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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(46) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation7:5-10 |
Date |
2007-11-30 |
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Revelation 7:5-10
[5] the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
[6] the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
[7] the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
[8] the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
[9] After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
[10] and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
I continue the explanation regarding the 144,000 bond-servants of God.
These are the people who are to accomplish the providence of God during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
The scripture says that 12,000 people will come from each tribe among the 12 tribes of Israel.
I already told you that 'the 12 tribes of Israel' does not refer just to the nation of Israel in a fleshly sense.
The 144,000 will not come solely from among the people of the nation of Israel but from all peoples of the world.
When the scripture says that they are from the tribes of Israel, it has the spiritual meaning that they are God-chosen servants.
Now, when the scripture explains about these 144,000 people, it doesn't simply say, "12,000 from each of the tribes, 144,000 people."
God is decisively mentioning the names of the 12 tribes of Israel one by one.
There is also spiritual meaning in this.
That is; spiritually, the process of the growth of faith, from being saved until reaching sanctification is contained in the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Originally, the names of the 12 tribes of Israel are the names of the sons of Jacob.
Whenever a child was born, either Jacob or Jacob's wives give their child a name with a certain meaning.
For example, Jacob's first son, 'Reuben' has a meaning of 'Behold, a son."
It is the name that Leah gave to her first son with her joy and pride.
Likewise, Leah gave names to her children according to her situation.
However, these names have different spiritual meanings in the providence of God.
In tonight's scripture, God is listing the names of the 12 tribes of Israel in a new order.
When we follow this order and take a look at the spiritual meaning contained in each name, we can explain the process of the growth of faith to reach sanctification.
And in the last lecture, I explained to you the meanings of 5 tribes; Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.
Let's briefly review them. "Judah" has a meaning of "Praise."
"Reuben" is "Behold, a son."
The meaning of "Gad" is "fortunate."
The fourth "Asher" is "Happiness," and the fifth "Naphtali" is "struggle."
Now, if these names are arranged in the order, what kind of meaning will they have?
First of all, "Praise" is to praise the birth of the only begotten son of God, Jesus, who came to this earth as the Savior.
The meaning of "Behold, a son" is that you will be saved by faith when you accept Jesus, the son of God.
You are "fortunate" because you will reach salvation, and go to heaven when you accept Jesus as your savior.
"Happiness" is what you have when you are saved and live in the truth.
"Struggle" means that you will struggle against sin while running the race of faith, and take heaven by force.
"Praise," "Behold, a son," "Fortunate," "Happiness," and "Struggle;" we can understand the process of the growth of faith in the meanings of each name.
So far, the meaning of these five names is what I explained in the last lecture.
Now I will continue explaining the meanings of each name starting with the sixth, "Manasseh."
The meaning of "Manasseh" is "to forget."
Then what is there to forget?
It is to forget the feelings or emotions such as receiving unfair treatment or being victimized and doing it without harboring evil.
When your faith grows gradually, you eventually reach a level where you don't have any ill feelings.
Even though you face an unfair incident or you are falsely accused, you try to think in goodness looking at the things from the viewpoint of others.
You try to understand and harbor others, and even try to love them.
You don't carry ill feelings against those who do you evil.
You don't keep such ill feelings to repay someone for it later.
Forget it as though it is water flowing on the currents.
In Matthew 6:12, there is a prayer that Jesus taught us. It reads, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."
When we repent of our sin and turn back from it, God doesn't even remember the sin.
As we receive such grace from God, you must be able to forgive and love those who commit sin against you; you must be able to not remember their sin.
However, among the 12 tribes of Israel, the meaning of "Dan" is "to vindicate."
Some people don't understand or forget others, but they rather try to vindicate themselves.
You must not have such a heart to vindicate your innocence by paying back your ill feelings.
Just as the tribe of "Dan," which means 'to vindicate,' is excluded from the 12 tribes, you must pull out such evil of the heart completely.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Manasseh is in the sixth of the order of the 12 tribes.
Likewise, among the 5 levels of faith, you should reach at least the mid stage of the 3rd level of faith in order not to have such ill feelings in your heart.
In the 1st or 2nd level of faith, it's not easy to forgive those who do evil to you from the bottom of your heart.
Undoubtedly you have heard and learned from the word of God that if someone strikes you on the right cheek turning your left cheek to the one who hits you is the way of truth.
But in reality, at the 1st level of faith when you are unjustly hit on your right cheek, you feel greatly troubled, and you hold the other culpable of reprehensible action.
You want to repay the action right away, and you may actually put it into practice.
In the 2nd level of faith, you don't fight against it right away even when you are unjustly hit on your cheek.
You try hard to suppress hot-temperdness in your heart.
And sometimes, you cannot control yourself and burst into rage.
In the 3rd level of faith, you may still be upset in your heart.
But you can suppress it enough not to express your emotion outwardly.
When you reach the 3rd level of faith, you can control yourself not to explode with anger.
As you keep resisting against the evils in your heart, you bypass the level of suppression and you reach a level where the ill feeling itself doesn't affect you at all.
Beyond the mid stage of the 3rd level, when you stand on the Rock of Faith, you can endure and forget even though you are wrongfully accused to a certain degree.
You don't want to avenge spitefulness against someone nor do force yourself to suppress ill feeling; you just forget others' faults.
Now, check and compare your faith to this level of faith.
You are unjustly oppressed by some one.
You wrongfully receive severe persecution.
You put in a lot of effort, someone else gets credit and recognition for your work.
What do you feel when you fall into such situations?
Do you forget others' faults, and look to God who knows everything?
If you can leave everything to God like this, you have come into spirit to that extent.
Now, after you pass this level of faith of "forgetting" and advance to deeper level of faith, the next is "Simeon."
The meaning of "Simeon" is "to hear."
It refers to the level that God searches you, and hears your prayers and desires.
God, of course, always takes care of His children, and listens to their prayers and desires.
But once you come into a deeper level of spirit, God will answer your prayers and desires all the more quickly.
The level of God's answer is different between when you stay in the fleshly level of faith and when you come into the faith of spirit.
The difference is also great between when you come into the faith of spirit and into the faith of whole spirit.
For example, you sow to God by faith.
Before you come into spirit, generally, you receive a good measure of blessing - pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
The blessing that you receive is roughly double what was sown.
But once you come into spirit and whole spirit, you can receive blessing even as much as 30, 60, or 100 times as much.
Before you come into spirit, you have to pray and fast diligently for a longer periods of time for answers. But once you come into spirit, the period of time required to receive answers becomes shorter.
And when you come into whole spirit, you receive immediate answers as soon as you desire something in your heart.
That's because God prepares in advance.
I hope that all the members of Manmin can reach this level where God hears your prayers and desires, and gives answer immediately.
Now, the eighth name is "Levi" meaning "to be attached."
In other words, it is "to be attached to the Lord."
Ephesians 5:31-32 says, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church."
Here, 'the church' refers to individual church member.
When you accept the Lord, you receive the Holy Spirit, and become one with the Lord.
Just as a man and a woman become one by marriage, you become a bride of the Lord who is the bridegroom.
But tonight, 'to be attached to the Lord' has a deeper meaning.
It is to perfectly stay in the truth by obeying the word of the Lord.
In John 17:21, Jesus says, "that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."
Those who truly love the Lord and hope for heaven will live in the truth which is the word of God.
They make an effort to cast off every evil in the heart and to completely become one with the Lord.
Even though you say that you believe in God, as long as you don't live in the truth but live in sin, it is rather being attached to the devil and the forces of evil.
Therefore, if you truly have faith, you must cast off evil even from your heart.
And you must be completely sanctified and live in the truth.
God accomplishes His kingdom and receives glory through those children who become one with the Lord.
Now, the ninth is "Issachar."
The meaning of "Issachar" is "wage."
It refers to the justice of God who allows us to reap what we sow, and who pays us what we've done.
Depending on how each is diligent and faithful we are before God, God gives rewards to that extent.
The name "Issachar" refers to the level of being faithful in all God's house until death.
Those who come into spirit put no hope in the perishable things of this earth.
They look for only the reward in heaven.
(Through the works of) the heart, will, sincerity, and time, the price of the reward to be received is pre-paid by them.
Revelation 2:10 says, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."
To those who are faithful until death like this, the reward that is more than the crown of life is given.
They receive at least the 3rd kingdom of heaven.
That's why, the meaning of the tenth name, "Zebulun" is "to dwell."
When you perfectly dwell in the Lord in this earth, you can also dwell in an adequate place in heaven.
The more perfectly a person dwells in the light, the brighter place is in heaven where you will dwell.
Once you reach this level, what Jesus says in John 15:7, which reads, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you," will be fulfilled.
In this level, you don't just reap as much as you sow.
You will reap blessing as much as 30, 60, or 100 greater than what you sow; you will receive an answer to whatever you desire in your heart.
The eleventh name, "Joseph" has the meaning of "to add."
When you come into the level of whole spirit, it is not only you who receives blessing.
The people around you also receive overflowing blessing.
It is the same as Jacob and his entire household were saved from the severe drought thanks to Joseph.
What kind of position will be given to you in heaven if you reach this level?
