Commenting on Philippians 1:5, William Hendriksen writes of the following characteristics of the fellowship of all believers in Christ:-
1. It is a fellowship of grace. It is not natural to us; nor is is manufactured by us. It is effects by Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 1:9, and is the gift of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 13:13; Phil. 2:1, who has been sent from the Father.
2. It is a fellowship of faith. As Christ draws us to himself, so we approach him through faith. …
1 Peter 3:8
We live our Christian lives under intense scrutiny. 1:12 – angels, 3:12, the Lord; 2:12 the world.
What astonishes the angels, delights God, and convicts the world, more than almost anything else? To see the followers of Jesus Christ living in harmony with one another.
Five qualities. Apple pie & fatherhood?
This is addressed to ‘all of you’.
1. Harmony
‘Like-mindedness’. Unity of thought, purpose and action.
It is a unity in diversity. …
Peter’s purpose in writing was to encourage persecuted Christians to stand firm in their faith, 1 Pet 5:12. Accordingly, he repeatedly reminds them of the blessings that belong to those who belong to Christ: so much so, that this letter has been called ‘the epistle of hope’. Moreover, he instructs them in the behaviour that Christians should exhibit in the midst of suffering: what kind of relationships they should have with the world in general (1 Pet 2:11f), with the state (1 Pet 2:13-17), within the home (1 Pet 2:18-3:7).…
While this is the special duty of the ministers of the gospel, 1 Tim 6:2; 2 Tim 4:2; Tit 2:6,15, it is also the duty of all the members of the churches -and a most important, but much neglected duty. This does not refer to public exhortation, which more appropriately pertains to the ministers of the gospel, but to that private watch and care which the individual members of the church should have over one another.…
In some ways, the concept of ‘going to church’ is not a very biblical one. The idea of travelling to a ‘church’ in order to ‘worship’ is not quite what the Bible means either by ‘church’ or by ‘worship’.
Still, there are mentions within the pages of the New Testament of believers meeting together on the first day of the week, and of gathering as local congregations in one another’s homes. And the writer to the Hebrews urges his readers not to give up meeting together (Heb 10:25).…
