FOREWORD
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- Published on Tuesday, 03 May 2011 16:41
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FOREWORD
By: Elder Patroba O. Omer
Pastor of - JCOG7th Day - S.I. CONGREGATION
Any serious Christian has had to ask himself or herself, Where or Which is the true church.
Of course this would be a very sensible question for one to ask, seeing that fellow Christians before us did not take any chances as far as ascertaining their walk towards ultimate salvation was concerned. No wonder Paul the apostle also journeyed back to Jerusalem for the intent and purpose of Corroborating what he was preaching, with the prevailing doctrine as held by the elders during his time.
I will not pretend to give a "cut and dried" answer to this very magnanimous question; rather, I will attempt a terse, pithy declaration that will hopefully goad the reader into finding out for himself the true church, more so with the plethora of tracts, articles, and other resources available at our website.
A genuine christian will not be surprised that the Bible uses the figurative words "woman" or "daughter" to denote/refer to the church. It might thus surprise the reader to discover that there are not so many "churches" as others might want us to believe, but there are only two (daughters, women, or) churches mentioned in the Bible. These two are: The Daughter of Zion (Revelation 12), and The Daughter of Babylon (Revelation 17).
A scrupulous scrutiny of these two chapters of Revelation reveals that the former is the church of God, while the latter is that of Satan. It goes without saying that wherever there is truth, one must expect a counterfeit to run parallel to it. God is the antitheses of Satan; God's Church must thus be the antithesis of Satan's. This has been the constant, soon-to-end battle between light and darkness; between God and Satan; between good and evil. Philosophers, protagonist, sociologist, anthropologists, and moralists have heretofore concluded that good will inevitably triumph over evil.
Suffice it to say, therefore, that The Church of God has always been in existence, way before Jesus Christ himself are not to forget, in the same breath, that Christ has been, and still is "...a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek..." (Genesis 14:18). This Church (of God) is the same one that was in the wilderness, and in the Old Testament it is know as "The Congregation of Israel." (see Exodus 16:2, Leviticus 4:15, Numbers 4:34; 14:27; Judges 21:16, as but as few examples). As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:1-5, this same church (its members) were "... all baptized unto Moses..., and ... drank from the same spiritual rock..." Which rock was Christ. (Please read one of our tracts entitled "How Old Is Your Church? and THE BIBLE NAME).
As there are two different dispensations (the Old Testament is characterized by the Levitical Priesthood, while the New Testament focuses on the Ultimate Priest, Jesus Christ), so there are two different names to refer to the same institution. The Father Himself made this clear. With the "bringing nigh" of the Gentiles into "The Commonwealth of Israel" (Ephesians 2:11-13. God would change the name of the Church from "The Congregation of Israel" to "The Church of God" as He had promised (See Isaiah 65:15, John 1016, 1 Cor. 10:32, 11:16, 32, 1 Tim. 3:5, 15, 2 Cor. 1:1. Eph. 3:14-15 and Act 20:28)
Hence in the New Testament, the name of the (same) church became know as The Church of God (1 Tim. 3:5, 15; Gal 1:3; 1 Cor. 10:32, 2 Cor. 1:1 to mention but a few examples).
There reader, or any interlocutor, for that matter, is therefore invited to a full discussion in which the common denomination is the Bible. As Isaiah the prophet would put it, "... come, let us reason together... (Isaiah 1:18).
If we refer to ourselves as the children of God, it is incumbent upon us to authenticate to anyone who inquires of us whether or not we are name after our Father. You see, in a patrilineal context as in the case with the Bible, children are named after, or "belong" to their father. Jesus referred to sinners as belonging to "your father the devil" (John 8:44). Consequently, the children of God, or God's family must also belong to Him, or be named after Him. This family of God occupies both Heaven and Earth, and in both jurisdictions, they have the same name, or, at least, are name after their Father. In Ephesians 3:14-15, Apostle Paul posits: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the Whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named."
May our Father lead us into making our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10) ! - Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth 2 Timothy 2:15.
May God Bless You!
---- Patroba O. Omer
Pastor - JCOG 7th Day (S.I)
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