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(Go To Meeting)
Lyall Johnston—May 5, 2023
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Before we get into the subject today, I would like to turn to the First Epistle of John, because there's something very important there that we need to see. This has to do with fellowship, and it has to do about the fellowship that we are enjoying today as part of the Body of Christ.
The reason that I wanted to look at this is because there have been problems in the past with the fellowship of God. Many of us will remember the things that happened to the organization of God in the beginning, and that was the Worldwide Church of God. For some it would have been the Radio Church of God, before WCG.
It's important that we understand the purpose for a fellowship meeting. Once we understand that, or for those who already understand this and are well versed in this, this is just a reminder of why we come to fellowship whether in a church service on the Sabbath or Holy Days or a Bible study. Whether it be in small groups, fellowship groups. We've seen in the past how one fellowship group—the whole body of the Worldwide Church of God—was destroyed from the inside! If, as a group, the Worldwide Church of God can be destroyed from the inside…
Yes, it was attacked in 1970s by the Attorney General of California, and the Church survived that attack from the outside. But when the attack came from the inside, what happened? We had a 'top gun' who was running the WCG, but where are all those 'top guns' today? They've gone!
What God is doing is looking for:
- those who are the 'humble and of a contrite spirit' those who will be faithful to His Word
- those will walk in the Word of God
- those who will, in the Spirit of God, love God and the brethren
We know that God loved the Apostle John!
1-John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning…"
Talking about the Gospel given to us by Jesus Christ, then given to His apostles to continue that message to mankind.
"…that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes, that which we observed for ourselves and our own hands handled…"
The apostles handled Him, and after His resurrection Jesus said to Thomas, 'You have seen Me and believed, you reach out and you touch My body where the wounds are.' We know that John at the last Passover was leaning on Jesus' chest. We know that they have close fellowship and companionship. This is what John was talking about.
Verse 1: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes… [they saw Jesus Christ] …that which we observed for ourselves and our own hands handled concerning the Word of Life."
The Word of God whom they handled was Jesus Christ. We know that, we have seen that many times.
Verse 2: "And the Life was manifested, and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and are reporting to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us; that which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us…" (vs 2-3).
A very close intimate relationship that we see first reflected between Jesus the Christ and the apostles, except for one we know was a traitor; he was replaced. These were the eye-witnesses, they had that fellowship that was so intimate, so closely aligned with each other.
"…for the fellowship…" (v 3). Keep those words in mind!
What is this fellowship all about? We know that it is something that we have preserve, because it's being attacked from the outside, but most seriously and importantly is also being attacked and will continue to be attacked from the inside! Over the course of time we will look at those Scriptures that identity those who will attack the very fellowship that we have with God the Father and Jesus Christ from the inside!
If our fellowship is not first with the Father and with Jesus Christ, we will not have any fellowship. We will just have a friendly get-together, a social club! Oh yes, we can discuss the Bible, but God is not involved, and will not be involved! It's so important that for all the saints that we must insure that first our fellowship is with God the Father and Jesus Christ, through His precious blood and bought for us eternal life—salvation!
Paul says that he was willing to give up everything, even his own life and 'count everything that he had as so much dung!' (Philip. 3). I think Paul was referring to human excrement! That's how he considered everything about him that was not of God, not of Christ! He wanted to wash himself, rid himself of everything that was part of his fleshly life; his life apart from Christ! He wanted to totally be looking toward Christ in his way of life.
Also, that he may of all things that he could gain eternal life, so that he could be with Christ in the Kingdom of God (Philip. 3).
1-John 1:3: "…for the fellowship… [we're fellowshipping now] …—indeed, our fellowship—is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ" (v 3).
So that when we come together as a group of people, what happens? Our fellowship is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ!
If that is not there—and I think there are many groups functioning today where that element is missing! Therefore, is it a fellowship group or not? That is the key!
The reason I'm giving this is that in reading some documents, transcripts of God, I would like to offer you to go online so that you can study this subject, and if you've done it before, study it again. We have got to put on the whole armor of God to protect ourselves and the fellowships that we are a part of from those who want to destroy it, and are destroying it, and maybe they don't even know that they're destroying it from the inside.
What did Jesus say in Matt. 24? Be on guard, because there are going to come many false christs! There are so many Scriptures in the Bible that say that. We need to put on the full armor of God, which we will discuss so that we can do our part in preserving the fellowship that we have with each other, but the Father and Christ—the fellowship we have with them—must come first. It's paramount!
So, there is a video that is called: Purpose of Fellowship Groups {https://www.cbcg.org/video/1992-07-01-reissue-purpose-of-fellowship-groups.html} (note that no transcript found)
There's another one here that's more recent, so there have been some upgrades on how to conduct it a fellowship meeting. However, the teaching hasn't changed.
- we have grown in the grace and knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ
- we have grown in our knowledge of the Father
- we have grown in the knowledge of God's Plan
- we are growing by putting on the mind of Jesus Christ
These are some of the points that will protect our fellowship first and foremost with God the Father and Jesus Christ; I can't repeat that too many times!
Once we have that fellowship, then it's possible to have the fellowship with one another that God desires. We come together and we are taught from the Word of God! This is where some of the groups are going astray. They're bringing in 'strange fire'!
We know what happened to the two sons of the high priest Aaron. They brought in strange fire into the Tabernacle, something that God had told them not to do. What happened? Fire came out from God and burnt them to cinders, burnt them up!
In our fellowship groups, do we want to ensure that we're not bringing in 'strange fire' in the manner of false teachers? Who are coming in as Jesus said? False christs claiming to be the servants of Christ, like Satan's ministers! Paul tells us that they transform themselves into ministers of righteousness on the surface. But they are bringing in 'strange fire' and destroying some groups! They're leading people astray! We've got to be ready!
One of the pieces of the armament that God has given to us (Eph. 6), is to have our feet shod with the Gospel of Peace. When we understand what that is, we'll understand how we're able to protect our fellowships. But they're being attacked. There are some that are even saying that because God called us individually, therefore, 'we can just visit with any group.'
The Scriptures show us that is false concept, also. That is a satanic deception! Fake, phony and false!We have to be able to see that, and we have to be able to reach out and sometimes and pull people back from the fire!We're also instructed to do that when we have the opportunity.
Again a special message True Fellowship with God and the point that Fred mentions here is this very Scripture we just read in 1-John, and again I repeat: our fellowship must first be with God the Father and Jesus Christ. If we don't have that, we cannot have the true fellowship with one another.
It's interesting that we elders listen to our brothers and sisters in the discussion that comes after (these Go to Meeting messages) that the fruits of God's Spirit are within you, because of your comments. They come across as true, solid, from the heart, and it's clear that the comments that you're making come from having that fellowship with the Father and Christ.
In fact, it's a real joy to hear your comments. There are among us those who are new or those who are doubting. Those are a the ones we need to be able to help. Those who are more mature in the faith can do this.
Each one of us has to be sure that we are doing our part to protect the fellowship, and there are many things that we can do. We will find those things and what our actions should be from the Scriptures.
Matthew 18:2: "And after calling a little child to Him, Jesus set him in their midst, and said, 'Truly I say to you, unless you are converted…" (vs 2-3).
Having repented of our sins, been keeping the Sabbath Day, the Holy Days, the Passover, which is most important if we want to understand the Law of God and the Plan of God. This is the attitude God wants to see in us:
"…unless you are converted and become as little children, there is no way that you shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (vs 3).
It's sad today that we see the attitudes of little children being so spoiled and turn to evil in many cases. What a joy for those parents who are able to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and see those little children of responsive and willing.
My son had a little confusion understanding the difference between sir and mam, when we asked him to do something, he'd say, Yes sir-mam!' He's much older now. But he did it with a great attitude, always a great son.
Verse 4: "Therefore, whoever shall humble himself as this little child…"
It is clear when you give your comments that this is seen by everyone. That is a real joy to the Body of Christ. This is what brings real fellowship, when we have this kind of spirit and attitude
"…he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (v 4).
Verse 20: "For where two or three are gathered together…:
Remember that the One speaking here created the heavens and the earth. He put our bodies together particle-by-particle. We are naked before Him; He sees everything! He sees and reads everything that is in our heart and mind.
"…in My name…" (v 20).
You may want to do a search through the Scriptures of where it says: 'My name' or in 'My name'
"…there, I am in the midst of them" (v 20.
Here we are meeting online, scattered around the world, is Jesus in the midst of us, even though we're separated by thousands of miles? Absolutely so! Absolutely yes! He's in our midst!
