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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
The Grace of God - The 28th Anniversary Eve Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Deuteronomy 11:14 |
Date |
2010-10-08 |
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Scripture
Deuteronomy 11:14
[14] . . .that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is a service for the evening of our 28th anniversary celebration. In the 2nd half, there will be a special eve event followed by the ceremony to celebrate the fifth anniversary of GCN.
Let's give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed this church with abundant grace for the past 28 years.
To celebrate the deep significance of this time, many esteemed guests are visiting this church from many countries.
I give my sincere thanks to all our precious guests, and I welcome you in the name of the Lord.
And my thanks must also go to those servants of God, workers, and all the members who have been faithful in their respective areas until this 28th anniversary.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and our precious guests.
Tonight's scripture is a part of the message that Moses gave to the Israelites when they were about to enter the land of Canaan.
The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, and they finally arrived on the plains of Moab.
Just across the River Jordan was the land of Canaan.
The moment the land of Canaan stretched out before them, Moses gathered his people and explained the works of God who had been with them since the Exodus from Egypt.
And he told them about the land of Canaan that they were about to enter, and about the life they should live.
Then, he said in Deuteronomy 11:13-15, ""It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied."
The land of Canaan was the land of milk and honey, but it was the land where farming was possible only when it rained at the proper time.
They could plow the land and sow the seeds only when the "early rain" came.
The crops could be fruitful only when the 'late rain' came.
When the Israelites served God well, God sent the early and late rains.
And He provided for them to abundantly acquire food.
For the last 28 years, the 'rain of grace' didn't stop coming onto this church.
God the Father has given us the early and late rain according to the time.
He gave us trials when it was needed, but He also gave us finances when we needed it.
He gave you the grace of sanctification when you needed to be sanctified, and He let you experience faith when your faith had to grow up.
In addition, until we came to this 5th Sanctuary, the expanding and moving of our sanctuary has only been possible by the grace of God.
Thanks to the grace of God that God has given to this church, this church became the church which can give only glory to God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, what kinds of grace has God the Father given to this church-
He gave us so much, but I'd like you to look into three things in a broader sense.
The dictionary defines 'grace' as 'a special favor' or 'disposition to or an act or instance of kindness or clemency.'
But Christians say that grace is anything that God gives human without charge out of His love for humans.
The first grace that God has given to this church is the 'Word.'
And it is the 'Gospel of Sanctification.'
In Israel, the 'early rain' wets and softens the dry and hard land.
Likewise, God has given us His word which is like the 'early rain' according to the proper time.
He gave us the Word of Life which could make our dried heart moist so that it could change softly.
He also gave us the late rain abundantly which could make our fruit full and good.
In other words, He has provided us with the word of grace which could turn our spirit and soul into good grains.
For example, through the 'Message of the Cross' which clearly presents the way to salvation, countless souls received life.
Through the 'Measure of faith,' moreover, people could clearly understand the process of faith's growing up.
Through the 'Spirit, Soul, & Body,' people could take a close look at their hearts and change them from the ground up.
God the Father told us in great detail about 'Heaven' and 'Hell.'
By telling us the misery of Hell, He made those who spiritually asleep wake up.
He also told us about the beauty of Heaven so that we could live our believing life with a clear goal.
We came to know that, no matter how good a thing is on earth, it is nothing when compared to anything of Heaven.
He made us not have love for the world or worldly things and to live our believing lives with true hope and joy with thanks.
Especially, this year is the 'Year of Harvest,' and God gave us appropriate words of instruction from the beginning of this year so that we can harvest abundant fruit both in spirit and body:
"Cultivate the Heart-field,' 'The Law of Sowing & Reaping,' and 'You Will Reap in Due Time.'
God has led whoever listens to His word to understand the word, and whoever obeys to receive blessing.
Especially, through the 'Seed of Life' message, which was delivered during the Genesis Lecture series, how many of you have been receiving blessings-
God taught us not only how to be healed, but also how to avoid aging and even to recover youthfulness.
God has given His loving children His grace so that they can enjoy happy and healthy lives on earth as well.
In this way, God the Father has given this church the word of change and life without ceasing.
Brothers and sisters.
Any of you can have a Bible.
But you can understand the heart and will of God in the Bible only by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Say, a chef can cook a truly tasty and visually appealing dish with good quality food.
He can allow for people to enjoy eating as well as being able to help them become healthier.
On the other hand, there is also a man who cooks unsavory and unappealing dishes with the same food.
The same idea can be applied to the bread of the spirit.
