April 16th, 2017
ICA Sunday Pulpit Message
Transcription : MS Word (English)
(Intro)
It’s good to see you. Greet those around you. Have you had a good week? Today’s title is, “God’s Son calls the disciples and commissions them”. Jesus said that He is the resurrection and life. Those who believe in Him would have Life, even if they die. I bless that you will have this faith. In other words, if you are a person of God, you need to believe you will resurrect like Jesus. We cannot forget this faith. We need to remember Easter Sunday. To resurrect means that you were supposed to die. When you talk about death, it correlates with sin. The origin of that sin was Satan. It is Jesus who finished everything. Jesus is the Christ and broke down the power of Satan. That was how Jesus finished everything. He resurrected afterwards. Commemorating this is what we need to do today. It correlates to the eternal. Because we are inside of Jesus, we would be born again. It is a great blessing. It doesn’t matter what religion you believe in, we all die once. If you believe in Jesus, you will be born again. Christianity is not a religion. It is a blessing and love from God. What if the resurrected Jesus comes before you now? What would please Him the most? If He comes to you today, what must you be doing? It is beneficial to ask this question. Let me give you an example. Teachers are the most pleased when their students are getting the best education and succeeding in life. It is the same with parents. They want to see their kids succeed. It is the same with Jesus. The Lord will be pleased with His saints if they live an upright Christian life. We are blessed to the extent to the point where we will please the Lord. This will please Him. In Matthew 10:1, Jesus called His 12 disciples. As He calls them, He gives them authority to drive out demons and heal. Like this, if you live a life of authority, then that would please the Lord. In verse 5, Jesus sends out His disciples. When we raise up disciples, that would please the Lord. If we live like Jesus, that would also bring joy to God’s heart. In other words, if we raise up disciples like He did, that would bring joy. Let us say that He returns to us. When He sees that, it would please Him. Let us say that in our schools and fields, we are raising disciples. That would please Him. Then, He would respond with greater blessings. We all hold onto the same faith. What kind of faith do we have? It is the faith that the resurrected Lord is with us. When we follow the resurrected Lord, we will live a different live.
1. We would experience a different life from before when we follow the resurrected Lord
(1) The life would be more abundant with the fellowship among the saints who are centered on the disciples (Mt 10:1a, Acts 2:42-47)
(2) The life will be more powerful with the answers in the field where spiritual authorities appear (Mt 10:1b, Luke 10:19)
(3) The life will be more systemized with the ministries appointed by the leader (Mt 10:5. Mt 28:18-20)
The Lord is calling out to His 12 disciples. All of us need the same assurance. Therefore, when we confess that we are His disciples, He will pour blessings. You confess that I am the disciple of Christ, and I would follow Him forever. We are not fans of Jesus, but followers instead. When we are able to be firm, that is when the Holy Spirit will guide us. Not only are we people who believe in the Lord, but we follow Him. We must enjoy this. When we confess that He is our Lord and Savior, our identity and background become changed, even though we don’t notice. When we confess so, what will happen? Your spiritual sight and the door of the field will open. In the Early Church, 3000 disciples occurred. According to the teaching of the Apostles, they moved together. They prayed together. They had fellowship. What does that all sound like? In all things, they were able to enjoy abundance. This means that when you hold onto discipleship and forum, then you will receive answers of abundance. Through that, the Lord rejoices and He works. On the other hand, if you gather as a congregation without interest in discipleship and just complain, it is the level of finding comfort. We are those who will learn from Jesus and will be trained by Him. You will be able to have a great relationship with Jesus. As a person of Christ, if you gather together in this manner, then abundance will occur. Jesus gave His authority directly to His disciples. When we utilize this in our fields, we can live a life of power. He gave them the authority to chase out demons and heal the sick. You might say that He might as well just give them an allowance, but Jesus gave these kinds of answers. Why? This authority was absolutely needed. In our fields, there are so many people who are oppressed. There are those who cannot sleep at night and are oppressed. This is an illness. People are seized and have no will. So, God gave us the power and commissioned us. God wants us to help these people and save them. Even amongst people who have success, they suffer. It is not easy for them to reveal this. For the most part, they have the hide this. How can we help them? We need to transform their identity. We need to change it. Those who were once children of Satan need to be helped by us to become a child of God. How? When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will become a child of God. When we pray, holding onto the name of Jesus, God will place people like this. You do not need fancy speaking skills. Just tell them about Jesus Christ. When you confess, you will step into blessings. This is how we can save others. We can expand and live a life of discipleship. The Lord will see us live this kind of life. Why did Jesus have to die and resurrect? It is so we can live this life for Him. Going to heaven isn’t our final goal, it is to raise disciples. If you do not receive these kinds of answers, then you will live a powerless life. These blessings and answers aren’t yours. So, people are anxious. The Bible sounds like it is true, but it never becomes yours. You are more influenced with people around you. So, you are scarred. You live with your own words. He has called us as disciples of Christ. When you confess that you are His disciple, He opens up His doors. Confess that you will share the way of salvation with someone else. When you do so, you will experience His power. The divine power to save diseases will be upon you. I bless you will have this power. A senior deaconess in San Antonio said that she knew someone who had cancer and was suffering in her last term. However, she become healed. That made me happy. This is how the Lord who hears our prayers will heal through our divine healing. This life of abundance has been prepared for you. You will live a powerful life in which illnesses will flee. In the scriptures, the Lord sends out His disciples as apostles. You need to do the same. The kingdom of God will be upon you. He is the Messiah and Savior. He will spread the power of the Gospel. He commissioned the ministry upon His disciples. That is what is taking place. They need to do exactly what Jesus did. They need to follow the Words that Jesus followed. Just like Jesus prayed, they had to follow His ways. There was a missionary named Stanley Jones who did missions in India in the early 20th century. He said that there were 3 traits in Jesus. They were word, prayer and evangelism. However, if these things aren’t expressed, we forget. Unless we share them, they will never become ours. The grace that we receive will not become ours in our nature. In our fields, if we share this, it will become ours. There is a research center in America, National Training Lab. The teacher is teaching a lesson. They say that after a day of lesson, the students only remember about 5% of the teachings. They did another study, and they remember about 90% after reviewing and regurgitating the information. We listen to a lot of messages. There is a reason why things don’t work out for us. It is not a part of our nature. The things that we see and hear will for our nature if we review and regurgitate it. That’s why we need to practice the way to salvation. People might think we are crazy. We need to make it our nature. We need to rejoice in the Lord. This is the correct attitude as we remember Easter Sunday. We will also resurrect. We can be with Him for all of eternity. Every time we look at the Bible, try to find Christ. Try to formulate a question from the pulpit message and answer. There are so few people who have their own personal time of worship and praise. We are too embarrassed to reveal parts of our lives and fake it. Jisu and Jongtae need to come to a determination. Come up with your own prayer topics. Praise every day and do the 3 todays. Go to the field and evangelize. Commit to the word movement. Go on short term missionary trips. This is the life that Jesus lives. This is how He called us. You must remember.
2. Remember that your life is the journey of calling and commission by the resurrected Lord
(1) From Chaldea to Canaan (Gen 12:1)
(2) From Midian to Egypt (Ex 3:10)
(3) From Damascus to Rome (Acts 9:1-22, 22:11, 27:24)
What kind of life are we living? Our life is a journey of calling and commission. He will call and commission. In Genesis 12, He calls Abraham out of his region. He sends him to Canaan. It is a region full of idol worship. He calls him out to a place flowing of milk and honey. This is when he is called to abundance. He lived a life that was centered on himself. Then, he is commissioned out a place for God. You must remember that He has called you. He called Moses in Exodus 3. “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." It is so he can lead God’s people out of Egypt. Where was he when he received the calling? He was in Midian. He lived a life without power. Then, He sends him to Egypt. The power of God is then revealed to Moses. His power will be accessible to us. So, pray on it! “God, give me the power. May I receive this power-filled life, flowing with milk and honey.” When we confess that we are disciples of Christ, we can enjoy this. In Acts 9, God calls Paul. He is walking towards Damascus to arrest Christians. Then, Jesus shows Himself before Paul. Jesus questions him and asks why he is persecuting Him. Jesus said that He as the one you are persecuting. Paul was shocked. God will take those who are persecuted and lift them up. God changed Paul’s nature into a nature of grace. He was so shocked. He thought he was going down a correct path. He was in the wilderness. We need to follow His ways so we can transform out nature. He will call to those who are weak and lacking. We need to be aware of that. People think that titles are given by pastors, but that is not the case.
3. Uncover the blessing that the resurrected Lord is trying to give us
(1) Blessing to become the ancestor of faith (Gen 12:2-3)
(2) Blessing to change the age of this world (Ex 14:30-31)
(3) Blessing to enjoy and see and enjoy heaven (2Cor 12:2, Phil 3:10-11, 3:20)
We need to uncover the blessing given to us without making any excuses or hesitating. God told Abraham that he would become a great nation. Those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you will be cursed. God made him the forefather of faith and the source of the blessing. God gave Abraham the answer of the son. He became a man of love and was changed by God to become a man who can manage an army. He received the blessing of a spouse. We have husbands here. Is there wife who responds to their husband as their Lord? Sarah did to Abraham. Even if you call it a tradition, it isn’t easy to keep. I will elaborate on this at a later time. This is for your children. Those children who do not grow up and will disrespect others if they don’t see this. My eldest is about to get married. There are a lot of people who get divorced. I know a lot of pastors and pastor’s wives who get divorced. As parents, if you don’t show this correctly, your kids will follow after it. Sarah called Abraham her Lord. They received blessings. When he was 150 years old, he was so healthy that he had a lot of sons. He was so healthy. Abraham received this calling. We do not want to yield nor follow. In Ex. 14, it says, “That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians,” God called Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt. When the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord, they saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. That is how Moses changed the generation. He brought about the answer of Canaan. He shattered the power of the Pharaoh. I bless that you will change your age into one with answers. It is possible when you realize that you are called as a disciple through a church. In 2 Corinthians 12, you could see the confession of Paul. He has been called by the 3rd heaven. He was able to see the 3rd heaven. This was how he was able to enjoy the background of heaven. This was how he stood trial before Caesar. He had the nature of heaven. He wished to die early to enter into heaven. The only reason why he wanted to remain here was to do His work.
(Conc)
Through this calling, you will receive grace. He will bless you to live a life of a disciple of abundance. I said that once He calls you, He will send you out. You need to remember that when you receive this privilege, you will be the leader who will change the age. You will enjoy His kingdom on this earth. I bless you will receive realistic answers. Christ has guided you through life. “May you guide me to a life of abundance that you have prepared for me.” Confess that He is your Christ. Pray that He will guide you and give you the authority to break down darkness. Christ called to us, and He has won against Satan. Pray that He will give you a nature of success. Confess that you are His disciple and the evangelist who will save the people.
(Prayer)
Dear Lord, Thank you for calling us. Help us to enjoy your power for success. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen