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2014.10.19_The Resurrection of Jesus and the Gospel

in 2014, Sung Hyun Kim

(Mark 16:14-20)
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim

Outline

God
is the Father of life.
He gave us faith to save us and (Jn 10:10)
to bring us into eternal life with the Lord Jesus.
To attain eternal life, one must first believe and be baptized to partake
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rm 6:1-7).
Receiving baptism is being united with the Lord’s resurrection.
This is what we preach.
However, preaching without faith is just delivering doctrine.
It is not preaching the resurrection of life.
People who have faith are full of
gifts and power of the Holy Spirit (Mk 16:17-).
They cast out demons and heal sicknesses in the Lord’s name.
Signs and wonders follow for the Lord Jesus
works with them from Heaven (Mk 16:20).
Let us follow the Lord’s will.
We must become witnesses of the resurrection through the Holy Spirit.

○We believe and obey because God is alive.
In His name, there will be signs and powers.
○We preach the resurrection and thus,
Jesus will personally become our witness.
○The signs following the believers is the Lord’s covenant to us.
It is the eternal Gospel.

※Let us not be powerless believers, but be powerful saints.
Let us live as great vessels as the Lord’s saints.

Summary

Those Who Have Been Empowered By the Works Accomplished Through the Incarnation of Jesus

God is the Father of life. He loved us and gave His only begotten Son to the world. The only begotten Son came to the earth in bodily form (the incarnation). He came in the flesh in order that the works He undertakes in the flesh would be applied to all mankind (Matt 20:28).

The will of God was accomplished through the works He carried out in the flesh, the merits of which were given to man as a gift. Even so, not everyone gets to enjoy the benefits of His merits, since each person takes a different stance towards that gift. It is not up to God to determine by force whether someone would receive in that gift or not. It is no longer a gift if a person is forced to accept it.

Refusing to accept the faith in Jesus Christ is the same as declaring before God, ‘I will deal with my own matters. Leave me alone!’ Whoever rejects Jesus Christ like so, has already been judged. Such a person cannot receive the benefits of the power of the meritorious works of Jesus granted to all mankind and hence cannot be saved. Conversely, anyone that believes in the merits of Jesus can be empowered by all that He has accomplished through His incarnation.

There is a will of God in sending His Son in the flesh. That will has taken effect in those who have been saved. For them, the very first change resulting from this effect is that their fear of the end of the age disappears. And what follows through that change is that they no longer fear the death of their flesh either. The redeemed person awaits the end to come in anticipation, and considers the death of his flesh as a transitional process. It will be the most joyful day for such people when Christ returns.

If someone is apprehensive and fearful of the end times, it is because he is uncertain of where he would go after he dies. That nervous feeling in his heart somewhere gives him the sense that he would not be able to escape the coming punishment. Such a person has not received the grace given through Christ’s incarnation.

Those who have rejected faith, and those who once had faith but later forsook it, will realize one day that they made the biggest mistake of their life and weep in shock and fear. Though different to these two, there is another group of people who will beat their breasts in regret as much as them. They are the Christians who were completely satisfied with the very little faith they had and never brought it into question.

In contrast, there are those who continued on with their hope set on the Lord’s return. They will be utterly amazed to see the incredible benefits they receive as a result of all the suffering the Lord endured in the flesh (His incarnation). On that day, even those who knew that the Lord would reward them will be amazed at the abounding glory that goes beyond imagination. They will praise the Lord saying they had never expected there to be such great glory.

The Outcome of Christ’s Suffering

What was the result of the suffering Jesus endured in the flesh? It says in 1 Peter 2:24, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” There are, broadly two outcomes being mentioned here.

First of all, Jesus carried our sins. He is the Word which became flesh and came to the world (John 1:14). That word is spirit (John 6:63). The flesh of Jesus is, in essence, different to that of man which came from dust and returns to it. He died in that flesh to replace the death of man’s spirit not his flesh. In other words, by His death, Jesus bore the fearful punishment (death) man has to face in Hell.

Secondly, Jesus carried our diseases. By His stripes, He bore the curse of disease and affliction that we are to receive on the earth. Man is oppressed under the threat of disease and tribulation in this world. Although the Bible mostly uses the term ‘disease’ or ‘sickness,’ its meaning incorporates all forms of affliction including poverty. The Bible describes them all as curses resulting from sin. It is very clear in the Old Testament especially that man is punished by God when he sins, and in most cases that punishment is manifested in the form of sicknesses.

The principle that God punishes those who sin has not disappeared in the New Testament. That principle still holds. However, Jesus received the punishment upon His flesh in our place. Hence, God no longer punishes. In spite of this, diseases are still tormenting people. That is because demons embed themselves in sin, just like mould growing in damp, shady areas. Thus, to eliminate sickness, it is vital to resolve the matter of sin in which it is rooted.

