Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Without Repentance Heaven Cannot Be Mine
8.31.2012
Spirit Fruit Church
Without repentance heaven cannot be mine.
Without repentance, without being clean we know that we cannot enter into heaven.
The way of repenting and being clean is shown to us in the Word, but we refuse to look at these teachings. We know that we must confess our sins before God, but we have difficulty admitting our faults to Him because we must humble ourselves and that effects our pride. Rather than admit our wrongs, we try to make ourselves good by covering up our sins through deceit and this prevents us from repenting. But if we do not repent we cannot enter into heaven.
Even amongst ourselves, between fellow people and enemies, we cannot hide from each other no matter the distance between us. Within us, we know and feel the pull of the relationship. When there is tension between people, you may act as if nothing is the problem and pretend to go on with your life, but it does not mean that the issue has been resolved. It is the same between us and God.
We may come to church, read the Bible and pray to Him, but if there is something between us then God cannot accept our worship. The Bible teaches us that when there is something that is in the way of our relationship with God, He will not answer our prayers. Rather than heed the message, understand it and follow what it says, we refuse to repent. We make excuses that we have done nothing wrong. We blame the other people, our parents, our children, our neighbors, our employers, or our employees. The path to repentance is blocked because rather than accept the blame we put the blame onto others. There are times that we may be right, but more often we have done more wrong. When we acknowledge that we are wrong we are hurt in our pride. We become discouraged. We think to ourselves that we have done so much for God and have believed in Him for so long, and think that we are not bad. We compare ourselves with nonbelievers and think that we are better than them because at least we believe in God. It is easier to preach repentance to a nonbeliever than it is to one who has believed in Jesus for some time. Those who have faith have a hard time accepting that they must repent. This is a bigger problem.
I went to church since I was a child an knew nothing outside of school and church. As I grew up, God told me to repent, but I asked what must I repent of? I had not stolen, I believed in Jesus, what had I done that required repenting? I knew nothing of the world. But when God came and met me, He told me to repent. I did not understand. I really knew nothing outside of the church. I thought that going to church was so important that if I stopped going to church that I would die. I thought if I stopped reading the Bible I would die. I prayed the way I thought I should pray.
I realized that there is a difference between who God is and who I thought God to be. We think that all the things we do for God, going to church and serving others makes us right before God, but God desires that our relationship between He and I is proper first before we do other things. We think that we are showing our allegiance to Him through our works. God desires that I believe He is my Father and my Savior. I thought that I did.
As time passed I realized that I did not understand what it really meant to believe in Him. When two people are involved in a relationship they desire to be with each other. God desires that I want to be with Him, but we think that God desires that we serve Him. We think that by going to church, volunteering, sacrificing, going to daybreak prayer that we are right with Him.
When I was young, we went to church 8 or nine times on Sunday. I was so dedicated. I was at church before the sun came up and returned home about midnight. I was a youth teacher, attended the youth services and the adult service, and went to all the meetings. By the time everything was done we had at least 8 or nine services. I did what I thought was my best because I was raised in the church. But God cares more about my relationship with Him. He wants to be in a loving relationship with you first. Who would do the church work? He would tell me even though you I did not do it someone else will do it. Did the church close when I did not do the work? It did not.
We meet here and we do not have any separate groups or meetings. You come to church twice a week, but how difficult is it to try and live according to the Word? It is not about going to church as many times as possible in a week, it is about living your life according to the Word that is living out the will of God. God looks upon you with favor when you take what you have heard, meditate on it and practice living it out during the week so that you can be one with Him.
God alone is able. He does not need our help in accomplishing His will on earth. He loves us and places us where we belong to give Him glory, but not at the expense of our relationship with Him.
Between spouses, if the wife hands over all responsibility to the husband but does nothing, will the wife be loved? If the wife cooks and cleans, but does whatever she wishes against the will of her husband, will the husband love his wife? He will not.
God gives us the family so that we can learn about His love for us through the family structure. This is the foundation from which we must learn. We have a problem with understanding how we are to live before God and how we are to repent because the family has become broken today.
We approach God the way we live with our families and so we see God from our broken world view and we do not know Him properly and therefore do not know how we must live which is the way He desires that we do.
This is why we are unable to repent.
Between spouses when we have wronged each other, we should apologize specifically for what it is that we have done wrong, but rather than admit what it is that we have done wrong, we throw out a generic apology and ask to be forgiven, but what are you apologizing for? It is not really an apology. You cannot be forgiven. Because we are like this with one another, when we pray to God it is the same. ‘I am sorry for everything , God forgive me.” Yes, God does know everything, but you must confess with your mouth so that God will forgive you for that sin. We refuse to do this. We say that the Bible tells us that God knows everything. Even though I do not say anything God knows, so when we say we are sorry we think God should forgive us for whatever we did.
Even between spouses, you may do that once or twice, but as time passes and those things build up, eventually you will divorce because in the end you will be enemies and have no desire but to separate. The devil desires this.
When spouses apologize to each other we must be specific about what it is that we seek in forgiveness. Husbands avoid admitting what they are wrong about and rather than openly saying it they just say “I told you that I’m sorry” and to drop the matter, or you buy flowers or a gift or dinner and think that the issue is resolved but what you are doing is only covering up the problem. This is how we approach God.
