In a post of September 23, 2013 entitled "Fellowship," I mentioned that the late Brother C. H. Yadon had said during Bible school days that fellowship was all the fellows in the
same ship. And then on February 17 of this year, in the posting "Without Excuse," I spoke of having come across a passage of scripture that seemed to jump out at me, Isaiah 33:14. I have been thinking about fellowship recently and the question came to me, what is the ultimate fellowship? Thus this posting.
I am glad for the fellowship of the United Pentecostal Church. It is the only church organization I have ever belonged to. But that being said, I recognize that not everyone with whom I fellowship in this world are necessarily saved. Some may suppose that if they have been baptized in Jesus name and received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, that that is all that is necessary to make heaven their home. That is a shame. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." It is true that Jesus did every thing that was necessary to save us on the cross. He completed what has been called the Finished Work of Calvary. But what of the unfinished work of Calvary? That is, you and I!
I believe that the name of Jesus is the only name under heaven given among men that will ultimately save us. (See Acts 4:12) We accomplish this by being baptized in Jesus name. I also believe that without being born of the Spirit of God we will not be ready to meet the Lord in peace. (See John 3:3-5) The Bible does say in Romans 8:9, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." So if we have been baptized in water (in Jesus name) and by the Holy Ghost, (with the evidence of speaking in tongues) we should live a new life, one in which old things have passed away. (See 2nd Corinthians 5:17)
So what is the ultimate fellowship? The Bible says in Hebrews 12:22-24, "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." That sounds an awful lot like heaven to me. But we aren't there yet! I asked the church in Tigard, Oregon when I was their pastor, how did they expect to get to heaven? Then I answered the question, that only the Lord Jesus was going to get them out of this world and to heaven!
It's not your good looks, not who your mother or father were, not your church affiliation, not even how you were baptized, only the Lord Jesus will get you and I out of here. It will take the ultimate miracle of God to get us to heaven. We aren't there yet. As I said in the posting, "Without Excuse," I for one don't want to be a hypocrite and be surprised at judgment. Have you been baptized in the only name that can save you? Have you received the baptism of the Holy Ghost as they did on the Day of Pentecost? If you haven't you should. But don't think that alone will get you to heaven. You need to trust the Lord Jesus and do only those things that please Him. If you will do so, you have God's promise that you will walk on streets of gold one day. You will be a partaker in the ultimate fellowship.
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