Right hand of fellowship

1) In the first century, there were people who taught false doctrine.

2) One early example of false teachers is found in the book of Galatians.

3) Paul begins this letter by defending himself.

a) In the opening words of this letter Paul said he was “an apostle.”

b) Then he said some other things to prove his message was from God.

c) His apostleship was “not from men, neither through men but through Christ.”

d) In verses 8-9 of Gal. 1 this evangelist warned about accepting any other gospel.

e) By the time he got to verse 12, Paul was saying his preaching was from God.

f) He didn’t get this doctrine from another person; it came “through revelation.”

4) Paul came a long a little later than the other apostles, but he preached the same message.

5) When we get towards the end of the chapter (verse 20), he said “I lie not.”

6) When chapter 2 opens (2:1), Paul had been preaching for about 14 years.

7) At this time in his life’s work he paid a visit to Jerusalem and spoke to those of “repute.”

8) Paul did not go to Jerusalem because some man summoned him.

9) Gal. 2:2 says he went up “by revelation” and he told the other what he was doing (2b).

10) False teachers had tried to create some trouble for Paul during his time in Jerusalem.

11) Paul didn’t give in to or get along well with the false teachers.

12) Paul did, however, get along very well with the other apostles.

13) Verse 9 is the critical verse for today’s study – READ.

14) Paul received the “right hand of fellowship” from some of the better-known apostles.

15) He was not welcomed by those who taught error, but those who taught the truth accepted him.

16) Those who welcome him gave the “Right hand of fellowship.”

17) Our culture doesn’t exactly speak of the “right hand of fellowship.”

18) Our culture has simplified the terminology and simply call this a “handshake.”

19) In Bible times, just as now, people shook hands.

a) Hands can be shaken under a lot of circumstances.

b) Most of the time a handshake is an expression of a bond, agreement, harmony, or unity.

c) People sometimes shake hands with people they don’t like or even hate.

d) With Christians, the “right hand of fellowship” should signify more than just a quick “hi.”

e) We can say this because of several other passages in the New Testament.

20) When we look at the Bible, we find that Christians are to have a true connection to one another.

21) According to God, there is to be a deep and an abiding bond among the saved.

22) The apostles who met Paul in Gal. 2 understood that bond so they offered the “right hand.”

23) Although the apostles had not really worked with Paul, they were doing the same work.

24) The very nature of their lives, work and message gave them an instant point of commonness.

25) This unique union was far from new.

26) On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 (several years earlier) about 3,000 people were baptized.

27) Those who were immersed continued together in a way that was “steadfast” (Acts 2:42).

28) God’s people from the Day of Pentecost onward had formed a unit.

29) Just as military members are closely attached to their unit (group) so Christians should be.

a) God’s people can have this special closeness because they are all part of the same team.

b) At ** I am one of the few people that does not wear a shirt with the plant logo.

c) Almost everyone at the plant (including the plant manager) wears a shirt that says A**.

d) Having everyone wear the same style of shirt is designed to make people feel like a team.

e) God has His own team.

f) Acts 2:47 says the saved were “added to the church.”

g) We don’t all wear the same clothes, but we are to all wear the same name: Christian.

30) Many in the denominational world seem to be oblivious to this concept.

31) Suppose at an automobile factory the shirts were varied: Ford, Chrysler, G Mo. , Toyota, and Nissan.

32) Such an arrangement would not be a good way to express unification; it would be chaotic.

33) In the religious world people often want their own name.

34) Isaiah predicated a new name (Isa. 62:2) and that new name is Christian.

35) When are in the church of God, the church of Christ, the church of the firstborn, we are a Christian.

36) While in this spiritual body we are to have the close bond known as the right hand of fellowship.

37) If we are in the same spiritual body and have the same spiritual name, we should expect other things.

38) For instance, would we not expect to find commonality regarding our beliefs?

39) Would we not all have the “same faith” if we are extending the right hand of fellowship?

a) In the religious world we find different faiths (beliefs).

b) One person says to us, “I believe this.” Another at the table says “my conviction is different.”

c) That kind of variation is not unity.

d) With the right hand of fellowship, there is unity.

e) Listen to Jude 3: READ.

40) There is a “common salvation.”

41) There is “the faith” which has been “once for all delivered to the saints.”

42) Lots of people are never close to one another because their beliefs are so different.

43) God’s people are partly glued together by doctrine, the belief system found and created in Christ.

44) All these bonds are powerful, but they are not the only ones.

45) When we think about right hand of fellowship, other things are also involved.

46) We are tied together as a group of people through the death of Christ.

a) As a body of people we come together to remember Christ’s death week after week.

b) We know family reunions are good. What if a reunion were held only once every ten years?

c) What about getting together every 5 years?

d) What about seeing family members just once a year?

e) These time frames are not enough to keep close contact with one another.

f) Seeing someone just once each year creates distance.

47) God’s people surround the memorial for the Lord's Supper each Sunday.

48) Sunday is the right day for this because Jesus was raised on the first day of the week (Sunday).

49) When this day came in New Testament times, Christians had the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7).

50) Today, when the first day of the week comes, we engage in this same practice.

51) Christians in Acts 2 continued “steadfastly” in the breaking of the bread (the communion).

52) Hear also what Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 10:16-17 – READ.

a) In the spiritual body called the church, we “take and bless the cup.”

b) Have we ever concentrated on the pronoun “we”?

c) We surely think of ourselves doing taking the cup individually.

d) Paul said “we” – we are doing this as a group, a team, the church.

e) It is “we” who partake in the remembrance of Christ’s death when we come together.

f) If this were not enough Paul said “we, being many, are one bread and one body.”

g) Here is another expression of the bond symbolized by the right hand of fellowship.

h) “Communion” in 1 Cor. 10 is elsewhere translated “fellowship.”

53) Many “good things” bond the people of God together. Let’s look at another.

54) Evil also is also a binding force.

55) We may not think of evil as something that makes us close to one another, but it is.

a) 1 Cor. 10:18-21 refers to having “fellowship with demons.”

b) Evil bonds people together.

c) The reverse (abstention from evil) also helps people form a bond.

d) When we look at Satan, his followers have certain things in common.

e) They have all failed to choose God and God’s will.

f) They all have the same master, the same fate, and the same lack of hope.

56) Christians have all the opposite things in common.

57) As Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:9-10, we have “the same mind and the same judgment.”

58) It is a close bond and the right of fellowship that goes hand in hand with passage upon passage.

59) Jesus said He had a new commandment (Jn. 13:34): Love one another. Love is a unifier.

60) When we shake hands, we are saying, “We love you.”

61) When the hand of a Christian is shaken, we are saying, “we have a special love for you Christ.”

62) Jesus said His people are to be “one” (Jn. 17:11).

63) When we shake hands with brethren we are expressing this oneness.

a) Sometimes our young people sing a devotional song; we know the words.

b) We are “one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.”

c) That’s a good song because it goes right along with the right hand of fellowshp.

64) Last week we heard a sermon based upon Gal. 6.

65) Gal. 6:2 says “bear one another’s burdens.
That will not happen if we do not have a bond with other members of God’s family.

66) 1 Thess. 4:18 says “comfort one another with these words.”

a) There are a lot of people in life who like someone to comfort them.

b) If we get sick, having someone to comfort us is appreciated.

c) If we get down, having a comforter is a good thing.

d) Where are people going to go to get comforted?

e) Some meet this need through their co-workers.

f) Others might seek out professional helpers.

g) One place where we need to be able to find it is in the one body created by Jesus Christ.

67) Our comforters can and should come from those who give us the right hand of fellowship.

68) We lift up the fallen, support the weak, and encourage the discouraged.

69) Our “hands” (literally and figuratively speaking) support fellow members of the body.

70) Our world understands so well the concept of a team.

71) In the church, God wants us to be a team.

72) 1 Thess. 5:11 specifically says “exhort one another” and “build one another up.”

73) Verse 14 of that chapter becomes ever more specific.

74) The “right hand of fellowship” is not some kind of secret handshake.

75) There are organizations that have that kind of thing.

76) Members need to know the “secret sign.”

77) God binds people together by faith in and obedience to His word.

78) That bond is about as strong as it gets in life, and it extends into the life beyond this one.

79) The right hand of fellowship means we have a relationship with other Christians.

80) It also implies a right relationship with God.

81) Have we been given access to the “right hand of fellowship?”

82) Have we obeyed the gospel?

83) Do we enjoy, practice, and do our best to further the “right hand of fellowship?”