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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Give Thanks to the Lord(1) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Psalm136:1 |
Date |
2007-10-07 |
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Passage
Psalm 136: 1
"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting."
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today is the 25th anniversary of our church, which was founded within the providence of God.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has been with us for last 25 years without changing. There are many guests from around the country and around the world, and I thank all of our guests for coming, and I welcome you all in the name of our Lord.
Also, I give thanks to all the pastors and members who have been serving our church in unison thus far.
Looking back on the steps since the time God the Father established this church 25 years ago and still leading us today, we can understand that everything was done by the grace of God. Thus, we can only give thanks to Him.
At this time, I will tell you a couple of reasons why we cannot but give only thanks to God. Through this message, I hope you will be able to give thanks to God from the bottom of your heart.
If we genuinely give thanks to God, God receives the aroma of our thanks to the fullest, and gives us more conditions for which to be thankful. Therefore, the true thanks that we give to God will become the foundation to bear greater fruits later.
On this blessed day, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will give true thanks from the bottom of your heart and sow in God to the fullest so that you will later be able to abundantly reap the fruit of blessings.
Body
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, members and special guests, on this 25th anniversary, first of all, we should give thanks to God for establishing this church.
God did not just allow the establishment of this church, but He established it within His special providence. Namely, it was established to reveal the glory of God greatly throughout the world in His name, and to bring a closure to human cultivation.
This providence of God is embedded in the name 'Manmin Central Church' as well. As God commanded me to become a servant of His, I began to attend theological seminary.
From my freshman year, I prayed to God to give me the name for the church I was going to start. But for 3 years, there was no answer, and it was the time to open the church.
I thought I would name the church, 'Church of Love'. Because our Lord fulfilled the Law with love, I also wanted to have a church full of love, and that was the name that I wanted for my church.
But only at that moment did God give me the answer. The Lord told me to name the church not 'Church of Love' but 'Manmin Church', which means 'All Creation', and told me that at some point in the future I would understand why He had given me this name. That time came when I went on the pilgrimage.
My first pilgrimage was in 1989. When I went to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed until his sweat became the drops of blood, I came to understand why God gave me the name 'Manmin'.
There was a church at the location where Jesus prayed so hard to save the mankind.
The name of the church is 'Church of All Nations'. Because it was built by the offerings collected from 16 countries, it was named the 'Church of All Nations'.
I was so touched in my heart and shed my tears realizing the providence of God there in the name.
Just as the 'Church of All Nations' was established at the place where Jesus prayed the night before He took the cross to save all nations and all peoples, God gave us the name Manmin which means "all creation and all peoples". God also gave us the verse in Mark 16:15, "And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
When God called me as a servant of His, and also when I was fasting for 40 days before the opening of the church, God gave me great visions that would be fulfilled by this church.
God told us, "You will perform signs and wonders crossing the mountains, rivers, and seas. Your church will spread the Gospel of holiness to the ends of the earth and accomplish a world mission."
Because I believed these words of God completely, I began to pray for the world mission from the time we opened the church.
I did not only pray; I also sowed with faith.
For a couple of weeks after the church opening, I took a certain portion from the offerings and supported newly-opened churches that had difficulties.
With the offerings we had at that time, it was difficult to pay just the rent for the sanctuary, but because I knew that the secret of receiving blessings is to sow, I sowed with faith, not looking at the reality of the situation.
Then, it's not that our church didn't have financial difficulties, but we experienced that God Himself filled all the things that we needed.
Yet, we could sow more and give more to others, and God gave us more and more blessings. This cycle of blessing has been continuing up until today. Meanwhile, how many things has God accomplished through our church?
Since the year 2,000, God has let us conduct 12 mega-size overseas crusades to lead numerous souls to salvation.
Crusades were held in many countries in Africa where many people suffer from famine, warfare and diseases; in Japan, with so many idols; in the Philippines, a dominantly Roman Catholic nation; India a dominantly Hindu state; Islamic dominated Pakistan; in Russia, that had been a Communist state for many decades; in Dubai, the hub-city of the Middle East; Germany, in Europe; and the Honduras and Peru in Latin America, and finally in the New York city, the center of the world's strongest nation.
