The General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, has admonished Christians to remain in Christ in spite of the challenges that they may be confronted with.

According to him, without Christ, one can do nothing. “Abide in Christ and let His word remain in you, and He will continually bless and grant your heart desires,” he stressed.

The General Secretary said this in a sermon during the foundation stone laying ceremony of the McKeown Assembly church building in the Abuakwa District of the Ashanti Region on Sunday, February 11, 2018.

Apostle Kumi-Larbi read from John 15:1-16; 1 John 2:1-29, and stated: “Sound doctrine is teaching from God, about God and directs the Christian to the glory of God.”

He explained that sound doctrine is any preaching that exalts Jesus Christ as the only and true way to God, messages that focus on forgiveness of sin that can only be found in Christ, teachings that confirm Jesus as God’s incarnate, and exhortations that prove that there is no being more powerful than Christ, among others.

The Chief Scribe of the Church said that false doctrine neither comes from God, talks in-depth about God, nor directs the Christian to the glory of God. He emphasized that any message that over-spiritualize the potency of witchcraft and instils irrelevant fear in the Christian is false doctrine.

Again, any teaching that seeks to undermine the saving power of Christ is also a false doctrine. And, any teaching that denies Jesus as the Christ is an erroneous doctrine.

He admonished Christians to be wary of false doctrines that seek to instil irrelevant fear and enslave them. “Be careful of teachings that you yield your spirits to. Indeed, there are counterfeits to what Christ stood for in the lives of humanity. These false teachings seek to enslave you to doubt your salvation in Christ,” he cautioned.

The General Secretary further stated that trials in the lives of Christians must not impel them to give their ears to false doctrine.

Drawing an analogy from farm management practice, he said plants are pruned to maximize fruitfulness. Citing John 15:2, he explained that pruning is synonymous to Christian trials. He therefore encouraged the congregation not to deny Christ and His authentic message, because God will grant them their heart desires if they remain in Him.

“When the believer abides in Christ he becomes a disciple of Christ; whatever he asks shall be granted (John 15:7; Psalm 37:4), his status is changed from slave to friend of Jesus Christ (John 15:15), he is blessed with physical and spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), and win souls for Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; John 20:21),” he said.

Report By: Overseer Gordon Ansah, Mfensi District (Abuakwa Area Reporter)