Arise and shine Oh Filipino Church, for the sake of the Lord's Great Commission
- gospel moon
- Oct 10, 2024
- 5 min read
The History of God has always been fulfilled not by the thoughts of human, but by the way of God. We can be sure of this when we look to the history of the Early Church. Jesus clearly exemplified this by choosing fishermen and tax collectors from Galilee which lies on the edge of the earth as disciples to save all nations and begin the new history of God. Moreover, after the Holy Spirit fell upon Jerusalem, through the church, the mighty history of God began. However, when looking at the history of the early church, the first martyr was not an apostle but Stephen. The first evangelist to preach the Gospel outside of Jerusalem was not an apostle, but Philip.
In the world, there are about 200 nations. From amongst these nations, the only countries that have taken the Biblical names of great people of faith are Israel and the Philippines.
The name of the Philippines comes from the commemoration of King Philip I1 of Spain, whose name comes from Deacon Philip, an evangelist in the book of Acts. In reality, King Philip Il conquered Philippines for the sake of spreading Catholicism, more than for the sake of economic gain.
History of the Filipino Church
In the year of 1521, after the first Spanish priest arrived with Magellan and led the first mass, Catholicism prevailed in the Philippines Starting from 1565 to 1898, for more than 330 years, Spain ruled over the Philippines, during which Catholicism had a huge influence in the lives of the Filipinos. By the end of Spanish rule, most Filipinos had become Catholic, thus creating the first Asian Catholic country in the world.
Afterward, from 1898 to 1946, during the time of American colonization in the Philippines, Protestantism was introduced. The greatest gift that America brought to the Philippines was the Bible and religious freedom. All the citizens were freely allowed to possess and read a bible, and through many Western Protestant Missions Organizations, the gospel was preached and many churches were raised up. Unlike Spain, which combined religion with politics, America instituted the policy of separation between church and state.
One characteristic of the early Protestant missions was collaborative ministry, which led to the formation of the Evangelical Union of the Philippine Islands, spreading the Gospel and Protestantism throughout the Philippine Islands. From 1903, the number of Protestants increased from 4,000 to 125,000 by 1918. In 1946, Philippines became independent from the United States and by 1948, several Protestant churches in the Philippines joined together to form an autonomous Filipino denomination, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. By 1963, this denomination became the largest Protestant demonization in the Philippines.
The Calling of God and the Characteristic of Philippines
Currently, the Philippines is comprised of 7,000 islands with a population of about 100 million, of which 80% are Catholic, 10% Protestant, 6% Muslim, and 4% other. The population of the Philippines is characterized by half of its population being under the age of 20 with a high educational level. Moreover, around ten million people, 10% of the population, live abroad. With over 182 languages, most Filipinos speak at least two or more languages.
As we are living in these last days, we can know the plans of God who is calling all nation's churches for the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, especially for the Filipino Church. The first characteristic of the Filipino Church is that they have international leadership. Most Diaspora Filipino Churches speak English and as a result, are ready to partner with many nations to fulfill God's history. Moreover, if we look to the history of the Filipino Church, even though the Philippines consists of more than 7,000 islands, in its early Protestant history, the Philippine Church showed solidarity with the Gospel and demonstrated leadership as they administered the nation as a whole.
And today, standing with the Vision of God, it Is time to arise with the leadership to administer all nations.
God's global administration is so that the Gospel of the Kingdom can be preached to all nations Furthermore, the global church rising and going to the ends of the earth with the Great Commission. However, millions of believers from the Filipino church are already scattered throughout the nations There are 1 million Filipino brothers and sisters in the center of Islam, Saudi Arabia, and about 50,000 Filipino brothers and sisters in Israel, the center of the global spiritual warfare. There are more than 30,000 Filipino brothers and sisters in Jordan, and about 40,000 in Lebanon as welll In the places that the gospel is needed the most, there are already tens of thousands of Filipino brothers and sisters there. A missionary is someone who has a mission and carries out evangelism and discipleship to people from other cultures. God, who is administering all nations, has already sent faithful Filipino brothers and sisters to the nations for the completion of his final history. Now is the time that these Filipino brothers must realize that God has sent them as missionaries to the nations, to arise and run with the global church to administer all nations.
With over 50% of the Filipino population being the young generation, there is a strong zeal for education. However, we dream of a day when the Filipino young generation will arise with the Word of God and will administer all nations together with the young generation of all nations.
The Gospel that began in Jerusalem has gone around the world and is now marching to frontiers. The Philippines is located in Southeast Asia, where there are over 260 million Indonesians, 100 million Filipinos, 100 million Vietnamese,70 million Taiwanese, 60 million Burmese, 17 million Cambodians, and 7 million Laotians. Most recently, although 85% of Indonesia is Muslim, 10% are Christians. There has been an explosion of revival in Indonesia, and just recently, there was news of revival in Vietnam. Now, it is time for the Filipino Church to partner with the Southeast Asian churches, and rise with spiritual leadership to march along the Asian Highway and sea way with the 80 million Indian churches toward Jerusalem.
God's historical administration is the same as in the early church when Deacon Philip, who no one could have guessed was the first to leave Jerusalem and preach the gospel to the nations. The original duty of Philip was to oversee the finances of the church. Today, as the Filipino brothers are working as laborers, they are fulfilling the work that has been given to them with sincerity. God does not look to the outer appearance of man but to the heart. In these last days, the Filipino church will be filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit just like Philip the Evangelist and go the nations and proclaim Jesus Christ!