Fellowship in Fellowships

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"Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works" (Heb 10:24)

Love, Christian love, is indispensable to equip believers to do God's work and prepare them for the coming of the Lord. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks about love here in the context of corporate life. In this there is both the positive side and the negative. Positively, mutual love is to motivate believers to good deeds (v24); negatively, it is to prevent them from backsliding (vv26-29).

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is perhaps the best Old Testament passage to illustrate this New Testament truth: "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour" — This relates to the positive aspect, namely "good deeds." Then the preacher goes on to say, "For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken"—The words "falling... overpowering... breaking" relate to backsliding. Spiritual warmth and strength are the immediate outcome of fellowship (Eccl 4:10-12).

We all know the Parable of the Lost Sheep. How does a sheep get lost? It gets separated from the flock and strays alone. And it falls an easy pray to the enemy. As long as the chicken stay together and close to the hen, they are safe. But when one chick strays from its mother, the eagle easily snatches it away. God's perfect will for His children is that they grow together, go together and glow together.

The awfulness of backsliding is explained in Hebrews 10:29-31. "Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of Grace? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." This passage follows the warning against the neglect of assembling with fellow-believers (v25). Faithful participation and growth in the fellowship of God's people is God's antidote for backsliding. There is no substitute for the "love of the brothers and sisters" (1 Pet 1:22). This would mean that every believer should express his love in action by caring about others in the fellowship. We go to Church not only to worship God but also to show love to His people. A formal greeting or a handshake is not enough. An enquiry with genuine concern is the first step. Loud music after a service or a meeting makes it difficult for believers to talk conveniently to each other.

Oh, lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the wavering feet;
Oh, feed me, Lord, that I may feed
Thy hungering ones with manna sweet!
(Frances R. Havergal, 1836-1879)

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