In each crusade, with the power of the Holy Spirit evidenced, God the Father has clearly shown that He is the Creator God and Jesus is the only Savior.
As a result, many souls were led to salvation, and our church is standing as a church high above all nations. Now, we preach the gospel of holiness and the powerful works of God all over the world 24 hours a day through the Global Christian Network (GCN).
Also, God let us establish World Christian Doctors Network, or WCDN, so that many doctors around the world can spread the powerful works of God.
Furthermore, upon the request of so many pastors and church leaders around the world who want to continuously learn the gospel of holiness, there are so many pastors' conferences going on around the world by seminars of Manmin International Seminary, or MIS.
And finally, beginning this year, God let us move forward with the mission in Israel, which is the 'end of the earth', namely the final destination of the Gospel.
Many churches around the world wanted to become branch churches of this church, and now, in just 25 years our church has become a mega size denomination which has more than 6,600 churches around the world.
What we have done is only to gather in the church and pray every day since the opening day, and obey the word of God unchangingly.
Then, according to His purpose in establishing this church, God has allowed us to become 'Manmin Central Church', which is really the best church to preach the Gospel to all creation.
And even from this time on, I believe that God the Father will reveal His great glory and fulfill all His providences at the end of time through this church. We give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has established this church in His providence, guided us until today with His mighty power, and will be glorified even more greatly.
The second thing that we should give thanks for is for the shepherd whom God has established for this church.
A superb ship must have an excellent captain to overcome strong waves and avoid reefs.
If the pilot is quite good, the airplane he is flying will take off and land very smoothly. Even in turbulence, he will not be taken aback, but take the passengers safely to the destination. It is the same with the church.
A church is an ark of salvation that leads God's children to the heavenly kingdom. We liken the believers to a flock of sheep, and the shepherd to guide these sheep is very important for the church.
Matthew 15:14 says, "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
But our Jesus healed the sick and weak, made them complete, and gave them hope by feeding them with the gospel of the kingdom of heaven as the Good Shepherd.
Finally, He sacrificed His own life for souls to give them eternal life.
Since I was called as a servant of God, I earnestly prayed to become a shepherd like Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who leads the flock to the green pastures and quiet waters.
To do that, I knew I had to have spiritual authority and power, and that is why I concentrated on the Word and prayed countless times. As a result, I received God's power from Him, and no matter what kind of great and powerful works took place through me, I have only given all the glory to God the Father.
Even when such severe and difficult trials came upon me, which are practically unbearable for men, I overcame them only with goodness and love. Every time God gave me more and more power.
That is why I could safely lead the souls entrusted to me into spirit and to the way of the heavenly kingdom.
In the Bible, we can see that the patriarchs of faith risked their own lives even when they were shepherding sheep.
While Jacob was shepherding the sheep of his uncle Laban, it is recorded that "the heat consumed him by day and the frost by night, and his sleep fled from his eyes."
In the beginning of the church, when I was taking care of the church members myself, if one soul skipped Sunday service, I fasted for him each time. If one soul fell into temptation and became weak, I fasted or prayed all night for that particular soul.
I drove away the enemy devil and Satan through visitations and intercessions, and gave each of them spiritual strength to overcome.
When I was taking care of the church members myself, once someone came to church I hardly lost anyone.
Right now, I cannot look after each and every church member, but my heart for the church members has not changed.
For those who committed grave sins, I knelt down before God and repented on behalf of them. For those who are suffering from illnesses, my heart isn't able to be at ease until they are healed.
For those who are suffering financial difficulties, I eat less and spend less and take care of them.
In the Bible, we can find patriarchs of faith who could sacrifice their lives as our Lord Jesus did. We can say Moses and the apostle Paul were prime examples.
What was Moses like? For the people of Israel who always disobeyed the word of God and even stood against him, he prayed for them putting up his own life as a guarantee.
Exodus 32:32 says, "But now, if You will, forgive their sin and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!"
It was the same with the apostle Paul. Romans 9:3 says, "For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."
'My brethren, my kinsmen' that Paul mentioned were the people of Israel, especially, the Jews.
They condemned him as the ringleader of the sect who was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they also followed and persecuted him wherever he went.
He confessed that only if those people could be saved, he could even give up his own salvation.
Seeing that the patriarchs of faith loved the souls so much, I thought about whether I could do the same.
Just as people did to Jesus and to the apostle Paul, as I am accomplishing the kingdom of God, there are people who disturbed what I am doing and they have persecuted me. They have not accepted or believed in the works the Holy Spirit has manifested through me.
And honestly, I never hated those people.
I only prayed earnestly in intercession for them who were disturbing the works of the Holy Spirit, just like our Jesus prayed for those who were crucifying Him, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Also, I sometimes gave peace offerings before God in great amounts in order for those people to repent and receive salvation.
A couple of months ago, I thought to myself, "If God says, 'There are a thousand sheep who have to fall into hell, and to bring them to heavenly kingdom, you have to go to hell instead,' then, would I do that?"
I know very well about Heaven and Hell, and I have authored books about both.
Once fallen into Hell, one has to suffer forever in the burning fire. Just by touching boiling water for a moment, you will be surprised by the heat, and the pain of the burn will last a long time. But, Hell is not just boiling water; all those in Hell have to suffer forever in the burning fires.
I know the pain of hell very well, but I immediately had the answer.
From the bottom of my heart, I could confess before God the Father, "Father God, if You tell me to go to hell to get one thousand people into heavenly kingdom, I can say 'Amen'. I will choose the way of Your will."
Because I am guiding the souls with this kind of heart, God the Father is sending so many souls to Manmin church.
We had 13 members including children in the opening service, and now, God gave us countless souls not only in this Manmin Central Church in Seoul, but also in 6,600 branch churches around the world. Also, through various media including internet, satellite, TV and radio, many people come in contact with the Gospel of Holiness and the works of God's power, so that the number of those who are saved is added to everyday.
Brothers and sisters, the third condition for which we have to give thanks is that God keeps His promises that He made with us.
When this church opened, God gave us many dreams and visions, and most of them have been fulfilled in various areas.
As He told us that we would accomplish world mission, God let us accomplish world mission more greatly than we ever imagined. He is also fulfilling His word that we would accomplish a mission in Israel in full scale, beginning this year.
There is one more very important promise of God, and that is many souls will enter into New Jerusalem, which is the best dwelling place in heavenly kingdom.
But only those who have accomplished the whole spirit can go into New Jerusalem. It's those who have no forms of evil and have become sanctified, being full of goodness and love, and being faithful to the kingdom of God.
That is why God the Father has allowed the flow of spirit and flow of whole spirit in this church, so that the believers could check their hearts thoroughly and change into spirit.
Also, He revealed the sinful natures in heart very clearly according to His justice, but at the same time He gave us grace and strength in His love, so that we could overcome the struggle against sins.
I cannot allow for myself to go to New Jerusalem just by myself because I am your shepherd. And to guarantee the promise of God, I had to feel the same pain and hardship as when our members were going through trials and refinement period.
I have been trying to lead by example, to lead them to come into spirit and goodness.
As a result, many souls are coming into spirit, and there are some who have come into whole spirit. If you ride on this flow of spirit like this, I believe that, many of you will be able to enter into New Jerusalem when the Lord comes back again.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests, at this time of the 25th anniversary, we briefly looked how God the Father has established this church and has been guiding us until now.
There are many conditions of thanks for God, but I only talked about three main points.
The first is that we should give thanks to God for establishing this church in His providence and guiding us, and the second is that we should be thankful for appointing a shepherd right for this church.
The third and last is that we should give thanks to God for keeping His promises for this church, and especially, that there will be many people who will go into New Jerusalem.
The promise to take you into New Jerusalem is not given for a certain group of people only; it's given to all of you.
If you trust and believe in God who has been guiding this church until now as your personal God, and obey His will completely, anybody can receive this promise.
As I will tell you in the evening service, God the Father will soon reveal greater glory through this church.
And I pray in the name of the Lord that you, who are participating together with this wide range of people, will be among those who will be recipients of great blessings so that God's glory will be even more greatly revealed through you! |
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