Overview
Hebrews 10 speaks of drawing near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, and that assurance is what makes real fellowship possible. If the work is finished, believers can approach one another without criticism or judgement. Acts 2 shows the pattern in practice: they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and in fellowship, respect came upon every soul, and they went from house to house with singleness of heart. That environment was reproducible, which is why it is worth studying.
Transcript
Drawing Near With Full Assurance
and let’s go to Hebrews chapter 10. Oftentimes when we think of the word fellowship, we think about meetings, times, and dates, and that can be involved. But really, fellowship is an invitation to sharing the accomplished work of Christ together. And the aim is always the same, praising God. When we get together, it’s a gathering with God to celebrate His work in Christ and to praise Him. And we’ll see a little bit about this in Hebrews chapter 10. And in verse 22, it says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Those are references to sacrifices and the impact of sacrifices. But it says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. That’s the faith that we have of Christ. It’s the accomplished work of Christ that we have. And we draw near to God’s presence because we have full assurance of faith. The work has been completed. It’s the full assurance of faith. And it has nothing to do with what people look like. It has nothing to do with where they come from. It has everything to do with what God did in Jesus Christ.
This is so significant because it’s key to how we share one with another. It says, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith. The word faith there is actually hope. Let us hold fast our profession or our confession of hope without wavering for He is faithful that promised. See, the accomplished work of Christ always leads us to the return of Christ. That’s the end. The mortal will be made immortal and the corrupt will be made incorruptible. And we will receive those new bodies. We will be like Him as He is now.
And that is the confession that we have when we have full assurance of faith because we’re not going to judgment. That’s not what the word teaches because we have been justified through the faith of Jesus Christ. Look what it says here. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love into good works. To consider means to clearly observe. So that’s certainly going to take us interacting one with another. And one another here is mutually or reciprocally. And the word provoke means to sharpen. See, if we’re not around each other, we can’t keep each other sharp in a positive way.
It’s not like I approach you with criticism and judgment. That’s not what it is because we have the faith of Jesus Christ. We approach each other in an environment of grace and respect. No one’s inferior, no one’s superior. And what’s so great about this is that we can help each other stay sharp on that accomplished work of Christ. For the most part, you’re never going to hear that in the world. Even at times from Christian believers. Because people forget or they have not been taught that the work of Christ is completed.
It’s done. It’s finished. And now we work with that. And we hold that out one to another. And that’s the basis of our fellowship or what we would call what we share in, our full sharing. We share in the accomplished work of Christ. And we sharpen one another. So when we’re around each other, will we remind each other of who we are? You still can talk about the ball game. You can still talk about the weather or whatever you like. But there’s no judgment. There’s no criticism. There’s only respect for what God did in Christ.
This is amazing for Christian believers to really embrace. It says,
Not Forsaking the Assembling Together
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting, which means to encourage one another. And so the much more as we see the day approaching. Absolutely. It’s one day closer than it was yesterday for each of us. And as we see the day approaching, and it will be a day, as 1 Corinthians 4, 13 through 18 talks about in 1 Corinthians 15 and other places, it’s going to be a day when Jesus Christ returns.
And so what we do is we encourage one another. That’s one of the reasons why we get together is to encourage each other based on the accomplished work of Christ. So yes, we can go out to the ball game, we can go watch a movie, we can go play golf, all the different things that people do. Nothing wrong with that. Everything right with it. But we never lessen the respect that we have for what God did in Christ for each other. That never diminishes, ever. That’s when we are fully sharing.
The Pattern of the Early Church
Look at Acts chapter 2, please. Here in the Christian church, where everything began, we see some similar truths. Here in Acts chapter 2, verse 42, this is on the day of Pentecost when the 12 apostles first spoke in tongues and the Christian church began as recorded in Acts chapter 2. Look at verse 42. And they continued steadfastly. That means this is something that they did as a habitual practice. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine. And the Apostles’ doctrine was everything they understood at that point, up to that point of what Jesus Christ accomplished.
Everything that they understood, everything that He had taught them. They continued in that. And then what did they do? And fellowship. That is where they shared fully in what Jesus Christ accomplished. And in breaking of bread and in prayers, look at how simple and how common place, if you will, God starts the church. He doesn’t talk about all these miraculous and stupendous things necessarily. He talks about breaking bread and prayers. It’s amazing when we can bring the grace of God down to very basic, everyday practices, we are really beginning to understand what fellowship is about in Christ Jesus.
Because we understand that it is a daily practice. How God would institute the Christian church in such simple terms is amazing. Absolutely amazing. And look at the result, verse 43, and fear. And fear here can either be in the Bible, fear or respect. Here it’s respect. And respect came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles. The first Christians were first getting used to that gift of Holy Spirit. And the Apostles were well trained by Jesus Christ. And once they received that gift of Holy Spirit, man, they just took off with the power that God had given to them.
But respect came upon every soul. This is an environment that we can duplicate. See, every time we have an exchange on the phone, every time we meet each other, every time we have a fellowship meeting or a larger event, that respect should be there. And it’s not about titles. It’s about what God did in Christ. We can duplicate this environment. You’ll see that here a few verses later. And all that believed were together and all things common and sold their possessions and goods and part of them to all as every man had need.
Why They Stayed After Pentecost
Pentecost was a one day feast. So the individuals that had traveled into Jerusalem all around the world were only prepared for a one day feast. But because of what happened, they remained with the apostles and their new brethren, the beginning of the Christian church. So there was needs for people to be housed and food and so forth. So all the believers helped out. Look at this. And they continued daily. They continued daily with one accord. That means in unity and with one passion in the temple and breaking bread from house to house to eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.
