Christian Fellowship: Testifying to Him
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the LORD Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24
A Simple Definition of New Testament Fellowship
True fellowship is when functioning members of the Body of Christ gather together to testify to His present dealings within His Body, therein exhorting, convicting, encouraging and gaining insights into His Mind and His ways. Christian fellowship testifies to God’s powerful presence, His faithfulness, His goodness, His mercy, His sovereignty, His love. The point of sharing our life in His Body is to glorify Him; all we say to one another should be toward that end.
Many functions in our churches are erroneously labeled as fellowship. Church clean-up days, multiple choice dinners, Bingo games, retreats, bridal showers, ministry meetings, and Christmas parties are not the sort of fellowship we are exhorted to have in Scripture. If we believe we are partaking of true fellowship with one another in such social activities, we are missing the boat.
“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7
As we walk with Jesus in childlike faith step-by-step, moment-by-moment, He who is light, with whom we walk, illumines our path, revealing any sin hindering our fellowship with Him.
Sin stops the flow of fellowship between God and us. Therefore, it is always gracious of God to show us sin.
What To Do When He Reveals Sin To Us
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
To confess is to say about our sin what God says about it. “You say this is sin, Lord; so do I.” That is confession; motivated by the desire to be rid of it; to be freed to proceed in joyous communion with Him.
Where there is confession He promises to cleanse us. When walking in the light both sin and the precious blood are seen, the one canceling out the other. Confession of sin does not deliver us; it is His blood that cleanses; so we must always follow confession of faith with praise for the blood, believing His blood alone glorifies God and delivers us.
Thus, fellowship provides opportunity for mouth-confession before men. Jesus confesses us before God His Father in heaven, and the Spirit confesses the Savior in our hearts. Mouth-committal expresses the genuineness of the heart-committal before God.
The Manner of Confession We Are To Make
“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”” John 4:39
Confession to Christ
The type of confession that matters in the Scripture is confession of Christ; it is to the constant confession of Christ we are called. That is our duty. That is our privilege. Just as we described to men how Christ proved Himself our Savior at our conversion, we should boldly proclaim what He is doing now as our Lord. The purpose in our confession is to magnify Him, not to attract attention to us.
Some things we readily report to our brethren: the successes in our Christian life: winning souls, answered prayers, good things from the Scriptures…and we do get a little reflected glory by proximity. But we are less eager to share where and when we fail in our daily walk. When God deals with us about our impatience or temper or dishonesty or coldness we don’t so enthusiastically bear testimony to His faithfulness to us despite our sin. Why not?
“Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:42-43
Scripture shows that seeking the favor of man inhibits the flow of confession before men. And that which stops the flow of the Spirit is sin.
Biblical Examples of Honest Testimonies
We do have examples of the right sort of public confession. Note the openness of men of the Bible. We know of God’s most intimate dealings with them; their sins and failures are documented as accurately as their successes. We know the details of Abraham’s false step with Hagar, of Jacob’s tricks with Isaac and Esau, of Moses’ private act of disobedience concerning speaking to the rock. Of Elijah’s flight and God’s secret rebuke, of the inner history of Jonah. How did the disciples know the inside story of Jesus’ temptations to record for us? It was because they were all open before their contemporaries. They lived in the light with each other as with God.
“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” 2 Timothy 1:8
The healings of believers recorded in the Scriptures were followed by an outer proclamation to their inner faith; they confessed before men. In the lives of all men of faith from Abraham right through to the apostles; what they believed in their heart they declared with their mouths as something God had said to them that would assuredly come to pass.
The Psalms contain the heart experiences of men in fear, doubt, guilt, and soul-hunger; they vividly describe how they felt and how God met them. Why was David’s repentance acceptable to God, and yet Saul’s for a much less carnal sin of failing to slaughter all the Amalekites, unacceptable? Both kings, when faced by the accusing finger of prophets, admitted their guilt before God, and said, “I have sinned” (1 Samuel 15:24, and II Samuel 12:13); but Saul’s repentance was demonstrated to be insincere because he desired that his sin be hidden from the people (1 Samuel 15:30); whereas, the proof of David’s utter brokenness was that he told the whole world in Psalm 51 what a sinner he was and that his only hope was in God’s mercy. Openness before man is the genuine proof of sincerity before God.
Fellowship Exposes Hypocrisy
Hiding the truth about ourselves before men, pretending to be better than we really are, is the supreme sin. Jesus drove this home to the Pharisees. His light on their sin of hypocrisy was the reason they wanted Him silenced. It was not the rabble, but the religious men pretending to be holy, covering their inner condition, who brought Jesus to the cross rather than risk further exposure of the truth about them.
The first sin judged in the early church was the sin of hiddenness before men. Ananias and Sapphira pretended before their brethren they were making a bigger surrender than they really were.
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.” Revelation 6:9
Now the first testimony we made had no reserves about it. When we were born again, we confessed we were sinners openly, but our emphasis was not on our sin, but on the Savior who delivered us from it. We were not proclaiming a morbid self-revelation, but a glorious identity with Christ. With the same zeal let nothing stop us from testifying as the occasion arises to His fresh deliverances, the fresh experiences of the power of His cleansing blood in our lives.
Should There Be Limitations
Some people want to limit confession, they say, “Should we not put a sin right with any against whom we committed it?” The sin must be put right with those against whom it was committed, but the testimony to God’s deliverance belongs to the whole Church. For no sin is committed privately. None of us lives unto ourselves. Our faces, our attitudes, our very atmosphere is poisoning or blessing those with whom we come in contact. A quarrel between husband and wife, for instance, reaches out in its effect far beyond those two. It affects the whole household. It affects visitors in the home, workmates in the business, and above all fellow believers in the church. Speaking of His dealings with us is praise for deliverance, our testimony gives others the chance of praising with us.
Fresh Confessions
Daily testimony before men in this way is an ever-fresh confession of a saving Christ; but if it is honest testimony it involves some account of what the deliverance is from. It is this which puts teeth into the testimony. It is also proof of our genuine repentance and genuine brokenness, just as confession before men at conversion was the proof of the reality of newfound faith. To be wide open before God and man is to be ready at all times to tell of His dealings with us. As we walk in the light with others, telling them when the shadow of sin darkens our path and how He delivers us in it, we experience a greater awareness of cleansing and liberation from the sin.
Honest Humanness
We have to face our humanness. Openness before men is costly. Self-esteem and pride must be broached; walls must fall. Human relationships are more vivid to us most of the time than our fellowship with God. Often we have a more vivid sense of shame about a sin when we tell our brethren, than when we just tell God. It is a simple fact that this openness before men does something in us. It sharpens our spiritual vision. It is amazing how, when walking in the light with our brethren as well as with God, we begin to come alive to attitudes, and motions of sin in our lives which we never noticed to be sin before, or perhaps took for granted that the behavior would always be part of our make-up.
Rejoicing Together
There is a profound effect on others that comes from open testifying. It stirs something in their hearts, quickening a desire for the same experience. The joy and praise leaps from one heart to another when we hear what the Lord has done. The more direct, open and exact the testimony, the more we rejoice.
Confession Causes Conviction
It does yet more. It convicts. Our hearts are fashioned alike. The way the devil tempts you is almost certainly the way he tempts me. When I hear you tell of the Lord working with you right where you really live, it surely illumines some spot where I need the same light and deliverance. That is how great revivals break out and spread. The way is always the same. Sin is suddenly seen to be sin in some life. That person breaks down, doesn’t mind who is listening, seeing himself as a sinner needing renewed cleansing, He appeals to God for deliverance. Out he comes with tears; public reconciliation is made. Conviction spreads through the group until dozens are doing the same thing. “Revival has visited this church, “ we say with joy. So, when there is a continuous sensitiveness to the smallest sin that stops the flow of the spirit within us and from us, when there is recognition of the sin in the light, when there is confession, then forgiveness is applied and the thankful public testimony to the glory of what God has done proceeds, causing revival.
Displacing Besetting Sins
Many of God’s people are aware of “the sin which doth so easily beset us,” (Hebrews 12:1) and at this “weak spot” we doubt God can really, fully and permanently deliver us. We may think that our weakness is in the eyes of others a big deal, so we keep it hidden. The answer to these besetting sins is to walk in the light step by step. We will then be made sensitive to the reality and the shamefulness of our sin. When we walk brokenly with God and one another, sins that used to beset us lessen in their grip and our stumbles are fewer. This special spot of weakness, taken for granted for years, can be dealt with and deliverance be found. If recognized sin is faced and hated each time it arises; the emphasis is not so much on a once-for-all crisis deliverance, but on the daily and immediate dealing with the evil thing the moment it shows itself.
Besetting sins seem to have a certain sweetness; that sweetness has to be recognized as a manifestation of the flesh and must be hated. Indeed, true repentance is hatred, and where there is hatred of sin, God’s hatred in us (Hebrews 1:9), power for deliverance is found in the blood.
Temptation Is Not Sin
In this walking with one another in the light, careful distinction must be made between temptation and sin. Many people continue in bondage under false accusation because they are looking for the impossible: deliverance from even temptation; because they mistake temptation for sin and accept condemnation with a sense of defilement.
Confusing temptation with sin causes confusion in testimony and fellowship. The distinct between temptation and sin is clear. James 1:14-15 settles it for us. Temptation is continuous and will be while we are in this fallen world. “Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are…” “Ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations.”
