The General Assembly
Hebrews 12:23 You have come to the general assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect.
Introduction: I salute you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your labour in diligently looking at God’s word for your edification shall never be in vain.
Jesus said to Martha who chose to be busy than sitting at the feet of Jesus like her sister, Mary.
Luke 10:41-42 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Whenever you study at His feet, you’ll discover spiritual truth, and truth will remain with you to set you free from all bondage. There is going to be a day of judgement in the General Assembly.
What is the general Assembly?
It is the Assembly of all saints.
Psalm 89:7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
General Assembly is the congregation of the upright.
Psalm 111:1 Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
General Assembly is gathering of all firstborn who belong to God, that is Christians with Birthright.
Hebrews 12:23 You have come to the general assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven.
All Christians must appear before the judgement seat of Christ for rewards and rebukes based on earthly performance during various trials and temptations.
2 Corinthians 5:10(NLT) For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
There is one unifying syllabus to be used as all believers are examined while on earth, it is the BIBLE, the written word of God that is available to all even in all forms now; like hard copy and soft copy on phones and tablets. BIBLE is Basic Instructions Before Leaving the Earth
When I was in secondary school preparing for WAEC. At that time, which I think it is still in operation now, all students from local schools in all West Africa countries will come together for same examination.
There was unified syllabus from which all schools are expected to follow for all subjects.
In my local school, some of us are not concerned or even possessed the WAEC syllabus, we depended on teachers notebooks. I was a science student taking Physics, Chemistry and Biology. In fact, I was nicknamed “Phichemba” with girls hailing me “Ten-Ten” books and I will be moving with swagger with my hands akimbo.
We had an Indian couple, Mr and Mrs Maeson. The husband was teaching physics while the wife taught chemistry. We finished organic chemistry in one week, my notebook of 40 leaves had more spaces after I finished writing notes for the whole topics in chemistry for form 5.
Anytime there was examination in the local assembly, I was doing well. This gave confidence that WAEC will not be a problem and I continued my swagger without my syllabus but only with notebook of Maeson thinking WAEC is finished.
On examination day, most questions in chemistry were strange and I thought they must have mistakenly brought question paper meant for advanced level. Surely the result was F9.
There was one classmates of mine, he left hostel during our final year and studied with students from other local schools, he was always with the syllabus and would be engaging Mr and Mrs Maeson in class with questions while some of us tagged him “Ephyco” meaning over-syllabus. This boy cleared all his papers and entered University of Ibadan same year.
Here is his brief résumé;
Prof. …….Euracare’s consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, was qualified as a medical doctor in 1987 with distinction from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He has been a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Glasgow, UK since 1992 and was awarded the Intercollegiate Fellowship in Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery in 2000 by The Royal College of Surgeons, England. Prof. …..underwent postgraduate specialist training in Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery on the Birmingham Orthopaedic Training Programme and Clinical Research Fellowship in Birmingham UK between 1993 and 2001 and gained Master of Medical Science Degree in Clinical Research at the University of Birmingham in 1998. He gained the Certificate of Completion of Fellowship Programme in Orthopaedic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Toronto, Canada in 2001. Prof. …… is currently a Professor and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
He finished with Distinction as a medical doctor in 1987. He is now a professor with various awards, a consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in UK.
I removed his name because it’s not about him but about me for an illustration.
Judging by earthly achievements and glory, he is a very successful man with rewards for diligence and hard work.
My earthly achievements cannot come near this my classmate who was diligent in his studies and not dependent on Mr and Mrs Maeson but went further using WAEC syllabus to equip himself for the general Assembly of WAEC while I was swaggering with notebook from my local Assembly teachers.
This my life story is to drive home critical points to consider as we run our race towards eternity.
Thank God this my story is an earthly race for rewards that is bound to fade away. Now think about it if it were to be this heavenly race that is for eternal reward?
If earthly reward, which is temporal can be honourable, how will the eternal reward be?
Hear apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27(NLT) All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
Now my brethren, how are you running this heavenly race that is of eternal value? Are you daily studying the Bible, our own syllabus to check if what we are being taught is correct and detailed?
Jesus told those Pharisees who had in their custody the book of the law in John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Look at what is written about Christians in Berea
Acts 17:11(NLT) And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures Day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.
If Berean Christians can cross check Paul’s message, have you cross checked what you received from revered men of God with your syllabus? Do you follow them rigidly? Do you carry only their notebooks and motivational words?
Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
Hear the NLT version And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.
If the materials you have is only based on what you heard from notable preachers in your local assembly, then in the day of examination you are bound to fail.
Do you still wonder why Christians are falling in adultery, and exhibiting works of the flesh like unbelievers?
There are no diligent searches from the syllabus, the Bible because we all want short cuts to success.
If you fail under pressures and trials of this life, it is because you do not receive strength from the Vine, the Word which is available in the written word of God, the Bible.
Proverbs 24:10(NLT) If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.
My Brethren, how is your performance as you are examined in handling money, marriage, power, position at all spheres of life?
Are you living a holy life and in peace with everyone including your spouse living with you?
Hebrews 12:14 Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.
There is going to be a general Assembly to determine performance.
My Brethren, is your Birthright still intact despite worldly offers from friends and old school mates?
Hebrews 12:16-17 Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.
When I heard about my class mate’s admission into U.I. same year we finished school certificate, and I had to re-take WAEC the following year, tears appeared in my eyes for my laziness and negligence in abandoning the syllabus.
Thank God there was opportunity to re-take, and reward is earthly but when it comes to heavenly rewards, no re-take once the end has come.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Before the general Assembly, we are to listen to the living words of God written for our admonition so as to guide us to excel in trials of life if we are to receive eternal honour after we leave this earth.
Hebrews 12:25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!
Brothers and Sisters, do you discipline your flesh so as not to be disqualified at the general Assembly?
To achieve those earthly feats by my professor classmate with international rewards, he faced WAEC with discipline and got earthly crowns that fades away, how are we disciplining our body for eternal prize?
Apostle Paul said; I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27(NLT)
Finally, remember there is going to be trials and temptations before the general Assembly of saints. Success depends on how we discipline the flesh by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God written for us.
Let us prepare daily for the general Assembly looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
✋Maranatha
