Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
When God’s saints agree to gather at a certain place and a certain time, that agreed-upon commitment takes precedence over any individual in the congregation. Jesus said that if as few as two of his saints agree concerning anything, it carries much great weight in heaven. And if that is true of but two saints, how much more weight does an entire congregation’s agreement carry with the Father?
When a congregation of sanctified people agree to meet together, it is sin for any who belongs to that congregation to be absent – except for whatever exceptions that the congregation allows. It may be acceptable for a congregation (as with the saints who meet in my house) for a child and a parent to miss a meeting for a certain school activity, or for an adult to miss a meeting because he must be at work. But if a congregation led by the Spirit cannot accept even those reasons for being absent from a meeting, the judgment of the body takes precedence, in the eyes of God, over any individual opinion or desire.
We in Christ are not our own. This is not a faith of individual greatness or individual opinion but of communion with Christ in the light.