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 Sermon > Sunday Evening Service |
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Title |
2016 Prayer Title(2) - Church that Leads All Peoples to Salvation |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
1 Timothy 2: 4 |
Date |
2015-12-20 |
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Passage
[1 Timothy 2: 4] "[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today's reading passage 1Timothy 2:4 says, "[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."For the last six thousand years, this earnest heart of God has never changed. In order to fulfill this hope, He has been waiting for a thousand years like it's a day.
You and I know how thirsty our Lord is for salvation of the souls. For this reason, we have never ceased our prayers and hard-work to save the souls since the opening of the church. In the New Year 2016, this church will awaken countless souls that are in spiritual slumber and lead them to salvation and to the knowledge of the truth.
In this message, I am going to talk about what we have to do to become a church that leads all peoples to salvation. I'm going to do that especially by remembering the ministry of the apostle Paul and his coworkers. I pray in the name of the Lord that this message will become your personal prayer title and you will become the main players in leading all peoples to salvation.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters,
This church has been focusing on saving the souls, following the example of the ministry of Jesus and the patriarchs in the Bible. When Paul opened the door of world evangelism, there were explosive works of salvation, and the same work of salvation is taking place in this church today as well. Through the powerful message, namely by the holiness gospel, and powerful works of God, so many souls are saved and they come to the knowledge of the truth.
The message that Paul preached had the authority. It's because he lived a holy life according to the words of God. Even before he met the Lord, he strictly followed the Law. After meeting the Lord, who is the truth and true light, he lived an even holier life according to the words of the Lord. According to the will of the Lord who fulfilled the Law with love, Paul loved God first and foremost, and tried to love his neighbors as himself.
Paul could communicate with the Lord all the time because he lived a holy life. As he prayed, there were strong works of the Holy Spirit. Many souls repented and accepted the Lord. When he commanded in the name of Jesus Christ, the lame came to walk and jump and evil spirits departed.
So, when Paul was preaching, even Greeks who worshiped idols and knowledge of men came to kneel before the Lord. Even Jews who had the pride of being the chosen people of God and their self-righteousness, converted and believed in the Lord.
As explained, the authority in the word is very important in saving souls. I and our church, as the apostle Paul did, tried to live by the Word of God until we received the authority given by God. We lived with prayers and fasting to obey the words of God telling us to do, not do, keep, and cast away certain things.
We emptied ourselves in order to love God first. As a result, when this holiness gospel was preached in each part of the world, many souls repented. When I preached why Jesus is our Savior and who God the Creator is, those who were worshiping idols and persecuting the gospel accepted the Lord.
Even the intellectuals demolished their hardened frameworks of thinking and knelt before the Lord. Furthermore, those pastors and believers who could not have true faith repented with tears and made up their minds to live holy lives. Also, the works of power to guarantee the words of authority took place. Then, even hardened hearts acknowledged God and believed in Him.
The lame came to walk; the blind, to see; and the deaf, to hear; and they gave glory to God the almighty.It is just as John 4:48 says, "So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.""
The 12 united crusades that we had since 2000 in particular, were the occasions that proved the authority in the messages and in the power of God. Namely, they led so many souls to the way of salvation. Through the crusades, we placed the banners of holiness gospel and God's power in important locations of the world, and then we headed to Israel, the 'end of the earth' for the gospel. For three years we delivered the holiness gospel and God's power all over Israel, following the footsteps of the Lord. Even after fulfilling the Great Commission of the Lord, we still continue to save the souls.
Meanwhile there were threats from other religions or worldly powers, or dangers of brothers, namely dangers from fellow missionaries, too. But God let us save even more souls just as He greatly fulfilled the missionary works for the Gentiles through the apostle Paul.
When Paul and his men were in jail, they did not get disheartened but praised God, and lo there was an earthquake that opened the gates! When he was going to Rome, the ship that he and his delegation were onboard was wrecked but everyone survived. When we tried to spread the gospel despite all the threats and dangers, God showed to us even greater works.
Dear brothers and sisters,
You are the main players who will lead all peoples to the way of salvation relying on this word with authority, namely the holiness gospel, and the power of God. Now, in order for you to become main players in this church that will lead countless souls to salvation in the third stage of the church, what should we do?
First, you should become one with the shepherd through 'trust'.
Only then can you fully utilize the words of authority and God's power given to the shepherd. Even at the time of Paul, the spreading of the gospel was accomplished greatly through those co-workers who became one with Paul through trust. Furthermore, depending on the strength of the trust, they utilized Paul's authority in the Word and the power of God in different measures.
For example, Acts 19:11-12 says, "God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out."
And what kinds of things are happening in this church today? Those who believe in this passage of the Bible and trust the powerful shepherd take the handkerchiefs on which I prayed to many parts of the world and show the same kinds of works.
And depending on the magnitude of the trust, the level of power manifested will be different. In fact, the things that can be done through the power in the handkerchiefs are limitless. It's because the power of God manifested is becoming greater.
God the Father spoke to us saying that Manmin members have been becoming one with the shepherd through trust, by seeing, hearing about, and experiencing various signs and wonders. God also has given us many chances to receive His grace so that you could build up deeper trust. It was the times when the shepherd interceded for the souls who committed sins in 2010, and also received the sword of punishment in 2013. Through those moments, many souls have come forth as leaders who strive to save the souls with the heart of the shepherd.