Temptation is the stimulation of our natural desires (the correct meaning of lust in verse 13) whether physical appetites or the faculties of soul or spirit. Jesus was tempted in all these three realms on the Mount of Temptation. The sudden impulse to think this wrong thought, or say this, or do that, the attraction of the eye in an unlawful direction, the first motion of fear, worry, resentment, and so on is temptation for which we are not held responsible as willful sin. It is when we allow the temptation to find lodgment in us, when we continue the wrong thought, allow the resentment to remain, keep on looking, speak the hasty word, and so on, that temptations become sin. Obviously, therefore, if we withstand the temptation as it arises, by abiding in Christ, we should not accept condemnation, and our testimony to His praise should be to His keeping power in the evil day.
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me.” John 15:26
Avoid Legalism
Let us also be watchful to maintain liberty in testimony. How easily we can slip back to legalism, instead of walking in the glorious liberty of the sons of God. We can impose on our fellowship all manner of rules, instead of being directed by the gentle but free compulsions of the Spirit who leads, not drives. Thus we can shackle our testimony by thinking we are under strict compulsion to testify to the Lord’s dealings on all or on fixed occasions. Testimony of this kind can become as much a set form with one group as absence of any testimony is a set form with another. We must never allow ourselves to be driven. We are not mere human imitators, feeling compelled to say something just because our brother does, or because it is the usual thing on certain occasions. We “walk with Jesus” even in the matter of testimony. There is a divine compulsion, when we know from Him within by inner conviction that we must open our lips and when we can draw power from Him to do so; that is quite a different thing from the drive of the law, or of peer pressure. Sometimes the best testimony might be to testify that God has given me nothing to say. “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.”
Avoid Subtle Pressure On Others
Equally we must avoid exerting a subtle pressure on others to see the same as we do, and subtle criticism of those who do not. Of course we want others to have any light God has given us; but it was God who gave it to us in His own time and way. Let us then, leave it to God to give it to our brethren as He pleases. Our only job is to humbly and joyfully testify to what God shows us. It is impressive in the Gospel of John to see Jesus’ rest among fierce critics and opponents where He tells us that people can only see and receive what God gives them to see.
Move Freely In The Spirit
This is freedom of the Spirit. It is not a question of forming new sects for fellowships or cliques that cause divisions in churches and give an “I am holier than thou” impression. It is just to live in the light, in brokenness, in testimony as God leads at home, in the church, everywhere.
Questions are sometimes asked about to whom we should testify and if there should be any reservations in our testimony. Should we, for instance, tell unsaved people of the Lord’s personal dealings with us? Perhaps a simple answer, subject always to the individual guidance of the Spirit, would be that we should always testify even to the most opposed and indifferent if we have sinned a way which was obvious to them, such as by heated words. It is to the glory of God that we humble ourselves before them and tell them of the Lord's gracious restoration, as we have repented. But if our testimony concerns things in our lives unknown to our unsaved friends, then it may be that we should keep that testimony for our brethren in Christ.
As for reservations in testimony, one matter about which wisdom and restraint may be needed is in areas of sin which have a deep hold on all mankind and which take first place in all lists of sins in the Scriptures – uncleanness, lasciviousness, impure thoughts, fornication, adultery. God has put a barrier between the sexes which is His will we preserve, and therefore in mixed meetings only veiled language can be used in referring to these things. Yet at the same time, of all temptations and sins this is the type that in one form or another eats most deeply into lives. Maybe the way in which we can get to the bottom of it in the light with God and one another is when men get together among themselves, and women likewise. And there certainly is a need for this.
Discernment In Specifics
Perhaps no criticism is more strongly made against open fellowship than when someone speaks out unadvisedly on sexual matters. It seems as if the human mind seizes on this. When someone tells the group that he has been struggling with lying, or cheating, or wife beating, there is not likely to be any one listening tempted to likewise indulge in such sin. The mention of these behaviors does not inflame the imagination. But, when we are told about sexual sins, our flesh is aroused to contemplate what has been suggested to it. The thoughts conveyed can cause considerable conflict for those exposed to them.
We have all heard stories of indiscretions in sharing testimonies, and sometimes these are used to discredit the practice of open fellowship. Why do we express such disgust when unwise open testimony is given? Here is some poor soul who has been deep in the mire of loathsome sins, coming at last to the light, exulting in the glorious power of the blood, and not recognizing, perhaps through the past defilement of his mind, that such things should not be talked about; in his zeal and new-found joy, or perhaps under deep conviction, he pours out the sewage of his soul. Is God shocked? Don’t you think the joy in heaven over a poor soul delivered and cleansed is more than any distress over his unwise statements? Look how open the Bible is! So let us keep a balance in these things. Let us avoid planting unclean thoughts in the minds of others, but if such things are said in honesty, but with unwise zeal, let us not be over alarmed, but take an occasion for a quiet word in season concerning restraint on future occasions.
