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 Sermon > Sunday Morning Service |
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Title |
The Place on which You Are Standing Is Holy Ground |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Exodus 3: 5 |
Date |
2010-03-21 |
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Passage
[Exodus 3: 5]
"Then He said, 'Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.'"
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Some of you have been on a pilgrimage.
I have also visited the Holy Land many times.
I went to some places in Israel, Egypt, Asia Minor, and Europe, which are the stage of the Bible.
When I visited the places where the patriarchs met and experienced God; the wilderness where the sons of Israel passed after the Exodus; the villages where Jesus preached the gospel and performed signs and wonders, and the grounds that had the traces of the ministries of the apostles I was overwhelmed with unexplainable emotions.
Even just a rock or a blade of grass seemed so precious thinking that the place is where God made His presence known, where He manifested signs and wonders, and where our Lord Jesus Himself had walked.
I think those of you who have been on the pilgrimage would have felt the same.
These places are the holy lands that have the traces of God the Father, the Lord, and the patriarchs.
For this reason many believers want to visit those holy places.
But today, we have a holy place where we can feel the trace of God the Father, and it is quite near to us.
It is the place where the salty sea water was changed into sweet water at the Muan Sweet Water site.
Today, I would like to share the message as to what kind of attitudes we should have towards this holy ground.
I hope that not just our believers here but also the viewers will realize what kind of attitude you should have toward holy grounds, and further what kind of attitude you should have towards the works of God.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will always experience amazing works of the living God.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when Moses was tending his flock on Mount Horeb in the land of Midian, the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush.
When Moses approached, God said "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
It's because that place had become a holy ground because of the presence of God.
Shoes have many kinds of dirty things on the sole.
In the passage above, the spiritual meaning of telling Moses to take off his shoes means he had to stand before God with a godly and holy heart.
The same principle applies to the holy grounds, too. Holy grounds are places where God shows His works.
Therefore, on holy grounds, we have to have holy heart and attitude just like we are standing before God.
To have unholy things while being on the holy grounds is the same as defiling the holy grounds and it is rudeness before God.
If this happens we may arouse God's anger instead of meeting God and receiving grace on the holy grounds.
In the Old Testament, God emphasized many times that the Holy Place of God must not be disgraced.
Through these passages, we can understand what kind of attitude we must have when we visit the spring of Muan sweet water.
You know very well how important this spring of sweet water is.
This sweet water site is the place where God showed a miracle found in the Bible.
Exodus 15:22-25 talks about the incident of Marah's bitter water changing into sweet water.
It says God showed Moses a tree and when Moses threw it into the waters, the water became sweet.
Namely, undrinkable water changed into drinkable water.
How amazing this is! This is something God alone can do.
What is more amazing is that the same kind of miracle took place after thousands of years later, in this 21st century, the era of science and technology, and in the country in which we are living.
The sea water was so salty that it tasted even bitter, and this water became sweet. Muan is where this amazing miracle took place.
The 'Jukdo' or 'bamboo island,' on which Muan Manmin Church is located, is now connected with the mainland but it used to be an island.
They dug a well but got only sea water, and it was very difficult for them to get drinking water.
So in the year 2000, the members of Muan Manmin Church requested my prayer believing in God, who is the same yesterday and today.
Upon their request, I prayed from here in Seoul.
Then such a wonderful miracle took place. The salty sea water changed into sweet, drinkable water hundreds of kilometers away from here.
The sweet water is not just drinkable. If we use it with faith we can experience the power of God.
Many members applied it to their skin or drank it. Many were healed of skin diseases, hair loss, burns, cataracts, gastric ulcers and so many other diseases.
One was even healed of peritonitis, which is incurable without surgery.
Some deformities of the body were made normal. One sister's abnormally small auricle, or 'outer ear', grew to the normal size.
People received better sight or hearing, and many people came to have double-folded eyelids.
Dying animals and plants were revived and became stronger. Using the sweet water, they had much larger harvests of peppers, cabbages, melons, etc.
Furthermore, after immersing in this sweet water, many people came to see the things of the spiritual realm.
There are just so many amazing works that have taken place through sweet water that we cannot talk about them in this short period of time.
How marvelous!
And with thanks to God for giving us this sweet water, we have a celebration service in Muan every year.
But recently, I had a question concerning it.
As you know very well, when our church has any event, God always gives us good weather.
Especially if we have outdoor events, He shows us many wonders including rainbows and extraordinary kinds of clouds.
But when we had the 10th anniversary service of Muan sweet water recently, we had rain.
Not just this year, but it rained for 3 consecutive years.
What is more strange is that when oversees guests or members visited Muan, God always gave them good weather.
God showed them rainbows; many people's spiritual eyes opened and they saw beautiful lights, angels, and the Garden of Eden.
For many, their eyesight improved and their chronic diseases were healed.
Of course, like in the case of the crusade in India, sometimes we have rains with God's special plan.
But for the Muan Sweet Water site, this was not the same kind of situation. I felt there must be a reason for having had rain on the anniversary day for 3 consecutive years.
I prayed to God about it and God explained the reasons.
The main cause was that the workers disappointed God in various ways at the sweet water site and with the sweet water.
At this hour, I urge all the members to check yourself as to what kind of attitude you had towards the sweet water.
From now, I hope you will only give joy and glory to God the Father through the sweet water.
First, we should check the words on our lips.
As mentioned above, holy grounds are supposed to be kept holy.
Thus, when you visit the sweet water site, you should be careful about your words just like you are in the sanctuary.
The sweet water contains the glory and the original light of the Father God.
This original light absorbs sounds. It absorbs not just your prayers but all your words.
These voices that are absorbed will become aroma presented to God.
The testimonies and giving glory to God, thanksgiving and praises for giving us the sweet water, and the prayers spoken according to the will of God will all become beautiful aroma before God.
But words of unbelief and negative words, words of complaints and that break peace will only disappoint God.
The same goes for jokes and worldly words.
Therefore, when you visit the sweet water site, you should be very careful about your words.
You should straighten up your mind from the moment you depart, and as you get closer to the place, you should be even more careful.
In the Old Testament, only the priests could go into the Holy Place.
And into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was placed, only the high priest could go in, just for one day a year.
Also, when the priests went into the Holy Place, they had to purify themselves.
Because the Holy Place represented the presence of God, it was set apart to remain holy.
You should have the same kind of attitude when you visit the sweet water site.
From the entrance, you should understand that you are entering into holy ground.
Also, before you immerse yourself into the water, you should repent of all deeds and words that are not appropriate to have a clean heart before God.
Last year, we opened a sand beach near the sweet water site.
You can use the beach with greater comfort and happiness, but you should remember it is a part of the holy ground and watch your words and actions.
Second, we should check how preciously we consider the sweet water.
God gave us this sweet water at a very meaningful point in time.
It was the year 2000, the year after we passed the three big church-wise tests.
Muan sweet water was a precious gift of God the Father given to all our members.
Do you remember the day on which we confirmed the sea water changing into sweet water?
The members of Muan Manmin Church was enraptured after tasting the water and delivered the news to the main church in Seoul.
All the members gave God glory and thanks having such a great emotion.
For some time, the members visited the sweet water site without end.
Now, let us check whether or not such emotions of ours became dimmer and weaker.
This sweet water became such a wonderful gift to numerous souls around the world.
For you who are here in Korea, it's easy to visit the place and you have more than a sufficient supply of it. But in other countries, it's not easy to get it.
For this reason, believers in other countries use the water drop by drop, because it's so precious.
Many of them consider it as precious as some precious gem stones.
In such places, there are always amazing works of God taking place through the sweet water.
Recently, a believer in another country was healed of leprosy through this sweet water.
If you deeply understand the value of the sweet water and long for it, you will also have many testimonies in your lives.
Until today I always give thanks whenever I drink sweet water.
I do not forget the emotions I had when God gave us the sweet water.
From time to time, I give thanks offerings for it with all my heart, mind, and soul.
I earnestly pray that many people will meet and experience God and receive the solutions to their problems through the sweet water.
God accepted my heart and He put greater power into this sweet water as days passed.
God also made it better to drink.
Therefore, wouldn't your longing have to be greater as well as the days go by?
I hope your ardent longing for the sweet water will never change until the Lord comes back.
I urge you in the name of the Lord to consider even a drop of sweet water and the sweet water site to be very precious.
I pray in the name of the Lord that your lives will be overflowing with the blessings of God given through the sweet water.
As much as we all have to check our heart as members of this church, the workers have to check their hearts even more carefully.
God did not bring the rains on the Sweet Water Anniversary celebretions just because of some words spoken by those believers who have weak faith.
It was to let our workers come to a certain realization that God let certain things happen related with the sweet water.
Therefore, the workers who visit the site for their work and the workers in Muan Manmin Church have to check themselves carefully.
The pastor and members of Muan Manmin Church should check whether you are constantly giving glory to God alone all the time.
God accepted your faith and trust in your shepherd when you asked for a miracle in the Bible to take place, and He answered your prayer.
He never forgets the moment when you gave God glory greatly through your faith and devotion.
God wants your heart to never change, that is, your pure heart of unworthy servant desiring to give God all the glory.
Also, He wants all the workers to be united as one with the desire to glorify God by good maintenance works of the sweet water.
Words of peace-breaking, words that make others feel uncomfortable, or words of clashing must not get into the sweet water.
The same goes for the workers in the main church.
Not only those who are actually maintaining sweet water but also those who visit the site often to guide the guests should check their hearts.
You are doing the things that I have to do on my behalf to become the strength to the church and me.
But do you always fulfill your duties with thanks, all your heart and mind, and with your love for God the Father?
If you have been doing so, you must have always been happy when you go back and forth to the sweet water site.
Please check whether or not you had thoughts or words of complaint like, 'It's so hard to travel such a long distance so often,' even though you say you love the shepherd and become strength to him.
Please check whether or not you are no longer able to sense that the site you are visiting is holy ground and you were making jokes on the way.
I urge you to also check whether you broke peace working with other departments insisting that certain things must be done in certain ways.
Or, have you spoken any negative words about the sweet water itself?
If you have done any of these things, I hope you will repent from the heart before God and be spotless and blameless.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the reason why God is telling us all these things is not to rebuke us.
God the Father will show even greater things than what has already happened through the sweet water.
To that same extent, He will receive greater glory.
Therefore, the roles of the members and the workers who are in charge of maintaining the water are very important.
For this reason God is giving us understanding to renew our hearts, so that we can glorify Him more greatly through the sweet water.
Therefore, if you find any shortcomings or wrongdoings listening to this message, I hope you will repent from the heart and become renewed.
Then, I urge you to realize in the depths of your hearts the love of God the Father in giving us the sweet water.
Above all, you church members have to long for the sweet water and consider it holy.
Also, the workers have to do the maintenance works with all your heart on behalf of me.
Only then can the sweet water be spread more to give life to more people.
The power and divine nature of God can be shown more greatly.
God does not want faithfulness just on the outside but true faithfulness stemming from the heart.
It's not just in the duties of managing the sweet water but in all other aspects as well.
God will give you strength and wisdom if you try your best in your position, with all your heart and with cooperation with others thinking of the ways to accomplish the works of God more beautifully.
He will fulfill His providence more wonderfully through you.
In the near future you will be entering the soon-to-be most well-known holy place in the world, the Grand Sanctuary.
I pray in the name of the Lord that not only the workers but also all the members will come forth as holy children of God. |
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