Title Even with Little Power (January 8)
Content span id="writeContents">◆ Main text: Revelation 3:1-19
Like today's hymn, I hope this year will be a blessing to you. When the people of Israel always greeted each other with blessings in the New Year, they said, “Ah~ Shire,” and “I hope God will be with you this year as well.” We will greet the person next to us today. “Ah~ Shire”
There are seven types of churches in the book of Revelation, and only two of these seven churches were praised. There are churches that have been rebuked, churches that have been warned, and churches that have been abandoned. Even though they are the same churches gathered in the name of Jesus, there are churches that have been rebuked and rejected, while there are churches that have only been praised, such as the Church of Smyrna and the Church of Philadelphia. Even though we have the same worship service at the same time, some people's worship is like Abel's sacrifice, there is a worship that God accepts. To say that He is worshiped means that He is a God who accepts our hearts. When we receive our heart, it is said that God takes charge of his life. Everyone, you do not know how great a blessing it is to say that worship is alive. It should be a church that offers living worship like this.
If the church in Smyrna is a church that was praised for martyrdom, the Bible tells us that the church in Philadelphia is a church that accomplished great things with little power. Today, I am going to talk about becoming a church that uses a lot with little power, centering on this verse. What kind of church is that? That is, a church that does not live by her own strength but works by receiving His power can become such a praised church. Human abilities are limited. There are limits to what people can think. We cannot live in this difficult and difficult world with human abilities. What is an act of faith? Although I am few, it is through His power that we live a victorious life in this world.
It happened when I was in a small mountain church on Jeju Island. There was a famous shaman in our neighborhood, and one day the shaman introduced a guest to our church who came to heal him. If you go to that hill, there is a guru. Go and ask him a favor... No, I think he has more abilities... He sent a patient to me. You don't know how mad I have been since then. I didn't have much ability when I was a evangelist, but a shaman sent me, so shouldn't the evangelist be better than the shaman? How hard I prayed... Even thinking about it now, I think I received power back then. Anyway, I have to be better than a shaman... I prayed hard and the patient was healed. Strangely, if you sit over there, you don't say Amen... The patient is healed. "Amen."
Yes, I was very grateful, so I went to the shaman and said thank you. “Thank you for sending us patients like this.” But even now, I can't forget that story. What the shaman would say is, let's do well in the same industry. How funny is that? It still makes me laugh when I think about it while sleeping. “Let’s do well in the same industry as us.” From then on, patients who can't heal are sent to me. I prayed hard. What's really interesting is that in the end, the shaman entrusted me with two sons and a daughter. Although the mother is a shaman, the two sons and one daughter have been diligently sending their children to church, and their children have succeeded in faith. When I left the church in Jeju Island, the members only shed a cup of tears, but the shaman probably shed a drum. When I said what I thought at that time, I said, "Yes, I have little power, but if I pray before God, I can solve anything."
Not only do you have little power and use it alone, but when that little power collides with God's power and works together, great works will appear. It's unavoidable that I can't write because I don't have it, but it's really unfortunate that I can't write even though I have it. Gentlemen, we are made to use the power of God. You are a child of God. Everyone, I hope you enjoy the privilege of being a child of God during this year. God is mine. You must enjoy the privilege of becoming a child of God. Mine is mine, God's is God, and it is not. My father's is mine. This is the privilege of being a child of God.
Philadelphia means “brotherly love”. What kind of church has power? When we jointly confess that we are children of God and as children we also love our brothers of faith, when we feel closer to our brothers who share the blood of Jesus than our brothers who share our fleshly blood, that church can become a living church. that there is. Do you really feel that our brothers of faith who shared the blood of Jesus are closer to us than our brothers who shared our physical blood? When such brotherhood can be felt, the Church comes to life. Confess to the person next to you. “I love you the most in this world.” But why is the tongue so sharp? Ok. At such a time, the church became a vital church. It is said that the Church of Philadelphia was praised for being a church with such brotherly love.
This year, I chose Joshua as the person in our church for a year. May you all be Joshua. Who is Joshua? When everyone else said no, Joshua said yes. Everyone, this year, let's not live according to the world, but live like people of faith. Let's say the world can't do it, but we can. People in the world say it tastes like death, but let's say it tastes like life. Everyone says it's wrong, but let's say we're right. This is what a successful person of faith looks like.
Finally, he says, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Even if you hear the same words, some people hear it as a good story and some people hear it as a bad story. That's weird. Hearing the same story, some people take it as grace, and some don't like it. Your ears should be fine. Everyone, let's hear a lot of good stories this year. Only good stories... Now, please share this blessing with the person next to us. “May your ears be blessed ears.” It should be a blessed ear. No matter where you listen, there are people who only listen to the bad things of others. Look at the person next to you and talk like this. “It’s just like your story.” It is a good story to hear, a happy story to hear, a happy story to hear, and this is not something everyone hears. I hope that your ears will be blessed this year. So, I sincerely wish that this year will be the year of the greatest blessings in your life by hearing these stories, such as happy stories to hear, good stories to hear, lovely stories to hear, and happy stories to hear. We will pray together.
“Thanks and thankful Father God, thank you for being with us. I want this year to be a year where I use my little abilities and make great use of them. Help me to strengthen your power through prayer and, Father God, help them to have a year in which the Word is alive and working. Help them to open their ears of good faith to hear good things. I earnestly pray in the name of Jesus. Amen."