Mutual Exhortation
The early church was first and foremost a fellowship. “They continued in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship.” They broke bread from house to house. All took part, and there was such a flow of the Spirit through the believers that Paul had to write words of restraint. “How is it, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, a doctrine…” then he urged them to orderliness, and said that if while one was giving his word, another arose with a desire to say something let the first sit down and give place to him for “the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets.” But today we have to persuade people TO say something, if occasionally we do have a time of open fellowship! Paul had to persuade them to keep silent and give the other fellow a chance! We have now replaced fellowshipping by preaching in our modern church life.
Fellowshipping necessitates a real flow of life in the fellowship, for each member has to be ready to contribute his share of what the Lord is really saying to him. Preaching is an easy way out for a not-too-living fellowship. Appoint the preacher and let him find the messages; then we can sit still and take or leave what we hear, as we please!
One model would promote a weekly fellowship meeting where all who attend are required to tell of the Lord’s personal dealings with them that week, whether concerning sins, or answers to prayer, or opportunities of witness. An excellent way to begin would be to talk with a congregation on the subject, suggest moving into a time of quiet open fellowship. There should be no pressure, no demands made on any. But just providing the opportunity to anyone to say anything God prompts them to say. If others have no special word from God in their hearts, they are right to keep silent.
The blessed Holy Spirit can never be systematized. “The wind bloweth where it listeth.” He is always original, and all our fresh springs are in Him. We can, however, at least give humble testimony to this His way which has been revealed to us in our day, even as Paul told the Corinthians that he was sending them Timothy to “bring you into remembrance of my ways which be Christ.”
But in the Scriptures it is also obvious that an important part of this fellowshipping was to be mutual exhortation, not just public exhortation by a preacher, but one exhorting the other. In Hebrews it distinctly says that the reason for such exhortation is to keep each other from becoming “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (3:13), in other words, lest the overflow of the Spirit in us might be choked and we not even recognize it. When it says about services, “not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together,” it is actually used not of preaching, but of mutual exhortation, and “so much the more, as ye see the day approaching, “ In James also we are exhorted to mutual confession of sin, so that we may pray one for another.
Mutual exhortation allows the Spirit to have leadership, and not just one outstanding man. Having accepted among himself this healthy principle of mutual exhortation, no man or leader is put on some pedestal where he cannot be approached or questioned. All are brethren around one Father, and if the very chief among those brethren is seen by the spirit of discernment to be unwise in leadership or to be off color spiritually, others will walk in light with him.
In Humility
All then recognize how easily deceived we are by Satan and the flesh, so all desire the brethren to “exhort” them if things are seen in their walk which are not “the highest”. Such exhortations are not easy either to receive or give. To receive them with humility and a readiness to be constantly adjusted before God is evidence of this Christian Walk in the Spirit, for where we are not in the Spirit, we almost certainly resent such challenges and reveal a defensive, self-protective reserve.
We are also so easily tempted to “let well alone,” or say, “it is not my business, “ because we recognize that to bring such a challenge might disturb the peace, or disrupt a friendship. But in the Spirit we see we are out brother’s keeper, not for his sake, but for Jesus’ sake. When a brother is not on top spiritually, it hinders the working of His spirit; therefore it is part of our duty to Him to be faithful to the brother. Not to be so is sin.
Of course such challenging has to be done deeply from the Spirit, that is to say, its source must be godly concern for the brother in question and the subtle danger watched against is to “put a brother right”. Thus our participation in fellowship should proceed from humility. Indeed often the only God-sealed approach may be, not the pointing finger of accusation towards the brother, but to ourselves, perhaps telling another of some reaction in ourselves caused by his conduct, which we have had to take to the cross, or perhaps telling him how on some other occasions God had to deal with us through another brother’s faithfulness. The golden rule in Matthew 7:12 should apply, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Keeping Testimonies Current
The important thing is that fellowship with others develops a habit of regularly testifying one to the other of God’s immediate dealings in our lives; this will have a profound effect on our peace and joy in the Lord on a daily basis. The thrill and value of such testimonies will generate a sensitiveness to sin. Then when Satan sows the first seeds in the heart, they are recognized in God’s light and dealt with.
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.” 1 John 1:3
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” Philippians 2:1
The Spirit will move through this kind of obedience to Him and to the Word. When He tells us to testify to the light shining on sins in our lives, and on the blood that cleanses from all sin, then let us obey, and we will witness the Spirit abiding in our hearts as we share our lives in Him.
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the LORD Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24
A Simple Definition of New Testament Fellowship
True fellowship is when functioning members of the Body of Christ gather together to testify to His present dealings within His Body, therein exhorting, convicting, encouraging and gaining insights into His Mind and His ways. Christian fellowship testifies to God’s powerful presence, His faithfulness, His goodness, His mercy, His sovereignty, His love. The point of sharing our life in His Body is to glorify Him; all we say to one another should be toward that end.
Many functions in our churches are erroneously labeled as fellowship. Church clean-up days, multiple choice dinners, Bingo games, retreats, bridal showers, ministry meetings, and Christmas parties are not the sort of fellowship we are exhorted to have in Scripture. If we believe we are partaking of true fellowship with one another in such social activities, we are missing the boat.
“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7
As we walk with Jesus in childlike faith step-by-step, moment-by-moment, He who is light, with whom we walk, illumines our path, revealing any sin hindering our fellowship with Him.
Sin stops the flow of fellowship between God and us. Therefore, it is always gracious of God to show us sin.
What To Do When He Reveals Sin To Us
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
To confess is to say about our sin what God says about it. “You say this is sin, Lord; so do I.” That is confession; motivated by the desire to be rid of it; to be freed to proceed in joyous communion with Him.
Where there is confession He promises to cleanse us. When walking in the light both sin and the precious blood are seen, the one canceling out the other. Confession of sin does not deliver us; it is His blood that cleanses; so we must always follow confession of faith with praise for the blood, believing His blood alone glorifies God and delivers us.
Thus, fellowship provides opportunity for mouth-confession before men. Jesus confesses us before God His Father in heaven, and the Spirit confesses the Savior in our hearts. Mouth-committal expresses the genuineness of the heart-committal before God.
The Manner of Confession We Are To Make
“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”” John 4:39
Confession to Christ
The type of confession that matters in the Scripture is confession of Christ; it is to the constant confession of Christ we are called. That is our duty. That is our privilege. Just as we described to men how Christ proved Himself our Savior at our conversion, we should boldly proclaim what He is doing now as our Lord. The purpose in our confession is to magnify Him, not to attract attention to us.
Some things we readily report to our brethren: the successes in our Christian life: winning souls, answered prayers, good things from the Scriptures…and we do get a little reflected glory by proximity. But we are less eager to share where and when we fail in our daily walk. When God deals with us about our impatience or temper or dishonesty or coldness we don’t so enthusiastically bear testimony to His faithfulness to us despite our sin. Why not?
“Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:42-43
Scripture shows that seeking the favor of man inhibits the flow of confession before men. And that which stops the flow of the Spirit is sin.
Biblical Examples of Honest Testimonies
We do have examples of the right sort of public confession. Note the openness of men of the Bible. We know of God’s most intimate dealings with them; their sins and failures are documented as accurately as their successes. We know the details of Abraham’s false step with Hagar, of Jacob’s tricks with Isaac and Esau, of Moses’ private act of disobedience concerning speaking to the rock. Of Elijah’s flight and God’s secret rebuke, of the inner history of Jonah. How did the disciples know the inside story of Jesus’ temptations to record for us? It was because they were all open before their contemporaries. They lived in the light with each other as with God.
“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” 2 Timothy 1:8
The healings of believers recorded in the Scriptures were followed by an outer proclamation to their inner faith; they confessed before men. In the lives of all men of faith from Abraham right through to the apostles; what they believed in their heart they declared with their mouths as something God had said to them that would assuredly come to pass.
The Psalms contain the heart experiences of men in fear, doubt, guilt, and soul-hunger; they vividly describe how they felt and how God met them. Why was David’s repentance acceptable to God, and yet Saul’s for a much less carnal sin of failing to slaughter all the Amalekites, unacceptable? Both kings, when faced by the accusing finger of prophets, admitted their guilt before God, and said, “I have sinned” (1 Samuel 15:24, and II Samuel 12:13); but Saul’s repentance was demonstrated to be insincere because he desired that his sin be hidden from the people (1 Samuel 15:30); whereas, the proof of David’s utter brokenness was that he told the whole world in Psalm 51 what a sinner he was and that his only hope was in God’s mercy. Openness before man is the genuine proof of sincerity before God.
Fellowship Exposes Hypocrisy
Hiding the truth about ourselves before men, pretending to be better than we really are, is the supreme sin. Jesus drove this home to the Pharisees. His light on their sin of hypocrisy was the reason they wanted Him silenced. It was not the rabble, but the religious men pretending to be holy, covering their inner condition, who brought Jesus to the cross rather than risk further exposure of the truth about them.
The first sin judged in the early church was the sin of hiddenness before men. Ananias and Sapphira pretended before their brethren they were making a bigger surrender than they really were.
