Can you please raise your hand if you are joining us for the first time today? Welcome! It’s pleasure to meet you. Some of you may have been to church before or it might be your first time today. Since you are at an unfamiliar place, you may find it quite hard to understand everything you hear. At first, you might be in the reconnaissance stage trying to get used to the unfamiliar environment. It’s often recommended to make friends with around seven people on your first day at church. Because that’ll make it a lot easier to come next time. They say that you should at least shake hands or say hello to seven people.

So, you came to church. Regardless of the initial reason that brought you here, you probably would have come with the intention of gaining something. But you need to go to the right address, just as you can’t seek hot water under cold ice, can you? There is something specific you should find at church. Some people come to church because they are ill. They probably tried treatments at the hospital, but the doctors tell them that there’s nothing more they can do. So instead of the hospital, they come to church. Then there are those who come because of the struggles they are facing in life or because they have issues in their relationships. Everyone comes in various reasons and conditions. And, of course, not everyone comes because they have a problem. Someone could have evangelized and invited them to church.

Whatever the reason might be, if you came to church, it most certainly was not a coin. The fact that you, out of countless people, came to church means that God has that much interest in you. However, even though His interest in you, you yourself need to obtain what you must find here at church. You probably sought happiness in the world. Some might have been searching for love. Or maybe joy. And people speak as though the world is able to give them all these things. And indeed, it is possible for us to find some joy and happiness.

However, there is something different about the church. The happiness, joy and blessings and the like which we gain at church are all everlasting. Eternal happiness, eternal joy, eternal blessing—these are what you have come all the way to church to receive. If you were only seeking momentary joy and short-lived blessings, you wouldn’t need to be here. Especially on a Lord’s Day when everyone takes a rest, you would not need to be here. However, you came to church because you are probably longing for these everlasting things.

Some of you may have been in a relationship before, and when I was dating someone, I wanted to hear the other person say, “I love you!” However, if your loved one were to say, “I will love you, but only for one year!” you probably won’t be satisfied. What kind of love do we want? Love that is everlasting. And it’s funny. People don’t usually believe that we can live forever, yet they want everlasting love. It’s funny, isn’t it? Even if I had only forty years left of my life, I would still want everlasting love. This desire is not something we only say with words—deep down in our hearts, we are not satisfied by transient things that will soon disappear. We want to be loved forever.

The same is for joy. We pursue eternal joy; we are not satisfied by a joy that is short-lived. That is why, I might be happy now but be distressed in the next moment. Why? I am happy now but can I be happy tomorrow? Can I be joyful the day after? In order to ensure we have joy in the future, we might save up some money, keep our body fit and healthy. We worry about our future because we want to be happy in the future as well. But all of that leads to even more worry.

In this way, there is something within us that desires the everlasting. Actually, our bodies don’t long for anything eternal. Have a think about it—your body doesn’t seek, want, or need the everlasting; it doesn’t need it. That which is everlasting doesn’t fade or disappear even after 100 years, 200 years, 300 years, 1000 years or even 2000 years. But we might be left with only 50 more years to live, so what good would something everlasting that lasts more than thousands of years be to us? Yet, we still want the everlasting.

Our bodies are so easy to please. For example, when I was in the army, I served at GOP (Ground observation post) at the 38th parallel. I was the observer at night and it was very difficult. Especially during winter, if we were on night duty, we had to go out around midnight and remain on duty until six or seven in the morning. We had to be standing the whole seven hours that we were on duty. But it was the cold that was more unbearable than the leg cramps. The icy cold winds blew hard while we were standing. It would’ve been more bearable if we could move around at least. Furthermore, we had to keep climbing higher. Climb up, stand and watch for an hour, and then move to another location and watch for another hour. We wore many layers in winter, but after going up and down the mountain like that, we would get covered in sweat. And it becomes very cold as we stand at the post because the sweat begins to dry.

