WARRI and its environs were stormed by activities of members of God’s Kingdom Mission (GKM) and well-wishers who observed the Christian Feast of Tabernacles from Sunday, 19th to Sunday, 26th December, 1999. The eight-day celebrations featured colourful processions, convocations, praise worship, Bible lectures and prayer sessions; other features were baptism, music fiesta, a grand women assembly, freewill offerings and thanksgiving. The preaching of the word of God received the greatest attention of all the events of the festival.
A Senior and an Executive Minister of the Church Brother Emmanuel Udoji, who delivered the first lecture on “The Feast of Tabernacles In Our Time”, drew a clear line of distinction between the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles and the Christian Feast of Tabernacles. He explained that while the Israelites observed the feast on their arrival and settlement in the Promised Land in obedience to the Mosaic Ordinance (Exod. 23:15,16; Lev. 23:33-44; Deut. 16:13-17), true Christians celebrate the feast in keeping with the prophetic divine injunction at Zechariah 14:16-19. Christians were therefore not bound by the letters of the law of Moses but are guided by the spirit and the faith of Jesus Christ. – 2 Cor. 3.5.,6, Gal 2:16; 3:23-25
The active participation of Jesus Christ in the Feast of Tabernacles in his days on earth was a remarkable event, which is of particular interest to Christians especially in. these last days, the Minister said. He went on, “There was no record of his dwelling in booths or engagement in sacrifices. Rather, when the feast was half over he went into the temple and taught, explaining the doctrines of God.” Brother Udoji said that the Jews were astonished at his wisdom and intellectual vigour as reflected in the wholesome words that came out of his mouth. He quoted Christ as saying, “My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”-John 7:14-17.
It was further stated: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37,38) By this, he said, Jesus Christ demonstrated to the world his merits as the high. priest and “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the LORD pitched, and not man” – Heb. 8:1,2.
Brother Udoji stated that true Christians had nothing to do with the literal tabernacles, booths or teat-buildings which were a shadow of things to come but with the spiritual which related to Jesus Christ himself.
The relevance of the Feast of Tabernacles to Christians of today, said Brother Udoji, was anchored on Zechariah 14:16-19, as it was written: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles”.
By this prophecy there could be ao argument that the Feast of Tabernacles had assumed a greater dimension. than what the law of Moses stipulated. The truth, he said, was that the Mosaic law confined the Feast of Tabernacles to the Jews alone, but the tenure of Zechariah’s prophecy extended it to ALL nations even the heathens were enjoined to worship God and keep the feast. That it was firmly associated with the worship of the true God in this age, he added, made it mandatory for everyone irrespective of race, nationality or colour in this end-time to observe the feast in the service of God.
The Minister delved into some of the symbolisms in the text. He explained that Jerusalem in the context was not with reference to the literal city of Palestine; it symbolised the kingdom or holy organisation of God – otherwise known as the “New Jerusalem” now set up here on earth in this end-time (Gal. 4:26; Rev. 3:12; 21:2,3) He said that any body of true Christians preaching the truth of Christ without adulteration was the Jerusalem: thus God’s Kingdom Mission (GKM) is a proper place to observe the feast. Rain in the text, he said, symbolised blessing, and the Bible spoke of the “showers of blessing” (Ezek. 34:26) The implication was that whereas the celebrants of the feast would be blessed, those who ignored it would not receive blessing from God, the minister concluded.
WHAT IS THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?
On the second day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Brother Solomon A. Olukowade, Minister, GKM. removed the scale of ignorance from the eyes of many of his listeners who thought of the Holy Spirit as being God. He defined the Holy Spirit as the invisible force of God which He sent to His prophets and which He promised to pour upon men in due course. He pointed out that the special anointing oil by which Aaron and his sons and subsequent priests and kings were consecrated in ancient times typified the Holy Spirit by which Jesus Christ, the anti-typical High Priest and his priests and kings would be anointed.
Jesus Christ, Brother Olukowade said, did receive it at his baptism and it was stated that “God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him” (John 3:34) And St Peter testified of “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him” – Acts 10:38.
Brother Solomon stated also that Christ assured his apostles that he, after his departure to heaven, would sent them the “Comforter” which was the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth, or the teaching spirit) that would bring all things he taught them to their remembrance. (John 14:16-17,26; 15:26) Lastly he said: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) In fulfillment of his promise, he said, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended and the 12 apostles received it appearing in “cloven tongues like as of fire”. They began to speak distinctly various foreign languages which they had not heard, and the people from different parts of the world understood their languages and were amazed (Acts 2:5-11) Not every Christian belongs to the class of the apostles otherwise known as the “Little Flock” (Luke 6:12,13, 12:32), he asserted.
Others, he explained, were chosen later and the total number was 144,000. (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:1) One of the marks by which the apostles were known was the truth they preached unmixed with lies by reason of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Brother Olukowade said. Concluding he cited the statement of John the apostle who stated “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you: but aa the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him”-1 John 2:27.
THE JUDGEMENT DAY
“When St. Paul stated that God ‘hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness’, he was not talking of an ordinary day between sunrise and sunset or of twenty-four hours. … with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8)”. With these words Brother Roland E. Ogene, Senior Minister and Secretary, GKM, captivated his audience when he lectured on the second day of the feast on, “The Judgement Day”. He said that the ‘day’ is a period of time referred to in the Bible as the time of the end, or end of the world, otherwise known as the last day or last days.
The indication that God would judge the world was given since ancient times before Christ, he said. Brother Ogene pointed out that the day or time appointed for it, the form it would take, its standard of truth and righteousness as well as its finality were matters of great interest upon which the Holy Bible had thrown much light.
God, he said, is the supreme Judge, the Ruler of all things, in whose hands were all the secrets of men. He said that Abraham referred to him as “the Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25), and David the King made a prophetic utterance in one of his songs in which among other things he said, “The Lord cometh to judge the earth…. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth”-1 Chron. 16:33; Psa 96:13.
The Minister went on to show that more facts about the judgement became known from the first advent of Jesus Christ that it was he (Jesus Christ) God Almighty had vested with the power to administer the judgment scheduled to take place at the time of his second coming In this connection, he quoted Jesus Christ as saying: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son. And hath given him authority to execute judgement also, because he is the Son of Man” (John 5:22-27) He added that Peter the apostle, in his address to Cornelinus, spoke in a very clear language thus: “And he (Jesus) commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.”-Acts 10:42 RSV.
The Judgment, said Minister Ogene, would be based on truth and righteousness and there would be no partiality whatsoever. Everyone would be judged and dealt with on the merit or demerit of his ways and doings. Parents will not be punished because of the sins of their children in which they have no hands nor innocent children bear the iniquity of their parents.” The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” – Ezekiel 18-20; Rom 2-5-12; 2 Cor. 5:10, Rev. 20:13, etc.
Brother Roland stated that in regard to the time of the judgement, Jesus Christ did not leave anyone in doubt that it would take place when he would return in the last day after he must have been in heaven as the King of kings. (Mall. 25:31-33) The judgement, he explained, entailed the dividing of the people into two categories – sheep and goats. The sheep, he said, were those obedient to the gospel who would be saved whereas the goats were those opposed to the truth who would be damned. – John 3:16; 21 Thess. 1:7-12
WHO WILL GO TO HEAVEN?
This was the topic of a lecture delivered by Brother Emmanuel Oleju, a lay Reader, GKM, Warri, on the third day of the Feast of Tabernacles, 1999. He said that heaven was not a place for all believers in that the Bible made it known that only a few- a distinguished class of Christians of the class of the apostles would be with Jesus Christ in the capital of God’s Kingdom in heaven known as Mount Zion Each and everyone of them, he stated, was a king and a priest and referred to the words of John the apostle who was one of them in Revelation 16.
Brother Oleju asserted that Christians were mainly of two classes, the Little Flock and the Other Sheep, citing Luke 12:32 and John 10:16. He disclosed that the 121 apostles of Jesus Christ were the foundation members of the Little Flock also known as the “Church of the Firstborn”. Only those of this class, he pointed out, were anointed of the Holy Spirit like as Jesus Christ was anointed. He received the Holy Spirit of anointing during his baptism whereas the 12 apostles received theirs on the day of Peutecost, he explained. Since then till this time of the end, Brother Oleju stated, the total number of the anointed Christians was 144,000 with reference to Revelation 14:1-5.
Anyone who understood the Lord’s Prayer, the Lay Reader said, would know that because God would establish His Kingdom on earth for men to inhabit, Jesus taught his disciples to pray for the kingdom to come so that His will might be done on earth as in heaven He further quoted Jesus Christ as saying “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) For everyone to strive to go to heaven, Brother Oleju concluded, was an exercise in futility in that heaven was not the home of all the righteous.
MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE
A second subject, this was on Tuesday, the third day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Senior and Executive Minister Albert Urhobo, Sapele Resident Minister, exhorted the vast congregation of the feast on this topic. It was generally believed, he said, that all were called by God yet not all were able to hold steadfastly to the faith till the end Many did fall by the way side for being unable to meet certain vital requirements of the faith. The loss of such ones who fell by the wayside, he added, could not be quantified and they needed be pitied.
The Senior/Executive Minister anchored his talk on the second epistle of Peter the apostle in regard to the great Christian virtues. He quoted the apostle as saying. “Beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance (self-control), and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity.”-2 Peter 1.5-7.
Continuing, Brother Urhobo, added verses 8 and 9, to wit: “For if these things (virtues) 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 be that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afur off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins”.
The Executive Minister drew everyone’s attention to St. Peter’s assertion in verse 10, to wit: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure…” In conclusion, be said that to work hard in complying with the principles of Christ was a task that every Christian should endeavor to accomplish.
ARE YOU TRULY BORN AGAIN?
There are many people who profess to be Christians claiming to have been “born again,” and yet do not know how to be born again. This was stated by Brother A.U Udoh, Resident Minister of GKM, Lagos Branch, when delivering a public lecture on the above subject on the fourth day of the Christian Feast of Tabernacles in December, 1999. “How can one be born again when one has not the accurate knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ the unadulterated word of God?” the minister querried.
He disclosed from the Holy Bible that the term “born again” was first used by our Savior Jesus Christ when discussing with a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus. Christ, he went on, told the ruler, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:1-3) The ruler inquired as to how an old man could be born again Jesus, going a step further, stated emphatically “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” – Verse 5.
The water, Minister Udoh explained, symbolised the word of God unmixed with lies which a true convert must believe before he or she was blessed with the Holy Spirit. To bolster up his argument, the minister quoted St. Peter as saying, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (1 Pet 1.22.23) Many who thrived on falsehood and deceit today, even their followers, were loudest in claiming to be born again, he stated, Having delved into several scriptures, Brother Udoh asserted conclusively that spiritual rebirth or regeneration was what “born again” implied.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
This was the second subject of the fourth day of the Feast of Tabernacles 1999, which was treated by Brother Nathan O. Tietie, Minister and Publicity Secretary, GKM. The state of knowing about God and His purpose as revealed in the holy Scriptures, the Minister stated, was the knowledge of God. Its importance he said, lay on the fact that it was essential for salvation.
Brother Nathan Tietie quoted King Solomon as saying. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7) He explained that the fear of the LORD was to depart from anything evil and for the reason that the knowledge of God instilled fear of God in one made it important. He stated that it was not good for at human being to be destitute of the knowledge of God. He nude reference to Proverbs 19:2, where it was stated: “For a soul to be without knowledge it is not good…” He quoted God as saying through Hosea, thus, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” -Hosea 4:6. Minister Nathan Tietie laid stress on his assertion that the knowledge of God was necessary for salvation. He then quoted Jesus Christ as saying: “And this is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) The knowledge of the Truth or God’s word, therefore entailed knowing the doctrines of God, principles of Jesus Christ and Christian practices, he said. Quoting St. Paul, Brother N.O, Tietie said, “It is the will of God that all men should be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Tim 2:3,4.
That the knowledge of God was of great importance could not be argued, Minister Tietie (Junior) concluded.
HOLINESS
Brother Moses Awana, Minister and Financial Secretary, GKM, spoke on “HOLINESS” and defined the word as “the quality of being holy”, “perfect in a moral sense, pure in heart, religious…” with reference to Collins Shorter English Dictionary and New Imperial Reference Dictionary.
According to him, God is holy and commanded that His children should as well be holy. In Leviticus 11:44-45, It is written: “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be ye holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” The Minister stated that if holiness was not attainable by human beings, God would not have commanded the Israelites to be holy. The laws gives them through Moses were intended to guide them is righteousness until the advent of Jesus Christ, Brother Awana explained. He said further that Jesus Christ revealed that through the truth, God’s word, which he brought, believers could be sanctified or made clean or holy, Said Jesus Christ, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” -John 15:3.
In spite of the unholy state of the world at the instance of the devil, God had been calling His children to holiness through obedience to His words as contained in the Holy Bible, St. Peter in his exhortation on holiness, wrote to the believers thus: “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…- I Peter 1:14-16.
The Minister, having referred to St. Paul’s admonition that “God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness” (1 Thess. 4:3-7), he concluded that it was abundantly clear that “holiness” was attainable.”