Delivering the Gospel & the Testimonies of Grace
February 2012
When We Believe and Serve Jesus, the King of Kings Sermon of the Month
Do You Stand as a Leper or a Captain? Repentance and Faith
Delivering the Gospel & the Testimonies of Grace
February 2012
Contents 4 Photograph & Testimony 8 S alvation Testimony Everything Is Covered Under the Love of God 14 Sermon of the Month When We Believe and Serve Jesus, the King of Kings 26 Words of Wisdom The Puzzled Clergyman 34 Admonition of the Lord Do You Feel That Living by Your Means Is More Convenient? 42 Repentance and Faith Do You Stand as a Leper or a Captain? 48 Iron Sharpeneth Iron Let Us Finish Our Times and Go in the Spiritual Life . . . 56 Meditation and Contemplation The One Who Cannot Do Anything 58 A Grain of Mustard Seed From the Day God Took Charge of My Life 64 Open Heart Captain Oates Walks to His Death
The Good News (Vol. 195) is published monthly by Good News Publications, Inc., 606-45 Shinwol 2-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, Korea Phone: +82-50-2244-9191 Fax: +82-50-2244-9192 E-mail: goodnewseditor@gmail.com Chairman, Chief Executive Officer: Yong-hwan Kim Editor-in-Chief: Sung-Hoon Kim Art Director: Ji-ae Sohn Chief Printer/ Press: Taek-ki Lee / Chokwang Printing, Inc. The Good News was registered as a monthly magazine with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on December 22, 1995. Registration No. Ra-11398 Printed on February 1, 2012. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of Good News Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright Š 2012 by Good News Publications, Inc.
Photograph & Testimony _ United States
The Prelude to the Works of the Gospel in America From January 1 to 5, the 2012 Winter Camp was held at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Dallas. Pastor Ock Soo Park, the main lecturer, spoke about Genesis chapter 40 and preached about faith and receiving blessings when moving out of the self-trusting heart to entrusting everything to the Lord. “Jesus Christ died for all of us, and we are eternally redeemed through Him. It’s totally lifechanging for me,” testified Natali, a participant. About 500 students heard the gospel, and eight pastors received salvation, which was a big joy to the church. This Winter Camp, following the World Camp in New York and the local performances of the Christmas Cantata of last year, would be the prelude to the greater works of the gospel in America. 4 • The Good News February 2012
Testimony • 5
Photograph & Testimony _ Mexico
If We Step Forward, God Surely Works The IYF English Camp in Monterrey, which was held from January 6 to 8, was an event filled with the testimonies of how God worked. As the vacation was near, it was hard to promote the camp, and the atmosphere was disturbed due to the shooting massacre. In spite of that, God worked amazingly. We met a reporter of El Norte newspaper and published a promotional article, and three universities, including the University of Nuevo Leรณn, provided venues for the camp and let students attend it. The gospel was preached during the Main Lecture session. As water turned into wine, when God worked upon the condition in which everything seemed impossible, it turned into the place of blessing where the Word was proclaimed. We praise God who overcame all conditions and worked! 6 โ ข The Good News February 2012
Testimony • 7
Udayaraj Paundel (Miraj Good News Church, India)
Everything Is Covered Under the Love of God God allowed much grace and many blessings through His church and servant in my life. When I see all the works of God, I cannot express how thankful I am to the Lord God. Now I am ministering in Miraj Good News Church in Maharashtra, India. Although I have many lacking things in me, everything is covered under the love of God.
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was born in a small village in Nepal where there was no electricity and no roadways. I was born in the Hindu Brahmin religion. My mother always taught me to live a good life in order to get heaven. She taught me that, “If you do some evil you can’t get heaven, you have to go to hell.” I tried my best in order to live a good life, but when I was 8 • The Good News February 2011
eight years old I started committing very evil sins. I always enjoyed sexual things like committing adultery. When I was 12 years old I became a serious sinner before my family. I started hating my family. One day I beat my mother very seriously so that she became unconscious. When I saw that situation, I decided to go far from my house. I left my hometown and
Salvation Testimony
Testimony • 9
Although I taught the Bible in church my heart was under the authority of sin continually. I tried my best to keep the commandments but was not able to. went to Bombay, India. After coming to India I thought I would live a good life, but as much as I tried, I committed more and more sins. I became an alcoholic and started to take drugs and go to prostitutes. When I saw my life, it was totally miserable, but I was not able to change it by myself. I became very disappointed with my religion. I began to think, “Why, even though I am serving many gods, is there still no help from the gods to change my miserable life?” At last I decided to change my religion and went into the Islam religion. But believing in Islam still made me fear 10 • The Good News February 2011
going to hell because of my committing sins continually. I again changed to the Catholic religion, but I was not able to be freed from the sin problem in my heart. I became more and more serious about sin. I was never able to forget my mother’s word, “If you do bad, you’ll go to hell.”
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t last I met one Protestant man, and he taught me that Catholics are wrong and Protestants are right. I started to follow the Protestants and they gave me a Bible. When I first read the Bible, whatever God told me not to do, I did it already, and whatever God told me to do, I could not do. I started attending one church called New Life Church in Mumbai. Seeing my sincere and zealous heart for God, that church sent me to their Bible School, and after some time I became a pastor. In my heart I always thought of serving God very sincerely and I wanted to be a
Salvation Testimony
I went to a neighboring city on no-money witnessing trip with the saints of my church. More than 30 people heard the gospel from us.
perfect man. But when I saw my life, even though I taught the Bible in church my heart was under the authority of sin continually. I tried my best to keep the commandments but was not able to. I started fasting very sincerely thinking that I might be able to control my flesh in this way. Every day I had only one meal for several months. From whatever salary I used to receive, I gave almost all of it as an offering. I used to pray for almost 16 hours a day. I did everything possible
to come out of my sin problem, but the sin in my heart continuously suppressed my heart. I explained all these things to my senior pastors at New Life Church. “Outwardly I am so honest but inside of my heart there is a lot of sin and I am breaking the Law of God. How can I be freed from my sin?” One time they taught, “Write your sins on a piece of paper and burn it.” At last they announced that my sins Testimony • 11
I read The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again and became born again that night. I got assurance that all my sins had been forgiven. were forgiven. But my heart was under the authority of sin continually and I became a more serious sinner. One day I found myself like the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8. Seeing this kind of my image, I decided not to serve as a pastor anymore. At that time I became almost mad because of the great fear of hell in my heart.
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ne day I visited a friend’s house and saw one book lying on his table called The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again. I became very 12 • The Good News February 2011
hopeful in my heart and thought, “I’ll get my answer in this book.” I asked my friend to lend me that book. That night I read the whole book and became born again. I got assurance that all my sins had been forgiven. I became very happy and started dancing. Great happiness, peace and rest entered in my heart. Every day I began to preach that, “Till now, whatever I taught is all wrong and I am a false pastor. But now I came to know the truth.” I started to preach the sermons from the book, The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again in the church. Because of this I started to be hated by my senior pastors. I didn’t know that there was a Good News Church in India, so I couldn’t know how to live my life after being born again. I was again tempted by Satan seriously, but by the grace of God I found a Bible seminar held in a small house in Thane. In that seminar, Missionary In-ki
Salvation Testimony
Last December in Hyderabad we had a workshop with Pastor Sooyeon Kim from Orissa. I also recieved grace to attend this workshop.
Hong, ministering in Bombay Good News Church, was the preacher. I went there and listened to his preaching. That time I thought in my heart that Pastor Park had sent his son for me. Since then I continually started to go to the Good News Church and listen to the Word of God. God gave me distinction about the true church and the servant of God. Afterward, by the grace of God, I was led to enter the missionary school in Bombay
Good News Church. God allowed much grace and many blessings through His church and servant in my life. After being born again, I saw God leading my life continuously. When I see all the works of God, I am very thankful to the Lord God. Now I am ministering in Miraj Good News Church in Maharashtra, India. Although I have many lacking things in me, everything is covered under the love of God.
Testimony • 13
When We Believe and Serve Jesus, the King of Kings An Excerpt from One of Pastor Ock Soo Park’s Sunday Services
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. . . . (Matthew 8:5–13)
“I’M ACHAN!”
After Christianity came into Korea, an event that left its 14 • The Good News February 2012
mark in history occurred at a church in Pyeongyang in 1907. The pastor of the church
Sermon of the Month
preached about “Achan.” It was about how Achan stole what was to be given as an offering to God when the Israelites were capturing Jericho. As a result of that, God could not work in Israel, and many people were killed. That Word had a strong impact on the hearts of those who attended the service on that day. In particular, there was an elder at the church. At one time, the elder’s friend was ill, nearing death, and the friend called him to give his final will. “This is as long as I’ve got, but I have a favor to ask of you. If my fortune is managed well, my wife will be able to live without much difficul-
ty until she dies, but because my wife is a little dim-witted, I don’t think she’ll be able to avoid getting conned. You’re a church elder! I’d like for you to help my wife and manage my fortune.” The elder promised to do so. After the friend passed away, the elder began to manage the fortune. Then he began to use some of his friend’s money thinking, “I’ll pay it back next time,” and the wife did not know about this at all. As more time passed, he could not pay the money back, but he thought, “I’ll just pretend like it never happened,” and just let it pass. As he continued in that way, little by little, he used up his friend’s wealth Sermon • 15
unbeknownst to the wife. As he heard the pastor’s sermon on that day, the Holy Spirit strongly pointed out the elder’s sin, and he began to feel very guilty of his sin, realizing that God was unable to work in his church because of the sin he had committed. In the middle of the sermon, the elder stood straight up and shouted in a loud voice, “I am Achan!” The members of the church were completely surprised, and the atmosphere of the service turned strange. The elder came forward and started to confess his evil. As the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of all the people who attended the service that day, they all came forward one by one, confessing their sins and praying before God. While doing that, they gained assurance in their hearts that their sins were forgiven through the blood of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit worked powerfully. This work of the Holy Spirit spread to a neighboring church, and this work of 16 • The Good News February 2012
the gospel spread throughout the entire nation. In particular, they say that the work of the gospel that took place in Suncheon was truly amazing. After a short while however, the work of the Holy Spirit all faded away, and what remains now in Korean churches is asking for forgiveness of sin in tears and in supplication. It has become a religion that has nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. JESUS, KING OF THE JEWS
This morning, I read about the centurion in the Gospel of Matthew. A centurion is a military officer with enough power to rule all of Capernaum, and yet, we can see this centurion’s heart being concerned with his servant. And when he told Jesus about the problem, Jesus said, “I will come and heal him,” but he said, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority,
Sermon of the Month
having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” At those words, Jesus said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Such faith is not found even among the Israelites, but how could this centurion, a Roman soldier, come to have such faith? When you read the four Gospels in the New Testament, the four people Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John express Jesus through the revelation of God. Since Matthew represented Jesus as the King of the Jews, the genealogy of the kings of Judah comes out in Matthew chapter 1. And there are many sermons Jesus delivers, such as the Sermon on the Mount, sermon on the boat, and
several parables. It’s because a king does all things through his word. That is why when you read Matthew chapter 8, the power contained within the Word is revealed, and the leper is healed by the Word of Jesus. In the Gospel of John, it describes Jesus thus: the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. If that Word of Jesus comes into my heart and my heart becomes one with it, the Word begins to work in my life from then on. Therefore, the source of all power is within the Word.
Sermon • 17
Last November 11, Pastor Lee, the Good News Corps volunteers, and the Lincoln School students met with the Napalese President.
In living life, everyone faces hardship and tragedies. There are times when business gets risky, times when a healthy body gets sick, and times when children go on the wrong path. Due to various problems, we pray to God asking for help, but there are times when we don’t really feel that God has heard our prayer. THE POWER OF THE WORD
However, once you discover the heart of the Lord that flows in the Bible while you read it, and if your heart and 18 • The Good News February 2012
the heart of the Lord in the Bible become connected as one, the Word will settle in your heart. Then it’s not you who overcomes fear, but the Word that lets you overcome it. It’s not that there are no worries, but that the Word defeats them. That is why I really like preaching. Before I preach, I have to read the Bible and meditate on it, and during the time I preach, the Word captures my heart, my worries disappear, and I find myself gaining new strength. If I wasn’t a pastor and didn’t
Sermon of the Month
Due to various problems in our life, we pray to God asking for help, but there are times when we don’t really feel that God has heard our prayer. preach, I might have flowed towards my flesh. People ask me this question every now and then: “How are you able to meet the presidents and government ministers?” To be honest, not once did I ever try hard to meet those kinds of people. A few months ago when I was invited by the Kenyan Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Prime Minister’s Office to deliver Mind Education for youth leaders, the President of Uganda sent the Minister of Youth to Kenya because he wanted to have Mind Education for the youth in Uganda just as in Kenya, so I
said that we would make time. We also hosted a World Camp in Nepal last November. The Nepalese minister who attended the Minister of Youth World Forum in July introduced the IYF to the President, and that was how the World Camp was begun. Pastor Hun-mok Lee went as the guest speaker, and I heard that the President wants to entrust all the youth of Nepal to IYF. The year 2011 was the 10th anniversary of IYF. Seeing how God tries to give us land needed for IYF activities in several countries and how IYF is being entrusted with the education of youth, I can see that God is doing many new things through IYF as the years pass. “SPEAK THE WORD ONLY.”
If you are in a position like the centurion in Matthew chapter 8, because you have actual power, you could despise those people under your command and care only for yourself, but this centurion Sermon • 19
If you do not receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit and do not experience Jesus, you do not know Jesus well even though Jesus is alive. was truly concerned that his servant had become ill and pleaded that Jesus solve the problem. More surprising is the fact that even though Jesus said that He would go and heal him, this centurion said, “Lord, there is no need for You to come all the way to my house. Please only speak the Word.” Why did the centurion say that? He is saying, “Are You not the King of Kings? Does a king go to see a vassal or servant at his house to ask a favor? Since he is a king, if he says come, he comes, and if he says go, he goes. Since You are the King of Kings, if You 20 • The Good News February 2012
would only tell my servant’s illness to leave him, the illness will leave him.” Although this centurion is not an Israelite, the fact was that he had realized in his heart that Jesus is the King of Kings. When I read the latest issue of the college student magazine Tomorrow, there was an interview of Brother Maxim, who is running a big business in St. Petersburg, Russia. The symbol of wealth in Russia is wearing a long coat made of leather and driving a Mercedez Benz, and one day before that brother believed in Jesus, he got to wear a long coat of leather and own a Mercedez Benz. Being as happy as he was, seeing that he had become rich, he got off the car spinning the car keys around, but he ended up dropping the keys into the sewer. In trying to retrieve them, he fell into the sewers, and ended up being covered in sewage. He then realized how arrogant he was, and began to live a life completely different from that
Sermon of the Month
of the past. Although he is the president of a large company, in addition to being a vegetarian, he lives simply and is generous with donations. If people just live without thinking, they follow the first desires of the flesh that arise, and end up desiring a life of eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves. However, if one thinks a little more deeply, eating and drinking luxuriously is meaningless, and people who raise their voices saying that they have lots of money are also nothing but pitiful. That is why people who know how to think deeply do not live bound to their own flesh. BY LEARNING OF JESUS
Although money, education, or rank may give us some degree of assistance, those things however can never make us happy. Money makes people dirty and evil, and even power is something you might have that can disappear in an instant. If we think more deeply about this, we eventually
come to meet God. The more I get to know Jesus, I come to feel that being recognized by others and having a lot of money is nothing. As I experience how precious Jesus is, I just cannot exchange Jesus with anything. Even though you may say that you are a saved brother or sister however, if you do not receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit and do not experience Jesus, you do not know Jesus well even though Jesus is alive. There are a lot of functions on the latest smartphone I have, but because I do not know those functions well, I do not use them. It’s a too much of a bother for me if my phone is complicated. It’s because being able to make and receive calls is enough. When it’s necessary however, I do learn the functions and use them. Likewise, if we precisely learn of Jesus little by little, Jesus creates a new world in our hearts. That’s because Jesus has the power to overcome sin and temptation, Sermon • 21
Jesus had become the King of Kings in the heart of the Roman centurion, but today in the hearts of many brothers and sisters, Jesus is not. sorrow and suffering, hardship and illness. THE FAITH OF THE CENTURION
Jesus had become the King of Kings in the heart of the Roman centurion, but today in the hearts of many brothers and sisters, Jesus is not the King of Kings. With their mouths they say that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Almighty Lord, but in their hearts, Jesus is someone who cannot solve even one small problem. That is why Jesus becomes a small part of their lives, and they do not think at all about receiving the grace 22 • The Good News February 2012
of Jesus when they face difficulties. I suppose that this centurion lived very arrogantly, but one day through realizing his mistakes and wrongdoing, he became humble. In my view, this centurion is much humbler than the brothers and sisters in our church. People with haughty hearts read the Bible superficially, but if you read the Bible carefully, God’s Word comes into your heart, and that Word lives and works. Since the centurion meditated deeply about Jesus, the Son of God, and knew precisely that He was the King of Kings, he had the certain faith that allowed him to say, “I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the Word only, and my servant shall be healed.” In the summer, I went around with the ministers who attended the Minister of Youth World Forum, preaching the gospel to each and every one. Most of them moved from place to place on the
Sermon of the Month
bus, and I would take one of them at a time in my car and preach the gospel to them. One minister told me that he lived being so good since he was young that he would not even kill a single bug; however, after becoming a minister, he was treated with respect. While he gladly served in his position for about a year, he kept ending up doing wrong things that made him feel guilty in his conscience. Then he asked me what to do about this problem, and he spoke with his heart completely open. I was so thankful to see a minister talking like that. It was because I felt, “God is making him realize his sin this way to lead him to salvation.” As I preached the gospel to him while he was in a state of having realized his sin, he received salvation right away. DO YOU BELIEVE THE LORD AS THE KING OF KINGS?
The Roman centurion thought, “It would be over-
whelming enough for the Roman emperor to come to my house, but if He, who is the King of Kings, were to come to my house, how could I bear it?” Because he was completely humbled before Jesus, he said thus to Jesus: “Lord, speak the Word only, and my servant shall be healed. When I ask requests of those under my command, I don’t go to see them; I just tell them to come or go.” Because the centurion was with Jesus, the King of Kings, he was neither afraid nor worried. With that said, we say that we believe Jesus, but there are few who believe the Lord as the King of Kings. It’s because Satan has covered the eyes of our heart to see Jesus as the King of Kings. Regardless of how educated you may be, you will feel that raising children is not easy. You would think that you just have to clothe and feed your children, send them to school, and buy them good things, but it’s not like that. At times when your child has a heart Sermon • 23
When Jesus becomes the King of your heart and you believe and serve Jesus, the Lord defeats your fear and hardships, giving you peace. different from yours, your heart aches as well. There was a time when my daughter fell onto some burning coals when she was young, and at that time I thought, “How surprised must she have been and how much would she have cried? How scared would she have been? As the father who cannot do anything for my daughter, would I be able to raise my daughter well?” After that day, I didn’t feel confident about raising my children, and I didn’t try to do things well for my children. “God, my son has two fathers. One is God the Father, 24 • The Good News February 2012
and the other is me, but I’m just his father by title. There is nothing that I can do for my son. God, may You become my son’s Father and lead my son. I’m only a father on the outside, but in my heart, I’d like to submit my resignation.” I love my son and daughter and help them out with things, but in my heart, I entrusted my children to God. Then I saw God raising my son and daughter. My aunt is a deacon at a Presbyterian Church, and she often says to me, “You’re a pastor of a big church, right? Once you get your salary, bring it to me. I’ll save it up and buy you an apartment. It’s a lot different from when you’re a pastor and once you retire. I’ve seen pastors having a hard time after retirement.” One day I thought about what my aunt said. “It’s true that I am aging. Should I buy myself an apartment?” However, immediately I had the heart that the Lord would say to me, “Pastor Park, you’ve made all the preparations for
Sermon of the Month
yourself in your old age, then I won’t have to help you,” and had goose bumps. So I have not prepared one cent for myself. The hymn, I’ d Rather Have Jesus, was written because whether it’s family, business, raising children, preparation for old age, or anything else, it won’t work if it’s without Jesus. I speak to all of you today with an earnest heart. Jesus is the King of Kings, but there are many who do not regard Jesus as the King of Kings. There are many people who do not serve Jesus and follow the pleasures and desires of the flesh. How could such people receive the grace of the Lord? THE LIFE OF SERVING THE LORD AS KING
When the kings of Israel became corrupt, and erected
statues of the sun and Asherah in the Tabernacle in Jerusalem where God was to dwell, the kings perished. When Jesus becomes the King of your heart and you believe and serve Jesus, the Lord defeats your fear and hardships, giving you peace. When He is not the King of Kings, Jesus cannot do any work in you. Jesus shed His blood, died for you, and became the King of Kings, but don’t the desires and pleasures of the world hold a place in your hearts? This morning, I hope that Jesus will become the King of all of your hearts. If you served your flesh, sexual desires, pleasure, or money and not Jesus, I hope you would repent before the Lord today. If you give your lives to serving the Lord, the Lord will become your King and lead all of you.
