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Sermon > Friday All-night Service |
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Title |
Blessing - The 27th Anniversary Eve Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 |
Date |
2009-10-09 |
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Scripture
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 [1] "Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. [2] "All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: [3] "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. [4] "Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. [5] "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. [6] "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This church opened on the 25th day of July 1982, and 77 days later, on October 10, we had the Founding Service. So it follows that, tomorrow is the 27th anniversary of this church. I give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has poured overflowing blessing onto this church for the last 27 years. This is the 27th Anniversary Eve Service, and in the 2nd half, there will be the 4th Anniversary Celebration of GCN. To celebrate this meaningful moment, many precious guests from overseas are visiting this church. I appreciate your visits, and welcome you in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus. My thanks must also go to the entire congregation along with our faithful servants of God and church workers who have devoted themselves in their fields for the last 27 years. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and precious guests. God the Father gave us a message under the title of "Blessing." It is one of the prayer topics of our church this year. As we began this year 2009, God the Father told us to make "Blessing" one of the prayer topics, and to proclaim this year as "The Year of Blessing." But then, why is He giving us another message with the same title, "Blessing?" God wants us to remember how many blessings God the Father has given us this year and to give glory to God. I wish you can once again understand in your deep heart how much God loves this church. Not only this year, but also for the last 27 years, God the Father has poured blessings onto this church all the time. However, God hasn't given us blessings unconditionally just because He loves this church. Tonight's scripture lists many promises of blessing, but there are conditions. It is that God will bless us only when we obey the word of God and keep all His commandments.
And thus, the levels of blessing that God has given us till now have varied to the extent we were proper according to the law of God's justice. We can also see that the blessings have not been limited in scope, field or division, but equally poured upon many areas. Tonight, as I explain the blessings that have been given to this church, I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you will give glory to God the Father with thanks and joy. The first blessing that God has given to this church through this 27th anniversary is the blessing that makes the spirit and soul of the congregation prosper. There are many different kinds of blessing. The people of the world say that the blessing of health is the foremost, but some others say that it is a long life. Still others say they are blessed when they acquire wealth, fame, or authority. Some people say a family is blessed when their children grow up well and succeed. However, the Bible says, at the top of all these mentioned, the greatest blessing is "the blessing of your spirit and soul being prosperous." It is because everything will prosper and you will become healthy when your spirit and soul prosper. It is just as 3 John 1:2 says, "Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers." Then, what is it with the one whose spirit and soul prosper? There is a correct order between his spirit and soul. In other words, his spirit is the master, and his soul is the obedient servant to his spirit. Then, why is a man whose spirit and soul prosper able to receive the blessing of all going well and being healthy? To the one whose spirit and soul prosper, his spirit is united as one with the Holy Spirit, and so he can be guided well by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit clearly understands the heart of God the Father and He leads us. He leads to the way of life and blessing that God the Father has prepared. The one whose spirit and soul prosper can follow the exact guidance of the Holy Spirit. Even when the guidance of the Holy Spirit might seem unrealistic, there is no negative processing of the soul. For example, a person will have no negative thoughts such as "It might be difficult to go this way. It's impossible. I incur a loss because of it." Why is that? The reason is that as the spirit becomes the master of the soul, the individual comes to have only the thoughts of faith that is spiritual and positive thought. In the heart of the spirit that plays the role of the master, there is strong confidence that at the end of the road of the truth there is the best that God has prepared. Eventually, he receives the eternal life and receives blessings on earth as well. On the other hand, what about the one whose spirit and soul don't prosper in proper relationship? Even though the person wants to completely believe that God gives only the best, there is still doubt or negative thoughts in his heart. It is because his spirit doesn't have complete control over his soul. In this case, he cannot drive away the work of Satan completely. Such a person cannot cast off the negative thoughts and the fleshly thoughts that Satan gives, but accepts them. And he speaks and behaves according to those thoughts. Soon he speaks begrudgingly or complains, and behaves contrary to the will of God. As it gets worse, he may depart from the true way of life and fall back into the way of destruction. He may also go the way that has nothing to do with the way of blessing that God the Father had prepared. Therefore, the blessing of spirit and soul being prosperous is more important than any other blessing received. What if a person received financial blessing but their spirits and souls were not (in a relationship to be) prosperous?
