Quick Note – John 9:30-35 – Not Alone

John 9:30-35 – 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

When Jesus was walking, He saw a man that was born blind.  His disciples then asked Him, “Who sinned this man or his parents?”  To which Jesus replied, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”  Jesus then went and healed the man by making mud, placing it on his eyes, and telling the man to wash off the mud at the pool of Siloam.  The man could then see.

After this miracle, a lot of people questioned whether this man was truly blind to begin with.  Was he the same person that they had always seen begging?  The blind man answered that he was, but since people questioned him, they brought him before the religious leaders, who then asked how he could see.  Experiencing the healing from Jesus, he told them that it was Jesus who healed him and that he must be a man from God.  What he said though was taboo, because the Jewish leaders had stated anyone who claimed that Jesus was the Christ would be thrown out of the synagogue.  That meant that that person would basically lose all connection to the Jewish community and would likely lose opportunities for business and life.  The man would be exiled. 

Because of what he said, the man was cast out of the synagogue and ostracized again.  If you think about it, this was the second time he was ostracized.  The first time was because he was blind.  He was considered good for nothing and simply a beggar.  The second time it was because he saw and proclaimed his belief in God and Jesus Christ.  So he was alone again. 

However, he was not left alone.  In vs. 35, we find that Jesus heard about what happened to the blind man and found him.  This means that Jesus went to look for him.  When he was cast out, removed from society, treated as useless and unwanted, Jesus looked and found him.  He then would reach out and make him one of his followers.  Even when his parents didn’t want him (read vs. 18-23), Jesus wanted him. 

In your life, you will certainly face ridicule and be ridiculed for your faith.  People will treat you differently and will sometimes not include you, because of your beliefs.  But when that happens do not shrink away, do not fear, and do not hide because you don’t want to lose your position with the world.  Instead, stand strong and declare your faith in Christ.  When all others toss you out, He will come and find you.  He will take you in His arms and love you. 

I know it is scary, especially for those, who come from a background in which there is no belief in God or a belief that isn’t in Jesus.  You might be disowned from your family.  You might be kicked out by your friends.  But remember, someone more important loves and cares for you – the Lord Jesus.  He will come and walk alongside you and will bring you into a new family – the family of God. 

Quick Note – Hebrews 10:24-25 – Three Reasons for Fellowship

Hebrews 10:24-25 – “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” 

In last night’s Bible study at my church, we talked about the importance of fellowship with other believers to a Christian’s growth; it was one of the four essentials, which also included prayer, reading and studying God’s Word, and witnessing.  Now, none of us can deny the influence that others can play on our lives, for we know the saying is true, “You become like the people you hang around.”  Therefore, if you spend time with fellow Christians that are growing, you certainly will become a growing Christian as well.  But how can their fellowship benefit you, and your fellowship benefit them?  I thought about these questions during that Bible study, and I found at least three ways fellowship is important – admonishment, encouragement, and challenge“ment”.

The first benefit of fellowship with other believers is admonishment.  To admonish someone is to correct him when he is doing wrong.  It is like giving a stern warning to prevent that person from doing something wrong again.  For example, at my work, I am responsible for the safety of the lab; therefore, if I see someone not following safe work practices, it is my job to admonish him and help guide him towards safer practices for himself and others in the lab.  I am not correcting him so that I can show superiority or to give him a hard time but to warn him of the potential danger he is putting himself and others in and to push him to stop.  In the same way, when you have fellowship with other believers, they can admonish you when they see you are straying out of the way of God and into the ways of the world.  They can see the sin that you might be calloused to and provide you a stern rap on the back to wake you up and get you back on the right path.  Without that fellowship, that sin could be easily overlooked and cause major damage in your heart and life.  At the same time, by fellowshipping with other believers, you can do the same for them, warning them of sin that may be in their heart.  This brotherly admonishment, which should always be done in love, will help build the kingdom of God, for it protects the church from sin that can tarnish the name of Christ.  There are plenty of verses throughout the Bible on admonishment but none as famous as Matthew 18:15-17, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”  In those three verses, we are given a protocol for how to admonish a fellow believer in sin.  If we follow this method and do so in love, we can use the bonds that we build through fellowship with other believers to admonish them and get them back on the right track on their Christian walk.

The second benefit of fellowship with other believers is encouragement.  Being that I am a pastor’s son, I know first-hand the encouragement a pastor receives when he sees a person walk through those church doors and take a seat in a pew.  Just their presence alone can lift up a heart that is ready to give up on the work.  Using another example, in sports, why do you think a team always does better on their home court?  It’s obvious, right?  It is the presence of the fans encouraging them to push forward and win the game.  It is the same in the church; when believers are fellowshipping with each other, they can build each other up constantly.  Not only can they admonish each other, but they can specifically encourage each other to draw closer to Christ.  They can remind each other to study God’s Word and to pray daily.  They can push each other to seek after God and work on the problem areas they have been struggling with.  They can pray for each other, give words of comfort, and provide support and relief in times of need.  Encouragement helps you stay the course in Christ when all seems loss.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to encourage one another and build each other up.  This is the job of every Christian and should be actively practiced by us as well.  But the funny thing is that when we encourage another, we usually also encourage ourselves either by seeing the fruit of our work before our eyes as a fellow Christian grows closer to Christ or by heeding the words of encouragement ourselves.  By fellowshipping with other believers, we can be this tool of encouragement whether we speak a word or not.

The third benefit of fellowship with other believers is what I call challenge“ment” or simply put the opportunity to be constantly challenged.  The first benefit is to help get you out of sin; the second benefit is to help you stay the course in Christ; this third benefit is to challenge you to grow closer to God and to actively minister to Him and others.  I can’t tell you how many times in my life, just being in the presence of actively, growing Christians has challenged me to develop a closer relationship with Christ.  For example, while I was in Boston, I met some friends who loved Christ so much that it was their focus almost all the time; when they talked, it was focused on Christ; when they listened to music, it was focused on Christ; when they did anything, it was focused on Christ.  Their lives whether they knew it or not caused me to reevaluate my desires and to start seeking to have a heart that is more focused on Christ.  In D.C., I met a friend who always asked me about my Christian walk and what I was learning from God recently.  The conversations I had with him challenged me to take my walk with Christ more seriously, to have more spiritual conversations with others, and to really embed the lessons God wanted me to learn during my personal times with Him.  The thing about being a Christian in fellowship is that you are always being challenged whether outright through clear-cut words spoken by a fellow brother or sister in Christ or through a life lived out for God.  This challenge then pushes you to seek Christ and to love Him more.  The same goes for anybody who sees your growing walk in Christ, for that challenges them to seek Christ even more as well.  Why do you think good sports players always look for another player who can challenge them?  It always makes them better.  As Christians in fellowship, we will always be challenging one another to draw closer to Christ.

Fellowship with other believers is essential in the Christian walk, for it provides much needed admonishment, much appreciated encouragement, and much inspiring challenge“ment”.  As Proverbs 27:17 states, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”  By surrounding ourselves with fellow Christians, we will be sharpening each other in our relationships with Christ.  Don’t neglect the assembling of yourselves when you get the chance, for you will not only get something out of it, you will likely give something inadvertently too.