July 28, 2019 The Way that goes to Paradise (Luke 23:39-43)

Sermon Outline

God
dwells in heaven.
His Son
came to the world to die (Matt 20:28).
Jesus’ death was fulfilled through the shedding of His blood (Heb 9:22).
Without the shedding of blood, no one can be saved (John 6:53).
The death of Jesus on the cross (1Cor 1:18)
took place on behalf of the sins of mankind.
The souls of mankind were purchased by His blood (Acts 20:28).
Furthermore,
He personally opened the Way out of eternal death, that is,
He opened the Way one crosses from death to life.
He Himself is the Way (John 14:6).
The Way to go to heaven is this:
Those who believe in Jesus will die and remain in Paradise.
From there, they will gain the Resurrection on the Day of Jesus’ coming (1Cor 15:20-22).
Therefore,
fearing the death of your flesh does not come from faith.
Each person must surely die and afterwards enter into Paradise.
On the Day of Jesus’ coming, we will wear the new clothing of the Resurrection.
Finally, we will go to the House of the Father (1Thess 4:13-17).
○ The Holy Spirit raised the Lord from the dead.
So that He could give life to our spirits,
He has entered and dwells in our hearts.
○ The Gospel of the Lord Jesus is His invitation letter, which we must receive and believe.
We must also receive baptism through immersion.
○ If you want to wear the new clothing of the Resurrection,
receive the invitation from the Lord Jesus.
Your spirit must receive His invitation.
The one who has received grace is the one who has received His invitation letter.
※ It is crucial that you do not become a religious person!
Instead, believe in Jesus!
Be saved through the knowledge of the truth!

Semuon’s Letter

My beloved Sungrak people and Bereans! Our faith is not something we built for ourselves. Instead, we received this faith from God. God has given us ‘the Secret of God’ who has dwelt in His Bosom since from eternity past. Yet man is so full of his own wisdom that he rejects God. The pride of the Tower of Babel – which once reached to heaven – is happening all over again.

The tower of Babel was the outcome of man’s challenge to become prosperous by his own strength. The outcome was man could not escape being destroyed. The outcome of man seeking his own knowledge is destruction, the outcome of man seeking his own wisdom is also destruction. The outcome of man serving and promoting only his own civilization is destruction. The outcome of man excessively indulging in man-made culture is destruction. The only Being who knows all these spiritual realities is God Himself.

God looked upon mankind with pity and loved them. So He had decided to reveal to mankind the secret of salvation, which dwelt in Him. We believe and obey this Will, which God has established and fulfilled. In doing this, we fulfill God’s righteousness.

We know very well that man’s righteousness and will can never fulfill their salvation. And we experience that demons cannot hide their identity. Rather, in the presence of our faith, they reveal their own identity and flee with shrieks. This is the manifesting testimony that our faith is a spiritual faith. Jesus clearly said to those who had believe in Him: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons” (Marks 16:14-17).

The signs of demons being driven out is a testimony that there is a problem with our faith on the spiritual level. There are countless people who serve in churches today. But they must be differentiated between those who are spiritual and those who are not. We can say they are those who live lives of faith and those who live religious lives. If we see those who have faith compromising with those who pursue religion, this is no different from spiritual people becoming fleshly again. This is the very act of sinning deliberately (Hebrews 10:26-30).

I say this once again: the foundation of the Church of Christ is not the thought of man, but the revelation of God. This revelation is ‘the Secret of God’ (Ephesians 3:3, Romans 16:25-27).
(1) What man understands about God all by himself is called “Natural Revelation.”
(2) The revelation God has given to man is called “General Revelation.”
(3) ‘The Secret of God’ was in the Bosom of God. God revealed and commanded that all believe in Him. This is called “Special Revelation.”

From the time of Abel to the time of Noah, mankind relied on natural revelation, and then only their spirits were sent to prison to later await judgment. From the time of Abraham to the time of John the Baptist, people relied on general revelation, and they (that is, the spirit together with the personality) will dwell with Abraham and later receive judgment. And those who have been saved – from the criminal who had received the Lord’s invitation at the cross until the Last Days – rely on Special Revelation. They will enter into paradise.

Semuon