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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Gentle Love - 2010 Christmas Celebration Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Luke 2:13-14 |
Date |
2010-12-25 |
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Scripture
Luke 2:13-14
"And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.'"
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters
Merry Christmas!
Let' celebrate the birth of our Jesus!
Christmas is the day we commemorate and celebrate the birth of Jesus who came to this earth to save mankind.
Let's give thanks and glory to God the Father who loved us though we were sinners and sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, who abandoned the heavenly glory and came to this earth for us.
For this Christmas God the Father gave us the message titled "Gentle Love."
When someone's disposition, something, or the weather is soft, mild, tender, docile, and moderate, we say it is "gentle."
When the fierce and severe winds stop and winter departs, spring comes and 'gentle' breezes blow.
And if the sunlight shines with the gentle breeze, every living creature is renewed in the warmth of spring.
The new buds swell and erupt on trees that seemed dead.
The earth that seemed to have nothing in it brings forth fresh green sprouts.
Similarly, when the love of God the Father, the Lord and the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, our dead spirit is revived.
Just as the frozen land melts in the spring sunshine, all kinds of complicated problems in life can be resolved in the love of the Lord.
May this love of the Lord come upon all of you attending this Christmas celebration service, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
[Main Message]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This Christmas has a very different meaning to me than ever before.
It's because, for the last a few months I have been able to keenly feel how sacrificial it was for Jesus to come down to this earth in a human form to save sinners.
It is none other than through thousands of repentance letters that you have given me.
Many of those who have given me their repentance letters couldn't be saved at all because they committed sins leading to death.
1 John 5:16 says, "There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this."
Nonetheless, for thousands of souls I offered intercessory prayers to God the Father with the love that transcends justice.
In a spiritual sense, that was the same as the effort needed to move thousands of people from Hell to Heaven.
While I was doing this spiritual work, the breath of life leaked out from my body.
The marrow was leached from the bone.
All organs and tissues weakened.
The body's energy for digestion, absorption and muscular strength was very weak.
If God the Father had not held me with the breath of spirit, my spirit would have had to leave my body.
In the process of taking out the souls falling into Hell and leading them into Heaven, my body was damaged that way.
I once confessed to God, "If I were able to save just 1,000 souls I would have the courage to go into Hell on their behalf."
God the Father explained to me that profession of mine didn't end up with just the words, but was attested to as the truth through this trial.
Brothers and sisters,
Through this experience, I could feel more vividly than ever before what a great love our Jesus had given us.
I fully felt how sacrificial it was that He bore all the burdens of sin of all men and shed all His blood for sinners on the cross.
The fact itself that Jesus put on a human form and came down to this earth means the sacrifice He made truly cost Him greatly.
The kingdom of Heaven where Jesus had originally dwelt is magnificent with bright lights, holiness and glory.
The earth, on the contrary, is full of darkness, and sin is rampant and all kinds of filthy and abominable things occur.
Jesus Himself became flesh as a man and came to this earth in the flesh to save sinners.
He abandoned all the heavenly glories, and wore the lowly and shabby form of a man.
And He went through all the wickedness, filthiness, falsehood, and impurity of mankind firsthand.
In the end, He was hung on a wooden cross, He shed His precious blood and He died as the atoning sacrifice for sinners.
Since Jesus shed His blameless blood that was without any sin, He atoned once for all men.
So, for anyone who believes this act of righteousness in his heart and accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior, the path to the forgiveness of sins has been paved.
In addition, since Jesus had no sin at all, He broke the power of death and resurrected on the third day of burial.
So, anyone who becomes united with the risen Lord by faith can participate in resurrection.
Then, even if his life of the body comes to an end, he can enter Heaven and live there forever with the Lord.
God the Father foreknew this amazing providence of salvation would be fulfilled through Jesus' birth.
That's why when Jesus was born on earth a multitude of heavenly hosts and angels sang praises to God as recorded in Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
Brothers and sisters,
You have to remember, eternal life and salvation could never been given to us easily at all.
It is the result of the extreme nature of Jesus' sacrifice and the fruit of God the Father's love to the point of laying down His beloved Son.
For the children of God who have accepted Jesus Christ, God promised to give them not only salvation but many answers and blessings as well.
Is it only the matter of salvation that men cannot solve with their own strength-
There are also many painful matters including diseases and poverty they cannot solve for themselves.
God the Father doesn't want His children to suffer from these problems.
So, He gives to those who ask; lets those who seek, find; and He will open the door for those who knock.
God the Father takes delight in responding to whatever His children seek with belief and delights in blessing them.
He wants to be glorified by making things that are impossible with men, possible through His children of faith.
In John 14:13-14, Jesus promised, "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."
Through the history of human cultivation God the Father has manifested how great His love is.
And He wants men to believe in that love of God and to change into spirit by means of that love.
He patiently waits for them to come forth as His true children who can share sincere love with Him.
For this purpose, God the Father has sent us the Holy Spirit as our Helper.
It is only through the Holy Spirit, not the Lord and God recorded only in the Bible, that God the Father has let us meet and experience the living God who is always with believers.
In Luke 10:3, when He sent His disciples into the world, Jesus said, "Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves."
The enemy devil and Satan, the rulers of the world, are like hungry wolves trying to devour believers in Christ.
The enemy devil causes wicked people to commit more wicked actions, and thus the world is increasingly becoming more merciless and evil.
Since His children are living in this world, God did not leave His children as orphans but sent the Holy Spirit to them.
