The Goal Of Being Occupied With Christ
PSD #10 is Occupation with Christ which is the ultimate problem- solving device because it reveals that the believer has reached the goal of glorifying the Lord.
For no one would glorify the Lord unless they were occupied with our Lord Jesus Christ.
At this point, PSD#10, occupation with Christ is the answer to any adversity and prosperity in life as well as the basis for having a capacity for happiness.
The goal of being occupied with Christ is found in REV 4:11,
Listen to it again, without being familiar with it.
REV 4:11 "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
No believer could ever come up with this conclusion unless they were occupied with Christ.
So we will begin our subject with some principles to understand.
- Occupation with Christ is revealed by knowing the love of Christ that goes beyond gnosis or knowledge as the apostle Paul teaches us in EPH 3:14-20.
This is a prayer the apostle Paul wrote after he realized that the fallen angels and the elect angels both learn from the Church-age believer mystery doctrines; EPH 3:10.
Look at EPH 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
EPH 3:9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things;
EPH 3:10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
Then down to EPH 3:14 For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
EPH 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
EPH 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;
EPH 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
EPH 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
EPH 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.
When it says in EPH 3:19 "and to come to know the love for Christ," this is a reference to occupation with Christ.
- Occupation with Christ is the maximum function of the transformation which takes place when the believer’s soul has been reconstructed by the Holy Spirit.
This refers to your edification complex of your soul which is being constructed by means of the Holy Spirit.
Let me show you the corrected translation of EPH 4:22-24.
EPH 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life [life in the flesh] , you lay aside the old self [OSN], which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
EPH 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind or the breathing of your soul.
Then after you have metabolized doctrine by the breathing of your soul, you are now ready for EPH 4:24.
EPH 4:24 and put on the new man [new spiritual species] which in the likeness of God has been created [by God] by means of righteousness and holiness [or devotion] to the truth.
The word for holiness is hosiotes which means to be dedicated or devoted to something or someone.
So we could say that The new spiritual species has been created by means of righteousness and devotion to the truth.
- Occupation with Christ is defined as personal love for God the Son caused by the PMA of Bible doctrine.
1PE 1:8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
This is having PSD’s # 6-10 alive in you.
PSD#6 = Personal sense of destiny
PSD#7 = Personal love for God.
PSD#8 = Impersonal love for all.
PSD#9 = Sharing the Happiness of God.
PSD#10= Occupation with Christ.
- Occupation with Christ manifests the fact that the mystery doctrine of the Church-age has been and continues to be the #1 priority in your life.
This is why….
God is described in the Bible as the only God and the creator of all things and we are told that God must be first in our priorities like we quote thousands of times to “Seek First the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Look at MAT 10:38-39.
Having God as your #1 priority will be revealed by obedience to this passage; MAT 10:38-39.
MAT 10:38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
MAT 10:39 "He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.
Go forward to MAT 13.
Having God as your #1 priority means that you would be willing to sell or give all you have because of Christ; MAT 13:44-46.
MAT 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
MAT 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,
MAT 13:46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
This is having Christ as top priority in your life so much that you are willing to give all that you have for the sake of knowing Him and the power behind His resurrection.
As top priority in our life we recognize our Lord’s victory and promotion like the apostle Paul tells us; EPH 1:22-23.
EPH 1:22-23, And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.
As another top priority the believer has the attitude in heardt that Paul describes for us in COL 3:17.
COL 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
The believer who has God as his #1 priority lives in the plan of God with the attitude of PRO 3:5-6.
PRO 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Having God as our #1 priority means that we fulfill passages like PSA 27:4.
PSA 27:4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to meditate in His temple.
Notice that having God as your #1 priority will be revealed by seeking to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life and to behold the beauty of the Lord, And to meditate in His temple.
- Occupation with Christ means having the thinking of Christ which emphasizes who Christ is in contrast to preoccupation with people.
When we reach the point of occupation with Christ, then we have the mental attitude and thinking of our Lord.
We fulfill passages like PHI 2:5.
PHI 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
We are preoccupied with the Lord so that we don’t have to be occupied with people.
