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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving Sunday Evening Service/Holy Communion |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
John 6: 53- 55 |
Date |
2010-11-21 |
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Passage
[John 6: 53- 55]
"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.'"
[Introduction]
Once upon a time, the king of a country ate some very delicious food. He said, "This is the best food of all the foods I've tasted, and I will reward the cook." But the cook did not accept the king's reward. He said, "Majesty, I don't deserve this reward. I couldn't have cooked such a good dish without the best quality vegetables. I think the vegetable seller is the one who deserves the reward.
So the king called in the vegetable seller, and he too said the reward was due somebody else. "I just receive a supply of the good vegetables from the farmer. This reward should go to the farmer." The king called in the farmer. What do you think the farmer said- He said, "I farm because I know I can sow the seeds in spring and harvest in autumn. But even though I work very hard, I wouldn't be able to harvest anything if God did not give us sunshine and rain. The reward cannot be mine, it is owed to God." No matter how much men toil and how hard they work, they cannot gain any fruit without the grace of God.
But when men live in abundance and have so many good things, they easily forget about being grateful. We often forget about the grace of God that He gives to us in our daily lives. There are so many things to give thanks for, but some people just keep on complaining.
Through this message, I hope you will remember the things for which you should be grateful. I pray in the name of the Lord that your sense of gratitude for His grace will increase in your heart.
[Main Message]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there are so many things to give thanks for, but the greatest among all is the grace of salvation.
The only begotten Son of God, Jesus came down to this earth in human body form. He experienced poverty, hunger, tiredness, cold, hotness, and all other human sufferings. He took all kinds of contempt and pains and finally died on the cross. He received the curse and shed His blood and died for our sins to be forgiven.
If we truly believe in this love, what kind of life should we live- We have to love God with all our lives, too. We have to live in the truth and in obedience to the word of God. Namely, as it says in today's passage, we have to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man.
John 6:54 says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." We will have the Holy Communion in the 2nd part of this service. This Holy Communion is the sacrament of eating the bread, which symbolizes the flesh of the Son of Man, and drinking the wine, which represents the blood of the Son of Man.
It is to commemorate the love of Jesus who died on the cross for us and gave us His flesh and blood. Also, we can gain eternal life only when we understand the spiritual meaning contained in the Holy Communion and practice what we've understood.
Now, how can we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood-
First, let me explain the meaning of the eating the flesh of the Son of Man.
John 1:1 says that the Word is God. And John 1:14 says, that God who is the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and He is Jesus. Therefore, to eat the flesh of the Son of Man, Jesus, is to take in the word of God. To take in the word of God is not just to know the word of the Bible as knowledge. We have to change our heart with the word by filling it with goodness and love.
But to take in the word of God, together with it we have to drink the blood of the Son of Man. This means, as well as learning the word of God, we have to put the word we learned into practice. When men eat food, they have to take in liquids, too. Without liquid, if they just keep on eating dry food, they won't be able to digest the food very well.
Our body also can absorb the nutrients and eliminate the body waste only when liquid is available. In the same way, once we learn the truth, we have to try to practice what we learned. Only then will the word of God that you learned become your life and strength. The untruths that were in your heart will go out and it will be replaced by the truth. Envy, jealousy and hatred will go out and love will replace them. Arrogance will go away and it will be filled with humbleness.
In 1 John 1:7, we can understand we have life in us not just when we eat the flesh but when we also drink the blood of the Son of Man. The scripture says, "…but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."
Here, 'to walk in the Light' means to obey and practice the word of God.
Jesus shed His precious blood to forgive us of our sins. But to be forgiven of our sins through His blood, please remember, that we have to dwell in the light.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you have to realize in the depth of your hearts just how great the grace of Jesus is that He gave all his flesh and blood for us.
You know how painful is it if you just get burned on one of your fingers don't you- Then, how would you be able to bear the pain if you went into the eternally burning fire-
The innocent Jesus had to suffer so much pain to save us from such a fire.
How can we find any words to adequately give thanks and how can we ever repay His grace with anything-
And God didn't just give us the grace of forgiveness.
He lets us realize what sin and righteousness are and also He gives us the grace to cast away sins.
No matter how much a man tries, he cannot cast away sins through his own effort.
But with the grace and strength of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we can cast away even the evil that is placed in the depths of our hearts.
As we cast away sins and if our soul prospers, all things go well with us and we become healthy.
We can receive anything we ask of God, and we can live without having any shortages.
But some people, even after receiving such blessings, do not give thanks if they are faced with some trials.
They say they are in a situation where they cannot give thanks.
But to those who truly give thanks to God even in difficult situations, God gives them something for which they can be really thankful.
Let me tell you a story.
There was a husband who loved drinking and lived in dissipation. The wife prayed for him with tears and preached the gospel to him, but he just wouldn't listen or change.
One night, the drunken husband was sleeping, and the wife was heartbroken. But she was reminded of the verse saying, "Give thanks in all circumstances." She initially thought, "How can I give thanks in this kind of situation-" But she tried to look for some things to be thankful for.
Then she began to pray saying, "Thank You that I have a husband who is alive. Thank You that he somehow comes back home even though he is completely drunk. Thank You that he will some day accept the Lord. Thank You that, when he accepts the Lord, he will become an elder and be faithful to God's kingdom."
At first, she didn't really feel true thanks, but as she kept on praying, she became really thankful from her heart. Then, she began to repent of her past. She repented that she had resented and complained. She looked down upon her husband in her mind. She didn't really serve her husband. As she repented, her husband who was sleeping and snoring looked lovely.
Soon, the husband woke up because he was thirsty, and he discovered that his wife was smiling at him. Out of surprise he asked her what happened. "Thank you for living with me until now although I am not really a good person. I will do better," she said. The husband became speechless.
Soon the morning came. The husband was looking at his wife at the dining table and suddenly said, "If that's really your wish, I will go to church." When the wife became really thankful from her heart, God gave her more things to be thankful for.
Brothers and sisters, those children who have received the grace of salvation and call God, 'Father', can give thanks in all circumstances.
Especially those of you who listen to the holiness gospel in this church have many things to be thankful for.
You don't just hope for Heaven, but you long for the best dwelling place in Heaven, New Jerusalem.
You always listen to spirit-filled messages in this church full of the Holy Spirit, and your faith increases day after day as you experience the works of the living God all the time.
When our church accomplishes the great duties of world evangelism and construction of the Grand Sanctuary, you have the privilege to participate in the glory of it.
Other than these common factors, how many more personal things do you have for which you can give thanks-
You can be thankful that you and your family are protected from all kinds of diseases, accidents, and natural disasters.
You can give thanks that your workplace or business field is at peace and prosperous;
You can give thanks that even if you are in trials for not living by the word, you can quickly realize it, repent of it and change;
If you face trials even though you lived in the truth, you can give thanks believing that God will give you better things.
You can give thanks that you have precious duties, that your soul prospers and you have rewards stored up in Heaven.
There are only things to give thanks for on a sunny or cloudy day or rainy day, or no matter what.
Conclusion
Psalm 50:23 says, "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God."
I hope you will always remember the endless love of God and glorify God by speaking words of thanks all the time.
In doing so, I urge you, that you will give comfort to the heart of God the Father who has been cultivating us for a long time with so many tears, so much mourning, and such great patience.
I pray in the name of the Lord that God will accept your aroma of thanks and give you more blessings in your life everyday, and finally lead you to New Jerusalem. |
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