CYBER-MEDITATION

PREDICATION N°11

Bibles Lessons :
1st : Gen. 12:1-9

2^nd : 1John : 5 1- 8

. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. In this day of Sabbath, eve of the 61st birthday of ECC, the word of God has been spoken to us through the two readings that we have just listened to. Each of us has reacted to those words in a different way and with different questions. May the Lord help us understand the content of those readings. Let his holy spirit be with us.

Amen

The reading from the book of Genesis 12 reminds us of the promise of God to Abraham whose name was Abram at that time. Why did God call upon him. What is the new plan of God? Let us remember that before Abraham there were men who had been called by God.

At a time where the earth was to be destroyed because of its corruption by sin and its perversion, God had chosen to save Noah and all of the animal and vegetal kingdom.. He initiated the Great Flow but after the Great Flow he blessed Noah and his sons and said [ Genesis 9-1]

“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

But who were Noah's children? Noah's sons who were with him in the arch were Cham and Japhet and Sem. Cham had been the one to make fun of Noah's drunkenness while Sem and Japhet had covered his naked body . Noah who understood what had happened had cursed Cham which meant that Cham became Japhet's servant and since Japhet lived in Sem's house and Cham became sem's servant.

Evil descended upon earth immediately after the Great Flood. Note that Terach, Abram's father was from Sem's see and so was Lot, his nephew...

Another important fact happened in Babel where men had defied God and God had sent mankind to every corner of the earth giving tem different languages. Today we are not a strong and united community but several people with several languages and we live in a world with wars, vices, meanness, clans and fighting nations.

Is God in his grief going to destroy the earth? God remembers his promise in Genesis 9:11 " "

“And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth”

that alliance is symbolized by the rainbow drawn on the altar. There won’t be another Great Flow so how is God going to save those who are still his children? What is he planning to do in order to save his people? The people of God must not belong to the world anymore but get away from the world and give themselves to God and only to God. It is why God has chosen Abraham. Read Genesis 12 1-2

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing”

God has decided to do so in order to save his people and subtract them from the world and his mistakes, in order to take his children away from Satan.

Abraham will become the father of a great nation, the nation of God. He will be the root of God's will and his work. Before Abraham no such promise had been kept Abraham, man of flesh and blood like you and me had chosen a path that we call today faith. He accepted God's promise and chose to live according to his will. He accepted to leave everything, family, parents, in order to wander to a promised land of which he knew nothing..

Halleluiah! That journey is the journey of faith. In the same way when we believe and receive the baptism of Jesus Christ, we are reaching toward a new life which is unknown to us. It is the journey of Christian faith. It is by faith that we accept God. The path of the faithful has been chosen by many before us and they have never been disappointed.

For Abraham, faith did not rest upon the promise of becoming a great nation because time depends on God and only God and God is the one who decides when to fulfil his promise.

We can be helped in our faith by many things, the Bible, for instance. But the best help in every day’s life is our father Prophet Samuel Oschoffa. The son of a poor carpenter who was very pious, Oschoffa lost himself in the forest of Agongue where he received the grace.

A voice told him " Luli luli grace" Yes the grace was granted to him. That grace has been granted to other nations for centuries but came to Africa through the brute force of colonization and was not welcome God's work was lost and misunderstood. It is not surprising that Jesus Christ came to bring the Gospel, the gospel of life. That mission was the last boat to sanctify the world. The Prophet Founder has also chosen the trip of faith when he decided to obey God's voice. God blessed him and achieved miracles and prodigies, showing everywhere that God had sent him. Let us read Hebrew11: 1 " "

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Father Oschoffa has received favourable testimony. The path of faith is not without perils. Abraham has been through a multitude of ordeals on his way to Canaan. He had to withstand famine when he left Egypt and almost lost his wife and his life. He has always faced these ordeals with courage. James 1: 2- 4 " "

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Ordeals are born from our sins but the man who prays and confides in God will always be victorious. God never forsakes his children. Difficulties help us better ourselves and have spiritual maturation A lot of Christians are shaky and that is because of their lack of patience and lack of maturation in their faith.

