“Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Acts 2:47
New converts need to go to church for their own spiritual growth. Mature saints need to go to church so they will continue to grow and be a testimony, blessing and a minister to those who need to grow.
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” I Pe. 4:12
The word “fiery” is used to show the intensity that our trials can be. The believer who refuses to mature will always think that no one ever had to face the fiery trials that they had to. It is “woe is me,” “poor me.” All the while God is saying, yes, I see “poor you,” that is why I allow the fiery trials to come to you so you can be made rich in grace and all spiritual blessings.
“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” I Pe. 5:5
There is something very wonderful happening at the church I pastor. First I will say that we are very blessed to have a good group of elder men (fathers) in our church that love God and are mature in the things of God. We also have a good group of young zealous men (sons) that want to follow after and know God more intimately. I am seeing something, I believe I have never seen really work like it should, happening amongst our brethren. The young men have come to a place that they see the elder men as a real blessing and encouragement in their life. The elder are to teach the younger, but sometimes it takes a while for the younger believers to discover the value that older saints of God can be in their life. Sometimes there is a shortage of godly elderly saints, and sometimes young believers are too proud to receive any wisdom and direction from others. There is often a lack of understanding from the church in general that we are a family and we should not be divided up into age groups and encourage generation gaps. But, when it is working like it should, it is a beautiful thing to be a part of. For the younger to submit to the elder is not meant for control, but for spiritual growth and blessing.
