 |
 Official Service(date) |
| Sunday Morning |
| Sunday Evening |
| Friday All-night |
|
 |
|
| 1 John Lecture |
| Revelation Lectures |
| Genesis Lectures |
|
|
|
| The message of the cross |
| Measure of Faith |
| Ten Commandments |
| Heaven |
| Hell |
| Spiritual Love |
| Spirit, soul and body |
| Sinful mind |
| Goodness |
| Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit |
|
|
|
|
  |
 Sermon > Theme Words of Life |
 |
|
|
Title |
Roots of Sin and Sanctification(2) - Roots of Sin and Sanctification (2) |
|
|
|
Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Job 4: 8 |
Date |
2011-12-18 |
|
|
Passage
[Job 4: 8]
"According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it."
It is earth, the ground, that makes the grass and trees grow thereby creating thick forests.
It also becomes a base for such living things as worms and bacteria.
Men and animals also rely on the earth.
And if this earth is polluted, the land cannot support any life, whether animals or plants.
Even if some grasses or insects could live, they would have deformities.
Also, vegetables that grow in polluted land are harmful for people.
Furthermore, once the land is polluted it is much more difficult for it to recover than water or air.
Well, soil that is polluted to a minor degree could recover if good elements or some microorganisms are added.
But soil that is severely polluted by, for example, industrial sewages, agricultural chemicals, or radioactive materials takes a long time to recover, or it may not recover at all.
A similar principle can be applied to heart field of man.
Once it is polluted by sins, it is not easy to recover the original state.
According to the degree of pollution, it might not recover at all.
But our God has the power to revive the barren field of man's heart.
Also, He is God of compassion and He gives us more strength if we try to clean our heart-field once again.
Even if you polluted your heart-field in the past, you can recover it with the sweet rain of God's grace pouring down now.
Isaiah 62:4 says, "It will no longer be said to you, 'Forsaken,' nor to your land will it any longer be said, 'Desolate'."
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will cultivate your field into a good field that yields an abundant harvest, and I pray that this message will be a blessing for you.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us briefly review the message of the previous session.
Are there any of you who think like, "Some people go into spirit within a year, or even in a couple of months from the time they become determined to do it, but why am I not able to go into spirit quickly?"
In that case, you can have the answer if you think about how deeply the roots of sin are placed in your heart.
Namely, the deeper the sins have taken root, the more difficult it is to pull them out.
This is the reason why it takes time and effort to go into spirit.
In other words, the speed of going into spirit will be different depending upon the degree of having created walls of sin before God.
Those who do not have deep roots of sin can go into spirit quickly.
It can be likened to a rice seedling. A week after rice seedlings are planted in the field, they can be easily uprooted, even by rippling water.
It is the same with uprooting or casting off sins.
When you commit light sins, if you immediately repent and turn back, then the sins are not planted into your heart.
Let's say that your coat or your body got dusty. If you immediately dust it off, it's made clean again.
Thus, if you immediately turn back from sins, the wall of sins is not built between you and God.
It's because you destroyed it right away.
In this kind of case, you can go into spirit if you just pull out the evil in your nature.
You can cast away sins with a relative ease.
If you just realize what you have to cast off, you can quickly and easily pull out the sinful natures, just like you can pull out rice seedlings that have just been planted.
There is a person who went into spirit within just a couple of months.
Brothers and sisters, rice seedlings that are just a month old are not easily uprooted.
They have their roots in the soil and the number of rice stalks number from three or four to seven or eight.
Those rice stalks can be uprooted but you have to use strength to pull them out.
When you commit a sin, if you do not turn from it right away but keep on committing them, the sin will take root in your heart.
But before reaching this state, if you really have determination to cast away sins, you can cast them away.
This can be likened with the situation where you have oil stains or deep stains on your body or clothes.
In this case, you have to use the soap and other detergents to wipe it out and wash them.
Namely, in the situation of sin you need to pray and fast and expend your effort to beat yourself into obedience.
