THE ROLE OF CELESTIAL CHURCH OF CHRIST IN THE CHRISTENDOM
A LECTURE DELIVERED BY SUPERIOR EVANGELIST (DR.) EMMANUEL O.
ADEWALE OF C. C.C. APETE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (IMC)OF
C.C.C. WORLDWIDE AT PANDA EVENTS COMPLEX SABO YABA , LAGOS ON SATURDAY 2ND
NOVEMBER 2013
INTRODUCTION
I am highly honoured to be in this exalted
position to deliver a lecture on the significance of our church in the midst of
all other churches in the universe at this crucial time in the history of our
beloved church. This becomes important
and relevant as an exercise to assess the objectives, the performance etc. of
the church in the contemporary world. I want to equally greet the members of
the IMC for making themselves available as useful tools for the progress of our
church. I guess that God put it in the mind of our Pastor Founder to set up
this committee about 30years ago as a result of the geometric increase in the
number of parishes and the need to have a 'pastoral administrative eye' on the parish that is set
by him at the International Headquarters Ketu , Lagos. Without this arrangement,
what belongs to all could have belonged to nobody. I pray for further strength
for you all in Jesus name.
This topic, the role of Celestial Church of
Christ in the Christendom requires a review of the concept of the Christendom, the
essence of Cele and a discussion of the role of the church in relation to
others. All these will be touched before we make our recommendations.
“Celestial Church of Christ is part of the
one spiritual, world-wide, united, indivisible Holy Church which came into the
world from heaven by DIVINE ORDER on the 29th of September 1947 in PORTO NOVO,
REPUBLIC OF BENIN (formerly REPUBLIC OF DAHOMEY) through a single individual, a
man who is the founder of the Church, the Reverend Pastor Prophet Founder
SAMUEL BILEHOU JOSEPH OSHOFFA.” (Article 1, Second Schedule, Celestial Church
Constitution).
Christendom can be described as the worldwide body of
Christians. According to the free Wikipedia Dictionary, Christendom is an old
religious term which is now replaced with Christianity. The Oxford dictionary
defines it as a worldwide body or society of Christians. Hence, for the purpose
of this lecture, we can paraphrase the theme to be the role of Celestial Church
in the body of Christ or the role of Celestial Church in the society of other
churches.
THE HISTORY
OF CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA
Christianity was a foreign religion to
Africa. Our fore fathers were known for the practice of the religions that
involved deities often represented by stones, trees, rivers and all other
“special” creations. They believed in an almighty with specific attributes that
make them honour, fear, obey and follow the deity and their practices. Christianity
however, came to Africa through Egypt in the middle of the first century
(Wikipedia). But the establishment of Islam in North African countries made it
difficult for Christianity to penetrate fully there. Hence, the interests of the early missionaries
shifted to the southern and western Africa where Nigeria became a huge
beneficiary.
The Roman Catholic Mission, the British
Anglican Church, Methodist Church and the Baptist Church were the first of
churches in Nigeria. Later, some African Instituted Churches sprang up to
support the mission of gaining people into God’s kingdom. One of these African
Instituted Churches was Celestial Church of Christ.
The essence of these early churches were
mainly to draw Africans away from idol worshipping, human sacrifices, Slave
trade, the killing of twins and other mystical beliefs that did not glorify God
and Jesus as His son. These efforts of
the early missionaries were quite successfully as they brought along with
religion things like education in the 3 Rs , scholarships and overseas
training, health, commerce etc. . These made the reading of the Bible available
to people with improving attitude towards cruelty, civilization and godliness.
The number of church goers kept on increasing with churches spreading to the
localities. Yet these churches with their tenets did not produce a 'perfect
man'. There was a need for yet another church that will have a tenet relevant
enough to deliver man completely from the powers of darkness into the kingdom
of God.
WHY
CELESTIAL CHURCH?
Before the advent of Celestial Church of
Christ, some African Instituted Churches like Cherubim and Seraphim through
Moses Orimoade and others through Ayo Babalola, Oshitelu etc. had being in existence. Such ministries had
made waves particularly in Nigeria in the 1930s and 40s. Yet God chose to send
Celestial Church of Christ into this world. It becomes a thing of worry to see
this happen. Why will God send Celestial Church again? Could it be that the
first black evangelists were fake or that they were not efficient? Better
still, could it be that they lost their calling or what? The answers to these
questions are not far-fetched.
By the record of the church constitution,
an angel of the Lord told the founder (Prophet S.B.J. Oshoffa) that; "It
is the wish of God to send you on an errand of preaching to the world. Many
nominal Christians there are who, when confronted by difficulties and problems
of this world, they run after fetish priests and other powers of darkness for
all kinds of assistance. Consequently, on their death, they cannot see Christ
because, by their action, Satan has left his spiritual mark on them. To assist
you in your work so that men may listen to and follow you, miraculous works of
Holy divine healing will be carried out by you in the name of Jesus Christ.
These works of divine healing and God's spiritual mark on you will testify to
the fact that God sent you". (Celestial Church of Christ Constitution,
Article two, Second Schedule).
Hence, Celestial Church did not just come
into existence out of selfish wish of an individual or group of people. God himself
purposed the church differently from those of earlier existing denominations.
Cele was meant to improve over the weaknesses of the early churches. Those
nominal Christians upon slight difficulties run to the idols for help
consequently inscribed the mark of the devil on them (Revelation 14:9-11). When
they die they have no inheritance with God. What does it profit a man if he has
the whole world but loses his soul (Read John 15:5-6). For the redemption of
mankind therefore, God used the blood of His only son - Jesus to repossess man
to Him and for the total liberation of all.
