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 Sermon > Sunday Morning Service |
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Title |
Faith |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Hebrews 11: 3 |
Date |
2017-08-06 |
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Passage
[Hebrews 11: 3]
"By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible."
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Do you know what day tomorrow is? It's a day to receive the answer to your heart's desire. It's a day for you to be healed and changed. It's a day to see the glory of God. Yes, it is the first day of Manmin Summer Retreat! If you truly believed you could receive such blessings, you should have prepared yourself for the retreat. If you have prepared well, you would feel in your heart that God will grant you an answer. If you don't have that conviction, I urge you to pay attention to this message. In doing so, you could finish up your preparation so that all of you will receive an answer.
We don't even have 24 hours until the retreat, but you can surely fill up the measure of justice to receive an answer depending on the kind of attitude you have. And the essence of that attitude is your faith. As in today's reading passage, you can just truly believe God the Creator who created heavens and earth and show your faith. John 11:40 says, "Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"" As said, you will see and experience the great glory of God through the retreat.
This retreat is a banquet that God the Father has given for you. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will receive the blessing in this feast with faith.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
You know very well how, with faith, you can receive divine healing, answers to prayers, and blessings. You extensively learned God's words during your life in faith, and you've heard numerous testimonies. In this message, let us review the principles of receiving an answer. And, we will go over the testimonies of those who received the answer in the last year's retreat. I hope this message and the testimonies will become faith and life in you.
In order for you to receive an answer through faith, first of all, you have to firmly believe that God the Father surely answers you.
In Mark 11:24 Jesus said, "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." We have to believe that God the Father has already given what we've asked Him. If we doubt the fact we will receive an answer, or if our faith is shaken midway, we cannot receive the answer.
James 1:6-8 says, "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
When we try to receive an answer to our prayer, the enemy devil will try to give us fleshly thoughts and make us doubt to hinder us from receiving the answer. This is when we especially need to keep our faith. But is there anybody who thinks, "Shepherd, I'd like to stand firm in my faith, but it is too weak"?
Even these people have a way. It is to rely on the power of the shepherd. For example, Namsoon Park was healed of many diseases including a cataract. She prayed, "God, please heal my eyes for the senior pastor's sake!" And she went to the retreat with a joyful heart and received the prayer for the sick that I offered on the first day.
What do you think happened? She couldn't see the shapes well even after the prayer. But I said, "Even though it looks like it's not healed now, some of you will recover while you're sleeping tonight or by tomorrow morning. You'll get better anyway, so you shouldn't worry." And she just believed me. When she woke up in the morning, she could see well and her diabetes and high blood pressure were healed, too. She was healed and gave glory to God by trusting the shepherd and the words of the shepherd.
Sang-young Park was healed of a blind eye and he said something similar. His left eye was completely blind as a complication of brain surgery and he couldn't see with it for 28 years. For the last year's retreat, he was still a newcomer, so he wasn't really expecting to be healed. But when I talked about the upcoming retreat, he came to have faith. And after the message on the first day, he received the prayer and opened his eyes. Then he could see something like a beam of light coming into a dark place, and then the shapes of objects.
In his testimony, he said the following: "When the government renews the degree of disability, they don't check the eyes again. It is because they know regaining eyesight is impossible. But it wasn't impossible. I am seeing again through senior pastor's prayer! There is never something that is impossible!"
Brothers and sisters, how great his faith is! For example, even though they were injured just before the retreat, there were quite a few believers who did not give up competing in the athletic events. They just believed they would be healed by senior pastor's prayer on the first night. Haeyeon Bhang, who was a relay runner in last year's athletic events, had her left shoulder bone injured and the doctor said it was impossible for her to run. Nevertheless, she was assured in heart that she'd be healed, so she said to her friends that she'd be healed on the first night and definitely run in the competition on the second day. As she professed, she was healed on the first night and ran on the second day without a problem.
Sr. Deaconess Sooyoung Lee's calf muscle was ruptured while she was practicing and was diagnosed with a 3-week recovery period. But she made up her mind to receive the blessing. She was so happy that she'd be healed, and she declared to her small group members she'd run the next day. As she believed, the pain disappeared after the prayer and she could run, and her legs recovered fully, too.
Brothers and sisters, Deaconess Sun Lee was healed of hemiplegia, which was caused by a stroke. She said as follows: "I believed I'd be completely healed because the shepherd is harboring us and he interceded for us until all his energy was drained." I hope all of you will believe in the 99% of the measure of justice filled up by the shepherd and also the fact that your shepherd wants you to receive the healing and answers more earnestly than you do. I pray this in the name of the Lord that you will receive the answer with firm faith and give glory to God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In order for you to receive the answer with faith, secondly, you have to show your faith.
It means you have to build up the support of faith to receive the answer. In order to do this, you first have to turn from sins and please God. If you really believe you've received the answer, you show your faith with aforementioned actions. Some of you might say, "I know and believe the power of the shepherd is great, but I don't have the assurance of receiving the answer."
Why is it so? It's because you might be harboring sin or because you lack the deeds of faith to please God. Isaiah 59:2 says, "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear." Psalm 66:18 says, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, The LORD will not hear;"
Also, we can learn from Exodus 15:26 that diseases are the results of the curse of sin. Therefore, in order for you to receive the answer, you first have to demolish the wall of sin standing between you and God. If you still have desires to commit sins and befriend the world thereby distancing yourself from God, how could you have the faith to receive the answer?
If you hear the testimonies of those who were healed in the last year's retreat, even young students had determination to receive the answer. Gyuchan Yeon is 16 years old and was healed of paralytic strabismus. He wanted to receive divine healing, and for this reason he determined to do away with worldly things. |
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