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Importance of fellowship

 The Word for Today.     The importance of fellowship Mar 2, 2025 ‘All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship,’ Acts 2:42 NLT Euclid was a Greek mathematician who lived about three hundred years after Christ. He is best known for his thirteen-volume series of books called Elements. Two of his axioms of geometry have been revised to produce the modern saying: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’ Another way of saying this would be ‘something happens in a group that doesn’t happen alone’. That ‘something’ is called ‘synergy’. It comes from the Greek word sunergia, meaning cooperation and working together. The New Testament church practised it: ‘All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer’ (Acts 2:42 NLT). Jesus described spiritual synergy in these words: ‘“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth con...
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Knowing the Counterfeit

 The Word for Today. 

  

Knowing the counterfeit from the genuine

Jan 15, 2025


‘For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.’ 2 Corinthians 11:14 ESV


In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul reveals four ways in which Satan works like a master counterfeiter.


First, he supplies a counterfeit saviour: ‘… For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.’ (2 Corinthians 11:14 ESV) So though there are cults that preach Jesus, they do not preach the Christ of Christianity.


Second, Satan presents counterfeit servants: ‘For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. … So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds’ (2 Corinthians 11:13, 15 ESV).


Third, Satan brings counterfeit saints: Paul identifies these false brethren as those who seem like your brother or sister on the outside but are secretly your enemy on the inside (see Galatians 2:4). Further, Satan offers us a counterfeit salvation: ‘But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a Gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed’ (Galatians 1:8 ESV).


It’s not necessarily that Christians pretend to be children of the devil, but instead that the ungodly frequently appear to be righteous. God can distinguish a sinner from a saint, and you’re going to discover both inside the church just as you will outside it. And that’s a good thing because constant exposure to Bible preaching is what changes people. Jesus never claimed that the church was perfect, and neither should we. Our awareness of these truths shouldn’t make us self-righteous and judgmental. Rather, it should make us paramedics of God’s grace and mercy and cause us to be more fully committed to Christ.


SoulFood: Isa 49-52 Luke 3:11-20 Ps 81 Pro 2:11-15

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