- Occupation with Christ fulfills the concept of 1CO 13:13, (the greatest virtue is love) and is developed under the principle of PHI 2:5, having the mind of Christ and in 1CO 2:16 we have "the thinking or the mind of Christ."
When we are occupied with the Lord then we know that we abide in faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
When we are occupied with the Lord then we know that we have the mind of Christ and the thinking of our Lord.
- Occupation with Christ means having the thinking of Christ which results in preoccupation with God rather than preoccupation with people; PHI 2:1-2.
We begin with the fact that……
There is what we call four conditional clauses of the word “ei” (e-eye) in the original language of the Greek in the Bible which is translated “if.”
- The first-class condition = “if and its true.
- The second-class condition: = "If," and it is not true.
- The third-class condition is a future probable condition which says “If and I hope it becomes true.
- The fourth-class condition is the condition of wish or desire = “If you should suffer for righteousness sake I wish it was true but it’s not.”
What makes this interesting is that in our passage, PHI 2:1, the word “if” is a first-class condition which says “If, and it’s true.”
PHI 2:1 If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ [and there is], if there is any comfort from love [and there is], if there is any fellowship with the spirit [and there is], if there is any affections and mercies [and there is];
Verse 1 presents everything that is true.
There is encouragement in Christ.
There is comfort from love.
There is fellowship with the Spirit.
There are affections and mercies.
The apostle Paul continues in PHI 2:2 make my joy complete or bring to completion my happiness by being of the same mind, or thinking the same things [divine viewpoint], maintaining the same virtue-love, united in soul, intent on one purpose."
Notice the four things that are mentioned:
- Being of the same mind.
- Maintaining the same virtue-love.
- Be united in soul.
- Intent on one purpose."
This is what happens when there is a unity among God’s people.
- Occupation with Christ is the key to encouragement in Christ.
It doesn't depend upon any emotionalism or any other human work.
- Occupation with Christ is structured entirely upon your perception of Bible doctrine.
There is comfort from personal love for God the Father.
There is comfort from occupation with Christ.
There is comfort from impersonal love for all mankind.
But…..
Individual personal love in friendship, romance, or marriage is not included in this concept of comfort from love.
That is because no matter who we are, we fail, and sometimes blame the other person no matter who they are; 1CO 7:28.
1CO 7:28 But if you should marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin should marry, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
- Occupation with Christ emphasizes our relationship with God over our relationship with people as we will find ourselves making decisions for doctrine over decisions for people.
Once you reach a certain stage of spiritual growth there is no place for compromise in the Christian way of life.
Solomon compromised in 1KI 11:1, and if you think you got troubles, I'll show you a man with real troubles!
1KI 11:1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
1KI 11:2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, neither shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love.
Now, verse 3, you groan while I read…..
1KI 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines [1,000 women], and his wives turned his heart away.
They were available to him any time of the day or night.
In any number he wished!
For whatever desire he had!
And his boredom could not be described!
1KI 11:4 For it came about when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
1KI 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
1KI 11:6 And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.
1KI 11:7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
1KI 11:8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
1KI 11:9 Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
1KI 11:10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded.
1KI 11:11 So the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
1KI 11:12 "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
1KI 11:13 "However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."
Did he succeed in all of this?
Yes!
Was he happy with his magnificent construction?
No!
Remember in 1KI 3:3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes [or the doctrine] of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
And then later on in his life,…..
Solomon desired many women who were not Jewish, such as Egyptian women, Moabites, Ammonites, Edominites, Sidonians and Hittite women.
And in 1KI 11:7-8, he built idols and burned incense and sacrificed to other gods that these different idols that his women influenced him with demanded from him.
He compromised his relationship with the Lord!
There are many believers who are like Amaziah in 1CH 25:2, He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.
Whole heart means God emphasis over people emphasis.
Look at what the apostle John wrote in 2JO 1:8-9 when he wrote.
2JO 1:8 Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
2JO 1:9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
However, to get the real meaning behind these verses we need to begin in verse 1.
2JO 1:1 The elder [P.T.] to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth,
2JO 1:2 for the sake of the truth or the doctrine which abides in us and will be with us forever:
2JO 1:3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2JO 1:4 I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father.
2JO 1:5 And now I ask you, lady, not as writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
2JO 1:6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.
2JO 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
2JO 1:8 Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.
2JO 1:9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.
This speaks of the momentum that the believers received under the apostle John's ministry.
But that you may receive a full reward = escrow blessings which are "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him."
- Occupation with Christ results in God emphasis taking precedence over people emphasis.
Very few people, including Christians, are loved the way they want to be loved, or treated the way they want to be treated = unrealistic expectation.
Without Bible doctrine and the problem-solving devices, it is inevitable that this will result in terrible frustration and great instability.
Because people are not treated the way they want to be treated nor loved the way they want to be loved, they develop ingrained frustration.
This ingrained frustration usually leads to a “false move” to another church based on “false information” or “false application.”
This frustration makes them emphasize fellowship with people over fellowship with God.
Such people never stop searching.
They're always looking for that one individual or group or job or social life where they will be treated the way they want to be treated.
As a result, their lives are very unstable.
PSD #10, Occupation with Christ addresses the problem and makes the necessary correction of priorities in the Christian way of life.
- Occupation with Christ is the only way a believer can handle the problems of marriage, romance, friendship, business, profession, or job, and the problems of constantly bumping into people in various situations.
- Occupation with Christ produces impersonal love for all mankind and provides capacity for relationships with people under such categories as Christian fellowship, friendship, romance, and marriage.
- Occupation with Christ is the type of love that the Lord commands us to have with our relationship with each other so that we will not become distracted, JOH 15:11‑17.
JOH 15:11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy or +H may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
JOH 15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
JOH 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
JOH 15:14 "You are My friends, if you do what I command you.
- Occupation with Christ is a reference to your fellowship with TLJC being your number 1 priority and it has to do with your relationship with God taking precedence over your relationship with people.
JOH 15:15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Notice that in this verse your friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ is based upon the fact that…….
What He has heard from his Father, He has made known to me and to you.
And, the question you should have is Has He?
Has He made known to me and to you what He has heard from His Father?
If you have PVTD, and most of you do, He has!
JOH 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
JOH 15:17 "This I command you, that you love one another.
- Occupation with Christ illustrates that the Lord Jesus Christ is your best friend because no one has ever or will ever lay down their life for you as the Lord Jesus Christ did.
Remember that very simple principle;
The day that you wake up and realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is your best friend is the day that you will stop being disappointed by members of the human race.
What He has heard from his Father, He has made known to me and to you.
- Occupation with Christ causes relationships and Christian fellowship to establish the privacy of the priesthood which is the fact that you cannot change another person, you can only change yourself.
You cannot get from another person unrealistic or even realistic expectations.
People will always have some flaw or failure that will disappoint you.
What wear and tear would be saved if you recognized that you cannot change another person.
If a husband or wife or boss doesn't treat you the way you want to be treated, you cannot change them.
When you try, you only intensify the problem; you don't solve anything.
In other words, You are making an issue out of yourself instead of out of doctrine.
Therefore, there is no occupation with the person of Christ, the ultimate answer.
- Occupation with Christ reveals that the only person you can change is yourself, not by cultivating psychological change activities, buy by giving your life to the Holy Spirit who will do the changing; 2CO 3:18.
2CO 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
I like how the apostle Paul taught said this principle in one verse, GAL 5:16.
GAL 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
GAL 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Let go of the OSN who is always trying to get control of the believer’s soul.
Let the Lord do what He said He would do as our Shepherd in PSA 23:3 He restores our soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.
Instead let God do what He says He would do and that is to change or to transform the believer.
In ROM 12:2, Let God do the transformation so that you may prove what the will of God is which are those things that are good and acceptable and complete.
You do this by presenting your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
You do this by not being conformed to this world but by being transformed by the renewing of your mind so that that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
- Occupation with Christ is the only change that occurs for the better because it comes from your PMA of Bible doctrine and the function of the problem-solving devices of the Christian life.
