The Future Of The Nigerian Church

In the warm up to the presidential election to be held in February 14, 2015 in Nigeria, there is fear expressed from certain quarters of the Nigerian Church as to the emergence of a Muslim candidate who may end up exterminating Christianity in Nigeria or at least prepare the ground for such imminent extermination. In as much as I am not out to join argument with anyone on this matter, in furtherance to my former write up and statement, I wish to call our attention to some scriptural points on what really can be the undoing of a church.

Knowledge.

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6"

The only time when the people of God could be destroyed is when God has given them up and this cannot happen until they forget or forsake or reject or neglect the commandment of God. The people in the days of Prophet Hosea were not destroyed because of their lack of knowledge of history or politics or human relations or wealth creation or power game but because they had given up the knowledge of the laws of their God. In the first chapter of the book of Romans, the Bible tells us of the church that God gave up to vile affections and reprobate minds because they did not retain God in their knowledge. Spiritual destruction preceeds physical destruction. As long as the fellowship of the church with God remains intact by retaining God in her knowledge, God cannot betray such a church.

The Churches in Asia.

In the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, the Bible talks about the spiritual state of each of the 7 Churches in Asia and the verdicts of God upon them. Historians tell us today that those churches were actually located in Turkey and have all disappeared with history. If this is true which I do not doubt, those churches went into extinction primarily because they did not take those verdicts of God in those verses seriously. The Ephesian Church never went back to her first love, the Churches at Smyrna and Thyatira gave up their faith, the Church at Pergamos permitted false doctrines, the Church at Sardis defiled her garment while that at Philadephia deny the word of God and the Laodiceans remained lukewarm. Those churches went into oblivion because the seven candlesticks representing them were removed from their places by God and not because the government of Turkey was islamized. If the fellowship of the church with the God remains intact, there is no government of the world that can overthrow the Church of Christ.

Haman and the Jews.

In the book of Esther, there is the story of the contempt of Haman against Mordecai. In a bid to punish Mordecai, Haman sought to exterminate the entire Jewish race from all the kingdom of Ahasuerus. The motion for the extermination had been passed into law by the council of chiefs and the King had signed it into law. The only thing remaining was the implementation of the royal decree before Mordecai got a hint of it. During this period, we will realise that Mordecai with his people were just nominal Jews in the land with a lost identity. Their fellowship with their God had been brutally broken down. The reason you will not find the mention of God in the whole book of Esther. It was that bad. Before God can sell out a church, that church would have first of all sold God out. Immediately the Jews reunited with their God by way of fasting and prayer, God showed Esther favour, remembered Mordecai, destroyed Haman and all the enemies of the Jews and the Jews became liberated even to hold a feast in the land of their sojourn.

Jesus, the Disciples and the Romans.

Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of the age long promise of the Messiah who was going to liberate the Jews from under the afflictions and captivity of their enemies. At the time of Jesus' full time ministry, the Jews were under the political dominance of the Romans and the least they had expected from their Saviour was to secure their independence from Rome. Unfortunately, Jesus came for something more important and it is the restoration of the kingdom of God in the hearts of men. He came to restore the broken fellowship between man and his God. He came to break down the wall of partition between man and his God. I presume they had thought that the physical restoration of the kingdom to Israel would guarantee the manifestation of the purpose of God for them and that they would bear rule over the whole world. They were very wrong. The Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ, restored their fellowship with their God and gave them spiritual dominion rather than a physical one they expected. He left them still under the physical rulership of the Romans but gave them power to become sons of God and power over serpents, scorpions and every power of the enemies (John 1:12; Luke 10:19). Could that have been a mistake? Of course, not. Jesus' response to the request of the disciples in Act 1:6-8 shows that it wasn't a blunder of whatever sort.