Fellowship

Address by John Ullman, given in 1972

from Perth, West Australia, Central Ecclesia

Note:  This lecture is included as an example of what was being taught in the Central group as recently as 1972.  We are not sure what bro. Ullman ended up believing relevant to fellowship.  He is now awaiting the return of our Lord.  We do not suggest this was his final thoughts on the matter, as we just don't know.  What we do know is that this is one of the most outstanding lectures we have ever heard on this subject.

My dear bro. and sis. in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The way of the truth, operating upon those who believe it and accept it, confines men and women within severely restricted limits, and that is the beginning of the doctrine of fellowship.  The truth confines us within severely restricted limits, and it is because of that that the Lord Jesus Christ in crystal clear terms set out his teachings.  Straight is the gait, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life.  But on the other hand, the way to destruction is wide and broad. 

And among professing Christadelphians, there has always been those who would to like to reverse the application of those two ways.  To rephrase the Lord's words and make them read wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto life.  But it is not that way at all.  The Lord has spoken.  The Lord has set down the terms.  And we alter those terms at our own eternal peril.

The way that leadeth unto life is the Truth.  The Truth.  Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.  Nothing else will do that.  It would be facetious in the extreme to imagine the Lord saying, ye shall know error, and error shall make you free.  Thus it is that the way to life is straight and narrow.  Or as Rotherham translates that verse, from Mat. 7 "Narrow is the gate and confined the way, the way that leadeth unto life".  And in that brief phrasing are the fundamental evidence of the saving power of God at work.  We have the main reason why the world today is not filled with Christadelphians.  The world today is not filled with Christadelphians because men and women of Adamic nature are not willing to be confined and restricted in what they may believe, or in what they may do. 

And we all know that since the days of Adam, man has claimed above all else his right to absolute freedom.  But if he wants to inherit the kingdom of God, that is a freedom he can never have.  But in the brotherhood today as in the past, brethren are claiming for themselves and others, a freedom which it is not legitimate for them to demand.  And that which is at stake is the doctrine of fellowship.

Let us go back to the very beginning of the question of fellowship.  Let us go back to the situation of the serpent to Eve in the garden.  Perhaps the most important words that he uttered to that woman were these.  Your eyes shall be opened.  Your eyes shall be opened, implying that they were blind to many of the good things of life through their, stayed, limited outlook. The serpent in those words, your eyes shall be opened, was saying that wider horizons could be opened up to them.  Cast off the restrictions of God's law, the serpent taught.  Cast them off!  And freedom, and honor, and glory and attainment will be yours. 

But the one major problem with the thinking of the serpent was that he could not understand the restrictions placed upon the man and the woman by God in that garden.  He could not understand the restrictions.  He could not see any reason for the restrictions and for the restrictions placed upon them.  And that type which began to the garden of Eden comes right on down through the history of time.  The type comes right on down through the word of God until we come to John chapter 8 and verse 44 and the Lord's words there to his contemporaries who would not walk in Truth.  "Ye are of your father the diabolos.  And the lust of your father, ye will do.  He was a murderer, but more correctly, a man slayer.  He was a man slayer from the beginning, because the false teaching of the serpent brought sin and death.  And the fact is that man not only dies if he denies divine principles, but he dies without hope.  And that is the statement that the Lord makes next.

"He was a manslayer from the beginning and abode not in the Truth.  Or more correctly it should be rendered, he stood not in the Truth.  The serpent never ever stood before God in a state of fellowship.  The serpent had never attained to fellowship with God and by his teaching he robbed a man and a woman from any right to fellowship that they had had.  And the Lord categorizes his own contemporaries in the same way, because their reasonings, their philosophies, their religion was based upon the same false premise that motivated the teaching of the serpent. 

So that fellowship is something that requires division.  Fellowship requires that men and women separate from that which is ungodly whether in belief or practice, and separate to that which is Godly or acceptable before God.  And because of that in such passages such as Luke 12:51 we read there that the Lord there told that his teachings would bring division, because division is an essential element of the doctrine of fellowship. 

In Luke 12:51 the Lord says, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth.  I tell you nay, but rather division. And notice the dramatic contrast in the two words.  The word peace, and its a word which according to Bullinger means "peace in contrast with strife and denoting the absence or the end of strife."  Christ told his disciples, I haven't come to provide a situation in the world today that is going to bring an end to strife, a situation where there is will be an absence of strife.  Not at all, he says.  And nay rather, division. 