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.” Revelation 6:9
Now the first testimony we made had no reserves about it. When we were born again, we confessed we were sinners openly, but our emphasis was not on our sin, but on the Savior who delivered us from it. We were not proclaiming a morbid self-revelation, but a glorious identity with Christ. With the same zeal let nothing stop us from testifying as the occasion arises to His fresh deliverances, the fresh experiences of the power of His cleansing blood in our lives.
Should There Be Limitations
Some people want to limit confession, they say, “Should we not put a sin right with any against whom we committed it?” The sin must be put right with those against whom it was committed, but the testimony to God’s deliverance belongs to the whole Church. For no sin is committed privately. None of us lives unto ourselves. Our faces, our attitudes, our very atmosphere is poisoning or blessing those with whom we come in contact. A quarrel between husband and wife, for instance, reaches out in its effect far beyond those two. It affects the whole household. It affects visitors in the home, workmates in the business, and above all fellow believers in the church. Speaking of His dealings with us is praise for deliverance, our testimony gives others the chance of praising with us.
Fresh Confessions
Daily testimony before men in this way is an ever-fresh confession of a saving Christ; but if it is honest testimony it involves some account of what the deliverance is from. It is this which puts teeth into the testimony. It is also proof of our genuine repentance and genuine brokenness, just as confession before men at conversion was the proof of the reality of newfound faith. To be wide open before God and man is to be ready at all times to tell of His dealings with us. As we walk in the light with others, telling them when the shadow of sin darkens our path and how He delivers us in it, we experience a greater awareness of cleansing and liberation from the sin.
Honest Humanness
We have to face our humanness. Openness before men is costly. Self-esteem and pride must be broached; walls must fall. Human relationships are more vivid to us most of the time than our fellowship with God. Often we have a more vivid sense of shame about a sin when we tell our brethren, than when we just tell God. It is a simple fact that this openness before men does something in us. It sharpens our spiritual vision. It is amazing how, when walking in the light with our brethren as well as with God, we begin to come alive to attitudes, and motions of sin in our lives which we never noticed to be sin before, or perhaps took for granted that the behavior would always be part of our make-up.
Rejoicing Together
There is a profound effect on others that comes from open testifying. It stirs something in their hearts, quickening a desire for the same experience. The joy and praise leaps from one heart to another when we hear what the Lord has done. The more direct, open and exact the testimony, the more we rejoice.
Confession Causes Conviction
It does yet more. It convicts. Our hearts are fashioned alike. The way the devil tempts you is almost certainly the way he tempts me. When I hear you tell of the Lord working with you right where you really live, it surely illumines some spot where I need the same light and deliverance. That is how great revivals break out and spread. The way is always the same. Sin is suddenly seen to be sin in some life. That person breaks down, doesn’t mind who is listening, seeing himself as a sinner needing renewed cleansing, He appeals to God for deliverance. Out he comes with tears; public reconciliation is made. Conviction spreads through the group until dozens are doing the same thing. “Revival has visited this church, “ we say with joy. So, when there is a continuous sensitiveness to the smallest sin that stops the flow of the spirit within us and from us, when there is recognition of the sin in the light, when there is confession, then forgiveness is applied and the thankful public testimony to the glory of what God has done proceeds, causing revival.
Displacing Besetting Sins
Many of God’s people are aware of “the sin which doth so easily beset us,” (Hebrews 12:1) and at this “weak spot” we doubt God can really, fully and permanently deliver us. We may think that our weakness is in the eyes of others a big deal, so we keep it hidden. The answer to these besetting sins is to walk in the light step by step. We will then be made sensitive to the reality and the shamefulness of our sin. When we walk brokenly with God and one another, sins that used to beset us lessen in their grip and our stumbles are fewer. This special spot of weakness, taken for granted for years, can be dealt with and deliverance be found. If recognized sin is faced and hated each time it arises; the emphasis is not so much on a once-for-all crisis deliverance, but on the daily and immediate dealing with the evil thing the moment it shows itself.
Besetting sins seem to have a certain sweetness; that sweetness has to be recognized as a manifestation of the flesh and must be hated. Indeed, true repentance is hatred, and where there is hatred of sin, God’s hatred in us (Hebrews 1:9), power for deliverance is found in the blood.
Temptation Is Not Sin
In this walking with one another in the light, careful distinction must be made between temptation and sin. Many people continue in bondage under false accusation because they are looking for the impossible: deliverance from even temptation; because they mistake temptation for sin and accept condemnation with a sense of defilement.
Confusing temptation with sin causes confusion in testimony and fellowship. The distinct between temptation and sin is clear. James 1:14-15 settles it for us. Temptation is continuous and will be while we are in this fallen world. “Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are…” “Ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations.”