If you reach the same level as Joseph's, the glory of New Jerusalem will be given to you.
Now, the last, twelfth is "Benjamin."
The name, "Benjamin" has the meaning, "the son of the right hand."
The Lord sits on the right side of God's throne.
Likewise, depending on your deeds, you can sit in a glorious position.
In Matthew 20:23, Jesus says, "My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."
The glory to sit on the Lord's right or left is not set to give a particular person.
It is for those who take it by force by being properly qualified.
God has prepared the seat for the most suitable man among those who diligently resist against sin and become sanctified, and who are faithful to all God's house until death.
The more they resemble Father God, the closer they can come to the throne of God.
God wants all of you to diligently take heaven by force and reach such a glorious position.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
So far, I explained the meanings of the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, and how they are related to the growth of faith, in other words, the process of sanctification.
Through these 12 tribes, God accomplishes the providence of salvation even during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
But the gospel should be spread to the whole world in a very short period of time.
That's why God sets up 144,000 bond-servants of God, which is not a small number.
Through these people, the gospel is spread to the whole world once again.
And those countless souls who didn't accept the Lord before the Tribulation can accept the Lord at this time.
In tonight's scripture, verses 9 & 10 say, "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.""
There is a great multitude that have palm branches in their hands and give glory to God and the Lamb, the Lord.
These are the souls who are evangelized by the 144,000 people, and reach salvation.
The scripture says that these are "from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues."
It means that they come from not only the tribes of Israel but also from all nations.
And it says they are "a great multitude."
The number of those who reach salvation through the 144,000 evangelizers is much bigger than 144,000.
How big do you think the number will be?
Actually, even a million people gathering is not an easy number to count.
When I went to overseas crusades, we couldn't count even a few hundred thousand people.
Therefore, we cannot precisely tell how big 'a great multitude' is going to be, but we can see that countless souls will reach salvation through the Gleaning Salvation.
The fact that they are 'clothed in white robes' tells us that they are also the saved children of God.
It means that they are redeemed from their sins by the blood of the Lamb.
'Palm branches were in their hands' means that they worshiped God and the Lamb, the Lord.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, many people waved palm branches and welcomed the Lord, the King.
By the way, the scripture says, "they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.""
It's not that God doesn't hear when they glorify God with a quiet voice.
But since the joy of salvation is overflowing, it is natural that they should cry out with a loud voice.
Since they worship God from the depth of their hearts, they give glory to God with a resounding voice.
When you pray or praise from the depth of your heart, a loud and resounding voice comes out.
But though the sound is loud and resounding, it is not harsh to ears.
Since the sound contains grace and inspiration, those who hear also become joyful and full of grace.
They received salvation during the 7 Year Great Tribulation when there seemed to be no hope for salvation. How great will their joy and inspiration be when they praise?
When these saved souls give glory to God and the Lamb, angels respond to them.
The verses 11 & 12 says, "And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.""
We will take a look at this in the next lecture.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
We learned the process of the growth of faith.
Which level of faith did your faith reach at this moment?
Is here anyone whose faith at this moment is not different from the faith of 5 or 10 years ago?
You heard the meaning contained in the name of the tribe of Dan, which was excluded from the 12 tribes of Israel.
Originally, according to the order, Dan's level of faith should have been the level of the rock of faith in the 3rd level.
But if you don't cast off evil in your heart but rather try to vindicate the false accusations and wrongful charges against you, what will happen?
I strongly hope that there will be no one who won't circumcise the heart and then stagnate in the growth of faith.
Such a man will never be able to have joy or thanks in the believing life.
They will rather build up the barrier of sin such as grumbling and expressing ill-feelings, misunderstanding, and condemnation.
And thus, various problems may occur.
Them, he will say, "I didn't commit any serious sin before God, so why is it that I have this problem?"
He doesn't find his true self.
This is the result of not living a spiritual believing life.
The start of the spiritual believing life is the circumcision of heart.
No matter how long the years have been that you have lived a believing life, unless you circumcise your heart, you are still living the fleshly believing life.
And this fleshly believing life will eventually face a limit.
It will become lukewarm faith and formalistic faith; it will become the faith that compromises with the world.
I urge all of you here tonight to diligently circumcise your heart, and to live a spiritual believing life.
I hope that your faith will keep growing daily so that you can become one with the Lord.
Moreover, I hope that the people around you will also receive blessing thanks to you.
When your faith grows up like this, you can play a role of an evangelizer who shines the light to the world.
Don't you think countless souls must be led to the Lord by you before the 7 Year Great Tribulation comes?
May you forever sit on a brightly shining seat of glory in heaven, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Amen |
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