Do We Really Need To Fellowship With Other Saints?
Question : Do we really need to fellowship with other saints in order to grow spiritually or else can we depend on the Holy Spirit who is with in us? Is the guidance of the Holy Spirit not enough as there are many counterfeit ministers of God misleading the Church?
Answer : You see, just because there are counterfeit notes doesn't mean that there is no original present in a place. Instead the very presence of counterfeit shows that there is a original over there somewhere which the anti-social elements have tried to replicate. So the elders, bishops and the deacons of the five fold ministry gift of Jesus is as much important in our days as in the times of old (Eph 4:11). We cannot expect to grow without them as the Lord expects us to be equipped through them to the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we might not be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men who do it in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But instead we should learn to speak the truth in love to the body of Christ by sharing the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us personally within (1 Cor 12:7; Gal 5:6), so that we might cause spiritual growth in the body of Christ through the working of His power (1 Cor 12:11; Php 2:13), and in the process we too grow to edify our self in love through being a blessing to others (Eph 4:12-13, 14-16; 1 Cor 13:1-3). Choose a church that you feel comfortable with, where you have the opportunity to serve God and grow spiritually, or else get along with other believers on the Lord's day to create a home fellowship and start a worship regularly, because where ever there are two or three believers gathered together in the name of Jesus, Jesus has promised to be present in that place with His corporate presence to bless them (Matt 18:20).
For example, I know that God who has called me in to his five-fold office, and has enabled me by faith to reach the saints around the world through our online ministry. That doesn't mean I need no fellowship with other saints. Instead as I have waited upon Him, He has given me wonderful fellowship of brethren both online and offline. The only advantage we have now that the saints of old did not have is the ability to fellowship with other saints using the latest technologies and enhance the way we receive the word of God in to our soul and spirit. We should never forget that we need the guidance of spiritually mature people to make us grow in our lives as they are put as the leaders of the real Church by the sovereign choice of God. They are spiritual men who have been called and trained through much trials in their personal lives to minister to the saints of God and equip them spiritually.
The only thing that we should be careful about is to recognize which ministry is counterfeit and which is original, and then embrace that which we find as genuine (Rev 2:2). Once we grow spiritually through the good spiritual guidance of the elders, then we can start to guide others and bring them in to this deeper fellowship with the Father God and the Son spiritually within the kingdom of God (1 John 1:1-4), acting as elders of the Church (1 Peter 5:1-6). This can happen in today's world of technology both online and offline. I mean a pastoral guidance can be made effective online as much as it is done in the normal setting of the Church. The bottom line is, fellowship with God's saints is important for our spiritual growth and that is why the Bible says, "24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb 10:24-25). As the Day of rapture is approaching us nearer and nearer, the world is getting more and more consumed in pleasing itself than its Creator God, thus making sin and lawlessness to abound without love for one another as Jesus has already predicted (Matt 24:3-4, 12-14). I believe, as we find harder to share our fellowship time and grow spiritually in this busy world, God has made it possible for the saints to be encouraged through the online websites and social-media fellowships where we share and encourage one another to grow more and more in the Lord, so that we can stand firm till the end to be raptured when Jesus comes to take away His saints before the Tribulation comes to the whole earth (Matt 24:13; Luke 21:36; Rev 3:10).
Yes we can depend on the Holy Spirit within as He is the anointing who teaches us personally (1 John 2:20, 27), but without spiritual growth happening constantly through edification that comes through the reading and hearing of the word of God, we will soon be deceived. If we do continue in fellowship with the saints, there will be some one to encourage us when we fall and then help us walk (Gal 6:1). Thanks and Blessings....
Answer : You see, just because there are counterfeit notes doesn't mean that there is no original present in a place. Instead the very presence of counterfeit shows that there is a original over there somewhere which the anti-social elements have tried to replicate. So the elders, bishops and the deacons of the five fold ministry gift of Jesus is as much important in our days as in the times of old (Eph 4:11). We cannot expect to grow without them as the Lord expects us to be equipped through them to the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we might not be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men who do it in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But instead we should learn to speak the truth in love to the body of Christ by sharing the gift of the Holy Spirit given to us personally within (1 Cor 12:7; Gal 5:6), so that we might cause spiritual growth in the body of Christ through the working of His power (1 Cor 12:11; Php 2:13), and in the process we too grow to edify our self in love through being a blessing to others (Eph 4:12-13, 14-16; 1 Cor 13:1-3). Choose a church that you feel comfortable with, where you have the opportunity to serve God and grow spiritually, or else get along with other believers on the Lord's day to create a home fellowship and start a worship regularly, because where ever there are two or three believers gathered together in the name of Jesus, Jesus has promised to be present in that place with His corporate presence to bless them (Matt 18:20).
For example, I know that God who has called me in to his five-fold office, and has enabled me by faith to reach the saints around the world through our online ministry. That doesn't mean I need no fellowship with other saints. Instead as I have waited upon Him, He has given me wonderful fellowship of brethren both online and offline. The only advantage we have now that the saints of old did not have is the ability to fellowship with other saints using the latest technologies and enhance the way we receive the word of God in to our soul and spirit. We should never forget that we need the guidance of spiritually mature people to make us grow in our lives as they are put as the leaders of the real Church by the sovereign choice of God. They are spiritual men who have been called and trained through much trials in their personal lives to minister to the saints of God and equip them spiritually.
The only thing that we should be careful about is to recognize which ministry is counterfeit and which is original, and then embrace that which we find as genuine (Rev 2:2). Once we grow spiritually through the good spiritual guidance of the elders, then we can start to guide others and bring them in to this deeper fellowship with the Father God and the Son spiritually within the kingdom of God (1 John 1:1-4), acting as elders of the Church (1 Peter 5:1-6). This can happen in today's world of technology both online and offline. I mean a pastoral guidance can be made effective online as much as it is done in the normal setting of the Church. The bottom line is, fellowship with God's saints is important for our spiritual growth and that is why the Bible says, "24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb 10:24-25). As the Day of rapture is approaching us nearer and nearer, the world is getting more and more consumed in pleasing itself than its Creator God, thus making sin and lawlessness to abound without love for one another as Jesus has already predicted (Matt 24:3-4, 12-14). I believe, as we find harder to share our fellowship time and grow spiritually in this busy world, God has made it possible for the saints to be encouraged through the online websites and social-media fellowships where we share and encourage one another to grow more and more in the Lord, so that we can stand firm till the end to be raptured when Jesus comes to take away His saints before the Tribulation comes to the whole earth (Matt 24:13; Luke 21:36; Rev 3:10).
Yes we can depend on the Holy Spirit within as He is the anointing who teaches us personally (1 John 2:20, 27), but without spiritual growth happening constantly through edification that comes through the reading and hearing of the word of God, we will soon be deceived. If we do continue in fellowship with the saints, there will be some one to encourage us when we fall and then help us walk (Gal 6:1). Thanks and Blessings....
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