I begged God the Father for 7 years to explain the Bible by Himself.
I fasted many times.
As an answer to such prayer and fasting, God the Father explained His word in the Bible.
By the inspiration and with communication through the Holy Spirit, He explained the difficult verses of the Bible, and gave me the word of deep spirit.
If God the Father had not explained, how could I deliver His Word-
It is God's grace to give you a longing heart for the word of spirit.
It is also and only God's grace to interpret such a word of deep spirit.
Moreover, the Bible says that it is even more difficult to find the word of life as it is close to the end time of the world.
Amos 8:11-13 says, ""Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the LORD. 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."
Even though there is plenty of sea water, you cannot drink it. Likewise, it is not easy to find the word of spirit that can bring true change and life.
In the time of spiritual famine, God the Father pours down the word of spirit which is life a waterfall.
How great His grace is!
Since we received such great grace, we should become His children who can repay Him for His grace.
First off, we have to cast off every form of evil, and come into the spirit and whole spirit.
The Lord said in Matthew 12:42, "The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here."
You listened to the word of life and received great grace, but if you don't change into spirit, it is a waste of God's grace.
Not to cause God's grace to be in vain, you should make perfect bread of spirit to become His true child.
You also have to preach the gospel of sanctification as many people as possible.
1 Timothy 2:4 also says, "[God] who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Since the start, this church has been devoted to national evangelization and the world mission.
We have concentrated to preach the Gospel of Sanctification through the means of books and broadcasting.
As its result, 60 of my books have been published in Korean.
A total of 118 volumes have been translated into 24 foreign languages which are being distributed all over the world.
It's been just 5 years since this church started the earnest broadcasting ministry through GCN and Manmin TV.
However, more than 3,300 broadcasting stations in 176 countries are broadcasting the Gospel of Sanctification 24 hours a day.
We didn't have finances nor did we have workers in the beginning.
We started completely from nothing.
Just as the Bible says "faith is the assurance of things hoped for," we have sought and acted only by faith.
Then, God prepared everything.
BY the grace of God, necessary finances came to be available.
By the grace of God, workers began to fill in the positions, and we found many people who could help us from many parts of the world.
All was by the grace of God.
It is the grace of God that He gives us the Word of Life and that we can hear and understand the Word.
You should know that it is also the grace of God to be able to preach this word to the world through book/literary media and broadcasting-media ministries.
Workers should remember how great the grace of God is that you are used as an instrument to accomplish this ministry.
The second grace that God has given us is the power of God.
The power of God is God's power with authority.
This power of God is in a different level from that of the 'divine healing gift.'
The divine healing gift' heals only the diseases caused by germs or virus.
The power of God, however, heals not only such diseases but it can also revive a paralyzed or even a dead body.
The power of God can heal both innate disability and acquired disability, and make it complete.
The power of God can manifest wonders.
It can hold and control droughts, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruption.
It is the grace of God the Father that He gives such a power of God to me.
By manifesting the works of God's power, we can prove the preached word is true.
Mark 16:20 says, "And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed."
As the disciples of the Lord preached the gospel and prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, signs followed.
The crippled stood up, walked and jumped, and those with various illnesses were healed.
Those who saw these things accepted Jesus as their Savior.
Likewise, thanks to the power given by God Himself, signs and wonders are continually taking place in this church.
It means that God the Father is with us.
It also proves that the word preached from this altar is true.
Most of all, the work of God's power is the driving force to make your faith grow.
The doubt of a man breaks down as he watches something impossible with man's ability be made possible by the power of God.
He also opens his heart and accepts the gospel.
He is also given the strength to live by the word of God.
Though God is invisible, he can surely believe in God by watching the evidence that God is alive.
John 4:48 says, "So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.""
If it was so like this in Jesus' days 2,000 years ago, what about today-
Without seeing signs and wonders, it is difficult to believe in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 4:20 says, "For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power."
Therefore, in this end time when sin is rampant there is a more desperate need of God's power.
However, it is not easy to find a servant who received the power.
Not just anyone can receive God's power.
It is only possible when the person casts away every form of evil and fills his heart with goodness and love.
God the Father is working in justice all the more for me and this church and He is granting even greater power every day.
Extraordinary miracles are taking place when people pray with the handkerchief on which I prayed.
Marvelous works have also taken place through Muan Sweet Water.
How clearly has the work of controlling weather appeared-
For example, how was the weather during the summer retreats this year-
We hold the summer retreats during the beginning of August when is the hottest time of the year.
