Uncategorized – Sungrak Church

December 23, 2018 Receive the Forgiveness of Sins

December 24, 2018/in 2018 Lord’s Day, Uncategorized /by 홍성호

Senior Overseer Kidong Kim

Outline

[Acts 2:36-42]

God

is the Righteous One.

He

sent the Word to the world

in order to manifest the righteousness of God (Jn 16:10).

He gave His commandments in the form of the Law of Moses,

so that our sins would be revealed (1 Co 15:56).

He gave the gospel of His grace in the form of the Truth (Jn 16:13),

so that we would become the children of God (Jn 8:32).

We now come before God

and do the works that He commands,

so that we can become spiritual people who are free from the flesh (Jn 3:4-21).

Eternal life

is to achieve the resurrection as those spiritual people who believe in Jesus,

to abide with the Lord Jesus in heaven together as His bride,

and to become those who are even greater than the angels of heaven.

God gave us eternal life

so that we would become those who serve God forever.

Therefore,

each person must repent for his owns sins (Mt 4:17)

in order to receive the Holy Spirit as a gift.

One can become a spiritual personally

by receiving the Holy Spirit (1 Co 12:1-3).

○ To receive the forgiveness of sins

is the desire of God

and the desire of Jesus Christ.

○ One can become a Christian only by receiving the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is given by the joint work of the Father and the Son.

It is an absolute duty to receive the Holy Spirit.

One cannot be saved by the avoidance of sins,

but one can be saved only by receiving the forgiveness of sins.

To receive the forgiveness of sins is true faith.

※ Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

The blood of Jesus atoned for the sins which had led us to death.

Let us repent and receive the forgiveness of sins.

Summary

Semuon’s Letter

The devil has tried to deceive me by what he has said, by befriending me to his ways, and getting close to me. The ones that he had used in the past knew how hungry and worn out I was, and they tried to convince me with their lies in telling me that they would help me. They urged me, “Pastor, you have done so many good works. So, before you get into disrepute, do all those things we tell you and this will preserve your honor and pride.” They tried to tempt me into thinking that they would help protect my honor. But God had Himself spoken to me, by saying, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” So, what is the word of truth? God’s word or theirs?

I am not sure if the honor and pride of the world, which is as common and valueless as the stones found on the ground, can truly save one’s face while living in this world. But it can certainly not save my soul. However, the word of God has atoned for all my sins and has made me clean. The word of God makes me possess eternal life.

Whenever he can, the devil uses his minions to shout me down and tell me to step down from the authority that comes from God Himself. But I know that these are all the common methods used by the devil. His minions tell me that the angels will not let my feet touch the floor, but the ones who tell me these things are not even angels themselves. They are the workers of lies. And they are being used as the tool of him who has created all these lies. If they can, they will try to force me to bow before them and obey their every word. But their words are not the words that come from heaven, and their words are not the words that come from the Holy Spirit. Should anyone in their right mind be deceived by these words that they speak? The glory of the world that they claim they give is in fact: disobedience, lawlessness, and corruption. And finally, it is the eternal ruin of the soul.

Just as the Lord has Himself spoken, when He had said, “Be gone from me, Satan!”, so I also say to them: “Be gone from me!” For my whole life, I have not loved the so-called honor of the world, which is as common as the stones on the ground. Neither have I lived by this kind of honor. The reason that I have avoided all these things is because of all the spiritual language, word, and testimony that I have preached and experienced in my 60-year ministry. And these have been written down in the following books:‘Christ’s Healings and His Holy Signs in My Life’, ‘Demonology’, and ‘Let us know God’.

They now write all sorts of shameful things to force me to step down from my position as Overseer. But these are all the words that belong to the world, and they are not the words that belong to God. No one must be deceived by any of these lies. The devil says, “I will lift you up, I will give you honor, and I will protect you, so prostrate before me, and listen to what these people of saying”. But the words of the devil will never succeed.

Jesus has spoken by his holy word, “Whoever desires to follow me must take up his cross and follow me”. Jesus has again said, “This is the way of My true disciples”. No matter what kind of glory, and no matter what kind of comfort the world has to offer, the order from the Lord to take up my cross, has come to me in the form of the commandment of God. I myself will walk up the harsh, uphill slope to Golgotha just as the Lord Jesus had Himself done. I will die the death that He Himself had died. This is the commandment of the Lord. I myself am a man of many sins. Yet the Lord has cleansed me from them all. I am a powerless man. Yet the Spirit of the Lord dwells with me. The way that I am walking on is the not the way of destiny, but the way of the work of God that was decided in the beginning in heaven. Therefore, I will shout ever louder, ‘May the will of God be done!”

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December 16, 2018 Receive the Holy Spirit

December 16, 2018/in 2018 Lord’s Day, Uncategorized /by 홍성호

Senior Overseer Kidong Kim

Outline

[John 14:15-24]

God
is love.
He so loved the world that He sent the Word,
and this Word is God (Jn 1:1).
The Word is life (Jn 1:4), and the Word is light.
The Word is the glory of God (Jn 1:14).
The Word became flesh and manifested Himself to us.
The Word shed His blood on the cross,
and saved us from sins (He saved us from the Law) (Jn 6:53-58).
He later sent the Holy Spirit from heaven,
and the Holy Spirit is the Counselor (Jn 14:16).
‘The Counselor’ means ‘a Protector’, ‘a Comforter’, and ‘an Advocate’.
If one falls away from faith, he will be a hypocrite
whose conscience has been seared as with a hot iron (1Ti 4:1-2).
If he falls into corruption, it will be impossible to repent (He 6:1-8).
If he deliberately sins, there will be no sacrifice left for sins (He 10:26).
If a demon comes out, it will come back again
with demons more wicked than itself (Matthew 12:43-45).
If this happens,
the last state of the person will be worse than the first.
Receive the Holy Spirit, who is the Counselor.
○ Believe in Jesus and be cleansed from sins.
The Lord has given us salvation.
Only the blood of Jesus can give us salvation.
○ Receive the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has given life to us who were dead.
He has enabled us to become children of God.
○ Receive the Holy Spirit, who is the Counselor.
The Holy Spirit protects you forever.
The Holy Spirit protects you in this age and in the age to come.
※ The testimony of a believer is the precious blood of Jesus.
It is the testimony that he has become a child of God.
It is the testimony of the truth that we will be with the Counselor forever.

Summary

Semuon’s Letter

It has almost the time when I finally reach the age of 82 years old. But what are the thoughts of other men of my age, when they also think about the final days of their lives, which are sure to come? They might say to themselves, “The day of my death is near, so it seems best for me if I rest in peace until that that day comes.” These might be the typical words that come from a person who is in my situation, but these are not at all the words that I say myself.

Instead, I ask myself the question, “After I am born and enter into this world, what can I do to fill up the limited time that I have?”. I ask such questions as these to myself, and then, in response, find that special work, and then do it. If I had only ten years to live, then I would doin advancethat very work that I needed to do for those ten years. While others may grow weary and have the desire to rest, I, on the other hand, desire to do that special work that I have found. If I could possibly offer my body to God in His service more than I already have, I would gladly do it. As long as I am able to lift my eyelids and go about the world, I want to do that special work given me.

We cannot afford to be void of any work while we are healthy and strong in our flesh. We mustn’t regard that special work that we do as the work that will, sooner or later, no longer be able to be done when our bodies are aged.Instead, we must regard that special workas the work that we can always bedo,as long aswe are in the flesh. We must live for this special work. The days are now passing like thunder. We must value the opportunity we have during this short time of the flesh. God has today given us valuable wisdom. Thisspecial work that we can still do, even when our bodies are old, is to be a witness of God.

The truth is not something that can be saved onto a computer or a machine. The truth isthat which has been present from the very beginning. God created our spirits so that we can store this truth within ourselves. Our flesh digests the food that we eat, and stores away the energy that comes from that food. Our minds absorb the multitude of information that is found in the outside world. However, the truth that comes from God cannot be stored or saved within our minds or our reason. The truth of God can only be stored away in our spirits. God has created mankind, and has made mankind’s flesh similar to the flesh of other beasts that walk on the earth. However, God gave mankind the intellect to rule over all the material creation. God made mankind, the lord of all creation.

However, just because God had made mankind like this, does not mean that he had the capability of storing within himself the truth that comes from God. After God had made man into ‘a living spirit’, he enabled him, for the first time, to be able to accept the truth that comes out from the mouth of God. He enabled him to store within himself the truth of God, to be free by dwelling in the truth, and to be able to fight against the devilwith the truth– to fight against him until the end of the age and to overcome him. God had fulfilled his work and we became ‘living spirits’ – living spirit who could become children of God. However, the devil destroyed the spirit of man and made him unable to hear the truth. Wecame to lose the eternal power to store away the truth and to testify to it.

In order to return man to his former state, God sent His Son into the world, and by the blood of Jesus, our souls have achieved restoration, and we have received this salvation. God has, therefore, enabled our souls to eternally prevail against the seduction and temptation of the devil. Furthermore, he has enabled us to hear the truth, to accept the truth into our souls, and to obey the truth. The result has been that he made us into the Body belonging to God.

We are not like the beasts that walk along the earth. We are living beings that have ‘souls’ within ourselves. The duty of the soul is to be free by dwelling in the truth, and to become a witness of the truth. God will forever dwell with us – from Hades all the way to the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit can enter into no place except our souls.

2018 Audio

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December 9, 2018 Jesus Is the Resurrection

December 9, 2018/in 2018 Lord’s Day, Uncategorized /by 홍성호

Senior Overseer Kidong Kim

Outline

[John 11:25-26]

God
is the Father.
He
sent the Word to the world (Jn 1:14),
that is, He sent His Son to the world (Jn 1:18).
The Word is Eternal Life (Jn 1:4).
The Word became flesh and died on the cross.
This was so that He would experience death as we do (Jn 10:17-18).
He was raised from the dead after three days.
He was resurrected as God (Jn 14:19-20).
We believe that
He was resurrected as God (Jn 20:19).
When He died, the world and His disciples fell into despair.
However,
through His resurrection, He gave great faith to His disciples and the world.
This is the faith of the Resurrection (Jn 20:20).
The great gift that the Lord manifested to the eleven disciples after His resurrection
was the words: ‘Peace be with you!’,
‘Receive the Holy Spirit!’ (Jn 20:21)
and, ‘Forgive the sins of all!’
The truth never condemns anyone (Jn 20:23).
○ We believe in the Lord who was resurrected.
This faith is that the Lord gave us His peace,
and that we have this peace in our hearts.
○ Our faith is
that the Holy Spirit has come into us.
The Holy Spirit, as the Counselor, abides with us forever.
○ Our faith is
not to condemn others in our hearts,
but to be free, along with all mankind.
※ We are free from the knowledge of good and evil,
we are free from the Law of Moses and the conscience,
and we never condemn others.

Summary

Semuon’s Letter

Our church is called a Baptist church, yet for being called a Baptist church, we are currently receiving negative treatment from the current Baptist Denominations in South Korean and it has resulted in chaos. Indeed, we are a Baptist church that gives baptism by immersion in water, yet the term, ‘Independent church’ is a more appropriate term. We are not a church that has borrowed from the name of a denomination, but before this church was established, I received ordination as a pastor from another independent church, and afterwards, zealously preached the gospel and preached the word, and finally established an independent church later on.

Our church follows the Bible as its law, leads lives of faith according to the Bible, and preaches and conducts our ministry according to the Bible. So, although, I, Semuon, studied theology in a Presbyterian Seminary, my heart very much follows the ideals of an Independent church. I started the first years of my life of faith in a Methodist church, but I follow the ideals of an Independent church. Yes, this body of our church was momentarily within the Baptist Denomination, but the ideals of this church was that of an Independent church.

No matter where you go in the world, if they ask you of what denomination you belong to, and you name this church and also mention that you belong to a Baptist church, they will look at you with great suspicion. This is because the churches that belong to the Baptist church denomination regard it is part of their faith to oppose miraculous healings. Yet when they discover that the practice of our faith is the working of miraculous healings, they get greatly confused and will have deep suspicions.

According to the command of the Lord, we must receive the Holy Spirit, and we must- by all means – receive baptism. Therefore, our church shares many similarities with the Baptist church, and shares similarities with Pentecostal churches. We also share similarities with the Presbyterian church in the sense that we have our own elders, and we share some similarities with the Methodist Church because we advocate free will. However, from the very beginning, our church has been an independent church which, regardless of denomination, gives baptism by immersion in water. Regardless of denomination, it is the church that is full of the Holy Spirit and Returns to the Word. This is our identity. Therefore, we discard all elements that are non-biblical, and those things that accord with the Bible we vigilantly safeguard. We are a most sincere independent church that follows ‘The Picture of God’s Will’.

The denominations of the world have been divided into the hundreds, and all the members within these churches fight amongst themselves so that many unfortunate and unpleasant things happen. However, we acknowledge that all churches are under Jesus Himself. The identity of our church, on the other hand, is that of a genuine independent church that genuinely follows the ideals of an independent church. The Head of the Church is Jesus Christ, and the One who gave the Church its law is Jesus. The faith that Jesus spoke and taught comes from God the Father. This church is a Berean Church – an independent church that obeys His word and walks on no other path.

Our speech, our will, our action and our faith is all that of an independent church. We must be spiritual so that we receive no intervention by anyone, are not shaken by any theology, and are not constrained by anthropocentric civilization. Human civilization itself must not take away our souls. Can anthropocentric civilization give salvation? Our souls do no rely on any anthropocentric civilization, but we eternally adhere to the theocentric faith that trusts in God. According to the word of Jesus, when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”, we absolutely believe that He is God, and that He abode within the bosom of the Father, later manifesting Himself to us as the Exact Representation of the Being of God. He is God.

Whoever asks us what church we belong to, let us all say clearly, “We belong to an Independent church”. Let us not say that we belong to the Presbyterian church, or the Methodist church. Let us, instead, all clearly say that we belong to an Independent church.

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