Division.  A word which means dissension or discord.  Now why did he say that.  Its very often interpreted by the Gentile world as a very harsh saying.  But what the Lord is really saying is that this will happen because there is one Truth.  There is one Truth.  And that one Truth will divide men from one another. 

You know, this was graphically put into demonstration in the Lord's own lifetime.  The question of fellowship.  The question of division.  We find for instance in the gospel of John, that John records three divisions which took place within one year during the Lord's life.  The Lord himself during his own lifetime was the reason for these divisions.  And here notice what John says in John 6:43, notice this comment.  "Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves.  No man can come to me accept the father which has sent me draw him."  They would not accept that.  That was chapter 6, notice chapter 7:43.  "So there was a division among the people".  Why?  "Because of him".

So, said John, there was a division among the people because of him.  It began with murmuring, dissatisfaction with what the Lord stood for, then it sprang up into outright rejection of what He said.  So there were those who were for him, and there were those who bitterly opposed him.  And there was a division born of men, a fulfillment of those words in Luke 12:51.  So, there was a division among the people because of him.

Turn over to chapter 9 at verse 16.  Therefore said some of the Pharisees, this man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day.  Others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles.  And there was a division among them.  You see, this is the word at work.  And before you can have fellowship, you've got to have division.  You've got to have separation from that which is opposed to the principle of Divine reason, and separation to the principles of the righteousness of God.  And there it is demonstrated during the Lord's own life time. 

Notice the 10th chapter at the 19th verse, all in the gospel of John.  The Lord has made this statement that has been the cause of much contention ever since in the 18th verse.  "No man taketh it from me", that is, his life.  "But I lay it down of myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This commandment have I received of my father."  So as a result, there was a division therefore again.  Notice the way John emphasizes that point.  There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.

John in the 6th chapter records another startling event, very, very similar, where another division took place.  But the settings here are quite remarkable, to say nothing of dramatic.  In John 6 notice what happens in verses 60-61.  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this said, this is an hard saying, who can hear it.  When Jesus knew himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, does this offend you, or as it could be translated, does this cause you to stumble?  And in verse 66-67.  From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away?

Now, I want you to notice those words because they are extremely powerful upon the doctrine of fellowship.  The Lord said, "will ye also go away"?  The ecclesia had just divided, over the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Now what does the Lord said.  Does the Lord say to the remaining disciples, "Quick, run after them, bring them back.  Tell them it doesn't really matter.  Does he say that?  Look at the words of verse 64 and you get your answer in that regard.  The Lord said to them, there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

There was your answer.  Why did they go away and leave him.  Why did he let them go?  The answer is, they would not walk in the light, and were not willing, they turned away.  So instead of the Lord saying, quick, run after them, and tell them I take all that back.  I'm not as strict as they thought I was.  I'm willing to compromise on this to keep them within our community.  Instead of saying that he challenges the remaining disciples, and says, "look, we've come to this state, now what about you.  Are you going to leave too?  Are you going to leave the Truth?  And they were forced to face up to the issues involved.

We have to bear in mind that the straight and the narrow way that leadeth to life is not only there in evidenced in the Scriptures, but it must be preserved.  It has got to be preserved.  Because if its not, then the way that leads to the tree of life will disappear entirely from our generation, or from any other. 

From the time of the law turn your mind ahead a little to the ministry of the apostles themselves.  Paul the apostle, was a man who remained fiercely dedicated to the cause of Christ.  A cause which involved a correct understanding of the doctrine of fellowship.  A cause that involved the preservation of the Truth.  And Paul remained so fiercely dedicated to this cause that he instructed the Galatians, themselves in danger of loosing the Truth, remember that, in danger of loosing the Truth as you know well, and of which the book of Galatians sets forth so very clearly, and instructed them, as you know well from chapter 1:8 that if the apostles themselves, or even an angel from heaven were to set before them any other Truth saving message, allegedly, then such men or such angels were to be accounted as accursed. 

But wait a minute.  He not only says that in Gal. 1:8, but he gives a typical example of what he means.  In Gal. 2:11 Paul there defined, is a man who not only sets before the people of Galatia in that ecclesia the Truth, but Paul shows them that he is willing to demonstrate by his own actions what he teaches in that epistle. 

