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written by Br. Samuel Philogene
How can I help but thank God for being present at this convention once again. It is wonderful to be among God's people, rejoicing in the Spirit of the Lord; it was a very good moment and if we can take heed to all the words that we've heard during this convention how strong we would be in God. Br. Antoine started the meeting by emphasizing a problem existing in the churches today where everyone is running after titles, they want to be apostles but leave behind the duties of an apostle. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:7, "Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm". Each office in the fivefold ministry has a role in the church and they all work together for the perfecting of the saints (Ephesians 4:11-14). Br. Antoine was asking so with everybody being an apostle, where are the pastors or teachers? This is why the message that should be preached in the churches is not being preached and the people are on their own, doing whatsoever they want. Paul dealt with the same problem concerning the gifts of the spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, we can read in verse 17, "If the whole body where an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing where were the smelling?" He goes on in verses 27-30 where he explains how God gave gifts unto men, they are not all apostles, they are not all teachers but God has placed each member in their appropriate place. All these problems occur because those that give themselves titles don't even know exactly the role of these offices in the ministry that is why Br. Antoine showed us the difference between the knowledge and the understanding of the word of God both work together.
Head knowledge can not bring salvation but a perfect understanding of the word of God is the key. Another very important point touched by Br. Antoine was the necessity to have people carrying the vision of the man of God when this man is gone so that the work goes on. It is sad to see a church go down after the death of the pastor that is why we need young men sharing the vision of the man of God, having his spirit so that they are able to carry the Gospel and to keep the church alive. Br. Singh, from Mississauga Ontario, Canada, used the word "illumination" to show how important it is to not just have knowledge of the word but the understanding of God's will. He followed the same path of Br. Antoine by asking, "What will the future be for the church, after a man of God dies; should the church die also?" He mentioned how he works hard to build the church that he's pastoring, he even borrowed money for the church, not only to physically built the church but he made a lot of sacrifices to spiritually build the church so he can't afford for some playboy to come along and destroy his work. He wants people with his spirit to stand behind him, to see his labor, his suffering so when he's no longer there someone who has his vision and spirit will take over and lead the church until the return of Jesus. He quoted Paul in Acts 20:29 where Paul knew that after he departs "grievous wolves shall enter in the church to destroy his work". But the worst is in verse 30, "Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverve things to draw away disciples after them". The church must produce men and women able to fight for it and to preserve the heritage that they received from their spiritual fathers. In Deuteronomy 31:28-30, the same words are spoken by Moses telling the elders that he knew after his death that they will corrupt themselves. For us today these are warnings, the man of God is not immortal, one day he won't be here but we as a people must dedicate our lives for the church to stand like Timothy (2 Timothy 4:1-5) and Joshua (Joshua 1:6-7, Joshua 24:31). Paul trusted Timothy and this young man made it through. We need to have this same spirit to work with the man of God, to submit ourselves to him, so God may use us to continue the work. The church must not die; the work must go on until Christ comes.
Br. David White from Des Moines, IA, this being his first time in Westbury, encouraged us to not get to close to the world. The church is separated from the world, he read in Jeremiah 10:2-3 where Jeremiah instructed the people to not learn the ways of the heathen because the customs of the people are vain. Br. White told us that the worst thing for a child of God to do is go back into the dunghill where God taken us from (1 Samuel 2:8). On Saturday evening, Br. John Githinji from Manchester, CT and Br. Emilien Ermulus from Philadelphia, PA gave us words of encouragement. The spirit of God took over when the Westbury choir began singing, "He is here, Alleluia!" which was a wonderful moment.
Sunday afternoon, Br. Richard gave us a great lesson concerning false prophets who come in their own name falsely teaching the people and too see that is what the people love. We read in Jeremiah 5:30-31, "A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" This is one of the characteristics of the last days; people will love fables and stories more than the word of God, it was like that in the days of Jeremiah and in the days of Paul (2 Timothy 4:3-4) and it is no different in our time today. In Ezekiel 13 we saw the judgment of God against the false prophet.
Br. Paul A. Brintley from Dallas, NC compared the people of God as the poor left in the land in Jeremehia 39:10, thank God Jeremiah was left with them, a type of the ministry of God. Br. Brintley strengthened us with other words and you could see the spirit that followed his speech. He was followed by Br. Cesar from Haiti who emphasized the conflict between Hananiah the false prophet and Jeremiah in Jeremiah 28:11. It has always been like that; when God raises a man with a message the devil raises false prophets also so we have to be careful.
On Sunday evening, Br. Cham Moise from Haiti showed us how important it is as children of God to know and understand the times which we are living in. He quoted 1 Chronicles 12:32, "And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do". Today more than ever we need to know in what time we are living and to do what is necessary before the end of time.
It was a precious moment with the Lord, but the real success will be in how we as a people take these words so they might cause us to turn to God and serve Him more faithfully. I am looking forward to next year.
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