John 13:34-35 I am thrown away if Christ does not live through me

John 13:34-35 34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." We are witnessing a huge wave passing through our midst. It is a like a post-earthquake tsunami or the large storm Sandy which is trying to shake our church and our homes. Last week was the first service we had for 2013. Do you remember the message? To be victorious in the spiritual battle you must continue to remember and change your heart. The reason being, that as a pastor if I use the Scripture as a tool to bless the congregation, then we should becomes partners. I could preach you to receive blessings and you could give me part of it. It is simple. However, no matter how you approach it, no matter how I call upon the name of Jesus to give you blessings, if you the receiver of the blessings, are not ready to attain the blessings, then the blessings cannot be yours. During Friday night service, when Pastor Lee teaches from the Word, she teaches repeatedly that the Bible gives us two commands. That which we are to do and that which we are not to do. If we do what we are told then it will be a blessing for us. If you do not do what we are commanded not to do, that also is a blessing. We do not do what we are told yet try to receive the blessings. And we also do that which we are told not to do and still try to be blessed. Is this not the reason why we are not receiving the blessings? The book of Numbers is filled with blessings. If you do what follows then you will be blessed. And if you do not do the things you are told not to then you will not be cursed. To say it another way, if you sin then you will be cursed. If you do not sin then you will not be cursed. Then if you stay away from the path of sin you will be blessed. Unless you live a life of obedience, you will not be blessed no matter what blessings are preached from the pulpit. This is the curse. If I proclaimed the blessing of love for you but you do not love, you do not forgive, and you fail to receive the blessing, then it is a curse. You may think that because the pastor preaches on the messages of blessings, peace, health or any positive message that you are blessed, but it is only in knowledge that you know about the blessings, unless you apply it to your life and reap its fruit it will all be useless. It is a curse. There are many points that we can discuss on this matter. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Many people today go through discipleship training. They do an incredible amount of Bible study. But key to being a disciple is love. Without it no matter how much discipleship training I receive no one will know that I am disciple of Jesus. Jesus will not receive that person as His disciple. Then what use will it be? What does all that disciple training matter? "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." What does it mean when He says that "by this everyone will know"? People will know by my actions. That is what I will be recognized for. Though I have all the knowledge and have received all the training and have thoroughly studied the Bible, and received a doctorate in seminary school, but when I live my life if it is no different from those who are in the world, then will I be known as a disciple of Jesus? No. Will Jesus know me as His disciple? No. You do not have to study nor do anything, but as long as you can love others they way Jesus loves you then you will be His disciple and everyone will know that you are. The Bible is telling us to live a life that shows our love. If that is so, then we can be the one who receives all the blessings. The source from which we can receive all the blessings as a disciple of Jesus is to live a life on the foundation of obedience. John writes again in his later letter about love and I will introduce a few verses to you. 1 John 1:7 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Though I believe Jesus, and confess His name, if I do not live in the light, and do not have fellowship with one another, then the blood of Jesus will not purify us. But we confess with our mouths, we say we believe in the Lord but our lives are a mess but we think that because that we have called upon the name of Jesus that we are forgiven, but John tells us that it is not so. He tells us it is only when we live in the light and when we have fellowship then will the blood of Jesus, the Son, purify us from all our sin. A life that is not in Jesus is a life that will not be forgiven. It means the same thing either way you look at it. 1 John 2:3-6 3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands It is not enough to say that we know Jesus, we must keep His commands, but what commands? The new command He gave us which was to love one another. We must keep this command to be able to say that I know Jesus. If I do not love, then I do not know Jesus because I am not keeping His command. Without knowing Jesus and Jesus not knowing me can I say that I am going to heaven? Is there a back door to heaven? There is not. Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. If you desire to live a life in Jesus, then you will do as He did. We think by being able to answer a few questions that makes us Christians, but is the Bible not teaching us otherwise? 1 John 3:22-23 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. To love one another as he commanded us. We must love as He has commanded us so that when we ask anything in Jesus' name then we will receive. The requirement for having your prayers answered is living out the command that He has given us. 1 John 4:20 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Do I need to explain this? Though I do not explain this it has already been explained. In church we are all brothers and sisters. We sing hymns that we are all brothers and sisters and that we are all gathered here to worship God. But if I hate a brother or sister and dislike them for whatever reason, then can I say that I love God? I cannot. If I hate the pastor, elder, deacon or any other member, but I say that I love God, then is that confession of love true? It is false. But when we gather together we speak as if there is no consequence to our words. What we are really saying is that I do not believe Jesus, I do not love God. This