God
commands blessings.
He
commanded blessings in heaven (Deu 30:19-20)
and commanded blessings on earth.
Blessings
are God’s promises (Gen 12:2).
Therefore, He made Abraham to be a source of blessing.
Even today,
He commands those who believe the Lord Jesus to be sources of blessings (Lk 24:47-50).
Along with the blessings God commanded,
He gives the blessing of being persecuted for the Lord with rewards (Mt 5:10).
The Lord Jesus received God’s word and was persecuted.
He said the world also hates us because
we are given the word (Jn 15:18-19).
Who wants to be persecuted?
Being persecuted is most painful for human beings.
But
persecution given by the Lord Jesus
is the saints’ duties (Mt 16:24).
The saints accept their duties along with the Holy Spirit.
○ Let’s be blessed!
Do not be ashamed of the blessings God gives.
Let’s be blessed along with persecutions!
○ Let’s be persecuted for righteousness
and fight against unrighteousness
with the Holy Spirit!
○ Those without faith cannot endure persecutions.
Be persecuted for the Lord’s name
and rejoice and be glad.
※ He gives persecutions along with rewards and blessings.
Jesus walked this path
and we are also walking on it.

I am not ashamed that I am now full of years. Because I strived only for the work of the Lord, and did this in equal measure to the years that I have lived on this earth, I know most confidently that I know the Lord more than anyone else. I have great confidence and pride about it. The greatness of years is a testimony of the storage in heaven of the works that were done for the Lord.

For the time that I have lived in this world, I did not do the work of the world. Instead, I poured myself entirely to the work that the Lord entrusted to me – I did it with all my heart and strength. During all that time, and also recently, I have heard and have had to endure dismissive remarks – remarks from people who are busy in doing nothing but coming up slanders. They say I am an ignorant and unknowledgeable person. Yes, the remark that I, Semuon, am ignorant, is true – I humbly acknowledge this. So I neither try to defend myself, and am not at all ashamed about this. I acknowledge this as true. I am significantly lacking concerning the understanding of the world. But this is because the opportunity to gain any learning from the world was always denied me. On the other hand, concerning the area of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, I am confident that I am more learned than anyone else in the world. This is because I have devoted my whole lifetime, and in undivided attention, in striving to know Jesus.

I started reading the Bible when I was 19 years old. At the close of the first year, I ended up reading the whole Bible 42 times. Afterwards I had to strive to constantly battle against the world. I battled against severe poverty. During this time, while continuously reading the Bible, I finally ended up reading the Bible 75 times. The Lord then called me to be the instrument of His work. I not only proclaimed Jesus with my own lips, but with my own hands I performed His great power. I testified most assuredly to the great hope of the Resurrection.

Even today, I am lacking in the understanding of the ways of the world. I lack the experience of it. Yet even though I may not have secured any intellectual grasp of anything belonging to the world, my lips, my mind, and my soul is filled with nothing but Jesus and the knowledge of Him. In the future, when we all go up to stand before the Lord Jesus, those who strived for the scholarship and knowledge of the world will lose it. But the ones who sincerely strived only for the pure knowledge of God, and were indeed filled with it, will gladly be welcomed by Him. But one does not stop at the knowledge of God, but he puts this knowledge into practice. Because of my distinguished faith, inspiration, and knowledge of God, I have had to endure great persecutions and rejection. I was condemned by the knowledge of the world. I suffered these experiences all too many times.

I did not feed myself and my family with the knowledge of the world. Only with the knowledge of Jesus – that is, only with the knowledge of the truth – did I ever feed myself and my family. I am now great in years, and am considered senile, but like the sun that is about to descend upon the mountain lying the west, I am fighting against time. I am determined to work until my body breaks, and am determined to go down shining light like the light of the sun that is about to go down. This is the final labor that I will do for sake of pleasing the Lord. Even though my body is old and worn out, the healings and holy signs of Jesus Christ do not age, and I will even continue to testify to them.

My dear and beloved Sungrak Saints: let us all be filled, not with the knowledge of the world, but with the knowledge of the Lord. This is the Lord’s request. We are not the people of religion, but we are the living body of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Semuon