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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
The Church that God Loves - Heaven - 30th Anniversary Sunday Morning Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Isaiah 60:1-3 |
Date |
2012-10-07 |
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Passage
Isaiah 60:1-3
"Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."
Introduction
Today is the 30th anniversary of church establishment.
In 2 Chronicles 7:16, God talks about the temple that Solomon built.
He said, "For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has put His eyes and heart here in this church through this 30th anniversary.
All the church members who have been attending this church until now, and those who are attending the service through media broadcasting, congratulations on the 30th anniversary!
I give thanks to all the guests who are here to give their heart-felt congratulations.
This past July, we had the commemoration service for the 30th anniversary of the church opening.
That day was the second opening of this church.
Through the sweat and tears that we had shed for the last 30 years, we now have so many spiritual workers, and they formed a strong organization. This was another spiritual birth for this church.
Today is the day to proclaim this spiritual, second-opening to the heavens and earth.
Beginning today, Manmin will arise and shine to stand above all nations as a church that leads all peoples of all nations to the Lord.
This was made possible because God the Father has shown to this church 'Heaven' with His love for us.
What does it mean that He showed us Heaven?
When we think about this, I hope you will feel the love of the Father God that is not only for this church but also for all mankind.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will give thanks, praise with joy, and give glory to God for His love.
Main
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests,
Let us first look into the spiritual meaning of 'Heaven'.
Heaven is the place where God, who is spirit, dwells. It is the spiritual realm.
It is in contrast with this earth where people with a physical body live.
Heaven is limitless, and it is a place where there is nothing that is impossible.
Moreover, heaven is also the place where there is the Kingdom of Heaven, our original home, to which we will return after this temporary period of human cultivation is over.
The Kingdom of Heaven is a beautiful and glorious place beyond our expression.
And this Heaven is not visible to men's naked eyes.
But God the Father has been showing this 'Heaven' to this church for the last 30 years.
In doing so, He confirmed His love for this church, and has been fulfilling His providence for this church.
Now, how did God show 'Heaven' to this church?
First, He showed it to us through the 'Word'.
This church was established on the foundation of the spiritual messages.
We have our foundation in the Fivefold Holiness Gospel, which consists of Regeneration, (Sanctification), divine healing, resurrection, and Second Advent of the Lord.
We added 'resurrection' to the fourfold gospel to make it the fivefold gospel.
Today is the era of the Holy Spirit.
Since the crucifixion of the Lord, it is a time period for the believers to adorn themselves as the brides of the Lord, while waiting for His second coming.
The second coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the believers are actual events that will happen.
And this church has been proving clearly that the resurrection as recorded in the Bible is true, and also the things that will happen after the resurrection are also true.
I also preached about Heaven and Hell.
Of course, because of these things, some people condemned us as teaching 'mysticism'.
But in fact, there are other people who should be judged.
What is the situation with today's churches?
They do not even preach the Second Coming of the Lord, or it is just mentioned briefly as a formality, not to mention preaching about the resurrection.
But this church has been trying the best to teach all the teachings of the Bible and the gospel without adding or subtracting anything.
Beginning with the Message of the Cross that teaches us about the secret hidden since before the ages, messages on Genesis and Revelation were also preached to clearly teach us the providence of human cultivation and spiritual realm.
As a result, many church members have been able to take caution against sins having the hope of resurrection and heavenly kingdom, and they have tried to live by the will of God.
It is as 2 Peter 1:4 says, "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."
Especially, the messages about the categorization of different kingdoms of heaven and rewards became a catalyst for their growth in faith.
Members of Manmin have been running the race of faith to reach the city of New Jerusalem, where there is the Throne of God.
They've been trying to become God's children who resemble Him.
Furthermore, most of them came to know about the reality of Hell through the messages and they could drive away temptations of sin.
They do not seek the worldly things that will perish soon, but they have been trying to become brides of the holy Lord.
What a great blessing it is to clearly know about the heavenly kingdom and spiritual realm to which we will enter later!
But in fact, there is a greater blessing. It is that we came to know about God clearly through the deep, spiritual messages.
Through the messages, we learned how holy and perfect God is. We learned about the kind of great power He has, and how much He loves us.
Since I met God and became a pastor, I wanted to learn the will of God who is spirit.
I fasted and prayed for so many days and nights not minding hot or cold weather.
God heard my prayers and explained the difficult passage in the Bible to me through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
One such good example of this is writing of the book, 'Message of the Cross' which has been translated into 65 languages and loved by people around the world.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, "but just as it is written, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.' For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." As said, let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has clearly shown to us heaven and the glory of God who is in heaven.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests, secondly, God has shown to this church heaven, namely spiritual realm, through His power.
As said in Psalm 62:11, "Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God;" power actually belongs to God only.
Therefore, having the manifestations of God's power in this church is the surest evidence that God is with us.
It is also the proof that God Himself has explained to us the deep spiritual messages.
But there is a more important reason why God is showing His power in this church.
It is to let everyone know that heaven namely spiritual realm surely exists, and that it has no limitations, and that God- who dwells in that Heaven- is almighty.
Namely, it is to let all people on this earth know that all things in the universe are God's creation.
This power of God was the most decisive factor for the Manmin members to meet the Creator God and the Lord and come to have spiritual faith.
It is not an overstatement to say that in this church we have seen the powerful works of God every day since its opening.
That is why we can say, 'countless' works of God are here.
We cannot actually count the number of healing works that took place especially in the mega size overseas crusades and seminars.
Also, this church has grown up as a mega size church that has millions of believers around the world.
GCN, an affiliated broadcaster of our church, is spreading the holiness gospel and power of God.
It is sending its signal to more than 170 countries around the globe through satellite, cable network, and public air broadcasting, and one can watch the programs anywhere in the world at any time through the mobile web service.
And these programs cause numerous works of God to take place every day.
GCN broadcasts the 'prayer for the sick' at least three times a day, in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening.
There are so many people who receive divine healing and solutions to their problems through these prayers.
Many people from around the world send their amazing testimonies saying their last stage cancer was gone through the prayer for the sick on TV; their dead optical or auditory nerves were restored that they came to see and hear; even a dead fetus was revived and again moved.
Nowadays, the readers of 'InVictory' Christian website and viewers of TBN Russia send from hundreds to thousands of prayer requests regularly.
I cannot pray for them individually, but I harbor all the prayer requests in my heart.
In doing that, so many people receive the answers and send testimonies about their experiences.
We can introduce just a few cases of those testimonies through the weekly church newsletter, and weekly Manmin magazine video, and the annual Christian doctors' medical conferences of WCDN.
I am so thankful that the testimonies have never stopped until this very day.
We have printed more than 550 church newsletters, close to 750 Manmin Magazine video presentations, and we will soon have the 10th WCDN conference next year.
In all those forms of media, so many testimonies were introduced.
Whenever the church members heard and watched the testimonies, they rejoiced together and gave glory to God.
They also shed tears of thanksgiving and joy before God for the works of the living God.
Those testimonies that were introduced were a variety of testimonies from individual or family level testimonies, to miracles that churches or nations experienced.
What did all peoples see through these?
They saw the great God who is standing above any king of the world and who is in heaven controlling the life and death and blessings and curses of mankind- the course of human history.
The Father God told us that, from now on, the leaders of each country will more frequently ask me to pray for the matters at national levels.
And to that same extent, the almighty God and the existence of the spiritual realm will be spread more widely to more souls.
Brothers and sisters, do you remember when you saw the clouds coming out and going back in, in the year 2000?
A bunch of clouds came out from a certain height in the sky and they disappeared very soon after that.
The clouds appeared and disappeared as if someone released the clear and clean clouds out to the sky and then sucked them back in.
It was a proclamation of God to let us know that there is another space there other than the sky that is visible to us.
