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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Our Fullness - 4-Missions United Devotional (Canaan, Young Adults, Light & Salt, Students) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
2 Corinthians 6:2 |
Date |
2014-05-04 |
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[Passage]
2 Corinthians 6:2
"for He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation"
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have 2014 4-Missions United Devotional service. Dear Canaan Mission, Young Adults' Mission, Light & Salt Mission, and Students' Sunday school members!
Are you all full of Spirit? Are you happy everyday? John 7:38-39 says, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" [39] But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." It means those who have accepted the Lord and received the Holy Spirit will have the fullness of Spirit as if a river of water of life were flowing in their heart. If full of Spirit, we can overcome with joy and thanksgiving any kind of trials or hardships. We will be full of the hope of Heaven and we will deeply feel the love of the Lord. We will have the power to cast away sins and change ourselves.
But even though we say we believe in the Lord, we cannot be full of Spirit as long as we dwell in darkness. If we create a wall of sin before God or do the things that displease the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit cannot give us the fullness. Before 2010, many of you were living a life, feeling suppressed and afflicted in heart because you did not have the fullness of Spirit. But things are different now. You are full of joy because you were set free from the burdens of sin. Now you have said good-bye to the world and you try your best everyday to take hold of better heavenly dwelling place. To that that extent, you are full of Spirit, and your face shines with light.
The world can neither give this fullness nor understand it. It is only given by the grace of God. Through this devotional service, I hope you will remember once again where this fullness came from. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will truly dedicate yourselves before the Father with all your heart, mind, soul, and body, and life.
[Main]
Dear devotees, and members,
We have to remember first of all that our fullness came from the tears of the Father.
The unbelievers cannot understand why men are born, how they should live, and where they go after death. But you understand the meaning of life. What is the reason that God created human beings? As you know very well, it was to gain true children.
God the Father wanted us to know the heart of the Father. He wanted us to understand His heart and will, love Him with our heart, and enjoy eternal glory together. But the process of getting true children was not something very easy. Because we can understand true love only after learning the relativity of things, we had to experience pain, sorrow, and even death.
It's not that only the mankind suffers. God the Father also suffers even greater pains than we go through. Including the rebellion of Lucifer and betrayal of Adam, there always have been so many things that made God grieve during the course of history. I believe you probably felt the following while reading the Old Testament. After sons of Israel came out of Egypt, how much did they complain and disappoint God? Even after going into the blessed Canaan Land, they continued to stand against God. Also, how much did the kings of Israel disappoint God? After returning from the exile to Babylon, it seemed they repented for a moment, but they eventually corrupted again.
God always taught them goodness and truth and gave them only good things with love. Even when they betrayed God to bring sufferings on themselves, He could not turn His face away from them only if they repented. So He stretched out His saving hands to them again. And yet, people did not understand the heart of the Father. They constantly disobeyed, betrayed, and stood against God. Even though the Father suffered so much pain, He still continued the human cultivation and eventually sacrificed His only begotten Son.
Even today the Father is shedding His tears. He has created men with so much love and He is waiting for a thousand years like it's a day, and He gave the life of His only begotten Son. But there still are souls who do not know the heart of the Father and go the way of death. He is shedding hot tears for them.
Dear devotees, and other members,
I ask you to remember this earnest heart of the Father. I hope you will be able to confess from your heart as follows: "Father, I know Your tears. I love You truly. I will be a reward for Your tears and become a true child."
Dear devotees, and other members,
Our fullness, secondly, came from the tears of the Lord.
When you were living in darkness and stained by evil, you could not be full of Spirit. From that state, until you came out to the Light, Jesus had to make a great sacrifice. In many places of the Four Gospels, we read that Jesus shed tears. He shed His tears having pity and sympathy on those souls who were created in the image of God and yet were living as slaves of Satan. When He had to leave His disciples on this earth, He prayed for them with tears thinking of the sufferings they would receive later. While He was praying, He shed tears thinking of the heart of the Father, and again He shed tears missing the Father.
Hebrews 5:7 says, "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety." Jesus had to cry out loudly with tears to take the horrendous cross. He shed tears again as He thought of the souls who would go the way of death even though He would give His life.
1 Peter 1:8 says, "and though you have not seen Him, you love Him," even though we did not see Jesus in person, we can love the Lord for we know about His sufferings. The Son of God who lacked nothing suffered poverty, hunger, and tiredness. He did not wear silk clothes but rough and shabby clothes. He did not eat greasy food but dry food. He was supposed to receive only honor and glory, but He received contempt and mockery.
We must never forget the tears that Jesus shed for our fullness of Spirit. We must think like, "I had to wear the thorns on my head, I had to be flogged for my sins, but Jesus took those sufferings. I had to be nailed through hands and feet for my sins but Jesus did. I had to be naked and hung with shame but Jesus suffered all those things for me. In doing so He gave me the crown of glory and let me enjoy honor as sons and daughters of God. I ask you to remember these facts and engrave them in your heart once again.
Dear devotees and other members,
Our fullness, thirdly, came from the tears of the shepherd.
Just as Jesus went the way of sufferings with tears, the servants of the Lord must also go the way of the Lord for the souls with tears and sacrifice. Just like our Lord who is the Chief Shepherd, a true shepherd who can give his life for the flock cannot stop shedding tears. Paul said in Acts 20:31, "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears." While he was ministering in Ephesus for three years, Paul taught them the truth night and day with tears.
As for me, too, since the opening of the church, I have been ministering with tears. Not a single day has passed without praying for the souls night and day for the last 32 years. I have always thought about how I could let the members have faith, how I could give them hope of Heaven and overcome the world, how I could make them pray and let them receive the power to change with the truth, and how I could give them fullness of Spirit. And I always offered up such prayers to the Father with all my life. And when the church had trials, I had to take the burden all by myself with tears because the faith of the workers was weak. I cannot count the days on which I shed tears missing the Father and the Lord as I was praying alone.
But I had to shed most tears for the souls. When I see those souls who commit sins even after being taught the truth, and when I see those souls who are suffering from disasters caused by their sins asking for me to pray for them, my heart is broken beyond words. The emotions I had while reading the repentance letters that I cannot even mention and when I remembered their faces, The emotions I had when I was asking the Father for their forgiveness for their salvation, even though I could not really dare to ask for any forgiveness; Only the Father and the Lord would know my feelings. On many days I could not even wipe my tears because the skin around my eyes was practically worn out due to tears.
Now the Father has received all my tears and let many souls escape from darkness. When God said the members have cast away sins to significant extent so that my itchiness was gone, I shed tears of thanksgiving again and again not because I was not itchy but because the believers were changed.
Dear members of Canaan, Young Adults, Light and Salt, and Students,
I have only one wish for you. If you can just know the love of God, and if you know the love of the Lord, cast away meaningless things of the world and enter New Jerusalem, I can sacrifice anything. When you followed your lust and took the world, what was so good about it? You were distanced from God, so you were afflicted, and you lived in the fear of punishment. Even though you saw the works of the almighty God so much, you could not have spiritual faith, so you could not boldly ask something for yourself and you could not confidently profess your love to the Father. You could not enjoy the answers and blessings of God or the joy and peace given from above. When the brothers and sisters around you were running towards New Jerusalem with bright faces, you rather probably felt afflicted and painful if your heart was taken by the world. How meaningless and difficult life it is!
Now I earnestly ask you once again. Do not forsake the love of the Father who gave you of your past sins. Do not ever look at the world but only think of the things above. I ask you to remember the tears of the Father, the Lord, and the shepherd, and know where this fullness came from.
Of course, in order to do that, you must not cease to pray. You can keep this fullness only when you continue to circumcise your heart. Even young people and students can have great faith. It wouldn't matter even if you are in a situation to be in contact with a lot of worldly things. You can just make up your mind firmly.
Daniel and his three friends were taken as captives to an idol-worshiping country. They could not give sacrifices to God, and they were always in contact with detestable things by the Law of God. They had to eat what the Gentiles were giving them, and they could survive only when they learned what the Gentiles were teaching them.
And yet, Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank." God was pleased with such determination, and thus a way was opened for Daniel and his friends not to eat the things sacrificed to idols. Furthermore, he received great wisdom so that he was ten times wiser than any wise men or magicians of all Babylon. He let the kings of that country acknowledge God and give glory to God through his wisdom.
The same applies to you. If you really make up your mind and keep your heart, you can avoid compromising with the untruth although you are in the middle of the dark world. Even though you might have to be in contact with the world, you can avoid being stained by sins. But rather, God will give you wisdom and the ways to be able to conquer and subdue the world. I hope you will receive great strength through this message, so that none of you will fall behind from this flow of spirit.
[Conclusion]
Dear devotees and other members,
This church has the deep spiritual messages that renew your souls and the power to confirm the messages preached. We have the Spiritual gifts and many chances of grace to feel Heaven as if you had seen it and touched it directly. Moreover, God has created such an amazing, unprecedented flow of spirit to lead you very quickly into spirit and whole spirit. Because you have to quickly become instruments for the kingdom of God, He is forcibly pouring out His grace on you.
Today's reading passage 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, "for He says, 'At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation" I hope all of you will catch this chance of grace when you can. It's not too late yet. Do not think like, "Can a person like me do it, too?" You can do it if you just make up your mind believing that you can do it through the tears of the Father, the Lord, and the shepherd. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that, all of you will please God in all things and definitely participate in the glory of New Jerusalem. |
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