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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Treasure of Treasures is Faith(1) - Treasure of Treasures is Faith (1) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Hebrews 11: 1 |
Date |
2012-07-22 |
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Passage
[Hebrews 11: 1]
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
God created men and all things, and He had had all the plans for entire history of human cultivation, from the beginning to the end.
It was already in the plan of God that He would establish a servant towards the end of human cultivation and wrap up the providence of human cultivation.
God let this servant establish a church, of which He gave the name Manmin. He let the church be opened when the sun was scorching.
"When the sun was scorching" refers to the time when the light of God's justice is the brightest and all things are appropriate in light of the justice.
Until I became a servant of God to fulfill God's providence in the end time, I had to pass through many moments according to the justice.
It includes the time when I suffered from diseases for seven years but met God and was completely healed, and the steps I took until I accomplished whole spirit through prayers and fasting.
I also stored up countless prayers and fasting for the opening of the church, so God let me start this church at the most appropriate time.
It was July 25, 1982, 30 years ago.
And today, we are offering this thanksgiving service for the 30th anniversary of church opening.
Today's worship service carries a special meaning.
Like the meaning contained in 'when the sun is scorching', today is also a day to mark another beginning point at the most appropriate time according to justice.
We have achieved such great growth compared to the beginning.
The number of church members and measure of their faith are different. The speed at which they are changing is different from then. We have a different vision for the sanctuary construction and world evangelism.
Above all else, the power manifested in this church cannot be compared with the past.
God has let us go through many years of trials in the past 30 years to let us lay all these foundations.
Now, as the time has come, God lets us proclaim another beginning to stretch our hands to the whole world in full scale.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has established Manmin Central Church and has been with us throughout the past 30 years according to His plans, and who will fulfill all His plans in the future, too.
Brothers and sisters, the title of the first message that was preached in the opening service in 1982 was 'The Treasure of Treasures is Faith'.
Since then, the 30 years of history of Manmin was solely a path taken by faith.
From the time we were little we believed one day we would become great.
We took each step in the march of faith in obedience to the guidance of God.
God has been watching us with His blazing eyes for the last 30 years, and whenever we showed Him our faith, He changed all the trials into glory.
Today, let us remember the works of God who has been with us in this march of faith that our church has been taking since the opening of the church.
Through the message, I hope the vision of God will become a burning passion in your hearts evermore greatly.
I also pray in the name of the Lord that you will possess great faith to receive answers and blessings in all things and give glory to God.
Main
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today's reading passage from Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Even the things that are not seen or that do not exist, if we hope for them with faith, it will become visible and tangible.
The power of faith is that it can create things out of nothing and make the impossible possible.
On July 25, 1982, when we had the first service, the sanctuary was just about 350 square feet, and there were only 13 members including 4 children.
The money I had at hand was only 7,000 won, which was about 7 dollars then.
But because we had faith, we could be more confident than anyone who had thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars.
With this faith, we stored up countless prayers and fasting.
As the pastor I also continued fasting and praying, and the leaders were praying together for 5 to 6 hours a day.
As we prayed like we did, we got the pulpit, microphones, telephone, piano, and all the things we need one by one every week.
God also sent those leaders who had great talents.
The number of church members increased very rapidly.
We had the establishment service on the 77th day after the first service, and more than 170 people attended the service.
In less than 5 years from that time the number of members hit 3,000.
We had to move to bigger places without even having enough time to build a new sanctuary.
Every time, God dramatically worked for us to be able to move to bigger places.
The main power-source of such a revival was the power of God that guaranteed God's word that was preached.
When I was praying for the opening of a church, God gave me His word.
There are so many people who are suffering from sicknesses and poverty, so make your church one that helps the needy and heals both body and spirit of the souls. Let your church become the witness to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. Let your church arise and shine."
As He had spoken, such great healing works took place in our church, and even before the opening of the church the news spread all over the country.
Sick people, the demon-possessed, and people with problems in spirit and body came from all over Korea.
Those who came in stretchers became healthy and went back walking after the prayer.
The blind came to see, the lame to walk, and the infertile couples had babies.
Those at the threshold of death having cancers, leukemia, brain tumors, gas-poisoning, pulmonary TB, or severe burns came back to a state of quality of life and health.
The demon-possessed were set free.
Even those who had completely stopped breathing came back to life.