THE ROLE OF
CELESTIAL CHURCH IN THE CHRISTENDOM
If
God has specifically fashioned out this church then it may be necessary to
understand her purpose and particularly as it differs from other Christian
body. Let us begin by studying the role of Christianity in general.
There are diverse opinions about the role
of the church. Such roles vary with denominations and in many regards they
determine the emphasis that each church places. For instance, the Roman
Catholics emphasis on roles that are related to school education and charity
for the poor whilst Anglican and the Protestant pay more attention to issues
that draw worshippers to God more according to the National Church Life Survey (NCLS).
The Grace Communion International (in her website)
states that there six functions/roles of the church and they include:
Worship 1Pet. 2:9; Eph.5:1
Spiritual discipline
Discipleship 2Tim2:2; Col. 3:16
Fellowship Romans 1:12
Service Gal. 6:10; 1 Cor. 12:7
Evangelism Mat. 28:19 -20
Any church or organisation will always find
its role or function in the reason why it is created. Myles Munroe says ''when the purpose of a
thing is not known, the abuse is inevitable.'' This is true of our church.
What
then is the role of Celestial Church of Christ in the Christendom? Honestly a
look at the public impression about this church or a survey of what people
think about the significance of Celestial Church of Christ will produce a mixed
feeling. What members do or say make the world think that the church is not
worth the salt. But haven taken time to study the wish of God for mankind and
what this church has produced so far, l come to submit the following as the roles
of Celestial Church of Christ:
1.
The church is an organ of
spiritual awakening. God sent Cele to the world at a time when churches are no
longer strong enough to meet the spiritual needs of the people. Hardly can Christians
behave without recourse to other fetish powers but the strong spiritual gift in
the church has brought people back.
2.
Cele is a major source of
spiritual succour for others. It is clear that almost everyone at all points of their spiritual needs irrespective
of which church they go, run to a parish of this church at one time or the
other for results.
3.
She is a reservoir of musical
inspiration to other churches. l am not aware of any major spiritual song or
singer that does not have a link with celestial songs and or instrumentalists.
The impact of music in life cannot be over stressed.
4.
The church provides
opportunities for talents to spring up and grow. Many renowned evangelist,
preachers, pastors and singer have the roots of their success stories traceable
to Celestial Church of Christ.
5.
One of the enviable pillars of
the church is LOVE. Many churches have credence of this for their growth from
the church.
6.
Like in the days of Elijah and
the other prophets, Celestial Church provides divine guidance to people in
power hence helping in nation building and reducing reliance on diabolical
powers.
7.
The church is fashioned to be
the last ship of salvation purifying the soul of people and preparing them for
eternal glory irrespective of their religious affiliation.
8.
As one of the most populous
churches, celestial Church of Christ by her membership provides a source of
strength for the whole Christendom.
Going by the above, it is clear against
popular belief that God has made Celestial Church a torch light and a source of
inspiration as well as a place of refuge to others in the Christendom. A lady
spoke to me one day and said ''Dad, you know l have been to various churches in
this country, l am not sure if there is one that l have not visited, so l can
tell you that there is nowhere else where the gift of prophecy is paramountly
effective more than Celestial Church of Christ''. The efficacy of this gift
gives Cele the distinction in the Christendom.
CELESTIAL
CHURCH OF CHRIST AND HER ROLE IN CHRISTENDOM
It is crystal clear that God has a special
assignment for this church inspite of all distractions. God said that it is
decreed from heaven that this church continues to grow till all afflictions of
the world disappear and till Jesus comes the second time. All the five
ministries required to function have been given by God As the last boat of
salvation, she is supposed to use all the God provisions to ensure the goal
getting. But experiences show that this leadership role of the church was only
achievable for the first forty years.
Thereafter, integrity, sincerity,
commitment, orderliness, love, and all the glorious virtues of the church are
now doubted by everybody. Imagine the number of quality members of the church
that have found it convenient to start afresh elsewhere. The discipleship principles
and practice of the church has now turned to PREPARATORY. This is because when
people have issues they run to the church for assistance and as soon as their
problems are over they see that there are Bible believing churches around.
Before you know it they proudly tell you that they are now born again and that
they are now candidates of heaven. Some
of such people are not ashamed to come back to Cele at the least spiritual
attacks. We need a change. God cannot be a liar.
HOPE FOR
THE FUTURE
No matter what might have gone wrong with
the fold, God can still build us up from the pieces of our yesterday. One
interesting thing that is worthy to note about God is that He will not forget
His covenant. Although, He may change the operators to be used but certainly He
will fulfil it. God promised to take the Israelites to the promise land through
Moses but He only did through Joshua and Caleb.
God will not forget His promise for the Church
If the future is this bright and sure, then
we should all take positive steps to restore the glory of Celestial Church of
Christ. I want to suggest an action in the following directions:
1.
Our ministry of teaching must
be improved upon. People perish for lack of knowledge. The high volume of grace and love that the
church started with made people pay
less attention to teaching, discipline and control. Instead we acted on 'we
have Abraham
as our father '.
2.
Let us sanitize ourselves on
the purpose of the church.
3.
Let us pray ceaselessly less
the devil takes advantage of us.
4.
Let us sheath our swords and
forge ahead into the future.
Taking drastic steps at this time is not
negotiable. Heaven is waiting and Christ
is watching us. The responsibility is that of all of us. May God help us.