Over those seven hours, what do you think we wished for the most? The soldiers on duty might talk about many things with each other, like if they have a girlfriend and so on. Nevertheless, what would be the only thing that is in their minds at the time? What do you think? It is to go back to camp, wash in warm water, have a bowl of instant noodles and then go to sleep. That’s their biggest wish during those seven hours. If you asked them, “What’s your wish right now?” they’d be ready to answer: “It is to go back to camp, have a hot shower and go to bed. Have some instant noodles too.” That’s their biggest wish.

But as soon as I go back to camp after duty and have a hot shower, that wish which was on my mind for seven hours disappears just like that. No longer do I feel the need for warmth. After having the instant noodles, I don’t even want to look at it. In this way, our body is very easy to satisfy. That’s the nature of the flesh.

When it comes to loving someone, this can also be love in the flesh. A person can love someone because of their looks or their wealth. While it may seem like this kind of love will last forever, people often say it lasts no more than 3 months. Once they get married, they’re over it. Hence if people love others by the flesh, that love cannot last long.

But it’s weird, isn’t it? We all have flesh, but how come the flesh desires something that lasts forever? It desires eternal love, eternal happiness, and eternal blessing. As it turns out, it’s not actually our flesh that desires these eternal things. This flesh yearns for the transient things that are here today and gone tomorrow. But within us, there is something that yearns for the everlasting. There is an eternal being within us. In fact, that being is our true self. Me.

In the past, when we said, “me,” we thought about our body. But the body is not true “me”; it is something that belongs to me. Just as if I have a phone, I would say, “my phone”. Again, if I have a pencil, it would be “my pencil.” Likewise, when we speak of our flesh, it is “my flesh, my body.” The body itself is not me.

So, then who am I? There is an eternal “I”. An eternal me. The eternal me has a tool, which is my body. One day, our bodies will all disappear. Moreover, our bodies are constantly changing. And later, our bodies will wear out and no longer be able to function. But that doesn’t mean that “I” will be no more too. The true “I” will continue to exist.

Let me give an example, and sorry in advance. Suppose I lost my arm in an accident. Is the arm “me”? Or is the rest of my body, “me”? We would say that the remaining body is “me.” But let’s say that the other arm got amputated. Which would be “me”? The body with the head intact is “me,” isn’t it? Then my legs got amputated and only the body remains. Are my limbs “me,” or is the body “me”? We would still say the body. I’m sorry again, but what if my head got chopped off. Which would be “me”? Neither is truly “me.” They are just mine.

I am the soul. The eternal “me” exists within, but it cannot be seen. Because we can’t see it, we tend to ignore it. We often think it doesn’t exist because we can’t see it. But just because we can’t see the air, we cannot say it is nonexistent. It does exist. We are breathing right now, aren’t we? If oxygen was removed from here, we won’t be able to breathe. Though we can’t see, it does exist.

It’s the same with the spirit. It cannot be seen, but it exists. It is within us. Thus, even if a person might be physically healthy, he could unexpectedly pass away. On the contrary, though a person may be physically ill, his life may still be intact. What’s the difference between them? When the spirit leaves the body, regardless of their physical condition, the person is dead. But no matter how weak or sick a person might be, even with a disability, as long as the spirit remains in the body, they won’t die.

My true self is the soul. Hence what is it that we really need? It is for our soul to be joyful, loved, and have happiness. It is important that our souls obtain the everlasting things. Whatever the flesh has is temporary. But what the soul gains is everlasting. And the One who gives these eternal things is God. God is eternal. Everything He has is everlasting, and He wants to give us. Actually, we don’t even deserve to receive them. But through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, He has accepted us. Therefore, God wants to give us His everything that is eternal.

Some people are able to meet God, while others can’t. There’s a reason for the difference. Some are able to meet God properly, while others may seem to meet Him at first but ultimately fail to do so. Although it might seem as if God unilaterally determines who meets Him, in fact, each person is responsible for it.