The Holy Spirit doesn't cease providing us with gentle love.
He moves our hearts while we are singing praise, and urges us to shed tears of thanksgiving when we pray.
Through the Word of God, He gives us the spiritual realization that increases our hope for Heaven.
He fills our heart with gentle love through praise, prayer and the Word.
With His unfailing love and warmth He comforts and embraces those souls that have been cheated and hurt.
This way, He leads God's children not to seek fleshly love that is corruptible, but to abide in true love.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We have been continually provided with God's gentle and warm love that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Now what shall we do to repay His grace-
Let me briefly speak of three points.
First of all, you should not look to the world again.
If you look back to the world, you are depriving of your heart because of the worldly things.
Then, the love of God increasingly fades and disappears from your heart.
You have to remember the warning recorded in 1 John 2:15 telling, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
When things of the world look good to your eyes, please think of them the following way.
Are those worldly things more valuable than the peace, thanksgiving and joy that came upon you from above when you repented of your sins from the heart-
How painful, fearful and burdened was your heart when you committed sins-
If you look at the world and gradually take it again, you may fall into pains that are even more severe.
Therefore, if temptations of the world are going to enter, be sure to think of Jesus who laid down His life to save you from your sins.
And you have to remember, the Holy Spirit is interceding for you and groaning too deep for words to express whenever you commit sins.
Along with the two things, you have to remember God the Father having embraced you with gentle love.
In Colossians 3:2-3, it records, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
The person you used to be, who existed in sins and evils of the world, was put to death along with Christ.
You were renewed into a new creation in the Christ.
Thus, you are a renewed person in Christ, so you should not set your mind on the things on earth, namely the things of the world.
You have to set your mind only on the things above, namely Heaven.
To enter a better dwelling place in Heaven, you have to fill your heart with spirit and goodness.
Speaking in more detail, you have to worship God in spirit and truth.
You have to carefully listen to the message and keep it in your mind.
You have to read not only the Bible but also many books dealing with the Word of life, and then diligently make your spiritual bread of them.
You have to store up fervent prayers continually.
Then, God's grace and strength come upon you and you can feel your heart changes into goodness and spirit by the help of the Holy Spirit.
Those who have delighted in the prosperity of their spirit and soul through the prayers and the Word consider worldly entertainments as nothing.
They take no delight in those entertainments at all.
The apostle Paul felt and experienced this truth 100% so that he counted the world and the things of the world as rubbish.
And he pressed on toward the goal to the point of abandoning his life.
May you all thoroughly abandon the world and look to and press on toward the greatest goal—entering the city of New Jerusalem in Heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
Brothers and sisters,
Since we have received such a gentle love that can be found nowhere in the world, secondly, we should never forget that love.
Psalm 103:2-5 reads, "Bless the LORD, o my soul, and forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle."
You should never forget the God who pardoned all your iniquities; who healed all your diseases; who redeemed your life from the pit; who crowned you with lovingkindness and compassion; and who satisfied your years with good things.
The love God has given us cannot be either acquired or gained by the efforts of men in the world.
Our heart was not satisfied with anything in the world, but God has filled it with His gentle love.
In order not to forget the emotion of this love, you have to show at least a little proof of your love for God every day.
If today you cultivated your heart into a more beautiful and better heart than yesterday, it is a proof of your love for God.
It is good for you to become a more sacrificial and dedicated person today than yesterday.
In even the most insignificant matter, you can pray, speak and act with the love for God.
If you offer up the fragrance of your love for God to Him from the heart, He will also manifest His love for you in your life.
He will inspire and fill your heart, let everything go well with you, and give you financial blessing.
Accordingly, you can feel the love of God and live a happy life every day.
Then, how could you forget His love-
You will be tied to Him with a stronger cord of love day by day.
Now, the third point is that you have to spread God's gentle love to as many souls as possible.
How many people are wandering in the world because they have not met the Lord-
Many people are being tormented by accidents, diseases and pains. They are losing their possessions and feel heartbroken because they were cheated and swindled out of money.
Some of your family members and relatives may fall in the same category.
The cause of all those problems is sins and the Lord solved the problems of sins; but they have no idea of this fact.
If they believe in the Lord and come and ask Him, the Lord will embrace them with His gentle love. What a pity it would be for them not to know about this!
The Lord wants us to spread His love to those people who do not know.
He hopes they will feel and experience His love through us.
Although they cause harm to you, you have to understand and forgive them just as the Lord forgave you of all your sins.
Then, they will be able to feel the Lord's love through you.
It is also important to spread the gospel both 'in season and out of season'.
What is more important is that you should not spread the Lord's love just with words for your lips, but manifest His love in deeds and truth.
It is recorded in 1 John 4:12, "No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us."
I urge you who have received God's love to be a messenger of His love and manifest the living God to as many other people as you are able.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This Christmas I've explained to you with what a great love our Father God, our Lord, and our Helper the Holy Spirit embraces you.
His love caused you to be revived.
His love made you feel satisfied again.
His love enabled you to harbor hope and have clear goals.
Therefore, I asked you not to look to the world again and not to forget the love of God the Trinity.
And I told you to become the messengers of His love to many people in the world who are still wandering without the knowledge of the Lord.
On this blessed Christmas, I wish for your hearts to be filled fully with the gentle love of God.
May you glorify God and lead a blessed life in Him from now on, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
I hope that from this service on today, you will have a happy and joyful time.
Merry Christmas! |
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