CHRISTIAN FEAST OF TABERNACLES 2020:
MONDAY DECEMBER 14, 2020
“The Holy Bible, the inspired word of God”.
Brother Oferi Martins Ewharekuko
The Holy Bible is a book whose identity can never be mistaken in any part of the world. It is the foundation of ethics. It guides us through difficult times. Gives us wisdom, knowledge and understanding of how the world began, how it will end and how humans would live in the world to come..
The Holy Bible is divided into two parts, the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, known as the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, from Matthew to Revelation, known as the Greek Scriptures. The whole Bible is made up of 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. Testament. It has been translated into 287 different languages, far more than any other book in the world.
The Bible contains the inspired word of God. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” – 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
David, a king in Israel, was one of those God used to write the Bible. (2 Samuel 23:2) Daniel did not understand what he wrote but God told him people would be inspired to understand the prophecies in due time. (Daniel 12:8-10) Moses wrote the first five books of the Holy Bible, Genesis to Deuteronomy. And Christ affirmed that Moses wrote. – John 5:45-47.
Prophecies of the Scriptures are fulfilling in our eyes: In Matthew 24:7,8 Christ spake of the turbulence that would mark the end of the world and this fulfilled in the First World War of 1914 – 1918, one of the most violent and destructive wars in history. After the war there was the Spanish Influenza, and since then man has been marching into harder and harder times. This shows that the Bible is the inspired word of God.
The Psalmist in Psalm 19:9-11 wrote about the benefits of the word of God contained the Holy Bible. St. Paul told Timohy in 2 Timothy 3:14-17 “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” See also Isaiah 34:16.
When we give ourselves to the study of the word of God, we get faith, (Romans 10:17); It gives peace, (Psalm 119:165); It cleanses,. (John 15:3; 17:17; Psalm 119:9-11); It gives wisdom and understanding, (Deuteronomy. 4:6); It gives prosperity. – Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-6.
When we read the Bible God and put its inspired words into practice, God will bless us abundantly in this present world and grant us salvation in the world to come.
The All-Sufficient Prayer
by Brother Ogechukwu Emmanuel Oriaku –
The two key words in this sermon are all-sufficient and prayer. Prayer is the making of a solemn request, petition to God. The term all-sufficient means something that is enough or adequate to meet a need, purpose or objective. The Lord’s prayer captures all our desires, needs, worries or objectives in life, and so is properly described as the all-sufficient prayer..
On a certain day the disciples of Christ asked to be taught how to pray as John taught his disciples. He taught them a unique and concise way to make requests to God which has become a model to all. This is contained in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4.
God Almighty is our Our Father. Spiritually, the word father means life-giver. God Almighty is the Giver and Owner of life, (Revelation 4:11; Isaiah 64:8) He is in heaven, His dwelling place called Mount Zion, in the heaven of heavens (Isaiah 66:1; Psalm 132:13,14) We must hallow His name.. The holy name of God is JEHOVAH. (Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18) It is holy and reverend (Psalm 111:9) We should not take the name of God in vain, swear falsely in His name, or do anything that would bring reproach to the name of God, it is mighty to save. (Proverbs 18:10) When we say “hallowed by thy name” we express faith in the majesty and supremacy of God
We pray for His kingdom to come. Jesus Christ taught us to pray for the Kingdom of God to come because it is the only solution to the problems of mankind, hence it is called the desire of all nations. (Haggai 2:6,7) But the prayer for the kingdom to come will not be said forever. The Kingdom has been set up in these last days, albeit in a quiet manner, following the expulsion of satan the devil from heaven and the setting up of the Kingdom in various parts of the world. (Revelation 12:7-12; Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 2:2) With this understanding we no longer say, “Thy kingdom come” but “Thy kingdom has come”.. The Kingdom in heaven has been fully set up. When that of the earth is fully established the will of God will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. – 2 Peter 3:13.
The prayer that God should give us this day our daily bread. expresses our dependence on God for Him to feed us spiritually with His word, the spiritual bread that gives spiritual nourishment, comfort and salvation in the end. Literally we pray to God to give us food and other necessities of life…- Psalm 23:1; 36:7-10.
We pray God to forgive us our sins when we repent of them. This prayer imposes on us the duty of also forgiving those who wrong us. – Psalm 130:4; Matthew 6:14,15.
And lead us not into temptation, – The translation of the part of the prayer that says God should not lead us into temptation is wrong because God does not lead people into temptation. He does not tempt anyone but tries or tests the faith of His children. Satan the devil is the one who is the Tempter (Matthew 4:1-4) Apostle James says: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:” – James 1:13
The text shows that God does not tempt but delivers us out of temptation. (2 Peter 2:9) With this understanding we no longer say “:lead us not into temptation” but leave us not in temptation. In vindication of the GKS Pope Francis was in July this year widely reported to have directed the Catholic faithful not to be saying “lead us not into temptation” saying a father does not tempt his children but that they should be saying “leave us not in temptation“.
Because we face a lot of dangers in this world, we pray for God’s deliverance. This is covered in the part of the prayer which says, “deliver us from evil”. Compare. Psalm 34:19. The Lord’s Prayer ends here.
The accompanying doxology in the book of Matthew, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” is not contained in the original texts and so should not be followed. Luke 11:1-4 which also contains the Lord’s Prayer does not have this part.. Several notable ecclesiastical writers have affirmed that this part is an interpolation. Bible translations such as the Douay Version, The American Standard Version, Emphatic Diaglott, the Living Bible, etc. all omit that part.
It is significant that the Lord’s Prayer uses plural pronouns, such as our, we, us etc. showing that we pray not only for ourselves but for others. Though we can make special prayer when necessary but this prayer can be used privately and congregationally. When we say it with faith and understanding God will hear us. – Psalm 65:1,2.