Fellowship with God is impossible for unbelievers due to their spiritual separation from God's holiness and justice. However, God initiates nearness through Jesus, who calls believers friends, and through the new birth and adoption. Experiential nearness is cultivated by actively drawing near to God through prayer and Bible study, removing hindrances like unconfessed sin, and seeking restoration when fellowship is broken. Maintaining this fellowship requires daily Bible study, prayer, cultivating God's friendship, and implicit trust.
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This study is on the fellowship with God. Now fellowship with God, first of all, is impossible to unbelievers. Why? Well, number one, we are lost and dead by the fall of Adam. Luke nineteen and ten says, The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. Every human being is lost. And Ephesians two and verse one says, And you have he quickened or made alive who were dead in trespasses and in sins.
Now a person who is lost has no fellowship with his father. He's away from him. and one who is dead is totally incapable of it. And we are both lost and dead by Adam's fall. Now, number two, we are not agreed. While we are dead spiritually, we are very much alive physically, and we do our own thinking. But Amos chapter three and verse three says, Can two walk together? Except they be agreed. And of course, since we do not agree with God by nature, there is no agreement, therefore we cannot have fellowship with God as an unbeliever.
Now remember that God is holy, Isaiah forty-three in verse sixteen, where he is called your holy one. That's one way in which we do not agree with God. The other one is that we are unjust. First Peter, three, eighteen. So God is holy and we are unjust. First Peter, three, eighteen says Christ suffered for sins just for the unjust that he might bring us to God. So we've got to be brought to God before we can have fellowship with him. Now the third reason why it's impossible for an unbeliever to have fellowship with God, Romans three eleven says there is none that seeketh after God.
I know many preachers say seek the Lord and many people say well I realized I was a sinner and so I sought the Lord but the truth of the matter is we don't seek God. the Lord seeks us. The Son of Man has come to seek and to say that which is lost. And the fourth thing is that human beings really are trying to forget God. In Romans one, verse twenty eight, it says, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. And Psalm nine and seventeen says, The wicked shall be turned into hell with all the nations that forget God.
And you'll find that the unbeliever, even though he may be religious, he doesn't mind church, but deep down in heart he is trying to forget God because he's uncomfortable in God's presence. He's not uncomfortable in the preacher's presence. He isn't uncomfortable in church, but he is uncomfortable when he's alone with God. This is why most people have their radios and TVs blaring all the time. They can't stand this thought of being alone with God. They don't want to think about God. Now, in case that you might think that religion would change all this, I have a pen to denote here that religious unbelievers demanded the death of our Lord.
Never forget that. The people who hated Christ and put him to death were unbelievers, but they were religious. Now our second section, nearness has been established by God. God has brought us near. Let's see how this happened. Because God desired it. It was God who wanted us near. There's a very lovely verse in Second Samuel of fourteen and fourteen.
It goes like this. God does devise means whereby his banished be not expelled from it. That's a lovely verse. God has devised means whereby his banished be not expelled from him this was said to King David when his son Absalom was away from him so this is the way God feels towards sinners and first Corinthians one and verse nine says we are called unto the fellowship of his son salvation is not simply a means of keeping us from going to hell When the Lord reached down to us, he didn't do it simply because he wanted to spare our unworthy lives, but he did it because he actually wanted our fellowship.
He wanted us to be in a place of nearness to himself. Now secondly, nearness is established because the Lord Jesus desired it. And there are three indications of this. A, he called us friends. John fifteen and fifteen plainly said I've not called you servants I've called you friends I want you for my friends and then in Mark three in verse fourteen it says the Lord Jesus called his disciples that they might be with him and that he might send them forth to preach the first thing was to be with him and he wanted them to spend some time with him before he sent them out.
Let me suggest this is a good thing for any man today who is thinking about serving God. You take time to get acquainted with the Lord first. Spend time with the Lord before you go out and try to represent the Lord. I don't mean by this that you wouldn't want to tell somebody the next day after you're a Christian, but I mean Before you can really serve the Lord, you've got to get acquainted with him. See, you have to know his ways. And this is what he said in Mark three in verse fourteen. And then we are called to be his fellows or companions. And this is forever.
Now Hebrews one in verse nine says, the Lord Jesus is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. and we are his fellows and first Thessalonians four and seventeen says so shall we ever be with the Lord so we're called to be his companions forever now the third point is that it is by means of the new birth John one verses twelve and thirteen tell us very clearly As many as received him, to them gave he the right to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born.
