An Address By The Arch-minister Of God’s Kingdom Mission, Brother Ezra O. Tietie On The Occasion Of The Celebration Of The Anniversary Of The Birth Of Jesus Christ (Freedom Day) My Beloved Brethren In Christ, Hail Jehovah And Jesus Christ!
Fellow celebrants I give profound and sincere thanks and praise to Jehovah the Almighty God through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ for the protection and preservation of our lives from last year till this day, that we are again assembled to commemorate the auspicious birth of our Master and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who was born in October about 2000 years ago in the little town of David called Bethlehem.
The joy and significance of this event is encapsulated in the the declaration of the Angel who appeared to the shepherds watching over their flocks on that glorious night. The Angel said: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy , which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. The euphoria that greeted the announcement of the Angel to the Shepherds had highly subsided, when a multitude of the heavenly hosts joined in the celebration and sang: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, Goodwill towards men.”- Luke 2:7-15.
The passion and excitement that went through the ranks of the angels and men at the time of his birth are still alive even after hundreds of decades had past, because of the uniqueness of its purpose, end and goal, which is for the Salvation of mankind.-Matt. 1:21; John 3:16; Romans 8:32; Heb. 2:14,15,17.
“LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE” is the subject of my message for this year’s Freedom Day celebrations. The subject is lifted from St. Paul’s admonition to his spiritual Son, Timothy, when he said: “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, where unto thou hast also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” – 1 Tim. 6:12. According to the Webster’s Dictionary, to lay hold is to grasp, possess, seize and to grab. Eternal life otherwise known as Everlasting life or Eternal Salvation in the Scriptures, is the ultimate reward God will give His true worshippers in His Kingdom when fully established on the earth. They will live forever in peace, joy, comfort, bliss, abundance and glory. Concerning this reward of the righteous, Apostle John stated: “And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life.”- 1 John 2:25; Isa. 45:17; Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1-3; Psalm 37:9-11,22,29,34; Matthew 5:5
Earlier Apostle Peter had engaged Jesus Christ, the Saviour on this same issue of reward. “Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. And he said unto them. Verily I say unto you. There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children for the Kingdom of God’s sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.”- Luke 18:28-30. Eternal Life therefore is not to be obtained in this present world but in the world to come. If therefore Eternal life is to be obtained in the world to come, how are we of this present world to possess, grab and lay hold on it as admonished by St. Paul.
FAITH
To lay hold on eternal life is to be aligned with the conditions and qualities for obtaining it. Faith is at the root of it, hence St. Paul admonished Timothy earlier in the text to “fight the good fight of faith.” It is a fight because it requires a ‘striving for the faith of the gospel’ (Phil 1:27), a striving in labour (Col. 1:29), a striving against sin (Heb. 12:4) and a striving in prayer (Rom. 15:30). St. Paul further stated: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”-Heb. 11:6. Faith is strong belief in God and in the truth of His word. This is a fundamental step in aligning oneself to obtain eternal life. Without a belief of the truth, eternal life is not in view. In this vein St. Paul wrote to Bishop Timothy: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”-1 Tim. 2:3.4. To the Christians at Thessalonica he emphasized the damnable consequences to all those “who believe not the truth, but had pleasure inunrighteousness.”-2 Thess. 2:8-10.
It is also essential that we believe in God Almighty Jehovah and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ in order to obtain Eternal life. For it is written: “And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” – John 17:3. Jesus Christ stated further: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”-John 3:16; 6:47.There are other conditions that must be fulfilled by a believer before he can obtain eternal life. His beliefs as outlined above must be accompanied with godly virtues, itemized and collectively referred to by St. Paul as ‘the fruits of the spirit’ in Gal. 5:22,23. These are love, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, etc. In this vein also St. Peter stated: “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged of his old sins. Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”-2 Pet. 1:5-12.The believer must also abstain from all appearance of evil, which St. Paul described as the works of the flesh. Some of these are fornication, adultery, uncleaness, lasciviousness, idolatory, witchcraft, hatred, wrath, strife, envyings, murders, drunkenness etc. We must endeavour to strive towards holiness. St. Peter exhorted accordingly: “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” -1 Pet. 1:14-16. See also Prov. 6:16-19; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5-9 & 1 Thess. 4:3-5.
OTHER SALIENT ISSUES
Our belief in God and Christ and the truth must be constant, consistent, stedfast and unwavering. We must not give in to trials and temptations of the devil and his agents tending to sway us from our stedfastness. We should endeavour tenaciously to hold on till the end. Jesus Christ said: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.But he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved.” – Matthew 24:12,13. St. Paul corroborated this, when he said, “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.”- Heb. 3:14. Works of love and righteousness must be shown also as proof of our faith. Faith standing alone is dead. It is good works in spiritual, financial and material terms that justifies the existence of faith. Apostle James stated: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?… Thou believest that there is one God:thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”-Jas. 2:14-26.
CONCLUSION
Giving generously and liberally in monetary terms to promote the Kingdom work of God is a sure step to laying hold on eternal life. For with our possessions and resources (the mammon of unrighteousness) we should make friends with God Almighty and Jesus Christ, so that in time to come, when money will count for nothing, they will receive us into everlasting habitations’. (Luke 16:8,9).On this same issue, St. Paul wrote again to Timothy and I quote: “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE.”-1 Tim. 6:17-19. What a joyful celebration time we have in Christ Jesus to mark his birth anniversary which took place about 2000 yearsago. May we engage with it soberly and reflectively in honour of His holy name. I wish you an abundant flow of the blessings brought to mankind by the auspicious birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.
HAPPY! HAPPY!! HAPPY! FREEDOM DAY!
Yours in Kingdom Service,
Ezra O. Tietie Esq.
Arch-Minister, GKM
Very edifying