16-24), and came to dwell in her midst in the tabernacle (chs. 25-40).
It is that deliverance from Egypt,  the paradigm for salvation in the Old Testament we are going to celebrate soon. But for us there is an extra dimension to the festival week.  It also sets the pattern for the full and final salvation that God has provided in Israel’s Messiah.


The Nazarene Jeshua, who had done many miracles and as such saved already many people from their problems was the one send by God, long ago promised. He was the Christos or Christ who became the new Moses of a greater exodus by going down into Egypt, passing through the waters of baptism, enduring temptation in the wilderness, and going up on the mountain to give people God’s law (see Matthew 2-7). Like Moses, Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant (see Hebrews 9:15).

The Creator-King’s original intention was that he might dwell among His people, who would be a flourishing human community in a paradise-kingdom beginning in Eden and spreading throughout the whole world.
God established the Mosaic covenant with Israel at Sinai to carry forward His purpose as expressed within the earlier covenant with Abraham (Exodus 2:24; 3:6, 15, 16; 6:2-8). God’s promises to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 function as His solution to the problem of the human sin and rebellion that we read about in Genesis 3-11.

Jehovah  repeatedly referred to the slaves of the Pharao as “my people” (Exodus 3:7; 5:1). The Elohim is indicating both to Pharaoh and to the people that, although they have been enslaved in Egypt for a long time, it is His covenant promise to them as Abraham’s offspring that truly governs their identity.

After overwhelming disasters (the plagues), the putting blood on the sides of the entrance door of the houses of the people who followed the God of Abraham and Moses, as a final sign (Exodus 11:1-15:21), safeguarded the first-borns in those houses. (Exodus 7:8-15:21) in what was going to be the first month of the year in the future for them (Exodus 12:1-2).

In that first of months, the first month of the year all the children of Israel had to come together and in the tenth day of that month every man had to take a lamb, by the number of their fathers’ families, a lamb for every family. It had to be a spotless lamb, without any mark, a male in its first year. They than had to keep it till the fourteenth day of the same month, when everyone who was of the children of Israel was to put it to death between sundown and dark. Then they had to take some of the blood and put it on the two sides of the door and over the door of the house where the meal was to be taken. That night they had to eat the flesh of the lamb, cooked with fire in the oven, together with unleavened bread and bitter-tasting plants. Those following God had to take their meal dressed as if for a journey, with their shoes on their feet and their sticks in their hands. They had to take it quickly, because it was to be the Lord’s Passover. For on that night God went through the land of Egypt, sending death on every first male child, of man and of beast, and judging all the gods of Egypt so that they could know that Jehovah is the Elohim Hashem, the most Mighty of all gods.



 “1  And Jehovah spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household: 4  and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbor next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man’s eating ye shall make your count for the lamb. 5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old: ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: 6  and ye shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at even. 7  And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. 8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9  Eat not of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. 10  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11  And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is Jehovah’s passover. 12  For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Jehovah.” (Exodus 12:1-12 ASV)

In Exodus, God advances his solution to the fall by establishing Israel as a theocracy (a nation governed directly by God). Through the Mosaic covenant, Israel becomes the initial fulfilment and next stage of the promise that in Abraham’s lineage all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3). God’s “Firstborn Son”

 Like the Passover lamb or the offering sprinkled on the ark of the covenant, the blood of his sacrifice is the atonement for our sin. Like the tabernacle, he is the dwelling place of God with us (see John 1:14, where the word for “dwell” is the Greek word for tabernacle). Like Aaron the high priest, he brings us into the Most Holy Place, where we can meet with God. If we know Christ, therefore, we can trace the story of the exodus somewhere in the spiritual geography of our own souls. Through the waters of baptism, we have been delivered from our bondage to sin. Now God is guiding us on our pilgrimage through the wilderness, feeding us our daily bread, teaching us his law, receiving our worship, and leading us to his glory in the Promised Land.

What Purim and Pesach or Pascha reaffirm to Christians and Jews alike is the fact that the everyday order is infused with God’s presence and is under His control.

