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The Amish Voice 10
Consider Acts 2:47. It says that the early
church was “
Praising God, and having
favor with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should
be saved.”
Who did the adding? Jesus did!
Who does the
adding
today?
Jesus does!
Fact 3:
"The gates of hell
shall not prevail." Christ
Himself
protects
the
church.
Ever since the church
began in the book of
Acts, Satan and his
people have tried their
best to get rid of her;
but
notice,
Jesus
promised that nothing,
including the gates of
hell, will overcome
and
conquer
His
church. No one is
capable of bringing
her down!
If you belong to the
universal church of God
, you are part of
Christ’s valued possession. Consider the
price that Jesus paid for His church.
To the elders of the church, God
says:
Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over
the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers, to feed the church of
God, which He hath purchased with
his own blood.
—Acts 20:28
How valuable is the universal church to
Jesus Christ?
Oh, she is precious to Him! He is madly
in love with her and considers us His
beautiful bride! One day, the bride (that’s
us) will go to meet the Groom (that’s
Him). When that happens, we will see
and experience the wedding of all
weddings. Read Ephesians 5:25-27 and
Revelation 19:6-9.
At times, I can hardy wait for these
things to take place, and they will!
B. The Universal Church was
Activated by the Holy Spirit
Before Jesus went back to heaven, He
gave his disciples some last minute
instructions. He told them to go to the
upper room in Jerusalem and wait on the
Holy Spirit. They followed His advice,
and in Acts chapter 2, we read about the
powerful event. The Holy Spirit came
upon the 120 men and women who were
gathered there waiting, and the church
was born. In Acts 11:15-16, Peter recalls
those early days of ministry. He says:
And as I (Peter) began to speak, the
Holy Ghost fell on them (Gentiles),
as on us (Jews) at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the
Lord, how that he said, John indeed
baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost.
—
Acts 11:15-16
Just like the church had a beginning in
Acts chapter 2, so the
church will have an ending
in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.
The Apostle Paul writes:
For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with
the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise
first: Then we which are
alive and remain shall be
caught up together with
them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air:
and so shall we
(universal
church)
ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore comfort
one another with these
words.
The Local Church
The
universal church
is invisible and
scattered throughout the world. The
local church
is visible and located in
your neighborhood and in mine.
Consider, for instance, the following
assemblies which were established as
local churches:
unto the church of God which is at
Corinth… —1 Cor 1:2
to all the saints in Christ Jesus
which are at Philippi. —Phil 1:1
Join the Church, cont previous page
In Case You Missed It...
On Sunday evening, May 3rd, we did a one hour discussion
on
The Church
. If you were unable to join us for that
Amish
Voice Conference
call, you can still dial in and listen to the
recording.
Dial (641) 715-3800, Enter Code: 89752
Further Instructions:
Any time during a message, you can
press the # key and it will take you back to the opening
announcement at the very beginning.
1) Press 2 to reverse 30 seconds
2) Press 3 to skip forward 30 seconds
3) Press 8 to pause, and 8 again to resume
4) At the end of the recording after you hear the tone,
you may leave a message, thoughts, or questions.
Press the # key and then 1 to save the message.
Continued next page