In Mark 8:14-21, Jesus admonishes His disciples. “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod… Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?… Do you not yet understand?” Jesus sees in His disciples the same stubbornness of will that marks the Pharisees and Herodians.

Paul exhorted the Ephesian elders with his final words to “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock” (Acts 20).

One of the ways you pay attention to yourself is by listening to the correction of Jesus, yes, but also of others. Christians find it much easier to take their correction from Jesus than from His people.

As Americans, we live in a culture where we self-determine how to live. As Christians, we live in the Kingdom of God where we Spirit-determine how to live. We need the Spirit. And what the Spirit determines He never does in isolation but always in relationship. The Father and Son and Spirit never work apart from one another, but always as one. So the Spirit’s full-dimensional work in us, for us and through us is never apart from the “one another” relationship of the people of God. We need each other.

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We can and should predict and plan with wisdom. But the truth is we can never know with absolute certainty what will happen moment to moment. Even, especially(?), in the places we are most familiar with.

In our Western World Neighborhoods there is much happening that with time will likely move into our “neighborhood”. We might be surprised (or not) at what our Western World Neighbors are doing, and we might believe (and be right) that it will never happen here. But, if one day soon or generations from now, everything falls apart in our country, and things we enjoy and hold dear as Christians disappear, you will be able to trust in only two things:

1. The Spirit of God

2. The People of God 

Wherever Paul went, governmental structures and authority shifted. Societal norms and expectations shifted. His personal and work circumstances shifted. Paul wrote, “I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content.” (Philippians 4:11-13) He learned he could face and do all things through Christ who strengthened him.

Yes, Jesus strengthens us through his Word, written and delivered to us for our instruction and encouragement. Yet the written word is a living, breathing and active word in the mouth of the God who inspires it. The Spirit of God takes what is inspired or breathed out by God and inspires, breathes and writes it onto or into our hearts. To become a new creation in Christ is to receive a new orientation and disposition of heart. Out of that now flow new desires, thoughts, motives and actions rooted in the name and presence of God, as reflected in the Word of God.

If the days come and they are confusing and dark beyond what we can feel and see, you can trust in this. The Spirit of the Living God who lives in you will guard your heart. He will lead you step by step. He will enable you to keep pace with the Lord Jesus. You will not skip a beat or miss a word. The Spirit will be your Helper. He will teach you. Remind you. Fill you. Search you. Correct you. Convict you. Constrain you. Compel you. Transform you. He will bring to your attention the Word of God, the character of God, the promises of God, the authority of God, the power of God and the glory of God. All find their fulness and perfection in Jesus Christ. It is by the Spirit that you are born again to new life, so it is by the Spirit that you will live in and walk out that new life.

And Jesus strengthens us through His people. He has saved us into a body, His Body. We are now members connected to other members of the Body of Christ. And to separate ourselves from them is to cut ourselves off from the life of Christ in the Spirit. Through the Body, in particular, a local church, we are built up in our faith. Challenged and corrected. Protected and provided for. Comforted and blessed. You may not believe me, but you cannot survive spiritually without other believers. You will be blinded to yourself. You will go astray in your heart. You will come to believe that following Jesus means living like everybody else.

The truth is, if the day comes, and you feel you are alone as a Christian and not sure what to do or where to go, you will (and should) be able to trust your fellow believers. Your brothers and sisters in Christ. You will know that you can count on them and they on you. That to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep is neither optional nor a luxury, but a necessity. That to “be in the world but not of it” is not a solo venture but a community endeavor. This is why it is paramount that we walk in forgiveness and unity with one another. That we love and bear each other’s burdens. That we seek each other out and not forsake the fellowship of the saints. Because our trust in one another is essential in more ways than we possibly realize both practically and spiritually.

Dear Elim Grace, I urge us to grow both in the fellowship of the Spirit and in the fellowship of the saints. There is no greater recourse – there is no other recourse – for running the race of faith. Give praise to God for His Spirit – Rivers of living water! And give thanks to God for one another – branches in the living vine!

Pastor Jonathan