About the day God liberated the slaves from Egypt God wanted them to remember it for ever.

“14  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to Jehovah: throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 15  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. 16  And in the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. 17  And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19  Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land. 20  Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.” (Exodus 12:14-20 ASV)

Because it had to be remembered for ever and Jesus remembered it, we also should do that. But for us there is an extra touch. We have to keep it as a feast to Jehovah our God through all our generations, as an order for ever, but we also do have to commemorate the night Jesus took the bread and the cup of wine, saying thanks to His Father and giving it to his closest friends as a sign of a new covenant, which had to be remembered as well.

The broken bread was as the body of Christ Jesus, which was slaughtered like the lambs in Exodus, but this time given for the whole world by the servant of those faithful Jews at the beginning of our common time, and of his Father in heaven. Those who have kept with this Nazarene through his troubles will be given a kingdom as his Father has given one to him, so that they may take food and drink at Jesus his table in his and his Father His kingdom, and be seated like kings, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 “And on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the passover, his disciples say unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and make ready that thou mayest eat the passover?” (Mark 14:12 ASV)

 “15  And he will himself show you a large upper room furnished and ready: and there make ready for us. 16  And the disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 17  And when it was evening he cometh with the twelve. 18  And as they sat and were eating, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you shall betray me, even he that eateth with me. 19  They began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? 20  And he said unto them, It is one of the twelve, he that dippeth with me in the dish. 21  For the Son of man goeth, even as it is written of him: but woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had not been born. 22  And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is my body. 23  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it. 24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mark 14:15-24 ASV)
On the 14th of Nisan this gathering of Jesus and his best friends we got the inauguration of that New Covenant. Because that it our liberation and our exodus of the slavery of this world, we should also commemorate that evening and the Lamb of God, Jesus who was betrayed and brought to death a few hours later.

Like the apostles and first Christians came together to remember the night the talmidim where there with Christ in the preparation for the Pesach and Feast of unleavened bread, we also should come together.

 “Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ASV)

 “23   For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; 24  and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25  In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come. 27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28  But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. 29  For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-29 ASV)

That what God promised in the Garden of Eden came to fulfilment with Jesus birth, his offering his body to all those who where under the spell of death. It reaffirms that God’s hand is indeed at work in human history. Renewing our belief in a God who acts in history and continues to perform miracles is one of the most fundamental affirmations we can make. And knowing we believe in a God of miracles is indeed cause for celebration at Purim and Pesach or any time of year! But with 14 Nisan asking us to remember the breaking of the bread and his offering his body as an instalment of a New Covenant, we should be glad to come together on such an evening to Break Bread with all our brethren and sisters and welcoming those who want to know God.

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Please also do read:

  1. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
  2. Seven days of Passover
  3. 1 -15 Nisan
  4. Day of remembrance coming near 
  5. Pesach
  6. Korban Pesach
  7. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
  8. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
  9. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
  10. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
  11. A Jewish Theocracy
  12. Observance of a day to Remember
  13. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  14. Observance of a day to Remember 
  15. Pesach and solidarity 
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Thursday 23 July 2009

A Living Faith #12 The Love for Jesus

My love for the Lord Jesus

“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:19-20

& What does this mean in practical terms?