Can Christ and God the Father be anywhere at any time? God/Jesus tells us in Jer. 23 that 'you can't hide from Me'! He says, 'I fill the heavens and the earth!' His presence! He's aware of everything! He upholds the entirety of the cosmos, the universe! Yet, He looks down on this little planet out on the edges of the Milky Way galaxy, which is probably toward the out limits however the universe is, and this is what He says.
Verse 20: "For where two or three are gathered together in My name…"
We have a number of people scattered about the globe meeting together in the name of Jesus Christ, and He is right here in our midst!
- What's the governing text on this?
- Why is He present?
- Why has He said that He wants to be in the midst of this group?
"…there, I am in the midst of them" (v 20).
This meeting began in the presence of God, seeking God's company in prayer. Reading His Word, filling our minds and hearts with the love and the joy and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding! It's interesting that that comes out in Eph. 6.
It's such a beautiful statement there. It's in our confidence: He's in our midst!
Therefore, how should we behave in the midst of Jesus and the Father Who are watching over us? They know what our motivation is.
- Do they want us to bring in 'strange fire'?
- Do they want us to bring in speakers that the brethren don't know?
- Why has Fred chosen to expose more specifically the elders so that you can know us and you can come to trust the words that we speak?
We're going to be, as it says Neh. 8, where the prophet Ezra stood up. It was where the people were gathered—this was at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, and the other Levites and others around him—read from the Word of God and then they explained it's meaning.
- Is that a requirement for the Churches of God today?
- Is there something that you can witness that actually happens in the Christian Biblical Church of God today?
As we're told in the Scriptures, 'by our fruits we will be known.' So, we're being exposed and that:
- can bring a lot of hardship
- can bring the guillotine in the end
It's being done, as Fred says, in his latter years the brethren need to come to know who is serving amongst them.
When Fred passes, do you think that CBCG is going reach out to some other powerful Church of God, or this man over here that's claiming to be a minister of God, because 'he's such a wonderful speaker. He's got some exciting stuff that he can bring to us.'
- How do we know that he's not a false prophet?
- How do we know that Satan is not working in him?
We don't know him!
It's says in Acts about these Jews who were running around casting out demons who even said, 'Jesus we know, and Paul we're aware of, but who are you?' they lost all their clothes and had to take off.
So, we have to stay close to God! When we stay close to God and are in fellowship with the father and Christ, you and I are going to be able to detect and determines the fruits of those bringing the Word of God to us, reading and explaining its meaning and understanding by the Spirit of God and the power of God! God has a lot of power that He can bring the Truth to us!
As elders we are to submit ourselves to God and ask Him to use us and to speak to us. Frankly, we have no confidence in flesh! The people of God--You, our brothers an sisters in the faith—we can be in quite a lot of trepidation should we not be faithful with the Word of God. Yes, we can make mistakes, but God can correct us. If we make a mistake from the Scriptures that you can see that we clearly make, then you need to write us, contact us, and tell us!
Fellowship is important! It's interesting that when we come together, even here on the Internet, is this hallowed ground? Yes! Christ is in our midst! Are we not standing on hallowed ground?
Remember Moses in Exo. 3 where he saw the burning bush. It was an angel revealing himself to Moses, but then God spoke to him through the burning bush. He said to Moses, 'Moses, take off your sandals, for you are standing on Holy ground.'
When we're in the presence of God, we better make sure we take off our spiritual sandals so that we can truly:
- be honoring God
- be truly walking humbly in His sight
In Isa. 56 there is a prophecy that says that the House of God is called the House of Prayer. For us, whether we're meeting in a Sabbath service, or meeting as fellowship group part of the Church of God:
- Are we not entering into the very House of God?
- When Christ is in our midst?
- When we have that direct access to God the Father in heaven?
- When we actually come into the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ should we not take off our physical and spiritual sandals that not part of our worship of God?
We see an application of this Scripture, one that we're well aware of.
Matthew 21:11: "And the multitudes said, 'This is Jesus the prophet, the One Who is from Nazareth of Galilee.' And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple; and He overthrew the tables of the money exchangers, and the seats of those who were selling doves…. [then He repeated what He already said through the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 56)]: …Then He said to them, 'It is written…'" (vs 11-13).
Around the world here on GTM' we're meeting in God's House. We're in the presence of Almighty God the Father and Jesus Christ. We can't see Them, but Jesus said to Thomas:
You have seen Me and believed, more blessed are those who have not seen Me, and yet, believe.
We believe! How can we do that? Because God revealed Himself to us when He called us:
- through His Sabbath
- through His Holy Days
and more specifically
- through the Passover
- through repentance
- through baptism
- through laying on of hand and receiving God's Spirit
God is teaching us through the Word, which is spirit and guided and directed by the Holy Spirit.
"…'My house shall be called a house of prayer,'… [notice the rebuke]: …but you have made it a den of thieves" (v 13).
This is the danger of fellowship groups that are not meeting first and foremost in fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Many people, after the collapse of Worldwide, of course, scattered and different groups were formed. Some good, some bad.
How can I say that? Read Rev. 2 & 3, that gives a template for how the Church of God is today! Some are good and doing good works. But there are others that are doing, what we might call bad, evil works. Jesus rebukes saying, 'I've got these things against you!' Unless you repent, and in one case He said that He would take their candlestick—the whole church group—away.
Did Christ not take the candlestick away from Worldwide Church of God, because it was destroyed from the top down?
This is why it's important to know who your leaders are! By leaders, those who are bringing you
- the Truth of God
- the knowledge of God
- the Word of God
To bring somebody into a group that has not been proven by the brethren can be a fatal mistake!
Oh, but we know this man from old; he was a faithful minister and he gives wonderful messages
Yes, but 'Jesus we know, Paul we know, but who is this—maybe—uncircumcised Philistine?' Appearing as a minister of righteousness, but actually the servant of Satan the devil, one of his ministers!
Verse 13: "…'My house… [before God's presence in heaven above; Jesus said that He's right here in our midst] …shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of thieves."
Think about that regarding any fellowship group. We know that it can be a temptation for some where there's no elder or minister in CBCG to be lured into one of these fellowship groups. But look! We have Go to Meeting, we have videos, CDs, books, literature.
I remember in WCG 'we could never have our own translation of the Bible.' Well, that statement proved to be wrong! So, we turned to a Bible that had many mistakes in it. Thank God and praise His name that those errors have been obliterated.
Again, we are in the presence of God the Father, we are in His House right now. We've take our sandals off because:
- we recognize Who God is
- we recognize Who our Shepherd is
- we recognize those servants whom God has called
As God's servants/elders:
- we are obligated to preach the Word of God
- we are obligated to preach the Truth of God
- we are to exalt and encourage the challenge to war
We don't want to see anyone of God's lambs for those who are new in the Body of Christ, or sheep, as God says, 'He has got no desire to see anyone perish!' It is so sad that when we see some people, in the past, have become so hard-headed that they set their lives like steel and iron. Their minds are impenetrable. It doesn't matter how much you explain the Word of God and the Truth of God to them, they can't understand and grasp it!
We have examples of that in the Scripture: over and over again, ancient Israel, and spiritual Israel, occurring in the Church! This is why we need that fellowship. I'm not going to apologize for saying it again:
1-John 1, our fellowship must first be with God the Father and Jesus Christ, then we can come into fellowship, Go To Meeting, Sabbath services, or meeting with a brother or sister, we can enter that with great relief and peace of mind. The peace of God and we are able to discern the spirits, whether the speaker is of God or not. Or a strange speaker bringing in 'strange fire' into God's Temple is of God.
There are those who invite the 'strange fire' into the Body of Christ. Christ will hold each one of us for our works.
Rev.1—this angel came down from heaven with great authority. And it says that his authority was so great that he illuminated the entire earth! Was that all at one time or not, personally I'm inclined that it would be all at one time, but I don't really know.
Revelation 1:1: "And after these things I saw an angel descending from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried out mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen…'" (vs 1-2).
This is referring to every church or body of people claiming to be a church that is following the teaching of ancient Babylon.
Today we have this great modern day Babylon, which is a spiritual entity, but it is not functioning on the Spirit of God, but the very spirit of Satan and his demons. That penetrated the very Church of God back in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The Church of God that we knew was totally decimated, destroyed! God just tore it down!
Do we want God tearing down the fellowship that we are a part of? We're in fellowship because God called us into this Body. I know that He didn't call me into any other body. When I quit WCG I told a friend about getting back into the ministry, 'I can't do that until God shows me clearly.' After seven years or so, He did! It was then that He brought me into the fellowship of the CBCG.
One of the reasons behind that is probably the same way it was for you. Let's see what John recorded. He was able to record things that are not in the other Gospels. This has to do with our fellowship, and any true fellowship apart of any other Churches of God, the same things applies.
I had this thought, and you can decide how you take it. God scattered the brethren of the WCG—one group when this way and another group went another way—in a hundred different directions. And little groups pop up here and there. We will know them by their fruits. This is true for anyone who is speaking before a fellowship that is truly of God. We must know their fruits!
Why is that we have elders ordained, but their not ordained until they meet the conditions. Paul said to Titus, 'I'm sending you to Greece.' Why? To complete and finish the things that needs to be done!
So, that a responsibility of Titus, who was a elder. He was sent to set things in order. He was to ordain elders in every city. But again, there were conditions to that. He would only ordain them if they met the conditions.
Paul said the same thing to Timothy about somebody who desires to be a shepherd or an elder. There are conditions. We should know those conditions if we're going to be listening to them.
But since God called you and me—that's where you are today—into the fellowship of CBCG, God sees that we need to satisfied and content of where we are. Unfortunately, some have gone over to the other side if the fence and they see these green pastures there. So, they either go through the gate, or they jump the fence into the pasture, which are green from where they stood. But once they get there, they find that the grass has probably faded and turning brown and dropping over like the flowers.
What do they do? They look for another group! And another group! What they do is accumulating many teachers, and they become double-minded. You know what the Scripture says about double-mindedness; totally unstable! An uncertain future, unless there's repentance!
John 10—a very important statement by Jesus, the Head of the Church. There is only one Head of the Church. He gives instruction on how to organize the Church and fellowship groups. The Scriptures are all there giving us the principles of how we can do this.
The reason I'm doing this is because we know what the Scriptures say, we know what the apostles have said to us about what is coming up against the Church. Peter says that in the last days there will be many false teachers and prophets! Paul says the same thing! James, Jude, John all warn of this over and over again!
So, I appreciate that this can be heavy, but it is an absolutely necessary part, because if we love God, fear God. Do you know what the Proverbs says the fear of God is? The fear of God is to hate evil and to love the Law and what gives to us!That's the definition of the fear of God!
When we have the fear of God, that gives us a peace of mind, a countenance to govern the flesh, and the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and God our Father and Jesus Christ our elder brother. Yes, Jesus said that 'you are My brethren. You are My brothers and sisters'! The Creator of the universe! What a calling we have! What an incredible calling we have!
John 10:1: "Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter the sheepfold through the door…"
Comes in the backdoor; why would he come through the backdoor? Why wouldn't he come through the front door?
"…but climbs up some other way…" (v 1).
He hasn't come through a clear entrance! He hasn't come through an open door where he can be seen for who and what he is. He's hiding something! He's got an agenda!
Think about it, someone coming into a true fellowship of any one of the Churches of God, Jesus said:
"…that one is a thief and a robber" (v 1).
We need to think very carefully about what Jesus said. Are we listening to thieves and robbers? or Are we listening to:
Verse 2: "But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep."
Here Jesus is telling us there are going to be false prophets and those who come through another way, trying to get into subvert. They're going to come to you to try and subvert you or even destroy the fellowship that you're a part of.
What do you do if you find yourself in a fellowship such as that? The Scriptures say to rebuke the error! But the other voice said in Rev. 18 to come out of her My people!
So, for those who may be in a group that does not first have fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, Jesus' own words—which I believe is that voice that come from heaven—and the words that Jesus spoke were given to Him by God the Father (Rev. 1)—the whole book of Revelation. God the Father gave the information to Jesus Christ, and Jesus gave it to His angel, who brought it and gave it to John in vision. So, this marvelous book of Revelation came from God the Father.
So, in Rev. 18 where it says come out of her My people does not just refer to the Church as modern Babylon—the Roman Church—but all its brothers and sisters, but even within the Churches of God there are some of those churches or groups that we need to come out of.
Rev. 2 & 3 is a message to the Church and then it says about what is good from the Church from their works, but then Jesus says, 'But I have something against you; repent!'
If you read each of those Churches, in most cases though the message is to the Church, the message is also to us, you and me. It says to 'the one who hears, take heed'; listen and follow the instructions that Jesus is giving!
Verse 2: "But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens…" (vs 2-3).
When we open that door to our mind and heart, are we opening it to the Shepherd or to one who climbs up some other way, who is a thief and a robber!
