SPECIAL MESSAGE BY BRO. SYLVANUS UDOSEN
TOPIC: “…BUT FOR THE ELECT’S SAKE” (MATT. 24:22)
The world has screeched to a halt on the speed lane. The bubbling social, economic and political life of every nation on earth today has suddenly paused. The entire system is stretched and is on the precipice of total collapse. The power and wisdom of the world has failed, thereby bringing the mortal man to his knees. Man is overwhelmed with fear and doubt. The WORLD IS AFRAID. God has again proved Himself as the Almighty and the only saving grace of the world. It is therefore obvious that man without God has foundered, never finding his purpose of existence. Yet the elect of God are very confident in the God they trust. That we know who we are and whose we are is our confidence.
The elect of God must breed self-distrust and confidence in God because:
1. Of God’s immutability/invariableness – No pandemic can change the nature of our God, whether in this world or the world to come. He is a promise-keeping God who will never renege in His promise to His people whose love for His children can never be halted or paused by any situation. He is a God who is always ready to save His own from all calamities (Mal. 3: 6).
2. God has always considered His own (the elect) first. With pony weapons like a slingshot and five smooth stones as in the hands of David or the shepherd’s staff as in the hand of Moses, He prepares the elect for every Goliath and Pharaoh, even when the world with their heavy weapons and facilities are cowered and are at a loss as to what to do (Psalm 34: 4, 17, 19; 2 Tim. 2:19). He knows how to deliver His own from all their troubles. The duration and magnitude of the destruction from any calamity is controlled by God for the sake of the elect (Matt. 24: 22; 2 Sam. 24: 16).
3. Our salvation is sure as we serve Him faithfully and can never be tampered with by any pestilence. It is consoling to know that at the end of all these troubles on earth we shall be with Him forever in heaven.
4. The one true Church, the family of God, can neither be moved nor be destroyed by any pandemic. Until her duty on earth is accomplished, the end of the present world will not come. All calamities are indications that the end is near but not the end.
CONCLUSION
We wake up every day to meet an empty world that expects us to behave the otherworldly. As the elect of God, we should endeavour to practice social distancing, self-isolation and purification with sanitizers, not out of fear and doubt but as a social responsibility that we owe ourselves, our neighbours and government as Christians. God gave the command on social distancing and isolation when there was an outbreak of sickness that was contagious among the children of Israel (Lev. 13:14). On every media, in every discussion, coronavirus is a must-mention. To overcome this agent of destruction, we must root ourselves in God, rest in His promises and practice preventive hygiene during this season. As we pray, God will listen as usual and for the sake of the elect rescue the world from further destruction.