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 Sermon > Sunday Morning Service |
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Title |
If you believe, you will see the glory of God |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
John 11 :39-44 |
Date |
2016-10-02 |
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[Passage]
[John 11 :39-44]
"Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." [40] Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" [41] So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. [42] "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." [43] When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." [44] The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go.""
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In John chapter 11, we read Jesus revived Lazarus who had been dead for 4 days and smelled foul. This was a sign that Jesus publicly performed before His crucifixion, in order to reveal that He is the resurrection and life. Through this, Jesus glorified God greatly, and He also was greatly glorified.
And the reason this sign was made possible is because of the power of Jesus and the family of Lazarus showed their deeds of faith. Please repeat the title of this message after me. "If you believe / you will see the glory of God." Lazarus's family received resolution to the problem of death and glorified God because they loved and believed in Jesus.
Then, among our life's problems is there anything that would be impossible to solve? If you ask the Lord with faith, you can receive the answer and glorify God. In John 11:40 of today's reading passage Jesus says, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
Especially, now is the beginning point of the full-scale 3rd stage of take-off. In this time of blessing, may all of you cultivate true faith and love and glorify God alone, I pray this in the name of the Lord!
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Lazarus had two sisters. Their names were Mary and Martha. They lived in a town called Bethany near Jerusalem. John 11:1-2 introduces them as follows: "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick." Mary is the woman who anointed the Lord with ointment. What you have to understand is that this Mary is different from Mary Magdalene in Luke chapter 7.
They were not famous prophets or disciples of Jesus, so how could they glorify God being the witness of the great power of Jesus?
First, they believed in the almighty God and in Jesus, whom God was with.
Jesus said in John 14:1, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." When Jesus heard the news and came, Martha said to him as follows: John 11:21-22 says, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." We see that she was sorrowful about the death of Lazarus, but she still had absolute trust in Jesus.
Of course, Martha did not say what she had said because she thought Lazarus could be revived. We can see this from the fact that she said, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day," in a response to Jesus's remarks saying, "Your brother will rise again." Martha had never heard that a dead man with foul smell rose again, since the creation. Because she did not have knowledge or experience about it, she couldn't think Lazarus could come back to life.
But Martha believed in Jesus from her heart. She believed from the heart and relied on the LORD God almighty who answers the prayers, and in Jesus with whom God was with. If Martha had known about such miracles, she would have asked Jesus to revive Lazarus and more.
Do any of you think it is not difficult to make such a remark?
Then, why don't you apply this situation in your own lives? There could be hopeless situations where one of your family members is deadly ill or you cannot escape bankruptcy. Even in these situations, would you be able to make a profession of true faith from your heart that your sick family member will fully recover? Of course, many of you can make such a remark of faith because you've seen, heard, and experienced the works of God many times.
But what is important is that you can receive an answer only when you turn that knowledge-faith into spiritual faith. Martha could make a profession of faith within her knowledge because she had seen and heard about the signs and wonders that Jesus manifested.
So, although it was faith only as knowledge, Jesus still guided her to have true faith because He knew the gentle heart of Martha.
Namely, He asked in John 11:25-27, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, [26] and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" Then, she said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.""
It was such a profession of faith as this that led her to receive the answer. Furthermore, through this experience of Lazarus coming forth alive from the grave, Martha came to have firm faith in Jesus, the Son of God who is the resurrection and life.
Brothers and sisters, our Lord has been guiding you unceasingly to have such faith. How has He been guiding you? He has shown signs, wonders and other works of power in this church continually.
John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He really was the Messiah. Jesus did not say "I am He." Luke 7:22 says, "And He answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.""
What have you been seeing, hearing, and experiencing in this church so far? You can recall the ministry of Jesus just by remembering this past summer retreat. So many diseases and infirmities were healed, and especially, amazing signs took place where blind people came to see. God was glorified fully through these signs.
Especially in the healing session after the message, God opened His original space and let us feel spiritual energy. We could feel the inspiration and the thrill produced by it. Exodus 40:35 says that the cloud had settled on the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. We could feel this as it is written. It's not only about summer retreats. He has been showing endless and countless works of power so that all of you could have faith, as if He was competing against our unbelief.
I also have tried to plant faith in you. I prayed to God saying, "Heavenly Father, how can the church members have faith? I want to show to them the works of God in the Bible to plant true faith in them." The power of God that you are seeing today is the fruit of continuous prayers that I've offered for almost 40 years.
I never reproached you saying, "Why can't you have faith even when I have shown you so many things?" I just wanted to plant faith in you by showing you increasingly greater and higher dimensions of power. And because the level of power is increasing all the time, many people received answers to their problems and glorified God.
Brothers and sisters, anyone, and not just some 'special people', can see the glory of God, if they will just believe. Especially from 2010, the beginning year of the full-scale 3rd stage of take-off, God gave us the flow of spirit and whole spirit. This means the narrow way of faith has been widened.
Do you believe in God the almighty? Even if your faith is small right now, I hope you will believe in God who is with the shepherd, by considering the things that are taking place through the shepherd.
And in doing so, rely on the 99% of the measure of justice that is filled up by the shepherd. Just as Lazarus's family believed in God and in Jesus, sent by God, I pray that you may also believe and receive the answers to problems and glorify God.
Dear brothers and sisters, and viewing audiences,
The second reason why the common family of Lazarus could become the witness to great power of God was because they loved a man who was sent by God and who loved God.
In John 11:3 we find the sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus. They only said, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." Just by considering this short message, we can see how closely they were knitted through love between Jesus and that family, and Jesus was like a family member to them.
The two sisters did not explain in detail about the messenger, the current situation, or what their request was. The closer the friends are and the deeper trust you have between people, you understand each other deeply even though you don't explain everything. Also, even if it is a big favor or request, neither side feels uncomfortable about it. Lazarus's family had this kind of relationship with Jesus. And the basis of this trust was love. Namely, the love they stored up became the basis of trust, and thanks to this love and trust, they could get an answer even to the problem of death.
Then, how did Lazarus and his family love Jesus in their lives? One of the best examples is that Lazarus's sister, Mary, anointed Jesus with ointment. Pouring ointment on Jesus's head and feet and wiping His feet with her hair was such an emotional act, which was also the greatest expression of her love.
And such an act did not just come out overnight. It was carried out because she loved Him passionately and served Him with her utmost all the time. Mary and her family wanted to do anything for Jesus once they were blessed by Him.
Jesus could not sleep or eat well doing His ministry. Even at night, He went to solitary places to pray alone. Concerning this life, Jesus said in Matthew 8:20, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." It was a very physically demanding life.
Knowing this very well, Mary and her family always and desperately thought about the ways to provide Him with comfort and to please Him. Whenever Jesus came near their place, they invited Him into their house and served Him. Luke 10:38 says, "Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home."
They didn't do so expecting something in return. They just served Jesus because they loved Him so much. They believed that Jesus was a man sent by God, and at the same time, they served Him with warm love as if He were their own family. This gentle aroma of heart of Mary and her family was delivered to Jesus, and Jesus also loved this family.
Brothers and sisters, even people of flesh would want to do anything for somebody if that person is so lovely. We have a biblical example, too. When Herodias's daughter danced and pleased Herod, Herod said he would give even the half of his kingdom. In the book of Esther, King Ahasuerus also said he would give even half of his kingdom when the queen Esther looked so lovely in his eyes. Even though it was momentary emotion and unthoughtful words, at least for that moment they wanted to give anything they had.
Now, how about God, who is Love itself? How much would He want to give to those whom He loves? In many parts of the Bible God says to those who have become united with Him in love, "Ask anything you wish."
I can boldly testify about one thing. It's that I have received so many answers and so much blessing by having a close tie of love with God and communicating in heart with Him. For example, what do you think I pray for before God? I only pray for His kingdom and the salvation of souls, and I don't pray for anything personal.
My only personal prayers are mostly, "Father, I love You. I want to see You. I want to be in Your bosom as quickly as possible." As my heart became one with God the Father in love, I see all the time that He gives me everything I need even though I don't ask, or even if I just harbor it in my heart, or even if I don't even know I need it myself.
How wonderful would it be, if you could also be one with God the Father in love? Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart." I pray in the name of the Lord that this verse will be actualized in your life, too.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Do you love God the Father? Do you love the Lord who was sent by God the Father? Why do you love Him? It's because He saved us, He delivered us from the heavy burden of sin, and He gave us hope of Heaven and true love.
If you do not forget but always remember the grace you received, then your love and faith will not cool down. They will only become deeper day after day. Even in a situation where their beloved family member had died, Mary and Martha's love and faith in God and in Jesus, who was sent by God, was not shaken. It's because they didn't forget or lose the grace and love they received from Jesus even in difficult situations.
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus kept on storing up such beautiful hearts, and for this reason they glorified God in a dire situation. Also, they let many Jews know about Jesus who is the resurrection and life. Also, this event was written in the Bible and known to the people of later generations, thereby glorifying God greatly.
As for those of you who have been blessed through the shepherd in this church, your love and trust will not waver if you always remember what you have received. If you always remember them, you will receive answers and blessings and glorify God in the space of the shepherd. Furthermore, hand in hand with the shepherd, you will go to where the Father and the Lord are, namely, New Jerusalem.
If you love and trust the Father God and the Lord, you can't help but hate sins so much that you will just cast them away. Brothers and sisters, the glory of the 3rd stage of take-off of Manmin will be more than what we can imagine. I pray in the name of the Lord that your faith based on love will become stronger and that you will truly believe so that you will see the glory of God all the time. |
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