July 8th, 2018
ICA Sunday Pulpit Message
Transcript : MS Word (English) , PDF (English)
Bulletin : HWP (English) , PDF (English)
<Intro>
There is a term saying, the seven valid causes will divorce. Anyone heard of this? The seven valid causes of divorce. This term comes from China and Korea where they have the ideology of confusions. It is the content of the wicked things. It is basically the seven reasons or cause to divorce his wife. This is a writing of a confusions from China. In the present time, it doesn’t make sense however, long time ago, in Korea and China, they had this concept. What is the seven reasons or cause for a husband to expel his wife from the household? The husband can expel his wife if she did not obey her in-laws. If she could not have a son. If the wife is too jealous. Of course, all these things do not make sense however, it was like that long time ago. However, despite all those reasons, the wife could also avoid the divorce. For instants, if the wife has no where to go after the explement from her husband, the husband cannot send her away. Other instants are when her in-laws pass away and she mourn with her husband for more than 3 years, then the husband cannot expel her. If the husband, before marriage, was poor but after upon meeting his wife got wealthy, then she could avoid the divorce. I am introducing the Asian culture back in the days. Please do not go evangelizing or telling people after you were falling asleep during the message only listening to the message roughly saying Pastor Kim is telling us to divorce our wife. Back in the days, if the wife cannot give birth to a son, they could expel her. Diana please do not be burden because you do not have a son because it does not relate to present times. I am just introducing a culture back in the days. What does this all mean? Back in the days, people wanted to have a son because it was important. There is a second thing that I would like to introduce. This was the custom the Israelites had. This is also regarding marriage. For example, there is two brothers and each of them have their own wives. The wife of the older brother, the younger brother would call sister-in-law. Long time ago, what kind of custom did the Israelites have? The older brother and his wife, if the older brother died without having a child, the sister-in-law or wife, would be by herself. Custom back then was the second son will take in the sister-in-law and have a child with her. That was the marriage they had back in the days for the Israelites. This marriage is displayed in Genesis 38. Do you remember Ruth? Her husband died and later on marries a man named Boas. Because she had a marriage within the custom, she was able to marry. From Ruth’s and Boas’ family line, Jesus was born. The bible prohibits incents. How come they allow the seceding marriage and have children? The seven reasons that the Asian culture had and also the custom that the Israelites had was all because to have their name in the next generation. They didn’t do those things to have many children. It was for to inherit what you had to your child in the next generation. In order inherit something to your next generation, you must have a child. If you had your own biological child, it would be easier to inherit possessions, family legacies, or whatever in your family line. You could also inherit things to your non-biological children. There are some people who adopt to inherit things. To those who can inherit things to people whether they are biological to them or not, we call them disciples. That is what the bible is emphasizing.
1. It was the life of the successful believer. (Abraham’s family line, Moses & Joshua/Caleb, Naomi & Ruth, Samuel & David, David’s loyalist, Elijah & Elisha/Obadiah, Mordecai & Esther, Jesus & His disciples, Paul & his disciples)
In the bible, there are many renowned characters. These individuals of faith lived their life as disciples and share with their next disciples. The first book of the bible is Genesis. After the incident of Genesis 3 you will see the names of individuals. After the first case of murder, Cain and Able, another son was born in place of Able who was Seth. Able who had faith died and God allowed to have Seth and through him, the genealogy of covenant was carried out. You will see who gave birth to who and who gave birth to who. People only focus on who’s the father and who’s the son. If you look closely at the bible, it is displaying what is important. It is sharing that God is alive. It is also delivering that God is the God of salvation. There were generations where they relayed this covenant to their next generation. After Able, it was Seth and it continues on. You will see an individual named Enoch. Enoch gave birth to Methuselah. Methuselah gave birth to Lamech. Lamech gave birth to Noah. You know who Noah is. When the entire world was filled with non-belief, only Noah served God. That faith did not happen instantly, but it was carried out from Enoch. Whatever Enoch experienced, he relayed it to his son Methuselah. Methuselah relayed his faith he had to Lamech and Lamech the same with Noah. This is how Noah was able to become the person with faith. Life or death, the important covenant was relayed to Noah. This is surpassing the relationship of a parent and child. Physically it is a father and son relationship however spiritually, it is a teacher and disciple relationship. Whatever the father said, they accepted it. Whatever the father orders they obeyed. The relationship was surpassing the father and son relationship and was a teacher to a disciple relationship. That was the genealogy of the covenant. Do you believe in this? That is what the bible records. I’m not saying the children follow the faith of the father. The family line of Abraham. You know Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. God selected and called Abraham. Just like that, God called not Ishmael but Isaac. Just like that, God called Jacob and not Esau. Just the same, not the 11 older brothers but God called Joseph. The covenant of blessing that Abraham received was delivered to Joseph. When Abraham’s great great grandchild was dying, Joseph who was rich and had many possessions because he was the governor of Egypt, he wanted to be buried in his father’s land. Joseph had the covenant of resurrection. Not the land of Egypt but the land where Jesus will come. Not the father and son relationship but the teacher and disciple relationship sharing the covenant and delivering it. After that God calls Moses and performs many miracles. Next to Moses was Joshua and Caleb. Today’s scripture is about after Moses’ death. God calls and chooses Joshua. Be strong and courageous, just as I was with Moses, I will be with you as well. Moses and Joshua had a relationship of superior and subordinate. In the English bible it states that he was Moses’ aid basically a servant. It was Joshua who would carry the bag that Moses had. Joshua was able to observe everything from Moses. It was not just master and servant relationship, but Joshua received everything else. He received God’s plan. The relationship was teacher and disciple. It was not superior and subordinate relationship but a teacher and disciple relationship. I mentioned Ruth. Her mother-in-law was Naomi. The mother-in-law saw that their family line crumbled. The mother-in-law tells Naomi to go back to her household. Regardless of their financial situation, Ruth had faith. She served her mother-in-law. Seeing that faith in Ruth, God blesses her. It wasn’t a mother and daughter relationship but a teacher and disciple relationship. Samuel and David. A famous prophet and a famous king. God prophet Samuel, anointed David with oil. Samuel follows the will of God and anoints David. You will see the contents of David’s faith. He had the heart of the temple and faith regarding God’s covenant. David inherited the spirituality of Samuel. David received blessing of disciple. After becoming a king, David had many loyal servants. He did not become a king easily. Because of King Saul’s jealously, David had to run away. When David was running away, he met friends along the way which became loyal servants to him. It wasn’t just relationship of friends but king and loyal servant. Elijah and Elisha. When Elijah was having a hardship, Elisha followed. The true disciple. You also know Obadiah. Obadiah was a high rank official. He arranged the war in mount Carmel. His king was king Ahab. He deceives the king and supports 100 prophets. If he wasn’t a true disciple, Obadiah could not have done this. Elisha asks for double portion of blessings. An average disciple would ask for some possession however, Elisha asked for double portion of blessing. He is a true disciple. The book of Esther. Esther was an orphan and her parents died early on and she grew up under her uncle. Mordecai nurtured Esther as if she was his own daughter. He didn’t just feed her but train her. When she was marrying the king to become a queen, she obeyed her uncle. Mordecai and Esther are cousins however, she obeys her uncle. After she became a queen, her people were about to perish. Then she receives order from Mordecai. Most people would say I don’t know or I don’t care however, Esther said, if I perish I will perish. She was not an average person, but she had a relationship of teacher and disciple. Our father God, Jesus Christ, also had his disciples. There were many people around Jesus however, Jesus accepted people who came to him and filled their needs. He healed those who were sick, feed the poor, those who were looking for knowledge, he gave God’s word. He welcomed everyone and gave everything. Inside of these people, he selected his disciples. He taught them and delivered them spiritual things. Through the disciples, the kingdom of God was established. Paul saw Jesus resurrected then he became a disciple of Jesus. After Jesus, a man who was very influenced in the world was Paul. It was because Paul also had many disciples. By God’s grace, God attached to Paul his disciples. That is why he was able to do his ministry and his works. Especially the people of Romans 16 they are the disciples of Paul. They are the ones who received answers with Paul. From the old testaments and new we saw these great individuals. There are few exceptions. There are small number of people where God used them once and they disappeared. Except for them, you can see all these people had a relationship of discipleship. The individual who appeared with faith. The believers that God used as a model. The people of God who received God’s blessings and had success. All of them, they were inside of God’s discipleship. Do you believe in this? Did you confirm this? This fact is bringing us questions and challenges. What kind of questions? Am I a true disciple? You can ask that question. There is also a challenge that it is giving us. Has God actually called me as a disciple? Then what state am I in? you can challenge yourself like this. Do you understand? The individuals in the bible, if you are a person of God, they were inside of this discipleship. This is what you must remember.