Not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. Not of blood, but of God. So by means of the new birth, nearness has been established. We are near enough now that we can call him our Father. just so that you keep the true the two separate take a note of this that fellowship may be broken but relationship is eternal John ten verse twenty eight I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish so the minute that you become God's child an eternal relationship has been established that doesn't mean you're going to always be in fellowship with it Fellowship is dependent upon a number of things, as we shall see, before we're through with the study.
Relationship is settled once and for all. Fellowship may not always be steady. Somebody has said, relationship is like an unbreakable steel cable, while fellowship is like a very delicate thread. I remember on the Mississippi River seeing... tug boats, boats handling rafts, large floats. And they were fastened together with chains. But they also had a telephone line running between the big boat, where the captain was, where the power was, and the men who were stationed on these little boats.
There was a telephone line. Now, that telephone line, you see, could easily get caught and pinched and and broken but those cables were made so they'd stand anything and this is the way we're tied to the Lord by relationship but be careful of your fellowship now it is not only by the new birth but it is by means of adoption Ephesians one and verse five now let me explain of adoption briefly There is such a thing as legal adoption, of course. We still practice it today. Moses was adopted into Pharaoh's family legally, but he was never Pharaoh's son, and he ran away from Pharaoh.
But the adoption that we're talking about in the New Testament is not that legal kind of thing, but it is what the Romans called the adoptio. And in this sense, every man adopted his own son. This is how he did it. When he reached his majority, which happened to be eighteen in those days, I believe, when he reached his majority, the father took the son down to the city hall in any Roman city, and he pulled off of this son his minor toga, which was only reached to his knees, And then he put on him a major toga, which was a man's toga, which reached down past the calf of his leg and was made differently.
Now what he did was to say to these city fathers, My son today is an adult citizen. From this day on he is responsible for his own actions. From this day on he has a right to vote. From this day on he is a full-fledged citizen. And from this day on I may take him into partnership with myself. Now that was called the adoptio. And that's the thought that's back of adoption in the Bible. This is often overlooked. I've heard people say, isn't it wonderful the Lord known that we're not only born into God's family, but he's adopted this too, so that we're legally his. That isn't what it means at all.
The word is huioficia. And huios is the word for son. and Huyothesia means placing as full-grown sons. Now, God does this not when you get to be saved eighteen years, not when you're mature, but the day that you become God's child, you are adopted or given the place of a full-grown son. Now, what does this mean? Well, A, it means that you're no longer considered an infant. And in Galatians four, verses one to seven he says a child is no better than the slave he is really no better than the slave because he's got people who guard his person he's got people who take care of his property he's no better than the slave but he said when the Lord saved you he didn't put you under the law he didn't keep you down as an infant child he gave you a place through adoption so that you have the rights of a full-grown son.
Now get hold of this. It'll do you a world of good. Now the second thing is the Holy Spirit teaches us this. In Romans eight and verse fifteen we read this. He has given to us the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father. Now a child of God then feels perfectly at home in His Father's presence because the Holy Spirit teaches us that we are not just like babies in the family, but that we can call God our Father, and we can go into partnership with Him, so to speak. The third thing is that this involves weaning from the world.
Second Corinthians six, verses eleven to eighteen. What do I mean by weaning? Well, when Abraham wanted his son, he got a baby, because that's the way you get sons. But Abraham never had any celebration when the baby was born. He waited till he was weaned. And among the eastern, mid-east people, this is still a custom, you don't wean a baby till he's about four or five years old. He's a big fellow. So when Sarah weaned him, Then Abraham called all the neighbors in and they had a big feast. See, why?
Because he's no longer a baby. He's weaned now. And the Lord doesn't want us to be babies. In Ephesians chapter four, he says, don't go on being babies, little children, but grow up into him. Take your place as a full-grown son. Believe that God has given you this place. and be weaned from the old things that it took to satisfy in the world. And the last thing is that this adoption will be completed as to our bodies in the future. On Romans eight and twenty-three, we're told that we are waiting for the adoption to whip the redemption of our bodies.
And in Hebrews two and verse ten, he says, He is bringing many sons to glory. So, when the Lord Jesus comes back, the Adoptio is going to be complete. I mean by that, the body is going to be full-grown as well as the spirit. Now, at the present time, you can be, and you don't have to wait for this. You can grow up rapidly. You see, physically, it takes so many years. They used to say that adolescence ended with the teens. Now they say that adolescence really goes on through to about twenty-five years of age. Sorry about that, boys.
But that's what the psychologists say now, that we really are not fully matured. But of course, you know this is an individual thing. If more responsibility is put on a fellow, he can mature sooner, and some people never mature. But spiritually, you can mature as fast as you want to. But as to your body, you're going to have to wait till the Lord comes to get a new one. You just stick around a while and you'll get in bad shape as I am. I am. You haven't got your new body yet. You don't have your glorified body. So the adopteo, so far as our body is concerned, is still future. Now the third section of this study, experiential nearness.
I have used the word experiential rather than the word experimental. Because experimental could mean making a test, experimenting to see whether I want it or don't want it, while experiential has to do with experiencing. And you and I experience nearness. How? Well, first of all, we must desire it. A, you must desire enough to claim the above facts, the things we've just talked about. Now if you don't claim your place, if you don't first of all accept the Lord Jesus and are born again, and then if you do not believe that you have a place of a full grown son through the adoption, then of course you're not going to enjoy nearness.
So you must desire it enough to claim the above facts, and B you must desire it enough to actively draw nigh to God. That's what he says in James four and verse eight. Draw nigh to God. The word nigh, of course, is the old English word for near. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Now, this is an active thing. This doesn't happen automatically. Every day you live, you're going to have to decide whether you want nearness to the Lord, whether you really want to enjoy his company. And you do this, of course, by prayer and the reading of the word.
You come into his presence, you say, Lord, I'd like to spend some time with you. And you do that. You actively draw near. And then you must seek his company, John one, thirty-five to thirty-nine. Remember John the Baptist pointed to the Lord Jesus and said, as he walked and said, Behold the Lamb of God. And so some of John's followers turned and followed the Lord Jesus. And the Lord Jesus turned to them and said, What seek ye? And they said, Master, where do you stay? So he said, Come and see. So they went with him and they stayed with him that night.
Later on they came back and stayed with him all the time. And they're with him now in heaven. Now, you and I have to actively, sincerely seek the company of the Lord Jesus. It isn't going to be automatic. Sometimes when you start to pray, you'll feel like your prayers don't get any higher in the ceiling and they just bounce back. Well, then what you've got to do is to find out what's hindering you. Find out what's keeping you from enjoying the Lord. Find out what's standing in the way. And when you find out what it is, put that away. Confess it, judge it. get anything out of the road that's going to keep you from his company and that brings us to the second section we must eliminate hindrances let me give you four words that are alliterations and this will help you to remember it the four chief hindrances are a unconfessed sin first john one nine tells us if we confess our sins.
Now, by the way, asking God to forgive you for anything you've done is not confession. Confession is naming the sins one by one. Unconfessed sin. The unjudged self. First Corinthians, eleven and thirty-one. If we would judge ourselves, what's the difference? Well, I may confess a sin, but I don't judge the root of the thing. I don't judge the reason for it. Abraham lied about his wife. That was a sin. The reason he lied is because he's afraid. He couldn't trust God. That was a self. So you have to both confess the sin and judge the self.
And the third thing is unforgiveness. An unforgiving spirit. Ephesians four thirty two says, God is forgiving you, you ought to forgive everybody else. And don't say you can't. All you have to do is sit down and make a list of the sins that you've been guilty of and remember that God forgave you for those. And it ought to be easy for you to forgive anybody after that. That's one of the reasons why we don't enjoy nearness to the Lord. Unforgiveness. And the last one is unbelief. Hebrews three, verse twelve says, Brethren, take heed lest there be any of you and evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.
We simply do not trust God. We simply do not rest on His word. Now, number three, we must seek restoration if out of fellowship. It's all very nice to say that we should stay in fellowship, but suppose you don't. What can we do? Well, the first thing is to believe in the advocacy of Christ. First John, two and one says, if any man sinned, we have an advocate with the Father. Now, you don't lose the advocate. That's when you need him.
When we sin is when we have him. Now, an advocate is the same word for a lawyer. In England, it means one who represents you. And you have somebody who represents you in heaven, the Lord Jesus, Christ the righteous. Now what's he there for? Well, Luke twenty-two, thirty-one and thirty-two tells us that he said to Peter, Simon, Satan hath desired thee, that he might sift thee as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. This is what the Lord Jesus says. He prays for us. He intercedes for us. Now you believe in this, you count on this.
The second thing is to honestly confess every known sin. First John one and nine. Now if you still find that you're not in touch with him, ask the Lord if there's something you've overlooked and he'll bring it to your mind. And the third thing is to get right with other believers. Matthew eighteen, fifteen to seventeen. get right with other believers and the Lord tells us there in that section how we can do it and following that make restitution where needed you remember the man that the Lord Jesus talked to named Zacchaeus in Luke nineteen and verse eight the Lord said to him come down Zacchaeus I want to go to your house And he said, concerning Zacchaeus, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.
