INTRODUCTION

 

1. We have arrived at another special day on this local church’s yearly calendar - Anniversary Sunday - North Eulalia’s 108th Anniversary.  Enclosed in today’s bulletin is a brief history of the church.  I know many of you have read this before but there may be some attending today who haven’t.  There is also a history book that was put together in 1996 on the occasion of the church’s 100th Anniversary and more has been added to it over the years since.  Take a look at it sometime today.

 

2. Yes, this church has a long history here in Potter County - a history of ups and downs over the years, but the Lord has preserved His work here and has always led people of God to join and participate in the Lord’s work here.  There are many blessings to being a Christian and part of a local church, but for today I want us to center our thoughts around the fellowship of believers.

 

3. A wonderful blessing we enjoy in Christ is fellowship with other Christians...

   a. We are members of one another - Ro 12:5

   b. Thus we have a special bond or tie that binds us together

 

4. A simple yet beautiful song that describes this bond is "Blest Be The Tie"...

   a. Words written by John Fawcett in 1782

   b. Melody by Johann Georg Nageli, arranged by Lowell Mason in 1845

  

[From the words of this song, let's take this opportunity to reflect upon the special bond we enjoy as Christians...]

 

I. FIRST VERSE

 

A. "BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS OUR HEARTS IN CHRISTIAN LOVE"...

1. Consider first what the tie that binds is not

a. It is not an earthly tie, such as:

1) Friendship

2) Marriage

3) Family

-- All of which are either social or physical ties

b. It is not broken like earthly ties, such as through:

1) Separation

2) Incompatibility (e.g., the apostles were a diverse group)  (Ill.: Paul and Barnabus)

3) Death

 

2. Consider then what the tie that binds is

a. Love, not easily broken - cf. Col. 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

b. Love, that comes from the God of love - 1 Jn 4:7-11Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

c. Love, serving as a mark of true discipleship - Jn 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

 

-- The tie involves love that is uniquely Christian; patterned after Christ's love.  Is this the kind of love you have for the brethren here at North Eulalia Baptist Church and for true believers throughout the world?

 

B. "THE FELLOWSHIP OF KINDRED MINDS IS LIKE TO THAT ABOVE"...

1. This tie involves a unity for which Jesus prayed - Jn 17:20-23 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

2. It involves a unity of mind for which Paul prayed - Phil. 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

3. Therefore any threat to this unity is strongly condemned - e.g., 1 Cor. 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

4. We have recently seen the same thing in our studies of the book of James in chapter 4 verses 1-3 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

 

-- The tie seeks to emulate the unity between the Father and the Son

 

[The tie that binds is based upon the love and unity which Christ makes possible; how it is manifested is illustrated in the remaining verses of the song...]

 

II. SECOND VERSE

 

A. "BEFORE OUR FATHER'S THRONE WE POUR OUR ARDENT PRAYERS"...

1. We are blessed to be able to approach God in prayer

a. A privilege enjoyed in Christ - Heb. 4:14-16a READ

b. A privilege with great blessings - Heb. 4:16b (“mercy and grace to help in time of need.”; Phil. 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

Application: What a blessing it is to approach the only God of the whole universe in the name of Jesus Christ.  Only a child of God has that wonderful privilege and yet so many of God’s children never fully avail themselves of this free privilege.  As James says in James 4:2b “ye have not, because ye ask not.”

 

2. This song depicts frequent and fervent prayer

a. Praying for one another - e.g., James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that

ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.; Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without

ceasing of the church unto God for him.

b. Praying with another - e.g., Acts 21:5 And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.