Now he says if any other man, or even an angel from heaven brings to you another message of salvation, then you oppose him.  In Gal. 2:11 what does he do.  He confronts Peter, and he opposes him.  And he says there quite emphatically, I withstood him to the face and that word withstood really means that.  It denotes virtually a head on confrontation.  The word means to set against someone in a quite inflexible way. 

Why did Paul do that?  He tells us why.  He said of Peter, he was to be blamed, but that doesn't quite capture the drama of the situation.  The Revised Version translates it, he stood condemned.  Thats what happened. The apostle Paul opposed the apostle Peter because he stood condemned.  Why?  Because Peter's application of doctrinal principles was wrong.  Thats why.  We see what Paul says at verse 14.  He says he opposed Peter to the face. He said Peter was to be condemned because they walked not uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel.  And there is Paul giving an example of what he believed, and seeing that all others understand that he practiced what he preached.  They walked not uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel.  They had deviated from pure doctrine, and so what happened?  They found they met the apostle Paul in a head on confrontation.  And fortunately, wisdom prevailed.

I want you to know that bro. Roberts once wrote these simple statements.  The doctrine of fellowship is the fence around the Truth.  It is a hedge which separates the light from the darkness.  And those are beautiful words, and they are true.  The doctrine of fellowship is the fence around the truth.  It is the hedge which separates the light from the darkness.  And it has ever been so. 

Make a note of the words of Moses in Deut. 4:1-2.  Listen to what he says there.  Now therefore, hearken O Israel unto the statutes, and unto the judgments which I teach you.  For to do them that ye may live. Ye shall not add unto the words which I command you.  Neither shall you diminish ought from it, that ye might keep the commandments of Yahweh.

There are the basic principles of the doctrine of fellowship.  And in Ex. 32:26 Moses gave a practical example like Paul did.  Moses showed that he was prepared to practice what he preached.  And the time came that Moses separated from the ecclesia.  And Moses separated from the ecclesia and then he said, those who are on Yahweh's side, let them come over here to me.  And I want you to understand very, very clearly.  I want you to understand very clearly that for the purpose of preserving the Truth, Moses called for an ecclesial division.

I want you to have a look with me at the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matt. 18.  A passage of the word regrettably, not always understood in its full implication.  It is said that Mt. 18:15-17 relates to the question of anyone having a personal fault against another brother.  That is not so.  If it were so, then we would have a most peculiar passage of Scripture, because in verses 15-17 when dealing with a matter, the Lord says you may be reduced to the point where after three applications to the brother, of treating him as a heathen and a publican.

Whereas in the same chapter at verse 22, the Lord says if anyone offends against you, you keep forgiving him until seventy times seven.  Now if both sections of that chapter are dealing with the same thing, we've got the Lord giving two different answers, but thats not the point.

Look at verse 15.  Moreover, the Lord said, If thy brother trespass against thee.  Now those words against thee do not belong in the text.  They are not there.  In the Sinaitic, and the Vatican manuscripts, they are not to be found.  You will not find those words in the Diaglott, in the Nestle's text, in Rotherham, in the Jerusalem Bible, or in numerous other translations. 

And the word trespass is not a very good translation.  The greek word is hamartia, and it means to sin, to miss the mark.  Now the question concerns divine principles.  It concerns the doctrine of fellowship.  So the Lord is saying if thy brother shall sin, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone, and if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witness, every word may be established.  But if he shall refuse to hear them, then tell it unto the ecclesia.  But if he neglect to hear the ecclesia then let him be unto thee as an heathen, (and that word means Gentile) and a publican, (and that word means a tax gatherer).  People that were hated by the Jews.  Not rejected, hated. 

Now we are not suggesting that the Lord is telling us that when we reject a brother we're to hate him.  But that is the extent of the extremity of the language.  That is the extent of extremity.  Now here we have a case revolving around the question of fellowship and here is the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

And now look at the contrast in verse 21-22.  Peter then says, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me (and the words do belong in the text there).  And its as though Peter is saying now look, if we have to adopt this attitude when the commandments of Christ, when the principles of divine wisdom are at stake, then what do we do when someone sins against us, personally?  And the Lord gives him an answer.  What shall I do when my brother sins against me, and I forgive him? 

