Believe in the Lord Jesus
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December 19, 2010 |
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 "And [the jailer] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' They said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.' And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house." (Acts 16:29-32)
When he arrived in Philippi during his missionary journey, the apostle Paul met a slave-girl who had an evil spirit of divination and profited her masters greatly by fortune-telling. Paul drove the evil spirit away from her. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities. Finally they were thrown into the inner prison and their feet were fastened in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, and suddenly a great earthquake occurred, and then the foundations of the prison house were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened.
When the jailer saw the prison doors opened, he supposed that the prisoners had escaped, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!"
The jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. And he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The apostle Paul said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household" and spoke the word of the Lord to him and all who were in his house.
What do we have to do in order to powerfully and efficiently preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus the way the apostle Paul did?
First of all, we have to pray on a regular basis.
Just as we cannot live without breathing, if we don't pray, our spirit is finally led to death because prayer is the breath of our spirit. Then, we cannot communicate with God and cannot hear the Holy Spirit nor can we be guided or supervised by Him. So we cannot overcome the desires of the flesh and eventually we commit sins. Sin leads to the death of the spirit. When we don't pray, we meet with various trials and fall into temptations of the world.
In addition, because we don't receive power and strength from above, we feel burdened carrying out our God-given duties. If we commit the fulfillment of our duties to God through prayer and obey His will, we never find it difficult to perform those duties.
Today is the end time of the ages where sins and evils are rampant in the world and the enemy devil is prowling around trying to find someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore, we should stay awake and cry out in prayer always and also receive spiritual power from above so that we can keep our spirit blameless and protect the souls assigned to us from the attacks of the enemy devil and then fulfill our God-given duties completely.
Second, we have to arm ourselves with the Word of God recorded in the Bible.
If we have fully armed ourselves with the Word of God in the midst of fervent prayers, no matter what kind of problems of another believer we meet, we can be managed by the Holy Spirit to speak with the specific words of God that will help him understand what God's will is toward him. When we take care of the souls with spiritual words, they can courageously overcome any kind of trials and stand on the rock of faith.
The power that can affect change in the audience that is embedded in the message preached depends on the measures of faith of the preachers and their deeds of obedience to the Word of God.
When we do the will of God and teach others, the Holy Spirit works for them as far as the piercing and division of their soul, spirit, joints and marrow and they will repent of their sins with tears and rending of their hearts. Those who are assigned for some God-given duties should not only listen to and act by the Word of God but also make their spiritual bread of it at the proper measure worthy to teach others.
Third, we have to manifest signs by the power of God.
When the Lord's disciples spread the gospel, He confirmed their words with many signs and many people could gain salvation (Mark 16:20).
It is the same for the cells, districts and missions for which we have been given charge. When signs and wonders are manifested as the proof of God's confirmation of our messages, we can accomplish many more works of God and accomplish greater revival. If a cell member falls sick or suffers from afflictions, the leader and members of the cell should be able to resolve his problem and heal his diseases as quickly as possible by praying in agreement.
Whenever those healing miracles and signs happen, many believers come to do their best to come together, improve the levels of their faith and are filled with the Holy Spirit so that the number of those who gain salvation increases day by day.
Fourth, we have to take care of the souls with love and allow for them to be united in one heart.
The spiritual state of the souls depends on the measure of the true and spiritual love of the leader who cares for them. When we pray for them, provide them with spiritual bread and diligently take care of them, they feel an intimate fellowship as part of a family.
A cell leader has to have delicate sense of interest to the point of knowing how many spoons his cell members have in their homes, and closely examine whether there are some who are suffering from difficulties or persecutions. When he cares for the members with that delicate love, the members follow him from the heart and come to trust one another until they speak out even secrets they cannot share with their family.
Fifth, we have to set aflame the fire of evangelism.
When we ourselves evangelize and take care of the souls, we can feel the heart of the shepherd. When we evangelize, we become filled with the Holy Spirit. In the same way, evangelism brings revival to a church and leads evangelists to gain many kinds of benefits including the blessing of the prosperity of their soul.
In order to ignite the fire of evangelism, we have to lead many church members to pray fervently and plant faith and hope into their hearts. If we spread the messages confirmed with the signs performed by the power of God and help them become united by taking care of them with spiritual love, they will have fervor for evangelism themselves and voluntarily evangelize many others.
May you come forth as competent workers of God, lead numerous souls to the path to salvation and powerfully accomplish the kingdom of God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
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