Some people think that they are afflicted with sickness as a punishment from God for their sins. Such thinking nullifies the stripes Jesus had received. It was to save us from our trouble that the Lord came in the flesh. How dumbfounded would He feel if we asked indifferently, ‘Lord, why did you come in the flesh? Did something happen?’ Then, there are some who claim that a person should rightfully be responsible for his own sins. Whoever rejects the power of the stripes Jesus received like so, has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

Those Who Have the Marks of Christ’s Suffering

The stripes of Jesus Christ and His death are linked as one, namely the works of destroying sin. By His stripes, He began the work of eradicating the curse. He was never scourged when He worked as a carpenter. His scourging was the final moment of His public ministry. He began making the gift of salvation while He was being flogged. He was wrongfully sentenced, scorned, beaten, and finally put to death on the cross in order to bear for us the curse that manifest as sickness as well as the punishment we were to receive in hell.

Hence, there is no need to treat the stripes of Jesus and His death separately. His stripes and His death were the continuation of a project under one heading. That project began when Jesus was scourged and came to completion when He died on the cross.

Jesus said that the sick will be healed when believers lay their hands on them (Mark 16:18). The stripes Jesus received has not disappeared; it remains in us as a type of mark. There are several verses in the Bible in relation to this: “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism” (1 Pet 3:21); “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal 6:17); “who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Cor 1:22); “the signs of an apostle” (2 Cor 2:12); “And these signs will follow those who believe” (Mark 16:17). What these verses are saying is God places a permanent mark within us, in regard to the work Jesus Christ has done. From our perspective, that mark is a seal which God engraves in us. From God’s perspective, it is faith. If the mark of the suffering of Jesus Christ is in us, its powers will now be manifested through our body. They are the signs God gives to those who believe.

Mark 16:16 says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” Salvation is not attained through man’s righteousness, merits, or efforts. It is by realizing the fact that Jesus was captured in Gethsemane, suffered and died on the cross, and how that was a sacrifice made for us. And those who are saved in this way, have the merits of Jesus deeply engraved in their hearts. Apostle Paul said, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal 6:17). The ‘marks’ mentioned here refers to being sealed as with a branding iron. If the flesh is branded with a hot iron, that mark never disappears. Those who have been saved bear the marks of Jesus Christ’s suffering, the marks of His death.

First Peter 3:21 referred to baptism as a mark of salvation. Baptism is a visible mark of burying one’s old self. If we are born again, then it means that our old self has died. When a branch is cut off and grafted into a new tree, it is completely separated from the old tree. And to the old tree, that branch is dead. In the same way, baptism is confessing that we were God’s enemy from birth and burying that old self.

Baptism is also the act of confessing that we will live again as a new person just as Jesus Christ has resurrected. Hence, receiving baptism means to acknowledge that Jesus Christ has resurrected. Some people ask, “Isn’t it enough that I have faith even if I haven’t been baptized?” However, we have to be baptized because Jesus commanded us so. But more importantly, making the decision to be baptized is in itself the act of showing that we have the power of the Lord’s resurrection within us. Receiving baptism means to testify, “Jesus Christ has resurrected! I bear the marks of His resurrection in me!” What is the evidence that our spirit has come to life? It is the fact that we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hence, the one receiving baptism is filled with excitement and joy. That is because he has the hope and assurance that he will resurrect as Christ has. Being baptized means to confess our faith that we will resurrect as Christ has resurrected.

People have much interest in health. They search and eat things like ginseng all for the sake of their health. And their lifespan will probably increase if they eat good foods and exercise much. However, the blood that Jesus shed through His suffering on Calvary has already made us those who can live eternally. If anyone has the power of the blood Jesus Christ shed, he shouldn’t act like a narrow-minded person, fixated on his flesh life that will soon pass away.

The world will certainly come to an end. That day is certainly not far from us. And on that day, the Lord will seek those who bear the marks of Christ’s suffering. On the earth, there are some who are respected by people, some who do admirable works, some who live in luxury. Yet on that day, the Lord will only be interested in those who have the marks of Christ’s suffering, that is, those who have the power of the blood. Conversely, those without the power of the blood will be shunned by the Lord. Moreover, the people who had conceptually taken the marks of Christ’s suffering put in their hearts will be in utter shock to see that the Lord actually seeks the marks of Christ’s suffering and realize that was a reality.

The Signs Displayed in Those Who Bear the Marks of Christ’s Suffering

We do not only have the marks of the suffering of Christ, we can also see external evidences of those marks. What Jesus did as a carpenter do not become the marks we bear. However, all that He fulfilled starting from His scourging up to His final breath on the cross remain in us as a mark; none of it has disappeared. And those marks are manifested from us as the power to drive out demons and heal the sick.

For those who have the marks of Christ’s suffering, performing signs is their everyday life as well as the way of living their faith life; it is the practice of faith and its essential quality. Christians cannot forsake those marks and are continuously running towards the day of glory. Though we have been stigmatized by the unbelievers as those who are together with Christ, since we bear marks of Christ’s death and scourging, we are able to manifest that outwardly through signs.

God wants us to be healthy and our families to be happy. Because of the marks of Christ’s suffering in us, the enemies cannot harm or look down on us. We shouldn’t give in to the enemy’s scheme. We must cast sicknesses out from our families. We must drive away the enemy’s attack. Our hearts should have complete peace and freedom. These too are signs.

We should be able to lay our hands on our family members and heal their sicknesses. When our children are sick, we shouldn’t be timid in our hearts thinking, ‘what good would it do for someone like me who never prays to put my hands on them and pray?’ We need to stop thinking that we will pray only after we become great like the powerful pastors, and remember the fact that the marks of Christ’s suffering is within us. Jesus promised to manifest signs in those who bear those marks, namely those who believe. Thus, we must act right away. We must have signs to drive away the causes that trouble and afflict our families.

We need to restore the original state of condition back from what the enemy has done. We must demolish the enemy’s doings. We need to have our families abound with happiness, joy, laughter, thanksgiving and hymns. The Lord’s incarnation was for this purpose, and as planned, He was beaten, shed His blood and died. He has done so for us and the sake of our families.

People who take the Lord’s promised signs lightly may still be able to go to Heaven. Yet the treatment each person receives in Heaven will be different. A person, who does not care about God’s signs, has little faith and hope, and feels uncertain about going to Heaven, could in no way prepare for His life in Heaven properly. He would always fall backwards amidst doubt and lead his faith life pervaded with pettiness. Their future will be nothing like that of those who led their faith life with assurance and perseverance, and prepared for their life in Heaven. Even if they were to regret and try hard later on, it wouldn’t make much difference. Just as some players celebrate while others are in tears at the finals of the Olympics, the glory each person receives on that day will vary significantly.

We are presently living in a time of distrust and doubt. Even the believers are being influenced by the world unconsciously, and their faith is consequently being weakened further and further. If in this situation people just emphasize the heart saying, ‘well, the important matter is that we believe sincerely’, they may be concealing the fact that they are in doubt. The Lord stressed the point that signs will follow those who believe. We need to restore a good, sincere heart that the Lord is seeking from us, and purely and wholly receive in His words. If we bear the marks of Christ’s suffering and resurrection in us, the signs He promised must be displayed in us. For this, the Lord has sent us the Holy Spirit. Hence, there is no failure. We must trust the Lord’s words, rely on the Holy Spirit and act immediately.

Semuon’s Letter

Though my dreams are shattered and destroyed, my spirit is truly happy.

God gave me faith by His grace. By that faith, His righteousness is revealed. I am truly happy and consider it an honor to be called righteous by faith. I am blessed beyond measure because my spirit has drunk God’s blood, which He has manifested and allowed us to receive.

The wise and intellectual ones in the world might not be aware of this. Rather, they might mock me. They would question and say, “Does God actually have blood?” and claim that this is just a farfetched claim. However, isn’t that why He is the unique God? Only He possesses blood; He is the only true God who possesses His own image. Thus, by the faith He gave, I have drunk His blood and eaten His torn body that carried His image. That is why my spirit is truly happy.

If I did not drink the blood of God, then I would not have life. I would still have the original sin inherited from Adam. Additionally, I would not dare call God my Father. God gave me the Holy Spirit by grace as an evidence of me receiving His blood and body. So the Holy Spirit dwells in my heart, and the filthy demons surrender before me every day as the evidence of His indwelling.

Those who do not possess such proofs might call themselves as Christians; yet, they were and still are being used as instruments of Satan to persecute me greatly. They persecute me for I have the righteousness and the name of God. They persecute me for I am filled with hopes for the Kingdom of God. However, their path and mine are definitely different. According to their perspective, they firmly believe that persecuting is their duty. For me, though I have received much persecution, I am certain that living such life is my lot and life.

The Lord already has said to rejoice and be happy when someone persecutes us, but for me, I don’t think I have reached that glorious state yet. When I am persecuted, my heart aches. When someone curses me with lies, I feel very distressed. Thus, am I not still far away from being joyful and happy like the Lord had taught? Therefore, I restlessly pray, ‘Lord, give me the heart to be joyful and happy when I am persecuted.’ Since this world is not an eternal, dwelling place for me, I should not love the world or expect to receive comfort from it. However, I am still battling over this daily.

My beloved brothers and sisters, let us be thankful for the world that God has given each of us. Whether you are rich or poor, let us give thanks to Him.

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

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2014.10.12_Faith and Prayer

in 2014, Sung Hyun Kim

(Matthew 26:36-46)
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim

Outline

God
hears prayers.
God sent
His Son to the world and always heard
His prayers (Jn 11:41).
If we
do not believe the words and works of Jesus,
then we cannot believe in God (Jn 14:10)
or receive the Holy Spirit.
The words of Jesus are His sincere truth (Jn 14:6).
All of the signs He performed are true and reality.
Jesus prayed to the Father in urgent times.
The Father always hears His prayers
and also works with Him (Jn 11:41)
Therefore,
this has become our faith and
an example to follow in prayer (Mt 26:38-39).
Prayer is faith, not a meditation (Jn 14:13-14).
It is offering requests to God, not mere mumblings.
It is believing and obeying, not following a doctrine.
Prayerlessness is because of the absence of faith.

○The only One who does not pray
is God Himself.
Answers to prayers are His gift to us.
○The Son of God entreated earnestly.
The Holy Spirit makes petitions also.
The saints have a petitioning faith.
○Saints must offer prayers by the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray with the mind and also with the spirit.

※Prayerlessness is due to the lack of faith.
The soul becomes corrupt
due to the sin of prayerlessness.

Summary

Prayer, the Way to a Life of Victory

God listens to prayers. Even when God sent His Son into the world, He always listened to His prayers. While Jesus was on the earth, the means by which He connected with God was no different to ours in the present. He who is the Son of God came out of God’s bosom, became flesh and dwelt on the earth; and we, the children of God have become the church today standing in this world.

The Lord had to bear the life of a man during His stay on the earth, and carry out a momentous task unheard of since the creation of the world. He successfully brought all those things to fulfillment. He is the victorious one. Now we have been assigned with the task to be victorious in our lives on the earth. The Lord is telling us to have victory in the battle of our lives. But how can we become victors like our Lord? There is a difference between the life that the Lord had constructed and what we construct. The main difference is in the power of prayer, which is the means of receiving God’s help. The way the Lord achieved a life of victory was through His prayer life.

If anyone has faith and believes in Jesus, he will be saved. People who misconstrue the essence of our faith life might be thinking, ‘now that I’ve secured my salvation, I have some room to concentrate on my flesh.’ It is easy to think like so if they overlook the Gospels and focus only on the Epistles of Paul. However, Jesus clearly taught us about living the life of faith. Salvation is only just the beginning of the life that manifests the sincerity of faith. For a redeemed person, his life is the time to demonstrate his faith and prepare for eternal life. The Lord said that the hardship we experience on the earth will ultimately bring forth a glorious and eternal outcome, which we will later see in Heaven.

Until the day we enter Heaven, what is most essential to our battle on the earth is prayer. Prayer is like a generator that generates and provides power to the life of a believer. Believing in Jesus means a life of praying unto God has begun. Christians should not cease their prayer life until their final moment.

Prayer is essential for us to overcome all sorts of hardships we face in our lives, as well as to keep our faith. In other words, prayer is essential for both our spirit and flesh. Prayer is a gracious gift God has endowed us with for the good of our spirit and flesh.

Prayer is the one and only channel that connects us to God. Hence a life without prayer is a life without God, and anyone who does not pray is no different to an orphan; such a person is living as though he has nothing to do with God.

One other crucial point is that even a person of faith cannot use his faith in his daily life unless he prays. Faith is useless to anyone who does not pray. The absence of prayer indicates a blockage in the channel through which comes the abounding grace that God has promised. Faith is incredibly precious but it does not serve any purpose for those that do not pray. The state of a person who does not pray is similar to when troops caught isolated in enemy lines are fiercely attacked while communication with the base camp is cut off and unable to receive their provision of rations and weapons.

The life of believers is truly worthwhile in that they can receive God’s help. The great will of God who saved us is to help man with what he cannot do on his own. And the way offered to man so that he can receive God’s help according to that will is prayer.

God saved us at such tremendous cost, yet He has left us to remain on the earth. The enemy is threatening us with vicious attacks while we are utterly weak to defend ourselves. Moreover, we are easily swayed by our human nature which we can hardly control ourselves. In spite of this, God promised us saying, ‘I will be with you always. I will not leave you as orphans.’ What is the reason that God was able to make such a promise to us who are in this most dreadful condition? It was based on the premise that we would pray. God had in mind that we would stay close by Him like a breastfeeding baby, and planned to embrace us like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. In that sense, if someone does not pray to God, he has strayed from God’s guidance and protection.

A Life of Prayer

Our faith life is a life of prayer. We are not talking about prayer as a single, one-off activity but as a routine practice or as part of our life. There is plenty written in the Bible concerning this life of prayer. One of them is the story about King Asa of Judah.

King Asa wanted to build a kingdom that receives God’s help. He strived for the people to have an attitude that was worthy of receiving God’s help. He commanded them to thoroughly observe the Law and announced resolute policies to eradicate idolatry by removing the image of Asherah for example. As a result, the kingdom of Judah enjoyed peace for a time. Then one day, an Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men. The number of soldiers in Judah who could fight back was only just over five hundred thousand. In terms of military power, it was impossible for Judah to defeat them.

At that time, Asa prayed to God. “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!” (2 Chr 14:11) King Asa had never heard the name of Jesus Christ nor did he ever receive the Holy Spirit. He prayed while he had no promise of an answer to his prayer. Yet everything went ahead according to his prayer. The invaders were defeated and the victors seized a huge amount of plunder. King Asa had victory after victory in each battle that followed thereafter.

King Asa made his people rely on God alone completely. He even made them enter a covenant so that whoever does not seek the help of God will be put to death. In regard to this, 2 Chronicles 15:13-15 says, “whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.” King Asa did everything possible in order that his people would be those who pray to God, and even removed his mother from being the queen mother because she worshipped an idol. The kingdom of Judah enjoyed peace for a long period of time thanks to such efforts he made.

In the thirty-sixth year of King Asa’s reign, Israel came up against Judah. Surprisingly, Asa did not rely on God but rather gathered the silver and gold in the temple and gave it to the king of Syria and sought his help. The prophet was shocked and when he rebuked him, Asa instead put him in prison. Three years later, Asa fell ill. Even then he did not seek God but the physicians. He died two years later. King Asa once had success after success by the help of God but when he no longer sought God’s help, that is, he ceased to pray, he drifted far away from God’s interest.

God is not interested in those who are not in the habit of praying. Prayer draws God’s attention; it is the way for us to have Him by our side and lavish His grace on us. If we draw God’s attention, He will have the desire to help us, and if we are then faced with tribulations, God’s help will come to us. Those who experience this over and over will know how to pray so that they receive answers.

Prayer is the way to keep God by our side as our Helper. Unless we have been drawing God’s attention consistently, we cannot receive His help no matter how righteous we are, how much spiritual knowledge we have, or how grave the crisis facing us might be. Thus, we need to have fellowship with God always. There is not a verse in the Bible that says, ‘come to Me only when you need My help. I will fulfill your wishes.’ We need to have a consistent life of prayer.

Specifically Ask for What is in Your Heart

Prayer is the process of delivering that which is in our heart to God. He does not automatically help us in times of crisis just because we are longing for His help in our hearts. He does not intrude in our hearts by force. One has to open his heart before God in order to receive His help. In other words, he must present his matters within the scope of God’s help.

God indeed knows all of our thoughts. However He does not intervene in the matters for which we have not sought for His help. This can be taken as a kind of rule or promise that God has offered us. We must abide by this principle of asking God what it is we want specifically. Otherwise, He will not intervene in our problems no matter how longing we are in our hearts or how critical our situation is, and even if we know just how merciful He is.

James 4:2-3 says, “You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Such principle was equally applicable to the Son of God. He is in God and God is in Him. Yet while He was on the earth, He had to go before God and explicitly tell Him the anguish of His heart. The scene at Gethsemane two thousand years ago demonstrates this very clearly.

At that time, Jesus was at a most crucial moment of life and death. He offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death (Heb 5:7). It was impossible for God to be unaware of the critical and unjust situation He was in. How dearly did God love His Son? The Son is everything to God. And how greatly did the Son honor God the Father? Even so, Jesus did not just keep His wishes in His heart but told God the Father of His critical situation. He explicitly prayed saying, “This is my desire, Father!”

The Bible makes a distinction between faith that is living and that which is dead (Jam 2:17). That distinction is made based on whether a person practices what is in his heart or not. There is an enormous difference between trusting in God simply in the heart and opening one’s lips and telling God of what is in his heart. Hence saying, ‘ask in prayer’ is essentially the same as ‘show your faith.’

Seek God’s Help Through Prayer

For man to be flexible and withstand each of the countless challenges he faces in the world, he has very little strength and ability. The environment surrounding the flesh does not adjust to our liking. What is more, man is devoid of any power to protect himself. The state of the spirit is even worse. Since man did not have a spiritual foundation from the beginning, he definitely needs help in order to succeed his spiritual life. Then again, there is a huge risk that he will fall into temptation during his faith life, and the risk of losing his faith is always around the corner. Hence, a life in absence of God’s help will have to face these forewarned adversities as they come.

If Christians do not establish a healthy prayer life, their lives may be worse than that of unbelievers. If people do not pray despite knowing their shortcomings, then it is arrogance from God’s perspective. Christians are those who acknowledge their flaws before God and rely on His help.

We need to seek God’s help in all things. We should establish a rigorous approach to prayer, to such a point of making it a rule not to do anything unless we have first sought for God’s help. Anything we have prayed for is already offered up before God and thus we must acknowledge that God will ultimately bring it to fulfillment even if nothing immediately happens. Sometimes it could be hard for us to receive answers because we asked amiss. Nevertheless, God will remember how we relied on Him and comfort us.

There are people who have faith but do not pray. They are struggling between how they used to live according to their human nature in the past, and depending on God as a way of life that is given to them. Such a person has lost his interest in prayer from the start without even having the chance to experience the Christian life that is founded on prayer or having his wishes fulfilled. Such people never get to start a proper spiritual life and are easy to waste away their lifetime on endless doubts and disappointment.

We have to pray so that we may also overcome temptations. This is our daily task. What we learn from the accounts of Ananias and Sapphira, Judas Iscariot and Peter is that everything they deemed to be right instead became a fatal injury to their spirit. Especially with Judas Iscariot, he took an eternally irreversible path to destruction. Even when Jesus was at Gethsemane praying for a matter of great concern, He was still interested in His disciples’ prayer. The Lord knew better than anyone about just how bleak man’s situation is. He knew that His disciples could thus fall into temptation any time and how they would need to stay awake and pray in order to overcome that (Matt 26:41).

Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness

The prayer of the Lord shows a consistent characteristic, which was more apparent at Gethsemane. His prayer was always in two aspects: one was praying about His wishes as a man, while the other was praying as one who had faith. With the Lord, the latter form of prayer had precedence over the other at all times.

The Lord taught us to pray each day for our daily bread (Matt 6:11). Hence we pray for that daily, and God the Father will gladly give us. For this reason the Lord told us to neither worry about what to eat, drink or wear, nor be in anguish and despair over such matters, but to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matt 6:31-33).

These words of the Lord are in conflict with man’s nature. It is not easy to first seek His kingdom and righteousness when living in this world is in itself difficult. But as we follow the Lord’s command and prioritize God’s will, at some point in our lives we would find that we have become truly holy and doing God’s will. If we pray as those who welcome, pursue and do God’s will, our spirit will be made prosperous automatically, and God will fill the needs of our flesh.

We can pray to God about our wishes as much as want. However a mature Christian should first petition fervently for the great spiritual works which the church must carry out. Many people pray that God will help them find a good job or for their children to get into a good university. Such prayers are essentially the same as asking God to help them earn more money. For many, fifty-nine minutes out of an hour of prayer is filled with such requests.

Saints should be able to pray for magnanimous things as the Lord did. “Do Your will, O Lord! Let Your church abound with Your happiness! Let Your church be filled with Holy Spirit! Let Your church be full of dedication and service! Let Your church grow to fulfill God’s great works! Make us a church that is pleasing before You! When we pray, we should offer prayers that are holy and noble with our heart filled with love for the Lord, if not always. Our prayers should be, “I am Yours Lord. Use me for Your work! Use my precious children for Your will!”

We must seek God’s help in all things. Even so, we first have to pray for God’s will and His kingdom before anything else. Even if our personal matters fail, the church’s work must succeed; even if our personal matters fall into arrears, God’s work must prosper. We have been liberated from the Devil and have the assurance of going to Heaven and can now prepare for the glorious future with thankfulness and joy because the Lord surrendered His will and prioritized the Father’s will while He was on the earth. It was because He gave up His will and obeyed God’s will that we came to obtain life. We are able to enter Heaven because the Lord gave up His wishes as a man and submitted to God’s will.

God desires for us to be well. Why would He want to set a limit to our happiness when He has even given us His own Son? God is the One who gives us blessings. When we seek God’s will first, our life on the earth will also be prosperous. And the prosperity will endure forever. This is what God desires.

The Holy Spirit also helps us in our weakness and makes intercession for us with groans which cannot be uttered (Rom 8:26). When the Holy Spirit comes in us and intercedes for us earnestly, we should at least keep in step with Him. We need to rely on His inspiration and by His guidance pray with spiritual sense. When we do so, the angels will quickly take up our prayers to God (Rev 8:3).

God’s help, the power of prayer, and the mighty working of prayer should abound in our lives as it was with the Lord. We have to stop thinking negatively that we cannot do what the Lord has done. The Lord said we will do even greater things than what He has done (John 14:12). Those words will surely be fulfilled in those who seek God’s help through prayer.

Semuon’s Letter

What a relief and joy it is to only speak words of truth! I have heard numerous lies throughout my life.

Hence, I have been misled many times, and those lies have definitely troubled my heart. However, I am grateful for testifying truth, and I am joyful for keeping such truthful words deep in my heart.

Even when I began my Christian faith-life, I did not know why the Bible was God’s words though I believed that they were His words. I just thought the Bible was holy because churches used it as a sacred book. And I thought the Bible was a special book of scriptures that recorded about Jesus Christ. Yet, after knowing the truth, I realized that it is impossible to deny that the Bible is the word of God. God’s word is the word that truly came forth from His mouth. I also realized its truthfulness, that not one word falls to the ground to be wasted, but they all are being fulfilled one by one.

How can God’s words not be holy and spiritual? They are not from the heart of man, neither written with man’s language. They are God’s words delivered by the angels, God’s words instructed to man by the active work of the Holy Spirit, God’s words obeyed by His Son in this world even to death, and God’s words spoken through the very mouth of Jesus Christ.

People desire to be spiritual, but they definitely cannot be spiritual because they neglect and disdain the word of God. My desire throughout my life was to become spiritual; however, I realized that I could only become spiritual when I endlessly humble myself before His word and when the Holy Spirit and the word of God works together in me. My words are arrogant and dishonest. Nonetheless, the word of God is God’s words and thus, they are true. Moreover, the word that the Holy Spirit works through is the true words of truth.

No man on earth has ever lived without lying except Jesus. Jesus did not deceive himself or speak even a single lie to mankind. And the Holy Spirit testifies of this truth. The Holy Spirit clearly testifies of the Word as the gift of Jesus.

How can I be this happy? If I speak with my dirty mouth, then the words that I speak would not be true but lies. None of my words come to pass. It is only through the Holy Spirit who strengthens me, and through Him, I speak the words of the Holy Spirit. Thus, I am happy for speaking the words of truth. My desire is to speak the truthful words without speaking vanity. Even after I leave this world, I hope my descendants and disciples can believe that the words I used to testify were true and listen to them again. I hope for them to follow the word of God and speak the words of truth accordingly. I again prayed to speak the words of truth today. As I resist the Devil, for he could be bringing lies to my lips….

Pastor Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Column

2014 Audio

2014 Video

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2014.10.05_Life is in the Blood

in 2014, Ki Dong Kim

(Hebrews 9:11-22)
Senor Overseer Ki-Dong Kim

Outline

God

is unique.

He revealed Himself to the world

to make eternal promises for

those who believe in Him (Ac 1:4).

Mankind was created in God’s image,

according to His likeness (Ge 1:26).

Out of all creation from the ground, only man

was given the opportunity for eternal life (Ge 2:16-17).

But through disobedience, man’s spirit died.

Yet, God sent His Son from His bosom (Jn 1:18)

to the world to become their Savior (Jn 20:30-31).

Jesus Christ is the Word become blood (Jn 1:14).

The truth of God is the Gospel to us (Jn 1:17).

God has blood and in His blood is life (Lv 17:11).

All flesh lives with blood because in it, there is life.

This is a natural revelation

that reveals God’s divine nature (Rm 1:20).

The wages of sin is death (Rm 6:23);

yet, the blood has the life that revives from death.

The Holy Spirit bears witness of this truth (Jn 16:13-14).

○We must understand and believe

in the truth by the Spirit.

We must believe in the blood

that the Spirit bears witness of.

We must become believers by obedience to the Spirit.

○Our spirit was not bought with animal’s blood.

The blood of Jesus Christ has redeemed us.

Hence, we live through the life in His blood.

○Our faith is a reality. It is a definite experience.

We must receive the grace of Jesus Christ.

※A person of Jesus is a person of the blood of Jesus.

He is born again by the Spirit and blood.

Summary

The Only True God

God is the only true God. Our faith is founded on the knowledge that He is the one and only true God. Our flesh will return to dust once its life is over, but the spirit will later resurrect and live eternally. While many people do not believe in eternal life, Jesus Christ demonstrated that there is eternal life by His own resurrection and ascension. His resurrection is an undeniable truth as it was witnessed by five hundred people at the same time. Luke, who was a doctor, gathered the testimonies of those five hundred or so witnesses and wrote the Gospel of Luke. Then, he made a collection of the works of the people who received the Holy Spirit and became witnesses as Jesus promised before His ascension, and wrote the Book of Acts. Likewise, the eternity we believe in is a well-grounded truth. And the most fundamental truth we must know in order to obtain that eternal life is the uniqueness of God.

There are countless spirits in the world. Yet not one of them has a body nor can shed blood. With God however, He made the Son who was in His bosom from eternity past, to become the Son of Man with flesh to shed blood, and then raised Him to life to enter Heaven. Now He sends to the believers the Holy Spirit from His bosom to testify about Jesus. Thus, God is the only spirit who has blood.

Another reason why He is the only true God is the fact that He is self-existent. Apart from God, every other spirit was created by God. He alone is self-existent and lives from eternity past to eternity.

The Faith We Received From the Only True God

We have received our faith from the only true God. Some people claim to have come to church on their own without being evangelized by anyone. But strictly speaking, there is no one who has come to church on his or her own. Something must have served as an opportunity for any person to set foot in the church. People could have received gospel tracts from someone in the past for instance, or heard the sound of hymns being sung in the church as they were passing by, or were asked by a friend to go to church. Romans 10:14-15 says, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’”

The church is not like the organizations in the world that is formed and run voluntarily by people for a particular goal. In Greek, the word ‘church’ is ecclesia. This word consists of three meanings: “called,” “gathered,” and “chosen.” God called; people obeyed His calling and gathered; and God chose those who gathered. Therefore, the church must operate according to God’s word not by man’s interest or emotions.

Some people evangelize zealously saying that it fits well with their personality. But they fall into temptation soon after for some reason and stop evangelizing. This shows that their zeal for evangelism was actually from their own emotions. One does not evangelize because it goes well with his disposition or liking; it is about obeying the Lord’s command. Among those that serve in the church, there are some who complain and cease to work for the reason that their opinions are not respected. This is another case which indicates that their service came from their emotions.

Our faith did not originate from man but from the only true God. In other words, when we look up the origin of our faith we come to the only true God. The life we received and even the blessing we have, came from Him. Our obedience to the word as well as our service to the church is all by the only true God.

When a certain woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume and poured it on Jesus’ head, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Matt 26:13). Indeed, what she has done is being preached together with the Gospel today, though two thousand years has passed. Similarly, the saints’ dedication and service for the Lord’s kingdom will be remembered forever. It does not matter if it is not remembered by people on the earth. Instead, the Lord has warned us that we will have nothing to receive before God if we receive all the praise on the earth (Matt 6:1). What we need to yearn for is the eternal reward from God.

The reason we obey God’s word and dedicate for His kingdom is because the only true God has commanded us so. There are people who still ignore God’s word despite living a faith life. For instance, although God said to give one tenth of our income to Him they do not obey. Even so, they are confident that they are blessed simply because they are financially comfortable and their business is going well. However, we need to understand that material wealth is completely separate from spiritual success.

Those Who Drank the Lord’s Blood

We are Christians who have been born again by God’s blood and the Holy Spirit. The reason we gather on the Lord’s Day and partake in the Lord’s Supper is to remember the fact they we have drunk the blood of the only true God. Whoever has drunk God’s blood has God’s life, the power of resurrection and the promise of eternal life. We ought to remember this whenever we take the cup. Otherwise, it means nothing to drink of the cup if we do not commemorate this. It is also meaningless to remember it if we do not proclaim it until the Lord’s return. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus’ blood is in him, the sound of His blood must resonate from him.

It is written in 1 Corinthians 11:24-26, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” Because of sin, we were originally bound for Hell. Then, we came to drink the blood of Jesus and His blood banished the sin from us. What we have to do now is to testify about the blood of Jesus that is within us.

