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 Sermon > Sunday Evening Service |
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Title |
Those Who Love Me - Inauguration Service |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Proverbs 8:17 |
Date |
2015-10-04 |
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[Passage]
[Proverbs 8:17]
"I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me."
Dear brothers and sisters,
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have this 2015 inauguration service. This year, we have a total of 55 inaugurates including 1 assistant pastor, 5 elders, 41 senior deaconesses, 7 honorary senior deaconesses, and 1 associative senior deaconess. I congratulate all those who are inaugurated as precious workers of the kingdom of God. I also give thanks to the families, relatives and other guests who have come to congratulate them.
Dear inaugurates and other members, the title of today's message is 'Those Who Love Me"Have you loved somebody with all your life?Or have you received love from somebody with all their life?Can we find in this world such sacrificial love even to sacrifice one's life; the kind of love that bears, believes, and endures all things and which does not change forever?
God the Father and the Lord have given us such love. And those who are being inaugurated today have experienced such love. You are what you are today because you also have loved the Lord back and tried your best. But today through this message, I hope you will try to reaffirm your love.
All the patriarchs in the Bible loved God very passionately. Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, Peter, John and so many other people gave their lives for the Lord with their burning love for Him. Furthermore, the kingdom of God has been accomplished up to this day through such people.
What God the Father wants from you is this kind of perfect love. As today's reading passage Proverbs 8:17 says, "I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me,"God wants you to love Him and diligently seek Him and fulfill the duty of a steward in charge of His household. It is that God wants you to be loved by Him to the utmost degree and to go into glorious places just like the patriarchs.
When you meet the Lord soon, what kinds of words would you like to speak to Him?I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be able to boldly say, "Lord, I've loved You truly and fulfilled the duty of a pastor/elder/senior deaconess very well."
[Main]
Dear inaugurates and other members, in this message I'd like to delve into the attitude of the workers who love God in three aspects.
Firstly, those who love Godare faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful." (NKJV)To accomplish the kingdom of God, there must be dedication of the workers. For this reason, God the Father is searching throughout the whole earth to find those who will fulfill their duties understanding His heart. Also, if any worker fulfills the desires of the Father through faithful work, He will reward them with glory and blessings.
Those of you who are being inaugurated today have been already recognized for yourfaithfulness in your respective areas. You must be attending this service with a determination that you will be even more faithful. But John 6:63 first part says, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing."So, our faithfulness must not be a fleshly faithfulness but a spiritual one.
In order to have spiritual faithfulness we must first circumcise our hearts by struggling against sins to the point of shedding blood. If you are leaders of the church and still disgrace God or make others stumble due to your temper, hard-feelings, arrogance, and greed, then how can you be recognized as being really faithful?
Also, those who are spiritually faithful perform their duties for the Lord and the souls and not for their own glory or benefit. Those who are faithful in fleshly ways are aware of the eyes of othersmore than those of the Lord. They seek their own honor and benefit rather than that of the church and souls. Such people might seem to be very faithful for some time, but usually they change their minds over a period of time.
For those who love God, even though their work is not recognized, they are satisfied if it is just the Lord alone who recognizes them. They are happy if they can just pay back the grace of the Lord even just a little bit. This is to be spiritually faithful.
When God searches all throughout the earth to find His workers, I hope He will be happy to see you. I hope He will be happy saying, "That pastor, that elder, that senior deaconess will fulfill this duty with My heart!"
Dear inaugurates and other members,
Secondly, those who love Godtry to become sanctified.
If you love somebody, you are very interested in that person. You want to find out what food they like, what color they like, what kinds of gifts would make them happy, and actually make them happy. It's the same with those who love God. They always try to understand God's heart and will thinking, "How can I please God?" "What does the Father want me to do now?"What is it that God desires of us the most and that makes Him the happiest? It's our holiness.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 first part says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification."3 John 1:4 says, "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth."In addition to these verses there are many parts of the Bible that advise us to be holy and sanctified.
And you are workers of the church who are like pillars. You have the titles by which you should set examples. So you have to achieve holiness more quickly than others and you have to teach the members to be holy.
When I was reading the Bible when I was a new-believer, I wrote down all the commands that tell us to do, not do, keep, or cast away certain things. I prayed about those things and crossed out the points that I achieved. I lived with prayers and fasting to uproot the sinful nature itself from my heart.
Then I received a calling to become a pastor and came to perform with so many powerful works and established a mega church with 10,000 branch churches, but I never stopped thinking it was enough. I looked back on myself constantly and tried to achieve perfection thinking, "Is this perfect in the sight of God? What would the Lord do in this situation?"
And those of you who are being inaugurated today have tried to achieve holiness with your love for God. But I ask you once again. Your fervor for holiness must not cool down until the Lord comes back. You should not be at ease thinking like, "I have cast away evil to a significant extent. I am recognized for my work. I am working harder and more hours than before."Even though you are on the rock and in spirit, and even in whole spirit, you must try to keep yourself blameless.
I hope you will constantly check yourself as to whether you have really cast away all forms of evil; whether you consider even the little ones better than yourself; whether you truly seek the benefit of others; whether your words and actions give glory to God and edify other souls whether you eat or drink or whatever you do.
Dear inaugurates and other members,
Thirdly, those who love God love the souls.
What God cares about the most during the human cultivation is the souls themselves. In the church, there are some souls who have accepted the Lord in good faith and try hard, while other souls do not have the strength to pray or the strength to practice the Word. Some of them are suffering in the midst of tests and trials. Also, in this world, there are so many souls who are going the way of death.
Those who understand the heart of God the Father cannot just turn their faces away from them. They will diligently preach the gospel, counsel the souls, and help those in need. They give strength to and comfort the weak and care for them so they can live by God's Word.
When they see the souls who commit sins, they rend their hearts in intercession. When you do that, some of them will accept your love, but others might stand against you, too. The sons of Israel at the time of the Exodus experienced so many wondrous things including the Ten Plagues, but they complained every time they had a difficulty. They even tried to stone Moses.
What would you do if you were Moses?Would yougive up on them thinking, "I tried my best but they are helpless. I cannot change them with my own strength?"Moses put up his own life for them.Exodus 32:32 says, "But now, if You will, forgive their sin and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!"
How about the apostle Paul?He suffered from hardships that men cannot bear and went through so many life-threatening situations, but he did not care for himself. He just focused on spreading the gospel of the Lord so just one more soul could be saved.
Your heart should be filled with such love that was in the patriarchs, too. I hope you will look at the same souls that the Lord is seeing, and your eyes will be filled with the same tears of the Lord that are shed for the souls. I hope you will fulfill the beautiful duty of living for the souls and sacrificing for them with the heart of the Lord.
[Conclusion]
Dear inaugurates and other members, you have a new beginning from today.
You've been trying hard on this journey, but you should dedicate yourselves more and become more faithful in your respective areas. You should also keep on trying to reach the full measure of faith. Also, you have to harbor numerous souls with the love that bears and endures all things.
As you try to fulfill your duties with dedication, please remember how the Father God and the Lord have loved you.Also, I hope you will remember your determination and profession of love that you are offering up today so that you will be more than conquerors.
At the end of this road, you will be at the bosom of the Lord our bridegroom and with the Father. At that time, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be commended by the Father who will say, "You have fulfilled My desires. You are My beloved sons and daughters." |
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