Rather than repent we give more offering or volunteer more at the church. We think that we have done enough to be forgiven. We tell Him to forgive us for our works. God does not need your offering. He does not need you to come and volunteer. Without being right with God first, everything else does not matter. The church will still function without your offering. Do not give your offering thinking that you are helping the church. Your offering is a gift to God it is not for the church. You give tithe and thanks offering because you are grateful for His grace and all His blessings that He has given you. If you think that you give offering to help the church keep its door open then your are wrong.
God has brought me here to this day by providing for my needs. Unless you truly follow the Word you cannot repent. You cannot fool God thinking that you have repented when you did not. Is God fooled by you? You are mistaken to think that you are fooling Him.
On the day of judgement, God will not tell you not to enter into heaven, but your sins will be evident and you will have no choice but to go to hell. In heaven there can be no sin and unless you repent while you are still alive you will never make it into heaven.
You may argue that you are not completely stained and there is only a little discoloration, but it is said God cannot look at sin. God cannot look at sin, and it is not because He does not want to forgive us, we cannot enter because of our sins. God must rid those that have sin. This is why daily we must repent of our sins so that we may stand before Him.
People say that forgiveness is once and final, so never sin again and live in joy. How great that would be but this can only be if you stop sinning.
If I continue to live in sin and do not repent then I will not be able to enter into heaven.
Jesus and John the Baptist both preached the message of repentance and said that the kingdom of heaven is near. We think that repentance is a one time act and do not realize that daily we commit sin through the things we see, hear, feel, speak and act. It would be great if we never sinned but even if you are confined to your homes you sin in your heart countless times a day with all the thoughts that pass through you as you judge others, hate others, and persecute them in your mind. When you leave your homes you may sin even more but even in your homes you are sinning.
God is not desiring that you confine yourselves to your homes to prevent you from sinning, or does He want you to go far away and hide. A believer is to be amongst people in the midst of it all, not away from society. We are to live amongst the nonbelievers and be the light and show them the way to live a life of faith and but rather than be examples of Christ we have become stumbling blocks to those who are true believers and making it more difficult for those who truly believe by bringing persecution on them for our false lifestyles. How can I enter into heaven when this is how I live?
We do not forgive, nor repent nor live the true life of a Christian. Rather because of me there are more nonbelievers because of my false lifestyle. When we witness to people and find out that they used to be a Christian they tell us that they fell away from the faith because of all the fake Christians. But when we look at those who do not believe we persecute them and say that they will go to hell. Just because you sit in church does not mean you are safe from hell. You will not all go to heaven. Only those who do the will of God will go to heaven. Only those who repent and live according to the Word. Those who live in the Word with joy and thanksgiving. If you do not live as a Christian you will not enter into heaven. You will not go because you sit in the midst of believers. It frustrating to think that people believe this.
The first requirement is repenting. It is no use to memorize the entire Bible, for without repentance you cannot enter into heaven. If after you repent, you do not change your life then likewise you will not enter into heaven. The one who repents must live the life of repentance, and to do so means that you believe in the Love of God and you must also reflect that Love. Therefore you must love.
You did not truly repent if you still harbor feelings of hate and anger. This is not repentance. The greatest command is to love. In order to love you must repent. You must forgive so that you can love. How can you love when you have hate inside you? How can you love someone when you are judging them? There is no love. When you see them you hate them. You dislike them because they do not listen to you. When you see them feelings of anger rise up inside you. How can your forgive when you feel this way? To repent you must forgive. Not only must we repent to God but we must forgive each other first. Our forgiveness must turn into love. Love must be evident in our lives. We must not hate others, we must have compassion on those who need compassion, we must help those who are in need. When I see someone who is hungry, then I must sacrifice from what I have and share with the one in need, this is love. If I must satisfy myself first then I will never have enough to give. We are unable to help others because we take care of all our needs first and have nothing left to give. Love is the same. We desire to give love after we have been filled with the love of others first. How selfish we are that we fail to realize that we have been given so much more love than we could ever hold onto that we desire even more?
Parents love their children. We think we give our children plenty of love. But ask a child if they think that their parent truly loves them and see how many believe so. The number is small.
We talk to many people and they all reply that they love their parents and that they love their children but dig a little deeper and we see that it is not as they say.
No matter how much love a parent gives the child think that they did not receive love. Parents also cannot love a child perfectly. But God’s love is complete. We have a hard time accepting His love because we do not know how to accept love nor give it. So even though God loves us we are unable to accept. We doubt His love. We question why would He love us? Then suddenly we become sinners and tell Him that we are filled with sin, that we are disobedient, that we do not deserve His love. We act holy. This is all an act. There is no lack in God’s love. We are unable to accept it. We do not understand it, because of our misunderstanding we do not understand the meaning of the cross. The death of Jesus on the cross is love. But we do not see it as love. Love is sacrifice. But we do not have the strength to sacrifice. It is because we are not one with God. Some have more strength than others but not many are willing to sacrifice all for Him. This can only be done when we are one with Jesus. You must have this love to go out and witness, so that we can go to our neighbors and help. Without this we go out and and for a little while we do what we can, but shortly after we burnout and question what it is that we are doing. The one who is completely in Christ and filled with His love is able to put their life on the line, and though their family be killed and scattered, and they are beaten and fall ill, because they are consumed with His love they are able to share that love until they breathe their last breath. This is true love.
Though you do not go out to the mission field, your life is your mission field and you are to live your life as a missionary. But you cannot sacrifice because you have not given your life to God, and you have not repented nor forgiven and there is no love inside of you. You are not clean.
This is why the Lord keeps telling us to repent.
