April 25, 2024

In the early church, the Holy Spirit through ministering servants who moved from one place to another ministered Christ to the saints. Paul and Barnabas preached Christ in Lystra and some were drawn and there was a gathering unto the Lord in Lystra. Paul and Barnabas then moved on to Iconium, they preached Christ again and there was once again a gathering unto the Lord in Iconium. Between Lystra and Iconium there was a gathering unto the Lord. In this manner the saints were brought into a fellowship with one another. They were not brought into fellowship by affiliation but by the ministration of Christ through His word in the Spirit. In other words, it was not first of all through an organized affiliation that Lystra and Iconium were joined. It was the ministration of Christ through the word in the Spirit that joined the gatherings in different localities. The ministers were the ‘joints of supply’ (Ephesians 4:16). Churches today are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and efforts to piece them together only result in frustration! We can have the best of ecumenical movements, but that is not going to join the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle! The proper joining of people into a Body can only be done through the ministration of Christ, by anointed ministries.

Judges 6:1-40 Luke 22:54-23:12 Psalm 95:1-96:13 Proverbs 14:5-6

Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; Colossians 3:9