Love One Another

 Love One Another

Do You Back Up The Saints?

 

 

The early church had three things that helped them grow and take over the Roman Empire.

First, they had the Holy Spirit. They were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, who led them and guided them in their work.

If your church never speaks of or teaches the Holy Spirit. If they do not listen to or operate through the Holy Spirit. That should be a big red flag. Especially in these last days.

Second, the saints of old were willing to die for what they believed. They faced terrible persecution. They were fed to lions, crucified and burned. They faced it with joy. This led the people of Rome to see that they really believed, and therefore the Gospel might be true. The early church put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

Now, many have faced death for what they believe. But, the difference is that the early church saw death as a door to going home to be with the Lord. Their belief was real. Our attitude towards death is to be different than the world’s. We see death as an escape from this world, and being with Christ. (Phil. 1:21-30)

We get saved, and the Holy Spirit works in our life. We see that God is real and we trust Him. This leads us to see death as a gateway to new life. We are going home.

The third thing is love. The Holy Spirit works in our life and develops love in us. It is a love that defies our fleshly reason. Love that speaks against our corrupted nature.

The early church grew because of this love.

The ancient world was harsh. It is said that over 90% of Rome were slaves. We could say the same about modern America. These slaves were totally controlled by their masters. They had to ask permission for everything. They could be fired (Killed) for no real reason. Every aspect of their lives was controlled by the master. They were considered a reflection of the master (business)

 I say this, to make the connection between conditions then and now. They were very similar in spirit. The same Demon or Spirit that ruled behind the scenes in Rome, still rules today around us.

These slaves had nothing of their own. It was all owned by their master. (Bank/State)

So here comes the early Christians. They acted weird. They had faith which made them willing to die spiritually and physically to this world. They showed crazy love, not abuse. It was so much different than the world around them. Not because they stopped sinning, but because they loved and had faith.

They had church gatherings where they shared food and money to help each other succeed. They sold everything for this cause. They jumped in with both feet, loving each other and the cause of Christ.

The other slaves were drawn by the Holy Spirit to be a part of this. They wanted to know what this was. Of course some wanted to take advantage, but many were for real. And even those who wanted to take advantage were loved and got saved because of how they were treated in comparison to how the world and the system treated them. They saw the Holy Spirit working, they saw the faith, they saw the love. Real love.

Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”—(John 13:35)

Our success as believers comes through the Holy Spirit, Faith and Love. It comes from God. We cannot do any of these things without Him. We cannot love the way we should without Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit growing and molding us.

Our success in this life as believers comes through the love and support we give each other by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith.

We see someone hurting and we help. We see someone fallen, and we help them rise back up because the Holy Spirit leads us to show love to them. We do this to everyone.

But, how much more should we help other saints?

Our love for our fellow saints shows whether we are even saved or not.

When we see someone who goes to our church hurting, suffering, fallen or in need; do we help them or ignore them? Do we cast them aside because they fell or do we go to them? Do we support them in ministry, business and life? Or do we ignore them because they don’t measure up to traditions of men? I shouldn’t even need to post bible verses to prove it.

Shouldn’t the leaders of the church be leading the church in love? To help others? to support the saints in life and in their ministry work for Christ? Not to be seen of men or to look good because you’re supporting the latest fad. But, to help those people Jesus speaks of in Mathew 25. It’s easy to love children in need. But, our love is supposed to be big enough to love the prisoner. To love the enemy.

This love can only come by the Holy Spirit. Course, if your church doesn’t really believe in the Holy Spirit, that could be a problem.

All saints are gifted for service. Our service comes by the Holy Spirit working through us and developing the fruit in us. Is that happening in you or in your church? Does all your church love terminate on a few “obedient” people?

Do you have little cliques in your church? Groups of people who control everything and no one else can get inside or be a real part of? Are you a respecter of persons? Like James spoke about; embracing the rich while destroying and ignoring the poor or lower class? (James 2:1-9)

Is that love?

 Real love is shown in Christ, when he died for those who hate Him, and forgave them.

Love is explained in First Corinthians chapter 13.

Love is shown throughout the Word.

Love is shown in how God has loved you.

Love is shown by doing unto others what you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)

We are to overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:21)

Loving others, is good and is a form of spiritual warfare. When we see evil such as poverty, or oppression or disease, we respond with love. We don’t victim blame. or make unrighteous judgements. We help. When evil is done to us we turn it around for good, by faith and love with the Holy Spirit.

We are saved by Grace,through faith. Not by works. (Eph 2:8-10)

We are not saved by Love. We are saved by God’s love and grace, but not our own. However, our love for the saints and others is a reflection of what God has done for us. It is a reflection of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit working in and through us.

We win the fight of faith through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in us. Our love is through Him. All our failures work to lead us and grow us in Him if we turn to Him. These failures and hurts teach us to love, and have faith in Him. (Rom 8:28)

We succeed in Him.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“  a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

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