Wilson Adekumola
The Doyen of Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) Worldwide, Most Superior S.O. Banjo, has bemoaned the high rate of deaths of Nigerians aged 54 and above saying it is not the will of God for the true child of God to die young revealing what God has said in the book of Isaiah.
He made this declaration while ministering at the 27th edition of the Harvest and Thanksgiving Service of the Celestial Church of Christ, Apata Igbala Parish, Olusesi 1, Agege, Lagos.
He said, “I know that no matter how long you live in this life, you will surely die. Methuselah died despite spending 920 years on earth. But what created fear in my mind is that the average age in Nigeria is 54. That is not for the true child of Celestial Church, our word is in the book of Isaiah 65:17-25. His will for us is not to die young. If you serve God in truth and holiness and obey His commandments, He will definitely spare our life to fulfil His glory. Each time you wake up, always ask yourself, are you a true child of God or a bastard? If you do this, you will be afraid and you will obey all His commandments. If you do the will of God, you will inherit the world and you will also inherit His kingdom”
While appreciating the marvellous work the Lord has done in the church, the former banker said, “As someone who knows the beginning and foundation of this place, who knows how it was before and came back after ten years to see how it is presently, you will know that it is true that the word of God says: When there is unity and cooperation there is nothing we cannot do and achieve.
“What I have seen today has gladdened my heart because I know how it was before. When I was invited to this place I never knew I would be climbing staircase to the pulpit.”
He then prayed for those who had contributed both spiritually and financially to the success of the magnificent building as he urged them to do more for the House of the Lord.
Banjo charged the participants to serve God in truth and holiness observing that there was no relationship between light and darkness.
He noted, “The truth is the light and lie is the darkness. No matter how powerful a lie is, it is darkness. There is no joy in a lie; when it is revealed, there will be a problem. When a lie is discovered, you will know it is the darkness. There is no relationship between light and darkness.”
He added, “No matter how long it takes a lie, the truth will always come out and prevail. When you tell lies and the truth is discovered, it will only ridicule you. But the truth is full of joy. The word of God is the truth. God says you should worship Him in truth and in holiness. When the truth is removed from the word of God, what remains is darkness. Jesus said I am the truth and the life. The spirit of God is in the truth. If the prophet says anything and it does not come to pass, it is not God that said it because God is the truth. He does not lie. Be holy as God says in the scriptures. If God is holy, then the children should be holy.”
The cleric, who quoted copiously from the Bible, implored the congregants to always give to the needy without measure disclosing that harvest was a time to give to the needy.
“You brought yourself to the harvest and harvest is all about bringing yourself to the presence of God. It is every day you appear in the presence of God because as you sleep and wake up every day, you appear in the presence of God but there are three appearances in the presence of God. The harvest is significant among them.
“The harvest itself is the time of thanksgiving and a day of jubilation, but one thing is that you should not come to the harvest with is empty hand. If your load is too heavy, convert it to cash and give to the needy and the children of God. The book of Deuteronomy 17:22-29 has already spelt it out.
“The day of harvest is a trial day. It is not that God is hungry but He wants us to obey all His commandments. If you are the true child of God, you will obey His Commandments and be blessed. If we are doing the harvest, don’t think you are doing it for men of God or the shepherd but you are doing it for yourselves. We give little to get big from God”, he declared.
Speaking with our correspondent on the sidelines of the glorious harvest, the Shepherd in Charge, the Superior Evangelist, Prophet Adebukola Anjorin, described the event as peculiar, revealing that they did not have the opportunity to celebrate last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
He said, “This harvest is very peculiar, it is something we have been doing for the past 27 years but this one is awesome. The more we grow the more the harvest increases.
“Last year was rocked by the coronavirus pandemic (which is in its third wave with the Delta variants spreading globally.) We did not have the opportunity to gather together and celebrate like this. We give all the glory to Almighty God for giving us the opportunity to mark it after some sanctification which everybody knows the reason why they must be sanctified.”
Asked what informed the theme: ‘Harvest of Sanctification’, he explained, “It is the Holy Spirit that revealed the theme to us. We always pray every year so that the Holy Spirit will give us the directives because we don’t just do things on our own. You cannot be canal to serve God. You have to be spiritual according to the book of Romans 8:8; it says those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Anjorin, who became the shepherd of the church eleven years ago, could not hide his joy for the tremendous crowd at the ceremony.
“We thank God for the population we see here today. It is enormous. People came from all walks of life across the country. It is beyond my expectation. I know by His grace, it is going to be more than this next year. Every year we keep growing,” he noted.
He affirmed that the church was established in 1994 by his father, who died ten years ago.
He said, “My father, who was the founding father of the church died ten years ago, after I became the shepherd eleven years ago. The church actually started small but it became what it is three years ago. We thank God for his mercy.”
The expansive auditorium located at 97, Agbado Road, Olusesi Bus Stop, Iju-Ishaga, Agege, Lagos, was filled to the brim as families and friends trooped in to grace the occasion on Sunday, August 15. They all danced to the melodious and spirit-filled rendition from the church choir with their glowing garments.
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