2016.11.13_Bring Them Here to Me

Obey to be served by the Creator

God is the Creator. The word ‘nature’ is often used in everyday life.However, nothing in the world can be called ‘nature’ because the word ‘nature’ means that it exists by itself (in Korean language), and nothing in the world was made without God.Only God is the ‘nature’ in the true sense of the word meaning ‘it exists by itself’. *

(* nature – the natural world as it exists without human beings and existing independently of human activities)

All things were created by God’s word and exist as He intends (Heb 11:1~3) Even weeds in the field and trifling bugs didn’t come into being by themselves. They say that human bodies have a variety of viruses.Some of them are useful to man and others harmful, but none of them came into being by themselves. All things, visible and invisible, were made by God.

Jesus said “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”. (Matt 20:28)Many people find it difficult tobelieve that Jesus came to serve us.

They think that they have to serve Jesus, unilaterally sacrificing themselves after they meet Him. However, the reality of our faith lives is that Jesus serves us and we get the power from the heaven.The belief that the Bible asks of us can be describedas obedience.It is also obedience that we are served by Jesus Christ, who came to serve us.

Jesus is saying, ” Have you lost your life because of sin? Depend on my blood and receive life. Do you not have bread for your soul? Eat my flesh and gain eternal life” He says. We must obey the Word and eat and drink His flesh and blood.A man with a shriveled hand came to Jesus and was healed of his disease, because he obeyed the command saying “Stretch out your hand”.Even though Jesus tries to serve our souls, it willbe of no benefit to us if we don’t obey Him.

Parental service is an absolute necessity to a baby.The service starts when a newborn child cannot even recognize its parents yet. When it is sick, they spend the night taking care of it even though they are not told to do it.

I can recall that I was startled when my son suddenly had convulsions just after his first birthday.

Babies can live because of their parents’ service like this.The Lord desires to serve us as parents do to their babies.

I had to climb a steep hill to get to hospital, so I ran up the hill more than one hundred meters carrying the baby in my bosom.It wasn’t until I was back at home that I realized I was covered with bruises, because I had stumbled many times on the way holding the baby in my arms.

Bring them here to me

The disciples said to Jesus, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food”.Jesus said, “You give themsomething to eat”. One of the disciples answered, “Lord, we have here only five loaves of bread and two fish. And they are not even enough for one”, He said, “Bring them here to me”.

Thousands of people had gatheredtogether in the wi8lderness to hear Jesus speak.

After taking them and giving thanks, He gave them to the disciples and said, “Distribute these to the people”.They did as Jesus said and, as a result, more than five thousand people ate the bread and fish and were filled. (Matt 14:13~21)

I started my faith life and attended the thanksgiving harvest service on the Lord’s day two weeks later.A woman gave a testimony during a morning prayer meeting two days before the Lord’s day. She was a lone refugee from the territory above the truce line and she wouldsellfine-tooth bamboo combs, wandering about from market to market in order to earn a living.She always wore worn-out clothes and had an unkempt appearance.

No matter where she went, however, she would locate churches there and present pastors and their children with socks or underwear. She would go into the churches at night and fall asleep praying, all the while suffering from stomach trouble because of eating food from trashcans in order to satisfy her hunger.But she believed that she had to obey the Lord’s words saying, “Bring them here to me” in order to live, so she tried to serve pastors and to give offerings with her hard-earned money.

Moved by her testimony, I asked church members what I shoulddo for the Lord’s day for a harvest thanksgiving offering.They said that I should bring rice that I had grown or money, or if I didn’t have either, it was okay to take out rice in the jar at home.I had neitherrice that I had grown nor money, so I decided to take some rice from home.

There was enough rice for about a bowl in the jar.In those days, our family would make a bowl of porridge and share it all day. We were so hungry; I cannot recall it without shedding tears even now. I took out all the rice in the jar, which I cleaned and wrapped in a cloth, and took to the church.I thought I had to do it to live.

Later on I started a poultry farm but that ended when all the chickens died. I had an opportunity to restart a business with the money left over after liquidating the poultry farm, but I offered all of it to God for the construction of a church. The failure of the business and my decision broke up and scattered my family.

However, God called me as His servant three years later.

Many people do not realize that God serves us, because they have a burden to serve Him.

God wants to serve us.He says to us, “Cry out earnestly to me that I may not rest”, because He wants to serve us.

The service of the Creator that makespossible the impossible

Thanksgiving is the day that we thank God both for what He has already given us and for what He will give us in the future.Though people say, “Thank you, Lord!” with their mouth, they are unwilling to express it with their bodies and with their possessions. They seem to think the Lord is takingit from them, even though He is the one that gave it to them.

Nevertheless we must remember that the Lord came to serve us. When the pastor says, “Everybody, give thanksto the Lord”, some people think ‘he wants my money’. You must understand clearly that Lord commands us, “Bring what you have to me!” because He loves us.

When we face impossibilities that we cannot solve by our own power, the Lord takes pity on usand says, “Bring them here to me, and I will turn them into possibilities”. We must obey the Creator’s command, “Bring them here to me”. We must correct our thinking towards the Lord if we have even a little stinginess in it.

Our stinginess toward God is from the enemy who has placed it in our hearts. Let us befilled with the Holy Spirit and obey the Lord’s command who wants to serve us.

Dear Sungrak people, I pray sincerely for your families and their souls.

I, Semone, have devoted myself for my whole life to raising disciples, based on the movement, ‘Return to the Bible’, thoroughly respecting the power and miraculous signs of the words in the Bible. I have never monopolized the precious message in the Bible, but provided all the servants of God with the message. I have never stopped my passion for not just Korean churches but also churches all around the world to return to the Bible.

However, as not all people are honest, some would go out of the way or abandon the precious powers and spiritual gifts, being swept by persecution. Even though I have endured with the will and philosophy of my name, ‘Semone’, now I have become aged and am a senior overseer, being weak in my body, thereby reaching in the limit of my endurance.

The reason I appointed my son as my succeeding overseer is that I predicted the recent abrupt situations. Even if all act ungracefully and in betrayal, I was sure that my son and my grandchildren would be exceptions. As I expected, you can figure out how many people abandoned me, leaving a lot of grief and damage in our church.

They disguise themselves as faithful servants of God in their attitude, but they have already dedicated themselves, when ordained as pastor, to Sungrak church and the Berea Movement before God and our church. We laid our hands on them, believing in their dedication. However, they are separating people from me, the senior overseer, and the overseer based on their physical wants and emotions, betraying us too far.

As I said before, my tomb is only ‘Sungrak church, Berea Theological Seminary, Berea Academy and my books.’ I realized that it is too hard to find a person who would keep my tomb, but I trust overseer Sung Hyun Kim. I gave birth to him, raised him, and put my best love and hope in him. He will completely follow my way. So will my grandchildren.

My dear saints, if a pastor who was a member of our church entices you with some sweet talk of planting his church, I will no longer accept it. We are members of the church that we have devoted ourselves to. Please protect our church to be more strengthened. May you build up your faith on the strong rock for the sake of yourself and your soul. Thank you.

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Outline translated by Sarah Lee
Letter translated by Sung-In Hong
Interpretations by Sarah Lee

Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee