[The Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit]
Acts 9:10-19
It is eighth week of online worship. Who would welcome Paul after his repentance through the Holy Spirit? He became a traitor to the Jews, and even though he repented, no Christians welcomed him because he had been persecuting the Christian. In times like this, we need Christian brothers and sisters who take us in. We will be meditating on the brotherhood of the Holy Spirit.
First, they let each other know that the places given in our lives are the mission fields.In other versions of Bible, verse 10 starts with the word now. Now was the time when Saul could not see and did not drink and eat. He was only praying. God likes to work through people He let Sauls eye open and made it possible for Saul to have fellowship with other Christians through Ananias. It was not that Ananias was some great figure that he prayed for Saul he just was where he was supposed to be. Every one of us belongs to each God-given place, the mission field. Keeping your given place in life without any complaints makes you the true and great worker of God. Helping one small group member to attend the small group meeting would never be a small thing to do. Because we do not have brothers and sisters in the Holy Spirit and do not listen to the voice of the members, we leave our given place behind, and seek for our own place for self-satisfaction. God is not pleased with this.
Second, they communicate through prayers.Saul was notorious for great persecution of Christians, and Ananias knew of him well. However, God told him that Saul was humbly praying contrary to his threatening past. And as an answer to this prayer, God guided Saul to be a part of the church through Ananias decisive obedience and brotherly love after Sauls repentance. A brother should help the other to settle down in the community through fellowship of prayers. We should never be indifferent to other peoples prayers. We must pray for the community. And we have to be able to think deeply if the prayer was given to us as Gods command. We must be the answer to their prayers.
Third, they open the spiritual eyes to see again.A brother must let the other in the dark to see again. A brother must train the other well. Through Ananias prayer, Saul was set free from darkness that had lasted three days. Without Gods grace, the world would never open their spiritual eyes nor realize that they are spiritually blinded. Most of the people think that they can see everything when they are blinded to what they really must see. Only by the grace of God through repentance of the Holy Spirit, their hearts will be softened and their spiritual eyes that had been blinded by sin will be opened. Those who became Christian first must help the people who became Christians later it is a duty. People do not know what to believe exactly and how to live when they first meet Jesus so they definitely need help from the brothers of the Holy Spirit. We have to spread the Gospel, and help people to grow also. We must do this for a long time.
Fourth, they help to eliminate the prejudice for mission.Ananias knew exactly that Saul was given authority to arrest Christians this meant that Saul was notorious widely and that he was a fear to Christians. How would Ananias understand Gods command to go to Saul, the great persecutor? But Ananias put down his prejudice, and he asked the Lord with a fact. Then God revealed His plan in details for Saul to him. God told Ananias that Saul was Gods instrument. And Paul regained his eye sights, found his vocation as his spiritual eyes had opened, and his many talents were used for his vocation. Saul was now going to be persecuted and be suffered, rather than persecuting the church and Christians. People who have experienced the light from heaven will be able to obey by reading the Word, and that is QT. We can be motivated to obey upon seeing others making applications and experiencing miracles. The repentance can be consistent by everyone making application upon seeing others application in the community. Saul regained his vision with Ananias prayer, and he got baptized for his vocation. The brothers of the Holy Spirit must take care of each other spiritually and physically like them. Eat with others. Help others. That is the great community of the Holy Spirit.
This is a sharing of a small group leader. He was eager to receive acknowledgements from others. And his wife and he did not get along. His wife had been saying that she would get a divorce once their daughter graduates high school. Then that year, the wife was diagnosed with a terminal cancer, only left with two years of time. He told himself just to endure two more years, and he nursed his wife passionately. He nursed his wife for six years and received compliments as a good husband, but actually he wanted her to pass away soon. After his wife died, he married a non-Christian and stopped going to church. But three years ago, when he was taking a walk, he realized how he persecuted his first wife, and he cried a lot. He then realized that he was spiritually blinded. Like the light from the heaven, he bought a book of Pastor Kim . After, he came to the community, and he began to see his sins. He is now working at QTM fulfilling his oath of mission he had made while he nursed his wife.
He is handling such a great ministry like Apostle Paul. Hallelujah! We change because we interpret our suffering through the Word by doing QT every day. This is the living and almighty Gods power given to us.
