The church today doesn’t look anything like the early church. I have noticed one BIG difference between the two. The early church didn’t have a Bible, they lived what they believed. They trusted in Holy Spirit who guided them in all truth. Today, instead of relying on Holy Spirit as they did, the church relies on the Bible to do the talking. Back then Holy Spirit spoke to them. Like Jesus said, “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Have you ever looked at the mission statement of the church you attend? Most churches teach the Bible, not Jesus. They are following the Bible and not Jesus. This is a BIG contrast between the early church and the church today. Back then they had three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today the church has Father, Son, and Holy Bible. The truth is in Christ, not the Bible. The devil used scriptures against Jesus. The religious leaders accused Jesus of blaspheming because what He taught went against their interpretation of the law. Peter and John were whipped for teaching the Name of Jesus after the crippled man was healed. They were “uneducated and untrained men.” “THE TRUTH IS IN CHRIST.” “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN DESIRES, because THEY HAVE ITCHING EARS, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and THEY WILL TURN THEIR EARS AWAY FROM THE TRUTH, AND BE TURNED ASIDE TO FABLES. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” All the scriptures are written about Jesus, the Word made flesh. In the early church, they knew Jesus as the Word of God because there was no Bible back then. Today, sadly the Word of God is reduced to what was done and not who He is. “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, and THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, and THE WORD WAS GOD. HE WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD. ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM, AND WITHOUT HIM NOTHING WAS MADE THAT WAS MADE. IN HIM WAS LIFE, and THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN.” “AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US, AND WE BEHELD HIS GLORY, THE GLORY OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH” Jesus even questioned searching the scriptures for eternal life. “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and HE HAS BORNE WITNESS TO THE TRUTH. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, BUT I SAT THESE THINGS THAT YOU MAY BE SAVED. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to REJOICE IN HIS LIGHT. But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish––the very works that I do––bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE HIS WORD ABIDING IN YOU, BECAUSE WHOM HE SENT, HIM YOU DO NOT BELIEVE. YOU SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES, FOR IN THEM YOU THINK YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE; AND THESE ARE THEY WHICH TESTIFY OF ME. BUT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO COME TO ME THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE.”
I pray that the eyes of your understanding be enlightened. Remember, “Jesus came it give you life and it more abundantly.” Be blessed, my friends.
