August 28th, 2016
ICA Sunday Pulpit Message
Gospel of Revelation (Rom 16:25-27)
(Intro)
It’s good to see you. Greet those around you. Have you had a good week? Today’s title is, “Gospel of Revelation”. There is a word of God’s revelation. There are so many things that mankind cannot know with their own knowledge. God is supposed to tell us what we do not know and it is called a revelation. There are so many things that we do not know. It’s just that we do not know nor understand. It’s hidden. As time passes, those things will open and reveal itself. We call that a revelation. There is a saying, “Justice prevails”. It means that even though there are wrong things, the rightful will win in the long run. No matter how much science develops, we do not know the universe to its entirety. We do not even know about mankind’s lifecycle. We often wonder about people. That is how it is. Those things will be revealed. We will know of it. There are so many incidents in the Bible that we do not understand. In the old times, people used to think that some parts of the Bible are incomprehensible so they thought it was a myth. As science develops, there are things that are proven correct.
1. As time passes, the incidents of the Bible are being proven true
(1) The shape and the movement of earth (Job 26:7, 10 Is 40:21-22, Prob 8:27, Lk 17:31)
(2) The flood judgment during Noah’s age (Gen 7:6-24)
(3) The Red Sea crossing during Moses’ age (Ex 14:21-31)
There are 100s of examples in the Bible. I would like to name 3. Now, we all know that the shape of the earth is spherical. However, it wasn’t until the 16th century, that people knew that the earth wasn’t flat. We also thought that the other planets revolved around us. Copernicus received God-given wisdom to research this. He came up with the conclusion that the earth was spherical. The more he calculated, the more he realized that we revolved around the sun. He first presented this to the public, and the Catholics thought he was heresy. In the year 1616, there was research and it became forbidden by the Catholic Church. Korea is split with the North and South. Dozens of years ago, books written by Il Sung Kim and other books about communism were forbidden. Now, we don’t care who reads it or not. Just like that, the knowledge of the earth being spherical was forbidden. The facts that the earth was spherical and revolving was already proven in the Bible. It is written in Job. In Job 26:7, it says, “He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.” It’s written in the Bible, but the Church was doubtful. The Bible already stated that there was day and night in Job 26:11. “He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.” The people couldn’t accept this at first. They believed that the earth was the center of the universe. It’s the word of God, but they couldn’t acknowledge it. That’s why they were close-minded. As time passes, these things were all proven true. We have gravity. Earth revolves around the sun. The sun is revolving around the galaxy. Now, even kids know this. Those hidden facts were revealed. We had the flood of judgment during Noah’s age. Now, we all know that this was God’s judgment. There are some Christians who think that this wasn’t a flood on the entire earth, but only in a certain part of the world. The Bible says that this flood covered the entire earth. In Luke, it says that all of mankind was destroyed. The people who doubted this thought that the flood prediction was merely a fable. Were there birds in Noah’s ark? Yes, there were. If this happened in only 1 region of the earth, they could just fly elsewhere. However, there was no dry land, so they had to go to the ark. This was scientifically proven in the Alps or the Himalayas. There were fossils of sea creatures found in those mountains. The mountain was completely submerged. We have many ancient civilizations. In many documents, there are many legends about a flood. So, Noah’s flood is true. Also, Moses split the Red Sea. You can look up YouTube videos. There are wagons in the ocean. There were Egyptian kings that were buried there. Thanks to the Bible, archaeology is being revealed. The people of the old age thought that Biblical miracles were fake. As time passes, science developed. God revealed this and let us know. The Bible is the truth. He is telling us this. There is a vital incident in the Bible. It is regarding the cross of Christ. The birth of Jesus Christ was predicted. He would be born of a virgin. He’ll be born at a specific location. The Bible also predicted that he would die and resurrect.
2. The main figure of the Bible, Christ was prophesied and fulfilled
(1) Birth of the virgin (Is 7:14, Mt 1;18-25)
(2) Sacrifice on the cross (Ex 3:18, 1 Cor 15:3-5)
(3) Resurrection of glory (Gen 3:15, 1Jn 3:8)
People can question the fact that a virgin would give birth or how one can come back to live. People will say that he fainted and woke up. They won’t believe this. That may be natural. They never experienced this, so they wouldn’t believe. Those with God-given grace will believe this. They never met Jesus. There are people who believe that Jesus died for their sins and resurrected. God’s revelation took place. God opened their eyes to realize this, so they were able to believe it. Jesus was born of a virgin. He didn’t simply die, but He died for our sins. He went to Hell, and came back. This is what Christ did for us. Why is this vital? Because of these incidents, Christ solved the eternal problems that we cannot solve. We cannot get other solutions through religion, philosophy nor our effort. This is unique. This is complete and eternal. This is amazing and surprising. Those people who have the grace to believe in this give praise to God. They think that this is eternal because it is the Gospel. Those people who realize this are called Christians. He let us know this. Through Christ, God solved the fundamental problems of mankind. Mankind cannot solve this on their own. Christ came with a body of a man. Whoever is born of man and woman is a descendant of Adam. They are sinners like Adam. A person should not have any sin so that’s why Jesus came as mankind. Know this spiritual fact, then you can know this scientific fact. Jesus had to be born of the virgin Mary. He had to come as a man to meet us. We must have our sin forgiven. He must die and go to hell. That was prophesized and already fulfilled. “The virgin will give birth and the son will be Immanuel.” It is prophesized in Is. 7:14. In Matthew 1:18, it is fulfilled, it talks about how Christ was born of the Holy Spirit before Mary was married. In was prophesized 700 years ago and it took place. It was prophesized that Jesus would sacrifice Himself on the cross. We all know the verse, Ex. 3:18, “blood sacrifice”. God gave this blessing to Moses. This was prophesized from the beginning in Genesis 3:15. The Offspring of woman will crush Satan’s head. As this was proven true, He revealed this fact. Thanks to Christ, we were saved eternally. We have received complete and perfect salvation. There were so many incidents involved before Christ came. There were many things that happened. Abraham believed in the Messiah and experienced many things. When he moved, there was a famine. His wife was about to be taken away. Abraham didn’t have a son and was later told to sacrifice his son. Isaac become blind when he was old. He was so blind to the point where he couldn’t tell who his sons. Jacob had to run away. He struggled for 20 years at his uncle’s. After he went through his struggles, he was nearly murdered. Joseph was sent to Egypt as a slave. He tried his best to work, but was later incarcerated. Then the entire family of Joseph went to Egypt. Moses was born and nearly killed in the River. He was saved, and through that, his name became Moses. He later accidentally killed someone and ran away. He was desolate for 80 years, but God called him to go to the Pharaoh. God was furious and almost killed him because he didn’t want to. Moses forcefully did his commission. So many miracles happened afterwards. The people of Egypt had their first sons taken away. The Red Sea split, then they conquered Canaan. In order to explain this, God mobilized Israel. Israel was later split in half and were captured. Assyria and Babylon attacked and colonized them. Israel also lost their country for 1,900 years. Nazi Germany exterminated them. There were so many Jews who were persecuted. Because of the Catholic Church, the Protestants suffered. Many Jews were also killed by Protestants. Often times when the Protestants shared the Gospel to the Jews, they would refuse. The Protestants would say that it was the Jews who crucified Jesus. POV of Christians, Jews are the enemy of them. What about the POV of Jews? Who persecuted the Jews? Why did they lose their own country? They were persecuted by the Church. The normal Jews wouldn’t talk to the Protestants. They made a system that was impossible for them to hold onto the Gospel. On the side of God, He covered the revelation. This is the sovereignty of God. God used many incidents to reveal the Gospel. He even destroyed His own people. In Romans 16, it says that it is the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past. The way of Salvation is the thing that God’s heart is beating because it has the greatest value. The reason why we received God’s grace and love was because of the Gospel. Also, He gave us a commission to fulfill as an evangelist. We would think that He would either rebuke or compliment us, but He is in charge of our lives and guides us
3. The theme of the Bible, Gospel will eventually be known to all people
(1) World mission of Joseph (Gen 41:55-57)
(2) World mission of the early church (Ac 1:8)
(3) World mission of the last age (Mt 24:14)
The main figure of the Gospel is Christ. Once you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord, you will be His son. He will mobilize everything from heaven and earth if we live our lives for the Gospel. The theme of the Gospel will be known to all people. This is the flow of God which cannot be cancelled. You must enter into this holy flow. He isn’t just telling us to evangelize, but we must enter into this flow. In the Bible, it talks about this in history. Joseph was a prime minister of a super power nation. When there was a famine, he supplied rice and shared the Gospel. Even though Joseph struggled early on, God repaid him. God is teaching us. Are you having a rough life just like a slave? Are you unfairly treated? Once you hold onto the Covenant which is the world evangelization, God will mobilize everything and change around you. That is the holy flow of world evangelization. May you be aware of it. The Early Church was weak. They had unfortunate incidents. They couldn’t even worship like us. They couldn’t receive training like us. They couldn’t evangelize. God gave them the perfect blessing of meeting. They spread the Gospel smoothly. After 200 years, the people around them started to believe. The Roman empire was evangelized. It became their national religion. They were utilized to do world missions. There will be a last age. There will be a time when many incidents will take place. God will gradually use us for world evangelization. In Romans 16, it says that all people will know the Gospel. A lot of scientists try to predict the future and make stats. There are already results, but they don’t know. The life cycle of their success is in God’s hands. This world will fall into destruction. However, God will save those who believe in Christ. This is the time schedule for world evangelization.
(Conc)
The Gospel is a revelation of grace. You have to receive it. It’s the revelation of mystery. It’s something that you cannot know with your own eyes and knowledge. How can a virgin give birth to a child? How can a person be revived from the dead? That’s why it is the revelation of mystery. Jesus died for us. These facts are in our own logic. So that is the revelation of mystery and power. Those who hold onto this power will be guided. You are not ashamed of this Gospel. This is from God. Even though we are lacking, He will give us power to raise us up as a summit. It’s not because we are great, but he is guiding us. The one who shares Christ with others, they will receive the greatest blessing of this world. They will receive blessings from this world as well in heaven. There are occasions when you have to reveal yourself. There are things that you don’t talk about with others. Why? They want to share more things. God opened the Gospel and reveals it. There is a hidden intention. He is saying to be with Him. He will make you experience more. That is the meaning. He is making us more special through the Gospel. He will mobilize all things when we preach the Gospel. This is the Gospel that was prepared from long ages past. Now, we have this special grace. Over 3/4th of Christians don’t know about the Gospel. If you look at it from God’s perspective, God only opened Himself up to 10% of people like us. God is alive. He is with us. He is telling us the absolute direction. It’s the Gospel that was hidden. It was revealed one by one. The reaction that we take is on us. It will be revealed how we are centered. This great Gospel will be revealed. Some people think little of the Gospel, but others who repent because of it. It’s a matter of if God has given it to us or not. Faith is a gift from God. He will speak and lead us. God is lending His hand to us. He wants us to go with Him. He will make us fishers of men. Jesus told Paul to share the Gospel to all people. He has the authority of heaven and earth. You will go to all nations to share. There was no one who restrained from boldly testifying Christ. It is the precious Gospel, hidden from long ages past. It was revealed to us. He made a resolution. Once you enter into this, God will take you.
(Prayer)
Dear God, who speaks to us, we confess that we lack faith. May you add more faith. May you give us strength. May we be able to enter into this holy flow. May you lend your right hand of power and reach out to us. May we be emotionally moved by the Gospel. May we live through the Gospel. In Jesus Christ name I pray, Amen.