Ø  I must love Jesus more than everything else, even my family or my own life. Luke 14:26-27; Matt 10:37-38; Col 3:1-4
Ø  I must keep the commandments of Christ and by so doing remain in his love. John 15:10
Ø  My one goal is to show my love for the Lord Jesus Christ and that he might dwell in my heart through faith. Eph 3:17-19
Ø  Jesus must be my example in everything and I will try to be like him. 1Peter 2:21-23; John 13:15-16
Ø  Only through Jesus can my sin be covered, therefore I must remain in him.  John 15:5-7; Heb 2:1-3
Ø  I will remember Jesus each week by breaking bread and drinking wine in the way he has commanded. Matt 26:26-27; 1Cor 11:24-26; Acts 2:42; 20:7
Ø  I was bought at a great price by God who provided salvation through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore my life is not my own to live as I please, but must be lived to the glory of God. 1Cor 6:19-20
Ø  Jesus is the most important person in my life; therefore, I must acknowledge him before others. Luke 12:8-9; Mark 8:38
Ø  My aim must be to prepare diligently for when Jesus Christ returns. Because of this, I will not get too engrossed with the work and interests of this life. Matt 24:44; Luke 12:35-38, 40; 2Peter 3:10-14
Ø  The need for endurance to face hardships and difficulties is essential; I must remain confident and persevere until the end. Matt 24:11-13; 2Tim 2:3; Heb 3:13-14; Rev 2:10&25
Ø  In times of weakness I will remember that Jesus was tempted in all the ways that I am, yet without sin and is now able to mediate for his people before God and seek forgiveness through him. Heb 4:15-16; 1Tim 2:5; Heb 8;6, 9:15
Ø  I will always offer prayer to God through the dear name of Jesus. John 16:26-27
Ø  I will not accept any man ‘Rabbi’ (teacher) or Master because only Jesus is my High Priest, Teacher and Master. Matt 23:7-10
  - Andy Peel

Friday 17 April 2009

Bread and Wine

"Despite the centrality of the breaking of bread service to the life of the community, Christadelphians do not ascribe any miraculous powers or holiness to the actual bread and wine which are used.
We do not subscribe to the doctrine of transubstantiation or anything akin to it, or to any act or doctrine which would teach that the bread and wine are to be regarded as an offering to God, as though Christ himself was present or could be present in the simple elements themselves. We believe that bread and wine are external tokens of inward remembrance, and hold no special virtue or strength in themselves.

Nevertheless the simple breaking of bread ceremony is a powerful means of support for the members. The ceremony was initiated by the Lord himself on the night before his death. It occurred at passover time when the Jews were remembering their deliverance from Egypt, more than a thousand years before. As the Jews in Egypt had taken a lamb in sacrifice and put the blood as a token upon their homes, so Christ was the passover lamb for his flock and they bear the token of remembrance upon their hearts.

As Egypt had held the Israelites captive in their iron furnace of affliction, so man had been held by Sin as taskmaster and Death as oppressor. Christ had come as deliverer:

"Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." (1 Corinthians 5:7)

Moreover, Christ regarded the cup of wine used at the service as a token of the new covenant in his blood. The new covenant, the everlasting covenant, is secured by his blood, and is the covenant which brings together all the promises made to Abraham and David of old:

"This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me ... This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you." (Luke 22:19-20, R.V.)

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water ... let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together ..."
(Hebrews 10:22-25)

"Jesus the mediator of the new covenant ..." (Hebrews 12:24)

"He is the mediator of a new covenant ... that ... they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." (Hebrews 9:15, R.V.)

"Ye were redeemed ... with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:18-19, R.V.)

It follows that the people who share the remembrance are covenant people. This is why fellowship is precious and by its very nature exclusive, even though there is an open invitation to all men to become covenant men in the way determined by God.

There are two elements in the act of remembrance, bread and wine. Each tells its own part of the great act of redemption in Christ. The bread speaks of the victory of Christ by sharing our nature, that we might share his triumph; the wine is a token of lifegiving, complete and free, that his cup of suffering and death might become the cup of joy and salvation for us:

"Then said I (Jesus), Lo, I am come ... to do thy will, O God ... by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:7-10, R.V.)

"You ... hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight, if ye continue in the faith." (Colossians 1:21- 23)

"He poured out his life unto death ... he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12, N.I.V.)

"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16, N.I.V.)

"Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9-10)

It is remarkable that remembrance can be made so deeply effective by the use of everyday things of life at the time of Jesus, namely, bread and wine. There is no elaborate ritual, no question of ministration at the authorised hands of selected men and no holy place in which it is needful to conduct the ceremony. There is no such thing as holy bread or holy wine: holiness lies in the hearts of the believers remembering God's Holy One under His gracious blessing.