But as we face the full-scale beginning of the third phase of the church, there should be more pastors and members who will strive to save the souls. And the important thing here is that your trust must be complete trust that will not change.
Even at the time of the apostle Paul, while some of his co-workers remained with him until the end, some others forsook their trust and left him. For example, Timothy and Titus loved and trusted Paul, so they just obeyed and served Paul, no matter what he asked them to do, or wherever he asked them to go. They served him like they were his sons. They also did pastoral ministry in a church that was established by Paul, according to his request.
On the contrary, some of the co-workers left Paul following their own benefits. 2 Timothy 4:10 first part says, "for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica."2 Timothy 1:15 says, "You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes."Likewise, if you do not have complete trust, you cannot participate in the precious ministry of fulfilling the providence of God until the end.
We cannot evangelize this country and the whole world with the several men of whole spirit or men of spirit that we have now. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will all become one with the shepherd through trust, and play major roles in leading all peoples to salvation.
Dear brothers and sisters,
In order to play major roles in the church that leads all peoples to salvation, secondly, you should fulfill your duties in your given positions to fulfill the 1% of the measure of justice.
The rest, the 99% will be filled up automatically if you just become one with the shepherd through trust. The remaining 1% is up to you to fill. Namely, you should diligently fill up the deficiencies and shortages in spirit and body and develop your talents so you can become useful and perfect instruments in saving souls.
According to how you cut it, a diamond will have so many different kinds of beauty reflecting the light. Likewise, when you bear the fruit of light and refine yourself in spirit and body, your light will shine even more brightly. For example, when you go out to the world with the handkerchief, the kinds of fruit that you will bear will be different depending on the amount of fervent prayer and fasting you offered and your good and well-refined behaviors. It is up to you to store up prayers and fasting and your effort.
And, is there any of you who think like, "I am not a pastor, or a man of spirit or a whole spirit, and what can I do?" In order for our church to lead all peoples to salvation, we shouldn't just have those who will work with the handkerchiefs. We must have an organization and other staff who can support these preachers, too. Also, we will need a lot more people who will work at the main church.
Paul did not do his ministry all alone either. There were many workers who were helping him according to their roles. As I mentioned, Timothy and Titus took care of the churches that had been established by Paul. Priscilla and Aquila provided much comfort to Paul when he was having a hard time in Corinth. They even prepared the way for Paul in places like Ephesus and Rome where Paul was going to spread the gospel. This couple would not spare their lives for Paul.
Believers in the church of Philippi often made missionary offerings. Titus Justus of Corinth and Lydia of Philippi offered their houses to be used as a church. Onesiphorus came to visit Paul and comforted him all the time when he was in jail in Rome. Silas and Paul were put in jail for preaching the gospel. Tertius helped Paul by taking dictation of Paul's letters for the believers. Titus and Tertius delivered Paul's letters to places that took weeks or even months to reach and then brought back their replies. They also made reports to Paul who wanted to know about situations of the churches.
If you become one with the shepherd by trust and fill up your own measure of 1%, then you can become great strength to me in saving the souls in your respective positions. For example, if the praise leaders, interpreters, and security members develop and refine their skills, then we will have much better handkerchief crusades in all respects.
The same goes for those who are working in the main church, which will be the headquarters of saving the souls. The apostle Paul had the church of Antioch that commissioned him as a missionary and supported him with fasting and prayers as the headquarters.
In the same way, if the prayer devotees at the main church receive more power in prayer, they can support the saving of the souls more powerfully. The parish pastors, guidance pastors, district, group, cell, and small group leaders should faithfully perform their duties to pray, make visitations, and preach the gospel. This is to fill up the 1% of the measure of justice.
The Levites in each department should develop their skill sets as well as increase their spirituality. The more ability you have spiritually and physically, the more vigorously the souls will be saved.
Also, if laymen members try to fulfill your duties at home and workplace to become the light and salt of the world, it is also to fulfill the 1% of the measure of justice. When all of you play your respective roles, the holiness gospel and power of God will spread to all over the world and lead all peoples to salvation. Therefore, I ask you in the name of the Lord that each of you will fulfill your own 1% with faithfulness.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters,
It is said that the apostle Paul traveled more than 20,000 km for missionary works from the time he met the Lord on his way to Damascus until he was beheaded in Rome. It's about half way around the Earth. Paul lived a passionate life as he said in Acts 20:24, "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."
Many of you have been living a life for saving the souls rather than for your life. You've been offering your youth, time, and money. But does that mean you want to take a rest now? We Manmin will focus on saving the souls in the New Year as well, just like Paul did.
For God the Father, each and every year has a meaning among 6,000 years of human cultivation. Each year there were children who were saved, and in other years some true children came forth. As recorded in Romans chapter 16, in his epistles the apostle Paul mentioned each one's name when he asked the readers to greet the workers and believers.
Verse 7 says, "Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners…" Verse 12 says, "Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord."
They are the names of the people who were with Paul and whose works Paul remembered. Paul asked the Lord to remember and bless them in every prayer he offered.
What kinds of people in the book of life and book of commemoration would you want to be like?Each of you will be written as one who prayed day and night for the kingdom of God; who took care of the believers and kept the church and the shepherd with all his life; who participated in the sufferings of the Lord; who worked hard in the Lord and helped with the ministry of the Holy Spirit at the end time to evangelize the whole world. May all Manmin members participate in this glorious array, I pray in the name of the Lord!
[AMEN!] |
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