That means that they could duplicate this environment of respect in the temple. They could duplicate this environment of respect from each house. It doesn’t matter whose home they were in. The same respect was there. That’s amazing. There must have been something very significant about what they had learned regarding what Jesus Christ had accomplished, meaning the apostles doctor, that they could take this quote and a quote on the road. They learned it in the temple. And now from house to house, they’re retaining the same respect, the same environment that they had learned at the temple.
That’s fantastic.
An Environment of Grace and Respect
It’s an environment of grace wherein there’s genuine respect for each other and what God did in Christ Jesus. And I love once again how they’re breaking bread and God points this out. And it’s a very simple thing because we eat bread every day. Right? It’s something we do every day. Everybody can relate to this. Can you imagine if it said and they continue in the temple playing golf? There’s not a lot of people maybe that could relate to that. They didn’t say and they continued in the temple and went fishing.
Some people like fishing. Some people don’t like fishing. They continued in the temple and decided to go for a five mile run. Some people would not appreciate that as much. Do you understand how deep this is? They’re doing something very common and God at the beginning of the church is instituting and endorsing these practices that the Christians were carrying out, but they did it with respect. That’s the point, one for another. Even in something so common as eating food, they had a genuine respect because they moved from the temple. The respect for each individual in Christ was there.
From House to House
They went from home to home. It didn’t matter whose home it was. They had the same respect. Amazing. Fantastic. And they ate their food with gladness and singleness of heart. And you know what that led to? That gladness and singleness of heart. That recognition of God’s provision on a daily basis and led to verse 47, praising God. That’s genuine full sharing. When we share in the accomplished work of Christ, our encounters, our engagements, one with another, should lead to praising God. When you leave my home, praising God would be in our minds and hearts.
That’s what it should be. And it would be that if we share in the accomplished work of Christ. What does that mean, sharing in the accomplished work of Christ? Well, it means that we don’t hold out judgment. We don’t hold out criticism, inferiority, superiority, only genuine respect in Christ Jesus. Because look at this, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the word favor is the word for grace. And this having favor or having grace can be understood as holding favor toward, holding that grace toward. So when I encounter you, I hold grace toward you.
You hold grace towards me, which is unmerited, divine favor. You have it, I have it. I understand, I have it, and now I’m going to hold it out towards you. So every time we encounter each other, whether we’re texting, whether we’re on the phone, whether it’s an email, whether we’re one on one, whether we’re on a video, whatever the case may be, we’re holding out grace one toward another. Not judgment, not criticism, not inferiority, not superiority, but genuine respect based on what Jesus Christ accomplished. Now, can you imagine what kind of fellowship people would have?
If this was really rooted in their souls? It’s amazing because it has nothing to do with our works. It brings everything back to the rightful focus, which is Jesus Christ. Unbelievable, fantastic. And you know what happens as a result? And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. God brings the increase. That increase happens by individual by individual, where the word of God starts to really grow within that individual, because we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. See, it doesn’t matter if we take this thing on the road.
It makes no difference. We could go to Timbuktu. It makes no difference. Why? Because this environment is portable. It’s portable. We’re not trying to duplicate a set of rules or standards necessarily, other than the word. What we’re trying to duplicate it is an environment of grace, where there’s genuine respect, not a respect to person, genuine respect, based on what someone else did. And that’s someone is Jesus Christ. This is how the Christian church began. God wants to highlight that they just did simple things like eating food. And yet there was gladness in their hearts.
And
Singleness of Heart
they were single in their hearts. They weren’t divided. They were single. And it ended with praising God. Man, oh man. This is what genuine fellowship is. So every time we encounter one another, that mindset is fixed. I hold out grace to you. You hold out grace to me. I know that in life, there’s a lot more challenges that come up. But our mindset is still the word to carry it out. The word fellowship just means to share with another, share fully. What do we share it? The work of Christ.
That’s why when I really embrace it, I have no criticism for you, no judgment. I can point things out that are wrong. You can point out things that are wrong, but it never diminishes who I am or who you are. Never. There’s a big difference between pointing out where somebody, you know, maybe we could do something better or all that, but never to the point where it lowers or diminishes who that person is in Christ Jesus. Can’t do that. God doesn’t do it. And I think these are great things because we can duplicate this environment wherever we go.
Whatever event that we carry out, whether it’s in a home or a rented facility or whatever. So these are great days. And this is more of what full sharing is really supposed to be. It’s not just a meeting. It’s not. It’s a gathering with God together. And we have full assurance of drawing near to Him because of the faith of Jesus Christ. And we encourage our brethren to do the same. If they don’t need to be concerned, they can approach Him fully as well.
Key Takeaways
- Hebrews 10 ties drawing near to God to full assurance of faith, which is the ground fellowship stands on.
- Because the work is finished, believers can approach each other without criticism or judgement.
- Acts 2 records that respect came upon every soul, describing an environment rather than an event.
- Pentecost was a single day, but those who travelled in stayed, which is how the pattern took hold.
- They went from house to house with singleness of heart, so location and ownership were beside the point.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Hebrews 10 say about drawing near?
That we draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. That assurance is what makes genuine fellowship possible, because if the work is finished we can approach one another without criticism or judgement.
What did fellowship look like in Acts 2?
They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and in fellowship, respect came upon every soul, and they went from house to house with singleness of heart. It describes an environment rather than a single event.
Why does it matter that they went from house to house?
Because whose house it was made no difference. The environment travelled with the people rather than belonging to a place, which is why the pattern could be reproduced anywhere.
Scripture References
1 Corinthians 4; 1 Corinthians 15
This text was prepared from the teaching audio and notes. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