The bread and wine speak of the believers themselves. They are one in Christ, and this is shown in the One Loaf (the Greek word for bread is also the word for loaf). " We being many are one loaf." As the loaf is shared among many, so Christ's unity is to be made known in them because they are his body. The One Cup pictures their one life in Christ. He is the true Vine and they are the branches. The life of the branches comes from the tree: the life of the believers comes from their life in him made effective by his death on their behalf.

So it is that the believer is part of the act of remembrance. He is one with Christ and with his brethren. Fellowship is unity.

In this way, past and present are united in the weekly breaking of bread service. It is held on the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection of the Lord from the dead, because that is the custom which the first century believers adopted:

"Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread ..." (Acts 20:7)

Much has been made of this service by various parts of Christendom, so that what takes place appears to bear very little resemblance to the simple, yet telling, things of which we have spoken. And there is often neglect. There is a part of the original Last Supper which appears often to be forgotten. It is an essential part; indeed, without it the rest loses its true meaning. The breaking of bread looks forward. It speaks powerfully of the future.
This is what the Lord himself said at the Last Supper:

"And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God ... I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come ... and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table." (Luke 22:14-30)

The apostle Paul was not present at the Last Supper. He did not learn about it from any who were there. Jesus revealed directly to him what other apostles had gained by actual experience. What then did Jesus tell Paul about the last supper? Here are Paul's words from Jesus:

"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:26)

Compare the phrases from the Last Supper meal and the words of Jesus to Paul:

"Until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God"

"Until the kingdom of God shall come ..."

"Till he come ..."

The Second Coming is the completion of the meaning of the Last Supper. Jesus said: "Until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God".
The Bread and Wine were not simply tokens of the past, nor were they merely symbols of the present; they were prophecies of things to come. The Unity of Bread and Wine have hitherto been shown only in part. A great number of the saints are sleeping in dust and the time when all the saints will be gathered together in one place has yet to come. The Unity in Christ is now enjoyed imperfectly in our fellowship with him and with one another; the perfection is yet to come when, says the Word of God, "He will gather together in one all things in Christ" (Ephesians 1:10). That is the day of the Kingdom, the day of immortality, the day when the Shepherd will have gathered all his sheep unto himself. They will sit at his table in his Kingdom in the marriage supper of the Lamb. The Bride and the Lord will then be one for ever.

What a marvellous consummation! The sorrowful, dark night of the Last Supper, which filled the disciples with bewilderment and heaviness, will issue forth in the resplendent glory of the day of Christ.

No man who understands these things will want to be excluded in that day. The fellowship of the Kingdom will be exclusive. "Many ... will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door ..." (Luke 13: 24-25). Today the door is open wide. Wise men will enter in. Those within will not venture outside. In their acts of fellowship they will not make contracts with that darkness which endangers their hope of life eternal. In marriage, they will marry someone who shares their faith (1 Corinthians 7: 39 and 2 Corinthians 6: 14); in business, they will not pursue the ways of ungodly and doubtful gain; in daily life, they will show that they have been with Jesus; and, in all things they will live as men of faith waiting for the return of their Lord.

There is remembrance in heaven corresponding to true remembrance on earth, and it looks forward to the day when all things shall be fulfilled:

"And a book of remembrance was written before him (God) for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make-up my Jewels." (Malachi 3:16-17)"

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Brother Harry Tennant
Fellowship
The Christadelphians - What they Believe and Preach

Thursday 16 April 2009

The Ecclesia

The Ecclesia

"Christadelphians adopt these principles by common consent in seeking to preserve their faith and way of life in each of their congregations (often called ecclesias ­ a word carried through from the Greek of the New Testament and meaning an assembly).

