How To Be Obedient To The Word.

SF.1.11.2013 How to be obedient to the Word. The one who is obedient to the word. What does it mean to be obedient to the word? The Bible is the Word of God. It is evidence. It shows us that God lives, that he is with us, that Jesus is our groom. It shows us how the Holy Spirit guides us. It shows us how we are to live in the arms of God and be witnesses for the Gospel. This is the Bible. But we have a hard time understanding this Word. When we have been blessed with little gifts of knowledge, understanding, power, and anointing, we think that we have attained everything. We think that we are worthy. We fall in the pit of pride. We have visions, and see dreams, hear his voice, and see heaven and hell. But these are only a glimpse to let us know that these things are. But we become proud. When we hear his voice, are filled with the Spirit, prophesy a little, we think that we are more important than the Word that he has given us. We put ourselves higher than His Word. We do not understand His word. We do not understand God and His mercy for us. Even when we talks amongst each other we have misunderstandings. We do not understand each other. When God,who has created the entire universe speaks to us, we do not understand, but we try to understand and when we do not understand we do not obey. For some it leads to complete disregard for God. This is why we do not understand the Bible. It does not matter how much you read it, you will not understand it unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to you. But because we have attended church regularly and have learned from other teachers we mistakenly believe that we know the Word of God. With this knowledge we think we know God. When you ask many people how many times they have read the Bible they have not read it much. Some have not even read it once. They have no idea what the Bible contains yet they assume that they know who God is and what His word says. With what little we know we act as if we know everything. We are fake believers. The more I read the Bible the more I do not understand it. The deeper I go into the Word the more I do not understand the depth of God and his heart. When I first came to know God and read the Bible I thought that I had understood much and realized many things. I became proud. But the more I prayed and read the Bible, the more I had to humble myself because I did not know. Is the Bible a complete description of God? No. It is just a small portion so that we can put our faith in Him and follow Him. If you truly want to know God you will only know him when you go and meet Him in Heaven. But having not gone to Heaven yet we think that we know God well. We think that we know Him. We are too proud. Many pastors share that they cannot know the Bible completely. Yet with what little we know we think we know everything. With what little we know we think that we have a complete understanding. Because of our pride rather than go through the training we refuse to be disciplined by God. We think that the year, three years, five years or 10 years is sufficient. This is what we go around saying. What is sufficient? If anyone is to bother us we fall down, our pride rises up, we get angry, we hate them, and yet we say that we have trained enough. If someone falls, we judge and persecute them. The more I go through discipline the more I believe that it never ends. We will be trained until the day we are called to stand before Him. Why? We are beings made from dirt. In us he breathed life and gave us spirit. He has allowed us to understand the things of the spirit. Through the sin of Adam and Eve we were considered dead in our spirit. It is only through our faith in God that our spirit is given new life. And just as a child is born and raised our spirits must also be raised up. We think that with a little life in our spirit that we have completely grown up. We think highly of ourselves. We think that we are worthy and that is why God has blessed us. We are mistaken and stand in a foolish place. We take pride that we have believed in God for five or 10 years. We think because we have been raised up in the church since our mother's womb it becomes a status symbol for us. We boast about how many generations of believers are in our family. Of what use is that? If I do not believe in God right now I cannot go into heaven because of the generations of believers from which I come from. Though I may come from generations of unbelievers if I believe in Jesus Christ today and I obey him then I can go to heaven. But we boast about being believers since our mother's womb. God promises great blessings to be passed on from generations to generations. Even in my family it is been passed on from generations. Because of the generations of believers in my family it has been easier for us to continue in the faith and follow him in obedience. This is a blessing. But to be proud of this blessing, and to not truly live the Christian life because of this blessing and not pray or read the Bible, and think that you will go to Heaven because you come from a history of believers in your family is unbiblical. You will not. You have misunderstood the Word. Do not be mistaken. You will not go to Heaven just because you are a pastor's child, or because you are a pastor. There are many testimonies of pastors who are in Hell. You do not go to Heaven because you are elder, deacon, a church member, or because you have some duty assigned to you at your church. We are being shown that there are many elders, deacons, church leaders who are in Hell. Faith is individual. I must believe in Jesus to go to Heaven. It is a great blessing to have parents who believe and also children who believe. But if your parents believe but you do not believe then that blessing is not yours. There are many believers today who stand strong in the faith though their parents do not believe. Do not misunderstand God's word. Do not misunderstand His providence. All people, even nonbelievers call out to God when they are in trouble. They will call out to Jesus. They will call out to God. It is because God is our Creator. When a nonbeliever drowns he will not call out to Buddha but he will call out to God. All people seek God though some unknowingly. Atheists are fools. Why? All of God's creation, the wind, trees, flowers, lakes, stones, waters, seas, praise and worship their Creator. But the part of creation who God has put special care into, us, we distance ourselves from Him, and betray Him. We do not understand Him. We choose to live our lives according to our stubbornness and our desires. If I were God I would rid the planet of us. But God is patient. He continues to wait for us even today. Even today He asks us to return to Him. But even this has a timeframe. It is not forever. There will be a time when He will no longer calls us. There will be a day of judgment. When we die it is our time to face judgment. We say that these are the last days. Many people are proclaiming that these are the end times. They are saying that it will be time for rapture soon. There will assuredly be and end. God is love and it is His love that has been patient with us until today. It is this love that requires judgment of us. It is because God is love. He cannot stand the sight of evil. He will not tolerate it. When the land becomes filled with sin and God's patience can no longer tolerate the sin then His wrath will be unleashed like on us like Sodom and Gomorrah and He will bring an end to it all. But we think that this planet will be here forever. It is not so. When our sin has reached capacity judgment must be faced. Many other pastors are also proclaiming this message. They are pleading for people to repent. They are pleading with that America would change its course and its purpose. They are pleading that Korea would change its purpose. But who is listening? Who is listening, understanding, and praying? It is not the sin of the unbelievers that is bringing the judgment. It is the sins of the believers that God is inquiring about. God is inquiring about the sins of the believers and especially of those who pray. To those who pray God has made known things to them. We will be responsible for these sins. What will you reply to God then? Will you still think that you are better than others? Will you continue to betray God in your pride because you have received gifts, anointing, revelation, and power? Will you not pray for the land and country that you live in though it is dying? The choice is in your hands. If those who are called to pray would do so then God will delay judgment. This all depends on those who are called to pray. There is an earnest pleading to pray. Times are difficult even here in this land. God is telling all of those who pray to pray. He is pleading with us to do so so that he can be patient with us. But of those who hear this message, who is humbling themselves and praying? Those of you who are here are all people of prayer. We are all living here. America is our home and Korea is also our home. How diligent are we in holding on to the words of God and praying for his will to be done? How are you applying the Word of God into your life? How has the word of God been applied into your life that it has pierced your mind, body, and spirit so that you would humble yourself, repent and live in His will? How are you obedient to the Word? How will you obey? Is it by living the way you desire? Is it by doing what you want? Is it by thinking that you have done enough? Is it by thinking that you have received enough training and discipline from God? Jesus himself trained for 30 years. Why would he need training? His ministry only lasted three years. But we think that with what little we know, with what little we have experienced, with a title of elder or deacon we become proud. We have no humility, we do not know how to humble ourselves. We have no thought of receiving training. The more I do my ministry the more I must be trained, more humbled, and more unseen. If you think that you are standing then you must be careful that you might fall. You have already fallen down if you think that you are standing, that you are getting better, that you have received power, and that you have received enough training. The root of the tree has been uprooted. But yet you think you are so worthy. You boast that you have seen Heaven and Hell. Do not be proud. If you are proud then the voice you say you hear is not God's voice. It is only your thoughts. It is from the devil. This is why many pastors have a hard time accepting the words of those who do certain ministries because people come with their own thoughts while claiming that it is God's command. That is why we are told to test the spirits, to verify it and then follow. How can you test the spirits if you refuse to listen? This problem has been a great hindrance to the work of the Holy Spirit. This gives the evil spirits great freedom to do their work. Please be humble. Humble yourself before the Word of God. Obey. Only then can the words pierce your heart and change your life. Understand what God is saying to you. Be the person who is obedient to the Word of God. Just as it says that the truth will set you free, I pray that we will truly be free and united in rejoicing and thankfulness. Let us pray. Sermon by Pastor Joy Youngsook Lee Translation by Miguel Park