Open our mind and heart to the fellowship of Jesus Christ and God the Father.
"…and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" (v 3).
When I first heard the message that God was sending to me through CBCG this is what really got me, convicted me, just as I was originally convicted of the Sabbath. I'm sure that many of you had your areas where God saw that He could convict you so that you could repent.
He calls His sheep by name! God knows your name, and He's going to give you a new name. And He leads them out of false fellowships if we are in a false fellowship. These are not idle words. I'm putting it in my own language, but the message is from God the Father and Jesus Christ. Come out of her, out of that group that is taking you to destruction, that wants to make merchandise of you!
Verse 4: "When he brings the sheep out, he goes before them…"—and Jesus does; He's feeding us!
For those called of this body, the Christian Biblical Church of God that explains our goal and our purpose. The motto of the Church is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength! With everything that is within us totally loving God!
We're all willing to do that! Hopefully, a little more each day, as we grow in the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. We follow Jesus and those in whom we know Jesus is speaking to. Why? Because they're preaching the word of God! They're explaining and expounding the Word of God.
No more travel logs that can take up (inaudible). We used to in the past. And many of things like reading from Shakespeare and other philosophers, not from the Word of God!
"…and the sheep follow him… [why would we follow Christ?] …because they know his voice" (v 4).
What are the voices we're listening to. We need to be listening to one voice, that's the voice where it's recognized by the Word of God, the Spirit of God that that is Christ speaking through His elders today. In the past He spoke through His prophets. Then He spoke through His Son, and the through His apostles.
We have all those words that God has given to us. Every word, as it is in the languages that God gave it to us. We have it translated for us, thankfully! Every word came out of the mouth of God. As Jesus said, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Every word that is written there God had recorded for a purpose. Whether is prophecy, history or the Law of God, it all fits together beautifully. We can have confidence in that Word of God.
As Jesus said, it's all spirit. When it's written on a page, and we read it, the Spirit of God helps us to digest that Word into our mind and heart and it brings joy and pleasure. It brings peace of mind.
Verse 5: "But they will never follow a stranger…"
Somebody they don't know! The one who has climbed up another way. That one who is 'a thief and a robber.'
"…for they will flee from him…" (v 5)—because of what we've been talking about! 'come out of her My people'; whatever that was for you and me.
" …because they do not know the voice of strangers" (v 5).
With God's Spirit and our knowledge of God's Word, that's a description of those—hopefully that includes all of us:
- who are faithful to the Word of God
- who are faithful to the Father and Jesus Christ
- who are fellowshipping with the Father and Jesus Christ
This is why we have joy on Go To Meeting being setup by Steve, and hosted by Steve, Norbert and Albert. They're the hosts, the appointed hosts, and they change. That's another point that Fred makes about the groups. If you have men that are conductors, change it and give other men the opportunity to grow in the grace and knowledge, and in organizing those physical things.
But overall where there's a host for a group, whether a regular host or one that changes with others, do stay in contact with the elder that responsible, that God has given responsibility over that part of the work. Talk to him, listen to him, follow the instruction that he give in order to keep the strangers from coming within. In order for course correction, maybe just a need for a equipment or whatever it is, so that we can follow the Word of God and teachers of God. God has blessed us with such an abundance.
I've been following this for many years, the Word of God, the Church of God through CBCG, and I feel like I've only just scratched the surface of all that has been given to us. It's absolutely astounding. God has filled our plate. As David said, 'our cup is overflowing.'
There's no shortage! Why would we want to bring in one who plans out some other way! If you're a host and responsible for doing that, you need to repent before God. By doing so, you're are violating the Lordship if Jesus Christ!
Strong words? Those are from the Scriptures!
Scriptural References:
- 1 John 1:1-3
- Matthew 18:2-4, 20
- Matthew 21:11-13
- Revelation 1:1-2
- John 10:1-5
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Philippians 3
- Matthew 24
- Ephesians 6
- Jeremiah 23
- Nehemiah 8
- Exodus 3
- Isaiah 56
- Revelation 2; 3; 18
Also referenced: Messages (truthofGod.org):
- Purpose of Fellowship Groups {https://www.cbcg.org/video/1992-07-01-reissue-purpose-of-fellowship-groups.html} (note that no transcript found)
- Special Message: True Fellowship with God {https://www.cbcg.org/video/true-fellowship-with-god.html}
LJ:bo
Transcribed: 5/22/23
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