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 Sermon > Theme Words of Life |
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Title |
Measure of Faith(21) - 5th Level of Faith(2) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Romans12:3 |
Date |
2006-05-14 |
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[Passage]
[Romans 12: 3]
"For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
People say that if you fall in love, everything will look beautiful in your eyes. If you just think of the person you love, even though you are not with that person right now, your eyes will twinkle, and even when you face something unpleasant, you will not lose your joy because of that love.
Even when you do hard work, you will work while humming. When you think of ways to please the person you love, you won't be able to hide your happy smile. So, when people see a person who is in love, they will envy that person saying he/she looks very happy.
God also eagerly wanted to have somebody with whom He could share His love.
That's why He created you and me and let us live on this earth. God, who is love itself, wants to love so much and be loved by somebody so much. He wants to share all the good things with His beloved ones.
Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."
If God makes a confession like this for you, how enraptured you will be! The almighty God is with you, and He will exult over you with joy!
Whatever you do and wherever you go, whether you are sleeping, resting, or eating something, He will look at you with loving eyes, and He will rejoice just by your existence.
He will try to find a way to give you blessings thinking, "How can I give joy to this son of mine? How can I make this daughter of mine happy?" If you can hear this kind of confession from the Almighty God, you will be the most blessed person in the world.
I hope you all will receive this kind of love from God. To receive this kind of love, you should be a person who loves God deeply as well. Through this message, I hope you will realize what kind of person is the one who loves God deeply and pleases Him so that you will be one of those people.
So, when God looks at you, is He able to walk with you all the time saying, "I exult over you with joy, I rejoice over you with shouts of joy," I pray in the name of the Lord it is so!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the second session on the "Fifth Level of Faith". The fifth level of faith is the faith to please God. You go beyond the level of loving God to the utmost degree, and now you understand God's deep heart and will and act according to it.
What kind of faith specifically is the fifth level of faith? First, a person at the fifth level of faith can obey God even to the point he sacrifices his life.
Even though God commands you to do something that is absolutely impossible by human method, you will say only Yes and Amen, only because it's the will of God, and you will obey it even if it means sacrificing your life.
Of course, if you just have the fourth level of faith, you can give your life for God because you love God more than anything else on this earth. You can even become a martyr.
But even though a person at the fourth level and another person at the fifth level give their lives, there is a distinct difference when God receives it. The difference is in the heart. Specifically, it is about how much a person understands the deep heart and will of God and obeys it with the heart of God the Father.
Even when children obey their parents, some of them just obey unconditionally while some others obey feeling the heart of their parents in the reason that they are being told to do it.
Last time I gave you the following example of the mother telling her children to clean the house when she goes out to work in the morning. Then, children will have different reactions.
Some children want to go out and play, but because the mother told them, they reluctantly clean the house. Some others will clean the house with a joyful heart because they can help their dear mother.
But those children with more goodness will react from the mother's standpoint thinking, "She will be tired when she comes back from work. What can I do to do more for her?" Therefore, they will not only clean the house, but also do other things, too.
They will fold the clothes that are just washed, prepare the dinner, and so on. When the parents look at this kind of children, they will not just love these children but they will feel very satisfied for their children are praiseworthy, and rejoice over them.
It's similar with the relationship with God. At the fourth level of faith, because you don't have evil in your heart and you love God so much, you will obey anything that God commands of you.
But your heart is not mature enough to understand the deep heart of the Father and obey Him. On the contrary, at the fifth level, you will not just obey, but you will understand the heart and will of God concerning why He is commanding such a thing, so you can obey more than just what God expects.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, to make the difference between the fourth level and fifth level more understandable, please think about the levels of goodness that I explained to you earlier. First, when others hate you, persecute you, and do evil things to you for no reason, if you don't have any kind of discomfort or ill-feelings and if you can just understand and forgive them, you are at the fourth level of faith.
Only when you have cast off fundamental sinful natures from your heart and have sanctified your heart can you come into this level of goodness.
