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2015.08.23_Be Partakers of the Divine Nature

in 2015 Lord's Day, Ki Dong Kim

Senior Overseer Ki-Dong Kim

Outline

[2Peter 1:1-11]

God
is our true Father.
He
created all things for His Son only (Heb 1:2-3)
and revealed the Father’s truth to His Son (Jn 1:1).
There is an everlasting relationship between
God the Father and the Son of Man, His Son,
which is the only true love (1 Jn 4:18).
God’s word is love;
His grace is love;
everything He does is love (Jn 3:16).
This is
God the Father’s unique nature.
Hence
His given faith is also love;
it is His divine nature.
We do not have faith if we fall short of His divine nature.
Faith must have virtue,
and virtue, knowledge.
Knowledge is foundational to godliness,
and godliness promotes brotherly kindness.

○ Do not conform to the carnal mind
but follow the divine nature.
This is the fruit of true faith.

○ Love is a divine nature.
One must fructify love through perseverance
in order to attain the divine nature.

○ Without the divine nature
one cannot be in Jesus,
and will only conform to the flesh.

※Let us fill our souls with hope.
To be partakers of the divine nature
in turn, means to bless our own soul.

Summary

Receiving the love of God the Father is our faith.

God is our true father. Our relationship with God is not man-made and initiated because we decided, ‘God, I will serve as my Father from now on’. God begot us. Though many people confess God as the Creator, they only think about how He created the natural world and fail to realize that He is the Father who begot them.

Faith life is about receiving God the Father’s love. The love that parents have for their children is so enormous that it goes beyond children’s imagination. And God the Father’s love for us is greater than that which any parent can have in this world. Moreover, that love is everlasting. For animals, they cannot recognize their young if they become separated from them for just a few months. However, the love for one’s child never goes away, even until the day s/he dies. But what is greater than that is God’s eternal love towards us. Our faith life is in desiring that love.

To say ‘receive grace’ is equivalent to saying ‘receive God’s love’. Those that have received God’s love endeavor to please God, for they hope to enjoy His love more abundantly. And they worship God as an act to please Him. When children receive a reward at school, they want to show it to their parents more than anybody else and make them happy. In the same way, those who’ve received God’s love, please Him by bringing glory to Him through worship.

What is God pleased with? He is pleased with Jesus. God hears our prayers because we pray in Jesus’ name. To pray in Jesus’ name doesn’t mean we simply add the phrase, “In Jesus’ name” after we have listed everything we want. Prayer is when one who honors the name of Jesus desires to glorify that name and thus asks God accordingly. When those, who continuously receive God’s abundant love and also love God much in turn, pray, God is attentive to their prayers.

The soul is that which receives God’s love.

To receive God’s love is a blessing. Though many people say they are asking for blessings, in actual fact they just list out what their flesh desires before God. They would fast and do all-night prayers saying, “Give us a bigger house. Help our business to grow.” Yet God’s concern is not with the flesh which can expire at any moment. Since the flesh came from dust, it will eventually return to it. No matter how much a person might have saved up for himself, once God takes away his spirit, all that wealth will fall into the hands of others. On the other hands, what God desires to give us is everlasting.

Jesus was God’s beloved one, yet His life was studded with suffering and humiliation. Why did He have such a life when He is the beloved One of God? Did He lack in faith? No, but the reason He was poor, scorned, and persecuted was because the Father had commanded Him to do so. He did not go beyond God the Father’s love but completed all the pleasing works of the Father.

The purpose of why we lead a church life is not in making our flesh comfortable but in receiving God’s love. When the people following Jesus became hungry in a deserted place, the Lord didn’t say, “Since you’ve had a hard time following me, I’ll provide you with enough food for the rest of your life.” Instead He fed them just one meal until they were all filled, then had the leftovers collected. Even if they were given a somewhat cold treatment, we cannot categorize those people as not having received God’s love.

Among the saints are some who experience life difficulties as a result of a business failure or a sudden illness. But it’s a misunderstanding to think that they have been abandoned by God. According to some theories, Paul, who had healed countless other people’s diseases, was actually suffering from an eye condition or a stomach disorder. Concerning this Paul said, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor 12:7-9). It is not the flesh but the spirit that receives God’s love.

Partake in the divine nature.

Faith is about taking part in the divine nature. It says in 2 Peter 1:2-4, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

God has given us the Lord of Heaven’s throne. Since we have received such great love, we must not be silent but testify to let more and more people receive that love also. And for that, we must no longer follow the desires of the flesh but be partakers of the divine nature. Just as parents and their love for their children are inseparable, this nature of love cannot be separated from God the Father. If we have come to know the Father, we must rightfully be partakers of His nature.

For a chicken egg to hatch, a temperature of 37.5℃ has to be maintained. And the hen which incubates the eggs has to maintain a higher body temperature of 41.7℃. Otherwise, the eggs will not be incubated at the right temperature and soon spoil. Thus for the eggs to hatch, they must partake and share the hen’s body temperature.

The hen assists the eggs share her own body temperature by altering their position at regular intervals. By doing so, all the eggs have equal contact with the hen’s body temperature and thus maintain their temperature. Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34). Just like the hen that wants her eggs to share in her body temperature, God wanted Jerusalem to partake in His love but Jerusalem had often turned away from God’s wish.

Add goodness to faith, and to goodness, knowledge.

We who received God’s eternal love through Jesus Christ mustn’t disappoint God anymore and become partakers of His divine nature. Instead of just being satisfied by the fact that we have faith, we must add goodness to our faith. To have goodness means the same as winning the favor of or being loved by others. Some people pray a lot and are deemed to have great faith, and yet they seldom receive love from others. For example, would others be happy if someone was praying out loudly without any consideration for the people around him? We need to be considerate of others and join in prayer when everyone is praying out loud, but also be quiet when everyone else is quiet. If we have faith, we should be able to understand the situation of the other members and have the virtue to harmonize with them.

Those who are new to the church ought to learn about church life from the members who first believed. They mustn’t compare the way they were treated in the world to that in the church and criticize the church for not having love, but rather make efforts to assimilate into the church quickly. Instead of rolling out of the nest when the hen is trying to incubate her eggs, they must endeavor to partake in God’s love.

Some people have the tendency to say things which hurt others or humiliate them. Who would want to be friends with such people? No matter how good looking a person might be, if they are fierce and have no virtue in their words or deeds, everyone will probably want to avoid them. Luke 2:52 says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Jesus was not only loved by God but also people. We also need to be people of virtue, who win the favor of others.

If we have virtue, we must add knowledge. A true Christian should know and be able to speak about God whom he believes in. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”. It is utterly tragic if a person has been attending church for decades yet is unable to explain the reason for their faith. John 17:3 says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” If we have virtue in our faith, then we must add knowledge so that that virtue does not become void.

Add knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

Self-control is also a very important element in our faith life. Some people ask, “Do I have to stop drinking if I believe in Jesus? Isn’t it true that I won’t go to hell even if I drink?” Leviticus 10:9-11 says, “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.” It would be hard to expect a person who cannot quit drinking to handle sacred works of God.

Every day we hear news of accidents and incidents and notice how alcohol clouds a person’s judgment and reasoning. There are some who don’t even remember that they murdered another person while they were drunk. Not only has God forbidden it, but drinking gives rise to all sorts of negative effects in people’s lives. So how can person who can’t refrain from drinking possibly have a sound faith life?

The same goes for smoking. When we cast out demons from believers and ask in what situation they came, in many occasions the demons answer, “I came into this person when s/he was smoking”. Whilst countless demons are on the watch for a chance to infiltrate and harm people, for a Christian to be smoking is a very risky thing to do. Religious people of course, would have no issues at all even if they drink and smoke. However, if we have received in God, we must exercise self-control in such matters.

Christians also need to have perseverance. If we’ve accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we must endure unto the day we meet Him. A pregnant woman supplies all the nutrients in her body to form a heart, pair of eyes and every other organ of the baby. From her bone marrows to her nervous system, everything of the mother is supplied to create a beautiful and complete human being. Some mothers even suffer a bad case of morning sickness in the process. Suddenly she craves a certain type of food, while even the smell of some foods makes her vomit. The baby is able to develop healthy and sound because the mother endures through all of this. In the same way, believers must persevere to the end for the sake of their own souls (Matt 24:13).

To perseverance we must add godliness. We ought to conduct ourselves in a manner so that whoever sees us may recognize us as those who serve and worship God. This doesn’t mean we should appear as people who are well-disciplined in our character. No matter how perseverant we might be, it’s meaningless if we are separated from God. We ought to be reverent of God and fellowship with Him always.

Upon godliness, we must add brotherly kindness. Here, the word ‘brotherly’ is not referring to one’s own flesh and blood. Jesus said, “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?” (Matt 5:47). The Lord wants us to consider and care for, not only those who are our own flesh and blood, but everyone as our own selves.

Finally, love must be added to brotherly kindness. How do we add love? What good is it to say to someone who has nothing wear, “You must be so cold. Wear something and keep yourself warm”? What good is it to tell someone who has no food, “You must be hungry. Make sure you eat properly”? A mother wouldn’t do that. Hence to love someone means to be their mother. A mother doesn’t just feel sorry for her children when they’re in need; she would even sacrifice her own self to solve her children’s needs. The only way to give love is through maternal love.

Take part in the divine nature in order to receive a rich welcome into that kingdom.

It is written in 2 Peter 1:8-11, “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

When the Lord returns, two people will be in the field and one will be taken up while the other will be left behind. Two people will be grinding the mill, when one will be taken up and the other left behind. Two people will be sleeping in the one room, and one will be taken up and the other left behind. Will we be taken up when the Lord returns? In order to receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Savior Jesus Christ, we need to take part in God’s divine nature. Since we have faith, we now need to have virtue; to virtue we must add knowledge, to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly kindness; then to brotherly kindness, love (2 Pet 1:5-7). As a hen gathers a chicks, we must become partakers in the fervent love of God who is calling us.

Semuon’s Letter

When I rest upon a seat or lie against my bed, I momentarily travel through the conduit of my memories, only to conjure up a recollection of celluloid stills that transition ever so quickly. Elected by God at the age of nineteen, I have come thus far calling upon His name. At the age of twenty-four, I met the love of my life, Kang Soon, whom I married. This, then, became the start of my labor for God. However, as a young man without education or background, I was the symbol of misery and disillusionment. Nevertheless, in spite of this, God poured on my soul, the inspiration of His word, the inspiration of His blood and the inspiration of His Spirit, thereby driving me towards a place I had never previously pondered on – the presence of God’s powerful works.

When the Lord accompanied me with gifts and powers, never at any point did I conceal them, nor use them as a means to alleviate my concerns of survival in this world. Rather, I laid down my life in absolute devotion to the Lord and hence, remained faithful to the work appointed me. In light of this, my earnest prayer is that my body may become an instrument of God, and that His inspiration may become like an endless cascade of inspiration that surges into my soul. Therefore, given all knowledge, power and the promises of signs and wonders are contained in the Bible, I have lived in absolute accordance and reliance on it – I have come thus far in obedience to such teachings of the Bible.

Consider, a time when a certain individual aimed to suppress me with the knowledge he had gathered from his many years at school. However, I was in confident assurance that the Word of God is in fact, God Himself, that He was with God from eternity past, and that God accomplishes everything according to His holy word as the Triune God. Indeed, I did not relent. To whom shall I go, seeking the signs and wonders that testify to God’s glory? For, this was my earnest desire: That God may stretch out His hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders as I traveled about the world He created. Whilst I felt that I would otherwise be in possession of a fabricated faith, I was certain that if God were to reveal His divine powers in my life, I would be free from all fear of this world as an undoubtedly blessed servant of God.

I do not understand why people fail to believe the words written in the Bible. Such people, though they claim to trust the pastor, do not have faith in the Bible and the majestic authority and inspiration it contains. That is, given the Bible is filled with the inspiration of the word of God, the inspiration of the blood of Jesus Christ and the inspiration of the Spirit of God, I simply cannot understand why people do not believe in the Bible. These people highly anticipate and wait upon the receiving of money, however, they do not care to rest their eyes on the Bible, let alone, read it. As for me, I have never gone beyond the Bible, so as to gain or learn anything from elsewhere and thus, I have become one with the Bible, as if it dwells beneath my flesh – I am indistinguishable from it. From dawn to dusk, every day, I am deeply immersed into the joy of discovering and fathoming the mysteries contained in the Bible, which, in turn, become like streams of living water within my soul.

Oh! How such marvelous powers bring tears to my eyes.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

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2015.08.16_Love the Lord

in 2015 Lord's Day, Sung Hyun Kim

Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim

Outline

[John 21:15-23]

God
is love.
He
loves our souls
just as He loves His Son (1Jn 4:8).
This is so
that we may be in Jesus Christ
and receive the same love of God as Him.
Since God loves us the same as He loves His Son,
we must receive His love to be His true saints.
He who is loved by the Lord will love the Lord (Jn 14:21),
and he who loves the Lord must love His beloved ones,
for that is complete obedience.
Faith is precious,
and so is hope;
but to love the Lord is forever precious (1 Co 13:13).
The first of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is love (Gal 5:22-23).

○Through our faith, we receive the Lord’s word.
By practicing love as commanded by the Lord,
let us demonstrate our love for the Lord.

○As He said “feed my sheep”,
become a true shepherd (mokyangsa)
if you truly love the Lord.

○As He said to feed His lambs,
a shepherd’s charge is to have patience,
the patience to rear His lambs.

※A shepherd’s duty is
to teach them to hear and observe the Lord’s word.
Let us become true shepherds by the Holy Spirit

Summary

One that experiences God’s gracious favor, remembers His grace and loves God

Christians are the ones who received God’s love. Nothing is more precious than receiving the love of God who is the Father of all things and the Creator. Anyone would give up the world if they could receive God’s love, for to have received God’s love means to receive something that goes beyond man’s dreams. One thing we have to understand is that God’s love poured on us through Jesus Christ is forever unchanging. Within the love God has given us is His determination to love us forever.

The sad thing is that there are people who, despite their faith lives, fail to experience God’s love. The reason for this is they don’t remember the love God had given them through Jesus Christ. But those who remember God’s love will love God all the days of their life in response to His love, and in result they would receive much of God’s help. On the contrary, those that forget, ignore, or doubt God’s love will not respond to His love, and thus cannot draw closer to God and live as though they are forsaken by God.

God’s love can be categorized largely into the first love and second love. The first love can be described as grace which we received by believing and accepting Jesus Christ, whereas the second love can be called favor which we receive through our response to His love.

Even if we don’t react to the first love, God’s love given us through Jesus Christ isn’t nullified. Nevertheless we can’t rest easy. If we don’t love the Lord, we’ll slowly become unsure of His first love and eventually, have a doubtful attitude before God. When that happens, we will lose our spiritual viewpoint and try to lead our faith lives with just our mental viewpoint. Moreover, we won’t be able to escape feeling like we’re in the dark though we might be busily engaged with our faith lives. If we continue to fail to receive God’s help in this way, then the old way of thinking and habits we had when we were God’s enemies will take over our personality and life.

When we first believed, we were utterly shocked after realizing how Jesus Christ who is the Son of God died on the cross for our sake. We repented of our past unbelief by relying on His merits, and became a new creation through baptism. That’s when we received the grace God imparted on us, by which we came into the church as those who now have the right to receive God’s gracious favor.

Christ Jesus is worthy to receive our love

For all of this to happen, there were many more significant events. Though God’s Son could’ve come out of the Father’s bosom and directly enter Heaven and inherit the throne, instead going into Heaven directly, He came down to this lowly earth. He wanted to come in the form of a servant lower than the angels, taste death and then ascend to the throne at the right hand of God. Though He is equal to God, He lowered Himself to be most humble before the Father. He had planned to first come to the earth and taste death, and after that, be seated on the throne of Heaven.

However God the Father desired His Son to be the Christ for mankind, and thus commissioned with the duty to die for the sake of mankind. It was to bear this duty that Jesus was in agony and prayed more earnestly at Gethsemane (Luke 22:44), and it was also as the Christ that He cried on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46).

The Son of God becoming the Christ wasn’t His will originally. He was anguished of how man will dishonor God in the process of God saving mankind out of His love for them, and thus He earnestly prayed to the Father at Gethsemane to rethink His plan. Nevertheless, the Father did not hear His Son’s plea. The Son had already humbled Himself and come to the world, but the Father made Him suffer death for mankind. Here lies the love God has for us.

The Son of God who had already given up His glory to humble Himself before the Father had surrender Himself even more, and bear the suffering and curse we deserved upon His own body. He shed His blood and purchased us, and delivered us from death. Hence there is a truth we must remember. Jesus Christ is One who is worthy to receive the love we give with all of our life, and the love which all the redeemed souls together give unto Him.

Do you love me? Do you now understand that love?

After He resurrected, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Until then the Lord had never commanded anyone, ‘you must love me!’ And in His question, “Do you love me?” was another question implied which the Lord had in His heart, and that was, “Have you now received God’s love?”

Before Jesus died on the cross, nobody on the earth had ever received love like that Jesus had shown. It wasn’t Jesus who said, “God is love”, but the disciples, who had witnessed His resurrection, and were deeply moved by the great love of God that sent Jesus to the world. If anyone believes Jesus as the Son of God, he would understand the greatness of God’s love as well as the truth, the passion and the agony of that love which was given by sacrificing His own Son.

Therefore when Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” another significant meaning was behind it – Now you realize that I am God’s Son. The Father who dearly loves me, sent me to do His work, and you have now witnessed what He has done for you through me. Finally you have received God’s love!

The moment we came to realize the grace Jesus Christ showed us, we received the biggest shock of our lifetime, and began to love Him from then on. And in order that we may be sure of God’s love, He emphasized how God the Father loved even by sacrificing His Son. He said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:14-16). He also said, “That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here” (Jn 14:31).

The degree to which each person loves Jesus Christ is directly related to the degree of understanding God’s love given through Him. If anyone doesn’t love Jesus Christ, it’s because He either doesn’t understand or has forgotten or is doubtful of God’s love. Even if a person is weak in faith, he will be saved as long as he believes in Jesus Christ the Son of God. However in order to be able to boast of the grace he has received, the shock from God’s love for him should never be erased from his heart.

Whoever doesn’t understand the depth of His love will grow distant from God

For a person who doesn’t have a deep experience of God’s love, faith life itself is very difficult and such people would struggle to even attend worship services. Their hearts feel burdened to give offerings, and when they hear about faithfulness, obedience and so on in the sermon, they start to have a headache. Hence without understanding the depth of God’s love, even a self-professed Christian cannot live as a true Christian. That is because such a person lacks in his strength to love the Lord. Though he worships, he cannot worship in spirit and truth, with thanksgiving and reverence because he doesn’t actually feel God’s presence with him. He cannot partake in giving glory and thanks to God through the worship, let alone contribute in the church worshipping God successfully.

A bigger problem for those who cannot feel God’s love is that they aren’t able to experience the working of the Lord. They themselves believe they are receiving God’s love, when in fact they are not receiving the love God is imparting as gracious favor. As a result, they don’t have any experiences of the Lord, and thus their faith continues to be something notional. As their faith is not secure, sometimes they determine their hearts but are easily shaken in their will, and when trials or temptations or suffering comes, even the little they have done in their faith life comes to naught. We ought to be able to answer the Lord when He asks, “Do you love me?”

If you’ve received love, respond. Love one another.

When Peter answered, “You know that I love you”, Jesus said, “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep”. He gave the commandment to love and look after the Christians who received God’s love. This command was not only given to Peter but to all who believe in Him. Jesus had already said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. Did I not lay down my life for you?” (Jn 15:12-14).

Jesus has already given us His gracious love through His death and resurrection, and gave this command to those who received His love: If you love me, then love one another! Loving the Lord itself is easy, for anyone that knows of God’s love will most certainly love the Lord. That is why Jesus didn’t command, “From now on, you must love me”, but instead commanded, “Love one another!”

To love one another is not something that happens naturally between people. It might be a different story if we were as well-disciplined as the Israelites, but until now we’ve lived as we please. And for such people to live together and love one another is contrary to our nature. Nevertheless, to love one another is the Lord’s command. The Lord is saying, “If you have received God’s love, you will surely love me. Then, is it not only right that you respond to that gracious love? The way you can respond is that you love those whom I have saved through my suffering, bloodshed, and perseverance.”

Just because one believes in Jesus doesn’t mean he automatically has the ability to love others. It is natural for one who believes in Jesus to love Jesus, but that love for Jesus doesn’t automatically get transferred to another person. That is why, Jesus commanded, “Do you love me? Then love one another”. Although the Lord is not on the earth in person, He left those He has saved instead. The church is the Lord’s body and each person is the member of His body. The way for us to express our love for the Lord on the earth is actually by loving the church.

It says in 1 John 4: 7-11, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Then it continues in verse 20 saying, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

Love the church. Deny yourself.

If anybody loves the Lord, his concern will be for the church. Whoever loves the Lord will serve the church. Caring and serving the church includes the giving of offerings. Offerings are given to God. Jesus was often clashed with people over the subject of offering, and He made a very clear point at each of those times. Once offerings have been given to God, they get used in looking after the church, that is, in caring and loving the souls whom the Lord has left in this world. Offerings are fundamental to our faith life as something that can’t be given to somebody else to bear. It is a very important aspect when it comes to the saints’ service to the church.

In order to love the Lord, we must sacrifice much of ourselves. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt 16:24). If one’s aspiration for personal gain exceeds his love for the Lord, his future can only be bleak because it is hardly expected for him to receive God’s favor thereafter.

Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” God is invisible, yet we are experiencing Him, for Jesus Christ is manifesting Himself to us even now. Because He is revealing Himself to us this way, we can be sure even today that God’s love which He showed on the cross is true and everlasting.

Worship is where people who received the deep love of God gather together and confess their gratitude for that love. The church is the Lord’s body, where all members receive God’s love together and express their love for God together. In spite of this, people who haven’t realized God’s love deeply, seek their own interests only like they used to do, even when they’ve come into the church. Such people react very sensitively when it comes to any losses they have to bear, often times show they have a victim mentality towards the church, and only seek their own interests whilst leaving it to others to put love into practice.

We shouldn’t be thinking about how the church is going to satisfy our needs when we come to church on the Lord’s Day. The Lord’s Day is a chance for us to offer something to the Lord. But perhaps those who don’t realize this judge that praising God and praying don’t profit them in any way, for they refuse to participate with their voices. We have already received God’s love and thus we feed and live on God’s love. Now, how pitiful is it if we are busy trying to profit our old self that has already been buried underwater, to live such a weary and miserable life?

Create a virtuous cycle of service, experience and conviction.

Jesus said, “He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (Jn 14:21). Whoever loves the Lord will constantly devote himself to loving the church. And to such a person who is responding to the Lord’s grace, the Lord will reveal Himself. Consequently, the one that serves the church will experience more of the Lord’s working, and thus have a deeper conviction to obey the Lord’s commands. The Lord reveals Himself to such people. Giving of service, experience (of the Lord) and conviction will thus create a virtuous cycle, by which the inspiration of God’s love displayed on the cross will remain in our hearts without growing cold.

There are some people who desire God’s help but instead drag God around. They themselves might think they are serving God well when in fact God is being despised by them. They feel frustrated at, even blame the church for their situation because they are unable to receive God’s help. As they cannot experience the Lord manifest Himself to them, over time they grow distant from Him and eventually fall back to a life of wandering in the valley of curse that had once bound them in the past.

There’s a very important meaning behind us gathering as a church. When we form the Lord’s body and care for it, incredible things happen. First, we overcome the enemy, for the church cannot be overcome by the authority of Hades. Second, as all the saints receive God’s gracious favor together as one body, we have an abundant experience of God’s working. If the number of people that constantly experience God’s help are growing in the church, it means there are many souls who love the Lord gathering in the church. If such fervent love for the Lord accumulates, the church will grow, and the power of the Devil will be weaken accordingly. As a result, many families will become prosperous together with the church, overcome sickness and poverty, and restore peace within their families.

Have the Lord reveal Himself.

The Lord is asking us even today: “Do you love me?” This is His greatest interest, and we must answer Him, “Yes, I love you Lord.” Our hearts should confess, “Yes Lord, I have received Your love – Your sincere love that gave Your life to me. I’ve received Your utmost love that gave everything of Yourself.” The Lord will then command us to look after the souls He saved. And as the Holy Spirit leads us, we ought to obey that command and serve the Lord’s church.

The Son of God came to the earth and left. There is one thing He gave us while He was on the earth, and He did not spare any of it but gave it all to us. And that is God’s love. Today, the Lord demands love from us. Whoever doesn’t love, doesn’t know God; for God is love. From now on, we must love the Lord more than ourselves. We must have the Lord reveal Himself through us.

In the church are many workers. Though they might be lacking in many aspects, God has forgiven them their sins and given them new life. Everyone whom God uses including pastors are holy servants who needs to be respected and loved. Volunteers in the church should be comforted, encouraged and cared for. It is because of them that the church can have worship services, and continue running education programs and mission work. They have sacrificed much out of gratitude for God’s love and because of their love for the Lord.

There are many in the church who are struggling, battered by the storms in this world. They are very weak and helpless like a candle before a hurricane. We need to help them overcome the hardships in this world by experiencing God’s love. We must help every member feel the love of God through the church. When we love and care for the church which the Lord has purchased with His blood, the Lord will manifest Himself to us.

Semuon’s Letter

By His death on the cross,
Jesus Christ made God known to us and has written the Word in our hearts with the blood that He shed, in order that we may understand God’s will. So how can we not be attentive to His words?
I read what the Lord Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground. I read the words He has written in my heart, in my soul. I read His words, “Hear O sinners! I have come into the world to redeem you. Be free, for I will carry all of your wicked sins and die on the cross. Be blessed in your spirit!”

Unless we read the words He has written on the ground, we cannot understand Him no matter how hard we try. Though I’ve lived with the sinful desires of my flesh in this world, I read the promise of the Lord, that He is coming soon to take my soul. I read the word of God, how He is speaking earnestly through the blood of His own Son and giving me faith. He dug into my flesh (dust of the ground) and opened my heart to write in my soul. I read His words of appeal in my soul…

For each and every letter inside my soul was written with the blood of Jesus Christ, I bow my knees before Him. The Bible is the blood-stained words written deep inside of me, like my own soul. How can I not reflect deeply on His earnest request and command which He has so written? He is my Lord and my God.

Lord, let my soul be covered in Your blood. Lord, let the words You have written my soul be proclaimed through these lips of mine. I am longing for the day that You will call me. I believe and yearn for Your kingdom where there is no envy, no persecution, no contempt, but only love that flows like a river forever and ever. Envelop me with Your words, bind me tightly in them, that I may only think and act by the Holy Spirit. For the flesh is full of carnal desires, it can never please God. Yet my soul is blooming like a lily among thistles.

Lord, I am Yours. The world is mire and darkness. Once I fall in, I cannot escape. Lord, for You love me, hear my prayers and answer. For I pray not for my carnal passions but only for Your kingdom, hear my prayers and let me forever be tied to Your words. Always grant me Your spiritual inspiration and may Your words take hold of me. My soul is blessed and overwhelmed to tears. Lord, come quickly. Amen.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

2015 Audio

2015 Video

Credits

2015.08.09_Follow the Law of the Holy Spirit

in 2015 Lord's Day, Ki Dong Kim

Senior Overseer Ki-Dong Kim

Outline

[Romans 8:1-11]

God
is always doing His work.
He
neither rests nor slumbers;
He fulfills everything He has spoken
and He is finally doing His work through His Son (Num 23:19).
Jesus is Christ (Matt 16:16-),
the One whom God has sent
and does the work of God.
The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete (Jn 14:16)
who testifies of the good works of God (Jn 15:26).
God first made known the Law to us,
then sent Jesus to fulfill the requirements of the Law,
and sent the Holy Spirit to raise our spirits to life.
Jesus’ blood saved our spirits;
the Holy Spirit has raised our spirits to life (Rm 8:11).
Thus
To live by faith means to live by the Holy Spirit.
The flesh without the Holy Spirit
is enmity against God and cannot please Him.
The law of the Holy Spirit is freedom.

○God called us so that
we do not live as sinners under the Law
but be delivered from sin.

○He sent Jesus Christ as Savior
that we may be empowered by His meritorious works
and thus be called righteous.

○ He poured His Holy Spirit
to make us born again
into a new creation.

※ Follow the law of the Holy Spirit.
The soul without the Holy Spirit is merely a religious person.
Let us be spiritual saints through the Holy Spirit.

Summary

God is Always at Work

God is doing His work. Though many people admit that God is the Creator, they still consider Him as just a notional being. A farmer doesn’t cease working after sowing the seed; he worksendlessly until the seed sprouts, leaves come out, grow and yields fruit. Likewise, God is presently and continuously at work.

As it is written, “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?” (Num 23:19), God continues to fulfill His words. For example, as God said, “Let there be light!” (Gen 1:3), that light is still active; as He commanded man to ‘be fruitful and increase in number’ (Gen 1:28),mankind continues to grow in number. The words spoken by God continue on even as time goes by.

Every word of God is a promise. Hence to say God’s word is at work implies that his promises are being fulfilled. Jesus said, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Jn 14:13), which was His promise to keep working.

God does not rest, not even for a single moment. It says in Psalm 121:4, “Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep”, and thus Isaiah 62:7 says, “And give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” It is meaningless to say that God is almighty if we give Him rest and do not make Him work.

If God desires to work through a particular person but that person disobeys, God will proceed with His work by choosing someone else rather than ceasing or giving up His work. This is why Revelation 3:11 warns saying, “Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” When Esau failed to take on God’s work, God moved on to Jacob and accomplished that work. Similarly, when Saul couldn’t handle it, God carried it out through David. In this way, God does not rest.

The Man Born Again of the Spirit is a New Creation

Man isn’t any different from animals in that he was made from dust, yet God gave him special treatment. After forming the man, God commanded Him saying, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen 1:28). To have dominion over the animals means to rule over them like a king. A king is someone who reigns on the earth with authority endowed from Heaven. God didn’t want man to be of the same standard as animals but be superior then them.

God gave such special treatment because man was created in the likeness of His image. From eternity past, God had a plan for His Son. The Son of God wanted to come to the world as the Son of Man, for which a mother was needed to conceive and birth Him. Therefore God created mankind before the Son of Man came into this world, and from them obtained a mother for the Son of Man. Thus man enjoys the glory of the mother who conceives, births and looks after God’s Son.

Though man fell on account of Adam’s transgression, man have been making great efforts to uncover the value that distinguishes him from animals. People’s endeavors to change through discipline or perfect themselves by means of religion are all forms of such efforts. No matter how much a person disciplines his flesh, it cannot bring about a fundamental change. So long as man attempts to find his true nature within his flesh, he will not be able to go beyond that of animals (2 Pet 2:12). That’s the reason God sent His Son to the world.

God made us come into Christ Jesus through baptism and thus become a new creation. The flesh is the primary creature and its traits are no different for both animals and man. The flesh does not submit to God’s law nor can it do so. However the man born again of the Holy Spirit through Christ is different. Being born again means to be born of the spirit, and in turn, means to have become a new creation. It is written in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

God didn’t choose one out of the countless angels that filled Heaven but specially created one spirit which would become the mother of the Son of Man. Concerning this Malachi 2:15 says, “But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.” Despite there being many great angels like Gabriel and Michael in Heaven, all of those angels put together in worth will still not equal the one spirit that was created for the Son of Man. God had never let any of the angels call Him, “Father”. Angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. On the contrary, the spirit that was created for the Son of Man came to be treated very specially through the merits of Jesus Christ.

Do Everything By the Holy Spirit

If we have truly been born of the spirit, then whether we worship, pray or give service, it mustn’t be done as if for the purpose of self-cultivation. God seeks those who worship Him by the Holy Spirit (Jn 4:23). What’s the use of our worship if it isn’t what God actually seeks? We must also pray in the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20). Those who pray in the Holy Spirit do so for the good of their spirit. However many people pray to satisfy their carnal desires. For instance, they ask God to resolve some issues their business is facing, or to win a court case they’re in.

When God took us to be His children, He didn’t just separate some of the flesh breathing on the earth and treat them as His children. God made us into a new creation by making us be born again. Not only did He have us receive baptism to bury our old selves and partake in Christ’s resurrection, He also poured out His Holy Spirit on us. Thus the Holy Spirit cannot be excluded in any of our service to God.

Philippians 3:3 says, “Who worship God in the Spirit”. Being a member of the church choir, serving as an usher, and so on are all ways of serving (worshipping) God, for to serve God, also implies worship in the broader sense, that is, devoting oneself to God. Whatever we do before God, we mustn’t go beyond the help of the Holy Spirit. In serving God, so many people make a great effort in an attempt to overcome their flesh rather than trying to rely on the Holy Spirit. But if people keep battling with their flesh in that way, their faith life will begin to feel like a struggle and they’ll always be grumbling even whilst doing service in church. Hence we need to follow the desire of the Holy Spirit instead of focusing on overcoming the carnal desires.

When we evangelize, we must do so by the Holy Spirit. Some people try to justify themselves by making excuse of their shy personality for not evangelizing. However it’s not because it fits our personality that we evangelize. Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). As long as we have the desire to testify to the Truth, the Holy Spirit will help us do so.

Even in situations where we don’t know what to say, we don’t need to be afraid. Jesus said, “But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” (Matt 10:19-20). Whether we preach or evangelize, we must rely on the inspiration given us by the Holy Spirit.

Our personality and behavior also need to be governed by the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says,“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Though we might pursue love, joy and peace, we cannot fulfill God’s will without the help of the Holy Spirit. Our long suffering must be by the Holy Spirit, so should kindness and goodness. It must be by the Holy Spirit that we have faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we have become a new creation, our carnal nature should be suppressed by the help of the Holy Spirit.

In times when we are physically ill or our business is in a crisis, we need to rely on the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt 12:28). Casting out demons was something commanded by Jesus.Nevertheless our concern should not only be in casting out demons only. If we have cast out demons by the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God has come upon us. God’s kingdom is filled with God’s blessedness, and is where the Holy Spirit is at work. If anyone desires to cast out demons and be healed from their sickness, he must be filled by the Holy Spirit.

We, who have become children of God, are not primary creatures but new creations. God rears His children by the Holy Spirit, and blesses them with His happiness by the Holy Spirit. God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will raise us also by the Holy Spirit who abides in us (Rm 8:11). Our existence is not of equal value to that of animals; we are of a higher class such that the Son of Man calls ‘mother’, and receive love equal to that of the Son of God. Thus we must be blessed in the Holy Spirit.

Semuon’s Letter

Dear beloved Sungrak people! Thanks to your prayers and support, my health has been improving.

I hope to breathe the rest of my life as a messenger of the secrets of the Lord’s kingdom. As things are not like before, I try to write but my eyes are dim and energy falls so that every time I write a new book, my prayer and concern always is if I’ll be able to complete writing the book. My most recent book is the one titled I, My Soul.

As the title reveals, this book is concerned with who “I” am, that is, my soul (and spirit). At every worship service or prayers, we often talk about my soul. Yet often times we say that as something abstract and notional, when in fact we are ignorant of the reality of our own soul, disinterested in our true self. And in the end, the soul which we advocate will merely be fiction.

The faith we have, we received from God. That faith is the Word, and the Word is Jesus Christ who became flesh and came to the earth. He is the actual image of God’s being. We have seen Him, touched Him, and listened to His voice. We also ate and drank of His flesh and blood. Thus our sins have been redeemed, we obtained eternal life and the promise of the glory of resurrection, God who guarantees this sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts as a deposit

The Holy Spirit manifests Himself through spiritual gifts, testifying that He is within us, so that we speak in tongues and our hearts are transformed. Even the demons recognize this and tremble and flee before us. We experience our pains disappear and our body set free from the oppression of the demons as a proof that the demons have gone out of us. The glory of God that brings about all of these miraculous signs to even our flesh is received into our soul, our true self.

It is into our soul that we receive God’s blessing, faith and the Holy Spirit, and it is our soul which God has justified. But because the soul is invisible, people always think of its existence as just a self-asserted claim. Hence it was to help people recognize the reality of their soul and understand their true spiritual self that I’ve written this book. The body, soul and spirit are one; the body will surely return to dust but the soul-spirit will be transformed into a spiritual body at the resurrection (like the resurrection of Jesus) to enter and live in Heaven.

Please don’t just dash through this book but take your time to read and understand it carefully. If possible, first read The Son of Man and the Woman and The Authority and Inspiration of the Bible, before reading I, My Soul, and you’ll behold your soul before your eyes. Otherwise, if you read this book first, you may not be able to comprehend anything due to some difficult terms that appear in the book. I do hope every Sungrak member to read this book.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 1:2.)

Thank you.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

2015 Audio

2015 Video

Credits