September 2, 2018_Believe in Jesus
/in 2018 Lord’s Day, Uncategorized /by 홍성호Overseer Kidong Kim
[Luke 23:26-43]
God
is righteousness.
He
sent His Son into the world in order to rule over
the world by righteousness (Jn 3:16-18).
Mankind became unrighteous from the very beginning, so that they were destined for death (Ge 2:17).
However, God had mercy on them and gave them faith.
God regards faith as righteousness (Ge 15:6).
Three crosses stood at Calvary,
which are the trees of curses.
The cross where Jesus was hung was the law of sin and death.
Jesus bore upon himself the requirements of the law,
and through Jesus Christ, the tree of curse became veiled.
This showed that when he died there, the sins and curses of mankind
died together with Him.
At that moment, the judgment of righteousness was fulfilled.
One had perished eternally for his sin,
while the other relied on Jesus to escape his sin and punishment,
and he received the invitation to go to paradise.
Therefore,
if one believes in Jesus, his soul will live, and he will fulfill eternal life.
But if he does not believe in Jesus, he becomes a demon and goes to hell (Re 22:11).
◌ Those who receive justification by faith will be saved,
while those who do not have justification because of disbelief will perish.
◌ Just as the angels cannot be
the children of God,
the spirits of unbelievers are demons who can never repent.
◌ Love the Lord Jesus, and your soul will live.
If you do not love Jesus, your soul will perish.
Demons are those whose spirits have perished.
※ Believe in Jesus and give life to your soul.
Become the children of God and partake in the first resurrection.
The spirits of unbelievers are demons.
Coming Soon
Why does God distinguish the ones on his left from the ones on his right? And why does he regard one group as the flock of goats and one group as the flock of sheep? The Lord spoke of this distinction in order to use the characteristics found in these animals to teach a parable. The characteristics found in sheep are that they hold together, side-by-side, and in a tightly knit group, despite being in the heavy and hot summer. But the goats, on the other hand, will at one moment hold tightly together and eat the grass, but later go straight in between the flock of sheep and break them apart. These are the characteristics of the goats. Therefore, if a fire was to be accidently lit up in the field of grass the sheep were in, they would continue to remain steadfast together and would even be burnt up in the fire. That is why, amongst the sheep, there are sometimes some goats to be found in between them. So, the one who is skilled in taking care of the farm will use the characteristics of both the sheep and the goats for his own profit. Within the heart of the Lord, the Lord has set apart a group of animals in one place, who are the sheep, and has set up another group of animals that divide up and separate this flock, who are the goats. On the Day of Judgement, the Lord will distinguish all as either sheep or goats, and He will divide them up into the ones on His right and the ones on His left. To each group He will give the reward and payment that is due them. The Church are those sheep who were originally scattered, but are called to come together to meet. Even if there is a mass array of them, the Lord calls them and designates them as one Body. He has commanded them to focus and gather around the Lord Jesus, who is the Shepherd and the Head. He has given the commandment that He rule over the Body, which has become the Church. For this reason, the Lord said to Peter, “Do you love me? Then feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep.” He gave him this duty, and for them all, He poured out the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has set up Overseers to take care of this flock of sheep, which has become the Lord’s Body (Acts 20:28). In our church, there are countless members who, every week, come together, and by doing so, they love their own souls. The reason that Sungrak Church has the registered number of church members as numbering 180,000, is because, from its very establishment, people had come to believe and had received baptism in continual and rapid succession. But among some of these, many have already passed away, and many had just received baptism but did not register with the Church membership. And some others had their own idea to start another church elsewhere, and in the process, they had taken away several dozens or even several hundreds of people. But the reason why I hold to this registered number of 180,000 church members and try not to forget them, is the hope that someday they might return, and also because of the sincere desire to remember their souls deep within my prayers. However, the reality is that those who have remained in the church and have actively taken up the duties for the Lord’s Body numbers around merely 15,000 members. And even among them, the dissenters against this church have used their influence to scatter countless numbers more in all directions. As a result, we can see the characteristics of the sheep and the goats in full display. How has it come to this situation that Semuon has made them come together, but another person has made them scatter apart? The Lord Jesus will give His judgment on such a person and He will give it soon. O Lord! Please give your servant more strength! Enable your servant to obey you, and you alone, until your servant’s death! Make me a man who does not make the sheep scatter, but who makes the sheep come together. Enable your sheep to come to my duty and care. And please send me more sheep to feed. Amen.
Coming Soon
Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by Daniel Hong
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee
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