Lecture Delivered by Rev. A. A. Bada, Supreme Head, Celestial Church of Christ Worldwide at Celestial Church of Christ National Headquarters, Makoko, Lagos Under the Auspices of the Bible Class on 4th April, 1987. It gives me a great pleasure to be here today to share with you what I know and I find necessary for you to know to enable you to share it with fellow Celestians so that a good knowledge of what we have and hold tenaciously to the tenets of Celestial Church of Christ may make us stand firm in the face of wrong perverted teachings which abound around us. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make thee free. PREAMBLES: Celestial Church of Christ tenets may mean many things to many People. To me, the tenets are divine in origin and grounded in the scriptures. Tenets: it should be noted are not peculiar to Celestial Church of Christ but when one practices what is not Pedestals, one is open to suspicion and even, attack from other groups. It may be necessary at this juncture to find a simpler meaning of expression of tenets. Tenets, according to Oxford Advanced Leaners Dictionary of Current English means: Principle; belief; doctrine. And if we break one of the above definitions, doctrine, into smaller words, we have the following also in Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary Of Current English: Body of teaching; belief and teachings of a church, political party, school of scientists. I say therefore, that what I do know about the beliefs and teachings of Celestial Church of Christ and want to share with you is that not only did the Celestial Church of Christ tenets come through divine revelations to our beloved Saint S.B.J. Oshoffa, the Prophet, Pastor, and founder of the Church, but also have their basis in the Bible. In short, the Celestial Church of Christ tenets are mostly part of Gods statutes given to our forebears with the definitive term that they should be kept from generation to generation. It is lack of understanding of the scriptures that make many people think that Celestial Church of Christ tenets art either peculiar or the thoughts of a clever mind, or even the rationalization of a philosopher-religionist. Our beloved Pastor, Founder, my father in Christ, saint S.B.J. Oshoffa was but a carpenter whom it pleased God Almighty to elect for the establishment of Celestial Church of Christ with tenets divinely dictated, So far for the preamble. TENETS: My term of reference - Celestial Church of Christ tenets - has a very wide scope which I am afraid cannot be adequately covered within the period of a lecture of this nature. I shall endeavor in this lecture to highlight only the salient ones that are easily misconstrued. 1. ADMISSION into membership of Celestial Church of Christ: There are no preconditions for admitting any willing person into the membership of Celestial Church of Christ. However some steps need be taken to ensure a clean break between the old and the new system of life. Our Lord said to Nicodemus in John 3:3-5, No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. There are three vital step: Sanctification, baptism, anointment. (a) i. Sanctification: Sanctification is the first rite a prospective member of the Church should undergo. Sanctification in Celestial Church of Christ falls into three categories. The first one is for new members to remove their filth and stain of darkness in consonance, with the words of God in Ezekiel 36:25-30, 11:17-20; Exod. 19:10-22; Lev. 10:3. As Adam was driven out of Eden, because of sin, there was also the restoration of the second Adam through Sanctification into new Jerusalem in Christ Jesus. Hence the hymn given to Celestial Church of Christ, a hymn of invitation to a rebirth: Jesu lo npe o tantan, ma bo, elese wa etc. After sanctification the new member is numbered among the children of promise in the new faith in Christ Jesus. Materials used for sanctification are spirit-in-word, water, and fire. In this first case, the following are needed: water, sponge, soap and a stick of candle which when lit is symbolic of the spirit of God like tongue of fire which descended on the first apostles to sanctify them on the day of Pentecost - Act. 2:1-4. Following immediately the sanctification of a member is the sanctification of the persons place of abode. A clean man remains clean if he resides in a clean environment; a clean man in a filthy environment is unclean since man is a product of his environment. Acts 19:18-19 supports the essence of ridding a house of all acts that are not related to the spirit of God whenever one starts a new life in Christ Jesus. ii. Purification: The second category of sanctification practiced in Celestial Church of Christ is the purification exercise that a woman undergoes after her monthly period, and after giving birth to a child. This is very important and God does not take it lightly. Lev. 12, Lev. 15:16-18; 15:19-24; 29-30. Many people discountenance it but Christ established it beyond reasonable doubt: Mark 5:25-34. The weight of the impurity was so much felt by Jesus Christ that he could not resist asking who touched him. The Apostles- also warned the Antioch converts to steer clear of blood Acts 15:29. iii. Consecration: The third category of sanctification is consecration into priesthood as it is explained in Exod. 40:12-15. It should be noted that in Celestial Church of Christ, candle is used to replace lamb, goat, sheep prescribed in the scriptures Prov. 20:27. b. Baptism
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 09:44:50 +0000
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