So right now, I am explaining to you the way to meeting God, and the most fundamental step is to seek the everlasting. Eternal things. You must not be satisfied with things that are not everlasting. When others tell you that they can give you joy, saying, “You can find eternal joy! Let’s go and see!” if you’re easily swayed and go here and there, it will be difficult to receive the eternal things God is giving. If happiness is not eternal, that is not real either. For our God whom we worship, if it is not eternal, it is not real. If it is not eternal happiness, then in God’s eyes, it’s not happiness at all. If it is not eternal peace, then in God’s eyes, it is not peace at all.

Once this happened to me. I was on the subway from Sindorim to Euijongbu. Back then, I often took the subway line 1. But when I board at Sindorim, it is very difficult to find a seat. And as I had to travel like that every day, it was very tiring. So, when I got on the subway, I looked for passengers that looked like they were going to get off soon, sitting up with their back straight. I would stand in front of them. But strangely, some people who are sitting like that would not get off soon and travel in that posture the whole way. In that case, I made a bad choice. Some people would even throw their bags onto an available seat and then run to it, but I couldn’t let myself do that. And whenever a seat became available, I didn’t sit down straight away but watched other passengers first, and if someone took the seat before me, it was too bad. If nobody took the seat, only then would I go and sit down as though reluctantly. So, what I’m saying is it was very hard to sit down unless the seat in front of me became available.

One day, I was standing on the subway as always when, finally, a person stood up. And the person sitting next to him also got up too. Actually, so many of them started to get up and many seats became available. I wondered, “What’s happening?” and quickly sat down. But when I looked around, there was no one left. I thought why everyone had got off the subway. Then I found out that the station was Cheongnyangni, and everyone was told to transfer there. Everyone had to alight at that station. I wanted to stay—I felt so frustrated. But I had no choice but to get off. Then I had to wait for and get on the next train. I was really excited about the idea of being able to sit for even short ride from Cheongnyangni to Euijeongbu, but in reality, that was the last stop, and I had to get off.

This is very similar to how we seek happiness on this earth. We seek and pursue happiness on this earth, and seem happy only to find out it’s time to get off. When the body dies, everything we ever possessed has nothing to do with us. It’s time to alight. We have to get off our fleshly bodies.

We seek pleasure on the earth, we pursue blessing and run after wealth, but in the end all of these come to nothing the moment our bodies die. Hence what we need to possess is that of which the value would not disappear even after the flesh fades away. Only our souls can possess that. It is God’s will to give us these eternal things. Through the way that God has opened in Jesus Christ, we have to discover these wonderful things and take possession of them.

Those who long for the everlasting things will come here and obtain many things, but those who don’t want the everlasting and only seek the fleeting, transient things that don’t last, may come to church and enjoy for a short while but not find any more reason to stay at church. Such people would go elsewhere and seek their pleasures there.

On the way to church this morning, I noticed many tourist buses parked at Sindorim station. It was around 6:50am, and many people were getting on those buses. Where do you think they were headed? To the mountains. So many people were getting on those buses. I envy them. I love going to the mountains too, but it’s been years since I last went. How great is it to go to mountains for health benefits and breathe in the fresh air! If such pleasures could last forever, I would surely do that. But the problem is that they don’t last forever. When the time comes, we have to depart this world. We cannot have that pleasure anymore.

But the joy you are seeking by coming to church will be with you eternally. The happiness you are seeking here will remain with you forever. Of course, the church building and facilities you see are not everlasting. But whether the church is big or small, what you are pursuing are the eternal things. I bless you in Jesus’ name that you will be successful in obtaining what is everlasting. Remember that only your soul can achieve that. Remember that the soul is your true self. In Jesus’ name I bless you to be rich in your soul. I’ll pray

Father God, there are many pleasures in this world but we come before You and seek the eternal joys. Help us God. Help every single person here not to be satisfied with transient things that are fleeting. Help them to be joyful in their soul through the everlasting things. Help them to be successful in achieving this so that not only themselves but their family and friends can receive the eternal happiness through them. In Jesus’ name. Amen!