July 8, 2018 The Church is the Temple of the Lord

Worship That is Grounded in Truth

    God is Spirit, therefore no one can touch or see Him. However, God does not force us to believe something we cannot see or touch. God has revealed Himself as a historical being who could be touched and seen so that people could have faith in Him.

     Unlike religious beliefs, a Christian’s faith does not go beyond spiritual reality. We say spiritual reality is the Truth and it is real. Jesus said that God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth (John4:24). The worship we give to God, who is spirit, should be spiritual, but at the same time we must not go beyond the historical.

     The word for ‘worship’ means ‘to kiss the Lord’. In the period of the Roman Empire, when a general won a battle and returned home, he went before the emperor, knelt, and kissed his hand. It was considered a high honor for a Roman to kiss the emperor’s hand. In similar fashion, our worship is like us returning triumphantly to kiss our God after spending the week in spiritual battle. Perhaps those who lost the battle against the world and were unfaithful during the week would rather not come to church, but those who were victorious will want to approach God and kiss Him just like the victorious general who would approach the emperor in Roman times.

     When we come to God, we honor God with our wealth. Jesus observed how the rich brought their gifts into the temple treasury (Luke 21:1). If a pastor were to do that today, people would take issue with him and accuse him of being greedy. But we should understand that the Lord still sees when and how we bring our offering just like Jesus did two thousand years ago.

Heart Worship

    Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mathew 6:21).  Why do married couples exchange gifts? Because they love each other. On the other hand, when they break up they want whatever they gave to the other person because their heart has already left their partner. In similar fashion, only a man whose heart loves God can honor Him with his wealth.

    In Malachi 1:6-10, God rebukes the priests who show contempt for God’s name. The priests respond by asking God how they have shown contempt for His name. God asks, “When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor, would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?”says the Lord almighty. “Is there anyone among you who would shut the temple doors so that you would not kindle a fire on My altar in vain?”

    In Malachi 3:7-9 God says, “From the days of your forefathers you have turned away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’”“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me.” The curse isn’t illness or disease. Rather, it is separation from God.

    2 Corinthians 9:5-7 says, “Therefore I thought it necessary to encourage the brethren to visit you in advance and prepare the generous gift which you had previously promised, so that it may be ready as a matter of generosity, and not as a grudging obligation. But, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sow generously will also reap generously. Let each man give what he has purposed in his heart to give, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” Having a heart that follows hard after God is the most important attribute for those who come to God.

Holy Worship

    For the Israelites of the Old Testament, the Sabbath was a holy day. God had commanded them to keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath day originated from the time of creation. When God finished the work of creating the heavens and the earth in six days, on the seventh day He rested from all His work. The Israelites were also commanded in the Law of Moses to rest on the seventh day.

    Today the Sabbath corresponds to Saturday and some people assert that Christians should worship on Saturday. Technically speaking, keeping the Sabbath is not about going to church or having a worship service, but about taking a day to rest at home. Those who were under the Law actually did that when they observed the Sabbath, and they still do. The Sabbath is the model of what will happen when the Jesus Christ returns.

     After Jesus died on the cross, His body was immediately taken down and placed in a tomb because the Sabbath began that evening. After He died, Jesus rested for a whole day in the tomb. He did nothing for the remainder of the Sabbath. It was a day of despair for the disciples. But on the first day after the Sabbath, the women who went to Jesus’ tomb encountered an angel who told them that Jesus had risen. That was the first day after the Sabbath. Jesus rose on the first day after the Sabbath. That first day is the Lord’s Day, which is Sunday.

    What is it then that we commemorate on the Lord’s Day? Jesus said that we must “Drink His blood, and eat His flesh”, we are saved and we receive everlasting life through His flesh and blood. Acts 20: 7 says, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.’ The Lord’s Day is when we should gather and commemorate the Lord Jesus by breaking bread and partaking of the cup of the Lord.

    Christians observe the Lord’s Day but there are some Christians that insist we should keep the Sabbath as well. They argue that both the Lord’s Day and the Sabbath are holy days that Christians must keep according to the Law of Moses. They believe in Jesus, but they are still ruled by the Law. There is no doubt that if you obey the Law you can be blessed in this life, but that will not save your soul.

    Under the Law, when a man broke the Sabbath he had to be stoned. Why don’t Christians strictly observe the Sabbath today? Because Jesus abolished the Law on the cross. The Lord’s Day is not the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the day that we rest, but Lord’s Day is the day Jesus rose from the dead and resumed His work. The world does not see the risen Jesus. Only those who believe in Him can see the risen Christ. Therefore, those who belong to God should be distinguishable from the world, especially on the Lord’s Day, even though they live together during the rest of the week.

     If you spend your time working or doing your own thing on the Lord’s Day like the unbelievers, you should examine yourself to see who you belong to. Do you belong to Jesus or to the world? (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) If you belong to the risen Christ, do not neglect to worship on the Lord’s Day, but rather prove your holiness. If Jesus died to make us holy and yet we do not want to distinguish ourselves from the world, how is that any different from a dog returning to its vomit. Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness. If we make no attempt to be holy, the darkness will overtake us suddenly.

Spiritual Worship

     When Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, He found some men selling animals and others exchanging money in the temple. Jesus drove them out of the temple area and said, “Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” Then the Jews demanded of Jesus saying, “What sign can You show us, since You do these things?” And Jesus answered them saying, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The temple he spoke of was His body (John2:13-22).

    The tabernacle that the Israelites built in the wilderness according to Moses’ instructions, and the temple that was later built in Jerusalem, were a shadow of Jesus. Today, people often refer to a church as a temple, but that is not true. The real temple is Jesus Christ. When you come to church on the Lord’s Day and even when you talk to another believer on the phone, you can say you are in the temple. We must recognize that when we come to the church building to worship, we are inside the invisible temple.

    The Church is those who are in the church building. The Greek word for church is ‘Ecclessia’ which means those who are ‘called, gathered, chosen.’’ God has not yet called and gathered the elect, but He has chosen those who gather in obedience to His calling. Do you abide in the temple? Or Do you merely go to a church building on the Lord’s Day?

    On the other hand, we ourselves are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Above all, the temple must be holy. 1 Corinthians3:16-17 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.” To keep yourself holy, you have to separate yourself from the world. You must not conform to what the world says and does. Those who belong to the world speak like the world, and the world listens to them (1John 4:5).

     The Holy Spirit rules over the temple and the Church. Acts 20:28 says, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood.” If the temple is to be truly holy, the Holy Spirit must be at work in it. Those who do not know that Holy Spirit dwells in them are abandoned, cursed. Keep the temple of the Holy Spirit holy. Let the Holy Spirit rule not just you, but your family as well. Let the Holy Spirit rule the Church.

Let us love the Church! Let us all truly love the Church! The Church is the body of the Lord Jesus.So let us not harm the body of the Lord, nor grieve the Lord himself. Let us only love him and love his Church. The Church is the collected body of the souls that have been bought by the blood of the Lord. And just as the Lord has loved us, so we must all love the church.

I will die for the church. I am a servant of the church. If the Lord says ‘stay’, then I will stay in the world, and in this church. But if the Lord says, ‘stay no longer’, then I will not refuse this command, but will at once, leave the world as he commands. No matter what the circumstances are, I am not a servant of man, but am a servant of the one who died on the cross, and after three days resurrected from the dead – the Lord Jesus Christ. I am proud to be a servant of the Lord. I do not condemn others, and for my whole life, I continue to perform the Semuon (“he who sees but does not speak”). I will continue to walk on this narrow path.

For my entire life, I have never used the internet, and I have never used a cell phone. This was for the sake of preaching the gospel alone. That I would not indulge in idle talk, or be brought into temptation by the feelings and emotions of man, I am determined to walk on this narrow and dangerous road. If someone reads these words, and sneers at them, I only say that this is my life and this is the truth. My inner man and my outer man constantly conflict and battle with each other. But in the end, my inner man will be victorious. And that will be the day that I leave this earth.

I am of old age and have the frail body of one who would fall over even if a little child were to attempt to push me. Therefore, from time to time, I endeavor to exercise. Up till the last, I will persevere and continue to use all my strength. I only ask that my dear Sungrak saints, whom I love, would continue to support me. I ask this with patience and humility. So that the light of this lamp will not be snuffed out, I earnestly ask that you would all continue to supply the running oil of your prayers. I ask that you would help stop this fierce wave that has come upon us. I ask that you would not despise this lonely man who is walking on this narrow road, and whose flame is constantly being threatened to be snuffed out. This frail body of mine is still required from the Lord, and I ask that you would continue to love and protect him -him who no longer seems to be needed any longer.

What I greatly desire is love. What I desire for my soul, and from my dear saints, is their love. For the time that I have left to live on this earth, I, now an old pastor, would ask that you would walk together with me and gather around and follow whole-heartedly the Acting Overseer, that you would love and bless your own souls, and that you would continue with us on this road to continue the mission of the Return to the Word Berea Movement that is located in Sungrak Church. What I ask is not your sympathy, but your dear comfort. What I desire is your love. In love, there is no hatred, but forgiveness; there are no lies, but only earnest zeal.

O my beloved Sungrak People! You who, along with me, have all devoted to lay down your lives for Sungrak Church! I appeal that we all receive courage, faith, and love from the Lord, and endeavor to please him to the end. I have no regrets concerning this world. I only get up boldly everyday to face it once again.

Coming Soon

Outline translated by Daniel Hong and John Kim
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by Daniel Hong
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee