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 Sermon > Theme Words of Life |
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Title |
2008 Prayer Title(2) - The Prepared |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
2 Timothy2:20-21 |
Date |
2008-01-04 |
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Scripture
2 Timothy 2: 20- 21
"Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work."
Introduction
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This is the first Friday all-night service for this year 2008.
I will deliver the message on the second prayer point of the New Year, the 'Prepared One'.
The kingdom of God is always in need of workers, and more workers are in desperate need at the final harvest time. It is just as Luke 10:2 says, "And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
The end of the human cultivation is drawing near.
To save just one more soul, we need just one more worker.
In particular, the duty given to our church is very closely related with the end of time.
Before the Lord comes back again, we have to preach the gospel to the end of the earth.
We also have to construct the glorious Grand Sanctuary to reveal the glory of God to the whole world.
In order to fulfill this important duty, God has given our church great power.
But all these duties cannot be accomplished just with the power manifested through me. God wants many men of spirit and men of whole spirit to fulfill the duty together.
It's because He wants many people to enjoy the glory together.
But though God is searching for workers, He cannot use all the volunteers.
Only enthusiasm is not enough; one must have the capability as well.
Just like the title of today's message, only the 'prepared ones' can answer the call of God.
Through this message, I hope you will all stand before God as prepared ones. I would like to fulfill the duties at the end time together with you.
I pray in the name of the Lord that when you later stand before God, you will receive great rewards and glory.
Body
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when you first heard the scripture reading today and the title of the message, some of you must have been reminded of our previous prayer titles.
The second prayer title for the year 2003 was the 'Prepared Vessel', and the passage reading was the same scripture as today.
Those who kept that message in heart and accomplished it must be being used by God preciously.
What was the prepared vessel? Today's passage 2 Timothy 2:20 says, "Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor."
There are many kinds of vessels such as gold and silver vessels and earthenware, and the sizes also vary from big dishes to small bowls.
Among these many vessels, which one would the owner use? First, it has to fit the purpose. It's not comfortable to drink soup from a plate.
Also, if we put something which is supposed to be on a plate in a cup, it is also uncomfortable.
Also, among the vessels that fit the purpose, it would be better when it feels familiar in the owner's hand.
Among many vessels for the same purpose, there are vessels that the owner uses more often.
It's because it is easier to use and it also fits the taste of the owner.
Also, the important thing is that the vessel has to be clean.
Even if it feels familiar in the owner's hand and fits the purpose, we cannot use it when it's not clean.
These conditions are the same in spirit, too.
What does it spiritually mean to properly serve the purpose? It means we must have what it takes to be used in each area.
To be a pastor, a teacher, or a praise-leader, we have to have the qualities for those duties respectively.
In case of technicians, they have to constantly improve their skills to use for God's kingdom.
Of course, in any kind of duty, we first have to have spiritual qualities basically.
Namely, we have to arm ourselves with the word of God and accumulate prayer.
Next, "to be familiar in the owner's hand" means that we have to obey.
Even though we have great talents and abilities, we cannot be used if we do not obey.
Suppose God's will for us is to go east, but if we are going to the west, we cannot accomplish God's works.
Thirdly, the most important qualification as a prepared vessel is to be a clean vessel. To be a clean vessel means to be a man who has cast off evil from his heart and become sanctified.
Of course, it is better to be a big vessel to contain more things, and good to be a golden vessel.
But even though it is very precious and big, we cannot use it if it is dirty.
To the extent that we are sanctified and become a clean vessel, we can receive strength to fulfill our duties. Also, we can obey completely to the extent that we are sanctified.
Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."
1 Corinthians 4:20 says, "For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power." God's kingdom cannot be accomplished though human strength and wisdom.
It is spiritual battle against the enemy devil and Satan, so we must have spiritual power.
Spiritual strength and power can be bestowed upon us to the extent that we have cast off sins and become sanctified.
That is why God is always looking for the workers who are sanctified and have spiritual power.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you know very well the importance of sanctification.
Until today you have heard and learned so much through the messages as to why we have to be sanctified, how we can be sanctified, and what kind of blessings will come once we are sanctified.
Regardless of gender and age, most believers here earnestly pray for sanctification. Even kindergarten children clasp their little hands together and pray to become sanctified.
Sanctification is a must for God's children.
But especially, for workers who have duties, you have more earnest desire for sanctification.
Now, how much are you prepared as a clean vessel?
Many people have been crying out in prayer continually to become a sanctified, spiritual worker.
You sometimes fasted and prayed all night.
You tried again and again not to accept even the slightest untruth, but to go into spirit.
As a result, in the last year 2007, many of you have come into spirit.
Also, there are many who are close to spirit. And God is revealing each of those who are prepared.
If you are spiritually qualified, your age, title, or gender does not matter.
Though not pastors, God will use even laymen members, and He will appoint you as a leader even if you are very young.
From now, whenever there is a prepared worker, God will appoint him/her in the position that He wants.
But even in this kind of rapid flow, there are workers who are not prepared yet.
Even 10 years or 5 years ago, they said, "I will diligently prepare myself," and they are still preparing themselves.
And why is it that still they are not prepared?
They said they longed so much, prayed, and fasted in an effort to become sanctified, and why is it so slow? First, it's because they have not tried in detail and with a constant effort.
They just vaguely wanted to become sanctified, and they did not analyze themselves by every single detail.
For example, let us say there is big piece of rock in the center of the road.
It's difficult for you to lift it up at once and move it.
But if you break it into many pieces, then, you can move it easily and quickly.
Likewise, if you just vaguely pray, "Please make me holy, let me cast off sins, give me good heart," then the changes will be slow.
We have to pray in detail for each thing as to what kind of sin and what kind of evil heart we have.
Also, it should not be just a routine prayer with lips but you have to tear your heart. You have to extremely hate the fact you have such fleshly natures in you.
Then, when you face a similar situation, you must have self-control not to make the same wrongdoing ever again.
If you cast off sins one by one this way, you will change month after month.
But in some cases, you find your faults in detail, but you just stop at finding them.
If you find something, you have to try until you see the end of it, but instead you try to some extent and then stop.
Before, when I delivered messages in revival meetings or other conferences, many people confessed with joy.
"I was so touched." "I really found myself." "I feel like I can be sanctified very soon."
But after a couple of years, they confessed the same thing. After, they could not cast off the things that they had previously found.
Of course, it is such a great grace of God to find out the untruth of which you have not been aware.
Furthermore, sometimes the Holy Spirit reminds you of your past to let you realize how that kind of untruth was planted in you.
When you receive this kind of grace and have spiritual understanding, and when you repent of it, you are full of the Spirit.
You feel like you cast it off completely and you changed.
But it cannot be cast off just by repenting once.
When you remove the weeds in a field, if you leave the roots, they will grow up again.
In the case of sinful natures, you cannot solve the problem completely just by repenting once.
You have to pull out the original root of the sinful nature. Until you are 100% sure you pulled it out completely, you have to check yourself and pray.
I gave you my testimony many times. When I was a new-believer, I used a notebook to become sanctified.
If there were things that were not right according to the word of God, I wrote them down. When I accomplished those things later, I erased them from the note.
Just finding your shortcomings and writing them down cannot solve the problem. You have to try until the end, until you can erase what you have written.
The reason you write is to remember it in your prayer all the time.
Until you can erase that point from the note, you must not let it go from your heart today, and tomorrow.
If you just pray for some time and forget about it, what is the use of it? You find yourself again and again, and you just keep on finding the same kind of untruth in you. And you spend several years that way.
Of course, if you have so many things to cast off, you cannot write all of them down.
But I also told you how to deal with this kind of situation. If you have so many things that you find, you first have to pull out the big roots.
When the big roots are pulled out, the small roots will be pulled out together.
You can concentrate on the big things that are difficult to cast off, and if you do throw them off, you can cast away other things easily.
When you remove sinful natures from you this way, you feel more exciting and happier day by day in your Christian life.
There is no reason to have a stoppage. You will not lose the fullness of the Spirit, either.
But if you do not keep on trying continually paying attention to the minutest details, you are likely to have a stoppage in faith. Then, you just try to prepare yourself all the time, not being able to be really prepared and appointed by God.
As you do this, the difference from men of spirit will be wider and wider.
When you see others who were after you go ahead of you, you may be ashamed of yourself and lose heart.
But it's not too late. I hope you will not just try to cast off flesh but actually do cast it off.
I urge you to not just try to prepare your vessel but to actually prepare your vessel.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the reason why you are slow in changing yourself is, secondly, because you do not find yourself.
The first case that I just explained is when you know about the untruth in you.
It's just that your deed of casting it off is slow. But the second case is that you don't even realize what kinds of untruths you have in you.
Sometimes, you cover the untruth with truthful heart and deceive yourself.
Because you don't break your self-righteousness and frameworks, you don't realize yourself.
About these cases, I have been explaining many times through many seminars.
From now, let me just give you three examples of this kind. First is that you only think about what you did well, and forget about what you did wrong.
Suppose you did some work for the kingdom of God with so much fervor.
But in the process, you gave hard time to others and the peace was broken.
Because you had your stubbornness and strong opinions, you clashed with others. Even in this situation, if you have self-righteousness and frameworks, you cannot find yourself.
You just think, "I did it for the kingdom of God. I didn't try to break the peace."
But if you really don't want the peace to be broken, you will follow others' opinions, even if your opinion is more right.
Even when you have to face some loss, even when you cannot do what you want to do, you will do what others say.
Especially, if it is the instruction of your boss, you will obey it.
Of course, you will not obey if it is a sin.
If it is not untruth and not sin, I am asking you to consider other people's standpoints first.
If you ignore other people because you are more right than them, it means you feel it's OK to break peace. Also, because you want to do a certain thing so much, even if your boss tells you not to do it, you still do what you want.
And you say your boss is giving you a hard time.
This is not the kind of heart that seeks peace.
You are actually not even keeping the basic order, not to mention having peace.
Still, those who don't realize themselves only give excuses.
They say, "I didn't try to break peace." "I really want peace, but I cannot agree with him." This is not a truthful attitude.
Of course, they think they want peace in their thoughts. But in actuality, what is their heart like?
In their heart, they think, "I cannot help but break peace to do what I want." They do not try with deeds and truthfulness but only with words and tongue.
But still, they think highly of themselves thinking they tried to pursue peace. That is why they cannot become sanctified quickly.
Secondly, it is the case where you just think of the wrongdoings of others, covering your own faults.
For example, let's say Deacon Kim did something wrong. Now, Deacon Lee revealed it before many people and embarrassed Deacon Kim.
Then, Deacon Lee had ill-feelings against Deacon Kim, and their relationship became cold.
Here, who did wrong?
Those who do not realize themselves only think about what others did wrong.
Deacon Kim thinks, "Deacon Lee revealed my wrongdoings, which resulted in breaking peace." "Because he did wrong, I cannot but act this way."
On the other hand, Deacon Lee thinks, "I just spoke the truth, and Deacon Kim is such a narrow-minded man. That's why the peace was broken."
If you really long for sanctification, you must not think of other people's faults. You have to be on alert look back on yourself in everything.
1 Timothy 5:22 says, "Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin."
It's true even when 99 out of 100 of it was the other person's fault, still one of them is your fault.
You must be able to repent of that one wrongdoing.
Thirdly, it is when you find untruth in you, but you just deny it.
Suppose a person did something rude, and you gave a bit of advice to him. Of course, you sometimes have to advise others, but when you do that, you really have to do it with true love and meekness.
Even if you speak very softly on the outside, if you had ill-feelings, you know it.
If there had been any kind of uncomfortable feelings, you have to repent of it and pull it out.
But some people speak with ill-feelings, but just think that they spoke with love for others.
Sometimes, their good conscience is pricked. But they keep on denying while thinking, "I am not the kind of person to have ill-feelings."
It's because of spiritually arrogant thinking that they have accomplished spirit to some extent.
Those who long for sanctification with humbleness will look back on themselves once again, even if they had no ill-feelings.
They will think, "Did I really advise with meekness, and was I really right in the sight of God?" "Didn't I hurt the other person because I didn't consider his viewpoint enough?"
Let me give you another example.
Suppose you couldn't get what you really wanted, but another person got it.
Here, though for a moment, you were disheartened.
If you cast off envy and jealousy from the bottom of your heart, you will not have such feelings.
Because another person got something good, you rejoice with the truth as if you yourself had got it.
If you are disheartened even for a moment, you have to realize that you have that kind of untruth in you.
Even if it was for a very short moment, you have to acknowledge the fact that you have that root of evil in you. Then, you have to focus on it in your prayers to pull it out. Otherwise, the same kind of feelings will come out again next time.
But some people turn quickly away from being disheartened, and deny the fact that they were disheartened.
"I tried to rejoice with the truth. So, I have the heart rejoicing with the truth." They just think this way.
Of course, it is important to turn back immediately when untruth in you is revealed.
When you are disheartened, you shouldn't be disheartened continuously. You have to change it into joyful heartedness immediately.
But when you change your heart in that moment, if you do not acknowledge the existence of the evil heart in you, the same thing will happen again.
In every similar situation, you are discouraged again, and you just turn back again.
Because your foundation is not changed, sanctification is slow.
Brothers and sisters, until now, I explained to you the cases where you do not realize yourself.
The reason why you do not realize yourself is mostly because of spiritual arrogance.
It's because of your heart that doesn't want to acknowledge yourself within your self-righteousness and frameworks.
In order to realize these things, you have to humble yourself all the time.
At the same time, you have to seek the grace of God to find yourself and throw it away.
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Isaiah 6:8 says, "Then I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" God is searching for sanctified and holy people to accomplish His works.
Especially in this end time, more men of spirit are needed.
But even though you want to be used so much, and still God cannot use you, how agonizing it is!
You listened to so many messages and led a Christian life, and if you are not prepared, it's such a shameful thing.
But it's not too late.
I hope you will long for the grace to find yourself with a completely humble attitude.
Then, with fervent prayer with all your heart, I urge you to pull out even the roots of all kinds of untruths that you find.
I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that, by doing so, you will all be used preciously for the kingdom of God. |
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