Verse 22 the Lord says, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven.  Now look at the contrast, and really its very beautiful, because the Lord is teaching Peter in verses 21-22, that he must be prepared to do for his brother what he expects the Father to do for him.  How many times do we sin against the Father and what do we do?  We don't expect that the Father will forgive us, maybe twenty times and no more after that.  We ask him to go on forgiving, and forgiving, and forgiving.  And Peter says thats what we do when we become involved with our own brethren and they sin against us.  And we must do that, because that is what we ask the Father to do for us.

But when it comes to the issue of verses 15-17, it is entirely different.  There is the question of a former sin which contravenes the commandments of Christ, and the principles of divine wisdom.  And the Lord says if needs be, in that case that man must be dispensed with altogether out of the body. 

And I invite you to have a look at your Unity Book, on page 14, because you'll find that in the Unity Book on page 14 they acknowledge the understanding of Mt. 18 that we have just set forth.  Because on the following page of the Unity Book, where they speak of any brethren departing from any element of the one faith, then action is to be taken, extreme action would be ecclesial disfellowship.  And what's written underneath that?  Mt. 18:15-17. 

So the compiler of the Unity Book accepted the teaching of the Lord in Mt. 18, in the light that we have just presented it to you.

Liberty.  That was what the Serpent recommended.  But what about ourselves?  Straight. Narrow.  Those that are confined to the Truth.  And brethren and sisters, we have got to appreciate, that if liberty of thought and belief became the guidelines for ecclesial standards, there would soon remain very little true worthy to Christ.  So that we are fully dependent upon the Spirit-word to guide us upon these matters. 

Now you know the words set forth in the first of John only too well.  God is light.  In him there is no darkness at all.  In I John 1, John deals with fellowship.  The doctrine of fellowship.  And shows that fellowship with the Father and with His Son, and with one another, depends upon walking in the light, and I want to emphasize the word walking.  John doesn't say standing still basking in the light.  He says walking in the light which denotes a progression forward towards the perfection that is in Christ, and the eventual attainment of entrance into the kingdom.  It is a question of walking in the light.  And light is a metaphor in this context, a figure of speech to express divine truth and therefore it is expressive of true knowledge and accurate understanding of divine principles.  The light is revealed in Christ.  I am the light of the world.  The light is revealed in the word.  The entrance of thy word giveth light.  The light is to be revealed in the saints.  Then are ye the light in the Lord, walk as children of light.

And in the first of John chapter 2 and verse 3, John tells us that we walk in the light, only if we walk in obedience to the commandments as a way of life.  As a way of life.  Now we come to this point, that when operative among men, the power of the truth accomplishes two conflicting effects.  Separation and affiliation.  On the one hand we've got this, Come out from among them and be ye separate, and on the other hand we have this.  Therefore, receive ye one another as Christ also received us.  There you have division from the world to God.

Now.  Let us observe how the apostle endorsed and reiterated the teaching of Christ upon the question of fellowship as set down in Mt. 18.  Let us see how they appreciated the definitions later to be supplied by John in his first epistle. The need for walking in light.  That the Father is light.  That the Son is light.  That the word of God is light.  And that the saints equally are to be a form of light, that manifestation.

But notice the teaching of the apostle Paul in Romans 16, there having dealing with the doctrine of fellowship.  He says in the 17th verse of that 16th chapter, "Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them.  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies.  And by good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple." 

And look at those words very carefully.  Notice the first instruction that Paul gives.  He says "Mark them."  A word which means to look at, to behold, to watch, to contemplate.  But very often we find in the brotherhood, that the intention of the action is the very opposite thing and pretend, that the brother is not really there at all.  But the apostle says, Mark them. 

Mark which ones?  Those which cause divisions and offenses.  Now the first word is one which signifies a standing apart.  A standing apart.  Because their stand in the Truth, their way of life in the Truth, or their teaching in the Truth is different than that of the apostles.  Thats "divisions". 

The other word is offenses.  A word which signifies the part of a trap to which the bait is attached hence the trap or the snare which catches an animal.  They're going to trap you out of the Truth.  Paul the apostle says, what do we do with those?  And the answer is, we avoid them.  Perhaps the best translation of that phrase is, as in the 20th Century New Testament, "Disassociate yourselves from them."  "Disassociate yourselves from them.  The word means literally obliterate, be torn away from.

