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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
One with Shepherd - Men''s Mission Devotional |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
John 15: 5 |
Date |
2014-04-27 |
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[Passage]
[John 15: 5]
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters, Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have 2014 Men's Mission devotional service.
Dear devotees,
God had a plan for the end time when He established this church. It was to lighten the sin-filled world with the gospel of holiness. It was to lead so many souls around the world to the Lord and to reveal the glory of God by constructing the Grand Sanctuary.
It is a duty given to me, but it's not something I can achieve alone. That is why God has chosen you and called you and raised you up as spiritual warriors up until now. Now, many of you are on the rock and in spirit, but we cannot stop here. More of you must come into spirit and whole spirit, so that we can completely fulfill the providence of God the Father at the end time.
And the shortcut to do this is to become one with the shepherd as in the title of this message. Of course, first of all, you have to become one with God the Father and then the Lord. Along with doing this, as said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ," you should become one with the shepherd, too.
To be one with the shepherd is to follow the example of a servant of God, who obeys the word of God; who teaches only according to the word of God about sin, righteousness, and judgment; and who therefore is attested to by God with the power of the Lord.
As you consider such a servant of God as your shepherd, and trust and obey him to be united with him, it is to become one with the Lord and God the Father, too. After all, it is the way to be used for the kingdom of God for a noble purpose, and the quickest way to receive personal blessings, too. And it is a fact that many of you are already experiencing.
Today, in three aspects I will talk about the blessings of being united with the shepherd who is guaranteed by God. Through this message, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will enjoy all the spiritual and material blessings that God has prepared for you.
[Main]
Dear devotees, and other members,
He who has become one with the shepherd who is attested to by God, first of all, receives unhindered blessings.
2 Chronicles 20:20 says, "Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed." As said, if you just trust and become one with the shepherd, you won't have any problem both spiritually and physically.
You will receive blessings in family, in health, and in your business, and all your plans will prosper. Many of you testify that such entangled problems were resolved after receiving the prayer of the shepherd and after your shortcomings have been pointed out.
Many of you testify that you bear fruits easily when you preach the gospel or consult those with weak faith by the work of the Holy Spirit or in the space of the shepherd. In overseas missionary trips, you manifest the power of God through the handkerchiefs, to the extent that you are united with the shepherd.
Brothers and sisters,
Those who live in the will of God prosper in all things, and even if they sometimes go through trials, they do not come upon them as disasters. As they pass the trials well, God works for the good of everything, so the trials turn into blessings. Even if they don't pass the trial, God protects them so they won't face a calamity.
We can find such an example from the book of Esther. Judah was destroyed at that time and many Jews were living in Persia. There was a man called Haman, an Amalekite and a high official, held grudges against Mordecai, who was a Jew, for he did not show respect to him.
If you go back as early as the Exodus, the Amalekites stood against God. So, God commanded Israel to destroy the name of Amalekite completely. Since Mordecai knew this fact, he could not bow before an Amalekite who stood against God.
When Haman found this out, he made a scheme to kill not just Mordecai but all the Jews in Persia. He got the permission from the king to appoint a certain day and harm the Jews in any way they wanted. Once the order of the king is issued, the king himself could not cancel it at his discretion.
The Jews were about to be doomed, and Esther, who was the queen, and Mordecai and all the Jews fasted and prayed to God. They completely relied on God. So, God caused a great turn of the events. Haman caused great anger of the king and was executed. On the contrary, the Jews escaped the danger of destruction, and furthermore they could attach all the enemies of the Jews.
Esther 8:17 says, "And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them." Jews were originally captives in the land, but now the local people of the land became Jews now! How lifted up the Jews were! In reality, they were almost doomed, but since God was with them and made them prosper, they rather gave glory to God greatly.
When you become one with the shepherd, you will receive blessings in all respects, and even if things are not going well enough, you will give glory to God more greatly in the end through the works of re-creation. John 15:7 says, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." As said, I hope you will be one with the shepherd and the Lord and be prosperous in all things.
Dear devotees, and other members,
He who has become one with the shepherd who is guaranteed by God, secondly, receives the blessing to cultivate the heart of God.
What should you do to become one with somebody? Should you eat, sleep, and stay together all the time? Or should you get a cosmetic surgery to look alike, dress the same, or have similar tone of speech? To be one with somebody is to have same heart, will, and thoughts. Similarly, to be one with the shepherd cannot be done externally. You have to follow in spirit and have the same heart.
If you follow the shepherd only because you are happy being with him, it is not spiritual following. It's merely like a little child would be happy being with his mom. In the past, many of you said you were following the shepherd, but some of you were just physically follow him. If you spiritually followed, what would you see being with the shepherd? You'd have tried to learn how he reveres God; how he shows faith in difficult situations; how he serves the souls; how he seeks the benefit of others, and so on.
You'd have tried to keep in mind and obey each word of the shepherd, in an effort to change into spirit. You'd have stored up countless prayers and fasting on your side to cultivate the heart of the shepherd, too.
Philippians 4:9 says, "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." You can say you are one with the shepherd only when you have the heart of the shepherd, too. Those who are united with the shepherd can be considered to have cultivated the goodness of God.
Dear devotees, and other members,
It is such a great blessing to become a child who resembles the Father. The purpose of God's human cultivation is to get true children. He wanted children who resemble the good God, who understand His heart deeply, and who love Him with their heart.
But even though there are many believers few understand this point. Some feel the grace of the Lord and try to live a good life, while others devote themselves to preaching and missionary works. But most of them do not even begin to imagine that they have to cast away evil from their heart and recover the image of God. They just put limits on themselves thinking men cannot cast away sinful natures and creatures cannot resemble the Creator.
So, even though they might diligently attend church, it's a rarity to find anyone on the rock of faith.
But you are very different. You heard the gospel of holiness and you try to recover the image of God. To the extent that your faith grows up, you'd want to understand the heart of God more deeply and cultivate His heart rather than gaining riches of this world. But it is not easy to go into spiritual realm without a teacher.
If you do not have an excellent spiritual guide, you'd have to receive revelations from God Himself through fasting and prayer like the apostle Paul did. Also, in the Bible, we can find that the disciples are never as good as the spiritual teacher. The greatest prophet Elijah had just one successor Elisha; Moses taught the people with all his might, but he got only Joshua who took after Moses' example. But in this church, not just a couple, but hundreds and thousands will be on the rock and in spirit. Many of you will soon come into whole spirit, too.
Even though you cannot do it by your own strength, you can do it by being one with the shepherd. Because 90% of the measure of justice is already filled, you can just fill up the other 10. I ask you in the name of the Lord to realize such a fact, become one with the shepherd, and cultivate the goodness of the Father God.
Dear devotees, and other members,
He who is one with the shepherd, thirdly, receives the blessing of New Jerusalem.
The Father wants to give us blessings in all things while we are living on this earth, and He wants to communicate with those children who have cultivated His heart. But what He desires the most among all things is to share love in eternal kingdom of Heaven. Among the dwelling places, He wants to give to us New Jerusalem, which is the most beautiful.
Even though you imagine the greatest beauty and glory, New Jerusalem cannot be compared with any of those. Above all, in New Jerusalem, such great happiness continues all the time and forever, the kind of happiness that is much greater than the greatest happiness you experienced on this earth. John 14:2-3 says, "...I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.』
After hearing this, Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" So in verse 6, Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." As said, the way was in all the words that Jesus had taught for three years, and each of His words was the truth and life. It was the way to be with Jesus to practice and obey the words of Jesus.
The disciples loved the Lord so much that they eventually became one with Him and went His way. Those women who followed the Lord were also so eager to be in the place where the Lord would be, and they went the way of the Lord, too.
You who are in this church have heard so many times what the way of Heaven is and how you can go that way. I have taught you the way to cast off sin and become holy; the way to love God first, and the way to New Jerusalem.
If you really love your shepherd and become one with him, you'd want to be where he is going. Therefore, he who is united with the shepherd will receive the blessing of New Jerusalem. Furthermore, as you profess your faith, you would advance into the main building in the castle of the shepherd in New Jerusalem.
[Conclusion]
Dear devotees and other members,
As written in today's reading passage, if the branch is on the tree, it bears much fruit and the Father will receive glory through it. The Bible clearly tells us the way to become one with the Lord, the true vine.
But it is very difficult to realize this way and walk it all by yourself, because this generation is so darkened by sins. God wanted to shine the light on this way and lead countless souls to the Lord through a true shepherd in such a generation. When you become one with the Lord, and become one with the shepherd to do that, you will receive unhindered blessings in body and spirit. Also, you can cultivate the good heart of the Father.
Eventually, you will be able to enter New Jerusalem, the best heavenly dwelling place. I hope you will realize this will of the Father and become one with the shepherd with trust, love, and complete obedience. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will give glory to the Father with abundant fruit of blessing, like a branch that is firmly on the vine. |
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