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 Sermon > Sunday Morning Service |
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Title |
God''s Will(1) - God''s Will (1) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 |
Date |
2015-03-29 |
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[Passage]
[1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters,
We can see that some believers receive love from God, experience His grace, and receive many blessings in their everyday life while other believers, though they seemingly try hard, suffer from hardships or persecutions and live difficult lives. Also, some believers grow up in their faith significantly within a short time even though they are relatively new believers, while other believers live lives that are indistinguishable from lives of unbelievers. They live without any growth in their faith although they may have been believers for decades.
So, where does this difference come from if they believe in the same God? It depends on the extent to which they understand God's will and obey it. God loves everybody and acts in His justice. Namely, He pays us back according to our deeds. Therefore, we have to clearly understand what God's will is and act according to it. This way, we can receive answers and blessings, and our faith can grow up, too.
Today's reading passage clearly tells us what God's will is. This passage is the basis of Christian faith, the condition to stand on the rock of faith, and also the short-cut to go into spirit. Furthermore, this passage is a guide for those who are already in spirit to go into deeper levels of spirit and whole spirit, according to the extent to which they cultivate the spiritual meaning of the verse.
I hope you will realize God's will through this message and practice it as it is. I pray in the name of the Lord that, in so doing, the desires of your heart will be granted and you will go onto the rock and into spirit, deeper level of spirit, and whole spirit quickly.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sister,
First, God's will is that we should rejoice always.
We can rejoice always if we believe that God is the One who created heavens and earth and all things in them and who controls human history, and He is also our Father. We were destined to go to Hell due to sins, but we have been saved through Jesus Christ and become God's children. Now we can go to Heaven, so how can we not rejoice?
As you hear this, some of you might say you are in a situation where you cannot rejoice at all because you have diseases, family problems, or financial problems.
But if we rejoice only when we have something joyful and if we do not rejoice when we have tests, trials, or problems, aren't we the same as non-believers? Non-believers do not know where we came from and where we are going, so their whole purpose of life is on this earth.
Also, because they do not know the spiritual realm that is full of joy, love, and happiness, they rejoice only when there is something joyful. At other times, they just live in the concerns, worries, sorrow, and pain that the world gives. Because they don't know there is Heaven and Hell after death, they just follow the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of this life, in an attempt to enjoy their lives, which is only for 70 or 80 years.
But God's children do not live like they do. Because we have faith in God and hope of Heaven, we can rejoice not only when there is something good but also in the midst of tests, trials, or pains. When Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he didn't know evil or untruth because there was only goodness and truth. He didn't know or experience sorrow and pain that are caused by evil and untruth. Therefore, he could not possibly know how beautiful goodness and truth were, and he could not feel how happy the life he was living in the Garden really was.
But since he committed sin and was driven out to this earth, Adam and all his descendants, all of mankind, came to experience pain, sorrow, and death in this physical world. Eventually they were destined to fall into Hell, which is eternal death. But God, who is full of love, opened a way for them to reach salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.
After they experience the relativity of things in this world through human cultivation, those children who are saved can enjoy glory and happiness forever in the eternal kingdom of heaven. Since God's children believe in this fact, they can still rejoice even in the midst of hardships and turmoil of life. We believe that there is Heaven where there is no sorrow, pain, or death, and it's our home to which we will return soon. We believe that God the Father will welcome us and give us the rewards and glory that He has prepared.
We can also rejoice even in trials if we believe that even those trials are allowed by God so that we can receive even better heavenly dwelling place and even greater glory.
Brothers and sisters,
In Ecclesiastes chapter 1, it says everything we do and everything under the sun is utterly meaningless. No matter how rich, healthy, and full of knowledge we are, and even though we have power and fame, we cannot take any of it with us when we die. Therefore, those worldly things cannot really give us joy.
Even if we are in difficult circumstances, even if we are sick or have problems in the family or workplace, we can always rejoice as long as we believe in God and have hope of Heaven. We can rejoice just with the fact that our names are written in the Book of Life in Heaven and we have the right to become the children of God.
If we have such faith and hope, how can we fall into sorrow or despair because of things of this world? Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
If we have such faith, we can always rejoice. And God will joyfully accept such faith and reward us according to that faith. This way, even the problems that seem to have no solution at all can be resolved in a moment through faith. I hope you will be full of joy all the time by having the faith in the almighty God the Father and the hope of Heaven. |
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