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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Holiness - Sunday Evening Inauguration Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
1 Timothy 4:5 |
Date |
2013-10-06 |
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Passage
[1 Timothy 4:5]
"for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer."
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have this 2013 Inauguration Service.
This year, a total of 67 persons are being inaugurated to include 1 pastor, 6 elders, 44 senior deaconesses, 15 honorary senior deaconesses, and 1 associative senior deaconess.
Those who are being inaugurated today are in leadership positions in the church.
It means their spiritual fruits were recognized based on objective criteria.
It is of great benefit to the kingdom of God as we have more of such leaders, and it is something to celebrate as for the church, too.
I congratulate all of you who are being inaugurated as precious workers of the kingdom of God.
I also give thanks to all the relatives and guests who have come to celebrate together on this blessed day.
Dear leaders who are being inaugurated and other members, in the constitution of our church, it says, "Pastorship is a holy duty given through ordainment. Its title is equivalent to the priesthood of the Old Testament. It is the godliest and most precious title in the church today."
The duty of a pastor is to teach the Bible, preach the word of God, conduct worship services and Holy Communion, and to minister to the church.
To fulfill all these duties, a pastor must have proper qualifications as a priest of the holy God.
Elders help the pastors in ministering to the church, doing the work of visiting and guiding the members, and preaching the gospel. When necessary, they have to conduct worship services on behalf of the pastors.
The qualifications for elders are as follows:
The wife and children have to obey him; he has to have certain experience of receiving God's grace; he has to pray; he has to struggle against sins to the point of shedding blood; he has to have a mild character; he has to be recognized by the members; he has to have the ability to control and lead the people.
There are many other qualifications, too, but I think you can already understand the seriousness of the position of the elder.
Each elder is a representative and a leader of the church members, and thus he has to have confident faith and character.
The title of senior deaconess is the highest of titles for women.
They must have both faith and good manners and character, and they have to be gentle and virtuous.
Their duty is to help the pastors in visiting the members; comforting those who are in despair and taking care of them; and serving them as a mother would.
Therefore, for the pastors, elders, and senior deaconesses to fulfill their duties properly, they should have a basic qualification. It is holiness.
You can understand the heart and will of God when you are holy.
You can accomplish the kingdom of God and give glory to Him when you are holy.
You can become strength to your shepherd being used like pillars of the church when you are holy.
Of course, you know this fact very well, and you've been trying hard to cultivate holiness.
In this message, I will talk about the ways to become holy in three aspects.
I hope not just those who are being inaugurated but also all the other members will check yourselves with this message.
If you are already in spirit, I hope you will listen to the message with more humbleness, so that you can more quickly go into a deeper level in whole spirit.
In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that, you will all become good pastors, elders, and senior deaconesses who can be acknowledged by God the Father as His proper workers.
Main
Dear leaders being inaugurated and other members, in order for you to become holy, first of all, you have to look into yourself with the word of life.
Today's reading passage 1 Timothy 4:5 says, "for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer."
In order to become a holy child of God, namely to become sanctified and holy, you have to arm yourself with the word of God.
You should not mistakenly believe that just because you have a vast knowledge of the word of God, that you also have great faith.
Even though you memorize many Bible verses or you have listened to so many messages, such things do not automatically make you holy.
But rather, you might have faith just as knowledge, and it can lead you to commit such sins as disobedience or judging and condemning others more.
When you read the Bible or listen to sermons, you must apply it to yourself, and you have to try to change yourself.
For example, you summarized a sermon of Love Chapter about rejoicing with the truth.
Let's say that you summarized the contents well as follows: "those who rejoice with the truth are not jealous when others are recognized and loved more by others. Thinking such things as, 'that person still lacks this,' if you think of their shortcomings, have uncomfortable feelings, and even implicitly speak of their shortcomings, it means you are not rejoicing with the truth. You should not get discouraged thinking why you are falling behind others even though you try hard, but you have to rejoice and be happy as if you were praised."
After summarizing the sermon, you have to reflect upon yourself using this message.
When you check yourself thinking about whether or not you really rejoiced with the truth about everybody and whether you really rejoice when others are better-off than yourself, you can look into your heart through the works of the Holy Spirit.
You will be reminded of not rejoicing with the truth in certain situations and reminded that you got discouraged with envy and jealousy.
Now you have to cast off such untruths in you and cultivate love in your heart.
If you lack such an effort, you won't be able to cultivate holiness as quickly.
It means you do not have spiritual faith.
Another thing you have to remember is this: even though you reflect upon yourself against the words of God, it cannot lead you to holiness by itself.
Suppose you did not just learn the word of God as knowledge, but through the message you also realized that you had some untruths in you.
Sometimes, you can be full of Spirit and joy just through that realization.
You think you will not get discouraged any longer but rejoice with the truth.
But after some time, you find yourself acting in the same way as in the past.
When you realized something, you are full of Spirit, so it seems you have cast it off, but the fact is the nature of untruths was not actually removed.
This is the reason why today's reading passage does not say we are sanctified just with the word, but with the word of God and prayer.
Therefore, in order to cultivate holiness, secondly, we have to pray fervently.
Let's say that you've reflected upon yourself through the gospel of holiness. Now you have to cast away and fill up certain things with the grace and strength of God, and the help of the Holy Spirit.
To do this, ardent prayers are a must.
Even though you are sanctified, for you to go into deeper level of spirit and whole spirit, you have to store up an endless amount of prayer.
Using eloquent speech or just shouting in a loud voice is not praying fervently.
We have to earnestly and truthfully ask God with all our heart and pray through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
As we say that we hold on to the Word when we pray, we have to pray in detail about what we realized and what we have to accomplish.
Ephesians 6:18 says, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,"
When we pray in the Spirit, a strong yet clear voice will come out, and not some harsh voice.
Even though you do not think of the words to speak in prayer, they flow out like springing water.
Moreover, those who pray properly will have the evidence of their lives being actually changed.
Many people pray for a long time, but regretfully, many of them cannot offer up the aroma of prayer that God can accept.
They pray they want to be sanctified, but in their lives they still seek their own benefit or advantage
They pray they want to realize the original evil them, but they ignore the advice of others.
They pray they want to be gentle and holy, but they easily get irritated in uncomfortable situations.
They say they do many vowed prayers and especially in the front rows, but their hearts do not change, which means there is no progress in their faith.
Such prayers seem to be asking for holiness on the outside, but in fact, it is a prayer that seeks one's own, done with one's selfish desires.
I hope you will check whether your prayers are really the ones that ask for holiness with all your heart, which gives God the aroma of prayer to bring down the answer.
Dear leaders being inaugurated and other members,
In order to cultivate holiness, thirdly, you have to look up to only the shepherd.
Of course, you have to look up to the Lord and hear His voice, for He is the Chief Shepherd.
But those who look up to the Lord only will also look up to and obey the shepherd, the servant of God who leads them to the truth.
The flock can get good grass only when they hear the voice and follow the guidance of the shepherd.
If there is any ferocious animal or danger, they can avoid them and be protected by the shepherd.
Especially those of you who are being inaugurated are not living your lives just for yourselves.
Now you have the sense of duty and responsibility for the church and the church members.
So, you always have to watch and understand the shepherd's will and heart so that you can lead the church with one mind and heart.
After all, what is the heart and will of the shepherd?
It is to seek only glory of God. It is also salvation, holiness, and blessings for the souls.
So, if you are united with the shepherd and put your focus on his heart and will, you can more quickly become sanctified and go into spirit and whole spirit.
Also, you will be able to lead the members to spirit, too.
I urge you check yourself as to whether or not you really looked up to the shepherd only; how much you understood his sacrifice and devotion, and how much you tried to accomplish his will with the heart of the Lord and the shepherd.
Conclusion
Dear leaders being inaugurated and other members, Philippians 3:13-14 says, "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
You have been able to be what you are today because you have loved God and dedicated yourselves until now.
But I hope you will forget what is in the past and just reach forward to what lies ahead.
I urge you to always reflect upon yourself through the holiness gospel and change yourself through fervent prayers.
Become united with the Lord and the shepherd to seek only the kingdom and glory of God.
In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will receive all the glory and rewards that God has in store for you. |
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