23/07/2021 - THE CHURCH’S COUNTERPART

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Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Acts 2.43

No doubt the crowd that witnessed the birth of the Church and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was much larger than the three thousand who were converted and baptized. It is sad to know of the existence of people who will let themselves be used by the devil to shame the work of the Spirit of God, betraying and persecuting the true servants of the Lord. Their belly has a greater place in their hearts than the call to follow Jesus (Romans 16.18).

Many do not have the exact notion that they now live in the Holy Kingdom. They practice the same aberrations because they have not yet understood the Word when it comes, for example, to the marriage bed: Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge (Hebrews 13.4). It is not good to deny the guidance of the Almighty. Watch and pray!

There must be fear in Christians, or they will not ascend to live with Christ eternally. Where respect for the Word is lacking, there is room for the enemy to enter and do his work. There is a great number of saved people living like the lost, suffering the same attacks because they are subject to the same falls as the unbelievers. It is not possible that the Word will not receive its due place in the hearts of the born-again!

Children will follow the way of their parents, for what they see in them is similar to what happens in the lives of those who do not profess faith in Jesus. Jacob watched his father Isaac in everything he said and did. Later, when his father-in-law changed his salary, Jacob did not confront him because he had the fear of his father in his heart. Today, our example is Christ, who never gave place to the devil, although He had the right to be angry. 

The result of fearing the Lord in the early Church, from its birth, was that God performed wonders and signs by the hands of the apostles. Has the Lord changed today? No. But we see the church, instead of showing divine power, building hospitals, and hiring doctors to help in evangelization. Peter had neither gold nor silver, but he had the power of the Name of Jesus to heal the paralytic. Today, the church gives crutches to the sick!

More people would be converted, if we would stop loving the world and the things in it, and seek the power from on high, to heal the sick, free the oppressed, and give sight to the blind. In the church led by the Lord, the number of people giving themselves over to sin is small, but something is still missing. In the early church, the consequence of Ananias and Sapphira’s lie increased the fear of all people. 

How about starting with yourself to seek the living God? That will make others also seek their place in Christ. The world needs to see the Lord in believers, or it will not be opened to salvation. According to Jesus, only those who do the same works that He does believe in Him (John 14.21,23). Answer: Do you believe in the Savior?

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares