The Madina Area Head of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Martin Seth Appiah, has admonished Christians to value the exceptional uniqueness of the glorious Church which, he said, can never be compared to any earthly institution.
“The joy in Christianity and uniqueness of the Church which makes it different from other earthly established institutions is that the owner, the head, the builder, the organiser, and the discoverer is Jesus Christ who was sent by the Father and helped by the Holy Spirit (Triune God) to build a holistic spiritual church aimed at redeeming man from the depraved world,” he said.
Apostle M. S. Appiah said this on Sunday, October 4, 2020, when he fellowshipped with the Ebenezer Royal Temple Assembly in Madina District.
Speaking on the topic, “Characteristics of a Glorious Church” (Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 5:25-27), he said that the Church which is headed by Jesus Christ is spiritual with physical components but not solely driven by men, saying, “The establishment of the church was spearheaded by a collective and holistic decision from the Triune God.”
He urged church leaders to teach members to comprehend the revelations, mysteries, policies, and activities of the spiritual and glorious church to follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit.
He asked church leaders to be compassionate, loving, one who forgives, among others, urging Christians to see themselves as no mere persons. “Value your uniqueness, position, and credentials in Christ Jesus and the characteristics of the Church so that you do not look down upon yourselves and do things anyhow,” he added.
Touching on the two-fold reasons for the establishment of the Church, he said that the Church was spiritually established so that the “depraved man” would be rescued from the depraved world and the anger of God (Romans 3:23-26). He added that when this depraved world is destroyed, the Church would be exempted and enjoy gloriously in heaven (John 14:1-3).
“It would be uneasy for anyone to die or lay down his life to rescue others especially sinners but it became so necessary for Christ Jesus to redeem man from depravity which made Him go through undeserved suffering, pains, humiliation, treatments and disgraceful death so that everybody would not only be part of this spiritual Church but also to open the door of eternal salvation to anyone who accepts Him as Lord and personal Saviour.
“Those who accept Christ as their Lord and personal Saviour and determine to die in Christ irrespective of the tests, temptations and trials that may come their ways automatically become part of the heavenly Church and they will gloriously enjoy eternal life with Christ,” he stated.
Reading from Ephesians 2:8 and John 3:16, Apostle Appiah said: “Apart from divine grace, there is nothing one can do to be part of this glorious church. Regardless of any background, the grace of Jesus Christ has closed the gap and brought homogenous relationship thus making all of us as the same or equal as one people in the sight of God. Forget about what you do not have and never allow yourselves to be downgraded or never allow anyone to look down on you. Just fix your eyes on Christ and trust that His grace is more capable of redeeming and sustaining your life even in hard times of rejection, marginalisation, criticisms and false accusations.”
Apostle Appiah admonished Christians to understand that those who become members of the glorious Church must devote themselves to the teachings of the Apostles and be vigilant so that they are not deceived by baseless demonic doctrines which has nothing to do with eternal salvation (Colossians 2:16-23, 2 Corinthians 11:1-3, Matthew 7:15).
He also cautioned the church members especially the youth not to take advantage of their challenges to indulge in immoral lifestyles. “The dangerous aspect in Christianity is when someone accepts Christ and still remains in sin,” he asserted.
Touching on the essence of the Lord’s Supper (Communion), with scripture reference from Matthew 26:27-29, Apostle Martin Seth Appiah, urged Christians to develop exceptional interest to participate in it without allowing anything to hinder them. “Breaking of bread is a symbolic spiritual exercise that strengthens our relationship and fellowship with Christ Jesus. Until we dine with Christ here, we would never get the opportunity to dine with Him in heaven,” he said.
On the characteristics of a glorious Church, he said that it involves strong fellowship (Hebrews 10:25), breaking of bread (Matthew 26:27-29), prayer and holiness (1 Peter 1:13-16), heavenly-mindedness and evangelistic spirit (Matthews 28:19, Jude 22-23), and paying attention and listening to the voice and direction of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 3:7-8, Romans 8:14-16).
Report by Joshua Asamoah Darko, Madina.