Now let us go on further.  John has taught us that fellowship is walking in the light.  Walking, remember that.  Now Paul says in Romans 16 "turn away".  We can't walk with them.  He doesn't say, look the other way.  He says turn the other way.  And notice the emphasis upon apostolic teaching.  They that teach that which is contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned.

And here in the 18th verse, its quite interesting.  The apostle doesn't say that these men are sincere brethren.  He doesn't say that they are sincere brethren and therefore worthy of the most kindly consideration.  He says, "they serve not our Lord Jesus Christ."  And I want you to understand what that means.  He says, they are not Christ's servants.  Therefore, they are impostors.  They are impostors.  And that is why you must turn away says Paul in Romans 16. 

So it is important to understand that these things that we have alluded to from the serpents teaching in the garden of Eden, Moses's demonstration from the wilderness, the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matt. 18, the teaching of Paul in Romans 16, become questions of basic doctrine.  Fellowship is a basic doctrine.  In Heb 13:16, the Apostle says, to do good and to communicate, and the word there for communicate is a word koinonia, and that means "fellowship".  And he says, forget not.  So that fellowship, and an understanding of it, and its application is an essential apostolic doctrine. 

The apostle says there to do good and to fellowship, forget not.  Therefore it is a question of apostolic teaching.  It is a question of fundamental doctrine.  And we have seen that the question of the doctrine of fellowship somewhere along the line must involve some principle of division, and because the question of fellowship is a doctrine, and because it is a fence around the Truth.  Because it is a fence around the Truth, we read such clear cut apostolic instruction.  Turn away.  Have no company.  Withdraw.  Reject.  Mouths must be stopped.  Let him be accursed.  And the Lord's own words, let him be unto you as an heathen man and a publican.

All of those terms are to be found in the apostolic writings.  Turn away.  Have no company.  Withdraw.  Reject.  Mouths must be stopped.  Let him be accursed.  Let him be unto you as an heathen man and a publican.  And the terms used, brothers and sisters, all speak of decisive action being necessary,  in implementing the basis of fellowship, when there was opposition to apostolic teaching. 

Now I want you to listen to another few words from bro. Robert Roberts.  Listen to this.  Our beloved bro. Robert Roberts.  "Why this narrow basis of the defined faith at all?  Why stand apart from the pleasant popular communion?  Why not leave all such question to individual conviction, and individual rights?  By the time this point was reached, the whole edifice of apostolic faith and practice as recovered in this 19th century by unresolved submission to the authority of the Scriptures, would be in ruins."  Would be in ruins. 

But when it comes to applying a doctrine, brothers and sisters, we've reached that stage now.  Have a look with me at the words of Titus, from Titus 3:10.  A comment from the apostle Paul which appears to be a comment upon Mt. 18.  Avoid foolish questions and genealogies, and contentions and striving about the law for they are unprofitable and vain.  A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition, reject.  A man that is an heretic. 

The word, many of you will have it marked in your Bibles, is the greek word Hairetikos, and it means capable of choosing, hence causing division by a party spirit.  And you know what that means, don't you.  It means those opposed to apostolic teaching.  Capable of choosing, in other words brethren who have been enlightened concerning the fundamental principles of divine truth.  And therefore brethren who are responsible to uphold that truth.  So he uses that word.  A man that is an heretic, capable of choosing, hence causing division by a party spirit.  (Lexicon) gives that meaning of that word.  In opposition to apostolic teaching.

Now it says after the first and the second admonition, reject.  And I believe that he's got in mind the words of the Lord in Mt. 18.  The first admonition would be when you go to that brother with another brother, in the face of witnesses.  The second would be when it is represented before the ecclesia. Now then Paul says, when you have done this, it is necessary to reject him.  A word which literally means, to beg off.  A very odd word.  And is translated by the Revised Version as "refuse".  And therefore it is perhaps nearer to the mark.  A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition, refuse!  Why? He's writing basically the same thing that he has written in Romans 16. Turn away.  Because he is not walking in the light. 

And look at verse 8 in that context will you?  This is a glorious thing that he is setting before the brethren, to be believed, and to be upheld as a part of the truth.  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.  Thats walking in the light, doing the work of faith.

Now lets go to Ephesians 5:6-7, and 11.  We have the same principle set forth in different language.  But the words are the same.  It shows that the principle of division is involved in separating from that which is contrary to apostolic teachings, or divine principles, and separating to the righteous word and commandments of Almighty God.

Now in Eph. 5:6-7 the Apostle says:

"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

Then he says: "Let no man deceive you with vain words:".  A remarkable expression.  Reading in another version, "Let no man deceive you with specious arguments".  And that word means plausible.  Beware of plausible men within the ecclesias, who do not bring the pure apostolic teaching with them.  `

And in verse 11, these are the words he uses here for fellowship:

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather set your faces against them" as Weymouth translates that verse.

But rather, set your faces against them.  Why?  Because there is no real communion.  There is no positive fellowship.  We can talk about fellowship, but if it does not really exist, then it is not there, and thats all there is about it. 

And we are aware of passages, such as II Thess. 3:6,14-15, where again the apostle councils similarly.  And we are aware of the remarkable words of Timothy in I Tim. 6:3-5.  These words are really worth looking at.

I Tim. 6:3-5.  Notice what Paul says here concerning the Truth. 

"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;"

All right Paul, what's the state of that man?  Look at verse 5.  He says that that man is destitute of the Truth.  He's destitute of the Truth.  Now what can be done?  What can be done? 

Notice the Lord Jesus Christ in his comment to the ecclesia at Pergamos in Rev. 2:14-15, he says that he has something against the ecclesia at Pergamos.  Something that is necessary that they should remedy quickly.  And that which he has against them is that they have heretics within the ecclesia.  And there is a need for action to be taken in that regard.  In Rev. 2:14-15 we read this:

"I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel,".

What did Balaam teach?  Balaam taught that we could commit adultery with the world.  Balaam taught compromise between the ecclesia and the world.  Now that wasn't all.  Verse 15.

"So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." said Christ.  I hate it.

Those who gained victory over the people by fleshly means.  Now its important that we understand in the latter city ecclesias that that statement is made there.  Christ had somewhat against the ecclesia at Pergamos.  They retained those in fellowship who were not walking in the light.  And in view of the clear cut apostolic teaching upon the matter, they should have withdrawn from them. 

Again, bro. Robert Roberts.  Listen to this.  The elements of the truth are so mutually related that the displacement of one undermines the foundation of the whole.  Thats a beautiful statement.  You think about it. 

What he is really saying is that there is a chain made up of many links that draws man into fellowship with God.  There is a chain made up of many links, and every one is a glorious principle of divine truth.  And what our brother is saying is that if you take one of those vital principles out, and the chain is broken. 

Now you all know the words from the second of John, verse 10-11, which of course, the brother who follows me this evening is going to be dealing with.  But you know very clearly the teaching of John in those words.  "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him, not God speed, but greetings."  Receive him, in other words, into fellowship.  For he that biddeth him God speed, or greetings is partaker of his evil deeds. 

Why does John add to the instruction already given by the Lord and the apostles.  Why doesn't he stand upon the original teachings.  Why does he take it a little farther than it had been taken in the old apostolic writings?  Why?  Obviously because a technical meaning of the Lord's teachings now needed to be understood, and applied. 

It is implied that ecclesias were simply divorcing themselves from those teaching error or walking disorderly, but John is emphatic that that action is insufficient.  John is saying that an ecclesia may be guilty of extending fellowship where God has prohibited such.  And that ecclesia, not merely the individual; that ecclesia is then in error.  And John is saying that such an ecclesia will be held responsible, for their acts of unfaithfulness to Christ in agreeing to extend fellowship to that which God has not allowed him to do.

Now that is why we must be careful in understanding the clear cut terms which we have seen set forth in the words of Deity.  And you know brothers and sisters, where mutual belief on basic doctrines is absent, such fellowship can not be said to exist because it does not exist.  And it is an untruth to say that something exists, if it doesn't.

And you know today that the ecclesias are undergoing a tremendous trial in relation to this question.  But they are all trials, and if we react in the face of trial as the Lord would require us to do, then we shall come forth with our faith tried like gold in the fire; and out of all the misery and the strife, and the trouble and the problems; through getting our heads down to see what the Lord Jesus Christ requires of us, we shall come forth better fitted in character and in faith to inherit that kingdom at his final coming.  And may it be that the Lord Jesus Christ will strengthen us all that we might clearly see and understand that fellowship is a vital, basic, fundamental doctrine of apostolic teaching, and may we with courage and in faith take a course of action at any time when we are faced with it.  For we know we will win the approval of the Lord at his coming. 

THE END