December 30, 2018 Jesus Is My Lord (Matthew 8:5-13)
Sermon Outline
God
is the Father.
He
does all things for the sake of His name (Mt 6:9).
God is the Creator who created the entire universe (He 1:2).
Mankind is also the possession of God (Ps 100:3).
Therefore,
we know that He is the Lord,
and that there is nothing in creation
that does not submit to Him (Mt 16:16).
This is our faith.
Faith is the relationship between the Lord and His servants (Mt 8:9).
The Lord gives Him commandments according to His own will,
and His servants obey His commandments
according to His will (Mt 6:10).
The relationship between the Lord and His servants is this:
He gives His commands and His servants obey them.
God poured His life even onto His commandments.
Therefore, we must give our lives in obeying His commandments.
Only from this kind of relationship
will there appear miraculous signs.
God’s miraculous signs are
the very works that fulfill His will (Ac 4:28).
Jesus is the Lord, and we are His servants.
The Holy Spirit is the Lord, and we are His servants.
○ If one claims to have faith,
but does not have this kind of eternal relationship with God –
this is not faith, but disbelief.
○ God is the One who gives His commandments,
and faith is to keep His commandments.
The Son of God, the word of God,
and the will of God are all the commandments of God.
○ Since God’s commandments are eternal,
they are the words of eternal life.
God takes responsibility for His word.
※ We do not depart from the will of the Lord,
and we do not give up in dumb resignation.
We obey according to His will and gain life.
Let us obey! Let us obey! Let us obey to have life!
Semuon’s Letter
A person will undergo all kinds of suffering while he lives on this earth. He can catch a cold, he can suffer a broken arm or leg, or he can suffer stomach ache. He can practically suffer any broken bone in the body. Although these are all painful, out of all the painful experiences that I suffered in my lifetime, there was none more painful than the pain of hunger for food. This is not the pain that comes from the heart. It is when the state of one’s internal organs become so torn up that one is not even able to sit up straight. This is how painful hunger is. It cannot be expressed into words. One does not have even the strength to utter a groan. These experiences have been engraved in my bones and soul, and I will carry these gruel experiences with me for the rest of my life.
God called me, however, and taught me the true meaning of what it is to starve, to thirst and to hunger. What God taught me was nothing to do with the comfort of my flesh, which will soon decay. What He taught me was that if the soul starves, one will not just simply die and disappear, but one will constantly remain in hell, and in hell, he will suffer eternal thirst and starvation. This is the pain that one cannot escape from, even if one wanted to kill himself to escape from it.
When the person’s flesh hungers so much to the point that he cannot endure it, a unique choice is available: to abruptly end the life of one’s flesh. When I, too, made the decision to end my life, God called me and let me understand what it was to truly hunger. He told me, ‘true starvation is the starvation of your soul.’ The Lord Jesus has become the True Bread and True Drink for a person like me. He has given life to my soul.
And once I became a person who lives for his spirit, I understood what it was to truly starve and thirst. In order to have life in my soul, I have strived and toiled each day until now so that I can become fully filled with the food that comes down from heaven. And now my soul has become satisfied. I know and believe that the Lord Jesus has become the True Food, and I know and believe that He was become the True Drink. I know this and continue to drink and eat. Because of this, I am always full of His inspiration within my soul. Just as much as I continue to drink of this True Drink and eat of this True Food, I strive to pour out and display His great power and drive out demons by this power. Because I can sternly face the one who had sent them – the devil – and because I have severe over him, I am truly joyful in my soul.
I have always thought of myself as a blessed person, but what can the devil possibly suggest that blessing is? The comfort of the flesh is not true blessing. All the useful capabilities of the flesh are sapped away by the civilization of this world, and all inborn talents end up becoming lost. When man was created, God had given Him millions of talents. But because of the civilization of this world, which becomes increasingly modernized, they are all brought to naught. Now, those functions which the mind once did, digital smartphones do instead. And those things that one’s hands had diligently done, complex computers do instead. The work of a construction crane is a hundred times quicker than the work of a shovel. There is no other path to go except the advent of Robotic technology. But can Robotic technology possibly give any happiness to the soul? Can worldly civilization – which swallows up all the estates and things belonging to the flesh – can this possibly give any life to your soul?
Without any rest, day or night, I am fighting a spiritual war against the devil. All those things that have no power to eradicate the devil are completely worthless. Whether it be today or tomorrow, by the faith and power that the Lord has given me, I will drive out demons. On the day that the Lord Jesus gives His command, by saying to me, “Stop your work and come”, I will finally have my rest. This is my true and deepest desire.
Semuon