is the true confession of our mouths. We are told that the words we speak will be the words used against us in judgement. We forget that the words I speak rashly out of my emotions will be used against me in judgement. The Bible tells us that through the tongue that there is life and death. It tells us to be careful of what we speak. But we do not. We speak whatever we feel like and then say sorry and think that everything is fine. Before we say sorry, the words that we have spoken from out of our hearts are a confession that we do not love God. It is the same thing. As Christians we must be careful. If the Bible is telling us that what we are confessing unseen things through our actions, then how attentive are we to be to God? The Bible is warning us but we do not even consider the thoughts. Why? Because we do not want to do these things. Isn't it the truth? It is because it pierces your heart. It is difficult. But the Bible keeps telling us that we will be judged for the lives that we will have lived. All that you have done on your own thoughts, standards, judgements. In everything that you have lived when you bring it before God as perfect, having cast out demons in the name of Jesus, receiving power, doing many things for God, gave many offerings, served in the church, went on mission trips, it will all be brought before God. But God will say that He will use a different standard to judge you and judges you as one who did it all illegally, then where will you go? Where will God send me? I will be cast out. If the Word that I choose not to see, is the Word by which I am judged, then I will have nothing to say. If I do not live the life as a disciple living in love as Jesus has shown, and not known as a disciple by others but used only the name of the Lord, then this life will be a wasted life. We must think about this life that is being shown to us as we live our lives of faith. 2 John 1:6 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. The truth is, the entire Bible says that have you heard, and to do as you have heard. It is telling us to not only keep it in our heads. We are to listen and to do. We are to love. If it says to forgive then we are to forgive. If it says to share then we are to share. If it says to serve then we are to serve. If today I cannot find it in my heart to forgive the other person and the day passes. You are too love but you rather you judge the other person. You are to share but you make excuses. You are to serve but you desire to lead. You have missed these moments and it is all being recorded by God When God brings up this matter to you, what will you say to him? If you have the confidence to answer then go ahead, but I have nothing to say to him. But as I stand here before you today with the message that I have been given the words in Scripture that are presented to you today, you must hear it and live it, that you may receive the blessings as disciples of Jesus. What is a basic preparation of one who wants to receive blessings? With the start of 2013 I desired many great blessings Blessing of revival, power and material. Do you not all also desire these things? If your neighbor this year was blessed with $1 million and you only half-million how would you feel? If your neighbor received 1 million you would want two million. Though I only speak figuratively in numbers but if you truly desire to receive spiritual blessings of God then as you desire 1 million or 2 million then you must prepare yourself to receive those blessings. You must live the life that will be blessed. You are not to look at others and be jealous of them. You must right yourself with God so that you can live the life, then will you not be ready to receive the blessings? When we look at the book of the law given by Moses we see that God promises many blessings. But there is a requirement for all of those blessings. That is his word. If you can confess that God is love, you must be able to know love, receive love, which is what you must do in order to love. You must first meet the requirement of receiving that love to make it your love. What is that love? The love that Jesus gave to me as he died on the cross must be lived out in my life. Then God's love will be complete in me. Is this not so? A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. What is the result of his love for us? He died on the cross. This is how we are to love to know the love of God. But we only try to love in theory. What is theoretical love? We use the other’s love to satisfy my need. What is a father's love? Children answered that it is when the father provides for the things that the child wants. People think that this is love. That is not love. True love is scolding the person when they are doing something wrong. Commending them for doing something well. Saying no to unnecessary requests and providing things though it is not asked for. Generally speaking when we speak of love we usually are speaking of our own satisfaction. We think that our wife loves us when they do what we want. We think our children love and respect us when they do what we want. Is this love? It may not be love. True love is giving freely without seeking anything in return. It is not about receiving but giving. To give without any demand like Jesus came to die for us. Everything is a sacrifice. Everything is at a loss for you. It is throwing everything away. That is love. Is this how you love? It is impossible. How can you love when you desire to be satisfied? The Bible tells us in order to receive blessings you must first do the act that is worthy of blessings. You must listen to the commands of God and live in obedience. Why is it this way? It is because God is the giver and you must satisfy Him in order to receive from. A parent will make sacrifices to provide for the child that is pleasing to them. It is the same in our life. I must please the one who is capable of blessing me in order to receive the blessing. I must live a life according to God's word and love others. To live my life as a disciple of Jesus that I may be living as a child of God. If this is what the Bible is teaching, then I must live in love so that God can be in me. If you choose to only receive God's love and not live in love and then you are living only for your