The financial blessing might not be used according to the managing of the Holy Spirit, and the use would be under the influence of Satan instead. The person might use the money toward their lusts and commit sin. They may reach a certain point where it might be better for them not to receive financial blessing. On the other hand, what about those who receive the financial blessing after their spirit and soul prosper? The Holy Spirit would have charge of the use their financial gain in accordance with the will of God. They will use it for the kingdom of God and for the souls with good intention. Therefore, they will not commit sin; instead they would pile up great rewards in Heaven. Moreover, according to the law of the spiritual realm, which dictates that you will reap according to what you sow, they will continue to receive greater blessing. And so, Proverbs 10:22 says, "It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it." It is the word about the blessing of wealth that comes upon those whose spirit and soul prospers. It is in this way that God the Father has given such great blessing to Manmin members; He first made your spirits and souls to prosper. Up until this 27th anniversary, God has led you by focusing on making your spirits and souls prosper. As a result, I can see many members and workers of this church who see things only by faith and make a positive confession even when they confront something that may seem impossible in reality. I used to manage such things alone and all by myself before, but now there are many workers who have gained faith and together they help me.
It proves that the spirits and souls of Manmin members and workers have become prosperous. God the Father allowed you to go through the process of refinements and strengthened your faith until it has reached the level that He wants. He allowed you to undergo trials yet He showed you the spiritual realm. Through the various ways, God has made you reach for the new levels of spirit. And thus, your faith has grown up and you have become proper workers that God the Father can use. Like this, the blessing that your spirit and soul prosper is the truly precious blessing that God the Father has given to this church. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and all our precious guests. The second blessing that God has been giving to this church leading up to this 27th anniversary is the blessing that makes this church a church that is outstanding in the world. Deuteronomy 28:1 says, "If you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." Some people are found in the Bible whose fame went out to all nations. For example, Joshua 6:27 says, "So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land." 1 Chronicles 14:17 also says, "Then the fame of David went out into all the lands; and the LORD brought the fear of him on all the nations." Whoever is recognized by God can become an outstanding person in the world. God the Father has been with this church since the beginning And He has gradually raised the prestige of this church. He hasn't done it unconditionally just because He has a special love of this church. He caused this church to come up to this level step by step according to His perfect justice. Whenever we upheld His will, completely obeyed, and gave glory to God, God made us glorious. John 13:32 says, "If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately." So far, this church has given so much glory to God the Father. Such things that were impossible were made possible only by faith that faith showed clearly to the world that God is alive and He is almighty. Such an example was the Multicultural Festival which was held in Israel, this past September. Israel is a nation where the actual influential power over the nation is possessed by orthodox Jews who don't admit that the Lord Jesus is the Savior. It is difficult to find a cross in Israel, and no one can boldly say publically that he believes in Jesus Christ. In addition, it was not allowed to preach about Jesus Christ even in a public Christian event. In the past, only the message about "God who loves Israel" has been delivered in Christian meetings. All the Christians of the world treasure Israel in their hearts. Especially, servants of God surely have passion to preach the gospel in the land of Israel. However, the reality was too difficult to overcome; the wall against the gospel was so high and strong that no one dared challenge it. Local pastors said that there have been public Christian meetings in Israel, but there was no public Christian meeting where Jesus Christ was preached. I managed my ministry in that land of Israel. From the far north to the south, I preached that Jesus is the Christ, and manifested the power of God in the name of Jesus Christ. As a final fruit of the ministry, there was a multicultural festival in Jerusalem in September. Orthodox Jews could have interfered with it, and government officials also paid very close attention to us. However, for the past 3 years, we planted only goodness and love in the land of Israel. Our true heart and sincerity finally moved the heart of orthodox Jews and Government officials. In the end, we were able to hold the multicultural festival in Jerusalem in peace with everyone and the festival was a great success. I could courageously preach about God the Creator and Jesus Christ at the heart of Israel, in the city of Jerusalem. Furthermore, I proved what I preached with signs and wonders. The festival was broadcast live or recorded and rebroadcast to over 220 countries through 33 broadcasting channels. We greatly manifested the glory of God the Father and of the Lord, world-wide. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and precious guests. The third blessing that God the Father has given to this church during the 27 years of this anniversary is the power of the shepherd. God the Father has manifested all the greater works of the power through this church. "The power of God" is the power of authority of God who can do everything. Therefore, if the power is given, you can do as you please in your heart. In other words, the power is the key to open the all-around blessing box. Deuteronomy 28:3-5 shows how many fields God pours down abundant blessings upon. It reads, "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl." All such blessings can be given into our lives through the works of the power. Various diseases can be healed, and weather can also be controlled. It can set people free from poverty, and move the heart of a man. It can solve all kinds of difficult problems in life; the blessings come upon all the fields. Most members of this church live a life that has nothing to do with a hospital or medicine. Those who come to this church with incurable or chronic diseases can be healed and healthy by the power of God. Those who keep the Lord's Day holy and give the whole tithes do not meet any kind of unexpected accident. Even if they do, they suffer no damage, but they are protected. For instance, even though a car was wrecked in a car accident, the Manmin member who was in the car was not injured at all. Moreover, how much financial blessing are you receiving now? The whole world is venting its grievances over the bad economic situations. However, despite the current situation of the world, many members of this church are receiving amazing blessing that is shocking to the worldly people. It is the result of the fact that the members of Manmin have always seen, heard, and experienced the works of God's power and their faith has grown up. They depend on the power of God who can create something from nothing, and plant the seed of blessing by faith. And so, they receive blessing that is 30, 60, or 100 times more. By the way, such works of God's power are not limited to this church alone, but extended and available to the whole world. The work of God's power that transcends time and space is taking place for those who are united with us in faith no matter where they are in the world. During the last Multicultural Festival in Israel, those who watched the festival from all over the world received the healing works and answers at the same time. In addition, this church receives countless prayer requests from every part of the world every week. I pray for them publically during this Friday Service or Sunday Service from this altar. It is because those who request prayer attend the worship service together with us and receive my prayer through Internet or via satellites. After I pray like this, in a week or two, they write me letters that they have received answers. There are basically so many such letters, I cannot read all of them except some special and unique testimonies. However, it is only the beginning. All the more difficult things will happen in the world, and new diseases will be discovered. Just how many people in the world are trembling in fear for the swine flu - A1H1 flu? However, situations will become more serious due to its variations. For your knowledge and information, I prayed to drive the swine flu out of Israel during the Multicultural Festival in Israel. If a man serving in a leadership position in the nation of Israel had officially requested me to pray, the swine flu would have disappeared at once. However, it was not so, and I just prayed with my love for the people of Israel. Therefore, the swine flu has not disappeared from Israel immediately. However, the swine flu will not spread any more, but it will rather gradually diminish in Israel. It is contrary to the situation in other countries where the number of swine flu victims is increasing. Like this, the power that God has given to this church now has great influence in the world. The world will desperately need the power of God ever more. In such a world situation, what a great blessing it is that God has given such an amazing power to this church! As a Manmin member, you are the chief beneficiary of this amazing power. Therefore, I urge you to give thanks and glory to God the Father all the time. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and the precious guests. I've explained the blessing that God has given to this church till this 27th anniversary in three categories. The first is the blessing that makes your spirit and soul prosper, and the second is the blessing that makes this church outstanding in the world.
The third blessing is the power of the shepherd that is the key to opening the all-around blessing box. We didn't receive any of these blessings for free. The God of love and justice has given us overflowing blessing to the extent we worked properly according to the law of justice. Making the blessing that has poured upon us as a stepping-stone, we can make a greater leap. God doesn't give this blessing only for our benefit. It is for the countless dying souls in the world. Amos 8:12-13 says, "People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint from thirst." It is the word that describes how desperately the people of this end time long for the word of life that will quench their spiritual thirst. Therefore, we should be able to use the blessing that we have received to preach the gospel to more souls of the world. I sincerely give my deepest thanks to GCN TV and Manmin TV that have successfully managed their duty for the last 4 years and all broadcasters who have been with Manmin.
I also thank you, Manmin members for your prayers and wholehearted support for the world mission. All you have sown and accomplished in the Lord will be piled up in Heaven as great rewards, and you will also receive blessings in your everyday lives. May God bless all the Manmin members and our precious guests abundantly, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen] |
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