The reason the enemy loves the nico-laitan (conquer-laity) with you being the "laity" is because it disempowers the Body of Christ which is the Church. This priest/pastor centric system is easily corrupted in numerous different ways and we see the results all around us. Compare and contrast the nicolaitan system we see around us (which the Lord says He hates..) with the true Church.
Revelation 2: 6Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
The Nicolaitan anti-Christ system is pastor/priest centric where they supposedly have all the spiritual power. In that Babylonian system they are "special." In the true Church however this is what we see:
John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Who is special and who has the power in the real Church? These people: "...whoever believes in me..."
"Whoever believes" has the power to do all the miracles the Lord Jesus Christ did on earth and even greater things now that He has gone to the Father. That my friends is why the enemy wants believers to sit in subdued silence in buildings built by man "under" spiritual hired hands who leave the gates open to the wolves:
John 10
11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Why bring this up today? Why is it important now more than ever? Because the truth is each and every one of us who believes carries the world on our shoulders every time we kneel down to pray. We move mountains with our prayer. We destroy enemy strongholds with our prayer. We bring miracles to pass through our prayers. All things are possible for those who believe:
Mark 9:23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.
Mark 11: 23Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have receivedc it, and it will be yours.
2 Cor 10 3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
It is important we recognize the power the Lord God has given each and every one of us. With that power comes responsibility. Note that word responsibility (response-ability) or the ability to respond. The enemy and his servants have declared all out total war on humanity. The people of this world who do not know the Lord God rightly see the situation as hopeless (from their perspective). This is a spiritual war with physical consequences. We who believe on the other hand see the situation in a radically different way. We who believe can do something about everything. We are well equipped for a spiritual war because our primary perspective is spiritual.
We who believe have the ability to respond (response-ability). We have been empowered by the Lord God Almighty to do all that He intends in this world and when He acts nothing on earth or in heaven can stop it. So, all this is a long winded encouragement for each and every one of us to get down and stay down on our knees in prayer. Do it every day knowing with certainty that the world we see around us is directly affected by every prayer.
The Lord God is good and He is faithful. Let us do the work we were put here to do. Glory to God.
grace and peace
