The Will of the Father God
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8650 |
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November 20, 2016 |
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Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father" (John 14:12).
Jesus performed amazing powerful works during His ministry, and He fulfilled His duty as the Savior when He was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit who came to this earth as the Helper has been leading all people of all nations to salvation through churches.
Manmin Central Church has been following the example of the church in Philadelphia as in Revelation chapter 3. Among the seven churches, this church received only praises from the Lord. Modeling the church, we have become a blessed church that proclaims God's will to all peoples. What, then, is the will of God?
1. God's will is to understand the true meaning of human cultivation
Genesis 3:23 says, "Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken." Namely, God wanted our heart-fields to be plowed and cultivated as good soil to produce abundant fruit from the seed of truth.
The true purpose of human cultivation is to gain those children who have sincere heart with no falsehood or doubt and have perfect faith, and then to share eternal love with them. For this purpose, God has been washing the believers of this church with the holiness gospel for the past 34 years since the starting (Hebrews 10:22). With the water of Word, God let us wash away not only evident untruths but also evil conscience. The believers have the assurance of salvation and furthermore they are cultivating sincere heart.
In this evil generation, it is not easy to throw away the evil in conscience and the evil deep in the nature. But God Himself has been leading this church and the members in a mysterious way that men can't imagine. He let us put goodness, love and truth we learned into action, so we could understand them by heart and cultivate them into spirit. God sometimes allowed tests, so that the weeds among the believers were revealed.
He enabled the believers themselves to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Namely, He let each one realize what true love is and what true trust is. Through these processes, their trust in the Father, the Lord and the shepherd has deepened. They also saw what the fruit of wickedness was, which resulted from not casting away flesh. Then they realized they really had to cultivate sincere heart and perfect faith, and they tried to circumcise their heart even more. This is the reason that trials and tests of blessing have been allowed in this church.
For them to possess faith that is as gold, He has not only washed them with the water of word, but He has also refined them in the fiery trials. Revelation 3:8 says, "...because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name." Like the believers in the church of Philadelphia, many have come forth as true children who never deny the Lord's name and have unchanging love. This is the purpose of God's cultivating men.
2. The second will is for the people to live in blessings
When the Lord saw the church had a little power but kept His Word and didn't deny His name, He was pleased and gave them abundant blessings. In Revelation 3:7-8, it is recorded, "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut…"
The key of David is the key to bring down all the blessings that King David received. And, the one who has this key is the Lord. If the Lord opens the door for us, we can receive and fully enjoy the blessings that God gives to us. These blessings are different in dimension from the blessing enjoyed through men's capabilities or diligence. It is an amazing dimension where the great glory and blessing given to Adam are bestowed upon us as well.
What kinds of blessings did God give to men? God gave them the best blessings that a creature could enjoy, including eternal life, wealth, honor, and authority (Genesis 1:28). But Adam committed the sin of disobedience and was cursed. The ground was cursed too, so now he had to toil to get food. Now he had to experience aging and death. The authority he had enjoyed as the lord of all creatures was handed over to the enemy devil and Satan.
But thankfully Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law due to our sins. To the extent that we recover the image of God after accepting the Lord, we can be freed from the curses of sin such as death, poverty, disease, and infirmities and we can enjoy the blessings again. You must have experienced such blessing if you have cultivated sincere hearts and have perfect faith by diligently keeping the Word of the Lord.
Since the opening of the church, I've tried to nurture and raise you into praiseworthy believers like those of the church of Philadelphia. Because I was aware of the Father's will, I prayed you wouldn't suffer from poverty, diseases, or disasters but live in peace, at times of God's favor. As a result, this year, the blessings and answers given to you, big or small, are too numerous to be listed one by one. It is God's will for His children to live in blessings.
3. The third will of God is for all men to feel the great love He has for them
Love is not visible. The love of God is so huge that men cannot measure it with any unit of measure. So, God has revealed His love through this church so that we may know and feel the depth, width and height of His love as if we had seen and touched it.
In particular, God let the believers see His love through the forgiveness, patience and sacrifice of the shepherd. Seeing how desperately the shepherd was willing to forgive the wicked ones and take the responsibility for them until the end, you could understand the width, length, height, and depth of God's love.
He is molding us into His true children through cultivation although it is hard for the moment, and He gives us blessings during our earthly lives. All this comes from His love.
After commending the church in Philadelphia, the Lord mentioned the blessing He will give to them. Revelation 3:12 says, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God has set up the church that can manifest His amazing power at this end time to gain true children with whom He can share love through human cultivation. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will achieve a sincere heart and perfect faith; that you may receive whatever you ask for and enter into New Jerusalem.
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