From +H and occupation with Christ, you learn to avoid the three great hazards in the Christian life caused by unrealistic expectations.
- Eyes or focus on self.
- Eyes or focus on people.
- Eyes or focus on things.
Let’s begin with the first one:
- Eyes or focus on self.
This is arrogance.
This comes from unrealistic expectations, from arrogance, and from the overestimation of self.
When you are not being treated the way you want to be treated, your eyes are on yourself.
You become frustrated, bitter, vindictive, and you become implacable.
You make bad decisions from a position of weakness.
The second hazard is: b. Eyes or focus on people.
This is frustration.
This is the old sin nature’s solution to things.
You go out and find people who will treat you right, and find people with whom you think you are compatible.
But that only intensifies your problem.
You will always be disappointed by people until you attain personal love for God, impersonal love for all mankind, occupation with Christ, +h, and a personal sense of destiny.
You will never be treated the way you think you should be treated.
- Eyes or focus on things.
This is jealousy, envy and coveting what others have.
You finally decided that you won't be treated the way you want to be treated so now you go after the things you want to get that other people have.
So, you go off and sublimate in some way.
For some, they need to discover what a good congregation is and then they have to deal with the fact that it is no longer a good congregation once they join it.
- Occupation with Christ provides a new focus in life away from eyes on self, on people, and on things.
How you are treated and loved by people is no longer an issue once you have reached spiritual self-esteem and have self-confidence.
It is your fellowship with God that counts.
God the Father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit are perfect, and they only treat you within the framework of their perfection.
Perfect God can only treat you perfectly, maybe not in the way you want to be treated, but in the way you should be treated, which means a combination of blessing and testing along the way.
So, how you are treated and loved by people is no longer an issue.
Instead, you have moved into the three categories of virtue-love.
- Occupation with Christ means that you have personal love for God the Father as a motivational solution in life.
- Occupation with Christ means that you have impersonal love for all mankind as the functional virtue.
Occupation with Christ changes your mental attitude about yourself, so that you know that……
You can change your mental attitude about other people who do not love you the way you want to be loved or treated the way you want to be.
You change your attitude about the way you think you should be loved.
You realize that……
There is no way you can make an issue out of yourself and advance in your spiritual life.
- Occupation with Christ gives the believer the ability to conquer hurt, frustration, anger, hatred, or antagonism toward others who are not treating you and loving you the way you think you should be treated and loved.
And how is all of this accomplished?
- Occupation with Christ reveals personal love for God, impersonal love for all mankind, grace orientation toward man, all to create a gracious attitude toward people with whom you are involved, whether friends or strangers, husband or wife, etc.
Whatever the relationship, you have a completely new attitude in the midst of some of the greatest expressions of frustration.
In other words, you have allowed God the Holy Spirit to changed you through Bible doctrine.
You can't change other people.
They have the free will to be as rotten as they want to be.
In this way,…..
You can pass system testing, people testing, and thought testing without even blinking an eye.
You've put it all together before you even get into suffering for blessing at the different stages.
Because believers expect too much from others, they get into unrealistic expectations.
Unrealistic expectation is described as part of the arrogance of unhappiness, subjective preoccupation with self.
Unrealistic expectation means that arrogant people are not loved the way they want to be loved or treated the way they want to be treated.
Unrealistic expectation is the tragic flaw of the double standard by which, on the one hand, people justify their own sins while justifying, judging, slandering, and condemning the sins of others.
To avoid unrealistic expectations from others and to pass people, system, thought, and disaster testing, it is necessary to be occupied with the person of Christ.
The more you are preoccupied with yourself, the greater your expectations and demands from people.
The greater your romantic notions, the more you anticipate from people.
Therefore, very few people are loved the way they want to be loved, and very few people are treated the way they want to be treated.
Such people never find out what they are looking for because they continue to make an issue out of self.
The cosmic reaction is inevitable: arrogance, jealousy, bitterness, guilt, vindictiveness, implacability, self-pity, hatred, anger, and revenge motivation.
With these things in your soul as a believer, you are guaranteed to have an unhappy life.
