The Welfare System of the Church 1: As Helper of Many

^{Romans 16:1-2
1}Now I introduce and commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae,

² That you may receive her in the Lord [with a Christian welcome], as saints (God’s people) ought to receive one another. And help her in whatever matter she may require assistance from you, for she has been a helper of many including myself [shielding us from suffering] AMP.

The Church has an apostolic call for which it has been cleansing, preparing, and for which God has been and will continue to do a thorough job of removing anything that was not born of His Spirit. The works of the flesh that God is consuming through His fire will help her walk in purity and with the maturity and stature of Christ He commissioned the five-fold-ministry to guide her to. By the time this work of cleansing and restoration leading to maturity is reached, several things will be manifested through the Church:

First, the demonic doctrines and humanistic theories taught through many pulpits that has caused her to leak out impurities and have made her bruised and marked from strife and division within (the works of the influence of anti-Christ in her midst), and have also made her pretty much repulsive to those in the world will be eradicated and the people of God will continue to be brought back from rebellion against God and His ways to embrace Him as they see Jesus with brand new eyes and return to their first love.

In addition, during this Schemitah Sabbatical year (See the post “The Seven Year Sabbath Shemitah 5775” posted 5/14/2014) and beyond, the Church will also be brought to the understanding that she has been commissioned to be a soccurer of the people in the land—a job that the government had taken, but was not called to do without her help, and that is why it has been difficult to fulfill. The reason is because the Church has been anointed, appointed, and prepared to help remove needs in the lives of people.

As a processor and distributor of wealth in the land, and as she walks in Kingdom of God dominion, Salvation will take care of the people’s spiritual needs; teaching and continual exposure to the Gospel of the Kingdom that models Jesus Christ for them to follow after, will help the Church recognize Him for the time of His second coming, so she does not run to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Physical needs will also be met through the healing power released through her. But Proverbs 6:16-19 says,

These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren. NKJV

These are the works of the anti-Christ spirit that have caused the Church to be bruised and wounded, spotted and wrinkled, powerless, and ineffective to the world, but the healing power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the redemptive work done at the Cross will cause her to walk in the power and authority she had lost. The more the Church will give herself to allow the Lord to heal her of the wounds in her soul, the more she will be more apt to walking in the great grace the early Church walked in that removed poverty and lack from her midst. As mentioned in other posts, a couple of examples of the great grace that removed  poverty and lack as modeled in the Early Church as she begins to walk in Kingdom of God dominion again are: Acts 2:44-47 says,

⁴⁴ Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, ⁴⁵ and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. ⁴⁶ So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. NKJV

Also, Acts 4:32-35 explains, ³² Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. ³³ And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. ³⁴ Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, ³⁵ and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

For this reason, Jesus is coming to heal the wounds of the Church and to put salve in her eyes that she may see Him with new eyes and will see Him and her destiny with a new and renewed focus. The mindset of the Church will be transformed from being like Rachel’s to thinking like Ruth and Mary, the sister of Lazarus (See the posts “Ruth and Mary’s Example” posted 1/30/2013 and “The Stewardship of God’s Grace: Standing Firm in His Righteousness” posted 9/17/2012).

But following chapter four in the book of Acts came a warning to anyone who would try to make a mockery of the Holy Spirit and His power to save. The warning came to those who, under the influence of the anti-Christ spirit and the workings of Mammon, were met with the judgment of God. Acts 5:1-11 relates the story of Ananias and Sapphira, two non-believers (rather sorcerers), who thought they could take advantage of the great blessings God had brought upon the Church and by conspiring to lie to the Apostle Peter, thought they could mock this mighty move of the Holy Spirit of King Jesus, the Judicial Christ, and fell dead to the ground.

This will demonstrate the two edged sword of authority and power that the Church will also learn to walk in as she is taught to apply the wisdom and knowledge of the times when the priestly anointing needs to be applied for the salvation, healing, restoration, and deliverance of souls, and of the fallen, as well as when to walk in her Kingship anointing to defend and advance the Kingdom of our Lord and see the other kingdoms become the kingdoms of our God. To Him alone be all the glory. ■

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