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Weekly Reminder...
The Weekly Reminder is an informative tool to help people who read it consider what the man of God has said. This weekend’s articles are based on what was heard on October 31 & November 1, 2009 in the Westbury assembly.written by Br. Samuel Philogene
Last weekend we learned that the word of God endureth forever (1 Peter 1:25); so in order to live forever we must incorporate the Gospel which is God Himself, as it says in John “the Word was God” (John 1:1). We know that God is eternal (Psalms 90:2), so whosoever abides in Him will endure forever, not because they’re not going to die but because even if this earthly body returns where it comes from, God is able to bring us back to life with a glorious and spiritual body having nothing to do with this sinful body that we are living in (Philippians 3:20-21).
Jesus made it clear for the Jews in John 6:47-71, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life”. But we saw that not everybody really wants everlasting life because when Jesus got to the bottom of what it takes to have that life most of the Jews went away. The apostle Paul illustrated that very well in the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians when he was talking about the resurrection: “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). That is why we must prepare ourselves today so we can be sure to be rewarded at the end with this new body.
Br. Antoine mentioned to us that there are two ends: the first one is death, when we die we leave this earth, this is our personal end, no more work. The second end is the return of Jesus, in both cases we must be ready either to be resurrected or transformed (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We must live righteously before God, eat the word (of God), and be washed by the blood of Jesus which was shed on Calvary that will keep us ready for the end; even before we die we can say like Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing”.
This is where the epistle of John is fundamental, he addressed each category in the church and how we should abide in God in order to make it. In the first chapter we saw how the word was addressed unto us, life has been manifested unto us, so we can be in communion with the Father and the Son, if we receive the word (1 John 1:1-6). He goes on in the second chapter showing us the way, by denying the flesh and he emphasized what the world is all about: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world”. John gives us a warning: “the world passed away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever”. So we go back to the first words of Br. Antoine, in order to live forever with God we must crucify the deeds of the flesh (Galatians 2:20) leave the world behind and start living according to the principles of God no matter what the cost might be. This is the only way to see God and live forever with God when He shall appear.
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