Since then, God the Father has shown us various kinds of wonders utilizing the spiritual space.
Some typhoons that were coming towards our summer retreats or crusade locations changed their directions or dissipated.
As soon as I arrived at a place where they had had severe drought, they had sweet rain.
Even in the hottest summer days, there were really cool breezes in our summer retreat locations.
The countless dragonflies that gathered through the spiritual space gave us insect-free environments, and they also sat on our church members.
Also, wherever we Manmin members went, God showed to us double, triple, quadruple, and other extraordinary rainbows in the sky to confirm His love and promise towards Manmin.
Even stars moved through the sky quickly and danced in the spiritual space.
Since the last year, God has shown us the spiritual realm in more detail through the aurora-like lights.
He increased our hope for Heaven by showing us New Jerusalem, angels, fruits and flowers of Heaven, the sword of the Word, and musical instruments in so many beautiful colors of lights.
He expressed His love through the heart shape, the ring of promise, and bouquets.
Moreover, He also showed to us the fire of Hell, messengers of Hell, and skeletons that can be found in Hell.
This is also the love of God the Father who is leading us delicately so that we can be on the alert in our life of faith.
Other than these, through so many extraordinary things all of which we cannot list, He let us see as if with our eyes and touch as if with our hands, the existence of Heaven and God who is in Heaven.
Manmin members came to feel the city of New Jerusalem and Heaven more substantially so that they could lead a more passionate life in faith.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests, God the Father, thirdly, showed to us Heaven in this church through the praises and performances.
Our church has realized the importance of mission in performing arts and the Performing Arts Committee was established and raised.
This committee has kept on growing for the last 30 years.
They have been showing the Father God and the spiritual realm through many kinds of performances.
They have been developing the various aspects in performing arts including singing, dancing, instrumental performance, video, costumes, and props.
Through these, they have been showing the splendid and glorious kingdom of heaven that is filled with beautiful lights and sounds, where praises never stop, and which does not need any sunlight because God shines His light on all His children.
You Manmin members feel the happiness and joy of each day in heavenly life and have greater hope for Heaven through these praises.
When we have overseas crusades, our praising teams lead the praise for each meeting and worship service, and the attendants open their hearts widely.
They are then more open to accept the gospel.
Particularly, God the Father Himself is giving the praise songs to this church.
Lyrics and melodies of each song are filled with inspiration.
We also create our church events with the theme and plans given by God the Father Himself.
Through this, we Manmin, come to know about what kind of being God the Father really is.
We can also feel that kind of aroma of heart we have to offer up to God to enter into New Jerusalem, and what kind of aroma we will offer to the Father God in Heaven.
God says in Isaiah 43:21, "The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise."
We give the praise of thanksgiving to the Father God who has given us and let us sing the songs of the heavenly Father, the songs of Heaven.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests,
God the Father has been showing 'heaven' continuously in this church for the last 30 years.
It might seem that the Father God has given them to us for free, but in fact nothing was gained without a price.
If it were, the enemy devil and Satan would have objected saying the following:
"God, you clearly showed to them the spiritual realm and gave them grace unconditionally, so now they have great faith, which they don't deserve!"
So, God let us pay the exact price according to His justice.
As in the journey of Moses and the sons of Israel out of Egypt, you and I had to go through fiery trials as the shepherd and workers and members of Manmin Church.
Through those trials, as said in 1 Peter 1:7, "so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ," many of you came to have faith like pure gold.
Let us think about this in more detail in the evening service with the title 'Earth'.
Brothers and sisters, Heaven is vast.
Through the Heaven that God showed to this church, we first came to understand that the heart of God the Father and His love for us is endless.
30 years ago, we had the establishment service in just 77 days after the opening, with more than 170 members.
Today, having a second establishment, we are offering this service as a big denomination that has more than 10,000 branch churches worldwide.
Today's reading passage Isaiah 60:3 says, "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."
As said, the Father God will bring so many nations and kings to His side without a stop through this church.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has great and vast love. |
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