Gospel Logic Applied: Fellowship with God

Once upon a time, there was a father and a son. Early on they had a great relationship but one day the son offended the father terribly and ran off never to be seen again. After many years, the father went looking for the son and found him and reconciled with him, at great cost to himself. After the father went back home, he expected to hear from the son but there was nothing. The father wrote letters to the son but they were never answered. He made phone calls to the son and left messages but they were never returned. Finally the father went looking for the son again and found him. The son looked surprised. “Dad, what are you doing here?” “I came to see how you are and to find out why you haven’t contacted me. I’ve sent you letters and tried to reach you by phone and I haven’t heard anything from you.” The son was mystified and said, “I didn’t think it was important.” The father replied, “Not important. Why do you think I went to all the trouble to find you and reconcile with you?” The son thought and said, “I don’t know Dad. I’m glad we reconciled. I just didn’t think that meant that we going to start communicating again on a regular basis. I have my own life to live you know and I’ve lived without you in my life for a long time so I’m not sure I could find the time to work you in. Can’t we just be happy that we’re no longer enemies and we’ve worked everything out?”

If a father reconciled with an estranged son, would you expect fellowship to naturally and logically follow?

This son could not see the logic of fellowship following reconciliation. We need to see this very logic in the logic of the gospel.

If we have been justified and reconciled to God through faith in Jesus alone, then we should pursue fellowship with God daily in our personal lives.

The Text (Romans 8:31-34)

Why are we talking about fellowship with God in light of Romans 8:31-34?

We are at a good place as a church and at a good place in Romans to step back and consider the big picture of the Christian life.

We are thinking through how Paul is using gospel logic to encourage us.

This gospel logic argues that what Christ has done for us frees us from legal demands.

But it does not free us from suffering. And our suffering does not imply that we are still under the legal demands of God’s Law.

And the fact that we have been set free from the legal demands of God’s Law does not mean that we have been freed from the logical demands of the gospel or the demands of love.

The overarching logical and loving demand of the gospel is to lay down our lays for Jesus.

The gospel logic goes, “If Jesus laid down His life for us, then we should lay down our lives for Him.” We are not to do this to try to save Him or save ourselves or repay Him, but to follow Him, and build His kingdom and pursue holiness.

This raises the question, “In what ways are we to lay down our lives for Jesus?”

We want to talk about major practical “pillar” ways in which we are to lay down our lives for Jesus. And the first of these is the call to lay down our lives to fellowship with God.

The Gospel Logic of Fellowship with God

Fellowship with God. How is this a logical and loving response to the gospel?

The gospel logic goes, “If we have been justified and reconciled to God through faith in Jesus alone, then it only makes sense that we should lay down our lives to fellowship with the God we’ve been reconciled to.”

This flows out of the truth of the gospel in Romans 8:33.

What does it mean to justify? It means to declare righteous in God’s sight. What is the result of being declared righteous in God’s sight. We are reconciled to God and have peace with Him.

Look at these verses: (Romans 5:10) (Romans 5:1) (1 Corinthians 1:9)

The God who reconciled us to Himself through His own Son wants to fellowship with us!

(Philippians 3:8-11) (Genesis 3:8-9)

God has restored the fellowship that was lost in Eden.

(Ephesians 5:31-32)

What husband wouldn’t want to see his wife every day and have fellowship with her?

Daily Fellowship Alone with God

Now fellowship with God in this life has different dimensions. It takes place in the congregation as we worship and study together. It takes place throughout our daily lives as we go through various circumstances and trials. But it also is a private activity of seeking God alone in the Word and prayer on a daily basis.

We see this through the example of Jesus whom we are to follow. (Matthew 14:23) (Matthew 26:36) (Mark 1:35) (Mark 6:46-47) (Luke 5:16) (Luke 6:12) (Luke 9:18) (Luke 11:1)

We see this in the teaching of Jesus. (Matthew 6:5-6) (Matthew 6:11)

Asking for daily bread implies daily fellowship with God.

(Luke 10:38-42)

We must not be too busy to sit at Jesus’ feet ourselves.

(Luke 15:1-3, 11-13, 20-24)

Wouldn’t be odd if this father and son rarely got together for fellowship after all of this?

Wouldn’t a father whose loving heart for his son caused him to run to meet him also long to see him and fellowship with him on a daily basis?

We see this in the NT call to devote ourselves to the Word and prayer for fellowship with God here and now is through the Word and prayer (one day it will be face to face!). (Matthew 26:41)

(Luke 18:1) (Luke 21:36) (Acts 2:42) (Romans 12:12) (Ephesians 6:18) (Philippians 4:6)

(Colossians 4:2) (1 Thessalonians 5:17) (John 8:31) (Acts 17:11) (Romans 10:17) (Ephesians 6:17) (Colossians 3:16) (1 Timothy 4:6)

How often do we need be nourished physically? Do we need it any less spiritually?

(1 Peter 2:2)

How often do babies eat?

(Hebrews 4:16)

How often do we need mercy and grace to help?

We see this in the OT Psalmists and Wisdom literature. (Psalm 1:1-3) (Psalm 5:3) (Psalm 14:1-3)

(Psalm 27:4) (Psalm 37:4) (Psalm 43:4-5)

We run daily to our hope.

(Psalm 51:10)

How often do we need to confess and be renewed?

(Psalm 55:22) (Psalm 68:19)

How often do we need to cast our burdens on the Lord?

(Psalm 62:8)

How often do we need to run to God as our refuge?

(Psalm 88:18) (Psalm 90:14) (Psalm 143:8) (Proverbs 8:34) (Proverbs 16:20)

The Fight to Be Alone with God

If this daily, private fellowship with God is a major application of the truth of the gospel to our lives, why don’t we do it?

For some, there is no fellowship because there is no relationship. For some, trials have made them distracted and even bitter. For some, the busyness of life, filled with good things, can keep them from the best thing and make them both too tired and lacking a real sense of need. (Revelation 3:15-22) for some, it is hard – it’s a fight. For some, they don’t know what to do. So we might say that one huge overarching reason is that we often lack conviction, vision and perseverance.

Hope, Conviction, Vision and Perseverance

What do we need to grow in our daily, personal fellowship with God alone?

You can catch a glimpse of his [Charles Simeon’s] zeal from this anecdote about his early rising for Bible study and prayer. “Early rising did not appeal to his natural tendency to self-indulgence, however, especially on dark winter mornings. . . . On several occasions he overslept, to his considerable chagrin. So he determined that if ever he did it again, he would pay a fine of half a crown to his "bedmaker" (college servant). A few days later, as he lay comfortably in his warm bed, he found himself reflecting that the good woman was poor and could probably do with half a crown. So, to overcome such rationalizations, he vowed that next time he would throw a guinea into the river. This (the story goes) he duly did, but only once, for guineas were scarce; he could not afford to use them to pave the river bed with gold.” (Moule, 66) (John Piper, Charles Simeon biography)

We could penalize ourselves like Simeon but this is not the best way to motivate ourselves.

We need hope (of help and happiness in God), conviction (concerning the importance of time alone with God), vision (for what to do) and persever-ance (even when life is hard and “devotions” are dry).

Hope

We need a sensitivity to our great need and desire and see fellowship with God as the answer for help and happiness. Our time alone with God is a practical way of expressing our hope in God.

But where now did this remarkable power and fruit come from? This is not an ordinary way of seeing things. This is not an ordinary way of life. What was the root of all this fruit. We get a step closer to it when we notice that . . . Simeon strengthened himself with massive doses of meditation and prayer. A friend of Simeon's named Housman lived with him for a few months and tells us about this discipline. "Simeon invariably arose every morning, though it was the winter season, at four o'clock; and, after lighting his fire, he devoted the first four hours of the day to private prayer and the devotional study of the Scriptures . . . . Here was the secret of his great grace and spiritual strength. Deriving instruction from such a source, and seeking it with such diligence, he was comforted in all his trials and prepared for every duty" (Moule, p. 66). Yes it was the secret of his strength. But it was not the deepest secret. What Simeon experienced in the word was remarkable. (John Piper, Charles Simeon biography)

Conviction

In order to cultivate a daily time alone with the Lord we need hope but also a strong Scriptural conviction.

Cultivate a spiritual conviction from the Word (see Scriptures above).

But prove yourselves doers of the Word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. (James 1:22)

Vision

In order to cultivate a daily time alone with the Lord we also need a clear vision of what to do.

• Get a vision or plan for what to do daily that is simple, repeatable, sustainable and flexible.
• Plan the elements in your time alone with God and the time you will give to each.
• Plan to read through the whole Bible and listen to all that God has to say and to be equipped with the whole Word of God for life and ministry. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• Plan to pray according to God’s prayer list as described in the Lord’s Prayer and make your requests and pour out your heart to God in the context of cultivating His heart for you and others. (Matthew 6:9-13)
• Think of fellowship with God as listening to God speak to you (as your read His Word) and speaking to God (as you pray in response to what you read and what you and others need).

Time is not the issue, but rather, fellowship with God and the grace we need to trust and obey Him more in our lives. (1 Corinthians 1:9; Hebrews 4:12) The more needy we sense ourselves to be, the more hopeful that God will meet us during this time, and the more we get into the habit of setting aside time for this, the less of an issue that time will be. But it is good to choose the time you will spend (especially as you are cultivating a habit) and how you will spend it, whether 5 min-utes a day, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, etc. Start slow and aim low at first so you don’t get discouraged from the start, then increase the time as you can. Here is one plan that you can use and determine how much time you will give to each element (let’s use 30 minutes as an illustration):

• Spend time thanking and praising God (2 minutes)
• Read a passage of Scripture (10 minutes)
• Pray in light of what you read (2 minutes)
• Read a devotional passage (5 minutes)
• Pray in light of what you read (2 minutes)
• Ask God for what you and others need for the day and close with more praise and thanksgiving (9 minutes)

The Bible never tells us how much time to spend alone with God but the request for “daily bread” (Matthew 6:11) and the principle of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:6-9; 2 Corinthians 9:6) should encourage us to give it increasingly significant time in our daily lives while we navigate between the extremes of “serving in place of sitting at the feet of Jesus” Martha (Luke 10:38-42) and “go, be warm and be filled” (James 2:15-17) while I spend my life alone in the desert contemplating my navel, so to speak.

Use various means to help in listening to God through the Word and speaking to God through prayer.

• We can write down our thoughts and questions and insights and plans and prayer requests in a journal.
• We can sing to the Lord (by memory or using a hymnal or song book).
• We can review our sermon notes and pray for application. 4. We can use devotional materials.
• We can pray through the Coast prayer re-quest sheet.
• We can memorize verses that stand out in our reading and meditate on them in more depth.
• We can read Christian biographies and pray in light of what we learn through it.
• We can read Bible handbooks and study Bible notes to help us understand what we read.
• We can simply pray Scripture verses for ourselves and others.
• We can make action plans for how we will put into practice what we’ve read or how we will seek to help and encourage someone else.
• We can ask God to bring to mind verses and principles in Scripture to apply to specific situations for decision making.
• We can fast from food, media, and other activities in order to give more attention to God’s Word. (Matthew 6:16-18)

The important thread in all this is to seek to hear God’s Word to us and to respond in appropriate ways: in worship (praise and thanksgiving) and confession (of sin and righteousness in Christ) and petition /intercession (prayer for ourselves and others) and obedience (applying what we see in the Word and seeking to help others).

Perseverance

Persevere even when you fail and it’s hard (and don’t be surprised how hard it is), refusing to give in to condemnation or complacency, because of the joy set before you.

• Don’t give in to condemnation. Keep the gospel in view and work on this from a position of rest in Jesus.
• You are saved by receiving and resting in the perfect righteousness of Christ, not your own “quiet time” righteousness.
• Failure to spend time with God on a regular basis is not the unpardonable sin.
• God does not want us to be motivated to pursue time alone with Him because of guilt or peer pressure or self-righteousness, but because of faith in the promises of God in Christ.
• To fellowship with God is a major practical “pillar application” of the gospel that calls us to lay down our lives for Jesus and it cannot be overlooked neither should it be underestimated.
• You were reconciled to God in order to enjoy fellowship with Him – now by the Spirit through the Word and prayer, one day face to face.
• Fellowship with God is both a continuous 24/7 reality and practice, a group activity and a private pursuit but what we give our undivided attention to when we are alone shows what we value and to have the public without the private is to flirt with hypocrisy at best.
• Don’t be surprised. Embrace the spiritual battle and fight the enemy. (Matthew 13; John 15)
• Don’t be surprised if you continually find spending time alone with God a struggle in light of the spiritual battle we are in.
• Don’t give up the pursuit of a regular time alone with God just because it’s hard and you often fail – the greater the prize the greater the price.
• Don’t be complacent. Refuse both condemnation and complacency and do something.
• Recognize the enemy of the “tyranny of the urgent” in a busy, stressed-out lifestyle and make better choices and free up your schedule.
• Recognize the enemy of the “tired and lazy” body in an overeating, undersleeping, non-exercising world and get in shape to pursue God.
• Recognize the enemy of the “unbelieving heart” in all that God has promised through the Word and prayer and fight with His promises to slay the “dragons” that stand in your way.

Let’s revisit the story we began with. What might the father have said to the son who said: “I don’t know Dad. I’m glad we reconciled. I just didn’t think that meant that we going to start communicating again on a regular basis. I have my own life to live you know and I’ve lived without you in my life for a long time so I’m not sure I could find the time to work you in. Can’t we just be happy that we’re no longer enemies and we’ve worked everything out?”

“Son, you don’t want to fellowship with me because your life is so full and there seems to be no real need. But there are two things you don’t see very well: (1) who I am and why you desperately need me and how your happiness is dependent upon me; (2) the great price I paid so we could be in fellowship on a regular basis. I urge you to consider your ways for the sake of your own joy and the price I paid.”

Do you need to do the same?

We don’t want to be like the church at Laodicea: (Revelation 3:15-22)

Instead, let’s lay down our lives to fellowship with God through His Word and prayer daily for the joy set before us. (Proverbs 8:17) (Jeremiah 29:13) (John 15:5-11)

Remember God is your Father and He wants to fellowship with you!

And Jesus died so that you could!