Sunday, April 8, 2012
Angel of Light
Paul was a fierce persecutor of the early Christian Church. Imbued with an authority given to him by the chief priest, he was on the hunt for men and women of God to take them to prison.
His merciless hatred was not due to jealousy, a political position, financial or personal interests.
His determination to put an end to Christianity came from the extreme zeal he had towards the traditional faith of his ancestors.
He was spiritually blind and a religious fanatic.
On the other hand, his actions also revealed something sublime about his character: he had great zeal for his faith and was irreproachable when it came to complying with Jewish law.
In other words, he was sincere. He was definite about his belief.
Because of his sincerity, God appointed him as the chosen instrument to be sent as the apostle of the Gentiles.
His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus changed the story of his life and the Church.
Because he was an intelligent lawyer, studious and had a profound knowledge of the Scriptures, he initially faced a strong opposition from the first apostles, who did not believe in the transformation of the persecutor and novice in the faith to an "overnight" apostle.
However, because of the extraordinary revelations, prophecies, works, and especially the testimony of the Lord Jesus and Ananias (Acts 9:10-13), everyone accepted him as one of the early apostles.
During his ministry among the Gentiles (not the Jews), Paul quickly identified deceitful workers who transformed themselves into apostles of Christ.
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." 2 Corinthians 11.13-15
What do we learn from this?
The same spirit that passed itself off as an angel of light during the time of Paul, manifests itself today as well.
The same Spirit of God that revealed the deceitful workers to Paul has also revealed false apostles to us today.
The credentials of a true apostle are:
As patriarchs, the apostolate was the first of the ministries. They were the main tree trunk, the first fruits of God. From them come the prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The other ministries stem from them. I Corinthians 12.28, Ephesians 4.11, 2 Peter 3.2
We should and must definitely test the spirits.
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." I John 4.1
it is Whitten
Paul said that the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that they would not understand the Gospel, 2 Corinthians 4.4.
I go even further to say: uncleans spirits have stopped people from exercising their understanding of the thoughts of God.
Usually, people are too lazy to think. They want everything handed to them easily. This only makes their deliverance more difficult.
We can deliver them from evil spirits while in they are in Church. But outside, the same evil spirits will try to come back into their lives. If their foundation is not built upon the thoughts (Word) of God, those spirits will return.
We must resist them in our minds! People have to doubt the thoughts of doubt, the thoughts of fear and the thoughts of worry, based on what God has spoken and written…
Mind, intellect, reason and understanding are the base of making a decision.
Deciding whether to choose and obey what is good or what is evil.
When we decide to obey the Word of Good, evil is neutralized.
Because of this, Satan has invested strongly in preventing the thoughts of God from reaching mankind’s intellect.
He knows that if this happens, the person will be free from his prison, depression or whatever else.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8: 32
It is in the intellect that intelligent faith is processed.
It is free. It does not depend on anybody else. We can use the promises of God anytime and anywhere.
Jesus said: you shall know the truth. This takes place in the mind.
If He wanted this truth in the heart, He would say: you shall feel the truth…
A faith that is processed in the heart is useless. It keeps the person imprisoned by their feelings. Their decisions are made depending on what they feel.
Religions were created by the devil to encourage emotional faith. Even the evangelical religion!
Faith that is processed in the intellect believes in what is written.
And because he believes, it does not matter what he feels or does not feel.
This is the secret of victory: using an intelligent faith.
This is a faith that is based on the Word of the Eternal, Creator, Almighty, of Him that will never, ever fail.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Mathew 24: 35
The Glory of the greeks_________________________________
The Passover Feast
The Jewish people went up to Jerusalem to celebrate their freedom from Egyptian slavery.
During the feast, there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship, who took advantage of this opportunity to meet Jesus.
When He found out that the Greek men wanted to meet Him, Jesus said: “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” John 12.21-23
The blind gained sight, the dead resurrected, the lame walked, lepers were cleansed, the possessed were set free from evil spirits and an infinity of other miracles happened. Yet, none of this was enough to glorify Jesus.
Crowds gathered to meet Him with garments and palm branches as He entered Jerusalem. However, this was still not a reason for Him to be glorified.
What kind of miracle, worship or words of praise would truly express His glory?
The Greeks met the desires of the Lord.
Not because they were part of a philosophical society, but because they cared more about reason than feelings.
It is one thing to glorify Him because of the miracles He performed and it is another to glorify Him for Who He is.
Up until then, people wanted to meet Him because He performed miracles or because they were curious to see Him perform miracles.
But what the Greeks really wanted was to know Him.
This attitude is what causes people to be born of water and the Spirit.
They are the ones that make the hour come to glorify the Son of Man and transfer the feast of Jerusalem to the Heavens.
“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15.7
Bishop Macedo
Lord of the Fallen away-Part 1
We can say that all of the stories in the Bible are either about those who fell away from the faith or those who were rescued. By closely examining the Scriptures, we find that the first time someone fell away from the presence of God took place in heaven.
Lucifer lived close to his Creator in the Garden of Eden. He was the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and beauty, adorned with every precious stone, anointed as a guardian cherub, remained on the Holy Mountain of God; overall, he was perfect, Ezekiel 28.
Because of this, pride was born in his heart and it made him think that he could ascend to the heavens, raise his throne above the star of God and sit enthroned on the mount of assembly. He wanted to be like the Almighty, Isaiah 14.13-14. He wanted to steal the Glory of God and ended up taking one third of the angels with him, away from the presence of the Lord.
God entrusted the angels to Lucifer, but because He is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, He knew the intention of his rebellious heart, and without any other alternative, He expelled him from heaven.
Upon landing on Earth, he managed to make Adam turn away from God. Adam, who was influenced by the “lord” – yes, lord of the fallen away – disobeyed God and turned away from the Almighty. That was it! Satan had established his kingdom here on Earth.
On one side, there was a spiritual army of fallen away rebels. On the other, the human race, who are descendents of the firstborn of the fallen away – in fact, now I understand why “…the whole word lies under the sway of the wicked one.” 1 John 5.19
What’s interesting is that history continues repeating itself nowadays. We see the person that was evangelized turning against the person that evangelized him, calling himself equal or greater than the person, who spent years delivering him, teaching him, and finally, entrusting a ministry in his hands.
The pride in his heart made him rebellious, like Lucifer, “your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of yoursplendor, I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.” Ezekiel 28: 17
The lord of the fallen away has blinded their understanding in such a way that, in addition to using others that also fell away to form his ministerial army, he treats the one who won his soul and introduced him to the Gospel with utter disrespect.
I find myself obliged to warn all those who have fallen away from the presence of God and those who are being tempted to do such foolishness: Run back into the arms of the Lord Jesus. The lord of the fallen away is the “father” of all those who turn away from the Almighty. He will drag your soul to hell if you happen to die apart from the One who extended His forgiveness and His mercy to save you, and you rejected Him.
Do you want to live in eternity with this kind of “father”?
God bless you
Bishop Sergio Correa
The Furnace and the Fire
God does not deliver from the furnace, but He delivers from the fire.
But of course, not everyone.
Only His servants.
This is what happened with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, sentenced them to death because of their bold disobedience to his commands.
They stood firm and did not bow down or worship his gold statue because of their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel.
The king was so furious that his face became distorted with rage and he ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual.
The Almighty’s faithful servants were bound in their coats, trousers, turbans and other garments, and were cast into the fiery furnace.
Because the king’s command was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flames of fire killed the men who took them up and threw them into the furnace.
However, as the king looked into the furnace, he noticed a fourth man.
He saw them walking around in the fire, but it was not burning their hair or coats.
He didn't even smell anything burning, Daniel 3.
Both the people of Babylon and its royalty saw the greatness of the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, because He sent His angel to deliver the servants who trusted in Him.
God honored, and still honors, those who would rather sacrifice their lives than serve, adore or worship images of wood, stone or metal.
However, worshipping your heart, family and this world is just as evil as worshipping images.
The Lord Jesus teaches us:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find It”, Matthew 10.34-39
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