In His sign conquer

Dear saints, I trust that the Lord had been keeping and prospering you. In my brief note today I’d like to discuss one of the often neglected aspects of absolute power (Luke 24:49), i.e., if not spent properly its ability to consume and destroy us (Matthew 25:30). As a historical footnote, I’d like to refer to the first Roman Emperor who converted to Christianity, Constantine the Great (Saint Constantine) who was given a vision of the Cross (the Chi-Ro) in the sky just before his victorious battle at the Milvian bridge with his adversary Maxentius (AD 312) (source: Wikipedia). We all know how he reformed a pagan society, influenced the church (the Roman Catholic Church) and influenced Christianity to become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire and the western world. Emperor Constantine (his critics and their criticisms are not the subject of this discussion, and I disagree with the separation of the Church and state) was obedient to his heavenly vision (Acts 26:19). Is the Church obedient to the vision of the risen Christ (Acts 17:31) and conquering new regions for Christ, or is it too busy wasting that spiritual power on selfish needs (1 Timothy 6:5)?

For our discussion I’d like for us to look at one scripture, Mark 1:38. The Lord Jesus had phenomenal success at that point. He had just called His twelve Apostles, drove out evil spirits, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and healed a leper. He could have simply rested on His tremendous achievements, and settled there by building a cathedral for Himself (Matthew 17:4). Instead, He was restless and not satisfied (Luke 12:50). There were new areas to conquer for God, more souls to be saved (John 10:16), more people to be delivered from Satan’s oppression (Luke 13:32), more battles to be won and a work to be finished (John 19:30), and a kingdom to establish (Matthew 12:28). He was always on the move, always expanding (Acts 1:8), sometimes impatient (Matthew 17:17), sometimes insulting (John 3:10), sometimes rebuking (Matthew 16:23), always plotting His next move (Luke 10:1-23, Matthew 21:2), and always mindful of His ultimate goal (John 2:19). He had Omnipotence in Him and He expended every last bit of that power and His blood to accomplish God’s will (Luke 22:44). How do we His followers, and how does the Church today compare with the Master’s relentless conquest of sin?

Great men and women like Jesus of Nazareth, Saul (later Paul) of Tarsus, Constantine of Rome, and Deborah from Ramah are conquerors. They fully realized that they had immense power vested in them. They were neither corrupted by that power, nor did they let that power consume and destroy them due to spiritual indolence (1 Timothy 5:13). What’s the state of the church and our own spiritual condition today? Are we expending every last iota of Divine power in us on expanding the boundaries of the Church or have we become engrossed in squabbling among ourselves (Luke 9:46) and letting that power destroy us in the process? Absolute power when used wisely can liberate others. But self-enrichment or introversion can absolutely annihilate us (like Judas Iscariot or Satan).

Have a great rest of the week saints .

Tolworth John said:

Get historical facts right. Christianity had already spread across the roman world, from slaves right up to the highest levals of society.
All constantine did was make it the offical religeon and lumber the church with countless thousands of nonchristians who had to be educated into Christianity.

Jesus does not promise us prosperity, that is wealth etc any appeal to this is false.

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No, this wasn't about prosperity (it's merely a blessing from 3 John 1:2. I'd recommend that you look it up and dig deeper into scripture as well). I suggest that you start reading these posts correctly. It's about conquest of sin. Don't waste your time or mine. As far as historical facts are concerned, you're welcome to give a lesson on it. As I said, it's only a footnote (Paul introduced Christianity, but was later beheaded and the saints were persecuted without much legal protection. Constantine made Christianity official and protected the Church. This was about legalizing and establishing the Church, not merely introducing and spreading it. Paul had no administrative authority, that mandate was given to Constantine by the Lord. You need to read up on history before lecturing others about trivia. Apparently, your historical facts are incomplete as well). I suggest that you stop focusing on trivia, and start focusing on the centrality of the issue - conquest of sin, saving souls. God bless .