could eventually follow? And since trouble erupted it is these same religious leaders who adopted an attitude of dumbness over sin that are now most vocal, in their usual act of sanctimoniousness, in a frantic bid for prayers. Can God hear our prayers when we have not repented of our sins and are not sober? Behold, the Lords band is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot bear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have bid his face from you that he will not bear. -Isa. 59: 14. However, we trust that the good Lord will for His names sake spare this Republic so that His innocent children may have a free course to serve Him in love. The stand of the GKS for the truth and righteousness of God is admired by many people, but some envy and oppose her. However, the truth always prevails. It was interesting to note, as reported in the New Nigerian of August 24, 1966, that, the Anglican Archbishop C. J. Patterson blamed religious leaders for their studied silence over the situation in Nigeria. He was further quoted as saying in a circular letter to his fold: -We are the devil by the weakness of our divisions which prevent us from speaking unanimously.” We appreciate the Archbishop’s courage for accepting blame but the excuse for toot weakness is untenable. The divisions among Christians is DO justifiable around for any servant of Christ to refrain from discharging his spiritual functions creditably; Unanimity of speaking is not all that is important but rectitude, forth rightness and truth notwithstanding the voice of dissent. Teachings We do not condemn personalities or individuals. We do not say that all those in other religious groups are devils, and those in the GKS are holy. What we criticize are the teachings and doings which we have found to be unscriptural and therefore erroneous. For instance, some teach and make people believe in purgatory whereas Jesus Christ and his early apostles did not teach any such thing. Purgatory is not found anywhere in the Bible. There are those who teach that the soul can never die; but the Bible shows clearly that the soul can diePsalm 89: 48; Ezekiel 18: 4; Matt. 10: 28; Acts 3; 23, etc. Others also command their priests not to marry but the Bible says that a bishop must be the husband of one wife”. (I Tim. 3: 1, 2) Certain church groups baptise infants without scriptural authority. There are a lot more that are taught and done falsely in the name of God. . A teacher of lies is a great danger to human societies because they lead people at the instance of the devil to destruction. (Isa. 9:16; Jer. 14:14; Matt. 15:14) To say that the lies of bogus preachers should not be pointed out or criticized is contrary to the will of God. It is a duty incumbent on the true servants of Christ to warn people against false prophets. The encounter of St. Paul with Bar-Jesus, a false prophet, in his days is a case in pint. St. Paul called him “the child of the devil” and “an enemy of righteousness” Addressing him St. Paul said: “Wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” The apostle then cursed him in the name and power of the Lord and the false prophet became blind. And when Sergius Paulus, a ruler, saw all that happened, he believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord” Read Acts 13:6-13. If Christian must not judge one another, then those who say that the GKS is wrong for criticizing
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 06:31:18 +0000