Our Glorious Fellowship

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ. [asv]

Ephesians 5:25-29 NKJV

25 . . . just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. . . . 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

There should be only one goal in this life for the thinking person as he pursues his ultimate goal, being with the Almighty God throughout eternity. The children of Israel were promised a land that was to give them everything they could have ever hoped for. The children of God have been promised a home with God that can never be lost – or equaled. How can we be assured that we will be there. We study the account of the Israelites as they fought to claim the land they had been given. We must fight to claim the land that God through the Lord Jesus Christ has promised us.

Fellowship with God and fellowship with God’s other children is vital. We must not ignore or neglect it.

1 Now the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; 2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, . . . 4 Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: 5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. 6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben,

Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? 7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 And the LORD'S anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, 11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: 12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD. 13 And the LORD'S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. 14 And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. 15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

16 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

These were the Ammonites, Moabites, Idumeans, and the remains of the Midianites and Amorites. They could not go off and leave their women and children without some men to stay and protect them, even with their "fenced cities." Many of the "men of war" must stay behind. How many. In the last census, chapter 26, the tribe of Reuben consisted of 43,730 men; the tribe of Gad, 40,500; the tribe of Manasseh, 52,700; the half of which is 26,350. Add this to the sum of the other two tribes, and the amount is 110,580. Now from Joshua 4:13 we learn that of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of he tribe of Manasseh, only 40,000 armed men passed over Jordan to assist their brethren in the reduction of the land: consequently 70,580 men were left behind for the defence of the women, the children, and the flocks. This was more than sufficient to defend them against a people already panic struck by their recent reverses.

JOS 4:12 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: 13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

JOS 22:1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, JOS 22:2 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: JOS 22:3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. JOS 22:4 And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan. JOS 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. JOS 22:6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.

NUM 32:18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.

NUM 32:20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war, 21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, 22 And the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth. 25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead:

NUM 32:27 But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith.

Before the death of Moses, and before Israel entered into the promised land, the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad came before Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and said: "This land that we are now in is a land for cattle, and we have cattle. If we have found grace in your sight, let this land be given unto us for a possession. Do not make us go over on the other side of Jordan."

But Moses answered these with these words: "Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?" And wherefore discouraged ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?" Moses said that they were in danger of causing the destruction of all their brethren. But the leaders of the two tribes said no. "We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones. But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them into their place. We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance" (vs. 1-18).

To all this Moses agreed. "If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war, and will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, and the land be subdued before the Lord, then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out" (vs. 20-23).

We are no longer under the Old Law. We are under the law of Christ. We do not go to the Old Testament to find out what to do to be saved. We don't go there to find out how to live the Christian life. However, there is recorded there, and preserved for us for our admonition, our hearing, our learning, some great and powerful lessons. So says Paul in Romans 15:4.

ROM 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

They were about to get into a great war, going into the land of Canaan, the promised land. Good people, we are in a great war today. Not war against this individual, or that individual, this nation or that nation. We are in a war today against the devil. We are in a war against sin. We are in a war against religious error. Therefore we must fight with all the power that we have. So again, this lesson is applicable to us today.

As God's chosen nation they were to take the promised land by fighting for it. But they had to fight together! By fighting together they could do it. As the people of God today we are told to take the world for Christ.

Jesus tells his apostles to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Were any of the apostles exempt from this charge? Although we have little record of the evangelistic efforts of most of the apostles, would any of dare say they did not “go?” And, although Jesus was not talking to us that day, after realizing the greatness of God’s gift to us in saving our soul from eternal death, dare anyone say that we should not go, as we are able, wherever we are able, next door, everywhere and anywhere? Peter tells the strangers scattered over a wide area of the then known world,

1PE 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Moses told his people that day, "If you don't go with us, you will fall into great danger. The Lord will not be pleased with you." If the Lord were alive in the flesh today, would it not be equally true that he would not be pleased with us if we don't go onward and conquer the evil influences that exist all around us, that threaten us, and hinder the growth of the Kingdom.

God had promised the land to them, according to Genesis 12. According to God's instruction the land was to be inherited by tribes. (Jos 13.) Nevertheless, in the taking of the land, they were all to fight. This shows the great lesson of cooperation. Cooperation on the part of all the children of Israel. And what is God's spiritual Israel today? God's Israel today is his People, the Body of Christ, including every member.

We are all familiar with the great passion of Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The holy city had become the embarrassment of Israel, and Nehemiah wanted to do something about it. And he did. But what we often forget is that this great work was accomplished in only 52 short days. The walls of Jerusalem were re-built in 52 short days - when people began to cooperate. They had been trying for years to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and had been unable to do it. But with cooperation they rebuilt it in 52 short days.

"So we laboured in the work: and half of them hold the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared."

Half of them used the tools, and half of them held the spears. Every one was working. He was working as a laborer, or he was working as a warrior. They worked hard, and they worked long hours, "from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared." They even slept with their work clothes on. "So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing" (Neh. 5:21-23). They washed their clothes and put them back on and went back to work. Cooperation.

On the other side we are familiar with the failure of the building of the great tower of Babel. God thwarted the plans of the tent dwellers of Babel because it was not the will of God that they succeed. (See Gen. 11:1-9.) They were building a city and a great tower "whose top may reach unto heaven." You know, if God had not interrupted that, and confounded their language -- and so they had to discontinue -- they could have achieved so much. They had already achieved much. There is no telling what they would have done working together – if it had been God’s will in the first place. But with the confusion caused by their confused language, they had to quit. Is it God’s will that all be saved if at all possible? (See 2Pe 3:9)

The paralytic in Capernaum was brought to Christ by his four friends; what one couldn't do the other could help do. So four friends cooperated and brought that man to Christ. (See Mark 2.)

"The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; (Pro. 30:27). What a picture of a congregation of Christians after God's own heart. Now watch: "They go. They go forth -- all of them -- by bands!" The marginal reading says, "They gathered together." This is a great lesson for us today. That was a cooperating unit, going forth to do their work. The Body of Christ is a lively organism, with each member doing what it can, when it can, a cooperating unit.

The Lord's church today is a living and lively body. The church consists of the saved ones who have been forgiven of their sins and given eternal life. One of Pauls favorite metaphors to describe this group of people is body. The church is a body, with members interacting and interdepending with one another in the work of the body, the work of Christ. Paul says:

"And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22,23). "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. . . . Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:" (Col. 1:18,24).

All members of a normal body cooperate together. Read again thoughtfully as Paul uses the human body to illustrate the spiritual:

1CO 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

What would happen now, if we got up early in the morning and our left foot took a step forward and our right foot took a step backward? That would not be cooperation, would it? The body doesn't do things like that. When my left foot takes a step forward, then my right foot is going to take a step forward also. As we have this cooperation in the physical body we also must have cooperation in the spiritual body. Paul says:

COL 2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

EPH 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

"For we are laborers together with God" (1 Cor. 3:9). An analysis of this Scripture reveals what a single true Christian should be, working alone or with others. It reveals the secret of congregational success. The Greek slave Esoph left us many marvelous examples to apply in our work for the Lord. Note the following:

A father and a small son one day went into a wheat field to inspect the crop. The father did not notice the young son as he wandered off. He stayed longer than expected and when he started back he looked for his son and he was not there. "Where is my boy? Where is my boy?" he cried out. He looked and looked but could not find the boy anywhere. He became frantic, but all to no avail. He could not find the boy anywhere. Giving up of finding the boy by himself he rushed into town for help. All that could come back with him went into the field, some going this way, and some going that way. All to no avail. Finally a woman said, "Let me tell you what to do. Everybody join hands and let's go down through this field together." So they all joined hands and all marched through the field. Soon they came upon the lifeless form of the little boy, who had apparently become exhausted and so frightened that he had become scared to death. A silence fell over everyone within the group. Then in a whisper someone said, "Isn't it tragic that we did not join hands sooner?"

Oh, what a lesson this is for us today! Isn't it tragic that we do not join hands. God surely wants us to join hand as we work together n the work of the kingdom! Otherwise, won't it be tragic, as far as the cause of Christ is concerned?

For co-operation to be obtained, each member of the Body must recognize his own individual responsibility. this is apparent from our text of Numbers 32:6, "Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?" The Bible surely teaches individual responsibility. Every man will be judged according to his deeds in the body. ROM 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

2CO 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

This indicates, and necessitates, individual accountability. If there is going to be individual "accountibility" there has to be individual "responsibility." "For every man shall bear his own burdens" we are told in Gal. 6:5. In Acts 18:2,3 we read where the great Paul apparently would not accept the benefit of a fire for warming until he individually contributed to the fuel for the fire. ("And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, . . ." How often though, do we seek to avoid, to shirk, our responsibility. That was the sin of the Levite and the Priest in the story of the good Samaritan. (See Luke 10.) Will Rogers once said that America has passed through three stages. According to him, the three stages of American history are, the passing of the Indian, the passing of the buffalo, and the passing of the buck. Good people, I believe that we are in that stage of history today, "the passing of the buck."

Footprints in the sand of time are not made by sitting down. Footprints in the sand of time are made by "working shoes." The kingdom of God is not a dormitory where people sleep, but a vineyard where men work. While men who ought to be busy, sleep, the enemy is busy -- busy sowing tears, as told in the parable of the kingdom in Mathew 13. What Paul wrote to the Roman brethren is most applicable to us today: "Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (13:11). What he wrote to the Ephesians is warning to us today: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (5:14).

I know every one of you have read after, or heard of, David Lipscomb. My mother used to talk about the time she heard Brother Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee, many years ago. Well, David Lipscomb used to say, "Brothers and sisters, we are just playing at religion." Good people, I believe sometimes this is more true than false.

We need more zeal. We need more ardor. We need more enthusiasm. Christ died to purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works. (Tit 2:14.) We have been instructed, "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the lord" (Rom. 12:11). The risen Christ exhorts, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Rev. 3:19).

We remind to all who need to be reminded: All religious denominations originated from within the Body of Christ! Those in Corinth WERE faithful until they began to follow men! If those taught by Paul and Peter and other Godly saints had remained faithful, and taught others who would have taught others, there would not be the hundreds of sectarian groups that we have today. As just one example, do you know where the Mormon Church originated? The Book of Mormon? It came out of the Restoration Movement that so many of us revere. This is the fourth largest religious denomination in the United States, and possibly the richest, and growing numerically like the proverbial weed! What is their secret? The experts say it is dedicated and zealous activity on the part of every Mormon! Where will the church of our Lord be fifty or a hundred years from now if we do not stand up for God’s Righteousness. Soldier of Christ, LET US ARISE!