Those who belong to this category, they will not have to spend a great deal of time going into spirit.
One year would be enough for them.
It's because their inner heart is not evil and they have not loved the world, nor have they built up thick walls of sin before God.
But they just disappointed God, and they need to rebuild the trust relation.
In the last session, I talked about the above two cases.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, unlike two previous cases, if you have repeatedly committed severe sins, it is not easy for you to go into spirit.
Three or four months after rice seedlings have been planted, rice stalks have roots deep in the soil.
Many smaller roots are firmly fastened into soil, and those rice stalks are not easily uprooted even when pulled with great strength.
Now, when rice stalks produce heads of rice and ripen at harvest time, what does a farmer have to do?
He cannot pull them out so he will cut off the stalks with a scythe.
It can be likened to a build-up of dirt and dust that has accumulated on the body and become solid.
It is also like a white garment that has been deeply stained with dirt and turned almost black.
Just as such a garment cannot be cleaned with one or two washings, a person in such a spiritual state cannot be cleansed with fasting prayer just once or twice, either.
You must repeat the cleansing again and again.
If necessary, you have to use hot water and special detergent and soak the garment to remove stains and get it clean.
Spiritually, you have to receive special grace in season and uproot the roots of sins.
It's because the roots of the sinful natures have taken root so deeply and tightly in your hearts.
Hebrews 4:12 reads, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Joints here spiritually refer to frameworks that are formed when self-righteousness is solidified.
Marrow refers to the roots of evil stuck deep within your hearts.
The above verse tells us men's frameworks and sinful natures can be stuck in the depths of their hearts and thoughts.
Evils are planted not just in your soul and spirit, they are planted in your thoughts and your heart.
Sins and evils will be combined with the joints of our bones, and in the marrow deep inside the bones.
The feelings from the gratification of sin is planted so deeply into the body that the people are addicted to sins like the addictions to alcohol or nicotine.
Alcoholics experience their body craving alcohol even though they are struggling to quit drinking.
If they quit drinking, withdrawal symptoms occur.
They shake, have cold sweats and tremors. They feel upset, uncomfortable and irritable.
Those symptoms stop when they drink.
It is the same with smoking.
Tobacco addicts experience indigestion, headache, insomnia, and depression when they quit smoking.
For this reason, a heavy smoker continues smoking even though they lose their health, their teeth turn yellowish and they are not welcomed by the people around him.
In the same way, if sinful natures are deeply planted in the joints and marrow, the body remembers those sins.
That's why they commit sins again even though their hearts are not willing.
Suppose a man used to enjoy watching pornography and even habitually did obscene things. Even though he makes a firm resolution to stop, he may return to former habits in life.
Those who enjoy telling lies feel uncomfortable when they do not lie.
A violent person can suppress their anger for a time, but as he feels stressed he finally will act out in fits of anger.
Such people actually find themselves getting to the point of enjoying such sins.
They cannot turn back from them on their own.
They simply don't have the strength to do it.
They cannot receive God's help, either.
It is because they have built a very thick and very deep wall of sins before God.
When they commit sins continually and repeatedly, the angels guarding them turn away from them and leave them.
The Holy Spirit cannot help them any longer.
It's because they continually defied the voices of the Holy Spirit who knocked the door to their hearts when they were about to sin.
As warned in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, the Holy Spirit is extinguished in them.
They were children of God, but again they became children of the devil.
How did it happen?
Even though they knew in the truth they should not commit such sins, they repeated those serious sins leading to death.
When they committed such an unpardonable sin the first time, they were distressed and afraid.
They should have repented and turned back at that point, but they didn't and they continued to sin.
Such a heart is so evil and malicious.
It is the sin of crucifying the Son of God again and putting Him to open shame as recorded in Hebrews 6:4-6.
And it is the evil of willfully and repeatedly sinning after receiving the knowledge of truth as said in Hebrews 10:26-27.
