RATIONAL FELLOWSHIP
Scripture Reading - 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 BBE (1965 Bible in Basic English)
3 For though we may be living in the flesh, we are not fighting after the way of the flesh
4 For the arms with which we are fighting are not those of the flesh, but are strong before God for the destruction of high places;
5 Putting an end to reasonings, and every high thing which is lifted up against the knowledge of God, and causing every thought to come under the authority of Christ;
6 Being ready to give punishment to whatever is against his authority, after you have made it clear that you are completely under his control.
In one of our previous lessons we touched on the general subject of “Fellowship”. We spoke about how it is important to have “good fellowship” with people but we also emphasized how our “fellowship” with God is the most important discussion of the day. In another message we touched on “Fellowship with Men” where we discussed communing with those people of like passions, principles and purpose. We also looked a little deeper into “Fellowship with God” because our “Fellowship with God” determines just who we are. Last week we taught on the “Fruits of Fellowship” to point out you are the exact fruit you produce. This also ties into today’s lesson of “Rational Fellowship”. The thought of “rational fellowship” is to point out that God is much more than “human reasoning”. Yes, the Lord Jesus does use reason to persuade people at different times but He (The Lord) does not rely upon His mental skills to get people saved or thoroughly convinced in theology. The good Lord knows that we must experience God’s Presence (His Power) to be thoroughly be persuaded of God’s goodness. Sometimes we learn by explanation and other times we learned through experiencing the reality before we fully understood what happened. Yes, some people love to have intellectual debate around biblical topics because all the many aspects of God are interesting and mentally stimulating but learning about God can never take the place of spending time with God. The higher calling is to be just as God, not just settle for knowing about God. Yes, many a people study periodicals, books, and commentary encyclopedias about God’s influence on mankind but fail to show their neighbor God’s Love. We (ihlcc) know that “human reasoning” can even sometimes work against God because many “rational” people believe unless you can prove God’s existence they will not believe. We can generally tell what type of person you are by listening to your speech and watching your mannerisms. This means people who fellowship around “human reasoning” will be harder to develop in faith than those believers who have childlike faith. Childlike faith does not need mental and physical proof of God because most children start with a fundamental belief in God for this reason children find it easy to believe in God when they are living a good life. However, many adults who live a good life think, “Why do I need God?” not realizing that God is helping them every step of their way. Therefore, those who make “rational fellowship” their answer to life’s problem have developed a mindset (stronghold) that only believes what they can see, feel, taste, hear, smell and understand. This is OK for some simple things like two plus two equals four but our limited human reasoning cannot fully explain the inertia of the wind or the physical composition of all sickness, nor do we fully understand why certain people chose mates that are quite different and yet they share a common love. The point is that reasoning outside of God can be dangerous if not properly submitted to the Word of God. Yes, today’s text mentioned that all thoughts must be weighed in the balance of God’s Word to see if it is the gold of God or the hay of this world. “Rational fellowship” holds a large place in this earth through education, professions, philosophy and intellectual discovery. However, one would be wise to realize that no discovery of good, truth or perfection can be achieved without God. Was not Job financially successful and mentally sound and socially perfect at one point in his life and yet Job suffered great trauma from things outside of his control. Job attempted to use the “rational fellowship” of his comforters (friends and community elders) to search out (reach out) for understanding but he and most of his comforters fell terrible short. This is because there is a multitude (uncountable, innumerable) of issues, items, principles, laws, etc… that we just don’t know about, nor fully understand. The Holy Bible states while we are on this earth “we shall only know in part because we are looking through a darkened glass”.-Refer to 1 Corinthians 13:12 We only have a certain (limited) amount of time to learn while we are on this earth, so we cannot (and shall not) learn all there is to know about everything. So even on a good day no one can boast about being an expert (all knowing one) on any one subject because at best you only know what you have learned from others and most of those others will share from an earthly (human) perspective as opposed from the Lord’s complete evaluation. This basically means stay humble by casting down all lofty “human reasoning” that contradicts God Word. Yes, purpose in heart to keep “rational fellowship” in its proper place of beneath the awesome knowledge of God and when you do use “rational fellowship” be sure to understand God’s position first, then in that light measure your position with other men (and women) of faith. However, be sure if you always “fellowship around human reasoning” the pride of life will deceive you into thinking you have it all figured out, when really everyone else has figured you out as being full of hot air. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith, so let us keep our faith based on our “Godly Fellowship” with Him. This way if spiritual “rational fellowship” is used its foundation will be built upon the solid Rock of Christ, as opposed to the sinking sand of men. Amen!