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 Sermon > Sunday Morning Service |
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Title |
Heaven(50) - New Jerusalem(8) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 21: 19-20 |
Date |
2008-07-13 |
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Passage
Revelation 21: 19-20
"The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; [20] the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst."
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This is the 50th session of 'Heaven' sermon series. Continuing from the previous sessions, I will talk to you about the spiritual meanings contained in the twelve foundation stones of New Jerusalem.
In the previous sessions we examined up to the tenth foundation stone, chrysoprase.
In this session, I will talk to you about the eleventh, jacinth, and the twelfth, amethyst.
We will finish with all the twelve foundation stones today.
I already explained that if we consolidate all the spiritual meanings contained in the twelve foundation stones, it becomes perfect spiritual love.
And this perfect spiritual love is the key to go into New Jerusalem.
Now, you are learning about all the spiritual hearts that are needed to complete the jigsaw puzzle called 'Key of New Jerusalem'.
But, the important thing is that you can have the complete picture only when you place all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in the right places.
There are spiritual hearts symbolized by twelve jewels, and you have to put those elements into your heart to have the complete key of New Jerusalem.
Nobody else can do it for you; you have to do it for yourself to have the key.
And through this message, I hope you will cultivate the hearts like the twelve jewels that can give you the complete key to New Jerusalem.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will boldly pass through the gates of the city of New Jerusalem.
Body
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the 11th foundation stone of the city wall of New Jerusalem is jacinth. It is bluish, transparent stone.
The spiritual heart symbolized by this stone is 'purity and holiness'.
'Purity' is to be clean and clear. If a person takes a shower or bath a couple of times a day, combs his hair and dresses neatly, people will say he is clean and neat.
Then, would God say he is clean, too?
The Pharisees and the scribes washed their hands before they ate, following the traditions of the elders.
And when the disciples of Jesus didn't do so, they asked Jesus a question to accuse Him.
Matthew 15:2 says, "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
So, Jesus taught them what purity really is.
In Matthew 15:19-20 He said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."
The purity in the sight of God is to have no sin in the heart.
Purity is when we have a heart that is clean having no blame, spot, or blemish.
We can wash our hands and body with water, but how can we purify our heart? We can also wash it with water. We can purify it by washing it with the spiritual water that is the Word of God.
Hebrews 10:22 says, "let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
We can have clean and true hearts to the extent that we act according to the Word of God.
For example, when we obey the commands to 'Cast away' and 'Don't' in the Word of God, the untruth and evil will be washed from our heart.
Also, if we obey the 'Do' and 'Keep' commands, we can avoid being stained by the sins and evil of the world again by constantly being supplied with the clean water.
This way we can keep our heart clean.
Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
God has told us about the blessing the pure in heart will receive. It is that they will see God.
Those who are pure in heart will see God face to face in the kingdom of heaven.
They can go into at least the third kingdom of heaven or even enter into New Jerusalem.
But the real meaning of 'seeing God' is not just seeing God. It means that we always meet with God and receive help from Him.
It means we are living a life in which we walk with God, even on this earth.
Then, do we know of anyone who cultivated this kind of pure heart and walked with God on earth?
Many fathers of faith walked with God, but let me talk about Enoch.
In Genesis 5:21-24, we can read that from the time Enoch was 65, he walked with God and he walked with God for 300 years. Then, as recorded, "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him," he was taken up to heaven alive.
Hebrews 11:5 tells us the reason why he could be caught up to heaven without seeing death. It says, "…for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God."
Enoch pleased God by cultivating such a pure heart without having any sin, even to the extent that he didn't have to see death.
And finally he was taken up to heaven alive. He was 365 at that time, but in those days people used to live for more than 900 years.
In today's sense, God took Enoch when he was at the most vigorous time of youth.
It was because Enoch was so lovely in God's eyes. Rather than keep him on the earth, God wanted to set Enoch close to his side in the heavenly kingdom.
