2016.09.25_Testimony for the Children of God
in 2016 Lord's Day, Sung Hyun Kim[1John 5:1-12]
God
sent His Son to the world
to save mankind from destruction (1 Jn 4:14).
Jesus embraced us into His arms
and thereby gave us life,
made us children of God,
and leads us to eternal life (Jn 5:24).
That which bears witness to the legitimacy of our faith
is the historical fact that Jesus came to the earth
by water and blood,
while the most powerful testimony is
the testimony of the Holy Spirit
who confirms this through the Church (1 Jn 5:5-8).
The apparent evidence of those who are perishing,
that is, still under sin,
is their acts of evil towards others (Ep 4:31-32).
The Lord Jesus
commanded God’s children
to put love into action,
in order that the fact they belong to God
is made evident through outward acts
as well as the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.
The new commandment
is the most important commandment
which the Spirit-led church must obey (1 Jn 3:23-24).
○ Let us constantly train ourselves to have
a loving heart and attitude towards our fellow members.
○ Let us be of one heart and mind in loving the church,
in order that our hearts and minds do not fall into temptation.
○ Let us pray continuously
for our church.
※ Let us receive the testimony that we are God’s children
by loving the Church
in our faith life before God.
Coming Soon
I am not a famous person. I do not have any desire to be famous nor have I even tried. After I discovered the truth, it became more than that. I just have the thought of being a small mustard seed, being beneficial for all works as a good seed. When sown, a seed sprouts, growing gradually, and when grown, it can be used as a pleasure of the Lord – my hope. I do not have enough time to write, and not enough power either. A few years ago, I received a concussion. At that time, fortunately, there were people who were with me, so I could avoid great injury, but I often stumble since I do not enough power in the lower half of my body due to the aftereffect. I am always sleepy all day and feel uncoordinated. I have to get more physical power since I have much work to do, but I am hardly getting well. The flesh of a person is so weak and trivial, but I have not recognized that yet, so foolishly. What I want for now is to wrap up my work until God takes me from the world. I desire to finish the work like a good mustard seed. I want to focus only on what my spirit wants, rejecting my physical desires. God is alive, and so is Jesus, thus I want to do the will of the one who lives forever, by His Spirit. Because I always deliver God’s word, there is faith in the message that is delivered through my mouth. I deliver the words, not of a dead being, not being absorbed in its lesson, but of the living one. I give thanks to God. Even though it has been thousands of years since His words were spoken. Now, I am delivering the words of the living one by the Holy Spirit. If I do not speak by the Spirit, I cannot deliver the words of the one who lives eternally. Even though the words were spoken thousands of years ago, the Holy Spirit gives me the words on my mouth, making me speak it, thus I am able to testify to the words of the one who lives forever, by the Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus Christ is living on the right hand of God, and I testify through my mouth the living words that He speaks; this means that God is living and speaks, and the Holy Spirit teaches me the words, then I deliver the words. That is, I deliver the words that live forever. Therefore, words without the Holy Spirit, if any are wise words, are dead ones. When speaking the words of past great saints, since they died a long time ago, if I deliver their words, those words are also dead. However, I always deliver the words only from the Holy Spirit; what I deliver is the words of the one who lives forever. That is what I am really thankful for. [gmedia id =75]
Outline translated by Sarah Lee Chief Editor: Helen Nam
Letter translated by Sung-In Hong
Interpretations by Sarah Lee
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee