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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Power - Thanksgiving Sunday Morning |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Matthew 16:13-16 |
Date |
2014-11-16 |
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[Passage]
[Matthew 16:13-16]
"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" [14] And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." [15] He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" [16] Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today is the Thanksgiving Sunday. First of all, let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have abundant harvests both physically and spiritually, and at both individual levels and church-wide this year.
In today's reading passage is the conversation between Jesus and the disciples. Jesus asked them, "Who do you say I am?" Following Jesus, the disciples witnessed Him preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and showing many powerful works. They saw the numerous things that could never be done by human abilities.
So, Peter boldly professed, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." He believed that Jesus was the Son of God who came to this earth as the Savior.
Those who were good in their heart believed that Jesus is the Savior just by seeing the things that He had done. In John 14:11, Jesus said, "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves."
Also, Psalm 62:11 says, "Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God;" Therefore, if anybody performs with the power of God, we have to believe that he is in God and God is in him.
In this message, let us remember what kinds of powerful works God has been manifesting in this church through me this year. I hope you will give all glory to God the Father with a thankful heart.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters,
Power is the love of God towards the mankind. God the Father let me perform so many powerful works because He wants to bless you with His love for you. Now, what kinds of blessings has God given you through the power of the shepherd in this year?
First, God has protected us.
Numbers 6:24 says, "The LORD bless you, and keep you;" Psalm 121:5-7 says, "The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul."
As spoken, God the Father has kept all our members throughout this year, as in previous years. He kept us from disasters, accidents, and diseases. Even if you created a wall of sin and suffered a hardship, God drove away that hardship if you repented.
Chae Rin Kim (1-1 Parish, 32-years) was in her 19th week of pregnancy this past April. She suffered premature rupture of the amnion, and the amniotic fluid drained. The doctor said she could not sustain the pregnancy. But she had faith that she could just find the cause of the problem and repent of it. Her husband and both their families also checked their faith and repented of whatever was not right in the sight of God.
And then she came to receive my prayer. I prayed that the amniotic fluid would again be filled and the fetus would grow up well. Then, the minimum amount of fluid for survival was filled around the mouth of the fetus. For about 100 days since that time, the fetus grew up well in the protection of God, and a healthy baby was born.
The powerful works did not only take place in the main church but also for overseas members. God worked in the same way for those who believed that the power manifested in this church belongs to God.
'Lingku' of Delhi Manmin church came to walk by himself for the first time since his birth 18 years ago, through the prayer with handkerchief with power. He had innate paralysis, and he could not walk, eat, or even speak by himself.
He was brought to Delhi Manmin church this past May by his cousin, a brother in faith, and he received handkerchief prayer from Pastor Sang Hwi Kim. These two are actually Brahmin, the highest caste in India. His cousin, brother Adash Aamann, heard about the powerful works taking place through me in the Delhi Book Fair this past February, and he sought God the almighty. He brought his aunt and cousin to Delhi Manmin church, which was four hours away, and finally experienced God's power. Lingku's paralysis has gotten much better now, and since the muscles of his mouth are moving he can eat by himself and he is learning to speak, too.
God is such a good God. If anybody believes and relies on God, He drives away the power of darkness with His great power and keeps us.
The second blessing that God the Father has given through the power of the shepherd in this year is financial blessings.
During the first half of this year God the Father moved my heart and let me preach on the 'blessing chapter', Deuteronomy chapter 28. This had very significant meaning spiritually. For the past several years I have been telling you that when the time comes, I would command for you to receive blessings from the altar, then you will receive blessings.
And that 'time' is the time when you have prepared your spiritual vessels. Namely, it is when the measure of justice is filled so the original voice coming out from my mouth would have its full effect.
And the standardization of spirit was achieved by March 31st this year. It's not that all members of the church went into spirit, but your faith has increased very much. Many of you are on the rock of faith, and many others are in spirit or whole spirit. Many of you came to have the qualifications to receive the blessing written in 3 John 1:2. It says, "Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers."
This verse applies to men of spirit. But even though you are not in spirit yet, you can still receive blessings to the extent that you have cast away evil from your hearts and cultivate spirit in you. God the Father has given amazing blessings to some of the men of spirit as if He were showing us a sample.
One of them is Elder Sangbaek Lee. He is in the insurance business and his results were not good for more than two years since he began. He had a hard time making ends meet. Nevertheless, rather than trying to earn more money, he focused on how his soul would prosper. He walked the right way to the best he could, pursued peace with his partners, and got rid of selfish desires and greed. He prayed fervently to cast away sinful natures and worshipped in spirit and truth, but especially, he praised God with all his heart.
Eventually he cultivated a heart of spirit on March 31st of this year. Now what do you think happened? God began to bless him in full scale beginning this past April. In the past he was giving about a 100 dollar tithe, but the tithe was multiplied many times over.
God the Father fulfills His words. God will not let those who love God and live by His Word suffer from financial difficulty. He can bless us 30, 60, 100 times more and even more than that according to our faith.
As said in Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the LORD's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it," the whole world and all it contains belong to God. Proverbs 22:4 says, "The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, honor and life." I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have reverent fear of God and cast away evil so that you can also receive and enjoy riches and honor.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The third blessing that God the Father has given us through the power of the shepherd this year is changing of our hearts.
It is never an easy thing to change a person's heart. But you were changed by the words of life and the power of the shepherd, and your measures of faith increased. Especially, in this world that is full of sins, your hearts are not stained by sins and evil anymore, but rather, you are able to cultivate holiness in you. How amazing a blessing this is!
This cannot be done only by human will-power. So, what is the reason that you have been able to achieve holiness relatively easily? It's because you are supplied with strong power that leads you to the truth. In other words, you are affected by the power of re-creation working through the original voice.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."
As said, God the Father has given us the Holy Spirit, and as the end draws near, the works of the Holy Spirit are revealed as great power. God the Father has given me even the power of re-creation in the works of the Holy Spirit.
With this power of re-creation, one can not only manifest signs and wonders but also break the freewill of men and revive the dead spirit. This power was allowed in the love of the Father who wants to save even just one more soul in this end time which is filled with sins to the fullest extent.
In this generation, it is very difficult to grasp the chance of salvation due to prevalence of the works of the enemy devil and Satan. The conditions are getting worse for the seeds of life in men's heart to be awakened by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, even if their spirits were revived and were saved, many of them corrupt again.
But with the power of re-creation, a dead spirit can be revived. It is such amazing grace of the Father God! If a dead spirit can be revived, how much more easy would it be for a hardened heart to be softened, namely to become sanctified? And you are the witnesses.
In this year alone, you have realized your own evil, which you had not been able to realize even for decades, and your hearts were renewed to a significant extent. As you cultivate good and sincere hearts, your faith is also rapidly increasing .
The following testimonies show this is not exclusive to the members of the main church. Overseas members are also experiencing the same works. In October this past year, Moona Bhata of Nepal Manmin church offered a vowed 21-night Daniel prayer meeting for her irresponsible and violent husband. The video of my prayer is played towards the end of the prayer meeting every night, and she earnestly received the prayer hoping her husband would change.
Soon, her husband changed remarkably. He became a very mild and humble person. God changed the heart of her husband completely. He even attends Daniel prayer meetings as well as all the Sunday services. He repented of his past wrongdoings thoroughly. Now, he loves his wife and he is providing for his family diligently, too.
There are also believers in Japan whose hearts were changed and who are enjoying the happiness that the world cannot give. Taguchi Toshihiro of Osaka Manmin church was set free from game addiction and is living a new life. He has been addicted to computer games since he was 10. At times, he has played games for 40 straight hours. It was a very serious problem. As a result, after graduating from school, he couldn't work properly in the company he was working for.
Meanwhile, he visited our church website in 2012, and began to receive blessings through the messages. He listened to at least one sermon a day and tried to change himself. And he went to Osaka Manmin church by himself, which was five hours away. He began to keep Sunday holy and began to pray, and he also began to receive blessings. He moved to a house near the church, and he got a job, too. Now, he has not only been set free from the game addiction but also he is serving as a Sunday school teacher, guiding the teen-agers not to suffer what he had suffered.
Also, every winter he used to become frostbitten on the back of his hand, but he doesn't have that anymore. He is also playing the guitar for the church. As in this case, please remember that when our heart is changed, health and financial blessings follow us. Therefore, the greatest blessing is the changing of our hearts.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters,
This year, too, God the Father has given us so much grace and blessing. He gave me, the shepherd of this church, His power, and He kept us in all things to the extent that the members were united in trust and love. He gave us financial blessings and let us renew our hearts.
On this Thanksgiving Sunday, I hope you will remember how great the grace and love is that you have received and give thanks to God from the depths of your hearts. Such blessings will continue to be poured down upon us. Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord, that in your lives you will always give glory to God the Father and have testimonies of blessings flowing like a fountain that never runs out. |
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