NO SECOND CLASS BELIEVERS

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ...2Pe 1:1 (NASB)  

Peter was the Apostle who walked on water, the first Evangelist of the early church, the preacher who healed the sick and raised the dead. 

• This Peter writes to so called ordinary believers and tells us we have the same kind of faith as he does. 

  • The value and quality of your faith in God has nothing to do with the rank or position you hold in the church.

• Of course we want our pastors to be leaders in faith and excellent in every way, people to look up to. 

  • However, there are always equally outstanding believers who do not govern a church or preach with a microphone. 

  The excellence of the glory of God is not exclusively reserved for apostles, pastors and evangelists in official positions. 

  • In fact God often uses unexpected people to teach us this lesson.

Heidi Baker and her husband Roland spent years in missionary work with limited success. 

Then they returned to America where an anointed preacher prayed for Heidi.   

• She lay on the floor under the power of God for a week. 

When she returned to Mozambique, she raised the dead and planted hundreds of churches. 

• She also received the healing gift of opening deaf ears with 100% success. 

• Better than that, God called and gifted her to adopt hundreds of abandoned children. 

• Little boys were saved from being bandits or child soldiers and little girls were saved from sexual slavery. 

These children were loved and restored but more than that, they were raised up to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ with the same miracle power that Heidi herself had.

One of these little girls went with Heidi to a hostile Muslim village and preached to them. 

• The Muslims did not want Christian preaching and hurled stones at the little evangelist. 

As she skilfully dodged the stones, she spoke declared deaf ears to be opened. 

• A deaf stone thrower suddenly shouted out, “I can hear!” and the stones stopped coming. 

  • The villagers eagerly listened as the little girl ministered more miracles of healing and preached the love of Jesus. 

    The village turned from witchcraft and Islam to Jesus.

When Peter preached the first sermon of the Church Age, he taught that the overwhelming power of the Grace of God was not just for a few preachers but for all believers of all ages, both male and female.

 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

• In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy. Acts 2:17-18 (NLT) 

Religious tradition has robbed us of our heritage. 

• We look up to gifted healing evangelists and anointed pastors and we forget that we are all called to manifest the supernatural love and power of the Holy Spirit.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 

• they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them;  they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." Mk 16:17-18  (NKJV)  

A friend of mine was converted from Islam to believe in Jesus but he was misled by Mormons and became a member of the “Latter Day Saints” cult. 

When God led him out of this deception, he wasted no time but warned all the Mormons he knew of their error. 

• Many Mormons left their church. 

• Then he spoke with equal boldness to Muslims and some were converted to faith in Jesus Christ.

This man is not an ordained preacher but God uses him to work amazing miracles. 

Once an Arab Muslim gave him a meal. 

• A week later the man was astonished to see my friend still alive. “I put enough poison in your food to kill a camel,” he confessed.

The would be assassin also became a follower of Jesus Christ.