Presence and power of the Lord evident at Sacred Assembly

sacred-assembly-shofar
A shofar being blown during the Sacred Assembly on November 19 at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. (PHOTO: Alet Pretorius)

[notice]ALF JAMES reports on the Sacred Assembly — a historic gathering of 50 000 Christians at the FNB Stadium, Soweto, on Saturday (November 19 2016). See also http://gatewaynews.co.za/seeking-god-as-a-solution-to-sas-problems/[/notice].

The presence and power of the Lord God Almighty was palpable among the 50 000 people who were united at the Sacred Assembly in His promise that where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them, which was manifest. (Matthew 18:20).

Standing in the huge stadium, which helped concentrate the vast congregation of believers who had gathered from all corners of the country as well as from all over the world into one body, one’s awareness was more of the assembly than of self, of the power that follows coming together with brothers and sisters in faith with the single purpose of worshipping our Holy Father.

- Advertisement -

God’s Word in Revelation kept coming to mind: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour and power and might, be to our God forever and ever, Amen. (Revelation 7:12).

- Advertisement -

“The Lord says this afternoon if we will repent, say sorry on behalf of this nation, He will intervene, He will get involved; the shackles will come off.” — Angus Buchan

The bonding of the members of the body of the Sacred Assembly was strengthened, in spirit and in truth, by the multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-lingual, and joyous nature of the praise and worship, which saw groups of people of all ages, races and sexes dancing and clapping in unison.

‘Nkosi sikelel’ iAfrika
The holy gathering opened with Joe Niemand and the entire stadium singing the national anthem ’Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika (God Bless Africa) and when Angus Buchan arrived, all in the stadium declared Amen in unison with him, vigorously and with meaning!

“Amen means we agree with you Lord!” Uncle Angus affirmed.

- Advertisement -

And all in the stadium echoed a mighty Amen!

He told the crowd this was no ordinary Christian meeting or evangelical gathering, but that God had told him to call for a holy gathering, a Sacred Assembly, because it affects each one personally as well as the nation.

“The Lord says this afternoon if we will repent, say sorry on behalf of this nation, He will intervene, He will get involved; the shackles will come off.

The Lord will be zealous for His land and pity His people. The Lord will answer and say to His people, behold I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. (Joel 2:18-19)

Uncle Angus was at his straight-talking, pulling-no-punches best.

sacred-assembly-angus-and-bible-2
Angus Buchan challenging the attendees of the Sacred Assembly to decide whether they believe the Bible or not. (PHOTO: Alet Pretorius)

Deciding to believe the Bible
Holding his Bible aloft he said, “this book is on trial this afternoon; you and I are the jury and we are going to make a decision this afternoon, weather we believe this book or not”.

“Do we believe that this book is the divine Word of God, or do we believe it is a book of stories written by man; that is our choice?”

His voice breaking with emotion, Uncle Angus exclaimed, “this book is alive, this book is Jesus Christ in print, we need to get back to this book starting with the president and extending right down to the man in the street”.

He said we need to decide if we are going to believe every word of this book or not.

“Please don’t leave this stadium in any doubt; if you look at 1 John 5:7 it says, For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

“And who is the Word . . . who is the Word,” asked Uncle Angus.

And the body of the Sacred Assembly called out, “Jesus”!

“This book is non-negotiable, this book stands alone, this book is the same yesterday today and for ever.” — Angus Buchan

“And the Word of God endures forever. This book says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

Compass for directing life
“This book is the compass that gives you direction. This book tells me to love my wife. This book tells me not to antagonise my children. This book tells me to love my neighbour. This book tells me all men are equal in the sight of God,” said the man of faith.

“Amen!” he added . . . and a great Amen echoed from the collective voice of those assembled.

“This book is non-negotiable, this book stands alone, this book is the same yesterday today and for ever.

“Today you need to make a decision to believe every word in this book,” encouraged Uncle Angus.

He said as Christians, we live for Jesus, but we have to have faith and believe in the Bible.

“This country is on a knife-edge, this country is going to go one way or the other way, and it is going to depend on you this afternoon, and it depends on whether you believe what this book says, it is your choice.

“This book will save South Africa.

sacred-assembly-joe-niemand
Joe Niemand leading those gathered at the Sacred Assembly in worship and the singing of the national anthem. (PHOTO: Alet Pretorius)

Story book or God in print
“I want to ask you a question: is this book a story book or is this book God in print?

“You have to make that decision this afternoon. And once you have made that decision, we will pray for this nation and we want every person in this country to understand that without this book there is no hope for this nation.

“Amen! . . . and the Sacred Assembly echoed powerfully Amen!

“You say . . . ‘Uncle Angus you’re coming over a bit strong’.

“I am coming over very strong!

“I am sick and tired of the nonsense in this country. The Christians have got no teeth. All we do is complain and moan all of the time, but we do nothing; 90% of this country believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but we say nothing.

“We complain about the government, we complain about the system, we complain about the devaluation of the Rand, we complain about the drought, but we do nothing!

“God hates racism, it must stop here. Don’t tell me you love Jesus when you hate your neighbour. It must stop here!” — Angus Buchan

“It is changing today; it is changing this afternoon when we pray the Apostles’ Creed together.

Signing-up for Christ’s army
“When you pray this prayer you need to understand that you have signed-up for Jesus Christ’s army, you are no longer sitting on the fence, you are no longer a bystander, you belong to Christ and He belongs to you.

“I am sick and tired of women being abused and believers saying nothing, I am sick and tired of children being violated and no-one does anything, I am sick and tired of people killing people on the farm, in the town and in the city, it’s going to stop today.