The community is held together by the common consent of each congregation to the agreed fundamentals of belief and practice as found in the Scriptures. The Christadelphian community has no superintending body, no hierarchy or supra-authority other than the Word of God and the overlordship of Christ. By these means Christadelphians order their affairs in submission to God and His Son. Christadelphians believe that their arrangements are as nearly in accord with first century Christianity as they can achieve.
The community has its own blemishes and has not been able to avoid schism over the years. Happily considerable healing of this has occurred in recent times.

Scripture teaches that preservation of unity is to be striven for and the tendency to fragmentation to be deplored. But unity must be upon sound principles. For this reason, ecumenism as a means of bringing together fundamentally different groups does not find favour with Christadelphians. In any case, our points of difference often make us unacceptable to others.

The weekly breaking of bread service in Christadelphian meetings is the centre of their expression of fellowship in Christ.
Members regularly assemble in this way and meet in other Christadelphian ecclesias when they are on holiday or visiting in other places or other lands. The fellowship thus expressed is
remarkably alive and there is a real family bond among Christadelphians wherever they go.

It is possible for the exclusiveness of the breaking of bread service to be regarded as unfriendly by non-Christadelphians, particularly those who like to have an open fellowship. As the reader will have gathered from what has gone before, Christadelphians base their fellowship on a common faith and a common way of life. We are heartily glad to welcome new members by belief and baptism, but we do not extend our breaking of bread service to any one who might care to come along irrespective of his belief or behaviour. We regard this as fundamental to our existence. Fellowship is not simply friendship.
It is sharing all that is precious in the truest sense. We believe that to be worth preserving."

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Brother Harry Tennant
Fellowship
The Christadelphians - What they Believe and Preach

Tuesday 14 April 2009

Integrity of the fellowship

"The first happy community became distressed by heresies and by men who liked to have the pre-eminence over others. This resulted in schism and fragmentation. The apostles made every effort to rebuke and educate those in error, sometimes with success and sometimes not. We might ask what happened to those who refused to return to their former belief. Such persons had already broken the fellowship based on a common belief and, when the position became intolerable or entrenched, the apostles instructed the congregation in which it occurred to exclude the delinquent person from their company. This would apply particularly to the breaking of bread service which was one of the highest expressions of fellowship. In other words, whilst the brethren strove hard to recover those who had gone astray in a matter of the faith, they also had a responsibility for the integrity of the fellowship itself which they had to preserve when recovery of the wayward proved impossible. This was secured by excluding the heretic from their midst. Often, of course, the heretic would leave of his own accord.

These verses illustrate the action taken:

"He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine; receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is a partaker of his evil deeds." (2 John 9, 10)

"Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that have nothing to do with him." (Titus 3:10, N.I.V.)

However, as will be seen from the many verses quoted in this chapter, fellowship is not only a matter of common tenets of faith, it is also a common way of life. The word "doctrine" means
teaching, and teaching concerns what we believe and what we do.

The apostles' doctrine therefore concerned a common faith and the life in Christ. Godliness is part of fellowship.

Unfortunately, all of us sin from time to time. What happens to the disciple when he sins? Does he leave the fellowship of Christ?
Certainly, if he knowingly persists in his sin and remains unrepentant, his fellowship is deeply affected and severance occurs. In the mercy of God provision is made for the disciple to receive forgiveness by seeking it through the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:9, ­10)

There are, nevertheless, sins which, because they are grievous and bring the body of believers into disrepute, need more open treatment by the congregation. The elders should seek to restore the offender whilst also rejecting the sin which he has committed:

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." Galatians 6:1-2)

"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

"Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." (1 Timothy 5:20)

Compassion and renewal in the right way are the twin components of this path of understanding and restoration. Tolerance of deeply offensive unChristian conduct would do neither the offender nor the congregation any good whatsoever; bitter and immediate rejection of the offending disciple would itself be unlike the patient and cleansing restorative work of the Lord himself. Wisdom in the Word of God, a deep desire to uphold the godly standards of the Lord Jesus Christ whilst keeping the fallen from destruction, and an awareness of our common frailty, are essential elements in this work of recovery."

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Brother Harry Tennant
Fellowship
The Christadelphians - What they Believe and Preach