satisfaction. It is a love that has nothing to do with God. If you love you must love in a manner pleasing to God so that you may receive his love. As I give you this message I examine my own life. In a time before I knew what living in the spirit was, as I was slowly coming into this life I got hung up on 1%. It was that last one percent that caused me to lose the blessing that God has prepared for me. I look back at it and laugh now but if I were to realize it a little bit sooner I could've come in the path that was easier and more blessed, and more peaceful doing God's work. During that time it was all about what I thought in my judgment and my understanding. Looking back now, Even in the events that have happened in the past two weeks, just as I was unable to receive God's blessing at that time there are many of you who are right now throwing away God's blessings in your life. But if we all sat down and talked about it all of you think that you are doing what is right. But in whose eyes is it not right? In God's eyes and according to His Word you are wrong. But out of your stubbornness you refuse to submit, and you continue with no end. You are throwing away your blessings. And yet you stand there convinced that you are righteous. You think by being stiff-necked that it is okay, that it is alright. I have said this many times before but will God return to you a blessing that you have thrown away? That blessing is gone. It is no longer yours. You are to put your focus on the things that you must do in order to receive the blessings. When I was 99% ready and the final one percent as God was sending down the blessing I turned over the cup and could not receive my blessing. In your personal lives you are given warnings to persevere and be patient and these final moments but you get angry and turnover your cup. We do this too often. What can I say? That blessing will never be yours. Because you have missed the blessing you will never know what that blessing could have been. But who knows? Yes, God knows but so do those other people around you. You are the only one who does not know what blessing you have missed. This is the problem. Because you have not received it , your life is no different than before. There is no change in your life from yesterday and today. That is fine because you do not know what blessing you failed to receive and you live just as before without knowing. When things get difficult you try to pray, but that is not it. I use myself as an example. Had I known a little bit earlier little bit sooner then maybe I could have helped you with your anger to stop it from coming out at least one time sooner. But I was foolish and let too much time pass. As I stand here before you today, we can think of it as trials that we must all go through, but when I see what you are going through I can only say how sad it is to see you do what I did. Examine your life and look back at those moments where you disobeyed and the results that followed. Of course you may see no difference. But had you obeyed in that moment in that day then maybe today you would be faced with a different challenges. The moment you say or do something wrong may be the moment you lose your blessing. We think that we lose blessings because we break things, lose our anger and make a big scene. But in front of God where I lose the blessing is at the moment I speak something that I have been harboring in my heart or act defiance or have doubt in my heart. These are the times that I have lost the blessings. That is why the Bible warns us always be awake. When Peter speaks of the devil as a lion do they always go about roaring? No, he does not. At times he may come as an angel of light. We do not know how he will come but in the moment it could be a thought, the wrong heart, the venting of your emotions. These are the moments we are being bitten by the lion who is the devil. At those moments you do not feel pain. If it were a real lion we would be dead. When the devil comes and grabs a hold of us in our thoughts and in our hearts in those moments we actually feel better because we are reaffirming our thoughts and our actions. We do not feel our wrong. But these are moments where we are actually killing ourselves. There was a video clip on YouTube that we saw together. It was a about snake venom and a cup of blood. I never knew the reason as to why when you were bitten by a snake that you would die. I thought that it was the poison that killed you. It was a cup of blood and they added one drop of snake venom. With that one drop they shook the cup once and they poured the blood out. The blood which was previously liquid had turned into something like Jell-O. It was instantaneous and it dropped as a solid chunk. In 1 to 2 seconds the blood had become solid. So the venom goes into the body makes it thick and it no longer circulates. One drop of venom. One misspoken word is death to me. One wrong word is putting my life in danger. It is like the Titanic that is sunk by an iceberg. There is no difference. But we are numb to this. Though we are bitten we do not know that we are dying. Though we have been bitten by the devil, we think that we live without realizing the spiritual death that we are experiencing. Is this not what it means to be asleep in the spirit. If you want your family to be in love and to be blessed, then from your life you are to love. There can be no hate in your heart when you love. But we are dissatisfied with their wife, husband, children, our brothers and sisters. How can God bless a family that is filled with complaints and dissatisfaction and hate? No matter how much you pray your prayers will have no answer unless there is peace in the house. Why must you love and why must there be no hate? If you have an unforgiving heart then like the venom in you your spirit will become hard. You will die. It is not my wife who will die but I will die because I am the one who harbors the hate which is the venom. It is my spirit that dies. We think that it is not so. We blame the husband saying that he does not provide but it is not so. It is I who will die. If it takes root then this will become disease to my body. It is for me that our Lord tells me to forgive. It is for me that my Lord tells me to love. We think the one who receives love is the one who is blessed, but it is not so. It is the one who loves who is blessed. It is the one who forgives who is free, blessed and feels good. I must plant the seeds of love in my heart so that the fruit of love can grow in me and live a life full of it. It is not to live a life that is satisfied in the flesh, but to live as The Lord has loved me. Because I live a life in union with the Lord, the Lord will use me for his glory and his work. Is this not the blessing and the power of the Lord you want in your life? Do you not? What more would a Christian want than to have the power of Jesus be evident in their life? But to have this life, the fundamental requirement is to be filled with love, to rid yourself of all the worldly things of hate, jealously, anger, and to live a life as Jesus commands. Then the power will be evident in your life. It is not me who is revealed, but The Lord who lives in me. He will reveal himself through me and He will use me for His work which is the life of one who is blessed. Then we can say we are blessed. Should we not be the one who lives this life? Do you truly want to love? Even in the worldly love our heart goes to the ones we care for. If I love my wife I am concerned for her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. I will know if she is stressed, I will take interest in the things says, take notice of her hairstyle, I am concerned about everything she does. You would be concerned even about the dust on her shoulder. Your love would be evident. If you have no concern for how she looks or what interests her then there is no true love. But when you have the heart to care you help right the things that are wrong and help the one that you love. But when we say we love we argue, we complain and blame the other. We never thought to think to correct and to help. This is not love. If we see something lacking we are to understand. We are to desire to help. We are try to help in areas that they lack. Try to understand the reason for why they lack. When we start to understand, that is when loves starts. If I can say that I truly love God then the matters concerning God and the matters concerning Jesus and of the cross I must try to understand and apply it into my life. Though the world did not understand Jesus and crucified him, then will the world understand the life I live following the life of Jesus? They will not understand. But where should my heart still be? At the cross. At the feet of Jesus. When I surrender my life to be one with the life of Jesus then will I know His love. Then will I be able to confess that I love God and live the life as a Christian. How difficult it is to Iove. Most normal people do not understand the hardships of love. They think that by saying I love you that it is love. Many do not know how much they must sacrifice for love, the hardships they must face the perseverance they must endure. In perseverance through hardship, the life of sacrifice, is where you learn love. Love is not what you receive but what you give. You have been receiving God's love. It is because we fail to know this love which we have been given that we fail to give it. In order to teach us the lesson of love, God has a requirement of us. If we don't meet his requirement then can we fully receive His blessings? Ask yourself. Without satisfying the heart of the giver or fulfilling the duty as the receiver how can we fully be rewarded or accept the complete blessing that is promised? What Jesus taught is the answer. What did Jesus do when he was here? He did what he had seen His Father do. Everything was related to God. He lived His life in complete union with the Father. He did nothing in His own will. Then how are we to live our lives? It must be the same. Everything I do in my life, the things I seek to satisfy myself with, it is not to live for myself, but it is to live a life that God desires, which is in union with Him, according to the Scripture. This life is to be trained through the life of the family, in which you are to learn how to love, but the order of love is found in the Bible. You practice love in your family between parent and children, between spouses. The realities of love, the sacrifice, serving, ministering, giving. You practice and learn, but the order of love, according to the Word is that God first loved us. We must learn this lesson first, and use the standard for which He has given us, living the life that pleases Him, and loving my wife, loving my husband, loving my children, and serving my parents. But there are many times we do not do this. Why? Because we think that what we see is more real to us and we miss the warnings given to us by the Lord. When we miss the warning it is the moment that we miss out on our blessings as I have shared with you. The most important part of your life is the moment you hold on to the Lord. Our lives must be centered around putting God first. If we miss this we can never live a victorious life of faith. We think that we can do anything by using the Scripture but this is not so. To live in obedience to the Word, as Jesus has shown to us the life of obedience, is the life that pleases God. When we live this life, The Lord will know us, and others will see me and say that I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus. When we live this life, God will give this servant power so that God will be glorified. He will give Him strength to do. If a slave is weak and goes out into the world and is stepped on, who will be embarrassed? It is the owner. If I give my allegiance to the Master and live for His glory, then in order that God will be glorified He will give His slave power. It is power to live the life according to the Word, which is the blessing that we should attain. This is the life that pleases God. When we live this life, in this year 2013, which God has granted to us, and we live a life in complete obedience, will we not be able to say that we have received the greatest blessing that compares to no one else? Could this not be the year? May we live this life and be the light to many and be known as one who has lived as the disciple of Jesus and may you receive all your blessings this year. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park Translation by Miguel Park