Covenant of Fatherly Fellowship

EMIC Morning Men's Meeting @ Hutton Financial 7 AM

Covenant.

What is a covenant? Someone said it's an unbreakable contract. We also discussed that there are many types of covenants. There are housing association covenants, marriage covenants, business covenants...

Websters 1828 Dictionary defines Covenant as:
covenant

COVENANT, n. [L, to come; a coming together; a meeting or agreement of minds.]

1. A mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; a contract; stipulation. A covenant is created by deed in writing, sealed and executed; or it may be implied in the contract.

2. A writing containing the terms of agreement or contract between parties; or the clause of agreement in a deed containing the covenant.

3. In theology, the covenant of works, is that implied in the commands, prohibitions, and promises of God; the promise of God to man, that mans perfect obedience should entitle him to happiness. This do, and live; that do, and die.

The covenant of redemption, is the mutual agreement between the Father and Son, respecting the redemption of sinners by Christ.

The covenant of grace, is that by which God engages to bestow salvation on man, upon the condition that man shall believe in Christ and yield obedience to the terms of the gospel.

4. In church affairs, a solemn agreement between the members of a church, that they will walk together according to the precepts of the gospel, in brotherly affection.

COVENANT, v.i. To enter into a formal agreement; to stipulate; to bind ones self by contract. A covenants with B to convey to him a certain estate. When the terms are expressed ti has for before the thing or price.

They covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26.

COVENANT, v.t. To grant or promise by covenant.

Leviticus 26:9
9 "I will look favorably upon you and multiply your people and fulfill my covenant with you.

Covenant In Business
I have a covenant of blessing. That covenant allows me to succeed in business despite what my competition does. If fact if my competition is not a believer I will take over that business and those clients just like the Israelites drove out the sinful inhabitants of the land God promised them. If my competition is a believer than I am able to pray for his success and God will bless us both with more than enough business. In fact the competition of believers will only serve to make us sharper and more cutting edge. The bible says that as iron sharpens iron we sharpen each other. So just like Microsoft and Apple sharpen each other and feed on each others innovations, my business whatever it is, will only be sharpened and enhanced by the presence of believers in my competition.

Covenant Promises are Conditional
Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26: 9 and 14 say that Obedience causes Blessing and Disobedience causes Curse.

Having conditions; Does the new covenant override/supersede the old covenant?

We have a better covenant with better promises. The gentiles were told repeatedly by Paul not to enter the old law but embrace the new grace. The Apostles of Jerusalem instructed believers to only focus on four things and not all the issues of the Law. Jesus fulfilled the Law. God has placed his law in our hearts now. Therefore the law is still being obeyed, but it's a natural outgrowth of the Love in us, not a forced ritual from the outside.

Because of the new birth we get stuff because he loves us as Father. Under the New Covenant we do not DO to GET, we DO from LOVE. 

Who is the New Covenant with? It is between God the Father and Jesus Christ. We enter through Jesus as substitutes, literally as him. Separate from Jesus we have no covenant. We live in his stead on earth and reap his reward.

Do VS Receive
As men, we are very production oriented. In sales we have a do, do, do mentality. We are told over and over must make/receive X amount of calls in order to get certain results. But in Christ we must come to terms with the fact that we were blessed before we DID anything. We cannot carry that do mentality over into our relationship with God. In fact, the do mentality may hinder our sales at work too if we don't first allow the grace of God to lead us in our work. In Christ we don't have to knock on 100 doors before lunch, we have to pray and knock on the doors he tells us to. Then we'll get better results for less superfluous effort.

Joshua 1 shows us to meditate on the word and do the word to get results. Genesis 1 shows us that God blessed mankind before man ever had a chance to speak a word. The very first words spoken between God and man were not man speaking to God but God speaking to man. God blessed man before man said or did anything. God is still blessing us before we do anything.

God is our source.
There was a man from, ORU Dr Thomson Matthew, that was speaking on a video for the ministry of helps team and he said that we must come to think of our work paycheck as a bonus not as our main source. We are cared for as kids by our Father in Heaven. We use our "Paycheck" as seed, it is our bonus not our income. God is our income and he can provide a million dollars a billion ways.

Fellowship not Checklist
Good fathers want fellowship with their sons. This is especially true of the father-son relationship as they are both adults. We must remember that our heavenly Father wants fellowship with us. We must not treat prayer time as the part of our checklist saying, "OK... prayed for ten minutes... what's next?" We must spend time fellowshipping with the Father and having a TWO way conversation with him. Only then will we be prepared for our day and the trials that lie ahead.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that His plans for us are GOOD plans. Not plans to harm. We must not be scared of his will. His Covenant is here for us. We are in Covenant through Him. Put that Covenant to work, trust Him to meet your needs. No matter what life throws at us, we can overcome through the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of OUR Testimony. We put it to work by putting His Word in Our Mouths.

Fellowship Defined:

fellowship

FEL'LOWSHIP, n.

1. Companionship; society; consort; mutual association of persons on equal and friendly terms; familiar intercourse.

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Eph. 5.

Men are made for society and mutual fellowship.

2. Association; confederacy; combination.

Most of the other christian princes were drawn into the fellowship of that war. [Unusual.]

3. Partnership; joint interest; as fellowship in pain.

4. Company; a state of being together.

The great contention of the sea and skies parted our fellowship.

5. Frequency of intercourse.

In a great town friends are scattered, so that there is not that fellowship which is in less neighborhoods.

6. Fitness and fondness for festive entertainments; with good prefixed.

He had by his good fellowship - made himself popular, with all the officers of the army.

7. Communion; intimate familiarity. 1John 1.

8. In arithmetic, the rule of proportions, by which the accounts of partners in business are adjusted, so that each partner may have a share of gain or sustain a share of loss, in proportion to his part of the stock.

9. An establishment in colleges, for the maintenance of a fellow.

Good reminder:
Pray for your parents and your relationships with your kids. See them how God sees them and ask what He wants for them.


Darrell G. Wolfe