Pastor Ock Soo Park Senior Pastor of Good News Gangnam Church Chief Advisor of International Youth Fellowship (IYF) www.ospark.pe.kr Sermon • 25
The Puzzled Clergyman
I
nto the deep shades of his own wooded demesne, Charles Vivyan wandered on, hour after hour, as though some haunting spirit suffered him not to rest. And what are the Words that ring through his brain, and pursue him from scene to scene? They are those of the text which had that day formed the preacher’s message, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) How strange, that Words so well known, so familiar, should suddenly have power to raise a tempest in the soul! Though the Words were familiar, the meaning was new. 26 • The Good News February 2011
“If the announcement is for all then it is for me,” was the oft repeated thought. Never had he heard Words so penetrating. And yet it was a quiet discourse that Vivyan had heard. “How clearly Mr. Langdale seemed to prove the necessity of regeneration! If it be essential for all, it must be essential for me. There is no use deceiving myself; I had rather look the truth in the face; most certainly I have never known such transformation. They talk of baptism and education: well, no doubt, the thing differs in various cases—Mr. Langdale said so. In some it may be gradual—slowly progressive. But one thing strikes
Words of Wisdom
me, that whenever or however the change takes place, it must be a real change, a new state of things, and give a spiritual sensibility, which I do not possess.” “But after all,” thought Vivyan, as he turned homewards, “after all, who ever experienced this wonderful transition? That’s what I would like to know. If I could meet with anyone who would honestly tell me that he knew what it was, who had actually felt that renewing grace of God, and had really passed into a state different from that of fallen nature, why, then I would believe it. Of course, being in the Bible, it must be true; but still, somehow, a thing always
seems so shadowy when you learn it only from a book. I should like to see a practical example in real life.” The Rev. Edward Langdale was in his study, closely engaged in the preparation of an elaborate essay on faith, when his servant entered with a note. It was from Vivyan, inviting him to dinner on the same day. Mr. Langdale hastily wrote a few lines of acceptance, and then as the servant left the room threw himself back, and sighed wearily, “What an evening I shall have!” he exclaimed; “There will be nothing congenial, nothing to ‘refresh a weary brain.’ Vivyan is a good fellow, but his mind is all run Small Talk • 27
to waste. He and his friends seem to spend their lives in ‘strenuous idleness’; and there is but the ordinary chit-chat of the dinner-table. I do wish people would not think it a duty to ask me to dine. But what’s this?” he added, turning over the second page of the note, “he says ‘I have to apologize for offering you only my own company as I am anxious for an opportunity for a talk alone, on a subject which disturbs my mind.’ Who’d have thought of Vivyan’s mind being disturbed about anything beyond his horses and dogs? In either case I would be a miserable adviser. What can it be?” And Mr. Langdale indulged 28 • The Good News February 2011
in a few strides up and down the room, speculating what Vivyan could mean. “Well,” he said at last, “if it is some knotty point in theology that puzzles his brain, he has applied to the right quarter.” A few hours later and they were at the dinner-table; the pale young clergyman conversing on ordinary topics with scholarly grace, and the host cheerfully doing the honors of a hospitable board. At last the desert and coffee were on the table, the servants withdrew, and they were alone. Mr. Langdale said, “You mentioned in your note that there was something you wished to talk over with me.” “I am glad you asked about
Words of Wisdom
it,” Vivyan said cordially with a sigh of relief. “I would never have been able to bring it up myself. Yes, Mr. Langdale, it is upon the subject of your sermon last Sunday that I am anxious to discuss with you, if you will allow me.” “I shall be most happy,” Mr. Langdale replied, with a gratified air. “What I want to know is this,” said Vivyan, with abrupt vehemence; “is it a real and practical thing!?” “To what do you allude?” “To regeneration, or the new birth, spoken of in your text, and which you so clearly demonstrated to be essential to salvation. I want to know
whether this is a mere theory—a theological dream—or is it, as I said, a real and actual change?” “Can you doubt it?” said Mr. Langdale, with some surprise. “There are those, indeed, who speak of this figure as a bold orientalism, but the passage itself refutes that. The Word in the original has the force of ‘born from above’ as well as ‘born again,’ which implies that the soul now enters upon a celestial existence; recovers, as it were, its long-lost sonship in the household of God. And it is obvious that no mere outward Small Talk • 29
reformation ever endued a man with new powers of spiritual discernment, or, in the Words of Scripture, led him to ‘see the Kingdom of God.’ Again, the figure is repeatedly changed, but never weakened. It always expresses a complete transition from one state of existence to another. From instance, it is called a passing from death unto life (John 5:24), from darkness to light (Acts 26:18), a translation from the power of darkness into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13), and the figure of the resurrection is repeatedly used to illustrate the greatness of the change, and its life-giving power to the soul (Romans 6:4, Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 30 • The Good News February 2011
3:1). I cannot myself imagine how, in the face of such a mass of Scripture evidence, anyone can attempt to support an opposite theory.” “It is then,” said Vivyan, “a genuine transformation that the soul undergoes while in this world?” “Unquestionably,” Mr. Langdale replied, feeling a little disconcerted at Vivyan’s matter-of-fact handling of a subject with so earnest a gaze in his anxious eyes. “And how does it take place?” Vivyan asked with intense interest. Mr. Langdale shrank from such close dealing, for his sensitive spirit felt that it was experimental religion needed
Words of Wisdom
here; theological skill was powerless to meet the cravings of any anxious soul. “There is some diversity of opinion among the schoolmen,” he began thoughtfully; but Vivyan hastily interrupted. “Never mind the schoolmen; books and theories are all humbug when a man is anxious;” then, meeting a look almost of embarrassment, he added in a low tone of deep feeling, “Excuse me, Mr. Langdale, but my soul is stirred up by this. Eternity seems at stake, and I am groping in darkness and can see no light. Tell me, I implore you, who has known this wondrous change? Is it a thing that really takes place? In a
word, have you—?” The table shook with the agitation of Vivyan’s strong frame and his quivering lips refused to finish the sentence. But it was not needed, for he was answered in the ashy paleness that overspread Mr. Langdale’s face, and in a few moments, with a look of anguish, he turned away and buried his face in his trembling hands. Vivyan was inexpressibly shocked, deeply reproaching himself for his inconsiderate abruptness. Rising from table, he stood leaning against the open window. Lost in thought, he knew not how the time passed, till he felt a hand laid upon his arm, and heard Small Talk • 31
a voice whisper, “My brother, let us pray”—Vivyan turned quickly. His pastor stood before him, with so touching an expression and so pale a face that, strong man though he was, the tears rushed to his eyes. He saw in a moment that they were to seek together for that grace that both equally needed, and had to implore the help of the Holy Spirit who alone can change the heart of those who promise to seek Him in sincerity. He grasped Langdale’s hand, and said with a choked utterance, “Let us go to the library where we shall be undisturbed.” With “the door shut,” and none to know what passed between their souls and God, let 32 • The Good News February 2011
us wait until “He who seeth in secret shall reward them openly.” Sunday after Sunday passed and, to the surprise of the congregation, the pulpit was occupied by strangers for weeks. At length the day came when the pastor again occupied his accustomed pulpit. But oh, how changed was his preaching! Not less learned—or less studied—or less finished than before. No, but now his words glowed with life, and were full of power—yes—the altar had for long been heaped with wood for the offering, needing but a Divine touch to kindle it into a glorious flame! Now, with a realizing sense
Words of Wisdom
of the Divine presence, with what intense feeling, with what deep fervor did he speak of Him whom his soul had found and loved. How earnestly did he invite his hearers to come unto Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! His listeners “marveled,” and felt the deep reality of the change. They indeed “took knowledge of him that he had been with Jesus.” And when at the close, he acknowledged, with deep humility and in tears, the change which his own soul had known, he earnestly invited them all to come to that Savior that he had now found. Then, indeed, were his listeners moved to the soul. Strong men bowed
their heads and wept. And Vivyan, with thankful heart, openly gave himself, soul and body, for his Redeemer’s service. It was a day much to be remembered. Do you ask, “How can these things be?” The answer is in God’s Word, and was proved in experience in the story given above. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born . . . but of God.” (John 1:12–13) They received Christ as Savior and Lord, and in so doing were “Born Again.” Have you yet received Him? (A story by Hy. Pickering) Small Talk • 33
Do You Feel That Living by Your Means Is More Convenient?
Many people live a spiritual life without having a clear understanding of the truth that faith cannot coexist with their means or ways. But they work by their zeal and efforts, thinking, “I can construct church buildings well. I can witness well. Aren’t these important?” Those who try to work for God by their means and ways must realize that they are wickeder than anyone who committed adultery or a murder.
JACOB DID NOT HAVE A FAITH IN THE PROMISE OF GOD
When Jacob was at his uncle Laban’s house, he was working diligently and sincerely without any stops. But he did not have faith in the promise of God. 34 • The Good News February 2012
This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, wheth-
Admonition of the Lord
As the Scriptures record, God commanded Jacob to return home, which is the Promised Land Canaan, when he was working hard at the uncle’s house. er stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes. (Genesis 31:38–40) As the Scriptures record, God commanded Jacob to return home, which is the Promised Land Canaan, when he was working hard at the uncle’s house. And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee. (Genesis 31:3) Jacob, who did not have a faith in God, was afraid that his uncle Laban would not
let him go if he told him of his leaving. Since he felt so burdened about getting permission, he ran away secretly. Later, Laban found that out and chased him to rebuke him, but God had mercy on him. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? (Genesis 31:26) It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. (Genesis 31:29) Jacob, by God’s grace, could escape the danger of Laban. BY HUMAN WAYS AND MEANS, JACOB TRIED TO STAND BEFORE ESAU
Even after Jacob returned to Canaan by God’s grace, he still felt uneasy. He felt burdened about meeting his Sermon • 35
brother, Esau. When the servants who Jacob sent ahead of him came back and said, “We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him,” Jacob was extremely worried and frustrated. Then, he divided his servants, lambs, cows, and camels into two groups and thought, “If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.” That was his human strategy and means. God protected him from Laban and also gave him the promise, “Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred;
36 • The Good News February 2012
and I will be with thee.” But he didn’t believe that God could protect him from his brother Esau. Jacob didn’t trust God and His promise. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: (Genesis 32:9) This is what Jacob told God before he met his brother Esau, but he did not believe God’s promise. He was still uneasy, extremely frustrated,
Admonition of the Lord
Jacob did not know nor trust that God would keep him safe. That was why he tried to soothe Esau’s anger by offering him some presents. and tried to stand before Esau by his human means and ways. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. (Genesis 32:16–20) Jacob did not know nor trust that the God, who gave the promise to Abraham and Issac, would also protect and keep him safe. That was why he tried to soothe Esau’s anger by offering him some presents. I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS FINE TO PAY FOR THE RETREAT BY MY MEANS
The Word of God is accurate and correct. Why was Jacob afraid, not trusting His Words? His problem was that he tried to protect himself. People think that they can help themselves better than Sermon • 37
When I stood in front of the final decision whether I would live by faith, or leave the church, God led me to deny myself and trust my life to Him by faith. others can. They think that it is better for them to love themselves than God or His Words. That is why they are so familiar with taking care of themselves, but as much as they love themselves, they would ignore God’s promise and the servant of God. I myself did not have a faith for a long time as Jacob. I didn’t live a life of trusting only the Words of God. Ignoring the Words, the church, and the servants of God, I used to use my human means and ways. When I was planning to enter the missionary school, I paid $5 for the application 38 • The Good News February 2012
process by faith. I had prayed for about one month to get an answer from God, and by a miraculous way He provided it to me. Even though I was very thankful, the time that I had to wait for seemed too long. I also felt tired and difficult about waiting for Him. It was true that I received His grace, but I did not believe God who could not help but answer my prayer by His promise and Words. One day, missionary school students were going to attend a winter retreat, and they had to come up with fees by faith. Since I had to pray for a long time again, I felt burdensome again. I thought that getting $5 by prayer was luck. I was not sure that God would answer me again for the retreat fee. A few days later, I happened to visit my house and saw many expensive books in the bookshelf. I took them to a used book store and sold them. With this money, I paid for the retreat; it was an easy and simple way.
Admonition of the Lord
This is how I used my human ways from time to time. It was easy and convenient. I thought, “I am paying for the retreat. I am not stealing money from anybody.” I followed my ways and thought they were fine. I felt that living by my ways and means was more convenient than living by faith in the Words of God. LIVING BY MY MEANS AND WAYS BECAME HABITUAL
I started a church in Gwangju in 1983. My wife and I did not have any money to get home phone service for months. When we married, someone presented my wife a diamond ring, and we decided to sell it. We also borrowed $90 from my sisterin-law, lying that one of our church members needed it. We finally got the phone and I still remember the phone number, 522-7673. Even though we got it, we felt uneasy because we did not get it by faith. We tried to justify
ourselves, thinking “Getting the phone is the goal, not by how.” Later, I went through hard days of paying the borrowed money back to my sister-in-law. Like this occasion, it became habitual that I live by my ways and means. I felt that living by my ways is more convenient than living by faith. When my church was small, it seemed fine that I lived by my means. But when it got bigger, and the scale of the works grew bigger as well, I started facing problems that I could not solve by my ways anymore. God often put me before many incidents that I could not deal with without faith. Finally He took me to the cliff that I had no way of returning by my means. When I stood in front of the final decision whether I would live by faith, or leave the church, God led me to deny myself and trust my entire life to Him by faith. After leaving my life in His hands, there was nothing left Sermon • 39
We cannot please God because we have been wrong from the beginning. The only thing that we should do is to believe only the Words of God. for me to do or worry about. I remembered the story that once a captain in Spain told his son, who was holding the top of a mast tightly and shaking by fear, “Son, jump to the sea!” As the son could save his life by jumping into the sea, I could rest in Jesus when I trusted my life to His bosom. When the son of the captain let go of the mast that he was holding tightly and jumped into the sea, his father started to work for him. Likewise, when I trusted my life, which I had been holding tightly by myself, to the Lord, the Words, He began working for me. 40 • The Good News February 2012
UNLESS WE TRUST EVERYTHING TO GOD, WE WILL FAIL
The life of faith will begin with the understanding that I must deny myself because I cannot live a spiritual life by myself. A spiritual life is to believe only the Word of God, and unless I deny myself, I cannot receive faith. When we realize that we cannot live a spiritual life alone and then trust our entire life to God’s Words in spite of the risk of failure, the base of our spiritual life can be formed. Many people live a spiritual life without having a clear understanding of this truth. Faith cannot coexist with my means or ways. But people work by their zeal and efforts, thinking, “We can construct church buildings well. We can witness well. Aren’t these important?” Our means and ways go against God as the Pharisees and the scribes did. When Jesus died, certain High Priests paid some soldiers,
Admonition of the Lord
who were guarding Jesus’ tomb, and told them to spread a rumor that Jesus’ disciples stole His body at night. These High Priests made the Jews doubt Jesus’ resurrection so that they could not receive salvation. This misconduct was planned to protect and exalt them. The High Priests misled people to destruction by their wicked humane means and ways while blocking God’s will. It is Satan who makes people doubt God’s Words. However, people still try to work for God by using their own means and ways. They feel that using their ways is easy, and they will work out. But as Jacob was worried and frustrated, none of their means would turn out to be
effective. When people try to serve God, not trusting on Him, they will surely fail. Likewise, many church-goers do not believe that God has made them righteous already, but they only try to serve Him well. They even look spiritual, but before His judgment, they will be cursed. Those who try to work for God by their means and ways must realize that they are wickeder than anyone who committed adultery or a murder. This is why from now on we need to understand that we cannot do anything alone. We cannot please God because we have been wrong from the beginning. The only thing that we should do is to believe only the Words of God and live a life of faith.
Pastor Dong-sung Kim Senior Pastor of Good News Daegu Church Sermon • 41
Do You Stand as a Leper or a Captain?
There are too many cases when people came to the position of receiving grace like Captain Naaman, but they left without receiving grace. Just as Naaman was a leper, but also the captain of the host, people have two different identities when going before God to receive the forgiveness of sin. If they admit that they’re sinners, it’s so easy for them to have their sins forgiven. However, they are sinners who committed sins on one hand and have good deeds, and they say, “I have been serving God for 20 years. . . .” As a result they are put away from receiving the grace of God.
TWO DIFFERENT IMAGES OF CAPTAIN NAAMAN
God really hates us having two different kinds of hearts with in us. In the Old Testament in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 5, we can discover Captain 42 • The Good News February 2012
Naaman. He was a loyal servant who saved his country, Syria, from the danger of war. He was the captain of the host, and the king trusted him. Having all worldly things like honor, authority, position and wealth, he
Repentance and Faith
was a really happy person in anyone’s eyes. However, seen from a different aspect, he was a leper. Outwardly, he seemed great and splendid wearing a glittering suit of armor and medals while riding on a horse, but inwardly he was a leper whose body was rotting. Not only outwardly but also inwardly, Naaman was the captain of the host despite the fact that he was a leper, and many problems arose around him. A little maid, who was captured from a battle, said, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! For he would recover him of his leprosy.” He heard it, went to Samaria to meet Elisha the prophet, and Elisha said unto him through his servant, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” In John chapter 9, there’s a similar story with this, which is about a man born blind. Jesus met the blind man and spoke to him, saying, “Go to
the pool of Siloam and wash.” When considered from the blind man’s point of view, one day a stranger anointed his eyes with clay, and told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. Being a blind beggar who had neither position nor anything to boast off, he unquestioningly went to the pool of Siloam after he heard the Words of Jesus and came seeing. Captain Naaman was not like that. There’s almost nothing different between “Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash,” which Jesus spoke to the blind man, and, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times,” which the prophet Elisha told Captain Naaman. The blind man simply heard the Word, went to the pool of Siloam, washed and came seeing. However, unspeakable complaints and anger arose in Captain Naaman’s heart. “I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and Sermon • 43
If Naaman had stood as a leper, the Words of Elisha, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times,” would not have made him uncomfortable. recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them, and be clean?” Naaman said this and went away in a rage. Why did he act that way? AS HE STOOD AS THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST
Captain Naaman had two different images. One was that of the captain of the host, and the other was that of a leper. As he was a leper, he went to the distant Israel to heal his leprosy. If so, he should have stood as a leper when he stood before Elisha. If he had 44 • The Good News February 2012
stood as a leper, the Words of Elisha, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times,” would not have made him uncomfortable. Rather, he would feel joyful and thankful. “Yes, would it be good enough if I wash in Jordan seven times? Not only seven times, I can wash even 70 or 700 times! Thank you! Right away I’ll go wash and come back!” If he had stood as a leper, Naaman could have said this. However, he couldn’t do that because he stood before Elisha as the captain and not as a leper. Therefore, he thought that they treated the captain of the host of the king of Syria so poorly. “What? Go and wash in Jordan seven times?” Severe complaints and anger sprang out. In going away in a rage, he changed his heart by the persuasion of his subordinates, washed his body in Jordan seven times, and was healed completely. If he had not turned from the heart of the captain to that of a leper, he
Repentance and Faith
would have returned to Syria as a leper. He first brought up his uncomfortable heart in arrogance as the captain of the host, but later, he reverted to the heart of a leper. He might have thought something along the lines of, “Even though I’m only a leper, why do I complain so much? I need only to wash seven times.” Then, he went to Jordan and had his body healed completely by washing seven times. YOU HAVE TO BE ONLY A SINNER
Today, there are too many cases that people came to the position of receiving grace like Captain Naaman, but they left without receiving grace. As Naaman was a leper, but also the captain of the host, people have two different identities when going before God to receive the forgiveness of sin. If they admit that they’re sinners, it’s so easy for them to have their sins forgiven. However, they are sinners who committed sins on one hand, but on the other
hand, they have good deeds such as, “I have been serving God for 20 years; I built a chapel; I’m lacking, but I served the church; I gave a lot of offerings. . . .” As a result, those things prevent them away from receiving the grace of God. Although you believe in Jesus, if you are the one who is still in sin and didn’t receive salvation, you are able to receive grace of God only when you become a sinner. If you have something excellent, virtuous, or outstanding, you cannot receive grace. Such a person is like Captain Naaman who went to Elisha as the captain of the host instead of as a leper, therefore he can never receive grace from God. WHOEVER HAS SOMETHING GOOD IN HIMSELF
If Captain Naaman had been a leper, it would never have been difficult for him to wash in Jordan seven times. However, he became arrogant due to the high position of Sermon • 45
the captain of the host and being honored by people. Consequently, he became too angry and uncomfortable when he was told to wash in Jordan seven times. Likewise, if you stand in the position of a sinner who can’t help but to perish and be cursed, you can receive the grace of receiving the forgiveness of sin very easily. On one hand, people are sinners who committed sins, and on the other hand, they think that they are good and did loyal things well before God. If they reflect on themselves, they have the heart saying, “I did many fasting
46 • The Good News February 2012
prayers and many vigils; I gave a lot of offerings to the church; I helped a lot of poor people. . . .” In the same way, whoever has something good in their heart, he can’t receive the grace of God since he doesn’t stand in the position of a filthy sinner. Since he goes before Jesus as someone good and not as a sinner, he cannot receive the forgiveness of sins. For a person who didn’t receive the forgiveness of sin to have their sins forgiven, he shouldn’t be anything but a sinner. “I’m a really dirty, filthy and evil sinner! There’s nothing good in me, but only evil inside of me. I can’t help but be cursed and destroyed.” If he reveals himself as a sinner, he is good enough to receive grace before God.
Repentance and Faith
THOU SHALT NOT HAVE IN THY BAG DIVERS WEIGHTS
When Naaman was in the position of the captain of the host in his heart, he was not able to receive grace. On the contrary, the blind man was a poor and pitiful beggar who had nothing to boast of, so he could easily receive the grace of God. Sadly, people repeatedly try to go to God by being nice, excellent, loyal and good. However, such people can never receive the grace of God. If the things that they worked faithfully and the good things they did in the church remain as their righteousness in their heart, they are never able to benefit from the blessings God gives them. They Bible says, Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small (Deuteronomy 25:13). Just as this Scripture says, if you are a dirty sinner and your good things are mixed together with that, then you can never receive the grace of God.
Although you may have received the forgiveness of sin and become born again, if you are in a humble and lacking position, it means you have the posture to accept the grace of God all the time. However, Satan makes the saved people try to become nice, smart, and excellent in order to make them unable to receive the grace. Satan keeps inciting you to think, “I’m nice. I work well; I’m clean; I live a good spiritual life,” and he makes you establish yourselves. Those who know the true spiritual life reflect on themselves and realize how false and deficient they are. We must always look back on ourselves and have the suitable heart to receive the grace of God. When Captain Naaman became a leper, and not the captain of the host, he could wash in Jordan seven times and have his leprosy healed. (An excerpt from Pastor Ock Soo Park’s sermon)
Sermon • 47
Let Us Finish Our Times and Go in the Spiritual Life of Resurrection God, in these troubled times, is willing to cover the whole world with the gospel through us. At a time like this, would we cling to ourselves who had died on the cross? We should drop the curtain of our times and open the times of Jesus Christ. Then, the world cannot deal with us. God will be able to open new works through us to His heart’s content.
48 • The Good News February 2012
Iron Sharpeneth Iron
ONLY AFTER DEATH CAN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF RESURRECTION COME
Resurrection cannot be accomplished without death. First there should be death in our hearts in order to have the spiritual life of resurrection. In other words, we must discover our death. Romans chapter 6 is explaining in detail the fact that our old man has died. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:1–6) If we accept this Word, we become a dead person. Then, the life of resurrection begins. WHAT WAS THE RESULT OF THE PEOPLE WHO DESPISED GOD?
There are two kinds of people before the Word of God. There are people into whose heart the Word enters and works, whereas there are people that no matter how much God speaks to them, the Word doesn’t enter their heart so the Word cannot work. In the Noah’s time, many people died by despising the Word of God. Even in this generation, there are saints who live with an exalted heart of despising the Word of God. Those people do not have a posture to learn or a humble heart, but rather, they think that they are living a good spiritual life. So if the servant of God tries to bend their arrogant Sermon • 49
As many Christians despise the Word of God, although the Word is clear, they do not precisely draw a clear line in their heart before the Word. heart, they harden their heart instead. Sadly in this generation, many saved people do not accept the Word of God. This is despising God. What was the result of the people who despised God? Even though God had appeared to Solomon, he didn’t listen to God, was corrupted, and was eventually abandoned. WE WHO ARE DEAD AND THE RESURRECTED NEW LIFE CANNOT MEET
There are parents who are looking for their missing child. We sometimes see parents who are giving out flyers 50 • The Good News February 2012
with their child’s photo not knowing whether the child is dead or alive. And sometimes it is confirmed that the child is dead while yearningly looking for their child. In such cases, would the parents continue looking for the child by giving out flyers? If they precisely know that the child is dead, they would give up trying to find their child. Let’s think about the Word in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. In the beginning of the verse, it says, I am crucified with Christ. It says I died with Christ on the cross. If this is true, why do we need to look for ourselves again who are dead? In Romans chapter 8 it says, And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Romans 8:10). The body is a dead being, but the Spirit is a living being. The two cannot meet. Nowadays however, many saved people react to both spirit and flesh. Why do they relate the two worlds, which cannot meet? It is because they do not draw
Iron Sharpeneth Iron
the line in their heart exactly before the Word of God. It is because people do not have interest in the Word of God or interest in their spirit. Romans chapter 6 verses 2 and 11 also tell us that we are dead to sin. Death and resurrection cannot meet. We, who are dead, and the resurrected new life can never meet with each other. Therefore sin cannot reign over us. If I truly have died with Christ, if an end has come to sin, how can I, who became a new creation meet again with I who is dead? If we are dead to sin, we never can meet with sin. It is because they belong to different worlds. But why do many Christians nowadays say that they have been crucified with Christ yet cannot enter the world of God, which has nothing to do with sin, and are still being dragged by sin? Why do they hold on to themselves who are dead? It is because they despise God. As they despise the Word of God, even though
the Word is clear, they do not precisely draw a clear line in their heart before the Word. THEY PURSUE PLEASURE WHILE LONGING FOR THE WORLD OF GOD
The life of Solomon gives us a huge lesson. I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. (Ecclesiates 2:3)
When seeing this Word, we can see that Solomon knew that his own heart should be ruled by wisdom. In other words, he knew that he should live a life being ruled by God. But Sermon • 51
next he says that he sought in his heart to give himself unto wine. So he is saying that he wants to enjoy spiritual things and fleshly desires together at the same time. Solomon was a person who wanted to fill both spiritual desire and fleshly desire. As the result, what happened to Solomon? He left God and was corrupted. Even though God had appeared to Solomon, who was corrupted, and told him to repent, he didn’t listen. Although it was God who appeared and spoke to him, Solomon despised Him. 52 • The Good News February 2012
A saint, who is born again, whoever it may be, has a heart to be governed by God. The problem is that on one side of the heart, they want to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh like Solomon. Even though their heart should be translated from the power of darkness to the kingdom of His dear Son, they try to enjoy the things which belong to darkness while longing for the world of God. Even though they know that they have been crucified with Christ, they do not draw a clear line in the heart before the Word. As Solomon ignored God, even though He appeared and spoke, they ignore the Word despite the fact that the Word of God is clearly before them. WE SHOULD HEAR THE WORD DEEP IN OUR HEART
Whoever it may be, if the line of heart is clearly drawn
Iron Sharpeneth Iron
Solomon left God and was corrupted. Even though God had appeared to him, who was corrupted, and told him to repent, he didn’t listen. before the Word, the flesh and spirit, death and resurrection would be divided as the east is far from the west. We will go in the world that the two cannot meet each other. Is it difficult to draw that line in our heart? Not in the least. However there are so many people who are not willing to do this so they are caught by the flesh all the time but still think they are living a good spiritual life. We should hear the Word of God deep in our heart. We should know how much we had despised the Word of God and ignored the servant of God and the church. If we
stand before the Word of God precisely, whoever it may be, he will be able to see how evil a person he is. Even though everyone has a function to judge by themselves, it is false, but himself reflected in the Word of God is the true image. If we are able to see the image, we cannot express how dirty and foolish it is. ONE WHO BELONGS TO HEAVEN EVEN THOUGH THE BODY IS ON THE EARTH
The Bible says that the person who is born again belongs to heaven. We, who are born again, belong to heaven even though our body is on the earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20) Therefore we ought to hear the voice of heaven and eat the food God gives. But why do the people who are saved live being related to Sermon • 53
When we discover ourselves being dead in the Word, take off ourselves and walk as a new creation in Jesus Christ, the work of God will appear. the earth? Why do people live foolishly trusting the flesh, which will eventually go back to a handful of dust? Even though we are living on this earth, we do not belong here. The UN Memorial Park in Busan is in Busan, but it belongs to the UN, not Busan. So the workers of the Park work in accordance with the orders from the UN. We, who are born again, live in this earth, but we are the ones who listen to the voice of God and live by God. IF THE TIME OF CHRIST OPENS, THE WORLD CANNOT DEAL WITH US 54 • The Good News February 2012
Jesus, in John chapter 11, spoke to Lazarus who was in the tomb to come out. Although Lazarus came out of the grave as Jesus said, his hands and feet were bound by graveclothes. Jesus again said to loose him and let him go. As Jesus has worked 2,000 years ago, Jesus is working in us even today. We are able to save the people who are dead by sin through Jesus. And we can loose and free people who are alive but bound to themselves. God wants to make us into such men of ability. The life living by Jesus is possible only in Jesus Christ, and God wants to give us that life. God, in this troubled times, is willing to cover the whole world with the gospel through us. At a time like this, would we cling to ourselves, who had died on the cross? We should drop the curtain of our age and open the age of Jesus Christ. Then, the world cannot deal with us. God will be able to open new works through us to His heart’s content.
Iron Sharpeneth Iron
Even though I am really a lacking person, I do not want to be tied in my deficiencies since I have the precious gospel and God is with me. The law says not to touch a dead body. The born again saints should not hold themselves who are dead but draw a precise line about themselves who are dead before the Word. Just as we are not dragged by the dream even though grandfather who passed away appears in it, if we draw the line of the heart, even though it seems the flesh is working in us, we are not led by it. We may have the lingering desire for the dead self, but since it is already dead, we should cut off the desire. When we discover ourselves being dead in the Word,
take off ourselves and walk as a new creation in Jesus Christ, the work of God will appear fully through us and many people will receive salvation and the grace of change through us.
Pastor Young-joon Park Senior Pastor of Busan Daeyeon Church Sermon • 55
Meditation and Contemplation
The One Who Cannot Do Anything
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: . . . And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it and cast it from thee: . . . (Matthew 18:8–9) Jesus did not say, “If your hands, feet or eyes offend you, try harder not to sin.” Jesus said, “Cut them off and cast them from you.” We sin so much that if we were to follow the Word literally, we would have to cut off our hands and feet and pluck our eyes out tens of thousands of times. Yet, we still try to do things well with our whole body intact.
And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Matthew 3:10) Our body is already hewn down and cast away before God. So, we have to give up trying to live according to the Word and just confess that we are just weak human beings who cannot do anything before God. Our whole body is already hewn down, and we have no hands, feet or eyes in the sight of God.
From the Day God Took Charge of My Life
MY HEART ACHED BADLY BECAUSE OF MY FAMILY
My mother had been going to church from the time when she was a single woman. She was an only child, and keeping it secret from my grandfather, she attended the church services that were led by the missionaries, who preached the gospel in our country for the first time, and believed in Jesus. However, after she got married, she didn’t dare go to church. From my childhood memories, I can still recall my mother sewing at home while humming church hymns. 58 • The Good News February 2012
When I was seven years old, my mother passed away. Looking closely into my mother’s life from the memories I had of her, it seems that she hadn’t received salvation even though she went to church. “If she were alive, I could have preached the gospel to her. . . .” After I received salvation, my heart ached badly because my mother passed away without being born again. Not having been able to reach my mother, I poured out my heart preaching the gospel to my father and the
A Grain of Mustard Seed
rest of my family. Strangely, my family did not receive salvation. When I said to my sister, “I received the forgiveness of sin and I have no sin,” she closed the door of her heart and said to me, “You are so arrogant. God gives His grace to humble people. How can you say that you have no sin?” When I tried to preach the gospel to my father, he refused to accept it saying, “Don’t worry, I can go to heaven. I will trust God later. Don’t worry.” My brothers acted just like my father. My heart was aching.
MY YOUNGER BROTHER WHO BECAME THE SERVANT OF GOD
Meanwhile, God bestowed His grace on my younger brother. When I was in the military, my brother was learning how to manage a bookstore. His goal was to run a big bookstore and spend his life reading books. Nevertheless, he found out he could not join the army because of bronchiectasis that was discovered through the mandatory physical examination before joining the army. In those days, tuberculosis Testimony • 59
was such a serious disease. At that time, it was possible for an entire family to perish if someone had tuberculosis. Even though my brother’s disease was not tuberculosis but bronchiectasis, which was derived from the coughs he suffered while having measles during his childhood, he was in despair because it was a disease that had to do with his lungs. My brother was greatly disappointed and gave up everything. He moved to the Apgok-dong Church, where I had lived before I went into the army, and started to search for God. While staying in Apgok-dong, he continued to pray and read 60 • The Good News February 2012
the Bible. His heart was led by God and faith was being established firmly in his heart. Even though many things had happened to him in his life, my brother became a precious preacher. He is now ministering at the Good News Cheonan Church. In my eyes, no one seemed to receive salvation among my family. However, when I look back, I realize how God worked in my family even when I didn’t notice it. My father passed away after receiving salvation. One by one, each of my family members came before God and received salvation including my older brother, older sister, younger brother and other relatives.
A Grain of Mustard Seed
I cannot express all of my thankfulness in words. GOD LED MY BROTHER TO THE GRACE OF SALVATION
There were seven of us in my family; my father, my mother and five siblings. I had one older brother, two older sisters and a younger brother. At that time, my family was poor just like all the other families. We farmed and could supply just enough food for the year. We had no other income. In order to have some spending money, we had to sell the rice that we were supposed to eat. It was so difficult to have money to spend. In my family, money was scarce, and our life was so difficult. By God’s grace, such
a difficult condition led to my salvation. Each of my family’s stories of his or her salvation was connected with the grace of God. Although I poured out my heart trying to save my family, nothing was done by my effort. Giving up on saving my family members because I thought it was so difficult, I rarely stayed in my hometown. Instead, I traveled through many different places preaching the gospel. Therefore, I had no chance to lead my family to salvation. Only on holidays such as New Year’s Day or Thanksgiving, I went to my hometown and talked about the gospel to my family. Nevertheless, as time Testimony • 61
passed by, I could see how God saved my entire family in various ways and had them stand in faith which I couldn’t accomplish with my efforts. I was very thankful to God. When I was in the missionary school, my younger brother lived in Daegu and was learning to manage the bookstore. Every now and then, I met my brother and invited him to come to church. Nonetheless, at that time, my brother was too busy to come, and he had no interest in the gospel. After my brother was rejected from joining the military because he failed the physical examination, all of 62 • The Good News February 2012
his dreams came crumbling down, especially when he was told that he had an abnormal lung condition. He quit his job at the bookstore. To fight against his disease, he moved to Apgok-dong. There, he got the medicine and injected it by himself. He lived in the mountains with good air, and his health was restored. Although it was a short time, while he was living in that way God led my brother to the grace of salvation and to faith. Before, though he had heard the gospel, he could not imagine having to live by faith. He was changed into a person of faith and worked for the gospel for a long time. I am very thankful
A Grain of Mustard Seed
to see how he has become a precious servant of God who leads many people to God. I LIVE FOR GOD SO THAT HE CAN WORK FOR ME
God worked not only in my family, but also in my life. Hundreds and thousands of problems happen to me in my life. I am not faithful, and I often fall into trials. My heart changes a lot, and I am not good at preaching the gospel. However, while I live for the gospel, my loving God saved my family as I wished, and He has directed my life in everything, both big and small. I praise the Lord who saved my entire family. It is so amazing that He took
charge of my entire life and has guided me. Now, I know that the best thing for me is not to live for myself, but to live for God, and let Him work for me. From that time on, I did not live for myself, but instead, I lived for God and gave Him the chance to work for me. I can clearly see that my life became so blessed and easy after He started taking charge of my life. I praise God our Father and give thanks and glory to Him who leads our lives. (An excerpt from With the Gospel to the Ends, With the Lord to the Last by Pastor Ock Soo Park)
Testimony • 63
Captain Oates Walks to His Death
“H
e laid down his life for others.” Such was the headline of a London paper, recording the tragic death of Captain Scott and his companions amid Antarctic snows. The words referred to Captain L. E. G. Oates, and what the now dead leader recorded in his diary as, “an act of a brave man and an English gentleman.” Captain Oates was one of the five who went to the South Pole on the 18th of January 1912 and on the 16th of March, after 18 weeks in 64 • The Good News February 2012
the snow, he was so frostbitten that it was impossible to proceed. Day after day, he had struggled on, with the pain in his hands and feet almost unbearable, and that night he lay down hoping he might never wake. But on his return to consciousness, his companions knew, and he knew, that the end was near. They could not, and would not, leave him to perish; but he knew provisions and fuel were very short and that to wait together only meant to die together. Therefore, he calmly said, “I
Open Heart
am just going outside, and I down his life for his friends. may be some time.” (John 15:13) It was blowing a terrible Alas, the heroic sacrifice blizzard as he left the tent. made by Captain Oates The others felt he was going to was made in vain, for after his death, and they were right, struggling on till the 29th for they saw him no more. He of March, Captain Scott, died in the snow to save the Dr. Wilson, and Lieutenant rest in the hope that unhinBowers perished in their tent. dered by him in his weakness, They were only 11 miles from they might reach the “One “One Ton” depot, where lay a Ton” depot. ton of food and fuel prepared He went out into the blizespecially for their use. zard alone and weak to die a It was Captain Oates’ 32nd certain death! Can you picbirthday when he died for his ture that? friends, and when their bodies Greater love hath no man were found and buried, the than this, that a man lay search party searched for 20 Small Talk • 65
miles to the south, endeavoring to discover the remains of the noble fellow, but all in vain. The snow had long ago wound him in its winding sheet, so they left a cairn and record in the vicinity to his memory. There is another death more noble and incomparable to that of Captain Oates. That is the death of Jesus Christ, a death for the sake of the dirty and filthy sinners, not for the righteous. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But 66 • The Good News February 2012
God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7–8) And His sacrifice was never in vain. As the search party left a record in the memory of Captain Oates, the best record we can make to His memory who “laid down His life” for us, is to believe the record God has written, and then build up a life of service and praise to His name. Accept God’s testimony, believe in His Son, and be saved from the eternal destruction through Him. (A story by W. Luff)
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