Temptation is the stimulation of our natural desires (the correct meaning of lust in verse 13) whether physical appetites or the faculties of soul or spirit. Jesus was tempted in all these three realms on the Mount of Temptation. The sudden impulse to think this wrong thought, or say this, or do that, the attraction of the eye in an unlawful direction, the first motion of fear, worry, resentment, and so on is temptation for which we are not held responsible as willful sin. It is when we allow the temptation to find lodgment in us, when we continue the wrong thought, allow the resentment to remain, keep on looking, speak the hasty word, and so on, that temptations become sin. Obviously, therefore, if we withstand the temptation as it arises, by abiding in Christ, we should not accept condemnation, and our testimony to His praise should be to His keeping power in the evil day.
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me.” John 15:26
Avoid Legalism
Let us also be watchful to maintain liberty in testimony. How easily we can slip back to legalism, instead of walking in the glorious liberty of the sons of God. We can impose on our fellowship all manner of rules, instead of being directed by the gentle but free compulsions of the Spirit who leads, not drives. Thus we can shackle our testimony by thinking we are under strict compulsion to testify to the Lord’s dealings on all or on fixed occasions. Testimony of this kind can become as much a set form with one group as absence of any testimony is a set form with another. We must never allow ourselves to be driven. We are not mere human imitators, feeling compelled to say something just because our brother does, or because it is the usual thing on certain occasions. We “walk with Jesus” even in the matter of testimony. There is a divine compulsion, when we know from Him within by inner conviction that we must open our lips and when we can draw power from Him to do so; that is quite a different thing from the drive of the law, or of peer pressure. Sometimes the best testimony might be to testify that God has given me nothing to say. “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage.”
Avoid Subtle Pressure On Others
Equally we must avoid exerting a subtle pressure on others to see the same as we do, and subtle criticism of those who do not. Of course we want others to have any light God has given us; but it was God who gave it to us in His own time and way. Let us then, leave it to God to give it to our brethren as He pleases. Our only job is to humbly and joyfully testify to what God shows us. It is impressive in the Gospel of John to see Jesus’ rest among fierce critics and opponents where He tells us that people can only see and receive what God gives them to see.
Move Freely In The Spirit
This is freedom of the Spirit. It is not a question of forming new sects for fellowships or cliques that cause divisions in churches and give an “I am holier than thou” impression. It is just to live in the light, in brokenness, in testimony as God leads at home, in the church, everywhere.
Questions are sometimes asked about to whom we should testify and if there should be any reservations in our testimony. Should we, for instance, tell unsaved people of the Lord’s personal dealings with us? Perhaps a simple answer, subject always to the individual guidance of the Spirit, would be that we should always testify even to the most opposed and indifferent if we have sinned a way which was obvious to them, such as by heated words. It is to the glory of God that we humble ourselves before them and tell them of the Lord's gracious restoration, as we have repented. But if our testimony concerns things in our lives unknown to our unsaved friends, then it may be that we should keep that testimony for our brethren in Christ.
As for reservations in testimony, one matter about which wisdom and restraint may be needed is in areas of sin which have a deep hold on all mankind and which take first place in all lists of sins in the Scriptures – uncleanness, lasciviousness, impure thoughts, fornication, adultery. God has put a barrier between the sexes which is His will we preserve, and therefore in mixed meetings only veiled language can be used in referring to these things. Yet at the same time, of all temptations and sins this is the type that in one form or another eats most deeply into lives. Maybe the way in which we can get to the bottom of it in the light with God and one another is when men get together among themselves, and women likewise. And there certainly is a need for this.
Discernment In Specifics
Perhaps no criticism is more strongly made against open fellowship than when someone speaks out unadvisedly on sexual matters. It seems as if the human mind seizes on this. When someone tells the group that he has been struggling with lying, or cheating, or wife beating, there is not likely to be any one listening tempted to likewise indulge in such sin. The mention of these behaviors does not inflame the imagination. But, when we are told about sexual sins, our flesh is aroused to contemplate what has been suggested to it. The thoughts conveyed can cause considerable conflict for those exposed to them.
We have all heard stories of indiscretions in sharing testimonies, and sometimes these are used to discredit the practice of open fellowship. Why do we express such disgust when unwise open testimony is given? Here is some poor soul who has been deep in the mire of loathsome sins, coming at last to the light, exulting in the glorious power of the blood, and not recognizing, perhaps through the past defilement of his mind, that such things should not be talked about; in his zeal and new-found joy, or perhaps under deep conviction, he pours out the sewage of his soul. Is God shocked? Don’t you think the joy in heaven over a poor soul delivered and cleansed is more than any distress over his unwise statements? Look how open the Bible is! So let us keep a balance in these things. Let us avoid planting unclean thoughts in the minds of others, but if such things are said in honesty, but with unwise zeal, let us not be over alarmed, but take an occasion for a quiet word in season concerning restraint on future occasions.
