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 Sermon > Theme Words of Life |
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Title |
2017 Prayer Title(2) - Korean Churches and Overseas Ministry |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
1 Timothy 2: 4 |
Date |
2016-12-18 |
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Passage
[1 Timothy 2: 4]
"[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In this message, I will talk about 'Church Associations and Overseas Mission", the second prayer title of 2017. On page 2 of our weekly bulletins, we have the all-time prayer titles of the church. And the second one is 'national evangelism and world mission'. The second prayer title of 2017, "Church Associations and Overseas Mission," is like a signal for receiving the answer for the second all-time prayer title of this church that we've been praying for the past 34 years.
Of course, it doesn't mean everything will be accomplished in an instant. 2017 will be a beginning point, and the fruits will be borne gradually. Now, what is the meaning of Father God giving us such a prayer title for 2017? It means the holiness gospel and the ministry of power are in desperate need not only in Korea but also all over the world.
But no matter how desperately they need us, we cannot go out unless we are ready. So, God's giving us this prayer title, in retrospect, means we've become ready to go out to the church associations and for world evangelism. In 2017, everything will be revealed to a significant extent to include: the power of re-creation, pastors and workers who are ready to go out for national and world evangelism, and the money to finance this ministry.
All these things will be consolidated in working together, and as years go by we'll see greater and more explosive outcomes. At the end, the 6,000-year human cultivation will be wrapped up wonderfully, and the providence of God will be fulfilled as said in today's reading passage 1 Timothy 2:4, "[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
God the Father has been searching for a pastor and church and the members that can accomplish God's great plant according to His heart and will. And as the fruition, He has gained the pastor, church, and members that can fulfill this duty. We Manmin will play the main roles.
I will now explain to you about how we will accomplish this God-given mission from 2017 on.
Through this message, may you make up your mind to come forth as completely prepared vessels, for you are pastors, workers, and members of the church that has the precious duty of God, I pray this in the name of the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We often say that sins are prevalent in this generation. In fact, today we don't even have to compare this generation with that of 30 or 40 years ago. We can just compare 5 or 10, or just a couple of years ago to realize that this world is being stained by sins and evil so rapidly. Seeing the news, there are so many unimaginable things taking place, about which we end up wondering, "Are these things really taking place?"
But these things are not just happening among the unbelievers, also called 'the world'. Things that we can't even mention are happening even among the believers and church associations. They are things that even the unbelievers would criticize. So, the number of believers is on the decline, and churches have to worry about just holding on to the members rather than growth.
God had me prepare to go out to the church associations for a long time now. He said I would see unimaginable sins in the church community once I began my ministry. And this is the reality today. For this reason there are some believers who say we need 'purification'. There is a growing desire among the Christians that there has to be a change.
Brothers and sisters, when Christianity was growing up rapidly in the '70's and '80's, the believers played the role of light and salt of the world. Korea has many Confucius-related cultures, and yet Christianity made great revival because the believers set a good example in the general public. Churches were opening on every corner and we could see many wall-posters and placards about revival meetings. Believers listened to the word of God and were blessed in revival meetings, and churches were growing.
It was despite the fact that people then were not as rich as we are now and economically it was hard for everybody. The number of believers in Korea reached 10 million; we had the golden era of church history in Korea. As they believed in and sought God, they were blessed, and this led to blessing on a national scale, too. Korea experienced such rapid economic growth, that it was unprecedented in human history.
But from the 2000's, churches in Korea began to face a difficult time. The material affluence caused spiritual laziness. The waves of sins came into the church and church associations. Many immoral things that were taking place in churches came into light; many conflicts and hostility toward each other among the churches disgraced the image of Christianity.
With nobody playing the pivotal role, church communities separated from one another. Now we don't have big Christian events or united meetings any more. There were also false heresy accusations against some churches and many internal conflicts and problems arose in mega size churches. They hindered the work of evangelism. Furthermore, those things caused even the existing believers to leave the church.
As a result, from the mid 2000's, we saw the image of Christianity was significantly deteriorated, and we are facing actual decrease in the number of believers. In fact, many churches are closing and the number of members in churches has declined. Instead, the numbers for other religions were rising.
In this situation, the church associations should have come to their senses and tried to recover the fundamentals of their faith. But rather, they compromised with the world even more. They just wanted to 'take it easy' in their faith. Sins and evil of the world came into churches even more, and now they are no different from unbelievers.
Brothers and sisters, I am not saying this to criticize churches or church associations in Korea. It's just that we have to clearly understand the current state and discern the will of God, and recover our faith. Some Christians who remain awakened are sharing this kind of idea. In this chaotic situation, some believers want somebody to play the pivotal role in purifying the churches and to bring about revival in this nation once again.
Nevertheless, they know it's not easy, and they want somebody who has the power and authority to do it. Now, is this kind of trend among the Christians found only in Korea?
In some countries and even on continents, Christianity is experiencing revival. But generally, the forces of antichrist are expanding at an expeditious rate. The expansion of Islam is also a problem, but the expansion of the forces of the antichrist affects not only unbelievers but it especially imposes threats to believers. It's because many believers are deceived by the schemes of the antichrist and leave God.
Increasingly more people leave the church, and the secularization in the church is accelerating, too. Just a small number of pastors who are on the alert are trying to stop this flow with all their strength.
But at this end time, what can we stop this flow with? As in John 4:48 says, "So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe,"" there must be works of God's power that can prove God is alive. Also, there must be the words with authority that can penetrate even to the division of spirit, soul, joints, and marrow.
But the question is, where can we find these? That is why pastors around the world with thirsty souls are seeking the Word that has the authority and power of God. Christianity as a whole is in desperate need of help all over the world.
And because God the Father knew about this flow at the end time, He made the provisions, too. Even though our enemy devil and Satan try to disturb the kingdom of God with all their might and power, everything will be done within God's providence after all. God has been preparing and planning for this end time since long ago.
God of justice keeps the rules of justice Himself, too. Therefore, He does not just fulfill something with His power overnight. So, according to the rules of justice, He has been preparing His instrument that will fulfill the providence of God, standing against the enormous forces of the enemy devil and Satan.
It is a church that has all the following criteria: undeniable works of power; spiritual messages that can change the hearts of men; spiritual warriors who will participate in the ministry of power; the money to finance these powerful ministries; and the members that pray and obey.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In the flow of the end time, we have so much knowledge and many theories; development of science; and materialism, and it's not at all easy to change the hearts of people in this trend.
Furthermore, so many people don't want to acknowledge God exists. Leading them to the Lord can be done only when such a great measure of justice is filled up. In order to save the mankind, God the Father filled up the measure of justice by sacrificing His only begotten Son on the cross. And at this end time, a measure of justice must be filled up one more time to save the countless souls that are going the way of death.
For this reason God the Father guided me to fill up the measure of justice through unimaginable sacrifice for the last 6 years. At first I thought it was just the process to meet the justice for the souls in Manmin. But as time passed, I witnessed that the coverage of the justice was expanded to all the souls around the world as well as the Christian community in Korea. And it means there were more and bigger steps I had to take to fill up the measure of justice.
And finally, the fruits began to be borne as a result of those sacrifices. God is beginning to show us that, from 2017, such fruits will also be borne through our domestic and overseas missionary works.
Then, what specifically should we pray for regarding Church Associations and Overseas Mission in 2017?
First, we have to pray that those who are prepared will be revealed.
At the time of King Ahab, in the northern kingdom of Israel, people were worshiping idols and prophets of God were killed. It was a dark era. Elijah showed the living God by bringing down fire from heaven, but the force standing against God was still so strong that Elijah felt alone and his life threatened.
When Elijah prayed about this situation, God said in 1 Kings 19:18, "Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him."
God the Father said the same kind of thing will take place at this end time, too. He said that such people will be revealed and begin to help me. It's not only about Korea, but all over the world. And as said, I've met many people who are ready and in cooperation with them, we've been accomplishing world evangelism greatly.
Also, there are still many people who love me and are waiting for me to begin my domestic ministry. Now, we should pray that more of these people will be revealed and connected to us. And for this to happen, the news about me and our church should be delivered not just all over the country but to all the corners of the world as much as possible. Of course, the holiness gospel and the power of God are being delivered all over the world, but the magnitude and coverage must increase much more.
And for that, pastors and the workers who prepare the way for me will become very busy. Of course, God the Father said that we will have overseas crusades for each continent. We cannot just go for one country. It will be a united crusade of many countries on the same continent. For such crusades to take place, many assistant pastors and workers have to make known the shepherd and his powerful ministry.
For this reason, we have to pray for the pastors to conduct such ministries, the workers who will take care of different things, and also for the singers and performers. The organization should be able to prepare the way for the shepherd more efficiently through cooperation. When we prepare ourselves in this way, the flow of world situations will go in a way that they will increasingly need us.
There will be natural disasters and fear of various diseases that can't be controlled by human power. There will also be people who still long for the truth and desire to see the works of God and there will be people who pray for the gospel to be spread all over the world by God's mercy and love. As all these things will be combined, Manmin's ministry will purify the Christian community in Korea and furthermore bring about the wind of the Holy Spirit all over the world.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Manmin and I have been preparing ourselves for a long time. But it is only God the Father who makes the right circumstances and sets the timing. And God gave us this prayer title "Church Associations and Overseas Mission" for the new year 2017. It means the measure of justice is filled and it's time.
If God wants it, everything will be done very quickly, and God' glory will be revealed all over the world as said in Habakkuk 2:14, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea." And Isaiah 60:3 that says, "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising," will be fulfilled precisely.
We will bear the fruits that can't be compared to the ones we've been bearing until now. And I am not the only one who is doing this ministry. We all are doing it together. It's time to begin our march with full strength. All Manmin members, let's rise and march on together. May you and I accomplish the kingdom of God greatly in this country and in the whole world in the name of our Father, the LORD God almighty, I pray this in the name of the Lord. |
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