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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Tears - 2014 Passion Week |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Matthew 22:37-40 |
Date |
2014-04-18 |
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[Scripture]
Matthew 22:37~40
[37] And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
[38] "This is the great and foremost commandment.
[39] "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
[40] "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the Friday All Night Service during Passion Week. God the Father set 'Tears' as the title of this message and for the Easter performance which you will watch during the 2nd half of this service.
When do you shed tears? When you are faced with overwhelming joy, or when you are uncontrollably touched with emotion, you may shed tears. You may shed tears when you cannot suppress your anger by any means. You may shed tears because of bitter regret, or while rendering your heart in repentance. You may also shed tears when you face sorrow with which you cannot cope.
God the Trinity has truly shed immeasurable tears during the history of human cultivation. It is because they have been through so many heart-wrenching moments in the course of opening the way of salvation and to New Jerusalem for souls. Tonight, I will tell you the meaning in the tears that God the Trinity shed for us. I pray in the name of the Lord that such deep love of God the Trinity may fill your heart entirely.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
The tears of God the Trinity are the fruits of their love and the evidence of their sacrifice for souls. Let me tell you the meaning of the tears of each of them.
First off, are the tears of God the Father.
How much has God the Father loved souls despite the days of anguish during human cultivation? After the sin of Adam, as men flourished on the face of the earth, they were smeared with sin and evil. Most of them had turned away from God and far too quickly had forgotten about God.
About 1,600 years later, after the human cultivation began, the whole world was completely filled with sin and evil. As Genesis 6:5 says, "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." God was sorry that He had made man and put him on the earth. He carried out the Judgment of Great Flood.
At that time, the population was at least a couple of hundreds of millions. Except for 8 people, Noah and his family, all of them were killed. When Father God carried out this judgment, teardrops fell from His eyes. From the tears were written on His garment "Expectations." It contained the meaning that He would wait again with expectation, and that He would surely accomplish it.
What, then, has He expected and waited for? He expected to see 'true children' emerge through human cultivation which would again take place beginning with Noah. With His tears on His garment, God wrote His strong will that He would surely accomplish.
Eventually, about 400 years later after the Noah's Flood, He gained Abraham, the Forefather of Faith. Moreover, He chose his descendants, the Israelites, and made them the people for His own possession. (Titus 2:14) And He 'gave them His statutes and informed them of His ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live.' (Ezekiel 20:11) It was to show them that God is the true God, and that they could enjoy the blessing more greatly than any other people if they served Him well.
However, the Israelites hurt God's heart too much. They betrayed God, they stood against Him and they enjoyed worshiping useless idols instead of God. Even when God warned that they would suffer curses and disasters if they continued to do it, these stiff-necked people didn't listen. Then, God diligently sent prophets to help them realize their sin, and urged them to turn back from their wicked ways.
For example, Isaiah 1:2~3 says, "Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me. An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master's manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.""
Despite this ardent appeal of God, Israelites didn't turn back from sin; as its result, Northern Israel was destroyed, and later, so was Southern Judea. Just how much was He hurt in His heart when the Israelites whom He himself had chosen were destroyed by gentile people?
Jeremiah 14:17 records well just how He felt at that time. It reads, "You will say this word to them, 'Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound." Nevertheless, God did not give up.
He conveyed His mournful heart through Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament days. Malachi 3L7 says, ""From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'"
"How shall we return?" Although people tried to go back to God, it was difficult to go back to God as they continued to commit sin. And thus, God Himself made great sacrifice to demolish the people's wall of sin all at once.
That is, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to this earth and made Him the atoning sacrifice. Regarding this, Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
To save the lives of sinners who kept disobeying and opposing God again and again, He gave up the life of His beloved Son. Not with His lips but with His act of sacrifice, He revealed that His love is true.
With their hearts, people cannot fully understand such great love of Father God. But you should never forget the sacrifice that Father God made to save people out of His love for them. So, firstly you must not ever forget these tears of the Father.
The second are the tears of the Lord.
What the Lord did – forsaking the glory of heaven and coming down to the earth according to the will of the Father – itself was sacrifice. It was unbearable sorrow for the Lord to leave the Father. But, leaving the Father, He came down to this earth because He knew the great love that God had for souls.
With the same LOVING HRART, He willingly came down to the earth to save sinners. At the age of around 30, He fasted 40 days; since He was in the same fleshly form of men, He could also feel hunger and tiredness.
As He began public ministry, He preached the gospel of Heaven to countless people during those days. At those nights, He gathered and taught His disciples, and He prayed until morning. He always thought of the souls and His disciples, and He prayed earnestly with tears. One cold rainy night, He shed burning tears while praying.
Let me introduce a bit about it. It can be found in the book, Confessions.
"Father, for this hour, I shed tears
Giving thanks before You Father,
though there might be people who forsake me,
Father, there are people who preach on account of Me.
Some may suffer together with Me,
Some may give glory to the Father for Me.
Father, I'm not alone in the suffering,
since the Father is with Me.
For these souls and for the Father, this Son
gives of His body in pain
Yet, I am grateful for there are souls who know Me.
Just as I know the Father,
There are souls who know Me.
For You allow this Son shed tears of love
for the Father and for the souls
I thank You."
Jesus knew what would happen on this earth after He took the suffering of the cross, and so He shed tears. A couple of days before He took the cross, He went up to the mount of Olives and He wept as He faced the city of Jerusalem. It was because, as written in Luke 19:41~44, He knew that the Holy Temple would be destroyed and miserable things would happen in the city.
Jesus also shed tears thinking of His beloved souls whom He would leave on this earth. His heart was hurt as He thought about the sorrow His disciples would deal with and what they would go through as they preached the gospel. He desperately wished that they would never forget the days, His heart, and His fervent love for them that He had shared with His beloved ones.
Even when Jesus was taking the cross and walking up to Golgotha, even until He breathed His last on the cross, He only thought of the souls and the Father. The tears of our Jesus evidenced His sacrifice that He made to accomplish the providence of cross in justice. That's why He said in His confession, "...as My tears become a river to dissolve My heart and their hearts, all is done and complete, and so, Father You must not feel any sorrow. I love You."
I hope you will remember the meaning of the tears that Jesus shed until He completed His duties as our Savior.
And the third are the tears of the shepherd.
Here, a shepherd refers to the clergy who tends to the lives of believers as believers are often compared to sheep in Christianity. If a shepherd is a 'true shepherd,' he will take the sorrows of his sheep as his own. And thus, he will be completely devoted to his sheep.
Apostle Paul carried out this role as a shepherd as he worked ever so tirelessly for the souls. He hoped the souls would accept the Christ and that their faith would grow up. To accomplish this, he was never off guard. And so, he said in Galatians 4:19, "My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you."
Also in Acts 20:31, he urged the elders of the church in Ephesus, where he served them painstakingly day and night, "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears." Can you imagine just how many tears he must have shed until he had firmly set up a church and his sheep and workers were able to stand firmly!
Yet, there were many who interfered with him and his preaching the gospel and persecuted him. And so, he said in Philippians 3:18, "For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ."
It was what happened in about 2,000 years ago. What is there to say more about it in this end time? Sin and evil are rampant in the world, and the hearts of people have been soaked in sin and are ever becoming increasingly worse. This generation cannot become sanctified by themselves and on their own.
A great number of Manmin members, however, have stood on the rock of faith, and come into spirit and whole spirit. This spiritual flow is going to become much more accelerated. More of Manmin members will stand on the rock of faith, come into spirit from the rock, into whole spirit from spirit, and many will go much more deeply into whole spirit.
The fact that such spiritual blessing has come upon them proves how great the sacrifice of the shepherd was. It reveals the great amount of tears he shed for his sheep, and just how much core energy he shed for the souls entrusted to him. Father God said the shepherd paid the price of sacrifice for his sheep until he suffered from bone pain.
Those who received this sacrifice of the shepherd as his love can enjoy the grace and strength which was paid for his sacrifice. In other words, they can make their faith grow up much greater than what their effort deserves. Even in a short period of time, they can even remove the deep sinful attributes, and come into spirit.
I pray in the name of the Lord that all of you may remember the tears of the shepherd and make great increase in the growth of your faith.
[Concluision]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Tonight, I explained the meanings of the tears of Father God, of the Lord, and of the shepherd. I said the tears are the fruit of love and the evidence of sacrifice.
Matthew 22:37~40 says, "And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.""
If we can love Father God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, and if we can love our neighbor as ourselves, we can perfectly keep the Law of God.
We didn't love God first. It is Father God who loved us first. When we were sinners, He gave us the life of His only begotten Son, Jesus, to save our lives. He gave us such immeasurable love.
Therefore, it is right that we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. Moreover, the Lord who died for us said, "You love one another, just as I have loved you." Love requires toil, and it is followed by sacrifice. But we can toil with joy and make sacrifice with joy because we love.
I wish you can love other souls as the children who received such great love of God the Trinity. You may shed many tears. You may have to devote yourself, which goes beyond your strength.
Whenever it happens, please think of the tears that the Father God, the Lord, and the shepherd have shed for you. Then, you can be proud of yourself being the one who can give love instead of just receiving it. You now have finally become the one who understands the deep heart of God and fills the heart with that understanding. May you taste this true happiness, in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen!!!] |
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