Since those sins are fairly evil and they repeat those sins willfully, roots of sins are tenaciously stuck in their hearts.
Because they repeatedly sinned like they eat food, they are at a great loss if they don't commit sins, just as when they don't eat they are too hungry to overcome it.
Not only their hearts but their bodies are stained with heavy sins.
Their soul and body fall into the complete control of the enemy devil and Satan.
If it goes too far, their consciences first become numbed and eventually become seared as with a branding iron.
As recorded in 1 Timothy 4:2 that reads, "... the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron," some believers who have church titles commit sins willfully.
No matter how often they are warned by the sermons, they sin time and again.
What a wicked and malicious heart it is!
If their conscience is alive, they must be ashamed. If they think of the Lord who was crucified for them, they must feel heartbroken.
Those whose consciences have been branded don't feel ashamed and do not shed a single teardrop.
Our God gave a chance of forgiveness even to those sinners.
Among them, those who really repented of their sins could be forgiven of their sins by God.
But your repentance can be recognized by God only when you are uprooting the traces of sin from your soul and body as well.
Those who really repented of their sins came to hate the sins leading to death from their hearts.
They try their best to cast away all those sins as quickly as possible.
There is no reason for them to have those sins.
It is not easy to cast away those sinful natures.
In such a state, how can they attain to the level of spirit?
As said in Hebrews 12:4, they must struggle against and throw away sins even to the point of shedding blood.
They must continually cling to God in order to receive the spirit of repentance and to repent tearing their hearts until they receive the grace and strength for sanctification and help of the Holy Spirit.
Then, they must overcome the temptations of sin with their own willpower.
In that process they may receive punishments for their sins, but they must give only thanks.
It is because it proves they are not illegitimate children but children of God.
Punishments turn into blessings in faith.
When you suffer from serious diseases or severe affliction in the heart, if you fully realize how painful the result of sin is, it will urge you to throw away sins.
When King David sinned, he received severe trials because he was a beloved son of God, and finally he was refined like pure gold.
In order to go into spirit quickly, above all, you have to do your best to feel the love of God.
You must meditate on His love every moment and feel how much He has loved you.
You have to continually bear in your mind that the Lord bore the terrible suffering of the cross for you, the Holy Spirit lamented and groaned for you unceasingly and the shepherd sacrificed himself to the point as though all of the parts of his body were being shattered to pieces.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters, and GCN viewers,
1 Peter 3:10-11 says, "The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good;"
Your life has been purchased at the cost of the precious blood of the Lord.
You have not kept such a precious life that is like the blood of God the Father for long. On December 25, 2010, many of you recovered your lives.
In addition, I nearly sacrificed my life.
I earnestly interceded for you in prayer until it was sometimes a wonder just for me to stand and breathe.
That's why, once again, please consider your narrowly regained life as precious.
It means you must attain the level of spirit.
Then, you will not have to be worried that it might be lost again. How comfortable it will be!
In what ways can you become strength to me?
Is it in sacrificial dedications? Is it with billions in gold?
I told you I would give you even billions in gold if you are able to completely accomplish whole spirit.
If you completely stay away from the path to Hell and instead attain to the level of spirit and whole spirit, nothing is more encouraging to me than this.
Quickly arrive at the level of spirit and whole spirit.
God gave you the chance.
He forgave even those who crucified the Lord again and put Him to open shame.
The Holy Spirit gave you the hope for New Jerusalem.
Why would God reject you if who are struggling against and throwing away your sins and earnestly trying to change?
God the Father would never reject you.
I also paid the payment for you which is greater than billions in gold.
I am sure God will give you the grace enough to lead you into the level of spirit and whole spirit.
Hold fast to this love and win the victory.
Enjoy the removing of dangerous landmines and poisonous germs from your body and your life.
I am also encouraging you all the time.
And the aurora-like lights are covering you.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will do your best at a time like this, so that you will go into spirit quickly and easily! |
|
