June 12th, 2016
ICA Sunday Pulpit Message
Absolute Goal for the Gospel Noble Family – Restoration of the Gospel (15)
God’s Miracle is for Those Who Challenge (Josh 17:14-18)
(Intro)
It’s good to see you. Greet those around you. Have you had a good week? Today’s title is, “God’s Miracle is for Those Who Challenge”. Jesus said that He knows your actions. He would want you to be either cold or hot. This was in Revelations 3. There is an American singer named Curt Cobain. He said that he’d rather be dead than cold. He’d prefer to die than be cold. He is a non-believer. He committed suicide. He was addicted to drugs. They said the same thing. Neither our Savior Jesus Christ nor this singer liked to be cold. Therefore, God wants you to have a burning passion. May you have a burning passion. Therefore, whatever you ask, God will answer. We are looking at Joshua. What is this book about? It’s about the conquest of Canaan. It may be boring because there are so many regions in this book. God wrote it accurately. He wrote details. It’s because God is going to distribute ministers for you. He is going to give you an inheritance. God will give blessings. We need to see and know this.
1. Embrace the Holy Desire within the Gospel and challenge
(1) Zelophehad’s 5 daughters reported their situation to Moses, the leaders and the congregation (Num 27:1-4)
(2) Moses prayed to God, and God answered the ladies request (Num 27:5-11)
(3) Joshua followed God’s command through Moses and distributed the land to the ladies (Jos 17:4)
Today, the land has been distributed to the tribe of Joseph. In verse 1, it says that Joseph had 2 sons. Mannesah and Ephraim. They become a tribe. If you talk about the tribe of Joseph, they are separated within his sons. The word is being recorded. The book talks about who’s in the tribe of Mannesah. There was the first son of Manasseh, named “Makir”. And there were more sons of Manasseh, named “Abiezer, Helek, etc” This one son, was named Haepher and his son named Zelophehad. He had 5 daughters. Daughters could not inherit the land. The 5 daughters came to Moses. They went to the leaders. They asked for a request. They weren’t being sneaky and did it in secret. They did this in front of all the leaders. The 5 daughters requested to distribute the land. This was answered and they receive the land. At that time, women were not allowed to receive an inheritance. That is why they had to request it. We must find the lesson behind this story. They didn’t do it in secret. They did it in front of all the leaders. That means that they demanded fairly. I tell this to the remnants. I tell them to date and have forum. If they do it without telling anyone, then that is not the best. You may be deceived yourself. They were allowed to receive land when Moses was alive. In Numbers 27:5-11, it is recorded that Moses prayed about this request to God. God said that the daughters were right. Without sons, the daughters must receive the land. In Numbers 27:11, they legalized this law. That was the special law. They explained to Moses clearly that the family didn’t have sons. They claimed the problem that they were not able to receive an inheritance. A long time passed, they requested this because there is a law that gives land to the nearest relative. Joshua remembered this old law from a while back. He didn’t ignore it. He didn’t make decisions on his own. He didn’t criticize. If he had ignored them, there would’ve been many claims. He did a great job with this situation. They had a background. What’s the lesson? There may be rules that upset you. We can renew ourselves to save others and glorify God. Remember that. We must change or renew ourselves if God wants. We must challenge with the holy desire. God accepted the request from the daughters. Through Moses, they made a new law. Do you understand? The Gospel is the spirit of obedience. It is the gentle spirit of obedience. It is also the spirit of renewal. The passionate and gentle may seem opposite of each other, but God works for the good in all things according to His purpose. The shepherd often cuts the fur of a lamb. The lamb is still and obeys. We are lambs of God. We have to be still and obey for the will of God. This is the Gospel. There is another thing. We change what was in the past for the great glory of God. It is the passion to change with the appropriate process. That is the Gospel. The Holy Desire is just that. We have the laypeople and priesthood. People who had the holy desire changed this for the glory of Gospel. There was discrimination based on racism, like slavery. However, the people with the Gospel abolished this. There was discrimination based on gender, but those laws were abolished by people with the Gospel. These are the results of those who had the Gospel challenged. This is what God desires. May you change in ever expect with the hold desire. Let’s talk about the church. The church has a pastor. The pastor has 3 special authorities. This is written in Deuteronomy 21:5. “to minister” They serve God, it is the authority of worship or pulpit. Only Priests were allowed to go to a certain part of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. Only pastors were allowed to come up the pulpit in the New Testament. You even had to take off your shoes. So the lay leaders all had to sit down in front of the priest. I am not saying that we should do this, but that’s how it was. However, there are even pastors now who are bound by the Old Testament. “to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD” The 2nd authority is to bless in the name of the Lord. Only the main pastor of the church can bless you. “to decide all cases of dispute and assault” They can judge all the arguments. The pastors can give judgement. They are bound by this. People can ask, if others do these things? Can others lead worship and give a sermon? You already know the answer. In the Old Testament that was the law. Jesus was crucified, and everything was opened. In 1 Peters 2:9, it talks about how you are the people and priest, like a king. A king is a high position, but they described it as such. In the traditional English translation, it doesn’t say that. It says, “priest of the king”. May you believe that you are the king in Christ. You already possess the blessing of the priest in Christ. May you be victorious. This is what Peter proclaimed to the saints. It’s not right for a lay leader to stand up and say that they’ll do the message. There are certain people that God has given grace too. All church members would share the Gospel message to everyone. We must renew ourselves. In order to revel the value and power of Gospel, we must change. That is why I let the church officers lead the service. I raised them beforehand. I asked them to give the message. It is the will of God. Do you believe in this? Doing that, they can go to the field and share the message to non-believers. That is God’s will and plan. We shouldn’t be constrained by old laws. If it’s the will of God, they’ll give the sermon. Through God’s will, we must change. If you look at the eyes of the Gospel, you must see things that we need to change. There is a need for you to challenge. This is not a demonstration or rebellion. We will face difficulties as time passes. Innovate the things that God desires through the appropriate process and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Challenge. For the glory of God, you challenge and give glory. You influence others. You must challenge to change organizations and the field. You must change your old habits. Do not quit after a short time. Do it for a long time in front of God. Abraham challenged for 25 years, Moses for 40 years and the Early Church for 300 years. It’s ok to not receive answers. Our main life is somewhere else. May you challenge yourself with the holy desire.
2. Challenge so that your faith will grow from receiving grace to carrying out His power
(1) The people of Joseph expressed their complaints about the size of their distributed land (Jos 17:4)
(2) Joshua gave them encouragements and challenges to clear out the land for themselves (Jos 17:5)
(3) They rather complained about their hill country and gave excuses about the new weapon that the people in the hill country had (Jos 17:16)
You must challenge and develop your faith so that it will carry out your own power. The people of Joseph said that their land was too small. They wanted more. That was their request. The daughters of Zelophehad’s request was the correct procedure. However, the people of Joseph requested without a leg stand on. All the distribution had already been completed. Joshua belongs to Ephraim’s tribe which is the tribe of Joseph. They had a sense of entitlement and thought that they deserved land more. What was Joshua reaction? It was general. He said that it was right that the land was small, but you must go to the hill country and clear out land for yourself. They complained that the people of the hill country were too powerful with weapons. Then Joshua said that they could do it. That is the way he refused to give more land. That was Joshua’s answer. The answer was that if your people are great, you must do something great. Your actions must be grateful enough. If you are called ahead of time, you must set a good example to others. You must behave as a great individual. That was Joshua’s answer. In fact, Joseph’s tribe saved others. They were in a great position. It is to the point where his sons get 1 tribe each. Joshua said to get the land yourself. What is the message here? Who is Christ here? We are not trying to talk about advantages, it’s about the people who give that up and explore new lands. That is how we can influence others and the kingdom of God can grow. If not, then the kingdom of God will be narrow. That is why we must clear out the land and make new land as a person who receives the grace of Christ. Until we make this earth the kingdom of God. The reason why they’re giving inappropriate requests is that their faith is small. They’re fearing these hill country people because they had iron weapons. They lost their boldness. You also might complain that you’re old. You might complain that you have went to church for a short time. If you complain, you would be just like the people of Joseph and you won’t advance. Challenge yourself. You may have difficulties doing intensive training. It’s not like you receive a certificate or diploma. It’s not something you can submit in your resume. You’re receiving training from God. May you challenge to receive training to enlarge your vessel. May you challenge with the faith so that you will experience the power of God. Joshua told the people of Joseph that you must clear out the land and make it your own. Don’t expect it for free. The grace you receive is big. You must develop everything such as your attitudes with the spirit of God. Hudson Taylor said that Christians say that they predict difficulties. So they are weakened and cannot challenge themselves. Taylor said that when God gives you a chance, you must challenge with passion. God utilizes those type of people. We are now living in the age of the New Testament. Even receiving grace must be bold. In this sanctuary, our Lord is King. Feel free to receive the word and forum. There are people who disappear before the benediction. Everyone else is forgiven. You open your eyes here. Just ask the pastor for a prayer of blessing. God will make you do it. You may say that your level is low. Don’t confess with unbelief, but confess with your faith. Do not give up and challenge toward the intensive training. The students must challenge with their studies. You must challenge yourself to become and elite. Say that you’re a lay person, challenge yourself as a disciple. It is because God is with you.