If you have a higher level of goodness, when others act evil to you for no reason, you will not only forgive them but also you will pay it back with goodness. You will show good words and deeds, so that even evil people will be moved in their heart.
In fact, even among numerous believers in the Lord, it is very difficult to find a person who has this level of goodness. One can show this kind of words and deeds only when he is at the beginning stage of the fifth level of faith or the later stage of the fourth level of faith.
But the kind of goodness that God wants His children to have is even higher than this. Namely, He wants us to have goodness with which we can love even those who act evil to us and sacrifice our life for them.
Only when we have accomplished this kind of love and goodness in our heart can we understand the heart of God the Father and show perfect obedience. Just like Jesus gave out His life for sinners, we will also be able to accomplish the will of God completely.
Philippians 2:6-8 says, "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. [8] Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
Jesus didn't have to be hung on the cross for He is the Son of God and He is sinless. But He still willingly obeyed the will of God and was crucified. Here, Jesus did not just obey unconditionally because of His deep love for God.
That kind of obedience is found at the fourth level, too. Jesus did not only obey with just the action but He understood the deep heart and will of God the Father and obeyed God, having the heart of the Father God.
Because He could deeply feel the love of the Father for the dying souls, Jesus had the same love of the Father and fulfilled the will of God with all His life.
Even undergoing such severe pain of the cross, Jesus didn't think of His situation saying, "It's so difficult." He had compassion on those souls who were going the way of death and He rather prayed for those who were crucifying Him.
Also, Jesus thought of the heart of the Father whose heart would be broken because of the sufferings that He was going through. That is why Jesus offered up the confession about the numerous souls who would be saved and the glory that the Father would receive, and He gave thanks to the Father in order to comfort the heart of the Father, up until the moment He breathed His last on the cross.
How touched and moved God's heart must have been when He saw this Jesus!
Therefore, Philippians 2:9-11 says, "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Also, God expressed His pleasant heart referring to Jesus, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." God the Father wants you and me to understand God's heart deeply and obey completely.
But to have this kind of obedience, we cannot just do it with desire to do so. As explained above, we first have to have the heart that resembles God the Father.
As said in Philippians 2:5, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus," only after we have the love and goodness of Jesus can we obey completely just like Jesus did.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I told you that the fifth level of faith is the state where a clean vessel is abundantly filled with perfect fruits of spirit. At the fourth level of faith, you have cast off sins and evil and have clean vessel, so you can obey the word of God the Father.
But you can only fully understand the heart of God to the extent that you bear spiritual fruits in you.
Let us suppose there is a man of spirit who bears almost 100% of the fruit of 'Faithfulness', but he bears only 40% of the fruit of the 'Self-control'.
So, when God commands something of him, he can please the heart of the Father by working so diligently and more than just what he is supposed to do, but in the aspect of self-control, he can understand only about 40%, which is what he has accomplished, of heart and will of the Father.
To that extent, he cannot please God as much. Therefore, only when you go into the fifth level of faith and bear all the spiritual fruits 100%, can you understand and realize the deep heart of the Father and obey in a perfect way.
To understand the difference in bearing spiritual fruits, if you imagine a bunch of grapes ripening, it will be a little easier. First, at the spot where the grape flower fell off, something like little grain will form, showing us the sign that a fruit will be born there.
This is the third level of faith. To the extent that they cast off sins from their heart, they have the beginning sign of bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit, although they are small. Then, as the summer goes on, the grape will grow bigger and it will be more of dark purple color.
But if there are 100 grapes, it's not that all 100 grapes ripen at the same speed, having the same size of the fruit. Each grape even on the same bunch has different speed of ripening and different size of the fruit.
There are some fruits that have more of a green color, while there are other fruits that are deep purple and fat. Likewise, although we bear the same fruits of the Holy Spirit, some fruits are more ripened while some other fruits are not as ripened. This is the fourth level of faith.
Perhaps, the fruit of Love is well developed while the fruit of Self-control is a little weak, or the fruit of Faithfulness is great while the fruit of Gentleness is small. As more days go by, they overcome storms and receive more sunshine to make each grape ripe. Then, the bunch will be filled with well-ripened and rich, purple fruits.
Likewise, if all the fruits of the Holy Spirit are born 100%, you finally get into the fifth level of faith. If you bear all the fruits of the Holy Spirit 100% this way, you will have perfection in all aspects.
You have the burning passion for the Lord, but you also have the ability to control yourself to act or stop acting at the most appropriate times. You will be gentle and meek like cotton, but also, you have strong and dignified authority.
You have love to seek the benefit of others all the time and give even your life, but you don't have any kind of personal affection. You only obey according to the justice of God.
You don't use any of the human thoughts but hear the voice and receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit 100%. You clearly discern the will of God and obey His will. In all aspects, you resemble the heart of the Father God. You become a true child of God and have reached the full measure of the Christ.
I will explain to you about the difference between the fourth level and the fifth level through the example of Abraham. In cast of Abraham, even from the moment God called him first, he only obeyed with 'Yes' and 'Amen'.
When God commanded him to go forth from his country to the land which God would show him, Abraham unconditionally left without even knowing the destination.
But Abraham still trusted God and had the faith to obey from his heart. But it doesn't mean he deeply understood the heart of God when God commanded him to do so. As he left his country and went through refinement period, he came to have more intimate fellowship with God, and he came to understand the heart and will of God more clearly.
Therefore, even when he faced a great test that was very difficult for a man to overcome, he pleased God with perfect deeds of faith. The test was to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering before God.
This command could not be obeyed if he used any fleshly thoughts. Abraham had not been able to have a child for such a long time and only at his age of 100, he had this son Isaac. Isaac was such a precious son to Abraham. And now he had to cut his son into pieces like an animal and burn him.
Moreover, Isaac was the seed of promise of God. God certainly said Abraham would have countless descendants through Isaac. Here, even if you have some faith most of you will think, "I cannot kill my son with my own hands."
Also, you may have doubts thinking, "How can God of love command me to do such a fearful thing?" "God promised me that my descendants would come through Isaac, and why does He tell me to kill him now?"
But by easily passing this test, Abraham went into the fifth level of faith. Hebrews 11:17-19 says, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son [18] it was he to whom it was said, "In Isaac your descendants shall be called." [19] He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type."
At this moment, it was not only that Abraham unconditionally offered his son Isaac only because he loved God so much.
Because he could understand the deep heart of God, he realized that, even if he offered Isaac as a burnt offering, God would revive him and fulfill His providence through Isaac. That's why Abraham could obey completely.
Since this moment when Abraham was acknowledged of his faith, God was very pleased with Abraham and God even called him His friend.
John 15:13-15 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. [14] "You are My friends if you do what I command you. [15] "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."
As said, because Abraham could obey and give his life obeying the word of the Father and also because he deeply understood the will of the Father, could he be called a friend of God.
[Conclusion]
Brothers and sisters in Christ, a true friend is somebody with whom you can share your heart, and who is sometimes even more intimate than your brothers in blood. You can tell anything and you don't have any secrets between you. You want to stay with that person all the time and share all the good things together.
If God acknowledges you as His friend, He will not just consider you as His friend only with words. He will treat you as His friend in reality. It's not only Abraham the father of faith who can become a friend of God.
If you can take after the faith of Abraham and please God, you can also become God's friend and walk with Him like a friend.
God will listen to whatever you have in your heart and answer you immediately, and wherever you go, He will give you blessings.
You will be able to live a glorious and honorable life more than anybody else on this earth. I hope all you members will try to understand the good heart and will of God as said in the first half of Hosea 6:3, "So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord."
I urge you in the name of the Lord to quickly accomplish sanctified heart and fill your heart with beautiful fruits of spirit so that you will clearly understand the heart of God.
By doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that, you will be so lovely and pleasing in God's eyes, so that He will say to you, "You are my friend." |
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