We can clearly see how much He loves and rejoices over those who have pure hearts.
But even Enoch did not just become sanctified overnight. He also went through various kinds of trials until he was 65.
In Genesis 5:19, we can see that Jared, the father of Enoch, gave birth to children for 800 years following Enoch's birth, so we can understand that Enoch had many brothers and sisters.
God has let me know in deep prayers that Enoch had no trouble whatsoever with any of his brothers and sisters. He never wanted to have more than his brothers; he always made concessions to them.
He never wanted to be recognized more than his brothers and sisters, and he only did his best.
Even when some other brothers were loved more than him, he didn't have any discomfort, which means he didn't have any jealousy.
Also, Enoch was always an obedient person. He listened not only to the word of God, but also to the word of his parents.
He never insisted on his own opinion. He didn't have any self-centered desires, and didn't take anything personally. He had peace with everybody.
Enoch cultivated a pure heart in him with which he could see God. When Enoch became 65, he reached the level to please God, and he could now walk with God.
But there is a more important reason why he could walk with God.
That is because he loved God and enjoyed communicating with God very much. Of course he did not set his eyes upon the things of this world and he loved God more than anything of this world.
For example, Enoch loved his parents and obeyed them, and there was peace and love between him and all his siblings, yet it was God he loved the most.
He enjoyed being alone and praising God more than remaining with his family members. He missed God as he watched the sky and the nature, and enjoyed the communion he had with God.
It was so even before God began to walk with him, and from the time God began to walk with him, it was even more so.
Proverbs 8:17 says, "I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me."
As said, Enoch loved God and missed Him so much, and God also walked with him.
The more we love God, the purer the heart will become, and the purer the heart we have, the more we will love God and seek Him.
It is comfortable to talk and interact with those who are pure in heart. They just accept everything purely and believe others.
Who would feel bad and frown seeing the bright smiles of little babies? Most people would feel good and also smile when they see babies.
It's because the purity of the babies is passed on to the people, refreshing their hearts, too.
God the Father feels in the same way when He sees a person with a pure heart. So, He wants to see this kind of person more and He would want to stay with him.
I hope you will also cultivate pure heart and become God's children whom He would want to see again and again.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the last and twelfth foundation stone of the city wall of New Jerusalem is amethyst.
Amethyst has light violet color and is transparent. Amethyst has such an elegant and beautiful color that it has been loved by the nobles since ancient times. God also deems the spiritual heart symbolized by amethyst as beautiful.
Then, what kind of spiritual heart does amethyst symbolize? It is gentleness.
This gentleness is found in the spiritual love chapter, in the Beatitudes, and even in the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.
It is a fruit that is surely born in a person who gives birth to spirit through the Spirit and lives by the word of God.
A dictionary defines gentleness as the characters of kindness, mildness, and meekness; [and] being able to impart calmness.
But the gentleness God deems beautiful is not just those characters.
Those who have gentle characters in flesh feel somewhat uncomfortable about people who are not gentle.
When they see somebody who is very outgoing or strong in character, they become somewhat cautious, and they even feel it difficult to interact with that kind of person.
But a person who is spiritually gentle can accept any kind of person of any kind of character.
This is one of the differences between fleshly gentleness and spiritual gentleness. Then, what is the spiritual gentleness, and why does God consider it beautiful?
To be spiritually gentle is to have a mild and warm character along with a broad heart to accept everybody.
It is somebody who possesses the heart that is soft and cozy as cotton so that many people can find rest in him.
Also, it's somebody who can understand everything in goodness and embrace and accept everything in love.
And there is one thing that cannot be missing in spiritual gentleness. It is the virtuous character in relation with having a broad heart.
If we have very warm and soft heart only within ourselves, it doesn't really mean anything.
From time to time, when it's necessary, we should be able to encourage and give advice to others, showing deeds of goodness and love.
To show virtuous character is to strengthen others, let them feel the warmth, and let them find rest in our heart.
Those who have true spiritual gentleness do not have any prejudice about any person. So, they don't have any trouble and they are not on bad terms with anybody.
The other person also feels this warm heart, so he can take rest and find peace of mind feeling he is embraced very warmly.
This spiritual gentleness is like a big tree that provides a big, cool shadow on a hot summer day.
If the husband accepts and embraces all his family members with a broad heart, the wife will respect and love him.
If the wife also has a heart that is soft like cotton, she can provide comfort and peace to her husband, so they can be a very happy couple.
Also, those children who are raised in such a family will not go astray even when they are faced with difficulties.
Because they can be strengthened in the peacefulness of the family, they can overcome difficulties and grow up with uprightness and health.
Likewise, through those who have cultivated spiritual gentleness, people around them can also find rest and feel happy.
Then, God the Father will also say those who are spiritually gentle are really beautiful.
Brothers and sisters, in this world people implement various ways to gain the heart of others.
They may supply others with material things or use their social fame or authority. But with those fleshly ways, we cannot truly gain the hearts of others.
They may help us for the moment because of their needs, but because they don't really submit from the heart, they will change their mind when the situations change.
But people will naturally gather around a person who has spiritual gentleness. They submit from their heart and desire to remain with him.
It's because, through a person who has spiritual gentleness, they can be strengthened and feel the comfort that they couldn't feel in the world.
So, many people will stay with a person with spiritual gentleness, and this becomes the spiritual authority.
Matthew 5:5 talks about this blessing of gaining many souls saying that they will inherit the earth. It means they will gain the heart of men who are made from earth.
As a result, they will also receive a large area of land in the eternal heavenly kingdom. Because they have embraced and guided many souls to the truth, they will receive much reward.
That's why God said this about Moses in Numbers 12:3, "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth."
Moses led the Exodus. He led more than 2 million people, and guided them for 40 years in the wilderness.
Just as parents raise their children, he embraced them in his heart and guided them according to the will of God.
Even when their children commit grave sins, the parents will not just desert them.
In the same way, Moses harbored even those people who could not help but be forsaken according to the Law, and he guided them until the end asking God to forgive them.
When you have even just a minor duty in the church, you will understand how good this gentleness is.
Not only in duties of taking care of the souls, but in any kind of duty, if you do it with gentleness, you will have no problem.
Just in one district, or even just a single cell group, how many different kinds of people are there? It's the same with mission groups.
There are no two people who have the same heart and same thoughts. Everybody has been raised in different circumstances and has different characters.
Their thoughts and opinions may not agree. But he who is gentle can accept others with a broad heart.
The gentleness to empty oneself and accept others stands out beautifully in a situation where everyone insists that he is right. I hope you will have more of this gentleness than before.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have more beautiful heart than amethyst in the sight of God.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as of today we have learned about all the spiritual hearts symbolized by each of the twelve foundation stones of the city wall of New Jerusalem.
They are the hearts of faith, uprightness, sacrifice, righteousness, faithfulness, passion, mercy, patience, goodness, self-control, purity, and gentleness.
When we consolidate all these characters, it becomes the heart of Jesus Christ and God the Father.
In one phrase, it is 'perfect love'.
Those who have cultivated this perfect love with a good and balanced combination of each character of the twelve jewels can boldly enter into the city of New Jerusalem.
Also, their houses in New Jerusalem will be adorned with the twelve different jewels.
Therefore, the inside of the city of New Jerusalem is so beautiful and enrapturing beyond expression.
The houses, buildings, and all facilities like parks are decorated in the most beautiful way possible.
But what God deems the most beautiful is the people who come into the city.
They will give out more brilliant lights than the lights coming out from all twelve jewels.
They will also give out thick aroma of love toward the Father from the depth of their hearts.
Through this, God the Father will be comforted for all the things He will have done by then.
I pray in the name of the Lord that many of you will enter into New Jerusalem and give comfort and joy to the heart of God the Father. |
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