 |
 Official Service(date) |
| Sunday Morning |
| Sunday Evening |
| Friday All-night |
|
 |
|
| 1 John Lecture |
| Revelation Lectures |
| Genesis Lectures |
|
|
|
| The message of the cross |
| Measure of Faith |
| Ten Commandments |
| Heaven |
| Hell |
| Spiritual Love |
| Spirit, soul and body |
| Sinful mind |
| Goodness |
| Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit |
|
|
|
|
  |
 Sermon > Official Service |
 |
|
|
Title |
Heaven - The 29th Church Anniversary Sunday Evening Service |
|
|
|
Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 22: 1- 2 |
Date |
2011-10-09 |
|
|
Passage
[Revelation 22: 1- 2]
"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has founded Manmin Central Church and has been with us for last 29 years.
I give thanks to all the guests who have come from Korea and overseas, and I welcome all of you in the name of the Lord.
I welcome all the families and relatives of the church members who have come.
I give thanks to all the pastors, missionaries, employees, and church members who have dedicated themselves for the kingdom of God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, guests, and those who are attending the service through satellite, Internet, GCN and Manmin TV, 38 years ago there was a man who was suffering from so many diseases. He was struggling to find a way to live.
He was desperate to continue his life so he tried using all kinds of methods.
But, nothing worked for him and his condition only deteriorated.
After 7 years, he became exhausted, and his hope was gone.
He was even forsaken by his beloved ones and he was just waiting for death.
But at this wretched bottom of his life, God met him.
When he knelt before God, all his diseases were healed instantly.
How can his emotions of that day be expressed with words?
He shed tears of thanks weeping, and he immediately began to attend church with his family members.
But as he began his Christian life, he realized more amazing grace of God.
He realized, "God gave His one and only Son Jesus to die on the cross to save me!"
"God forgave my sins and prepared the everlasting kingdom of heaven for me!"
God gave such great love for a person who was such a nobody!"
As many of you know this is my testimony.
From that time on I had hope.
I wanted to spread this love I received to all peoples around the world.
With this hope, God gave me a calling to become his servant, and God established MANMIN CENTRAL CHURCH in 1982.
I had just 7000 won that at the time that was about 7 US dollars. We had the opening service with 13 members including children in a sanctuary about 350 square feet.
Though the beginning was small, God was with us and there were constantly amazing signs and wonders. The church grew so quickly.
On this 29th anniversary, we have 120,000 registered members, and more than 500 full time pastors and employees in the church.
God's works were not only about church revival.
He let us grow up as a large denomination that has more than 9,000 branch churches. He established the Prayer Center, the kindergarten school, our theological seminary, and Manmin International Seminary (MIS).
He enabled us to spread the word and power of God through publishing and broadcast, and my books have been or are currently being translated into 67 languages.
In the 2000's, God let us proclaim the power of God in mega size overseas crusades.
We had the crusades in the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, Pakistan, Peru, India, Kenya, Uganda, Israel, and many other nations.
There were tens and hundreds of thousands, and even millions of people, and those who were healed of incurable diseases at these crusades filled the stages to give their testimonies.
Those who watched the live-broadcasting of the crusade experienced the same healing works and sent their testimonies to the broadcast stations.
Medical doctors of WCDN, World Christian Doctors Network, medically verified these divine healings.
The works of God who has been with us for last 29 years can be discussed for much more than many days.
Why did God show us these many works?
It is to show God's love.
He wants all people in the world to believe in God the Creator, escape from despair and pains, and reach the heavenly kingdom.
I hope this love of the Father and hope of Heaven will fill your hearts completely.
I pray in the name of the Lord that, through the messages and events, the blessings of God that have been with our church for the last 29 years will come upon your lives as well.
[Main] Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests, what kind of place is the heavenly kingdom where God wants us to come?
First, Heaven is our original home. It is where we should return.
Many people have nostalgia towards their hometowns where they were born and raised.
But the original home we should miss is not a physical hometown that will perish.
It is the original home of our spirit that will never perish.
The life on this earth is only as long as 70 or 80 years. Not many people live for 100 years.