But don't blame God!
You can only blame yourself.
Under the law of volitional responsibility, you are producing your own misery, a sucker's function if there ever was one.
You are making your own misery in your preoccupation with yourself.
The more you become preoccupied with yourself, the greater your expectation from people.
But face it:
You will not bend people to conform to your unrealistic expectations.
You cannot change people to conform to your standards of treatment and love.
You can solve the problems of frustration through PSD #10 occupation with Christ.
There's nothing wrong with Romantic notions provided you line them up with scripture, and provided that you are occupied with the person of Jesus Christ.
There’s nothing wrong with being emotionally involved with a member of the opposite sex providing that your relationship is based upon the truth from Bible doctrine.
However, it’s very rare to find this because most of the time people trust too much in mankind.
PSA 118:9 "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man."
If you take refuge in the Lord, you are not expecting anything from people.
It is your fellowship with God that counts not your fellowship with people.
Your fellowship with people can be wonderful when you bring into your relationships all the problem-solving devices.
Therefore, we will have to note how:
- Occupation with Christ relates to preoccupation with people.
The biggest problem believers face is normally “Christian fellowship.”
Through the teaching of the mystery doctrine for the Church-age and the resultant self-confidence in spiritual adulthood,…….
The believer has fellowship with invisible God in two categories.
- Personal love for God the Father.
- Occupation with Jesus Christ.
Christian fellowship is not the basis of spiritual growth.
No one grows spiritually or fulfills the plan of God through Christian fellowship, which is nothing more than social life with Christians.
Social life with Christians has varying consequences.
Often Christian fellowship becomes a distraction to perception of doctrine.
Occasionally, it is a source of encouragement for perception of doctrine.
Christian fellowship and sharing is no substitute for learning the mystery doctrine of the Church-age from whomever is your right pastor.
So, Beware of the believer who confuses Christian fellowship with either worship or spiritual growth, or the believer who assumes that the Christian way of life is fellowship and excitement.
The Divine Perspective on Christian Fellowship needs to be considered.
For example,
How can you ever assume that loving God the Father, loving God the Son under occupation with Christ, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit be set aside for a lot of nonsense called "Christian fellowship."
We can also call this social life with Christians?
Too many believers assume this erroneous concept because there is no organization of their life and thinking around Bible doctrine.
Therefore, they have no focus on invisible God.
All their focus is on turning churches into Christian country clubs.
Christian fellowship is nice, but it is not the Christian way of life.
Assembling together for Bible study and other forms of worship must never be confused with Christian fellowship.
We know this from passages in the original language.
I am especially referring to HEB 10:25.
Let me show you what it looks like in most translations.
HEB 10:25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.
Now, when it says this, it is a very poor translation that I will show you why.
It all centers around the word encouragement and whether it is a noun or whether it is a verb and where you stand in relationship to it?
The word encouragement is the present active participle of the Greek verb “parakaleo” which means to be encouraged or edified and built up.
Remember this definition because we will come back to it in a while.
Because of this fellowship with the Trinity through Bible doctrine, the believer in spiritual adulthood understands that Christian fellowship (social life, interaction with Christians) is not the basis for fulfilling the PPOG.
Christian fellowship is a result of taking in doctrine, whether you assemble with other believers or get it on your own in isolation.
Christian fellowship is not possible for isolated believers due to their geographical location, military service, illness, handicaps, or a job that conflicts with Bible class but that doesn't mean they cannot grow.
It means that other ways must be a substitute for assembling so they can learn doctrine.
In fact, being deprived of Christian fellowship may be just the blessing they need to get a good start in doctrine before they come into contact with other believers.
Often positive believers will not assemble in a local church because of false doctrine or wrong emphasis.
These people are not wrong as others say; they are right.
For a believer who is positive, Bible doctrine is never denied.
Positive believers in isolation can receive Bible doctrine through the many different ways you can get it on the Internet, then there are tapes, books, radio, video, and other modern conveniences.
Positive believers can have Bible doctrine, but often they cannot have Christian fellowship.
Christian fellowship is nice to have if there is no legalism involved, but Christian fellowship cannot advance the believer in God's plan, purpose, or will for his life.
Whether fellowship is detrimental or wonderful does not depend upon the fellowship as such, but upon your ability to discern virtue wherever it is and remember that neither legalism nor lasciviousness are virtuous.
If you do not put God first, your relationship with people in any periphery will be a mess and will have no spiritual significance.
If you have fellowship with positive believers who have virtue, integrity, and who recognize the privacy of your priesthood and yet can have a wonderful relationship with you, you will make some of the greatest friendships in this life.
The advantage to such friendships is that you are not depending on them; you're depending on the Lord.
When you are not depending on people and still have relationships with them, then you are in spiritual self-esteem.
As a result, you never feel threatened by them.
Then you don't get upset when they turn nasty and sarcastic and turn sour, because you are depending on the Lord, and your fellowship with the Lord takes care of that.
Christian fellowship is nice to have if there is no legalism, antinomianism, or apostasy.
However, Christian fellowship cannot advance the believer in God's plan, purpose, or will for his life.
So, If you get your encouragement from people, it's all wrong mainly because your encouragement must come from what’s inside of you not from the outside of you.
This means that…..
If you get together with people in order to gain their approbation, or to get something from them, or to be admired by them, you will be mixed-up for the rest of your life.
But If you have a fantastic and wonderful relationship with God, you can have fantastic happiness and blessing either in the company of other people or without the company of other people.
The problem is stated in JER 17:5 "Thus say the Lord, `Cursed is the man who puts his trust in mankind, who depends on people for his strength, and whose right lobe turns away from the Lord.'"
You may put your trust in man in many different relationships, whether social, professional, romantic, marriage, or Christian fellowship.
There's nothing wrong with having relationships with people; that's not the issue.
The issue is whether or not they are your #1 priority.
We were designed from creation to put our trust in God, not in people.
People have old sin natures and therefore varying moments of instability.
People are always trying to change you instead of changing themselves so that you will conform to their unrealistic expectations.
To "depend on people for his strength" means that……
If you have to get your encouragement for the Christian life from fellowship with other Christians by depending on people for strength instead of depending on the Lord than you are a weak believer.
The only way you will ever depend on God is through perception, metabolization, and application of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age;
At the end of verse 5, if your "right lobe turns away from the Lord," you have negative volition toward doctrine.
Inevitably, the more you depend on people, the more you turn away from Bible doctrine.
People turn away from the Lord when they are trying to change everyone else to comply with their expectations, instead of changing themselves.
If you ever learn the lesson that you can't change people, you will take a giant step in the Christian life.
Because The Christian life doesn't say to change people; it says "change yourself!"
Grow up spiritually, yourself.
PHI 2:12 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
ROM 14:12 so then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Therefore, as a believer you must be occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ and your relationship with Him.
The relationships that other people have with the Lord Jesus Christ is none of our business.
JER 17:6 goes on to describe the person who trusts mankind and expects things from mankind;
JER 17:6 "for he will be like a tumbleweed bush in the desert; and will not see when prosperity comes, but he will live in stony wastes in the desert, a land of salt where no one lives [has no capacity for life].'"
A tumbleweed has no roots and blows wherever the wind carries it and this verse teaches that God gives prosperity even to losers under logistical grace, but they don't see it.
They don't have any capacity for it.
People with unrealistic expectations have no capacity.
If prosperity came and knocked on their door and declared "I am prosperity," they still wouldn't recognize it.
They cannot enjoy prosperity any more than adversity because they have made an issue out of self.
They have become like a bush in the desert; and they live in stony wastes in the desert, a land of salt where no one lives
This is a description of a dried-up person.
A dried-up person is a negative personality.
JER 17:7 "but happy is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.'"
"whose confidence is in him" describes occupation with Christ.
JER 17:8 "For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought` Nor cease to yield fruit.
JER 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
JER 17:10 "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.
But If you do not have fellowship with God, your interaction with other people is a disaster, and people will say you are flawed, or you have an "unfortunate personality."