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written by Br. Samuel Philogene
A QUALITY CHURCH
When we think about church we should see purity, holiness, sanctification and all the attributes of God. If we had the same thinking as Christ had in Matthew 16:18 when He said, "I will build My church", we would not have to talk about a quality church because "church" would mean quality. But because there is a spirit of corruption, of perversion that have been trying throughout the ages to prevent the plan of God (Hosea 4:12) we have to talk about and to look for His quality church. This term used by Br. Antoine to open up the 2010 Westbury convention meeting was the focus of our meeting, and with the Spirit of God making the way, all the ministers that stood up and contribute in their way to let us know how important it is to have a church.
Br. Antoine just continued on what he was telling us a few weeks before the meeting; he wanted us to think about what we have now as church. Are we the church or is this the church that Jesus is looking for? Is this the church that Jesus left all the glory of the Father to come down and die for? Is this the church that He left, that He built on the day of Pentecost? The answer is no or not yet. Our Pastor brought to our attention that we should not think that we are there yet; sometimes we feel comfortable but we don't want to see what we lacking. He mentioned many times in his sermon, how Jesus left everything behind to build something glorious, spotless and without blemish. While I am writing these lines my heart is crying inside because when I heard those words I came to realize that I was fooling myself thinking that I was doing great with God, that I was near to the Lord; those words opened my spiritual eyes and I could see that I am far away from the will of God and in order to stand in the first resurrection I have a lot to do. My view of the church has to change completely. Now instead of assisting services after services, I have to become the church, meaning to incorporate the characteristic of the church in my life. Like I said before these words brought me to think a lot and helped me to see what I am missing and what I need to do to get ready. This quality church is built in unity (Ephesians 4:3) and with hearts knit together in love (Colossians 2:2).
Br. Singh said that an organization may fail, an assembly may fail but the Church that Jesus built will never fail. So we must understand the necessity to really become the Church of Jesus Christ because if we are faking, or as Br. Singh loves to say, if we are playing religion, there is no way for us to stand. When we are playing religion we will coming together in a place and call ourselves the church but after a few years we will not even recognize the place where we were because this was not the church but a human organization. A human organization will die when human die but the church that Jesus shed His blood to build can not die for Jesus is the eternal source providing for His church. He mentioned that we need a church not an audience; an audience wants to hear what pleases the flesh (Isaiah 30:9-10, Jeremiah 23:26) but a church will listen to God's word.
When he said, "Don't lie against the truth", it caught my attention the most because I was completely wrong in my understanding of this scripture. I understood that lying against the truth was referring to people preaching false doctrine (like when people say that the Holy Ghost is a person), but in the light of the word of God I realized that I was lying against the truth because here truth is not about doctrine but reality. If we are living in sin and pretending that we are a child of God we are lying against the truth (1 John 1:6). May God help us to accept what we see in the mirror (the word of God), it shows us exactly who we are, we just have to change our ways.
Br. Miller explained to us that the quality church is bound in love without fear, we have to be made perfect in love and to trust one another (1 John 4:15-21). He said this is a hard task, it is not something that will happen overnight but something we have to build upon; it is like a couple who have just gotten married having to improve their relationship and strengthen the bond of their union. It is the same thing with the church where we come from different backgrounds we have to give time to each other to prove that we are worthy of each other's vocation and can make the effort to love without fear.
Anyone in the Westbury assembly would say that God was confirming what was being said just before the fellowship meeting. In fact, Br. Jonathan Goodwin asked us to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5) to see if we are what we claim to be; to see if we have not gone astray and left the faith behind and gone our own way. It was amazing for me while he was talking to see how God can work things together for my good. On the other hand that touched me a lot because when God says something many times we have to take heed to that and not take it lightly. I took those words personally. I have to examine myself, maybe I left the faith behind and am lying against the truth just because I thought I was doing good with God but in fact I was doing my own religious thing having nothing to do with the will of God. Br. Jonathan was showing us how important it is to develop a personal relationship with God and not being a 21st century sheep but being led by the real Shepherd. We are not build our own fences and thinking we are safe but in reality we are destroying ourselves.
God led His people through the wilderness, they all went through the Red Sea, they all drank the same spiritual drink, and ate the same spiritual food but never became the church that God wanted them to be. We read in the 10th chapter of 1Corinthians, in the 5th verse, "Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert". Br. Richards went on to show us the quality church that we've been taught in Hebrews 12. It is not a place to entertain people or to make us happy but the church is a place where our spirits are being changed, transformed in the likeness of Christ.
Br. David White said that partial obedience is not obedience at all. Sometimes we try to show that we are obeying the word of God but in fact we are doing what we feel is good in our own eyes, rejecting what we esteem not pleasing to our flesh. Obedience has no time limit we must obey the word of God, by the man of God no matter what (2 Kings 10:28-31). Once again he told us how we must stay and work together in order to build the church of God. He took the example of the twelve tribes of Israel, how they were strong when they were together but when they stopped working together they became very weak (Joshua 12-18).
Br. Hogarth Louis said that the old gospel is our only chance of salvation. We can use the new technology to improve the presentation of the gospel but unless we practice the gospel in the old way, the old path, we will never get perfect (Jeremiah 6:16). He was calling for the virtue of the holiness in the church; we have to go back to our source, the principles that make the church a spiritual assembly led by God (Matthew 20:20, Ephesians 4:1-3, Ephesians 5:1-5).
The close of this meeting was just as wonderful; where Br. Githinji asked us, "where can we say 'Alleluia' if not in the church". As a church led by the spirit of God we have liberty to worship, to shout for our God and Savior. Just to conclude the same way that the meeting opened he went through Philippians 2 showing us the characteristic of the church of Jesus, the quality church. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, "Who, being in very nature[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death" even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:5-11). To be the church that we want to be we have to have the mind of Christ, we can see in this scripture all the qualities our Lord Jesus had, we just have to follow His path.
It was a wonderful meeting, where God touched areas that really needed to be address. Words like: church , unity, holiness, obedience, sanctification was on every lips, just because God wants us to be what He calls us to be a holy, sanctified church, willing to do His will. But all these words will only help if as a people we take heed to them, if we can realize that we are not there yet but we have a lot to do in order to get ready and stand in the first resurrection. May God help us to give the most earnest heed to these words because they are our only chance to get into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." - Isaiah 8:20
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