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 Sermon > Sunday Evening Service |
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Title |
True Love - Pastors & Levites Devotional |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Matthew 22:37-40 |
Date |
2014-01-05 |
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[Passage]
[Matthew 22:37-40]
"And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Dear devotees, the title of today's message is 'True Love'. The reason why God created heavens and earth and all things in them is to gain true children. He wanted somebody to share His heart and true love. For this reason, He has been teaching you how you can become true children of God, and what kind of love God has.
If you just think about the devotional service each year, God let us know His will in so much detail. He has gently taught us what pastors must do to become true servants of God, and what the Levites, elders, senior deaconesses, and deacons and deaconesses have to do; and how we have to dedicate our lives to the Father. If you have been obeying such words, most of you would have come into spirit and whole spirit by now.
But the reality is that many people disobeyed such words, and they have borne fleshly fruits. Unless the Father opened the spiritual space for you to be able to repent for the last 3 years, there would have been many more of you now who are still disobeying.
When the door of repentance was opened, some people turned around completely and began to bear the fruits in their heart. They quickly went onto the rock and into the spirit. But some other people did not wake up from their spiritual slumber even in that kind of flow of spirit. They looked at the world thinking that just taking in this much must be OK. They stayed lukewarm thinking, "The sacrifice of the shepherd is not caused by me, for I did not commit sins leading to death."
But some of you recently gained understanding thanks to the sacrifice of the shepherd that has continued for 3 years and because the Father has kept the door of grace open. You looked back on yourself during the 3 months of 'suspension period', or in the summer retreat, the anniversary events, or before this past Christmas.
You realized point by point that you were evil, and you were leading a life in faith in a fleshly way and you were not riding on the flow of spirit, though you thought you were trying at least 'somewhat hard'. If you realized it, you can just start again from there. You should run towards spirit with a more earnest and humble heart, for you spent 1, 5, 10, 15, or even 20 or more years meaninglessly.
Today, through this devotional service, I hope you will realize once again what kind of worker you should be, how you should love the Father God, and with what kind of attitude you should work for God. In doing so, I ask you in the name of the Lord that you will be workers who can be confident before God by bearing spiritual fruits.
[Main]
Dear devotees,
Today's reading passage Matthew 22:37-40 tells us what the greatest commandment is.
"And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' [38] "This is the great and foremost commandment. [39] "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' [40] "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." To love God first and to love our neighbors as ourselves, this is at the heart of the true children resembling God. So, in three aspects let us check to what extent you have cultivated true love in you.
First, please check whether you loved the Father God first and foremost.
1 John 5:3 says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome." This is my profession, too. I met God before death and was healed of various diseases. Since I met God and accepted the Lord, I was interested only in the will of God.
I only thought about, "What should I do to please the Father more? How can I pay back the grace of the Lord? How can I know Him and experience Him more deeply?" My ultimate goal of life was to love God and receive His love. So, once I learned that something is the will of God, I never thought about it twice. I just cast away and kept the things that God tells us to cast away and keep, without giving any excuses. Also, if the Father said something once, I just engraved it deep in my heart and obeyed it with my life. Even though God commanded me something very difficult, I was rather happy that I could obey Him.
How was it with you? If you really loved the Father and wanted to accomplish what He wanted, it wouldn't have been difficult for you to go into spirit. For example, 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." It says God hates evil, and you cannot have evil in your heart while saying you love God.
The reason you turn your face away from the word of God is because you love the world more than God, you love flesh more than God, and you love yourself more than God. And it is for your own sake that God is putting so much emphasis on casting away sins.
Pastors, why would the Father reveal your faults and advise you again and again? Do you know that it is because He really loves you? Do you know how precious you are in God's sight, for you dedicate your life as pastors? The Father wants you to be respected and loved more than any others.
He wants you to look noble before the believers and to receive abundant blessings in all respects. If you can drive away darkness with the authority of light and solve the problem of the souls with the power, the ministry of pastors will be the most blessed and joyful thing in the world. The Father wants to give to His servants a life walking with God, a life receiving love and blessings, a life that is guaranteed by God and enjoying glory.
He cannot see His servants follow meaningless flesh and live like hired hands who are forced to work. He is waiting for you each day with an earnest heart saying, "If you just go into spirit, I will give you authority and power. Become a valuable servant. Please live a glorious life giving birth to spirit and life."
If you realize this love, none of you would be discouraged thinking, "I am fleshly, so I cannot be loved by the shepherd, and I feel embarrassed before the church members." Instead, you would only think of the ways to cast away evil and become sanctified as soon as possible, so you won't even have time to be disheartened.
The same goes for all the other workers, too. Do you feel the love of the Father deeply? When He lets you know your measure of faith and commands you to become holy, does that mean He wants to forsake men of flesh? Of course not! God and the Lord mean something more like, "I redeemed you through the cross. I forgave your sins through unbearable pains. So, my dear children, do not get sick, do not be sad, do not suffer from disasters and tests and trials, but just receive answers and blessings in everything as children of light."
I hope you will deeply realize this earnest love of the Father and the love of the Lord. The Father is watching you every moment. Remember His attention is on you, and then live a life that is free of sins and evil. I ask you in the name of the Lord to quickly become holy and give only joy to the Father.
Dear devotees,
In order to cultivate true love, secondly, please check how much you obeyed the words of the shepherd.