 

Application: When we pray for other believers and with other believers a special Christian tie is built between us.  Really praying for another necessitates that we put aside our own wishes and desires and think of another.  It helps us to get in the other Christian’s “shoes”, so to speak, and to identify with what they are going through.  True intercessory prayer will cause this to happen.  We cannot help but feel and know the tie that binds us together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

-- Such prayer is a benefit of the tie that binds, and also strengthens that tie

 

B. "OUR FEARS, OUR HOPES, OUR AIMS ARE ONE, OUR COMFORTS AND OUR CARES"...

1. We have similar concerns and desires

a. Some concerns and desires because we are simply fellow human beings in this world

1) We desire to be healthy, we fear sickness and dying

2) We enjoy comforts of life, we fear joblessness and poverty

b. Some concerns and desires because we are fellow members of God’s family

1) We share in the struggle to live godly lives in this wicked world --Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

2) We share in the struggles against the same adversary  - 1 Pet. 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

 

2. As Christians, therefore, we can have more in common than we often give credit for

a. Not just because of our human nature

b. But also because we are partakers of the same divine nature

1) Grace and peace are multiplied - cf. 2 Pet. 1:2-3 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of

God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2) We have exceedingly great and precious promises - cf. 2 Pet. 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

-- Our shared experiences, enhanced by our spiritual blessings, strengthen our tie.

 

[The next verse focuses on mutual problems we sometimes face...]

 

III. THIRD VERSE

 

A. "WE SHARE OUR MUTUAL WOES, OUR MUTUAL BURDENS BEAR"...

1. As Christians, we are to bear one another's burdens - Gal. 6:1-2 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 

The word “bear” means to support a burden, to pick up and carry anything.  I wonder how often we really do this?  We see another brother or sister is Christ burdened down with the cares of this world, the trials of this world, and we turn away from them.  God’s Word says we should be willing to help relieve the heavy burden they are bearing.  Of course they have to be willing to let us do that.

2. In times of persecution, we are to remember one another - Heb. 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

3. In times of physical need, we are to provide for one another - James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

-- Manifested in such ways, the tie we have in Christ is truly a blessing

 

B. "AND OFTEN FOR EACH OTHER FLOWS THE SYMPATHIZING TEAR"...

1. Because that is how God composed the body of Christ! - 1 Cor. 12:24b-26 God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

2. That we might weep with those who weep - Rom. 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

 

Application: These verses did not say only women are to weep.  I believe God desires to see brothers and sisters in Christ expressing true sorrow when another member of the body is hurting and suffering.  In our physical body, when one member of the body is hurting the rest of our body does everything possible to care for that hurting part.  We make sure that we do not bump it or strain it until it is healed.  God wants us to sympathize in the same way with one another in the body of Christ!

 

[The final verse describes the impact of the tie that binds, when it comes time to separate, even temporarily...]

 

IV. FOURTH VERSE

 

A. "WHEN WE ASUNDER PART, IT GIVE US INWARD PAIN"...

1. The tie is such that departure can be painful

2. Note the example of Paul and the Ephesian elders - Acts 20:36-38 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

 

Application: Consider the pain that comes when a husband and wife know that they are going to be separated for some time, or when a child makes their first venture away from Dad and Mom and the home sickness that often comes for a time.  Do we feel the same way when separated from our brothers and sisters in Christ?  -- Never experience such pain?  Perhaps one might need to examine their tie

B. "BUT WE SHALL BE JOINED IN HEART, AND HOPE TO MEET AGAIN"...

1. We might be separated in the flesh, but can remain together in spirit - Col. 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

2. We are comforted by a wonderful hope, the blessed hope of the resurrection -- 1 Thess. 4:13-18

 

-- It is this hope which keeps our hearts joined together, when all other bonds fail

 

CONCLUSION

 

1. "Blest Be The Tie" is a beautiful song...

a. That describes the blessings of our oneness in Christ

b. That expresses how many Christians truly feel for one another

 

2. But it describes blessings known only by those...

a. Who have been added by Christ to His church .  This means being born again.

b. Who are diligent in preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace - cf. Eph. 4:1-3 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

Have you been added to the Lord's church through obedience to the gospel (cf. Ac 2:38)?  Are you doing your part to strengthen the tie that binds those in Christ?  On this day as we here at North Eulalia Baptist Church remember the 108 years that there has been a church and a people of God in this place, let us rededicate ourselves to the Lord and to one another to uphold the blessed bond that ties us together.