The manifestation of the power of God is lacking in our modern Church than how it was in the early Church that began by the apostles of Christ.

We identified some of the reasons why this is so. Read: Demonstrating The Power Of God.

This post will identify some of the blatant deception that are taking place in the Church which is also preventing the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Who or what is the synagogue of Satan?

In Christ’s message to the church in Smyrna He said, “I know your works and tribulation and poverty ( but you are rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the synagogue of Satan.” (Rev 2:9).

It is apparent that there was a group of people in Smyrna who pretended that they were Jews but in actuality were working for Satan.

The Christians in Smyrna were severly persecuted by these imposters, but Christ encouraged them to be faithful unto death.

The synagogue was the sacred building where the Jews meet to worship and pray to God.

There were several synagogues in the land of Judah while there was only one  temple located in Jerusalem.

The temple was considered the dwelling place of God.

At the age of twelve, Jesus recognised that His divine purpose was to do the business of His father in the temple.

So He remained in Jerusalem, unknown to His parents who had left after the feast, to fellowship with the priests and scribes of the temple.

No doubt the young Jesus was discussing the laws and ordinances of God and expounding the prophecies of great prophets such as Isaiah and Daniel.

No doubt He discussed with the learned men of the temple about the coming of the Messiah and the stem of Jesse – a man of sorrow – who would be despised and rejected by His own people and eventually bruised for the iniquity of us all. ( Isaiah 53).

The synagogue or temple was supposed to be a place where wisdom and holiness dwell but unfortunately over the years it had become desecrated.

Shortly after Christ was honored on the road to Jerusalem by the multitude of people, He went into the temple of God and threw out the sellers and traders.

He even overturned the tables of the moneychangers and seats of those who sold doves.

They were the wealthy merchants and bankers who were making large profits from the people who visited the temple to make their yearly sacrifices unto God.

These corrupt buisness men were conducting illegal and unfair transactions  in the temple turning it into a den of thieves instead of a house of prayer.

In other words the temple had become the synagogue of Satan.

Immediately after Jesus chased out the profiteers and cleansed the temple from idolatries, the blind and lame came into the temple and were all healed and delivered by Christ.

Even the children began to praise the Lord in the temple (Matthew 21:12-15).

What a marvelous God we serve!

We often wondered why our present day churches cannot experience similar or greater miracles than those that Jesus performed while He was on earth.

The answer is quite clear!

Perhaps we have made our churches into a den of thieves or synagogues of Satan.

Many of our churches have become buisness for investments and profits.

The congregation is encouraged to sow seeds (money) to get a bountiful harvest (more money, houses, cars, husbands, wives etc).

The more money you give to the church the greater the return. Many churches are encouraging their congregation to purchase the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

They can sow monetary seeds to get a prophetic Word from God. Oftentimes promotions are handed out on the basis of the amount of tithes that you pay.

The churches are practising what I called religious ponzy schemes.

No wonder we cannot see the greater works or even ordinary miracles manifest in our midst.

No wonder our worship has become vain oblations in the eyes of God and our insensces (prayers) abomination to Him.

The Lord stated that He hates our traditional celebrations. He is weary of them.

In the churches that have become synagogues of Satan and den of thieves, it doesn’t matter how loud you praise or how melodious you sing, the Lord is hiding His face from you and He will not hear your collective prayers.

Our hands are full of blood. Not necessarily the blood from innocent victims who are murdered, but the blood of Christ whom we crucify over and over again when we returned to the sins (lying, backbiting, covetousness, gossiping, unforgiveness etc) that were crucified with Christ.

There is hope!

Let us repent! wash and be clean. Let us put away the evil from among our churches and from before God.

Let us cease from doing evil. Let us learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

The Lord is calling us to come to Him now and reason together with Him.

Though our sins are as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

If we are willing and obedient we will eat the food of the land but if we refuse and rebel, we shall be devoured with the sword for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it (Isaiah 1:10-20)

The Lord knows our hearts and He knows our works and He is watching and listening.

May the Lord Jehovah have mercy on us.

*featured image courtesy of Wikipedia.org