That first reading reminds us that Abraham is really the root from the promise's tree. He is the patriarch. Although his resolve was weak, at first we see that God has blessed him with a numerous posterity. There are the descendents of Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Moslems but it is Jesus Christ, born from David’s seed who has made true the promise made to Abraham. By his sacrifice on the cross, he has made all Christians co-heir of the promise ( John 14 10 ) Through his name and only through his name can we be saved. We are not from the world anymore but from the people chosen by God.

In the 2nd reading, we have verified that Jesus Christ is at the very centre of the promise. In this perverse world, a world of sin, what will set the children of the promise apart from the others? When God blessed Abraham as he came back from Egypt, his nephew, Lot was also blessed and their flocks multiplied which resulted in fights between their shepherds over the best pasture. This is why Abraham and Lot decided to part way. Abraham let Lot choose in which direction he wanted to go, Lot chose the way towards the fertile pasture and Abraham went towards the arid land because he did not want to fight with his nephew but Lot choice led him towards Sodom and Gomorrah. Gods' actions make us understand our calling. It is not a calling directed towards material riches, our riches are spiritual. Abraham would often go help his nephew. Let us read 1John 5: 1-2

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”

The first condition to call oneself a Christian is to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. It is the act of faith, the credo. Secondly if you are a Christian, you must love God and do so by loving your neighbour and following God's rules. Love you neighbour to show that you love God. You cannot hate your neighbours and say that you love God. You cannot hate the

children of God and say that you obey God. Love makes us close to God 1John 5 : 3-4.

“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

You Christian, you must obey God and respect his rules. It is only that way that you will be able to remove yourself from the world. Step away from sin, adultery and debauchery. We celestial Christians have to help each others in that endeavour. We have the rules that are dear to us, those that were given by the prophet and help us to keep our sanctity to purify ourselves. We must follow them. As a reminder we must not dress in red or black, eat pork, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or use drugs and if a man lives with a woman , he must get married. Children must be legitimate. Marriage is a sacred rule of God! Corinthians 7.

Couples who live together must get married to legalize their relationship. Marriage is one of the conditions for us to be received in the kingdom of God.

Alleluia! Today Satan takes possession of men and women and makes them commit abominations. There are many separations and divorces. In certain countries, justice allows that but it is the enemy. The only one who gains by those actions is Satan. God never asked for that.

The world is cunning and Satan thinks he is strong but God helps us triumph from him. We just have to pray, that is the solution when we face ordeals. The man of God must fight against all temptations to avoid the enemy's trap. The spirit of God is not a spirit of timidity. but a spirit of strength and power. We do not have to fight against the flesh but against evil spirits, against the grip that the world has upon us. We must resist Satan. Jesus Christ has vanquished Satan and he allows us to live free today 1 john 5: 6- 8 " "

“This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”

Christ has come to save us. He has not come with water only.

Through baptism we can repent. But baptism is not enough to triumph from the world and the devil because we are not really reborn after baptism. to erase our sins and those inherited from our forefathers and ours as well as the one committed after baptism, should there be animal sacrifices? Christian came with the blood, the blood of the lamb for sin to be crucified in the flesh on the cross. It is by the blood of Christ given for the sake of mankind that we are saved and justified. By his blood we have justification. He redeemed us and now we can have eternal life., we are the co heirs of the kingdom. The water and the blood of Christ purify us. That is why Christ had to die Hebrew 2:10-11

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Heb:2:11: For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.”

He has promise the holy spirit, and we received it. It is the holy spirit which witnesses the truth and guides us towards the father. The holy spirit teaches us and directs us towards church Acts 2 and 5

The holy spirit has filled the apostles and has sustained them. It is thanks to the holy spirit that we, the prophets and all those who accept it, can bear witnesses of God.

Those 3 combined elements which bear witness that Jesus Christ is the son of God

Halleluiah

Now what would we say about the one who commits sins 1 John 3 : 7-8 and 9-10 "

“Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

1Jo:3:8: He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

To whom does he belong? To the devil and what do you say ?

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1Jo:3:10: In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

Amen

VSE W Jean-Luc DEGNIDE

For cyber-meditations

28/09/08/ECC Holy-Victory/Pantin /FR.

Translated in English by : C. LAROCHE / USA

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