3. Raise the servants that God desires and the leader that the age needs
(1) They did not forget God’s command given through Moses, and passed on the inheritance (Num 27:11)
(2) Joshua did not ignore his people’s request nor the overall situation
(3) Raise the leaders who has the faith that follow’s God’s word and the wisdom that saves the world
To what degree should we challenge. Challenge to raise the servants that God desires and the leader that the age needs. If you look at Joshua, he’s a great leader. The daughters requested to receive the land. Joshua didn’t ignore that. It is the law that God promised and he remembered that. Joshua followed God and His promise. He followed the word of God. He knew how heavy the promise of God was. His bloodline came to Joshua. They asked for more land. He refused to give the land to his own people and emphasized the fairness of unity. And he said “Clear your new land and make it.” He reduced complains and was wise for it. At the cost of receiving complaints, he saved everyone. He didn’t abuse that privilege. Why is this story written in the Bible? God knew that there wouldn’t be leaders just like Joshua in the world. Today, many people are arguing because of their authority and fame. You know who they are. The leaders of FIFA were abusing the black market to hold tournaments. In Korea, this was a big issue. Also, in Korea, there are a lot of stories going on about a lot of unlawful things going on that have to do with finance. We shouldn’t criticize them. The world has no choice but to go that way. In a manner of speaking, God allowed them to do that. We must see that this is the time schedule of the age. The opportunities are coming to the remnants. This is the leader that God wants, people like Daniel, Joseph and David. We must have leaders. God prepared so that we must pray. Our children will be raised as leaders. We must train them. We must challenge for the remnant movement. This is the unchanging plan of God. You must be in the place where you can receive the training. May you serve for the answer of descendants. Raise the descendants. We must prove the greatness of God’s kingdom. Our Lord Jesus Christ strengthens basis for this. We all believe in Christ. We must follow Christ. Just like Jesus proclaimed the Gospel, we must do it as well. We must have the same miracles of healing. Just like Jesus called out the disciples, we must do as well. We must be sacrificed as well. Then once you continue to follow the footsteps of Jesus, the glory of resurrection will be yours. Then, the kingdom of God will take place. You must raise the remnants for the future. This is the command of God. Jesus Christ followed God’s command. It is the command of saving the world. He fulfilled the challenge to save the world to the end. The family that enjoys the mystery of Christ is the Gospel Noble Family. Those who embrace the commission of Christ are the Gospel Noble Family. Just like Jesus Christ who was royal to God, those who do this sincerely to the end are the Gospel Noble Family. Organize the message and make prayer topic from this message. And you must meditate it. You must share and confirm with your children what you think. You must confirm if your children are rooted with the word of God, the truth of God’s word. If not, your children will be contaminated by the culture of the world. You might say that it is useless to come to church and that its people are flawed. You will do the opposite of evangelism. We must let the children hold onto and be rooted by the word of God.
(Prayer)
Dear Lord, may you help us. We would like to challenge with a holy desire in our heart. May you give us your power. We would like to be the leaders who save the world. May we raise descendants. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.