Many of those who experienced the power of God became pastors and leaders of the church one by one to make up an organization in the church.
For the last 30 years, the works of God's power became greater year by year.
When necessary for the kingdom of God, God even controlled the weather conditions for us.
When we had summer retreats or overseas crusades, contrary to the weather forecasts, we had good weather. Even typhoons and hurricanes died out or changed their courses many times.
The hot weather became cooler, and the clouds rushed into our locations to cover the sun.
There were so many extraordinary things such as moving of the stars, appearance of dragonflies, and various kinds of rainbows.
Experiencing such works of God's power, the faith of our church members increased quickly.
They became increasingly passionate to accomplish world evangelism and build the Grand Sanctuary.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we believe in the invisible God, Heaven and Hell, and that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
Through this faith, we are saved. We also receive answers and blessings with faith.
That is why the treasure of treasures is faith.
But the faith here must be true faith and not counterfeit faith.
It has to be spiritual faith and not fleshly faith.
Just confessing with lips, "Lord, I believe," does not mean you have true faith.
Then, what kind of faith is true, spiritual faith?
First of all, spiritual faith is the faith given by God from above.
Men cannot have spiritual faith at their will.
In Mark 9:23-24, we find the words of a father who wants his son to be set free from demons.
It says, "And Jesus said to him, ''If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, 'I do believe; help my unbelief.'"
Here when the father said, "I believe," and "help my unbelief", they are different kinds of believing.
He heard about the power of Jesus, so he first had faith as knowledge thinking Jesus could heal his son.
That is why he said, "I believe."
But because he did not have spiritual faith to believe from the heart, he asked Jesus to help his unbelief.
Matthew 17:20 says, "And He said to them, 'Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.""
This kind of faith is spiritual faith. With spiritual faith, nothing is impossible.
Then, what do we have to do to possess spiritual faith?
God gives us spiritual faith when we walk in the light according to God's words, when we ask God in accordance with His will, and when we prepare a proper vessel to receive blessings according to justice.
If we say, "Lord, I believe" without living by the word of God but in sins, then it is a lie.
If we truly believe that God is alive, we will have the deeds of obeying the commandments of the living God.
Faith without deeds is dead faith, and with dead faith nothing can be accomplished.
The reason why our church could have been manifesting the power of God continuously is because the gospel of holiness is preached here.
Because I keep the word of God completely, I boldly teach about faith and perform God's power.
You church members have been diligently praying casting away sins, and so God has been with this church.
Also, for any matter such as construction of a sanctuary or overseas missions, we sought the will of God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, until we received answers to such matters, we stored up our deeds of faith in prayers, offerings, and missionary works.
It means we prepared the proper vessel to receive answers in accordance with justice.
The same principles can be applied when you want to receive answers to your personal prayers.
You can receive spiritual faith only when you pray while living in the truth and in obedience to the word of God.
You also have to offer prayers out of goodness that are in agreement with God's will.
God cannot give you spiritual faith if you ask with greed or evil intentions.
For example, if you pray for others to be worse-off for your own benefit, you cannot receive faith necessary for answers.
If you ask for financial blessings with greed and without working hard nor walking the righteous path, you cannot receive spiritual faith.
When you ask for financial blessings, if you ask for them for the glory of God while walking the righteous way, God gives you spiritual faith.
In such cases, God urges your heart so that you can prepare a vessel that can receive the answers.
He lets you gain experiences and connects you with some good people.
After refining you until you become a vessel that can receive blessings, He will eventually give you blessings.
Secondly, spiritual faith is the faith to obey even the impossible things.
If you have spiritual faith you can obey the commands of God, even if it doesn't agree with your ideas.
You can obey God's will, even if it is something you are not able to do.
It's because you believe that God is the loving Father who gives you only the best things.
Also, you believe God that is wiser than you and He has greater power than you, so you can obey relying on His wisdom and power.
When God commanded Abraham to offer his son Isaac, if Abraham had fleshly thoughts, he would have never been able to obey.
He could have thought, "God, are you a fearful God who accepts human sacrifice?"
"How can you tell me to kill my own son?"
"You promised that my descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky through this son, and what happens to that promise if I kill my son?"
There can be many doubts or excuses leading to disobedience.
But Abraham believed in the goodness and love of God completely and obeyed.
He believed that God had a reason when He told him to offer his son Isaac, and he also believed that even if Isaac died, God would revive him. |
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