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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Eternal life |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Jn 6:53-55 |
Date |
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Most believers know that when they believe in Jesus Christ, their sins are forgiven and they will go to the heavenly kingdom. But when asked if they are sure of their salvation, not so many of them give the right answer. On the other hand, some people think they live a good religious life. But if Jesus says to them on the day of judgment, "I don’t know you", it will be a true tragedy.
Today, we will look into how we can be truly saved and go to the kingdom of heaven.
1. Those who claim to believe in God but will not be saved
Matthew 7:21 says, "Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." If someone calls Jesus ’Lord’, he must be one who believes that Jesus is the Saviour. But we can see clearly that not everyone who simply says to Jesus ’Lord, Lord,’ will not be saved and go to heaven.
Who then will not be saved and led to death in spite of their claim to believe in God?
First, those who claim to believe but do evil.
Matthew 13:41-42 say, "The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Evil here means sin (1John 3:4) and sin is not to keep the word of God ; to do the things that God says not to do, or not to do the things that God says to do, to stick to the things that God says to throw away, not to keep the things that God wants us to keep.
The acts of sinful nature are also sin. The acts of the sinful nature are to practice the desires of the sinful nature. Galatians 5:19-21 says, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." Those who are indulged in the world and do evil cannot be saved because they don’t have faith in the sight of God.
However, God doesn’t judge those who try to throw away their sins. Rather He helps them to do that in the Holy Spirit and saves them.
Second, those who counteract, or speak or blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12:31 says, "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." Counteracting against the Holy Spirit is to speak ill of the works of the Holy Spirit just because they are not understandable in human thought.
For example, when Jesus healed many sick people and drove out demons, the teachers of the law became jealous and sinned by speaking against God saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebub!", "By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."
This happens even today. Some people speak ill of the churches where God does many signs and wonders saying "This is heresy", "They are works of demons", or "It is mysticism".
But they must realize that they are blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and it cannot be forgiven.
Speaking against the Holy Spirit is to deny the work of the Holy Spirit and plot evil and do harm to others(Matthew 12:32). Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is to distort or twist the truth. So we must not commit sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit even with our lips for any reason(Luke 12:10).
Finally, those who subject Jesus to public disgrace or keep sinning deliberately.
When we keep away from God and subject Jesus to public disgrace again after tasting the grace of the living God(Hebrew 6:4-6) or keep sinning deliberately even recognizing sinning as lawlessness, God turns His face away from us. This means that we can neither repent nor be saved.(Hebrew 10:26-27).
1John 5:16-17 says, "If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death." That is, when we commit a sin that leads to death, it is no use praying because we cannot be forgiven.
2. To be forgiven sins and be saved to get eternal life
John 6:53 says, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." The son of Man is Jesus Christ. So unless we eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood, we cannot get eternal life.
How can we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood?
Jesus is the word that became flesh and came down to earth as a man(John 1:1, 1:14). So the flesh of the Son of Man is the word of God. To eat the flesh of the Son of Man is to keep all the words of God in heart as spiritual food. And to keep the words of God in heart is not just to put them in memory as knowledge but to practice them in life.
Exodus 12:5 says, "The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats." A year-old sheep means Jesus Christ(John 1:29, 1Peter 1:19). Jesus is compared to year-old sheep because this is the meekest and most obedient among animals. Therefore, the way of eating a year-old sheep in the 12th chapter of Exodus is the very way of eating the word of Jesus or God who came to this earth in flesh. Now let’s see how we should eat the sheep.
First, we should not eat the year-old sheep raw.
Exodus 12:9 says, "Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire-head, legs and inner parts." What does it mean ’not to eat the meat raw’? As we might get sick after eating the meat raw, we must not take the words of God literally. All Scripture is God-breathed. So we can understand its spiritual meaning correctly only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
However, many people take the words of God literally and judge and condemn those who understand and practice them rightly. Here is an example. Matthew 6:6 says, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." When we take this verse literally, we should make a room to pray to God quietly.
But in the Bible, neither the ancestors of faith nor Jesus nor his disciples went into a room to pray. What then is the real meaning of the verse? It means to cut off all worldly thoughts and worries and pray to God earnestly from the core of one’s heart.
In other words, if we take the words of God literally, it might result in something very different from God’s will.
Second, we should not cook the meat in water.
This means that we should not add any human thought or theory to the words of God. Some people teach the words of God mixed with human philosophy, science, literature or medical science. But as time goes, all theories and thoughts fade away and all traditions and cultures also change. Only the words of God stand forever. That is why the God of the truth tells us not to mix any worldly thing with His words.
Third, we should eat head, legs and inner parts at a time.
This means that we should keep all the words of God in the 66 books of the Bible. But some believers choose certain scriptures to accept according to their thought or theory.
For example, the Creation of 1st chapter of Genesis, the division of the Red Sea in 14th chapter of Exodus, the miracles of Jesus such as bringing the dead back to life or walking on the water are all a myth or a story to them. But as God says that until heaven and earth disappear, the smallest letter and the least stroke of a pen would by any means disappear from the Law until everything will be accomplished, we should believe and keep all words of God in the 66 books of the Bible.
Finally, we should roast the words of God over the fire.
Spiritually, the fire means the fire of the Holy Spirit. So as the meat is more delicious and better to our health when roasted over fire, we can understand the words of God better and get the spiritual power in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
If so, why should we drink the blood of Son of Man with his flesh to reach eternal life?
When we have a meal, we drink water. After the food is mixed with water, the stomach digests it and the nutriments shape our flesh and bones so that we can live.
So we have to drink water to get the food digested and maintain our life. Likewise, when we eat the flesh of the Son of Man, we should also drink his blood for better digestion.
What does it mean to drink the blood of the Son of Man?
It means to believe and keep the words of God. If we truly believe them, we will surely practice them. Then our faith will become perfect(James 2:14, 2:22).
But when we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, we will have nutriments and excrements. For example, when we are told to love each other, we keep it in heart with faith and it is digested in me. If we pray to love others and actually love them, the hatred within our hearts will disappear at the same time. On the contrary, if we just hear the word of God and don’t practice it with faith, it is just like excreting food without getting any nutriment.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
1John 1:7 says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin." To walk in the light here means to keep the words of God. When we obey them, we can have communion with God and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all unrighteousness. He purifies us from our sins of the past, the present, and the future. When we repent thoroughly from our hearts, God will have pity on us and forgive us our sins. That is to say, those who believe God in their hearts and become righteous are no longer sinners but righteous people. They will surely reach the salvation and get eternal life.
I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that you will walk in the light and eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood so that all things may go well with you. Amen. |
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