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 Sermon > Sunday Morning Service |
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Title |
How to Receive Complete Answers |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Malachi 4: 2 |
Date |
2008-08-03 |
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Passage
Malachi 4: 2
"But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall."
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
God said in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'"
Jesus said in Matthew 7:9-11, "Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"
Yes, this is the heart of God the Father.
He wants His children to be well-off, and He wants to give them only good things.
If we, therefore, put our trust in God and serve Him, we will receive wealth, fame, authority, and health.
But some people do not receive these blessings although they are believers. They don't even receive the blessing of health, not to mention the blessings of wealth and fame. Why does this happen?
Our church is always full of the power of the Holy Spirit, and many signs and wonders are taking place. Numerous incurable diseases were healed to give glory to God.
Especially, in the special healing session in May, how many people were healed?
But even at those times, there are some who did not receive an answer to their problems.
So, at this time, I will explain how those people can receive the answer to their prayers.
It's the same with the other problems of life.
Actually, the cause is the same for problems in business, workplace, family, or with children. If the cause is the same, the way to solve it must also be the same.
It's just like we can solve the same type of math problems with the same formula.
Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will receive the answer to various problems of body and spirit through this message and give glory to God.
Body
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today's passage from Malachi 4:2 says, "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall."
Have you ever seen a calf leaping from a stall?
If a calf is released from a small stall, it will vigorously jump around. In this passage it is telling us that when the light of healing comes, those who are bound by diseases and infirmities will be freed and made healthy.
Here, 'infirmities' does not mean to have a general weakness of the body. It is a degeneration or paralysis of some body parts due to congenital problems or accidents.
For example, blindness, hearing disorders, infantile paralysis, cerebral palsy, and other kinds of handicaps and disabilities are such "infirmities".
When the light of God's healing comes upon them, even those who have these problems will be completely healed.
They will be able to walk and jump normally and they will be able to see, hear, and speak normally.
But to receive the light of healing, there is one condition. It says, "But for you who fear My name." God gives His healing light to those who fear Him. He will certainly answer to their prayers and petitions.
Then, what does it mean to fear God?
Proverbs 8:13 says, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate."
Those who truly fear God will naturally hate evil, which is in opposition to God. Between parents and children, if you love and respect each other how should you treat each other?
Would the children want to do something their parents hate? Would the parents try to do something that harms their children?
It's the same between a husband and a wife. Would the wife do something that her husband hates very much? Would the husband do the same? If you love each other, you will not do something that the ones who are dear to you hate. If you don't love that person, you may do things that he or she hates.
If you really love somebody, you will not do something that causes annoyance or displeasure to them. You would want to choose something that the other person desires and will give him or her joy and peace.
If there is something that you want to do that might hurt someone else, you'd tend not to do it.
So, how should we act as children of God?
The love God the Father was great enough to sacrifice His only begotten Son to save us who were sinners.
He made His innocent Son an atoning sacrifice and opened the way to save the sinners. He gave us the love that we as human beings cannot imagine.
We should naturally love and stand in awe of this God the Father.
And if we truly love and fear God, then it is something natural not to do what He hates the most.
What He hates the most is sin and evil. On the other hand, sin and evil are things that the enemy devil likes the most.
So, we who love and fear God should not merely dislike evil, but we should thoroughly hate it.
In the past if you hated somebody, how did you treat that person?
You probably didn't want to see him, talk to him, or even be near him. If that person was at a certain place or meeting, you probably didn't even want to go there or attend that meeting.
We have to hate evil this way. We have to hate seeing any form of evil and hate being close to it.
But many people say they love God and fear Him, but they do not hate evil.
In their thoughts, they may think that they hate evil, but they still harbor evil, see evil, and show evil in words and actions.
It means they do not really hate evil from the depths of their hearts. And, to that extent they cannot say they love God and fear Him.
God is perfectly righteous and He is the God of perfect love. All the commands that He has given us are for us.
If we obey His words, our souls will prosper, everything will go well with us, and we will be healthy and prosperous in all things.
Therefore we should be able to obey the commands of God joyfully. Also, since we have received tremendous love and grace that is impossible to repay, we ought to feel that it is only fitting to obey.
And those who want to receive some kind of answer must hate evil even more. Because of evil you fell into temptation, and because of your sins disease came upon you. So, you really ought to hate evil so much!
For example, suppose because of your greed for money you were tempted by somebody, and now you have fallen into some difficult situation. The reason why the other person could cheat you is because you had greed. Then, you should not hate the other person who cheated you but you have to hate the greed in your heart. As long as you have that greed in you, you can fall into temptation again.
James 1:14-15 says, "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."
The surest and wisest way to solve the problem is to get rid of the cause of the problem itself.
It's the same with diseases and infirmities, and there is fundamental cause for them.
Exodus 15:26 says, "And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."
Those who live by the word of will be protected by God from getting any disease. So, if we have not been protected, it means we have done something against God's will. The action of doing something against God's will has become a wall against Him and blocked the grace and protection we can receive from God.
It isn't the case that God couldn't protect you because He is not able. Isaiah 59:1-2 says, "Behold, the LORD's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. 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."
Therefore, to receive complete answers, the most important thing is to destroy the wall of sin that is standing between God and us. Furthermore, if we accumulate deeds of faith and goodness that can please God, we can receive the answer more quickly. Our God the Father is merciful and compassionate, so He wants to give us the best things possible.
According to the measure of each one's faith, as soon as we meet that quantity of the deeds and the acts of goodness, then God answers us.
That is why new believers receive answers immediately.
But, God wants something more from those who have already experienced God's grace and have been believers for a considerable period of time.
He wants us to have more goodness and show more faith than before. That is why some people think the answer is not coming although they pray, while they are not doing as much as before or doing just the same as before. The purpose of what they do is only for the healing of a disease or the solution to a problem.
What God the Father wants of us is not only that. The answers to such problems are only by-products.
What God deems the most important is that His children live by the word of God and grow in their faith.
If we reach the measure of faith that God desires of us, He gives answers accordingly.
Therefore, if you want to receive an answer to your problem, you should have God's insight into your problem. You should see your problem as God sees it.
You shouldn't just desire the solution of your current problem. You have to think about how to resolve its fundamental cause.
Then, as you wait for your answer, you won't get nervous or impatient. You understand that this time period is a time of blessing for you to change yourself into spirit, so you can be thankful.
But some of you are just too impatient to get your answer to your outward manifestation of your problem.
They do the things that they have to do as they see fit, and ask why they are not receiving the answers.
Sometimes, they even get disappointed and have resentment, and even complain out loud with their lips.
Then, what they have spoken causes the wall between them and God to become higher, so the answer gets further away from them.
Then, they repent and pray again. So, as this cycle is repeated, they cannot receive the complete answer.
It's the case with the son about whom I am going to now talk. This son got into a traffic accident, and as a result he was unable to walk. After that he came to our church. God the Father has given him and his family great grace. God forgave the many sins that they had committed before they accepted the Lord.
In particular, this son and his family were arrogant and spoke many words looking down upon others. Also, many times they acted in a way that was not good.
Still, God met them, and gave them His grace. Also, from time to time, God healed this son little by little.
When they saw the progress, they were thankful, but on the other hand, they had complaints and resentment when answers were not as expected. They had expected more than what was actually given to them.
And they spoke out about it with their words.
The amount of their complaints was more than the amount of thanks they gave to God for having the progress. But they repented again and began to pray and attend healing meetings.
They showed these kinds of acts, but it is only sufficient to destroy little bit of the walls of sin they had built up before.
To receive complete answers, the wall of sin has to be destroyed completely.
But they destroyed the wall of sin a little bit and then built it up again. They repeated the same kind of thing time and time again.
To make it easier, I will explain it numerically. Suppose your wall against God is 10 cm high.
In that situation, you prayed, fasted, and repented and destroyed 5 cm. of it. Then, there are only the other 5 cm still remaining.
Here, you should continue to destroy the wall to make it zero so you can receive the complete answer. But while there is still a 5 cm wall remaining, suppose you finished your vowed prayer, or there is a special healing meeting.
So, now you think that you can receive the complete answer this time because you tried hard with fasting and prayers. But according to the measure of justice, it's not so.
You can get better a little bit more, but you cannot receive the complete answer yet. There is still some of the wall of sin remaining.
However, if you do not understand this, you may get disappointed. You are not thankful because you didn't receive the answer expected. You may even complain with your lips.
Then, it means you are making your 5 cm wall of sin higher again.
People usually remember very well what they have tried, but they do not seem to remember as well what they have done wrong. So, they think the answer is coming late and what they are doing is not really working although they have been trying hard for a long time. This way they get disappointed. So, what do you think God would feel about these people?
We have to understand the most important things are the changes in our spiritual lives. We have to believe and trust in our faithful God without changing our mind along the way.
Only if we think every word of God in goodness and learn to be patient, we can receive complete answers more quickly.
Because we are not wasting what we have done with faith and goodness, we will be able to receive the complete answer more quickly.
It's not only about healing of a disease but everything.
It is the justice that everything goes well with us and we will be healthy as our soul prospers.
The more we cultivate spirit in our heart, the more blessings of higher dimension we will receive.
If you have not changed much even though you have been a believer for a long time, it means your spiritual growth is not taking place. Our spirit can grow up when we cast off flesh and fill ourselves with spirit. You say you are longing for spirit and taking it. You also say you are diligently casting off flesh.
But on the other hand you keep on taking flesh. Sometimes, you take in greater amounts of fleshly things than the amount of flesh that you have cast off.
Because you have to try hard to cast off flesh, you may think you have cast off a lot of flesh, although the fact is that you have cast off very little overall. On the other hand, to take in flesh is easy. So, you could have taken much more fleshly things than the amount you think you have taken.
In this situation, you think it's OK because you have taken in a lot of spirit and only a little bit of flesh. But in fact, you have taken more flesh than the spirit.
Still, you think, "Why can't I cast off flesh even though I am praying so hard?" And you get disappointed and disheartened.
But those who truly love God will very strictly cut off all the fleshly things. They know flesh is perishing and foul, and they don't take in any of it.
Instead, they only long for spirit and take it in, so can you see how quickly they are able to fill their hearts with spirit?
Those who march forward to spirit will receive answers and blessings very quickly, too.
And when they go into spirit and whole spirit, how great a blessing they will receive!
As they sow, they will be able to receive 30, 60, and 100 times more.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God the Father is faithful, and He does everything within justice and love.
If you truly love this God and fear Him, you clearly know what to do. You have to get rid of the things that stand between God and you, and not take them in any more. You have to hate evil and cast it off completely. You have to try to fill yourself with goodness.
God will certainly give the answer to those who act this way and show their love for Him.
He will give them health, wealth, fame, and anything they ask for abundantly. God will turn the impossible into possible and possible into better.
Even if the answer is delayed, it's not that God is not giving the answer to you, He is just giving you more time to accumulate the amount of faith and goodness needed!
I pray in the name of the Lord that all of you will receive complete answers and blessings as you love, reverently fear and stand in awe of this faithful God.
[Amen] |
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