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 Sermon > Sunday Evening Service |
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Title |
Blessing of Believers - Easter Sunday Evening Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
John 6:53- 55 |
Date |
2015-04-05 |
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[Passage]
[John 6:53- 55]
"So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. [54] "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55] "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink."
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Everyone living in this world seeks to live a happy life. But if you were asked what the conditions are for happiness, what would you answer? You could say many things like: all family members live long and healthy lives; for one's children to be well-off; to have peace in the family; to have their business thrive and to be wealthy; to be respected as being in an honorable position; to have a true friend who understands you; or achieving your goals and dreams.
But you who know the truth understand that there is something more important than these things. The blessings that are more important than money, health, peace in family, or fame are the spiritual blessings. All those material and physical blessings are only truly valuable when they are added upon the spiritual blessing. It is for this reason that God first gives His children spiritual blessings.
Today, I will talk about the three spiritual blessings that are given to the believers. I pray in the name of the Lord that through this message, you will be able to completely receive and enjoy true and eternal blessings.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Firstly, those children of God who accepted the Lord enjoy the blessing of eternal life. Even the unbelievers vaguely feel the existence of spiritual realm. However, they are not able to know about the things after death. That is why they are afraid of death, and they live like this life is everything. But those believers who have faith are not afraid of aging or death. It's because they know that they can enjoy an eternal life after their earthly lives are over.
When the Lord comes back in the air later, those believers who had lived their lives and 'gone to sleep' will resurrect first. For those believers who are living at the time, their bodies will be transformed into the resurrected body in a moment and be caught up. They will go to the 'Air' and have the 7-Year Wedding Banquet. After the Millennium is over, they will go into the kingdom of heaven. Like the lyrics of the song 'Amazing Grace', "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we'd first begun." We will enjoy eternal happiness in Heaven.
Having this promise, the believers are not afraid of death, but day-by-day they wait for the Lord to come back again. But that doesn't mean they idly sit and wait. They are diligently casting away sins to adorn themselves as a bride and work hard for the kingdom of God. They carry out the ministry of the Father so that not just themselves but their family, neighbors, and everyone in the world will be able to enjoy the blessing of eternal life together. Such work for God will also be re-paid as the blessing of a believer.
For this reason, the second blessing of believers is that they will receive the 'judgment of reward'.
Before we go into Heaven, there will be a final judgment. Revelation 20:11-13 says, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. [13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds."
This explains the 'Great White Throne Judgement' also known as the 'Final Judgment'. At the time of this judgement, there are many books on the Judgment Table. In the Book of Life are written the names of the believers who are saved and will go to Heaven. In another book is written each and every deed of every person whether good or evil. For those whose names are not written in the Book of Life, they will be sentenced to eternal Hell. All their deeds will be revealed, and the gravity of the punishment will be decided according to their deeds. Namely, they receive the 'judgment of punishment'.
But the believers receive the 'judgment of reward', and not the 'judgment of punishment'. All believers have an angel that records everything as well as their guardian angels, so all their deeds of faith will be recorded.
If you pray for the kingdom of God and the souls with tears and fasting; do voluntary works for the church members; worship and praise God and glorify Him with all your heart; if you preach the gospel and take care of the souls, and give offerings with all your strength; or if you just pick up a small piece of trash with your love for the church, it is a part of everything that will be recorded and God will pay you back with rewards.
The rewards in the eternal kingdom of heaven will be your pride and glory forever and ever. If you have the hope of judgment of rewards, it will be fun to lead a Christian life. Just imagining what kinds of rewards God will give you for your deeds, it will bring you joy.
But if you actually see your house and rewards in Heaven later, your joy and happiness will be beyond our imaginations. You will be so moved that you will shed tears of joy, realizing that the Father and the Lord remembered even your smallest act, service, and sacrifice.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The third blessing of believers is that they can become true children.
Manmin members who have heard the holiness gospel have the hope of New Jerusalem. In order to go into New Jerusalem, you have to cast away sins and evil and become God's true children who have the resemblance to God.
Today, most churches do not teach about holiness. They just think men cannot cast away sins or become holy, so we can just try to live a godly life.
But you know very well that you can become holy and you know that it is God's will. Also, you are actually becoming holy everyday by casting away sins. Of course it cannot be done by men's power alone. But with the grace and strength of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we are more than able to accomplish it.
God said that the 2nd Kingdom of Heaven and the 3rd Kingdom of Heaven are as different as the heavens and the earth. It means that the difference between having achieved holiness or not is very great. Only those who have cast away sins and evil can say they know even the least bit of the Father's heart and they can give comfort and joy to Him.
God began human cultivation to gain such children, even by sacrificing His only begotten Son. It was to share His deep love with the true children and let them enjoy the glory of God that fills the whole universe together with Him. The true children who have cast away sins and evil will be in the noblest positions in Heaven later. God created us so that He could give us such honor and glory.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Those who believe in the Lord will enjoy eternal life, rewards, and the glory of becoming God's true children. Here, believers are not just those who lead the appearance of a believing life on the outside. They can enjoy the blessings of believers only when they lead a life of faith inside, namely when they eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.
In today's reading passage, John 6:54 says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." To eat the flesh of the Son of Man is to learn and take in the Word of God. It's because the Son of Man, Jesus is the Word, which is God in essence that came down in a human body.
To take in the Word of God is not just to know it as knowledge in the head. It is to cultivate the Word in our hearts. In other words, it is also to change our heart with the Word. To eat the flesh of the Son of Man this way, we must drink His blood at the same time.
This means that in addition to learning the Word of God, we must have the deeds of actually practicing the Word. Once we learn God's words that tell us to do, not do, keep, or cast away certain things, we have to obey them. As we obey, our heart will be filled with the truth and the untruth will be removed.
Hatred will go away to the extent that we fill it with love. Arrogance will be cast away to the extent that humbleness enters in. As meekness fills, hot temper will go away. No matter how long you attend church, your spiritual faith cannot grow unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.
Only your knowledge may increase, but your faith may be the same or even backslide. At times even the little faith that you have can be taken away and you will depart from salvation. You can say you have true faith to receive salvation only when you actually show the effort to practice the Word.
Dear brothers and sisters,
When Jesus preached these verses 2,000 years ago, people at that time couldn't understand them well. As He said they had to eat and drink His flesh and blood, even the disciples found it difficult to understand. Perhaps, it might have been easier to understand if He had said, "You have to keep the Word of God in mind and practice it so you can gain eternal life."
But why did He speak in symbolism saying we had to eat His flesh and drink His blood to gain eternal life? It is to let us realize the love of Jesus who sacrificed Himself completely as if He were actually giving His flesh and blood for us.
We who were sinners could not be saved just by keeping the Word of God. If Jesus had not resolved the problem of our original sin and actual sins, we would have still been sinners, and if so, we could not have been saved even if we kept all the words of truth.
Because Jesus redeemed us through His life, it enabled us to enjoy eternal life and rewards and be transformed into true children to the extent that we act with faith. In the second part of this service we have the Holy Communion. Through the Holy Communion, I hope you will once again feel the heart of the Father who gave us blessings.
I hope you will once again imprint gratitude in your heart, realizing that we were redeemed by the precious blood of innocent Jesus, and the great love that the Father showed to save us. I pray in the name of the Lord, that in doing so, you will come forth as true children who have the perfect resemblance with God.
[AMEN!] |
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