The distinct sound cut through my thoughts, entered my soul, and found its rest. It was a composite of compassion and absolute and commanding authority in a single tone. It was soft- a rebuke, without condemnation. It was not seeking my approval or testing my knowledge, but stating an unshakable truth. The Still, Small Voice had spoken.
I was praying and making declarations about the dire state of Jamaica. It was a litany of woes—a long laundry list itemising the high levels of corruption, the bloodletting, accidents on our roads, our broken families, crime-torn communities, and the urgent need for the church to repent.
That is when I heard it. “My Church is unblemished, uncompromised, and will not be deceived. My sheep know My voice and will follow after Me.”
It was a familiar Scripture, but it meant so much more in that moment. There was no need for Him to repeat or explain it. His Word was living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and knew my exact thoughts and the intentions of my heart. It was crystal clear that the church to which I had referred in my prayer was not the Church of the True and Living God.
God knew the difference, and He wanted me to understand the difference. My broad-brushing and conflating a weak and corrupt body with ‘His Unblemished Bride’ and declaring her urgent need to repent did not sit well with Him.
What many of us loosely call ‘the church’ is a fallen sect, powered by wicked men and women on the down-low, spiritual hypocrites, witches, warlocks, wizards, and agents of darkness posing as children of light. This unrepentant sect unfortunately represents a pretty large chunk of the wider body we call the church.
This fallen body is the caricature of a dying goat pretending to be a roaring lion. Satan had slipped into the once-hallowed halls and scattered his seeds, deliberately embedding undercover wolves among the sheep before assuming his perilous perch above the pews to salivate on the bitter fruits of his labour.
Wolves, suited in sheep clothing, talk like sheep, and act like sheep, but are not sheep. They show up for services and mark their names present at Bible study and prayer meetings. But their mission is to engender strife among the brethren, fuel discord in and against congregations, and maintain a spirit of distrust in the things of God. Latched on to leadership, well-heeled wolves are often camouflaged behind entrenched and properly rehearsed rituals to cover their pretence. They are ‘holier than thou,’ overly zealous, ritualistic, strict on principles, and unyielding when others err.
When wolves have their way in the church, inevitably conflicts, disruptions, disunity, and a general disregard for the things of God and the Word of God are the order of the day.
It is an established fact that the wheat and the tares will grow together until the day of harvest. Through the eyes of God, the tares—whether they are silent cells or brazen wolves—will never be confused with the wheat. Light was separated from darkness from the very beginning and cannot be snuffed out in the mad camouflage of the global religiosity, loosely called the church, promoted by the beast himself.
The Church of the True and Living God is not about physical buildings, regardless of how magnificent these architectural edifices may be. In fact, God’s Church is not confined to any building; wherever the believer is, the Church is- resilient, alive, and well. In God’s Church, there is no place for meaningless rituals and empty rhetoric. The law of love is in full effect, compassion abounds, miracles are the order of the day, captives are set free, and backslidden souls are restored.
Furthermore, the Church of the True and Living God constitutes the people of God, holiness, and righteousness. Praying without ceasing is not a mere suggestion for God’s people; it is a delightful invitation into a deep and robust relationship and to hold regular reasonings with their all-powerful and eternal Father.
Prayer meetings and Bible studies are vital nourishment for the Bride of Christ; evangelistic outreach is her assigned mission and ascribed purpose. Pulpits are holy altars where her worship is sincere, the good news of Jesus Christ is declared, and the promises and power of God are proclaimed. God’s bride calls nations to righteousness, exposes and opposes injustices, bids sinners to repent, and encourages saints in their walk in the Word.
For God’s Church, enlightenment is in prophetic revelations, and a deeper understanding of the Word of God and the signs and wonders of the times. Being ‘awoke’ is not being ‘woke,’ but being ever present in the presence of the Lord, hearing His voice, and obeying His commands.
In full recognition that the Blood of Jesus Christ remains actively efficacious throughout the ages, the Church of the True and Living God trusts its miraculous healing, and protective and deliverance power. She resists the push of the wicked, the reprobates, corrupt governments, and big-money pharmaceutical organisations in their advance of the beast agenda.
The people of God know that their God is the Lord, in or out of any season, pandemic, or crisis. As His representatives on earth, they spare no effort to visit the sick and support the widowed, orphaned, and infirmed who are shut-ins or imprisoned.
God’s Bride knows that her Groom, who has full and total control of all power in the heavens and on and beneath the earth, has her back. She fears nothing—not governments, not witches and warlocks, not death, and certainly not hell or the grave. Although she is mercilessly persecuted, she knows that God will spare nothing in her defence. He frequently sets delicious tables before her in the very presence of her enemies. The joy of the Lord is her strength, and His infinite grace is more than sufficient. For her, an abundant life is not just a promise; it is assured.
But until the day of the harvest, the sheep and the wolves, aka the wheat and tares, must abide together. During the harvest, the reapers are under divine instructions to first gather the tares and tie them in bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat into God’s barn. And so shall it be.
