DEAD CHURCH - LIVING CHURCH 2

 Dead Church – Living Church 2

When that life of God that is the presence of the Holy Spirit, is absent among believers, the people seek alternative sources of power. I don’t care where you are reading me from, the situation is the same all over the world. The leaders might not know it but the people need spiritual power to meet the challenges of everyday life. If the local church lacks this power, the people go to places to secure it.

That was the situation with the church in Ephesus before Apostle Paul visited.

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. [One day] the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Acts 19:13-16NIV

1. Faking the original anointing. The people listened to and hear what God is doing in other places in the power of the name of Jesus Christ. But these things did not happen in their own congregation. Some people who visited revival programs in other cities will now try to practice what they saw in those other places. The leadership are afraid to invite the vessels that God has raised for that purpose because they do not want to lose their members. Unfortunately, no one is available to teach the people and groom them to be worthy vessels for the anointed gospel, some of these people resort to occult and buying spiritual materials from mystic shops in their quest for something that they want but do not know how to acquire it. The bible said that besides the sons of Sceva, there were other people that were doing it. This became a ground for satan and false prophets to exploit the genuine seekers of God. I have seen this a lot as I travel from country to country. You see members of churches doing the same things that fake prophets do among their members. Owing to the fact that no one had the real thing and the leaders are alright with it because the false anointing was not taking the endangered people out of the dead churches, they are permitted to continue. It is important that we note that these young men were children of a religious leader. 

2. There are some errors that cannot be resolved through theological arguments. We need to understand this. Some Christian leaders think that if they point out the false prophets, their people will avoid them. We have learned by experience that they only end up doing free advertisement for the false prophets unless there is a genuine manifestation of the anointing in that local church. It was when the Lord Jesus Christ drew back from those who were exploiting the power in His name, and the demons had liberty to deal with those fake men, that people saw the difference between the genuine and the false.

We saw this kind of thing somewhere else.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw Acts 8:9-13NIV 

No one would have been able to convince Simon the sorcerer to quit what he was doing unless through this kind of manifestation. Take note that even the false prophet was looking for the real thing. When he found it, he also repented and got baptised. This is contrary to the way we see false prophets. We look at them like God is through with them. But the truth remains that God wants all men to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth. The right atmosphere and manifestation of the genuine anointing of the Holy Spirit is what is required to bring the transformation. 

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim 2:3-4NIV

Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Tim 2:25-26NIV

3. Genuine presence of the Holy Spirit will purge the church.

Before the coming of a man with the true anointing, there was all manner of hypocrisy and falsehood going on. That also means that people doubted that there was sufficient power in the name of Jesus Christ to support them. Today we have professing Christians who consult with witchdoctors and belong to the occult. There is no way we can convince them to separate themselves from those things unless we prove to them through the practical manifestation of kingdom power as Apostle Paul did, that there is sufficient power in the church. The first thing they saw was the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit.

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them Acts 19:11-12NIV

It is possible that these people saw this as part of the arts of magic. It was when they noticed that those who took the name of Jesus Christ for granted suffered the consequence instantly and physically that they opened up.

When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.  

This is something the present day church should learn. The open desecration of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by bloggers, comedians and Social Media content creators is having an effect on the move of the gospel in our world. It is time that we petition God through prayers so that people will suffer consequences for this act. 

There are 5 things that happened in this church that led to revival;

a. The Holy Spirit was introduced into their worship and activities.

b. The believers were now filled with the Holy Spirit

c. The power of God became active in their midst in signs, wonders and miracles

d. The false brethren and prophets were exposed and punished

e. The believers separated themselves from every other allegiance they had with satan through idolatry and occult practices. 

When these happened, the following was their testimony;

In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. Act19:20

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com