In 2 Chronicles 20:20, it says: "...put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed." As spoken, many of you said you trusted and loved your shepherd because you trust God and because your shepherd is attested by the Father God. Then, did you listen fully and completely to the words of the shepherd and did you obey perfectly?
I once told you to listen to a certain sermon ten times and to read the 'Romance of Three Kingdoms'. Not many of you obeyed completely. Some thought, "Is it so important? I don't have enough time and do I have to do those things, too?" Would such people have kept other words in their minds and obeyed them, such as, "Cut off the worldly things. Worship in spirit and truth. Pray ardently with all your heart. Memorize a Bible verse everyday"?
I once gave you the following allegory. If I tell you, "At a certain distant place, I hid a piece of gold as big as a soccer ball. Go quickly and get it," then, what would you do? If you believe my words, none of you will say, "It's too far away. I feel too lazy to do that." You would try to obey immediately if you love the shepherd.
And if you believe that the shepherd who is attested by God has spoken by the inspiration of the Spirit, you would try to obey even trivial things. And those who did obey received blessings for their act of obedience alone. They received healing of diseases, financial blessings, and solutions to problems that they didn't expect to receive.
Not just visible blessings, but also invisible, spiritual blessings were given to them. I have been waiting for such a long time to have workers who obey from their hearts. I searched for workers who could obey the first time I said something, and not just obeying unconditionally but with understanding of my heart.
Many people said, "I love you, I trust you," but it was not easy to find a worker who could really obey. But since 2010, such workers were revealed one by one, and they bore the fruit of spirit to the extent that they obeyed.
Now, what kinds of obedience have you accomplished? I hope you will look back on yourself as to whether you heard something but just let it slip through because it did not agree with your thoughts or it was not really beneficial for you; whether you obeyed initially but changed your attitude later following your benefits; and whether you just obeyed what was beneficial for you and ignored other things that were not beneficial for you. So, now, I ask you to become obedient pastors and Levites. Only then can your profession saying you love and trust the shepherd be a true profession. Then you will be able to ride on the rapid flow of spirit.
Dear devotees,
In order to cultivate true love, thirdly, you should check whether you really have spiritual love.
Many people love in a way they think is good. They want to love in their own way, and they want to receive love in their own way. They give to others what they think is good, and if others do not recognize their effort, they become disappointed. Their feelings are hurt because others do not recognize their sacrifice. Also, if they cannot receive love in a way they want, they hold grudges against others.
Some people do the same in their life of faith. They love God in a way they see fit, and if they do not receive an answer from God in a way they want, their love and hard-work cool down. If you love God, you have to give Him the kind of love He wants.
Many pastors and Levites tried to dedicate themselves and fulfill their duties with their love for God.
But when they were hard-working with their own enthusiasm, they could not offer up a spiritual aroma. Your love has to be the kind of love to give all your heart, mind, strength, and soul for the Father.
Also, whether or not somebody recognizes you, your love and faithful work of very beginning must not change. If you keep this kind of attitude, you will serve the souls with the service of true love.
For example, if you are driving a church bus, just driving well and being faithful in the driving duty is not everything. Your faithful work can be a pleasing aroma to the Father only when you do your duty with spiritual love.
You should fulfill your duties with the following kind of attitude, namely, with the joy of bringing the church members to the church on behalf of the Lord and the shepherd; with the thanks for your duty of serving the church members to provide them with comfortable transportation; with the longing to become holy as a person who is driving and maintaining church property that is God's.
When all pastors and Levites perform their duties with all their heart this way, the Father will accept each act as the aroma of love. Even if you are not pastors or Levites, I hope you will check your love once again.
You received grace, and you said you realized the love of God and the love of the shepherd, and you had determination to go into spirit, but hasn't your attitude changed? Have you gone back to being your old self, forgetting the grace after some time? When you try to guide your family members or other souls, have you treated them forcefully coercing them do something beyond their measure of faith, thereby making them stumble? That is, while insisting upon your own righteousness and frameworks of thinking, you give them a hard time by telling them, "This is truth, so you have to do it."
You do not do your part of sacrificing and serving the family members, but you just want them to follow what you want them to do. Even if you give what is good in your eyes, it cannot be called true love. I hope you will also check if you treated your cell members or small group members with true love.
Haven't you just been trying to go on all by yourself? Or have you cared for the souls, considering their circumstances and situations as your own, and helping them with almsgiving and prayers? If you have not even received your measure of faith but others are already on the rock of faith, did you really rejoice and give thanks? Or did you pass judgment and condemnation or become disheartened thinking, "She lacks these things, and how could she be on the rock of faith?" I hope you will check once again whether you loved God in a way He wants, whether you sacrificed and dedicated yourself seeking the benefit of others with your love; and whether you had truthful and unchanging love.
[Conclusion]
Dear devotees, and church members,
I believe you might feel embarrassed because you realized your shortcomings when you checked yourself through today's message. But a new year, 2014 has begun. Many people clean up their houses, take a bath, and put on clean clothes in advent of the New Year. In spirit, too, I hope you will cast away all the attributes of your old self that used to cover your heart like dirty stains.
To the extent that you keep on trying without wavering in your determination, the original voice that has been given forth will work in you to change your heart and even the inner heart. I ask you to love the Father God and the Lord first, and also love your shepherd and the souls as you love your own body. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that, as the heavenly Father is eagerly waiting, you will all become precious workers who will lead all peoples to the way of salvation by shining the light of holiness on the whole world. |
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