Culture of the Kingdom
Today’s Topic: Fellowship: Understanding True Kingdom Fellowship
Scripture: John 17:22,23; 1 Corinthians 11:29-31
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Jesus prayed to the Father for the disciples and requested that the disciples receive the glory that was given to Him by the Father. John 17:22 tells us about this glory. Jesus said and the glory that you (The Father) has given me, I (Jesus) will have given them. What is the glory?
Jesus continues, “That they may be one, even as we are one”. Who is the we as one? The Father and the Son. So who are we to be one with? Jesus continues in John 17:23: I (Jesus) in them (saints), and thou (The Father) in me (Jesus) that they may be made perfect in one. How was Jesus in the Father?
Jesus submitted all, body, soul and spirit to the Father. He gave up the right to rule His own body and do His Will to do the Father’s Will. He was completely under the authority of the Father. But how did this come to be? Well we already know that from the age of 12 to 30 Jesus was being disciple about His Father’s, not Joseph, business. Now at the age of thirty He is baptized and Matthew 3:16 states: “And Jesus when He was baptized, went straightway out of the water: and lo the heavens were opened unto Him and he saw the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) descending like a dove, and lightening upon him”. Immediately after this Holy Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. It is when the Spirit of God comes and dwells within Jesus, that He is hidden in the Father. Now we receive Holy Spirit we are in Christ! We have heard that before. Our life is hidden in Christ and we are to be led by the Spirit of God into a fulfilled destiny. The fellowship of Holy Spirit is a critical element that explains the relationships within the Body of Christ and explains how God communicates among these relationships so that the Head, who is Christ, is served by the Body that is responsive to Him who is the Head. This is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.
The arrangement, by Holy Spirit of the parts of the Body of Christ is OUR TRUE FELLOWSHIP. It is the fellowship that we should not forsake. Fellowship is the intertwining of lives together with purposeful intent under the headship of Christ. In the Kingdom of God we define ourselves by the relationship with Holy Spirit to each other. See if we are truly the children of God then we should be lead by the Spirit. Romans 8:14:”For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
We should allow the Spirit of God to lead us, motivate us and empower us. All of that He does so we should most of all trust in Holy Spirit because remember, He is the one who knows your destiny and has been sent to you, by the Lord Jesus Christ as His delegate to disciple you and lead you into maturity in Christ. Now we know there are many people in the Body of Christ. Some are living the true life which God has called them to and there are others who deny Him even though they are in Him by their actions and lifestyle. So the sons of God have been given a spirit to discern the Body of Christ. Let’s look at this and wrap this up.
1 Corinthians 11:29-31:”For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s Body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”
When we as the saints do not discern the Lord’s body (members) then people who are sick remain sick, weak and die. Now the reason we should is so that we can care for our brothers and sisters in Christ and be able to see also the movements of the enemy so that we will not get entrapped by one of his many devices. We, as the universal church, are the Body of Christ and we must have fellowship with Holy Spirit to know our place and lane so that the Will of God will be done in that space and time through our submission to the authority of God.
Now we know that God is all about order so the way Holy Spirit arranges the Body is in a particular order. This order is called the patriarchal order and we will look at this in the next message. Forsake not the fellowship you are to have with Holy Spirit because it is this relationship that leads to a fulfilled life.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