We may say that the other person should forgive me. That is not the way. We must each seek forgiveness. There are times that we have hated and judged others. That other person does not know. God knows. You must ask God for forgiveness. You do not have to go and seek forgiveness when you have not wronged that person. But the wrongs that have been made known we must seek forgiveness. If that person is dead and gone then we must ask God to forgive us. Confess to God if you do not know the whereabouts of the person you have wronged. Seek forgiveness until God forgives you. Repentance is not easy. Sometimes it is easy at other times it is not. When you are wholeheartedly repenting then it is possible that you may be forgiven in that moment, but most often we are not sincere in seeking repentance and therefore we are not forgiven. It is not because God refuses to forgive us, it is because we fail to truly repent. We blame God for not forgiving us though we say we seek forgiveness.
When we go deep into your heart you see that it is you who has failed to truly repent.
This is why God cannot forgive you. If you truly desire to live by faith, then you must first take a look at yourself and see what it is that you are doing wrong. You must know your sin so that you can repent. When you do not remember your sins ask God to show you and he will remind you of them. We fail to do this. Generally speaking, we know our sins, but we like to cover them up and act as if there is no sin. God knows.
Those of you here are going through a difficult time because of all the sins that you are confronting and confessing to God. It is a trying time. Those things that God is showing you are the very things that you must confess and seek forgiveness for, but when the opportunity comes for you to seek forgiveness you become silent and do not repent.
There is a spirit of repenting here with us. You must repent. If you do not repent during this opportunity you will be responsible for it in the end. God is preparing us for something and before we can be used by Him we must repent and be right with Him. If you do no participate we will still continue forward. Do not think that we will not move forward without you. We shall. We will leave you behind. If no one else goes I will go alone. God’s purpose is more important than waiting for you. But if you decide to repent and go forward then we can go together. God desires that we go together as it provides strength and speed. If you do not want to be a part of it then you will be left out.
God sent His Son 2000 years ago for this reason. He desires to take even one more soul enter into His kingdom so He waits patiently. Do not mistake His patience for a sign to go and do what you want. God will do His will without you. God will take those who choose to believe in Him and use them. Do not be proud and think that everything hinges on you. What makes you think that God needs you and that He cannot do His will without you. You have mistaken God for Who He really is.
God desires to use those who obey Him.
When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt He used Moses who was obedient even though amongst the Israelites there were those who obeyed, and disobeyed, and those who were filled with joy and those who were not. God will take those who follow.
All was not perfect when they left Egypt. Form the moment they left they complained and blamed God for all their troubles. God still took His people to promised land of Canaan. If you fail to go then it will be your loss.
Even though I do not go, God will go. Though I do not do, God will do without me.
God desires that you repent, turn to Him and be with Him and find joy in Him. This brings Him pleasure. When you repent and do His work He can use you for greater things. If we fail to be used by God He will use others. I refuse to see that happen so I will do what God commands. I do this because I know His will. It is up to you whether you do or not.
The first thing you must do is lay it all down, repent, forgive and love.
This is the foundation from which you must grow. Without doing this you cannot advance.
Be victorious in your life of faith.
Sermon by Pastor Joy Lee
Translation by Miguel Park
Friday, August 31, 2012
John 3:16
The cost to be a citizen of heaven.
John 3:16
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life
We have been looking at how we must come to worship God.
It is my hope that the message I share is the same message that you have in your hearts as we look at John 3:16.
This is a verse that we use to share the Gospel and also for our own walk in faith. Jesus came to fulfill the will of God. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. In verse 14 it is written “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” We all know that Moses lifted up the bronze snake in the desert as it is written in the Bible. There is no explanation, no reason or science that can explain how looking up to a bronze snake could heal those that had been bitten by venomous snakes. Does this make sense? Science, medicine nor reason can explain the method God used to heal those who looked at the snake.
Jesus says that just as the snake was lifted up, that He too must be lifted up. Just as those who had been bitten by a venomous snake and were healed by the bronze snake, we who have been bitten by the venomous snake of sin and dying have been given an opportunity to live eternally by looking to Jesus and believing in Him. But what does it mean to believe?
We use this word “believe” many times when we talk to each other. It is used between husband and wives and parents and their children. Spouses tell each other that they believe in the other person. A parent tells their child that they believe everything will be alright. A child believes that their parent is the best that they will be taken care of. We use this word many times. But what does it mean to believe? What shows belief?
We believe that 1+1=2 and that can be explained and we understand it, but to use the word strictly between the conversation of two people, to believe someone is to abandon oneself and to put yourself in complete trust of the other. Does you understand? I must abandon myself so that the words that were given to me by the other person can be made my own and then we can be of one mind. To become one is to believe. Just as those who were bitten were healed by looking at the bronze snake, when I abandon myself and accept and believe that Jesus is my Savior, then the path to eternal life can be opened up before me.
Although science or medicine cannot explain how someone can be healed by looking up to a bronze snake, but if I have been bitten and they say this is the way to be healed, then I must bear the pain and agony and get myself to place where I can look at the snake and I must come to a point where I decide to put my belief in it and then go and act. Unless I abandon my thoughts, could I really get myself to go out and look at the snake when my life hangs in the balance?
Naaman went to see Elisha and he thought that Elisha would come out to meet him and wave his hand over him and then he would be healed of his leprosy. But not only did Elisha not greet him, he also was told to go wash in the Jordan river 7 times where the water was not as good as the ones in his home country. Naaman had already decided in his mind how he thought he was going to be healed and he was angry. His servant reasoned to Naaman that even if Elisha would have told him to do something more difficult that it would be worth doing to get healed so the servant persuaded Naaman to go wash in the Jordan. Naaman washed and he was cleansed of his leprosy.
I may have my own thoughts and make my own decisions but if it is not according to God’s Word then we must change our thoughts. We say we believe God and that He has provided us a way to eternal life. Is this eternal life attained by my thoughts or my experience? The Bible teaches us that we cannot attain eternal life through our thoughts, reason and experiences.
To believe is to abandon all of oneself and to be one with Jesus and His Word so that what we believe can be evident in our lives. God gives us countless warnings in our lives. When we look at the lives through the Word of God, we see that God has saved us so that we may give Him glory, and for us to give Him glory, we are to come before God as His children and worship Him and revere Him. God did not give us life on this earth so that we can eat well, live well and attain all the things that we want. The Lord of all living things has given us life so that we may glorify Him through His will. If I confess that God is my Father and that Jesus is my Savior and that I am led by the Holy Spirit then everyday my attitude must be that of an active worshipper. My life must be worship.
If we think that coming once a week on Sunday and going through the schedule of service meets the demands of what is required then we are missing the most fundamental principle of our lives that is shown to us in the Bible.
A car that has no key is useless.
When we rent a house or buy a house what is the last thing that is given to the owner? It is the key that gives the person access to the place. You can sign all the forms but without the key you are not getting inside.
The Bible gives us the key to the place where our Lord is, which is through our Savior Jesus and living the life that is shown to us in the Bible. If we fail to see this, and say that we are living the life of faith, then it is like signing the contract but not receiving the key. It is no use to have a key and not enter into heaven.
I say that we are to live a life of worship. What is worship? Naver (Korean search engine) defines it as “a reverent acts of devotion towards a deity”. It is an act. It is a reverent act with a heart of devotion and that is worship. In the church it is defined as the reading the Bible, and with prayer and praise, to show respect and reverence to God. It is the lifting and honoring of God.
The world worships their gods by bowing down to them. It is a difficult task. In the buddhist religion they sometimes bow 108 times or 3000 times depending on the circumstance. They do this because it fits the definition of worship which is an act. How have you labored in your worship of God? Is worship simply the reading of the Bible and singing and praying? Is that what worship is and nothing else? My life is to be a living worship laboring in holiness, praising, reading the Word and praying. This is the life of one who worships.
Anyone can go through the formalities of worship by reading the Bible, singing praises and praying. Even those who don’t believe in God can participate in worship. There are many buddhists who know the Bible. There are many Muslims who read the Bible. Many anti-christians know the bible well. What about singing praises? There are many contemporary Christian songs that the world enjoys and sings for themselves. What about prayer? Just as we read our verses they can use it and meditate on it as well, but does this mean that they are worshipping God? No, it does not.
True worship is that which God chooses to accept as we offer Him our hearts in the singing of His praises, praying and reading His Word. Our hearts, mind and body must be one in this purpose so that we can offer true worship.
When we say that we are worshipping or that we offer worship we are also saying that there is someone who is receiving that worship. Is this not true? Did you come today to listen to a sermon? Please, do not make this mistake. If you are here to listen to a pastor’s sermon then you have come here by mistake. You have misunderstood the purpose for being here. You are here to meet God through the time of worship. The sermon is only a time that which God has given insight into His Word which is being shared to you. We should be here to hear the voice of God speak to each of us. If this is not understood correctly and the pastor is seen as someone greater than a servant and is lifted up, there will be punishment from God for over stepping His authority.
If we are here to worship the one who is going to receive our worship, then how are we to worship Him? Once again we come back to this point.
As we come before God to worship let us see if we what we do as worship is proper.
I have emphasized many times before that we are to be careful when we speak. Pastors as well as everyone else say “let us go to observe worship.”
(Please note the translation for the term used in Korean is to “observe” or to “watch” and does not translate in the way that is used normally in English but the meaning is understood. The pastor is referring to two types of worship one that is as an observer as a fan at a game or the athlete who is actively engaged in the event. Both participate but only one worship is accepted).
Many have said let us go observe worship. What is the difference between the one who observes worship and the one who offers worship? The one who observes worship while they may sweat singing praises, cry while they pray, and do everything but because their heart was not in the right place before God they will not be able to receive any of the blessings for the worship. They only came to watch. I recently went to a baseball game. When the athletes were performing well, the people who paid to see them get excited and have a great time watching the event. This is the reason we go to watch these events. The one who came to observe worship may get emotional and do the acts of worship but what they really came to do was to be emotionally satisfied and did not really come to worship God. If this is the attitude we have when we come to worship God, we can spend our entire lives in worship and it will have been in vain. Will you receive salvation? We must start with changing the way we speak and the way we live our lives.
If what I say has the possibility of dishonoring God and hurting someone then I must be careful of the words which I speak. I must be careful of my actions because my life is to be that of one who is a worshipper. I am to give glory to God through my life as a worshipper. If what I say will hurt someone, if what I say will dishonor God, if my actions will dishonor God then I must restrain myself and not do it. The true worshipper will restrain themselves but the one who is only an observer will not.
We say we come to worship God but because we do not see Him, at times we focus our attention on the people around us. We are concerned with the pastor, the people we like and the ones we do not like. If our focus is on the people then can our attitude of worship be proper? It is not.
Why is it that we look to the people, go through the formalities, sing the hymns, pray, and give offering and then leave without putting our focus on God? Why are we fooled into thinking that we can say a few simple prayers and then all our sins will be forgiven? Why has it become like this?
In Exodus God gave to Moses the directions of worship. God gave them specific instructions on what they were to do and the sacrifices that were to be made. God gave them every detail. Depending on the sin the offering to be made was specified. So whenever they sinned an animal was sacrificed and all was forgiven. Isn’t that great? We could take out a big loan, not pay it off and then go get an animal and sacrifice it and our sin would be forgiven. Would that be nice?
By following these rules, we could see that all sins were forgiven, so there would be no reason to suffer any consequence, and the rich could sin more while the one who had less could not. You could think that if you brought a bigger animal the more cleaner you could be from your sin. Everything became formalities. All of worship became formalities. There seemed to be no consequence for the sin one committed and worship was a routine.
In order to change the way we worshipped, God sent Jesus to us.
God sent His Son to give us a new way of worship. Is the way we worship any different from the way of worship in the Old Testament? There is no difference. We say we look to Jesus who was on the cross 2000 years ago, but the difference is that today rather than bringing an animal sacrifice like the Israelites did at that time, we come with less of a burden and with more ease as we confess our sins before God as we go through the formalities of worship.
We argue that we need not pay a price because we have been given freely. Do you know why that God does not require you to pay a price? For those of you who have studied the Bible, why does God not require payment? It is not because there is no value, but it is because the value is priceless and no one can pay it.
There is nothing that you can offer that can be exchanged for the blood that Jesus shed. Even your life does not come close to the value of the blood. That is why God offers it freely.
So do you think that it is free?
Jesus teaches us that there is a cost to receive His sacrifice.
Although my life is not required we are required to come to worship God and bring a gift of reverence for the blood of Jesus. This is what we can see in the Bible. We forget this principle as we come before God and try to worship Him.
Matthew 4:17
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
There is a popular saying in Korea right now that says “Jesus is the way to heaven, every other way leads to hell.” What is the requirement for getting into heaven? It is repentance. When Jesus tells us to repent He is telling us that without it we will have nothing to do with Him. To repent means to give myself to God. It is not to give the life that is in me, but it is to give Him all the hidden dirty things in my life. He is not asking us to give Him the good things but He is telling us to give up all the bad things by repenting. Have you repented? Then He says in Matthew 4:19 “Come and follow me.” He tells us to follow Him, but many of us reply that we like where we are at and do not follow Him. He further teaches us to “Be perfect...as your heavenly Father is perfect.” He is teaching us to live lives as perfect as God. Do we think about these things when we say that we believe in Jesus?
Matthew 6:14
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
If there is someone in your life that you cannot forgive then you yourself will not be forgiven by God. It does not matter how much good you do, if when you see someone you hate you have feelings of anger and resentment inside you. Jesus teaches us that you will not be forgiven. Do you forgive everyone? We laugh about having arguments with our spouses that go for months or bring up things that happened years ago because we have not resolved those issues. These things happen because as time has passed and we have been together for so long that we just overlook those things. But if we take a serious look at our lives we will see that there are many sins that we have committed from the time we were married until today, but have we forgiven each other? If we have not, then Jesus teaches that will too will not be forgiven. If I am not forgiven how can I expect to enter into heaven? We are being told to pay the cost of forgiveness. God is not telling us to give up our lives but He is telling us to make the payment of forgiveness and to forgive others before we come to worship Him.
He teaches us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Do we? He is telling us to make this payment. He is not telling us to live for our pleasure for our comfort but He is telling us to pay the cost of seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness first before we come to worship Him.
He teaches us to seek, ask and knock. When? We are to seek, knock and ask for that which God desires to do in our lives. If we are seeking, asking and knocking in prayer for our selfishness, then our worship gives no glory to God.
Matthew7:13
13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
He says that only those who do the will of the Father will enter into heaven.
These are the payments that are required to be paid. These are the costs. We can put a monetary value on life, but what is really required is your very life. When you offer your life you are making payments. These payments are to be made in the life of worship in which you were called and saved. Wherever you go, whatever you do you are to live as a believer in Jesus, as a child of God, being led by the Holy Spirit as an example to others and for this you were called. This is the payment that the Lord says must be paid as it is written in the Bible. Are we living this life?
This is what Jesus teaches. Is this the life that the disciples lived? We think that it was easy for them. Let us look at some of the writings of Paul, Peter and John.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
The body that you think is yours is not yours rather it is the temple of God. It belongs to God. Do you think about this in your life? We do not. It says that since we were bought at a price to therefore honor God. This is a direct command.
1 Corinthians 7:23
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.
You have been bought by God with the blood of Jesus so now you are a servant to God. You have a new master. Do not be a slave to man, but be a servant of God to His Word. You are to live by paying the cost of obedience. Are you living this life of worship? No, we do not. We are our own master, we do want we want, and if we are not satisfied we refuse to obey and turn away and act in rebellion.
It states clearly not to be a slave to man, but we enslave ourselves to the ways of man and to their praises as we become weaker everyday.
1 Corinthians 10:24
24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
You are not to live for yourself, for your gain, for your benefit. You are told to live for the benefit of others, to be humble and serve in love. We are told to pay this cost, but we live for our own satisfaction, for our own benefit and pride. We live for ourselves, but it is states clearly to not seek our own good but the good of others.
1 Corinthians 10:31
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Pay this cost and live the life of a worshipper.
2 Corinthians 5:15
15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Jesus died for you so that you no longer live for yourself. Abandon that old life. Now having been bought with the price of His blood, we should now live for Him. The Bible tells us this but we refuse to see it.
We see in James that it says that faith without works is dead. Can you confess that God is your Father, that Jesus is your Savior, that all who believe in Him will not perish and have eternal life, when your faith has no action and it is dead? Will you be able to enter into heaven with dead faith? You cannot.
2 Peter 2:1
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
What does it mean to rid yourself of these things? It means to pay the cost of restraint. It means to change your life.
2 Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
We have been chosen so that we may declare the praises of Him who has saved us out of the darkness into His light. We are told to live as priests declaring His praises. Live as a worshipper.
1 John 3:18
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
We are to love in action and in truth. This is how we are to live as a worshipper and pay the cost that gives glory to God.
Paul, Peter, James and John have spoken to us in just a few verses about the cost that is required so that we can enter into heaven and also live the life that reflects true worship. If we do not live this life then what kind of relationship would I have with God? If I am only an observer worship and not offering my life in worship, then what kind of relationship will I have with God?
The weeds in the garden flourish without any need of care. All through spring and summer we worked hard to turn over the dirt and uproot the weeds. Will the weeds never grow back? They continue to grow. However, the vegetables that we plant to eat from even though we pay much attention to eat and give it plenty of water, much of it will be destroyed by insects that eat it.
We are to live our lives and harvest the fruits of the spirit that are planted within us. The Word of God must be planted in our hearts and produce a change in our lives and a harvest of the fruits of the spirit in faith, but am I allowing these seeds the to produce fruit within myself and tending and caring for them? Am I daily working at removing the weeds of sin from my life and removing all the evil things that are trying to destroy the fruits that are planted within? Without doing so, they cannot grow.
When I am anxious and I worry, and all the emotions that I have harbored within me come up in anger and frustration all these emotions of dissatisfaction will come in and overturn the seeds that are planted that are to produce life. These things will ruin your life so that you will be unable to live your life as a true Christian. They must be uprooted. All the insects of destruction must be caught. Who will do these things? I must do it.
Every morning, every moment I have, I must go out to the field and find and kill all the bugs so that I can have an abundant harvest.
In the field of my heart and in my thoughts and in all my being, of all the things that have become habits and those things that come in to me through my emotions and thoughts, I must decide according to the Word that which I must uproot and throw away.
I must decide to pay this cost so that I can live my life in worship.
Is this it? Some of the weeds seem small but when you let it be for a while and try to uproot it the root is big and runs deep. Other weeds look large, and it seems as though you would need a shovel to dig it up, but when you pull on it they come up very easily.
This means that in your hearts, all those things that come up inside you, other than the things of Jesus, but those things that are evil and are trying to tempt you, you may think that it is large and have a difficult time getting rid of it but it may be uprooted much easier than you think. On the other hand, the little ones that you think you will let be for a little while and overlook it, will be deeply rooted in you so that later you will have a much harder time uprooting that from your life. You are able to catch and remove these things but you must do it constantly. Even though it is difficult the moment you see it you must remove it, and no matter how hard it will be you must be determined to remove it so that you can reap a true harvest as a true believer in Jesus.
Let us not be foolish and neglect to do this because we think that this is easy.
I received and email. It stated that even though we are not taught we learn to cuss we do so very well. Have any of the parents ever taught their child profanity? No one does but the children do it well. We are not taught to be jealous or envious but we do it well. No one needs to be taught to be lazy or discouraged but we all know how to live this way. Then it stated that in contrast, all good things cannot be attained without effort. You cannot have anything without discipline.
I cannot live the proper life of someone who has been saved by Jesus without putting in any effort and having discipline.
With our mouths we speak evil without having to train it, we don't have to try to be jealous or envious and there is no effort required in being lazy or discouraged. This is not how we are to be.
When we become sensitive to the warnings that God gives us then we can be changed to be used by God for His will. But many of us get lost in the flesh and are unable to hold onto the hand of God.
What warning is God giving you in your own life? When He does, listen to Him, and accept what He tells you. Should your life not be that of one who gives true worship to God?
When it says that all who believe will be given eternal life, to believe means to have faith and to live in accordance to that faith so that you can enter into eternal life. This is the message that I share with you today. This is the requirement to receive eternal life.
Live the life of a true worshipper. Wherever you go and whatever you do may you live a life that gives glory to God so that you can be one with Him.
Sermon by Pastor Howard Park
translation by Miguel Park
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Are You Living In The Hope Of Eternity
Are you living in the hope of eternity?
How much hope do each of us truly have in eternity? Do we really desire to stand before God? Do we desire to go to heaven? Is this world more important or is heaven?
These are important questions.
There are things that we cannot live without in this world. Our Lord promises to us that when we lay aside everything and follow Him that He will provide us all that we need and that He will remain with us. So then we ask, why is it that He gives us everything and then takes it all back? Why are we not allowed to posses anything of this world? We ask why it is we have to give up everything to attain the things of eternity?
But God, our Father, has given us everything in this world, to rule over it, overcome it and take care of it, but it is our inability to do as we have been empowered to do. God has given everything to us into our own hands, but we are unable to handle it. We are unable to posses and use the things of this world and also unable to hold onto the hope of eternity.
We stand at a crossroad refusing to follow Him. The reason is because the Word of God is not real to us. We do not believe that the Word of God is eternal. We do not believe that the Word of God is truth. There is no appreciation for His creation. We do not believe that He is our Lord and Savior, nor that He is our Father.
Unless we accept that He is our Father, we cannot accept that we are His children.
Even when we are talking about earthly parents and children, if the child cannot accept their parent as their own then there will be conflict in that relationship. If there is doubt to the child as to whether nor not the mother or father is their own then the child will not be able to put their trust in them.
Because we cannot accept God as the Creator of all and as our Father, who has given us life through our parents, we do not want to accept that we are to worship Him with our lives and live according to His Word and by doing so we will be with Him for all eternity. This is why we refuse to give up the things of this world. God does not tell us to give up. We think that we must abandon everything. We think that God is stealing everything that He has given us, and we think of Him as a thief. God has never taken anything away, but whenever we experience difficulty or hardship we question Him and ask Him “why?” We ask Him why He gives us pain, suffering and hardship and we argue and complain. We have no gratitude in our hearts. We think of Him as one who takes things away. We harbor these thoughts and feelings against Him and therefore can’t put our trust in Him.
We say that God is good. We say that He is holy. But when we really look inside ourselves, do we really believe that He is good? Do we really believes that He loves us? We do not. We think that He takes everything away from us, so when we have a little or enjoy life a little bit, we think that He will take everything away from us so we live in anxiety. We are worried that He is going to take of what little we have. We are worried that He will make us do things that we do not want to do. He is not this kind of God.
God is love. But when we say that God is love, we base that love on our own selfish love and and do not understand the true love that God has for us. God’s love is that which was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son to save us from our sins. This is the love that God has for us, but we think that a God that loves us should let us do what we want and give us the things that we ask for. We misunderstand God’s love and therefore cannot accept His love and this is the reason we do not posses hope in eternity. But with our lips we say that God is good, that He is love.
Do we really believe that God is good, that He is love? Are we overwhelmed by His love and so grateful that we cannot contain ourselves and unable to explain with words because His love is too great a gift? Are we holding tight to this God and living for Him?
We fail to do this because daily we fall into the trap of our own thoughts and waiver back and forth.
If a student fails to study for an exam but passes with a high grade and the teacher praises them for doing good work then the student is happy but did not deserve the grade nor praise. True joy comes from doing what one is supposed to do. A student should be filled with joy when they have put in the work and studied hard and then gotten a good grade, but a student who studies half-heartedly but receives a good grade did not achieve the result properly. But this is what we want.
When we are at work, and money comes to us, more than we have worked for, then we are happy. If we receive money for the amount of work we have done then we are unhappy. When we feel that we are underpaid for our work, then we get frustrated, complain and no longer want to do our work. Where is your standard? Is it your desire?
Everyone’s standard is different. Someone who earns $10,000/month may be content, enjoy it. Another person may earn $1000/month and equally be content and happy and enjoy it. Someone else may earn $100,000 or $200,000 and not be content and want to posses more. Who is the one that posses love? Who is the one who is content and happy? You are not content because you have more. What is important is your standard.
When your standard is God, then how are we to live our lives so that we can be filled with joy and have hope, and how are we to live in that hope of eternity? The Bible shows us the way. But to many of us the Bible has no effect on our lives. We read it because we are forced to read it or else we feel obligated to read it one time a year. Where is the love for the Word? When young couples like each other they will do anything within their power, even against their parents wishes, to find a way to communicate with each other and be with each other.
Do you really love God if you read the Bible out of an obligation and you pray to Him just because you feel forced to do so? We mistakenly believe that because we have read a few chapters and prayed to Him that we have completed our homework for the day. We think because we have done this much that God will love us in return and He will bless us and make the way before us easy. Is this not the way we think?
How can I attain eternal life? How can the path of eternity be opened up before me in this manner?
Think about it deeply?
We are promised in the Bible that when we repent of our sins that we will be made white as snow. It also says that if there is any sin, then we cannot enter into heaven. But many of us do not repent. If we do not repent we cannot attain eternal life.
We cannot enter into heaven with sin. But we think if we do just enough then we can enter. We look at others and think that there is no one who does as much as we do so we will enter on our own merit.
In Revelation it asks will there be any left who believe, it is stating that there will only be a few who truly believe in the end.
We have heard other pastor’s testimonies where God has shown them that only a handful from a few thousand will enter. At other places there will be none who enter. Some places will have a few from a thousand.
I have told you many times before, and I was pleased to see that other pastors were seeing what I have been shown.
God has shown me places and asked me “If I were to come today, how many do you think will enter my kingdom from here?” I answered that I did not know. He said that none would enter. At other places, and other meetings and groups I asked Him and He told me a few from here at other places none would go. It does not shock me anymore because I am no the only one to share this.
How foolish it would be to be wrong and to lose your soul for all eternity. This would be the most foolish person.
The issue is not about having everything and living well, the real issue is about attaining eternal life and spending eternity with our Lord which is the true blessing.
God tells us to practice living in heaven as we live here. Then you will go to heaven. If you live as if in hell then you will enter hell. It is a simple truth.
When I first started my ministry God told me to practice the things of heaven here. He told me to teach the practices of heaven. If your family represents heaven then so shall it be. The family has no secrets, the family is one, they communicate, and they live in faith with one another, they serve each other, forgive each other, and repent to each other. The family is the place where you practice your walk with God.
If you practice the things of hell in your family then you cannot enter into heaven.
The second thing I was told to teach in my ministry would be that everyone is to do only what they were placed there to do, whatever it is, wherever that may be. God has told me that your reward will not be better because you run away from your duty or you decide to do something else. You have been given a purpose and you are to be obedient and fulfill that purpose. You may decide you know better than God and go do whatever you want to do. Other times you may not want to do it because the path is difficult and the work is hard. Both are disobedience.
If God tells you to go out in the middle of nowhere where no one will give you any recognition for your work then you must go. If He tells you to go to Manhattan then you must go. You cannot tell God that you dislike Manhattan and you would rather go to the middle of nowhere. Neither tell Him that you dislike the middle of nowhere and would rather be in Manhattan and that is where you will be a witness. You are being disobedient to God. Obedience is simple. It is not as complicated as we think. People refuse to accept it. People think that they are doing God’s work when they do what they want to be doing.
There is real joy when you really do God’s work. When you remain in Him and He in you, when His will becomes my will and His desire becomes mine and I really understand His heart, and when I am obedient to His Word then I am able to serve Him.
Our problem is when we disobey God’s will for us and we do what we want and say that we are doing His will. We are being disobedient.
We cannot attain eternal life in this manner. This is the problem.
How will you live your life in faith?
God tells us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing and to give thanks in all circumstances.
When we live our lives we think that there is not much to rejoice about. This may be true. There are hardships, difficulty, pain, suffering, sin and many other circumstances that we do not want. Do you think that God did not know this when He tells us to rejoice? He knows.
Just as there are seasons that change, there are also joy, pain, anger, and happiness. These things happen to believers and non believers alike. We that believe argue and complain when we suffer a little. We ask why is it that we have sickness when we believe in Jesus. We question why our family suffers when we believe in Jesus. We complain. This is where we start to mistakes.
I used to question God why it was that the more I tried to follow Him, that there seemed to be more pain and suffering?
If we separated all the believers from nonbelievers and only the believers had blessings and good things happened to them, then there would not be a nonbeliever in this world. This is not the way. In this world, whether you believe in Jesus or do not, God gives the wind, breath, and blessings to all alike. In this life we are to seek and find the truth and find joy. Our lives as a believer must be an example who do not believe so that they will see us and we can show them the way to a life of faith. As believers we think that everything should be only blessings and happiness. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that when you believe in Jesus that you will no longer suffer.
This becomes a stumbling block in many people’s walk and many people abandon Jesus because they thought everything was going to be easy.
I was startled recently, I never thought that anyone would become a buddhist after following Jesus. I have heard that many people turn their lives over to Jesus after being buddhist but never the other way around. Recently in a statistic report in Korea, the number of people that changed from Christian to buddhism was twice the number of buddhist turning Christian. Why? It is because they had no faith. They did not really know God. They had no peace on the inside. How sad our Lord must be.
Those of us who believe think that we are something greater than we really are. We refuse to see the suffering and pain that fellow believers are going through. As long as I am good and I am receiving the blessings we think that everything is fine. We sing praises that say that we are one with each other, but refuse to look upon the suffering of those around us. Then when those believers fall away and go to another religion we point fingers at them, hate them and ridicule them. We don’t want to understand their suffering. Are we praying about this? Are we praying for those who do not believe? Is it right for me to go to heaven alone? God does not desire such people who are selfish.
Is it right for you to eat well and live well while those around you are going hungry? Is this having the right kind of faith? It is not.
God tells us to go sell everything and give it to the poor and them come follow Him. If God desires for you to sell your house then sell it. But he is not telling all of you to go sell your houses.
If you are not right before God and have a proper understanding of what He wants from you then it will not matter that you sell all that you have. There is someone in the Bible who sold their possessions and was killed before God. Why did this happen? It is because He as hiding things from God.
If we are hiding things from God then everything we do will be useless. God blesses us when we give joyfully and truthfully to Him.
However, you may think that you have a house and that if you sell it God will grant you eternal life, but God will not give you eternal life for doing so. Why? It is because God looks at your heart. He looks at where your focus is. We hide our desires in front of people act a certain way thinking that God will acknowledge us for doing so. We must first settle the matters in our heart and find and pursue God’s will through our daily walk with Him. If we would have been able to to attain heaven in a day then there would be no need to practice the things of heaven within your own homes. It is in the daily walk and living the life that we continue to draw closer to our Lord.
Jut because I confessed Him as my Savior at one time does not mean that I will enter into heaven. Yes, the one crucified next to Jesus did enter into heaven, but you do not have the faith that the criminal had. We have had two thousand years pass since the Jesus was here and have been given the Word and told to believe in Him and yet we still do not. The one crucified next to Jesus was hanging on the cross in the same manner and to him Jesus could be seen as another criminal. To believe that the one hanging on the cross next to you in the same manner and to believe Him as the Savior is a miracle. We do not have this much faith. We think that like the criminal that we will just put our faith in Jesus right before we die and go to heaven, but you do not have that much faith. That faith was an incredible faith.
We have the Word and we still do not believe.
Let us say that you were hanging on the cross like the criminal, would you have confessed Jesus as the Savior?
Would you have confessed to Jesus to take you to the place where He was going?
We look down on this criminal.
I pray for that kind of faith.
We have the Word of God and we see many miracles and workings of God and have a greater understanding of God’s creation, but when Jesus came during His time He was not revealed to them as He has been to us.
Jesus had no fault and was crucified and that criminal put his faith in Him.
If you have this kind of faith, then you will be able to attain eternal life.
This is the kind of faith that you must have, to hold onto dearly, to walk with this kind of faith, to be one with this faith, but how much do you truly desire to have this faith?
May you have the faith, like the criminal, that will help you attain eternal life.
Sermon by Pastor Joy Lee
Translation by Miguel Lee
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