Mutual Exhortation
The early church was first and foremost a fellowship. “They continued in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship.” They broke bread from house to house. All took part, and there was such a flow of the Spirit through the believers that Paul had to write words of restraint. “How is it, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, a doctrine…” then he urged them to orderliness, and said that if while one was giving his word, another arose with a desire to say something let the first sit down and give place to him for “the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets.” But today we have to persuade people TO say something, if occasionally we do have a time of open fellowship! Paul had to persuade them to keep silent and give the other fellow a chance! We have now replaced fellowshipping by preaching in our modern church life.
Fellowshipping necessitates a real flow of life in the fellowship, for each member has to be ready to contribute his share of what the Lord is really saying to him. Preaching is an easy way out for a not-too-living fellowship. Appoint the preacher and let him find the messages; then we can sit still and take or leave what we hear, as we please!
One model would promote a weekly fellowship meeting where all who attend are required to tell of the Lord’s personal dealings with them that week, whether concerning sins, or answers to prayer, or opportunities of witness. An excellent way to begin would be to talk with a congregation on the subject, suggest moving into a time of quiet open fellowship. There should be no pressure, no demands made on any. But just providing the opportunity to anyone to say anything God prompts them to say. If others have no special word from God in their hearts, they are right to keep silent.
The blessed Holy Spirit can never be systematized. “The wind bloweth where it listeth.” He is always original, and all our fresh springs are in Him. We can, however, at least give humble testimony to this His way which has been revealed to us in our day, even as Paul told the Corinthians that he was sending them Timothy to “bring you into remembrance of my ways which be Christ.”
But in the Scriptures it is also obvious that an important part of this fellowshipping was to be mutual exhortation, not just public exhortation by a preacher, but one exhorting the other. In Hebrews it distinctly says that the reason for such exhortation is to keep each other from becoming “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (3:13), in other words, lest the overflow of the Spirit in us might be choked and we not even recognize it. When it says about services, “not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together,” it is actually used not of preaching, but of mutual exhortation, and “so much the more, as ye see the day approaching, “ In James also we are exhorted to mutual confession of sin, so that we may pray one for another.
Mutual exhortation allows the Spirit to have leadership, and not just one outstanding man. Having accepted among himself this healthy principle of mutual exhortation, no man or leader is put on some pedestal where he cannot be approached or questioned. All are brethren around one Father, and if the very chief among those brethren is seen by the spirit of discernment to be unwise in leadership or to be off color spiritually, others will walk in light with him.
In Humility
All then recognize how easily deceived we are by Satan and the flesh, so all desire the brethren to “exhort” them if things are seen in their walk which are not “the highest”. Such exhortations are not easy either to receive or give. To receive them with humility and a readiness to be constantly adjusted before God is evidence of this Christian Walk in the Spirit, for where we are not in the Spirit, we almost certainly resent such challenges and reveal a defensive, self-protective reserve.
We are also so easily tempted to “let well alone,” or say, “it is not my business, “ because we recognize that to bring such a challenge might disturb the peace, or disrupt a friendship. But in the Spirit we see we are out brother’s keeper, not for his sake, but for Jesus’ sake. When a brother is not on top spiritually, it hinders the working of His spirit; therefore it is part of our duty to Him to be faithful to the brother. Not to be so is sin.
Of course such challenging has to be done deeply from the Spirit, that is to say, its source must be godly concern for the brother in question and the subtle danger watched against is to “put a brother right”. Thus our participation in fellowship should proceed from humility. Indeed often the only God-sealed approach may be, not the pointing finger of accusation towards the brother, but to ourselves, perhaps telling another of some reaction in ourselves caused by his conduct, which we have had to take to the cross, or perhaps telling him how on some other occasions God had to deal with us through another brother’s faithfulness. The golden rule in Matthew 7:12 should apply, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Keeping Testimonies Current
The important thing is that fellowship with others develops a habit of regularly testifying one to the other of God’s immediate dealings in our lives; this will have a profound effect on our peace and joy in the Lord on a daily basis. The thrill and value of such testimonies will generate a sensitiveness to sin. Then when Satan sows the first seeds in the heart, they are recognized in God’s light and dealt with.
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.” 1 John 1:3
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” Philippians 2:1
The Spirit will move through this kind of obedience to Him and to the Word. When He tells us to testify to the light shining on sins in our lives, and on the blood that cleanses from all sin, then let us obey, and we will witness the Spirit abiding in our hearts as we share our lives in Him.