19/06/2023 - BUILDED, ADORNED AND LIBERATED

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Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice. Jeremiah 31.4

God prepared three blessings for the Old Testament church, the virgin of Israel. The brethren of that time had no way to walk in perfection before the Most High, for Christ had not yet died for the lost. Today, anyone, regardless of being an Israelite or not, can be saved. All that is needed is to hear the Good News of what Jesus did for humanity and believe it (John 1.12). In His sacrifice, Christ took upon Himself our sins, as well as our transgressions, sicknesses and diseases (Isaiah 53:4,5).

At the coming of the Messiah, most of God’s people turned their backs on the Father by not accepting His Son, who would change everyone’s life. Now, the Church is built on an act of righteousness carried out by Jesus when He died in our place. Philosophical preaching will not lead the lost to salvation, nor will offerings of material goods lead people to serve God. What will convince the world about Christ is the demonstration of the Spirit and of divine power.

The apostle Paul knew the responsibility of preaching the Word as Jesus did and spoke about it: And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2.4,5). A person will only be born again if we bear good witness by following the Master’s example!

The text under study says that the Lord would build His vineyard, and this began to be fulfilled when the Son took the Good News from town to town, manifesting divine power in the lives of the suffering. According to the Word, multitudes followed Him because they saw God at work: Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased (John 6.2). This is how the Church of Christ will be edified.

No one will succeed in edifying the Church unless he acts as Jesus did. It is not enough to gather a group of lost people and indoctrinate them according to the will of man. It’s necessary that people’s faith arise because they have heard the Word (Romans 10.17), with the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Thus, they will feel the divine call and surrender to Jesus, tasting the Lord’s will and loving Him with all their heart. The Church of Christ needs to be adorned with its tambourines!

The instruments of power sent from Heaven for the Father’s work to be done, adorn all who love Him, and transform them into good planters of faith in hearts hardened and overcome by sin. God uses the tambourines as an example of the good sound produced by us to those who are still unaware of the joyous sound of the divine anointing in us. The adornment made with gifts and skills from God will make the world understand His plan. Let there be light!

When the members of the Body of Christ go out to fulfill their mission, they resemble the chorus of the Hebrews, who danced after crossing the Red Sea, where the Egyptians who were right behind to kill them, ended up at the bottom of those waters. Get ready to go out with those who have been prepared for this age, because the virgin of Israel is to be edified. God is faithful!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares