2014.11.30_Jacob’s Hope

Live By the Grace of God the Father

God is our Father. Everyone has a father in the flesh. And while the time people have with their fleshly fathers on earth is not very long, the children continue to love and respect them even after they have passed away. The father and child are actually connected as one. God is not the Father of our flesh but of our spirit. Only those who acknowledge the existence of the spirit can maintain and eternal relationship with God. Confessing God as our Father does not mean we deny our fleshly fathers. We ought to serve our fleshly fathers by the flesh and in the spirit we must serve God, the Father of our spirit.

We go to church and lead a faith life for the sake of our spirit not the flesh. The flesh is transient but the spirit is everlasting. Though the spirit of man fell as a result of Adam’s transgression, God sent Jesus Christ to shed His blood in order to save man’s spirit. Nevertheless, for those who do not have their sins resolved, when they die their spirit will go into the abyss and then in time be thrown into the forever unquenchable lake of fire. Since God knew just how fearsome that is, He sent His only begotten Son to even die on the cross and saved our spirits. Our spirits that cannot be bought even if the whole universe was given in exchange, God has purchased by the blood of His Son.

To receive the Lord’s comfort, we must lay off our own righteousness and accept the Lord’s grace. Anyone who relies on his own righteousness rejects God’s grace and follows his own conscience and will eventually perish. Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus, hanged himself and died because he listened to his own conscience instead of relying on God’s grace. Even if one had been together with the Lord for a long time, he will be cursed if he follows his own reasoning and judgment and rejects God’s grace.

Let Us Not Renege On Our Vows Even If We Fail to Give in Due Time

Some people make vows to give offering to the church. But when they fail to give it at the due time, they feel ashamed and distance themselves from the church. However this is not pleasing to God. Even if someone expected his business to succeed and thus made a vow to give offering, the circumstances in this world may not go the way we want. And God is very well aware of that. We must indeed keep whatever we have pledged before God even if we have to suffer as a result. Even Jesus said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny’ (Matt 5:26). Nevertheless, if one is unable to give what he has vowed with his present circumstances and ability, he needs to be determined to keep his vow by striving over ten years or even twenty.

To think of not coming to church at all because one feels ashamed and sorry, beseems someone who does not have faith. If a person is feeling bad because he cannot presently serve God with material offering, he should serve God through other possible means. Our body, wisdom and knowledge, evangelizing efforts, and so on can all be used preciously for God’s kingdom. If one fervently evangelizes and leads ten souls to church, the dedication they give may add up to a greater amount than what the person had actually pledged. In such a case, the ministry of God’s kingdom will go on smoothly without a drawback.

If a person tries to hide because he feels ashamed of the fact that he could not give the offering he pledged to God in time, it means he is still confident in his own righteousness. Man’s righteousness cannot lead him to Heaven. Jesus said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers? Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matt 12:48-50). A person’s feelings and empathy do not aid him in any way to enter the kingdom of God.

Even if we were unable to give to God what we have pledged on time, we must not feel afraid or ashamed but rather seek His blessings so that we can pay it back eventually. If we take on the challenge and actively ask, “Bless me, O God! I will certainly accomplish Your work!” God will surely help us. As Jesus told us to ‘ask, seek and knock’, we must ask, seek and knock on the door in order to receive God’s blessing. If we just depend on our own righteousness with a vague expectation that God will bless us some day, we will be disappointed. It is a mistake to think that blessings will roll in by itself without our asking. God gives to those who ask. When the Son of God was on the earth, He supplicated earnestly until the sweat falling from his forehead became like drops of blood (Luke 22:44).

Though we may not have the ability to pay back our vows at once, if we endeavor so that the works of God’s kingdom will not be disrupted, God will be pleased. When Nathanael asked, “how do You know me?” Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (John 1:48). In the same way, God will say to such a person, ‘I saw you when you laid down your own righteousness to hold only to the faith given by God and served His kingdom.’

Bring Happiness to the Spirit

In every situation we must seek the benefit of our spirit. Third John 1:2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” If one’s spirit is ailing his body and circumstances cannot be prosperous either. There are many among believers who are weak and sick and sleep. This is because they have sinned willfully and their spirits have been chastened by the Lord (1 Cor 11:30-32).

Jesus said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near’ (Matt 4:17). To repent means to return to God, and then the Kingdom of Heaven will come. He also said, ‘if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you’ (Matt 12:28). If demons are cast out by the Holy Spirit, then the words ‘repent, and the Kingdom of Heaven will come’ have been fulfilled. The fact that the work of the Devil fails and demons are cast out is because the Kingdom of Heaven has come.

What is the reason that people today do not have joy in their spirit? It is because they are being deceived by the Devil. The Devil is the ruler of death. Those who are oppressed under him are filled with despair and fear in their hearts. The demons enter the body of man and afflict him with sicknesses, torment him and make him despondent. The one that hanged itself and died would go into its family members as a demon and make them hang themselves; the one that drowned and died would go into its family members and cause them to drown and die. Unless these demons are driven out by the Holy Spirit, the person would be left destitute.

However the ways of this world might change, we should not be moved by them. The church has been established and kept by the Holy Spirit. Acts 20:28 says, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” God is still working through the Holy Spirit in order to preserve those who have been delivered. Thus, we must be blessed in our spirit by relying on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a new law. The law given through Moses leads man to death, whereas the law of the Holy Spirit leads him to life (Rom 8:2). We cannot please God without the law of the Holy Spirit.

If a person is indebted to the church because he could not fulfill his vows, he must still pay it someday. And for that he should pray, “God, I will pay my debt to the church. Bless me and let there be happiness in my spirit!” If our circumstances do not allow so that we cannot fulfill our vows at once, we must strive to bring success to the church by reviving the church through zealous evangelism. We should not retract and fall back, but seek the way for our spirit to have happiness. We must stop trying to hide by falling into despair and hopelessness. We need to remember that nothing can be hidden before God.

Set Up a Stone Pillar of Faith

Jacob struggled to receive God’s blessing because he knew its value. Now Jacob had an older brother named Esau. The right to receive the blessing that was passed down from Abraham to Isaac was with Esau. However, he despised his birthright. One day when he returned exhausted from a hunting trip, he sold his birthright to his younger brother for a bowl of lentil soup. Esau believed that even if he had done so, the fact that he is the eldest son would not change unless his brother went into his mother’s womb and be born again. However, God acknowledged that the birthright had been moved to Jacob.

Jacob snatched the blessings that his father had reserved for Esau, and then fled his home away from his brother who was enraged by the incident. As he was on his way to his uncle’s place, Jacob had to spend the night and sleep out in the open. He took a stone and laid his head on it. And he had a dream while he was sleeping. There was ladder that reached up to Heaven and angels were ascending and descending on it. When Jacob awoke from his sleep he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” Jacob took the stone he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar. Then he made a vow to God saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You” (Gen 28:20-22).

Tithes did not begin from the Law but Abraham. This is the confession of faith toward God. Some people claim as well as teach others that tithe is from the Law and it has been abolished through Jesus Christ. This is a direct opposition against God’s word. Even if people do not want to hear, we must teach them about tithes, for whoever does not give tithes is robbing God of what belongs to Him.

Jacob set up a stone pillar and made a vow to give tithes to God. And God considered him a source of blessings so that all nations will be blessed through him. If Jacob planted a tree stump instead of a stone pillar, that tree would have died soon after. But Jacob set up a stone pillar that would not be changed even after a long time. Our faith should be like a stone pillar. We must keep whatever we have promised to God. If we made a vow to become God’s servant, that is what we must become. Before God, we must set up a stone pillar that will never change.

God keeps His promises. If He has promised to bless us, then He will certainly give us His blessing. Number 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Our spirits can have true happiness when it receives the promised blessing of God.

Even in the most miserable conditions, we should not despair but be joyful. We must not be deceived by the Devil who tries to destroy even the redeemed. Despondency comes from the Devil. Our Lord laid down His life to save us. We have received salvation and eternal life through Him, which is sufficient reason for us to be joyful. Our happiness does not come from the world. We have been saved through the blood of Jesus, received the Holy Spirit into our spirit, and received God’s promise. We have received the blessing which God has commanded. Just as God has commanded, “Be blessed!” that blessing has already come upon us.

We should not reject God’s given blessing but set up a stone pillar of faith. We must never be rash to abandon the foundation of our faith. Instead, even if someone tries to push us out of the church we must stand firm to the end for the sake of our own spirit. We must not abuse our spirit but feel pity for it. God even sent His own Son for our spirit; so how about us, what should we do? We need to love our spirit. Rather than following our own righteousness and conscience, we must have the love of God come into our spirit.