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 Sermon > Sunday Evening Service |
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Title |
New Jerusalem - 31st Anniversary Evening Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 21: 10-11 |
Date |
2013-10-13 |
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Passage
[Revelation 21: 10-11]
"And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper."
Today is the 31st anniversary of Manmin Central Church.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has guided this church and kept it as the apple of His eye.
Also, I give thanks to all the honored guests from inside and outside Korea, who have come to celebrate with us.
Your trust and love for this church has become great strength to us.
I also give thanks and warm welcome to all the families, relatives, and neighbors of the church members.
I also give thanks to all the ministers, missionaries, full-time workers, and church members who have gone through all the good times and bad times together with this church as a family.
In any organization, on its anniversary day, they will think about their past and their future.
I did so, too.
First, I thought of the past.
Since soon after I opened this church, I prayed for the providence of God that He had for our church, even in that little sanctuary.
I would imagine world evangelism thinking of the Great Commission of the Lord in Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."
But in fact, I was picturing something even greater.
It was that so many souls would be saved and enter into New Jerusalem.
I was convinced of the kingdom of heaven that the Bible mentions.
And among different dwelling places in Heaven, the city of New Jerusalem was etched so deeply in my heart that I could give my life to get there.
New Jerusalem is the most beautiful dwelling place among all heavenly dwelling places. It is where God's children, who have completely recovered the image of God, will live forever.
Revelation 22:14 says, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city."
The scene of countless souls gaining the qualifications and entering the city of New Jerusalem is the picture that I and this God-chosen-church of ours have been dreaming about.
God the Father has given this church three kinds of grace to make this dream come true.
We will review the message preached in the morning service, and I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become perfect fruits of such grace of God.
[Main] Dear brothers and sisters, and guests, the kind of grace that God has given to this church to let us have the qualifications to enter New Jerusalem, first of all, is the grace of repentance.
Why don't you think about the very day you accepted the Lord?
How have we been saved?
We've been saved because all our sins were forgiven through the precious blood of the Lord when we repented of all our sins from our hearts.
And, at that time I believe none of you repented just as a simple formality.
You really regretted your past sins from your heart, with tears pouring down and your nose running.
I am sure that it must have been as recorded in Psalm 34:18 saying, "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
But, do you feel how much more difficult it has become to receive such grace of repentance today?
The power of the anti-Christ is spreading the following kinds of thoughts like an epidemic. They are, "Why am I a sinner? There are so many people who are much more evil than I am. Who is this God and Jesus Christ who say I am a sinner?"
They are making people dwell in sins without feelings and without any pangs of conscience.
As 2 Timothy 3:4 says people will be conceited, they knowingly and unknowingly lift themselves up other than any other being.
Namely, more and more people do not kneel down before the Lord.
Today, the flood of sins has come inside the church and is staining the believers, too.
In this kind of spiritual flow, the churches and pastors have to bring down God's grace so that people will come and kneel before the cross, and that those sin-stained believers will repent.
They have to bring down the compassion of God.
But how can we bring down God's grace?
As our Lord showed the example, we can bring it down through supplication and sacrifice.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "...and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
We can move the heart of God when we, who have first believed, humbly intercede.
Namely, God will send the spirit of repentance.
But such grace will be given only when the measure of loving sacrifice is filled up.
This is the justice of God's kingdom.
But the more serious problem is those who commit the sins of which they cannot even repent.
There are some believers who had been forgiven of their sins but go back to those sins again.
In such a case, the measure of sacrifice needed is much more than the justice of God usually requires.
And to fill up that measure of justice following the example of the Lord, I interceded risking everything in my life.
And such prayers have continued from the time I was ministering to only a dozen members, until now while ministering to millions of members.
God has been hearing such prayers and gave the members multiple chances of repentance which were like miracles.
I will pray for all nations to repent and come back to the Lord, and I will not cease to pray so.
In the name of the Lord, I ask you all the church members who have received the grace of repentance, and all those who are here in attendance, to join me in this prayer.
Dear brothers and sisters, and guests, secondly, the kind of grace that God has given this church to let us gain the qualifications to enter New Jerusalem is the grace of understanding.
God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But Adam ate of its fruit which Eve gave to him.
He did so because he did not understand from his heart what disobedience, namely, sin was.
That is, knowing as knowledge that sin is bad, and understanding it thoroughly from heart are two different things.
The same goes for goodness, too.
We have to understand the significance of goodness from the heart so that we can choose goodness and not evil in all matters.
God the Father has been patient for such a long time as you church members have gained the understanding of sins and goodness.
In the same way that He gives early and late rains, He has supplied the words of truth continuously.
Not only in main services, but also through many conferences, He let us understand about sin, righteousness, and judgment.
As a result, the church members came to understand the truth by themselves. They are casting off sins and accomplishing righteousness in God's sight. They have grown up as the 'wheat' that looks forward to the judgment of reward, and not the judgment of punishment.
Furthermore, they are cultivating the goodness of such patriarchs as Elijah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, and the apostle Paul, which is the highest level of goodness. In doing so, they are gaining the qualification to enter New Jerusalem.
The door of grace is already open to all peoples of this earth to let us understand the truth.
One of them is 'publishing ministry'.
The precious messages that give spiritual understanding have been spread around the world in 375 books and 58 languages.
Also, going along with the flow of information technology, we have published 262 books in 45 languages as e-books to reach the readers.
And we are getting very positive responses not just from the readers but also from many publishers.
Our church's affiliated GCN TV is continually broadcasting sermons, seminars, and other kinds of words of God.
GCN is covering all continents of the Earth through the cooperation with 4,050 broadcasters in 170 countries.
Through the messages that are supplied through GCN, many branch and associate churches and viewers have come to understand the truth and came to the Lord.
Of course, along with spreading the holiness gospel, we are praying every night.
The latter part of Matthew 13:14 says, "...you will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive." As spoken, many people's spiritual ears and eyes have become dull, so they do not understand the truth even though they are hearing and seeing the truth.
For this reason we are praying with love.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has been and will be giving endless grace to all peoples of this earth, until they have their spiritual ears and eyes opened, understand the truth, and reach New Jerusalem.
Dear brothers and sisters, and guests, thirdly, the kind of grace that God is giving us to have the qualifications to enter New Jerusalem is the grace of enabling us.
Peter followed Jesus as a disciple, leaving everything he had in his life.
But at the threats to his life, he denied Jesus.
Humans are weak as seen in Peter's case.
But the Lord said in Mark 9:23, '"If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes."
In order for this verse to be fulfilled, the Lord opened the way for the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts.
Through the Holy Spirit we gained the strength to struggle against sins to the point of shedding blood and the determination to forsake worldly power, fame, and honor.
Manmin members are praying every night to receive such strength.
While other people indulge themselves in lust and pleasure, thousands of believers gather and pray to receive the fullness of the Spirit.
Also, through the praise songs, they are supplied with grace, comfort, and new strength.
They also experience signs, wonders, and divine healings in their lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, so they have grown up to be able to practice the Word of God.
They do not just repent of sins and understand the Word, but they cast away sins and practice the truth.
The news about this power has already been spread all over the world, and it is bringing peoples of all nations to this church.
For example, our summer retreat has become a festival of God's power where people from around the world gather together.
We have experienced optimal weather conditions, friendly dragonflies, the mysterious and beautiful aurora-like lights, and rainbows that are sign of God's promise. These things let us feel God is with us.
Everyone who participates in this heavenly feast fill themselves with the power to practice the truth.
Let us give praise of thanksgiving to God the Father, the Lord, and the Holy Spirit who give us strength to not just talk about New Jerusalem but to actually take hold of New Jerusalem by force.
[Conclusion] Dear brothers and sisters, and guests, in this past summer retreat, you clearly witnessed the power to break up the thick layers of clouds.
God broke down our walls of sins that were thicker than those clouds, opened the closed eyes and ears that could not understand the truth, and changed our weaknesses in practicing the Word of God.
For God has demolished all such barriers and paved a wide road ahead of us, now we Manmin can more vigorously go forward towards the world, to the future, and to fulfill the providence of God completely.
Today, beginning from this 31st anniversary, Manmin Central Church will take another leap forward.
We will eventually reach our final destination, New Jerusalem, the city that has the glory of God, together with 'all peoples of the earth'.
I hope your hope for New Jerusalem will become more fervent through the celebration performances that we will have shortly after this service.
I pray in the name of the Lord that with an increased hope, all of you will reach New Jerusalem.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father once again for He will be lifted high above all nations through Manmin Central Church. Hallelujah! |
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