“God hates racism, it must stop here. Don’t tell me you love Jesus when you hate your neighbour. It must stop here!”

Uncle Angus exclaimed to rapturous applause that there were people at the Sacred Assembly who are in Parliament and that they should listen to him, because God said he should tell them that the Bible should be read every morning in Parliament.

“This is a Christian country!

sacred-assembly-jesus-red
The waving of a flag with ‘Jesus’ written on it as a symbol of Jesus being the focus of the gathering. (PHOTO: Alet Pretorius)

Change in the heavens
“I feel in my spirit that this afternoon there is a change in the heavens. I believe in my spirit that the spiritual and physical droughts will break. I believe that anger and un-forgiveness will leave this place and there will be hope and love and purpose and a future for everybody in this country.”

Then all at the Sacred Assembly knelt on their knees and prayed the Apostles’ Creed as one, in faith, together with Uncle Angus.

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
He is seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.
Amen!”

A prayer for South Africa
Uncle Angus then prayed for the nation and all exclaimed Amen after each point.

“Father God, please forgive us for so often apologising to the world that we are Christians and for what we believe in and for what we stand for.” — Angus Buchan

“Father God, please forgive us for watering down your holy Word, the Bible, for compromising its standards to suit ourselves.

“Father God, forgive us for not commencing Parliament each morning with Holy Scripture and prayer before discussing the matters of the ruling of this nation.

“Father God, please forgive us for so often apologising to the world that we are Christians and for what we believe in and for what we stand for.

“Father God, give us courage to speak out in public about the blatant corruption, lies and stealing taking place in this nation, starting in government and filtering right down to the man in the street. We love You, Lord, but we obviously don’t fear You, Father forgive us.

“God of mercy, we are so very sorry for turning a blind eye to the systematic and deliberate murder of tens of thousands of unborn babies in South Africa, precious little souls that have never even seen the light of day, Father forgive us.

“Please Lord Jesus, forgive us for condoning same-sex marriages and then calling it an alternative lifestyle, knowing full well that it is contrary to your word, Father forgive us.

“Father God, forgive us for provoking our young students to wrath, causing them, out of sheer frustration, to burn down their own universities, because of the lies and false promises that have been made to them by the authorities. Reassure them today, Lord, that You have heard their cries and will show them a better way.

“Father, forgive us for not calling sin by its name.” — Angus Buchan

“Lord Jesus, forgive us for not respecting our elders, our old people, for not seeking their counsel, for not loving them and looking after them in their old age, Father forgive us.

“Father, forgive us for allowing morality to get totally out of hand, like a runaway bushfire, for allowing our young children to have access to pornography at will, to accept fornication.

“Lord we are very sorry for not protecting our women, our small children; for not being good fathers, please forgive us.

“Father, forgive us for not calling sin by its name.

“Lord Jesus we do not have the right words to adequately express our sadness for the racial hatred between black and white in this beautiful country of ours, please forgive us.

“Forgive us for having total disregard for the value of human life.

“Thank You Lord for our police force and for our justice system; Holy Spirit impress upon them that this book (the Bible) will give justice and wisdom like no country on earth has ever seen before, in Jesus name. Amen!”

sacred-assembly-praying
Attendees of the Sacred Assembly praying for South Africa. (PHOTO: Alet Pretorius)

Praying the Lord’s Prayer
In the final act of the Sacred Assembly, all prayed the Lord’s Prayer together.

Uncle Angus said that every one that leaves the Sacred Assembly will be in right standing with God, therefore, able to return to their homes and cry out to God to change South Africa.

He said the bottom line is that God will undertake on behalf of those of us who have repented.

“Because of our right standing with God, He will work through us to change the nation, so the responsibility is with each Christian,” said Uncle Angus.

Being at the Sacred Assembly gave one the sense of a being at a defining moment in our walk as Christians: that it is time for our faith in Jesus Christ to be strengthened and our application of His gospel to be more faithful in order to realise all that God has prepared for us to serve Him and do His will on earth as it is in heaven.

4 Comments

  1. It was a privilege and an honor to be in God Almighty’s Presence – together, worhipping Him, hearing His uncompromising Word, repenting, loving and being loved. Would not have missed this gathering – for anything

  2. I trust that the believers in this country realise how fortunate we are to have a man like Uncle Angus, who the LORD Himself is willing to use to bring this nation into a STATE of righteousness. We know that nothing is impossible for Our LORD, only let us serve Him in obedience, thus proving that we truly do love Him. May the LORD bless and strengthen all those with a joyful heart, who took part, from the highest to the very least. And for those that were not able to be there, yet prayed into that situation; the LORD Himself, Bless you too!

  3. “This book is non-negotiable, this book stands alone, this book is the same yesterday today and for ever.” — Angus Buchan.

    AMEN. It is because of corrupt “Bible”versions like the ESV and NIV that left out so many parts of this WORD that the Bible has lost its importance and power in our lives.

    Br Angus quoted 1 John 5:7 but in the ESV and NIV for example it simply says ” “For there are three that testify.” Who these 3 are are not identified!!

    This is but one of hundreds of REMOVALS and CORRUPTION of God’s sacred Word.

    Return to reading the King James Bible (or a translation thereof in your language)!!

  4. Lorraine Van der Merwe

    Praise God for straight talking courage and a nation confirming God, the Word and His Holy Spirit as Christ in print. Please God, open every Christians heart to eat it the Word, to drink it in, not just tasting it by chance but eating it as we are offered it by Jesus Christ himself. Amen