Sage Voice

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom." (Matthew 25:1 NIV) The church as the bride of Christ In my view, the most lustrous image of the church was painted by the Lord in Matthew 25. In this parable, the Lord revealed the church as a bride who is eagerly awaiting the appearing of her Lord. Thus, the parable paints a picture of the coming of the Lord and the rapture of the church. In these last days, we ought to be stressing the image of the church as the bride of Christ.  The eminent Apostle Paul also came with a revelation depicting the church as a chaste virgin who has been espoused to Christ. He taught the early Christians to live their lives as a chaste virgin who is espoused to one husband.  "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him."  (2 Cor 11:2 NIV) Being saved means that you have died to t...

"The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John." (Revelation 1:1 NIV) Every church, no matter the denomination or doctrine, must look so much the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head and the church is his body. The two parts must be identical in nature and behaviour.   Nature wise, the church is created in the image of Christ, but behaviour wise, the church must learn to live like Christ. Just as a newborn baby, fully possessing the genetic and systemic abilities of a human being, must learn to behave as a human being, so the Christian, created in the image of Christ, must learn to behave like Christ.  We ought to place much emphasis on the revelation of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelations. This is because, in the book, the glorified Christ reveals himself to the church in his full glory as Lord, so that we would see what his glory looks like, and eventually, ...

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9 KJV) Peacemakers are not the people who are quiet over wars, war crimes, human right abuses, power abuses, discriminations, inequalities, injustices, marginalisation of the minority groups or sufferings of the oppressed people.   Peacemakers are a kind of balanced people who ensure that there is balance in the system where employers do not rob employees of their wages, and employees do not rob employers of their working hours.  Peacemakers are people who respectfully speak for the voiceless and passionately advocate conditions of well-being for the poor.  In the world, especially in Africa, people who do not speak over injustices, but rather, are silent over power abuses, are often considered to be peace-loving people.  In Ghana particularly, it is said that the good ones are always silent, implying that good people should not rise for social justice; good people should not...

"They love to have the places of honor at festivals, the best seats in the synagogues, to be greeted in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people." (Matthew 23:6-7 ISV) Worthy of note is the fawning of spiritual fathers by spiritual sons and daughters especially in the Charismatic circles. Charismatism is becoming notorious for extremities of faith, doctrine and practice. Here, I speak of Charismatism as a movement in Christianity.  What is fawning? Fawning is the act of seeking favour by way of flattery. Spiritual fathers especially of the Charismatic fold are often difficult to please. They are like monarchs. They take decisions that are solely led by the Spirit in them. This is to mean that your personal needs and concerns do not matter to them when they are taking decisions.  If the Spirit in them brings your personal needs and concerns to their attention, that is the only time they get moved by your needs and concerns. Do you now see the reason why sons and da...