And Zacchaeus said, Lord, and it is in the future tense. He said, I restore. But the tense is really the future. What he said was, I'm going to restore fourfold whatever I've taken from anybody by false accusations. Now that was a proof that Zacchaeus really did receive the Lord. said, I'm going to straighten these things out. Whatever I've done wrong to somebody, I'm going to make restitution for that. And he was a publican, you know, which was a tax collector for the Roman government. He was a real quizzling. And the Jews hated the publicans because the publicans tried to get every dime they could overcharged on the taxes.
And then last of all, Philippians three in verse thirteen says, forgetting those things which are behind, press toward the mark. Believe God and go on. Now don't be like the fluggy bird that flies backwards because he doesn't care where he's going, but he wants to see where he's been. Some Christians are doing this all their lives. They spend, they waste their lives thinking about the mistakes that they've made in the past. Having put this thing right with God and with your fellow men, Go on from there. Now our last section, a few aids to fellowship. Number one, Bible study.
And this is always number one. And this is not merely reading. First Timothy four, thirteen to sixteen says, Read, but then it also says, Meditate. And then it says, Give yourself holy to it. And then it says, Show it in your life. So Bible study. is not simply accumulating knowledge between your ears, but it's meditating upon it and learning it until it gets down about a foot into your heart, and then you'll find it'll begin to go out through your hands and feet. And real Bible study you'll find is a great help. Now, four things about Bible study.
First, it should be daily. Remember that Job said, I esteem thy word more than my necessary food. Well, that's daily, isn't it? And this is a very important thing. Try to spend time in the word daily. And then, secondly, it should be methodically. Psalm one and two, you remember he says, the man meditates in the word day and night. He makes it a method. I don't care what method you use. Bible study methods are really not important.
I use the poorest method that you could think. And I grew wonderfully. And that's the method of using a concordance and looking up all of the verses that have got that one word in it. That's about the poorest type of Bible study I know now that there is. And yet that's all I knew when I was a young Christian. And I prospered because... I was getting the food in. That's the main thing. I was doing it methodically. You learn other methods as you go along. And then we should do it receptively. First Samuel three, nine says, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. When you're reading, you're listening to your father's voice.
And then it should be obediently. John two and five, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. or argue about it if it's in the Bible do it and then prayer how should prayer be this is the second aid prayer well a it should be without ceasing first Thessalonians five seventeen that's what he says pray without ceasing and then it should be freely speaking Hebrews four and sixteen It says, come boldly. The word really means saying all, just talking it out with the Lord.
And then see, your prayer should consist of many subjects. People say, well, I can only pray about three minutes. I don't know how these people spend an hour. Well, confession is part of prayer. That'll take you quite a while. And then there ought to be thanksgiving and praise and worship. An intercession for other people, and if you get around to it, ask for a few things for yourself. And I think you could spend a lot more time with the Lord than you ever have. And then the fourth thing is inquiry for guidance. James one five, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. Inquire for guidance. And last of all, if you've got any complaints, register those too.
You'll be surprised when you read these two passages, Genesis eighteen, twenty-three to twenty-five, and Jeremiah fifteen, Abraham and Jeremiah both very plainly told the Lord they just didn't think he was handling things right. And the Lord didn't strike him down. It's a lot better for you to go to the Lord and tell him you don't understand these things than it is to go around complaining about it or give up. If you've got a complaint, talk to the Lord about it. He wants you to. He'll explain it to you. And then the third thing is cultivating his friendship. Now the cultivation of the friendship of God, A, has the time element.
You remember the song, Take Time to Be Holy? This is the biggest problem in cultivating the friendship of the Lord. We do not take time. Now a fellow who's really interested in the girl can find time. And if he tells her, well, you know, I'd like to come over to see you next week, but I won't have any time, that girl is pretty soon going to get the idea that he really isn't much interested. And you keep telling the Lord, or telling other people anyway, I don't have time, which means I consider other things more important. Now the second thing is to take an interest in his affairs. In the Song of Solomon, that's what S of S in your note stands for, verse one, or verse seven of the first chapter, he says, tell me where your flocks feed.
Rather, the bride says it. She says it to the bridegroom. Tell me where your flocks feed. Find out what the Lord is doing. Find out what the Lord is doing. In Luke two and verse forty nine, we're told that the Lord Jesus said, I must be about my father's business or my father's things. And then last of all, implicit trust in all areas. Philippians four, six and says in everything give thanks.
No, it says praying for everything. In First Thessalonians five, eighteen says in everything give thanks. So you want to be trustful in every area of your life. If you can't trust the Lord about who you're going to marry, you likely are not going to trust the Lord about where you're going to serve him. If you can't trust the Lord about where you're going to go to school, you probably can't trust him about where you're going to work later on. We have to learn to trust him in every area. And I've appended a little saying here which helped me a lot. Love cannot endure absence, distance, and silence. Think that over.