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 Sermon > Theme Words of Life |
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Title |
2008 Prayer Title(1) - The End Time |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Matthew24:3-14,1 Peter4:7 |
Date |
2007-12-31 |
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Scripture Reading
Matthew 24:3-14
[3] As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
[4] And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.
[5] "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
[6] "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
[7] "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
[8] "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
[9] "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
[10] "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
[11] "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
[12] "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.
[13] "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
[14] "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ
Let's give all thanks and glory to our Father God who has been with us through out the year of 2007.
Our Father God has given us the answers to our prayer points for the year of 2007.
The first prayer topic was "Mystery."
In God's mystery the gospel of the Lord had to be spread to the remotest part of the earth, Israel.
Through your prayers for that mission, we have visited Israel three times and reaped valuable fruits.
The second prayer point was "Sanctification."
Most of church members have actively marched toward sanctification for a year.
And many of you have entered the level of spirit for those who have become sanctified.
The third prayer point was "Sanctuary."
We have been able to see and touch the coming of the Canaan Sanctuary.
The fourth prayer point was "The works of the Holy Spirit."
During the year of 2007 new dimension of power of God has been revealed in accordance with my spiritual training.
Many of you have given new testimonies that enable us to be conscious my spiritual training.
They were about the transferring into and out of spiritual spaces.
By that work, we have experienced the appearing of dragonflies, the controlling of the temperature, and the dying out or the change of the course of typhoons.
It is Our Father who has accomplished all these works.
Of course, I am very thankful to all of you who have prayed for this.
And I give thanks to you for your dedication to each aspect.
Now many of you are attending this New Year's Service with a longing heart.
Many have come from all over the world and have joined this service.
I welcome all of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray in the name of our Lord that God's great blessing and grace come upon all of you who are giving these first hours of the new year to God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Tonight I will deliver the message entitled "The End Time" as the first prayer title of the year 2008.
Why then does God give this as the first prayer title for the New Year 2008?
It is because He loves us.
At times students may have to take a test unexpectedly with out any notice from their teacher.
Some who usually study well will get good marks and grades.
Suppose some others who have not studied before that time.
The latter students will be flustered having been caught unprepared for the unexpected test and receive poor grades.
But what if the students had been told in advance that the test would be held?
Then, it should not have been possible for to fail.
In the same sense, God has repeatedly let us know about the end time of the world.
He has arranged for us to be able to receive the Day of the Coming of the Lord without being flustered, but to look forward to it with joy.
On one hand, if you have not prepared yourselves as the brides of the Lord, God wants you to be awakened.
On the other hand, if you have diligently prepared for that, He wishes for you to press on toward that goal.
In a word, the reason that God is giving us the message entitled "The End Time" as the first prayer point is because you have to prepare that much.
I urge you to be more awake and go into spirit this New Year.
Also, I ask all of you to prepare for the end time of the world more properly.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Tonight's passage Matthew 24:5-14 tell us about various signs of the end of time.
Speaking precisely, it is the sign of the Lord's coming, and of the end of the age.
'The end time' and 'the end of the age' have different meanings.
The 'end time' refers to the time from the Ascension of Jesus Christ until His Return.
And the end of the age refers to the time of our Lord's Return, and in a little more meaning it is the age for the Lord to come.
So, we are living in the end of the age in the midst of the end time.
Jesus' disciples asked Him about the sign of the end of the age.
Now through Jesus' answer to their questions let's look into how close now is to the end of the age.
Verse 6 says, "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end."
Throughout the history of mankind there have been wars, small or big.
But the war Jesus mentioned was not a simple one.
The war here refers to a world war that the many countries around the world will get involved.
In this verse Jesus mentioned the same word "wars" twice.
It means that the world war will take place twice.
In the end Jesus meant that when you see all these signs you have to realize the time is drawing nearer even though it is not the end of the age.
As Jesus had prophesied, there were two worldwide wars in 1900s.
And since the Second World War came to an end in 1945, 60 years have already passed.
It signifies that the last day is ever closer.
The second half of the following Verse 7 says, "in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."
Some of you may think who will starve to death in this age in which there are modern civilizations.
The survey of 2007 says that approximately 854 million people go to sleep all over the world every night hungry.
And 40,000 children die of hunger or of the deficiency of nutrients every day.
The population of those who die of hunger has increased by 4 million every year.
One of the main causes is because famines and disputes and wars have caused the price of the crops to soar greatly.
Mankind's imprudent destruction of the nature has polluted the surroundings of the earth and caused the global warming.
And changes of the weather and climate have followed and natural disasters increased accordingly.
Droughts, floods, earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, and many other unexpected disasters are taking place all over the world beyond the scientific measure.
In particular, as Jesus prophesied, the earthquakes are worsening.
Earthquakes are occurring much more frequently and becoming more intense than ever before.
Let me speak to you about one more sign of the end of the age Jesus fore-told.
In Matthew 24:14, Jesus said, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
The gospel of heaven started in Israel and was preached in Europe at first.
To this day it has been preached in America, Asia, Africa and many other places.
But ironically the gospel of heaven has not been preached to the orthodox Jews.
They do not recognize Jesus, whom their fathers crucified as the Savior, and they are still waiting for the Messiah.
That's why the final destination and the remotest part of the earth refers to Israel.
But the preaching of the gospel of heaven has just started in this remotest part of the earth.
In the future the gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached even to the orthodox Jews.
When you see the sign occurring, you will have to realize that the Day of the coming of the Lord and of the end of the age is very near.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
After He explained to His disciples about the sign of the end of the age, Jesus added the following.
In Verse 44, Jesus said, "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will."
The end of the age was already destined by God, and we are rushing toward that day.
But no one can know when the end of the days of each person is.
Many of you will receive the last day of the age without meeting with any accident and disease.
But no one can know what will happen tomorrow.
After this service and after you go to sleep, if God calls out your spirit, you have to return to heaven.
None of you can know what will happen tomorrow or on the day after tomorrow.
Therefore, you must always stay awake and prepare to receive the end of the age.
You must not say, "He did not come yesterday, he has not come yet today and He probably won't come tomorrow, so since it will happen later on, I am going to enjoy the world some more."
In the 25th chapter of Matthew, Jesus gave us the illustration of ten virgins and urged us to be awake all the time.
The chapter illustrates the returning Lord as the bridegroom and the believers in the Lord as virgin brides.
Ten virgins waited for the bridegroom.
Five of the ten virgins were wise, but the others were foolish.
The foolish virgins had lamps but did not have enough oil for them.
The other five wise virgins had both lamps and oil.
By the way, the bridegroom was delayed.
The evening had passed and the bridegroom came at midnight.
The five wise virgins lighted up their lamps and came out to receive the bridegroom.
But five foolish virgins had to go elsewhere to prepare more oil to light up their lamps.
Meanwhile the door to the wedding was closed.
Later the foolish virgins appeared carrying the lamps with oil and knocked the door saying, "Lord, lord, open up for us."
But the bridegroom answered, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'
Jesus spoke the last words at the end of this parable.
In Verse 13, He says, "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
In this parable the bridegroom came at midnight.
He came not in the evening or in early morning but at midnight.
Midnight is the darkest time and everyone sleeps at that time.
Night spiritually refers to "darkness" and "sins and evils" caused by the enemy devil.
The bridegroom's coming at midnight means that our Lord Jesus Christ will come again at the end time of the world when everyone slumbers and sins and evils rampant in the world.
At the very end time of the age we are living.
Lawlessness increases and many people's love grows cold.
It is not easy to find spiritual light, true goodness and true love anywhere.
In this sinful world our Father God has led us to become five wise virgins.
And He has led us to prepare spiritual oil and enter into spirit.
Since the founding of the church, He has emphasized sanctification.
And He has let me preach the message on the five levels of faith and helped us to measure our faith.
And He has given us revelations about hell and heaven.
He has let us possess a definite purpose of our faith.
Through the Lectures on Revelation He has let us know about the coming Seven Year Great Tribulation and helped us be awake in spirit.
He has not only awakened us but also led us fast into the flow of spirit.
He gave us special grace on the thousandth burnt offering and a couple of chances of forgiveness.
God has given those chances so that all church members could ride on the spiritual flow.
God has urged us to go into spirit because He knew the end of the age was very near.
And He continually let us know what sins are.
And He told us why many of you have stayed at the same level of faith.
He gave the grace upon grace and chances upon chances.
How much have you prepared to receive the Lord up until this very moment?
Are there any of you who are still in spiritual slumber?
Are there any of you who think, "We have time because He will not come again at least until tomorrow"?
If you have such thought, your present faith is almost the same with your faith of a year or two years ago.
Your faith of a year or two years later will be the same if you are not awakened now.
It is barely acceptable for you to keep your faith, but not growing will cause you to backslide.
Our Father God wishes for all of you to receive the Lord like the five wise virgins.
That's why God gave you the prayer title "The End Time" because all of you have to be awake.
And He gave it as the first prayer title because it is such an important important.
No matter how eagerly we warn them of the end time, those who have not awakened think that the Lord's coming will be delayed.
And when the Lord comes, upon His arrival they will say, "He has come too unexpectedly and without warning."
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 says, "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape."
I wish for none of you to experience the above passage.
If you have true faith and aim at going into the level of whole spirit, you will feel sorry for every day's passing.
It is because a day's passing means the end time's coming nearer.
You will have to cast off the flesh quickly and spur on your heart to enter into spirit.
And you will do your best to be more faithful to the kingdom of God for more rewards in heaven.
When this message "The End Time" is preached for this New Year, I want all of you to be awake and go into spirit.
Now is the time for you to complete preparing the oil.
In order to buy oil, you have to work and earn money. It is the same when you prepare for spiritual oil.
What does oil symbolize? It refers to your being filled with the Holy Spirit through prayers.
So, when you become filed wit the Holy Spirit through prayers, you can prepare oil.
You have to fervently and earnestly cry out in prayers to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
When you pray that way you can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And when you pray in the power of the Holy Spirit you can receive strength from the above.
You can receive the strength to struggle against and throw away sins. You can receive the strength to live by the word of God.
And you can receive the strength to leave unrighteousness and evils and dwell in righteousness and goodness.
If you cease praying, you will lose the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
If oil runs out, the flame will decrease and finally die out as well.
It is the same with spiritual life. If you cease praying and fail to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, you will be defeated by darkness.
Because you have no strength to overcome the world, you come to compromise with the world.
Then, you will commit sins again and trials and troubles come upon you.
Are there any of you who think you can repent of it and turn from it?
But we don't have enough time to repent of sins and turn from them.
Now you should not lose oil, but just fill your lamps with oil.
To prepare oil, you have to fervently and earnestly cry out in prayers with sweat.
Only through that way can you become filled with the Holy Spirit.
If you are full of the Holy Spirit, you can overcome and rule over the world by the help of the Holy Spirit.
And the fire of the Holy Spirit can burn sinful natures hidden within you.
Thus, you can prepare for fine linen worthy to receive the Bridegroom our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I ask you to prepare for the bright and clean fine linen in this New Year.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Tonight we have looked into the signs of the end time and realized how close the end time is.
And through the parable of Ten Virgins, I have told you to stay awake and prepare your oil.
In 1 Peter 4:7, He says, "The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer."
The reason that God is urging you to awaken your heart and to prepare for oil is because of His love.
Our Father God wants you to keep your whole spirit, soul and body blameless until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ's coming as said in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
He does not wish that you will be surprised and embarrassed on the Day because you have not prepared to receive the bridegroom like five foolish virgins.
I don't want for any of you to have confessed your faith, but fail to join the wedding banquet and fall into the 7-year Great Tribulation.
How painful our God is when He sees some of you falling into the tribulation!
I urge you to bear this message in mind and to prepare for oil from now on.
I ask you to fervently pray and become filled with the Holy Spirit.
And I am telling you to wash your robe of the heart and prepare for bright and fine linen.
May each of you courageously and joyfully put yourself into the arms of the Bridegroom our Lord, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
Amen |
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