Even though they enjoy all kinds of splendor, earthly life is just like one night's dream.
God is preparing our dwelling place where we will live after this short earthly life is over.
But not everybody can enter into Heaven.
Of course, God wants everyone to receive salvation.
The reason why Jesus took the cross is to redeem all mankind from their sins.
We just have to have faith to receive this grace of salvation and enter Heaven.
We have to accept Jesus Christ with faith, and then we have to live a life worthy of being a child of God.
To depart from sins and live by the word of God is the evidence that we have faith. That is our qualification to be able to enter Heaven.
Revelation 22:14 says, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city."
The robes refer to the hearts of men.
It means we can enter Heaven when we depart from sins and cleanse our hearts.
Just as parents who are expecting a baby to be born will prepare everything for the baby, God is also preparing our heavenly dwelling places with all His love.
I hope you will always remember where our original home is and have the qualifications to enter there.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests, secondly, Heaven is a place that is surrounded by the glory of God.
God is the Creator of all things in the universe. He is the ruler of everything.
His dignified authority and power cannot be compared with the authority of any kind in this world.
How can we express Heaven that has the glory of such a great God?
Even the most beautiful place of this earth cannot be compared with the beauty of Heaven. Even the most beautiful woman on earth, adorned most beautifully, cannot be compared with an angel.
The lives of the richest persons on this earth will look quite shabby compared to heavenly lives.
For example, gold, which is considered so precious on this earth, is a material used for roads and city walls in Heaven.
Each gate of the city of New Jerusalem is made of one whole giant pearl.
1 Corinthians 15:41 says, "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory."
Just like the glory of the sun, moon, and stars differs from each other, the glory that we will enjoy will also differ according to the level of our holiness.
Heaven can generally be categorized into the Paradise, 1st kingdom, 2nd kingdom, 3rd kingdoms of Heaven, and then New Jerusalem.
Among the many heavenly places, those who cast off all sins and evil and fully recover the image of God will enter into New Jerusalem.
The houses in New Jerusalem will not just be like mansions but rather, castles.
You can have any kind of facility in your house such as a ballroom, a swimming pool, a zoo, a forest, or even a lake.
The whole house will be decorated with various precious stones that give out lights with multiple colors. Numerous angels will attend to you.
You will enjoy authority like that of kings. The actual heavenly life cannot even be imagined no matter how much we try to explain it.
The joy and happiness of that moment will never fade away, but it will only increase. Would this help you imagine the happiness there?
The lowest dwelling place of Heaven is Paradise.
The apostle Paul saw just this Paradise but because he did, he dedicated his whole life for God.
He underwent so many hardships and threats to his life while spreading the gospel, but the heavenly glory that he had seen enabled him to overcome everything.
God is telling us in so much detail about this glorious heavenly life, as though we could touch it.
You will have increased emotions and hope of Heaven through the events today.
We will try to show, to the best of our abilities, the joy of Heaven that God has let us see in inspiration.
Of course, we can never express the beauty of Heaven with earthly things, but you can at least feel the glory of Heaven in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
[Conclusion] Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests, many worldly people deny Heaven and Hell.
But it doesn't mean Heaven and Hell will disappear only because they deny them.
Hebrews 9:27 says, "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,"
After one's life is over, there will be judgment and all will go to either Heaven or Hell.
The love of God who wants all people to be saved has established Manmin Central Church.
And continuing up to this very day, God has shown us the evidences through signs and wonders so that we can believe in Heaven.
The works that He has done are so great, but He will do even greater things.
Through the evidences that God is showing to us, He wants everyone to realize the true value and enter Heaven.
Manmin Central Church will fulfill this hope of God.
Until the whole world acknowledges the glory of the LORD God as the waters cover the sea, and until all peoples and nations hear of and experience the living God, Manmin will never stop.
I give thanks to all those who have given their love and shown their interest in our ministry so far.
I hope you will continue to support us with your prayers and expectations for our future.
I pray in the name of the Lord that, when we finish all our ministries on this earth, we will be able to add the sound of our praises to the sound of praise that is heard along the river of water of life in Heaven. |
|