First Corinthians 11:27-32 says, “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.”

Whoever has drunk the blood of Jesus must proclaim of the grace he received. Otherwise they are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and eat and drink their own sin. Among them are many that are weak, sick and dead, for they have been chastened by the Lord for not doing what they ought to as ones who drank Jesus’ blood. We have to make a decision, whether to evangelize and live a life of victory, or take the Lord’s Supper as a mere religious ceremony and neglect evangelism and thus be chastened by the Lord.

Let us Proclaim the Sound of the Lord’s Blood

The church is formed when those who obeyed God’s calling, gather together and become chosen by God. However, if the church does not evangelize, how can people hear God’s calling and gather? The church cannot be revived if the people who drank of God’s blood do not take action; such churches will only see an increase in the number of people who are weak, sick and dying. God is a farmer. The farmer takes care of the branches so that the vine could produce fruit. Yet, if the branch does not bear fruit and withers on its own, he would have to cut down that branch. Then, people will take it can burn it in the fire. In the same way, the Lord’s chastening may come upon those who have drunk of Jesus’ blood but do not testify of it.

Some say that people reject them no matter how much they evangelize. It is not unusual for the unbelievers in the world to reject the Gospel since they do not realize the value of it. Our duty is to never despair even if they would not listen and continue preaching. Jesus also said, ‘I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs’ (Luke 11:8). Though we are persecuted, insulted and scorned, if we continuously preach and testify again and again, we will certainly reap the fruits one day.

Abel was wrongfully murdered, and yet what God heard was not his fearful cry but the sound of his blood. If the blood of Jesus Christ is within us, the testimony we bear is the sound of His blood. We must not choose to take the path of becoming the weak, the sick and the dead, but be those who proclaim the sound of Jesus’ blood. We need to have God hear the sound of Jesus’ blood through us.

Once we have decided to proclaim the sound of His blood, we must put into practice right away. God made His people set apart and consecrate the firstborn of both man and animal to Him (Exo 13:2), and bring the firstfruits of the land into His temple (Exo 23:19). We must not delay in fulfilling what God has commanded. Through the story of the five virgins who went to prepare the oil at the last minute and failed to enter the wedding banquet, Jesus stressed the point that there is a set time for us to pursue the good of our spirit.

Whoever has drunk the blood of Christ should become a witness of that blood. Instead of receiving the Lord’s judgment, we have to be those who proclaim the sound of His blood who died for us. We should not merely say that we love the Lord but exert ourselves to revive the church, His body.

Semuon’s Letter

Since I started to serve God in the summer of 1962, which was the time I was invited to a church as a revivalist, I have been completely ostracized.

It was definitely a persecution rather than simply being excluded by Christian leaders. At that time, the persecution impact was minimal since I was just starting to serve in a ministry as a small-scale leader; however, as the time passed and I became a prominent figure, the persecution also became more brutal. According to others, the reason for such persecution was that I cast out demons. In addition, they did not agree with me when I healed the sick through prayer. Those two were the reasons they wished that I wasn’t born on this earth.

I am just an ordinary person. I did not even receive proper education. Yet, I received the grace of the Lord and power according to His word. Thus, wherever I went, many sick people had gathered. Also, people congregated like clouds to be blessed by the word. Because of these things, the persecution became ruthless.

I was persecuted for teaching, “Receive the Holy Spirit” and “Be healed by the power of the Lord Jesus.” I was also persecuted because of many people who spoke in tongues and saw visions in my church. Ultimately, the church was branded as heretic even for experiencing great revivals.

Is this the spirit of Koreans or would it be considered as the wicked nature of man? I indeed endured through such tough times. Regardless of the type of meetings, some people even refused to participate if I were to attend. Even during the National Gospel Movement, I was assigned as a church lecturer in one of the churches in the countryside; nonetheless, I was removed from the assigned task soon after. This was because the denomination that I was involved in differed from theirs. They rejected me also because I emphasized much on the universal endowment of power, which made other pastors lose their credibility as leaders.

I patiently endured and endured. According to a president of an anonymous Christian Press, there has never been another person who had received persecution as brutally as Pastor Ki-Dong Kim. At these words, I was reminded of what Jesus said, ‘You want to kill Me for the Father has loved Me.’ When I did not know Jesus, no one persecuted me. Yet, the persecution became severe after receiving God’s grace, power, and mission and calling that passionately burn in my heart.

Though it is difficult to endure such cruel persecutions, how can I stop the works that the Lord has commanded me to accomplish? I have the mission and calling to complete His work until I breathe my last breath in this world. I did not create the power that resides in me. It was given through the hands that spilled the blood, the hands of my Lord. Since I have received the grace of His blood, I cannot reject it. I don’t know how many more days are left for me to live in this world, but I will be persecuted to the end. Since I know the truth, I will continue work as the servant of the truth and be persecuted.

Just as the dead came back to life after the corpse clashed against the bones of a prophet that were anointed with power, people who read my writings and hear my sermons will be raised from the dead even if I pass away. I have received such authority from the Lord.

Ki-Dong Kim
Lord’s Day Worship Bulletin Column

2014 Audio

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