2. It is Christ Jesus’ command. (Mt.28:18~20)
It is Christ Jesus’ command. You know the famous scripture. It is the last chapter of Matthews. It says go and make disciples in call nations and make them fulfill what I have taught you and baptize them in the name of the father, son, and the holy spirit and surely, I am with you till the very end of the age. This is an important message from Jesus and he is telling them to live a life of a disciple and make disciples. This is the command from Jesus’. Some people express it as the great commission. It is the Lord who is with everyone. It is God’s will that if you live your life inside of discipleship that he will be with them. Even if you do not make disciples you will not go to hell. You can believe in Jesus and live however, and you will still go to heaven. However, in the bible and the heart of God, he is looking for disciples. Why am I talking about disciples? Because there is a reason. What is the reason. I will tell you in the conclusion.
3. It is the teaching of the apostle who served the church. (2Tim.2:2)
It is the teaching of the apostle who served the church. It is recorded in 2 Timothy 2:2, And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. This is the word of Apostle Paul. The words that the apostle spoke is recorded in the Bible. Apostle Paul wrote many epistles in the bible. The last letter is 2nd Timothy. To his best disciple timothy, he is relaying this, say this to your loyal people. The loyal people are talking about his disciples. They will teach to the next disciple. These are people with faith in the bible. The order from the Lord. The sincere teaching from the apostle. Everything is speaking about the discipleship. Then why is the bible recording this? Why am I talking about this in the second week of July? Why is he talking about discipleship? It is because to see the things on earth and on heaven are connected through the discipleship. As we believe in God, we want to receive answers and blessings. Do you agree? God is alive, and he wants to bless us. That is how I pray. I pray for greater things than now. I pray to the point where you could fall into trails about my asking for greater blessings and I know that God will answers. Through my life I received a covenant from God. Through the bible, I have confirmed this. Through everything I have checked, God has no choice but to bless me, I realized that. If you look at my offering envelope you can see all the blessings that I want to receive. Because it will come true. I write my prayer topics roughly so people who read it will not fall in to trail. I am worried that they might fall into trails. Shortly I will move in to a new house. It has 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Currently house, we have 5 rooms and 3 bathrooms. Despite that, there are people who fall in to trails. In the future if I receive great blessings, the church members will have trails. I write down the blessings that I will receive on my offering envelope. If I write it in detail, the offering people will fall into trails that is why I just summarize it. What am I trying to say? Including myself, the people of God are bound to receive great blessings. This is Gods plan and you need to discover that, then you can share the great gospel and inheritance to your next generation. Do you believe in this? The blessings and the rewards in heaven is all connected inside of discipleship. Listen to this, God is alive, and we are his creations. What is the relationship we have with God? The bible records that the creator God created mankind. The relationship was creator God and his creation mankind. As time passed, it says that he is our father and we are his children. The relationship was father and son. It is a relationship that no one can cut. Do you understand. Even though we are immature and make mistakes and have flaws, he will not let go of us. Our father God promised that he will bless us. We are his sons who will inherit his blessings. Afterwards, what does the bible say? Through Jesus, he is our Lord and we are his disciples. Until now you understand right? From creator God to creation mankind he advanced us to Father and son. The creator God gave his creations to be fruitful and increase in number, but we could not keep that and enjoy that. If you look at the old testament the Israelites were called as the firstborn. In the new testament inside the church they are called the children of God. To those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become the child of God. Because they could not enjoy the blessings of fulfilment and subdue he gave those blessings to his sons. And again, they could not find nor enjoy it. Through Christ they revealed this one word which is disciple. All the blessings in heaven is prepared. There are not a lot of people who are preparing their vessels to receive this blessings that God has prepared for them. Disciples are the ones that follow after the teacher. There is not a lot of people who follow the Lord with their one heart, whole heart, and have continuation. If the disciple whole heartily follows their teacher, they would receive blessings, but most cannot do that. That is why God ordered them to become disciples. It is right relationship in creator and creation, father and son however, to give us the blessings that he has already prepared for us, he has called us disciples with him being our teacher. That is Jesus said in John 15:8, This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Do you believe in this? Starting from now God is telling you. You are the true saints and the blessing of summit. In order to enjoy and receive this blessing you need to come inside of discipleship. This is what he is telling you. Even if you are not the disciple you can still go to heaven however, God has important reasons and plan for you. The life you live once he wants you to live that life as a disciple. I hope that you will do so. Its ok if you are not a disciple of this church. Wherever you go you will receive the blessings of summit and you will be the disciple. The disciple of Jesus Christ will become the body of Christ. Disciple of the church will become the pulpit of the church. This is message regarding healing, Christ, church, and pulpit. However, Satan is hindering us from enjoy this. People believe in God however, they do not know Christ. Everything is contained inside of Christ and Satan is blocking us from knowing about Christ. I believe in God that is why I only go to church on Easter and Christmas some people will say. They say that because they don’t know the mystery of Christ. Satan is making them to fall in to misunderstandings and ignorance spiritually. Everyone is falling into his deception. He is making them not to become the disciple of Christ. How can you stake your life for Christ when you do not know the value of Christ? Secondly, he is trying to make you not become the disciple of the church. Satan is making you to have scars inside the church. Many of the church members are falling into this. They have crumbled. The church is not a paradise. They are many people with spiritual problems. They are many strange people inside the church. For example, people lend money borrow money inside the church and they don’t pay you back or something else happens, that is when people fall into deceptions and trails. They have this rotten root inside of their hearts regarding church. They say, we should not be involved in the church. We will listen to the message and right before benediction we will leave. That is how people are and Satan is making people not to become the disciple of the church because he doesn’t want them to become disciples and receive the summit blessings and through that, Satan is trying to ruin your life. Lastly, Satan is trying to make you not become the disciple of the pulpit. He is making you not receive grace from the pulpit not to follow the flow of the message. That is how he breaks relationship with the saints and pastor. He will make you lose trust with the pastor and have this discrimination and have this misunderstanding. If you have that kind of relationship, even if I prepare a message for 100 years, you will not receive grace from it. Korean people tend to say, you do good what you are good at. That is true. Of course, people will say do good what you are good at. If people say those words they may feel good about themselves however they are losing hold of the blessings of disciples. I think I know but I don’t know. It seems like I will receive blessings, but I don’t know. It strange. Because of this, people go insane. After a long period of time they confess, after believing the Jesus, there is no point same goes for church. It true because they haven’t experience it yet or evidences. They do not know where everything went wrong. This is the deception of Satan. I bless you in the name of the Lord that you will open your spiritual eyes. I bless you that you will be guided by the holy spirit. I bless you that you will receive healing.
<Conc.>
I will organize the message. The individual of the bible, the ancestors of faith were all inside of discipleship. That is the way for success. One more thing, discipleship is Jesus’ order and the command of Jesus. This is directly connected to answers and blessings. Another thing, you must realize the father and son relationship and also the relationship of teacher and disciple. With whole heart you must follow him. Satan will make you fall in to deceptions, scars, and misunderstandings so you will not become the disciple. I know this for a fact that you have been called as disciples of Christ. God has prepared blessings that will surpass your mind. I bless you that you will discover the discipleship blessings holding on to the covenant. I will deliver one scripture from the message. It is recorded in proverbs 27:17-18, As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. When iron sharpens iron, it will become sharp and shiny. When there is friction between iron and iron it will become sharp. Just like that when people have friction with on another they will sharpen each other. What does this mean? It means that people should help and support one another. In America, individualism is strong. Only they will have relationship with family members. They think its violating privacy. That is why people do not evangelize to their neighbors. They say that we need to acknowledge their beliefs. Because they do not go out and evangelize they do not have the relationship of teacher and disciple. When the church gives out homework from the pastor, they feel burden and leave the church. They are not seeing the hidden plans of God. I hope that you will not avoid relationships with people. I hope that you will have success in relationship whether you are the disciple or teacher. Then you will see the next verse, the one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored. The bible is talking about when you have a relationship of teacher and disciple you will be honored. I bless you that you will be within discipleship. God has promised to make your face shine and give you blessings and answers.
Let us pray,
Living Father God, I confess that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God. I thank Christ for calling us as his disciples. I believe that it is not for burden but for the promise and the rewards in heaven. We have a heart to not become a disciple. We do not like burden, involved, and do not want to have relationship with other people. We are lazy. Despite all that you have told us. I want to be inside of discipleship. We do not have the heart nor strength to become the disciple. That why we are giving this prayer. Give us the strength to become the discipleship. May you change our hearts. May you change our weak faith to strong. May you open up our spiritual eyes to see everything. Help us to discover the amazing things inside of discipleship. In Jesus Christ name we pray, Amen