I prayed for the temperature so that God might make it neither too hot nor too cold.
When I prayed to make it not hot, it was even cold at night.
Just as I prayed, however, it was the best temperature; it was neither hot nor cold.
During the daytime when we held field games, He covered the sun with clouds, and a cool breeze blew to make it not hot.
During the outdoor meeting in Men's and Women's Summer retreat, it didn't rain in our meeting place although it rained near the meeting place.
Even though I was not physically with them, God protected the retreats like this.
Last August 11, 230 prayer devotees and Manmin Prayer Center president experienced an amazing wonder at the Muan Sweet Water Site.
A typhoon, called "Dianmu" was approaching southern Korea.
It was forecasted that there would be a huge amount of rain in the Muan area.
However, the sky was clear around 8 o'clock in the morning, and just as I prayed, they could hold all the events in good weather.
We could later see what an amazing work God did in a satellite picture of that day.
Around 5 o'clock in the morning, God changed the direction of the typhoon.
And He cleared up the clouds only from the sky over the Muan area.
This kind of work has actually taken place in every event of this church for 28 years.
I hope that you will give sincere thanks to God's grace whenever you face the work of unceasing power of God.
The Lord said in Matthew 13:16-17, "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."
Today, you are experiencing the works that are recorded in the Bible.
You can manage your believing life in vivid inspiration as if you were living in the days of Jesus or as if you were in the very place of Apostle Paul's ministry
You can meet the living God, and you can experience Him as if you could touch Him with your hands.
It is because God has given the power in His grace.
I hope that you will be truly thankful for such grace of God, and that you will surely give glory to God by giving a testimony even to what may seem a trivial experience.
The third grace that God has given to this church is prayer.
Prayer is so important that it can be called 'the breath of the spirit'.
Therefore, the Bible put great emphasis on prayer.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing," and the Lord said in Matthew 26:41, "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation."
Colossians 4:2 says, "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving."
Only when you pray, can you make the word of God completely yours.
The strength to live by the word can also be given from above when you pray.
In Mark, Chapter 9 a man brought his son who was demon-possessed to the disciples of the Lord.
But the disciples of the Lord couldn't cast it out.
Then, Jesus came to him, and healed the one who was demon-possessed.
Later, the disciples said to Jesus, "Why could we not drive it out-"
Then Jesus said in Mark 9:29, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."
To receive power from heaven like this, you should surely pray fervently.
If you are a Christian, you should pray at least for an hour to keep your faith.
For a worker to be faithful to given duties, he should pray for 2 hours; but at least 3 hours to receive the power.
However, just how many are out there who don't pray even though they go to church-
According to a research in 2009, 3 out of 4 pastors in Korea pray less than an hour every day.
In a European country (of Great Britain), an average prayer time for a pastor is 3 minutes.
You can see in how many places of the world the light of prayer has been all but extinguished.
In this church, however, even a layman member prays at least for 2 hours a day.
It is because God gives grace to whoever comes to Daniel Prayer Meeting.
It is God's grace that Daniel Prayer Meeting was set up, and it is also God's grace that its leader was called.
Without such grace of God, how could the fire of prayer have flared up for the last 28 years-
It must have been difficult to fill up the measure of prayer that God set praying by yourself.
It is the grace of God that you come to the sanctuary to pray.
It is also the grace of God that you open your lips and cry out in your prayer.
It is surely the grace of God that you receive reward as you pray for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
It is the fact that what you receive during your prayer such occurrences as the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the heart's changes, and receiving of answers and blessings is all by God's grace.
A Special Daniel Prayer Meeting begins starting next Monday, October 11, for 42 days, doesn't it-
I hope that more of you will participate into this feast of God's grace so that you can receive answers and blessings that God the Father has specially prepared for you.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Tonight, I helped you look into 3 aspects of the grace that God the Father has given to this church until we celebrate this 28th Anniversary.
The first is the word of life, and the second is the unceasing power, and the third is fiery prayer.
Thanks to the huge grace that God has given us, this church has been able to accomplish the providence of God.
We've been able to bear the fruit that God has desired, and we've been able to give glory to Him.
And our members' faith has been able to grow up so that they could enter the spirit and whole spirit.
You should never forget this grace of God.
In the 2nd half of this service, there will be an 'Evening Ceremony' called "Glory."
I urge you take this moment to engrave the grace of God the Father, the grace of the Lord, and the grace of the shepherd into your heart once again.
May this church and you receive grace upon grace so to give even greater glory to God the Father until the Lord comes back, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen!!!] |
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