February 12th, 2017
ICA Sunday Pulpit Message
Transcription : Word(English)
(Intro)
It is good to see you. Greet those around you. Have you had a good week? Today’s title is, “God’s Son Does the Work of God the Father”. There are memories we cannot erase. We say that the life we live is like a journey. This means that we only live once. When you go on vacation, you gain memories. You take pictures. The life we live in is not like a vacation. The life connects as something we cannot erase. It is because the life we live in is recorded in heaven and will determine what rewards we receive. It is recorded in Revelations. We know God and our future. We need to think about this. We need to think before we go to God. What must we do? We have to think that because of God, we became sons of God. Then, we must know the work that must be done for God. This means that we need to do what He wants us to do. With spiritual eyes, we need to look at the people of the world. In today’s scripture, it talks about what Jesus did and we need to look at it. God has called us and we need to know why.
1. What do people in the world do to live?
(1) The life that maintains their living
(2) The life dedicated on self-reward
(3) The life dedicated to serving others and society
People in the world live to eat and satisfy themselves. It is the life that maintains their life. This is vital for our church members. Why? We need to fulfill and gain physical things. In Matthew 24, Jesus said that in the days of Noah, people were busy satisfying their physical needs. That is not what He is saying. They need their most basic things, but beyond that, they need more. So, they failed. We need to find what God needs and what is vital for this age. Don’t be seized by physical needs. If so, you will lose hold of God. And, secondly, there is a life dedicated on self-reward. As sons of God, you must know this. Then, we need to share it with others. People also live to satisfy themselves, mentally. They have a passion, regardless of their past. They have lacking in their past, try to fulfill their lacking in the future. For example, if they were poor, they save a lot of money. If people were in accidents, they are cautious. You might experience neglect, but they don’t open their hearts to others. When people approach them, they are suspicious. There are many like this. People have these things in their hearts. In order to not experience the same thing, they struggle. I will give 2 examples in the Bible. Look at Samuel. His mother was Hannah. Before, she was barren. She was upset about it. Samuel’s father had a 2nd wife. The 2nd wife was jealous and criticized Hannah. She was a concubine, so she cursed Hannah. She even said that she was cursed by God. You know this. Hannah held onto the covenant and prayed. She received an answer of Samuel. She had a heart of prayer so she held onto the covenant. She overturned everything into a blessing. She became the mother of a great prophet. She finished her life in blessings. We also have Ahithophel. He was close with King David. King David sends his family into war. He takes in his granddaughter as his wife. The soldier, Ahithophel, was suffering from this. He eventually took his own life pitifully. You need to look at how you will be used by God. Thirdly, there are people who are serving others. There are people who serve the needs of others and helping them. You can also say that people around you are serving others. At this time, we have remnants giving worship together. I served with remnants. They don’t listen. They never bring their Bibles and they forget the pulpit message. They eat well, but they are sleepy during 3rd worship. Jesus resurrected and came before Peter. He asked Peter thrice if he loves Him. Jesus told Peter to feed His lambs. That is God’s word. It is His demand. It doesn’t matter how you react, follow the word of God. We need to follow the word. God said to trust remnants. Wait and pray for them. Guide them with God’s word. Pray together. Bless them. We are giving the business person’s devotional worship. We need to open the ways for the Remnants in the future. I am telling you what is recorded in the Word. We are saying that we need to have scholarship for remnants. Let us look at what individuals are in the Bible. We have Cornelius. He was the 1st Gentile to be baptized. He was a centurion in Rome. He had 100 soldiers under his command. He was an elite. The meaning of the name is, “power” and “spear”. Just knowing the meaning, you could say that he was renowned. He was a soldier who protected the house of the Roman Governor. You could say that he is secret service. He dedicated himself and prayed before God. Everyone knew him. He was not saved. He did not know the Gospel. God sent Peter to him. If you are not saved, then you cannot be in the side of God. God sent angels and visions to save him and his household. Even if you do good works, if you do not have salvation, then bad things will happen. God utilized Peter to save Cornelius’ household. People are concentrated on fulfilling their needs. How must we live? We need to see how Jesus lived.
2. Christ, who is the Son of God, did His father’s work from a young age.
(1) The life that serves God following their parents
(2) The life that does God’s work on their own
(3) The life that fulfills God’s work as they serve their parents
Maria and Joseph are Jesus’ biological parents. They went to Jerusalem every year. They follow this tradition annually for worship. When He was 12, He went to Jerusalem to give worship. We need to look at His parents. The parents of Jesus know the importance of worship. They realized the importance of the Passover. Regardless of their situation and surroundings, they go every year. When Jesus was young, He accurately held onto the importance of God. Our remnants may come to church only because of their parents. Then, they grow up and don’t go to church. They are not able to experience Christ’s mystery. They only saw the exterior of the church. They might see bad things happening in the church. From other churches, you might see other things you cannot comprehend. Don’t talk bad about the church in front of your kids. Only talk about the good things to your kids. Incidents and problems are what God is trying to show you. When you go back home, only speak of good things. Say that you have received so much grace from the pastors. Say that you have received grace from the elders. Say that the church members are diligently evangelizing. Be an example. Have faith like Joseph and Mary. Remnants, be like Jesus, who followed His parents. Secondly, Jesus lives a life that does God’s work on their own. Jesus remained in the temple for 3 days when He was 12 years old. Jesus was able to communicate with renowned scholars. They were astonished at Jesus’ level of understanding. After worship, the parents came back and He wasn’t there. They were worried and shocked. They questioned Jesus and wondered why He didn’t worry. Jesus said that He must do the work of His Father, God. If you look at the English version, Jesus asks them why they were searching for Him. He had to be in His Father’s house. In the KJV, it says, “my Father’s business”. In the heart and mind of Jesus, He knew that He must teach the word of God. Jesus was young, but knew that the secular world was not vital, only the spiritual world was. I would like to talk about my family. Only my mom and I believe in God. We have 3 pastors in our family line. My cousins are assistant-pastors. Every year, we used to have ancestral worship. Every time we gathered, we always fought. We fought over little things. We fight over how much money we need to pay. When I was in that positon, I was ignorant. After believing in Jesus, I realized that I had no choice but to be ignorant. We were separated from God. They had no choice but to fall into those circumstances. Problems continually occur. The situation that they are in is under Satan. I thought that was life. I realized that they needed the Gospel. In my mother’s side, they don’t have ancestral worship. They have meals. There is something different. They listen to the word. I would go and meet them. They would pray. My uncle is a pastor. We have no reason to fight. They don’t worry about money. My other uncle was blessed financially. He gives 1/4th offering, not 1/10th. He gives tithe to his family. If someone needs something, he pays for it. They don’t have any reason to fight. They are thankful. My mother’s side is blessed. There are 3 with doctoral degrees. One is a principal of a high school. When I compare my mother’s and father’s side, I could see the difference. Every time I look at my family, I look at the importance of God and Christ. Jesus, in John 4:34, said, “My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Food is vital for our life. Doing His work form a young age is vital. I bless that you will do the same. Thirdly, Jesus lives a life that fulfills God’s work as they serve their parents. Jesus said to His parents, but they weren’t able to understand. He was a good Son, following His parent’s word. In Mark 3, Jesus' mother and brothers came. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." In John 19, it is written, near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Jesus designates John to take care of His mother. You will see the life He lives. How can we fulfill God’s word? The people of God must be rooted in God’s word. You must do God’s work
3. Christians who are the sons of God are called to fulfill the word of God the Father.
(1) Enjoyment – centered on the word, priority on prayer, fruits of evangelism
(2) Flow – personal answers, family blessings, church revival
(3) Direction – salvation of a soul, conquest of the field and restoration of the age.
At the time, don’t sway and just hold onto God’s word. Enjoy true peace. What you want and what God wants is different. We need to listen to God’s word. We can say funny things in worship. The pastor doesn’t joke around because he can’t. During the pulpit message, He wants to relay the word of God and what is vital. Do you think jokes will give the vital aspects of the message? God sent the pastor to give His word to me. You might want to come to church early. You need the word to survive in the week. Remnants must concentrate on the word. Everything is contained in God’s word. Find what is yours and you will be successful. When you discover what you need to do, then you will gain your rewards. In John 15:7, it is written, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” When you gain many fruits, then you will gain rewards in heaven, also, you will become His disciple. When you enjoy God’s word, He will be happy. He is happy and He will answer. God will attach people who need His word. All you have to do is to receive the word and pray. In order to do this, you need to be in the flow of worship. The gospelized family will be the channel of the church revival. Then, people will come to our church. They might wonder what kind of message is being preached. In Mark’s Upper Room, they were in a small room, but gathered together. They were able to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. At that place, everything was revived. God prepared so many blessings. You will see many individuals in Romans 16. What are their common traits? Everything was happened in their houses and their businesses. In Ac. 1:13, when went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. I bless that you will have enjoyment in your field and personal life through the answer of prayer. You need direction. The direction you must focus on is saving a soul in your field. In Mark 16, Jesus stands before His 12 disciples. He saw them and realized that they lost faith. He rebuked them. They are suspicious because they don’t believe He is alive. He tells them to stand and arise. He tells them to do God’s work. Spread and go throughout the world. In Acts 1:8, it talks about how you will receive power and strength. Go to Jerusalem and Judea. You need to focus your direction on this way. You need to find souls and save disciples. Through a system, you need to do the word movement. We are in the 40 days intensive training. When we do this in 1 heart, the forces of darkness will crumble. The atmosphere will change. This is the method for you to conquer your field. We need to spread this throughout. The culture will change. That age will overturn. We need to save souls. To what extent? It is to the ends of the earth. It is until the end of the age. This is the direction that God gives. What is most vital? We need to do this as sons of God.
(Conc)
In Matthew 6:33, it says to not seek other things. It is not what you seek. You need to find the kingdom of God and his righteousness. What you need to do is to seek the work of God. When you seek those, He will make you abundant. God created everything and is with us right now. He made us His sons. We are able to call Him our Father. As time passes, the disciples are able to call Him their true father. There is one thing that He desires of us. He sends Jesus Christ and saves us through the Gospel. He has given us a promise through Matthew 6. The covenant of God never fails. He will fulfill His promise. Doing God’s work is vital. That is why He is guided us in the ways of His word, prayer and evangelism. I hope that doing His work will become your food. You need to take in His food and become His sons. Starting from today, meditate on His word.
(Prayer)
Father, I thank you. Thank for allowing me to become your son through the Word. Help us to accurately know the word of God. Help us to hold onto it, which will be fulfilled in our lives. Help us to find the pulpit and hold onto it. Through our personal prayer, let us find what we need. Help us the focus our direction and lives. Help us the receive the answers of the work of God to save others. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen