Key verse Colossians 3:12-16 & Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

One of the great benefits of the book of Acts is being able to see the early church in action. The book is a blueprint for us to follow.
Throughout the years the church has experienced reformation, bringing us back to Apostolic Ministry. Truths such as baptism by immersion, reception of the Holy Spirit have been restored to the church.
But it clear that there are still some principles that are missing.
We seek the external things such as power, miracles, dramatic growth, supernatural provision, but there were some internal things at work, Intense Frequent Fellowship, and Love, which is missing in the modern church.

Relationships, friendships, and the community is under attack, more so in the western culture. I have known of cases where an old person has died in their flat and have not been discovered for weeks. No one cares; this was highlighted by Jesus when he said the Love of many would grow cold, he uses the word wax cold in the King James Version, and notice what happens to wax when it gets cold. It solidifies, it can no longer flow.
Matthew 24: 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
As Paul again warns us of some of the attitudes that would be prevalent in end time western culture.
II Timothy 3:1-4 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

People find it hard to develop close relationships in the climate of distrust.

The Question is? It is true for the World but should it be true for us?

The two Great Commandments:
To love The Lord your God with All your heart soul and mind
To love your neighbour as you love yourself.

One addresses how we relate to God, the other commandment addresses how we relate to each other.

Jesus Quoted this from the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 6:5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
In other words to simplify the commandment; Love God & Love each other.
Luke 10:27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

It was at this point Jesus teaches us about the Good Samaritan, it highlighted the fact that God was not only interested in external Christianity but how we treat one another, and how we relate to one another.
This kind of love is not wishy washy Greek philio or eros Agape even these words not the best explanations I would like to use because they are an expression of a culture, Greek culture, and in I Corinthians Paul said the Greeks seek wisdom, not godly wisdom, so for one word they have to have five definitions.
This western emotional love, love is really action, as in the parable.
God is interested in the poor neglected, orphans and widows.
Isaiah 10: 2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
Acts 6: 1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
God is interested in community.
James 6: 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
When you pray say OUR FATHER not my father, he is a communal God.
When he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob he was a Generational God.
Then from Moses he was a communal, National God.

Later on Some of the points we cover is baby killers! In observation of those so called kind loving chimpanzees, they found that if a female in the clan had a baby the other females would attempt to kill them and eat them.

Me one and God, the Elijah syndrome!

When Fellowship is Forbidden!

For the moment lets look at what Jesus did and how he related to his disciples.

He taught them on a one to one basis
Matthew 13:10-13

He ate with them
Luke 24:4141And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?

St John 21;12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord.

Spent a lot of time with them St John 14: 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

Even amongst the twelve he had different levels of relationship
Mark 9:2
Jesus loved them St John 13; 1 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

Another interesting point is the amount of Feasts (7) God instituted for the Jews, there is a lot of feasting and sharing and coming together as a Nation.

As an exercise, please work out how much time you spend in church or with church members in a week.
Then work out how much time you spend with or among sinners be it family, or work colleagues and compare it.
Return it next week.
It will tell you something about yourself.

Let's look at the Early church and their fellowship of the saints.

Home Fellowship I prefer this one to the word team. Team relates to horses
Strapped together or even use the word yoked together, they have no choice, it is more a working relationship.
Fellowship is Volitional.

Home Fellowship

Acts 2:38-41

Acts 4:32
House churches:

I Corinthians 16:19

Colossians 4:15

Acts 20:20

Hebrews 10; 25

The point to note is that God is interested in Fellowship
In the Old Testament their were so many feasts, instituted in the religion
The feast of Passover, the feast of Unleavened bread ( lasted 7 days) on the last day they would have the feast of first fruits, feast of Harvest or Pentecost 50 days after Passover
Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur Day of Atonement, feast of booths or tabernacles, a celebration that lasted 7 days.
All that eating and drinking and fellowship

In the New Testament many of the feasts continued to be observed by Jewish converts, but some were replace, such as the Lords supper replaced the Passover.
And Charity feasts were observed in place of the rest but the ethos of eating and drinking continued.
Jude 12
The Love Feast service was kept up in the primitive church for 400 years, but as the church grew in numbers and in wealth-it left its first love, and the feasts of love were generally discontinued. Preparation for the Love Feast was a lot of work, and so it was gradually dropped--and today most churches observe the communion service alone-usually on a Sunday morning. But in the beginning it was not so.
Dr. Philip Schaff (a most respected church historian) says: "At first the communion was joined with the Love Feast, and was then celebrated in the evening, in memory of the Last Supper of Jesus with His disciples" (Volume 2, page 239).
At another place, Schaff says, "The Lord's Supper was observed in the evening, and was connected with a Love Feast, and also with feet washing" (Volume 3, page 402).
Jesus Himself was invited to many feasts, to the extent that he was called a winebibber and a glutton.
In the heat of the Methodist revival they introduced Love feasts; it was after John Wesley observed the Moravians.
As the revival cooled so did the love feast, weekly or monthly to quarterly, to twice yearly till they eventually died out of Methodism.

When Fellowship Is Forbidden or to be restricted

True fellowship requires Judgement or discernment our fellowship is in the light through Jesus Christ.
I John 1:5-7

I Corinthians 5:3
The whole chapter addresses a situation in which a brother had committed an immoral act, by sleeping with his stepmother.
Paul's judgement on the matter is that he should be dis-fellowshipped.
He forfeited his right for fellowship with the saints.
Sin is typified as leaven, (yeast) the longer it is left the more it grows, it can never be continued.
It was therefore for the churches preservation that the young man was excommunicated.

This again is a weak area in the modern church, it is impossible for this to take place because Pastors no longer know who there members are, they in cases do not even know their names, their lifestyle, they could even be paedophiles and they would be none the wiser. The church has become like the world impersonal.

Pastors are now in the service industry, they provide a service which involves delivering and preparing a sermon, managing the church as a Director CEO, they are delivering a product. We have sacrificed true shepherding for the numbers game, we measure attendance and not membership.
We entertain rather than instruct.
Jesus is different, he says my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. He even said he knows his sheep by name. It was not uncommon for a good shepherd in the Middle East to have names for every sheep.

When Fellowship is Forbidden!

True fellowship can only be in the Light through Jesus
John said " If we walk in the light as he is in the light then we have fellowship one with another" Only on That premise."
There are rules to be applied first before diss-fellowship.
II Timothy 3:1-2,5 If a church member refuses Apostolic or Pastoral Instruction, they are to be marked.
I Timothy 1:20….that they may learn not to Blaspheme
II Corinthians 6:11-18 Come out from among them…….
II John & III John
Three men are mentioned Demetrius, Gauis & Diotrophes
John is now old close to 90, and by now there is a lot of false teaching, namely Gnostics doctrine, You would also have various preachers, which in todays terms we would call them circuit preachers they were being warned not to entertain false teachers whilst welcoming the good ones II John 10….
Gaius was commended, as well as Demetrius for their sacrificial Christian service, whilst Diotrophes was reproved for his dominance and control over his church, he refused even John.
Do You Know any ministries or Pastors that are like Diotrophes ?
Finally our sins can affect the body
God sees us both individually and as a whole
Achan is a classic symbol Joshua 7:1
Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew 18:15-18 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother………….
Mathew 18:21………….How many times did you say!
God is Not interested in your petty issues with one another….seek peace
Luke 12:13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
The very structure we have in church is sometimes Impersonal
Our Pastors are stars, they are our Icons.
We celebrate them as Kings and Queens, rather than godly respect.
This style of leadership is completely opposite to what Jesus.
Our tiles become a status rather than a function.
What did Jesus say?
Remember the The Office of John the Baptist was as a prophet who was highly regarded, but he did not have status.
It is rumoured that the Pharisees lived lavish lives, and enjoyed their position.
Matthew 11: 7As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
Mark 10:42 - 45 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.

The Kingdom of God already has a King, the seat is already taken.
There is a measure of authority to be given to the pastors and leaders, but it should not become status.
The perfect example was the Levites, they ministered to the lord on behalf of the people, they even had some privileges attached to them, but they were still just one of the tribes.
This has also affected true fellowship.
We use words like hierarchy, structure, directors they are usually associated with people that have a high lifestyle, at the expense of the people.
This spirit attacked the early church until the leaven grew so much they were not allowed to read even the scripture, only the priest was allowed.
And if you did manage to get a bible, it was written in Latin, a language only the rich and educated in the priestly order could understand.
Revelations 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
Many say there was a false prophet called Nicholas, but I am inclined to believe It was more Nico…means to conquer…Laity is the church or congregation
To conquer or rule the church.

It was the catholic church that began to turn the church into hierarchy, the pope being in the place of God.

Lets get back to the richness of the early church fellowship.