Our Fervor
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July 14, 2013 |
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 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
The Apostle Paul said in the epistle to Romans, "For if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8). Making such a remark, he devoted his life to the work of the Lord with great fervor.
Like him, to accomplish the kingdom of God the apostles of the Lord did not consider their lives of any account or dear to themselves. They kept their faith until the end and joyfully died as martyrs even becoming the prey of lions or being beheaded. Since they shed noble blood of martyrdom only with faith in Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire could be evangelized, which laid the foundation of the world evangelism.
Then, as God's saved children, what kind of fervor do we have to show to God in order to lay down everything for the Lord and souls, be faithful until death, and achieve God's will perfectly?
1. Fervor that Comes from Your Love for God
If you love somebody, you will try hard to please that person. In the same manner, if you love God, you will diligently find and do the things that will please God. You will attend the worship services and the prayer meetings, and you will work hard at your God-given duties.
But some people try hard, but not necessarily because they love God. Some people are born with very active characters, while the nature of some others is to be faithful and responsible so they fervently participate in church activities. Still there are others who show their fervor because they want to be recognized by others. In doing things that way, if they do not really see what they are doing, they might deceive themselves into thinking, "I am doing the work of God because I love God."
When you do your church duties, you should check whether you are doing them because you want to earn the praise of other people or because you really love God. Those who are fervent with their love for God, first of all, will seek the heart and will of God and do what God really wants. They do not follow the way they consider good, and they do not try to achieve the goals they desire personally.
If you are doing your duties with true love for God, you will pursue peace with everybody according to the will of God. Also, you will do the 'behind the scenes' and unseen works that are difficult and dirty and you will do them with a thankful heart. Even if you might suffer inconvenience, you will find ways to give comfort to others and serve them with a humble attitude. Even if you are sometimes wrongfully blamed for something that you did with good intentions, you just quietly look up to God.
As explained, I urge you to work more faithfully not to be seen by others or to serve your own purpose, but with true love for God that stems from your heart.
2. Fervor that is Truthful
The fervor that comes from a truthful heart will never change. Some people look very full of grace and appear fervent in their faith, but soon they are nowhere to be found.
Their passion cools down if things are not in agreement with their thoughts or their personal benefit. In other cases, some people begin to neglect their lives of faith because their hearts are captured by financial gain or worldly fame and recognition. But their fervor cools down very quickly if they do not receive the answer in the way they want. We cannot say their fervor was the kind of fervor that is pleasing to God.
The Apostle Paul's fervor for the spreading of the gospel never cooled down during his entire life. Even though he manifested such powerful works through which the lame came to walk and jump, he did not gain any glory or substantial fruit right away. Instead there were people who stoned him and threw him outside of the city wall because they thought he was dead.
In one area, he drove out a demon from a woman, but because of it he was beaten and imprisoned. His people, the Jews, followed him everywhere in attempts to hinder him from spreading the gospel and even vowed to kill him. In the church that he established with so much toil, there was news of adultery and other sins and strife among the members, which caused him to grieve very much.
Some workers betrayed and left him, and some others rejected him saying he was not qualified to be an apostle. He gathered offerings to help the believers and churches in need, and people misunderstood him thinking he was doing it for his personal gain. However, he did not care about any kind of hardship. He was neither tired nor disheartened. He did not complain saying, "Why do I have to go through all this? Why wouldn't the Lord help me?" He never thought like, "How much longer do I have to suffer?" or "I can't take this anymore".
Even after he was almost stoned to death, he left for the next destination of his mission trip right after he regained consciousness. Even after he was beaten, covered with blood, and put in jail, he praised God with a loud voice so his voice was heard by all the inmates. Even when he was in confinement and could not freely go about preaching, he sent letters to each church to reaffirm the faith of the leaders and believers. I hope your fervor for the Lord will be acknowledged by God as being truthful and never-changing like the fervor of the Apostle Paul.
3. Fervor with Gratefulness for God's Grace
The Apostle Paul was so passionate in fulfilling his duty because of the grace that saved such a person as him, for he considered himself to be the foremost of all sinners. Because he worked faithfully with his gratefulness for the grace received, he did not want any praise or reward for his job that he had done so well. Even though he sacrificed and dedicated himself, he thought it was that he did what he had to do, and the grace of God given to him was much greater than anything he could give to God. Also, he said that he could give because God gave him the grace and strength to do it.
As said in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me," he gave all the credit to God's grace alone.
In the past, I was so sick for seven years that I became a burden to my parents and my siblings. Even my mother, who loved me the most among all her children, weeping so much in front of me said that it would be better for everyone's sake if I died. My hope for the future was gone, and I was just surviving each day, completely incapable of doing anything. That is when I met God. God healed me of all my diseases and infirmities at once. Especially, He gave me Heaven. He gave me the happiness of family and financial blessings, and He allowed for me to recover my hope in life.
Since I met God, I was so thankful for His grace that I unsparingly gave everything to God. Eventually I became a pastor, and I could give all my time, money, and even my wife and children before God. For more than 40 years, I have been running this race of faith with the same attitude of heart.
What kind of grace is planted in your heart? We all have many kinds of life-stories. Our serious diseases were healed, many kinds of difficulties were resolved by the power of God, and the problems of our dear children, wives, and parents were solved. But the greatest grace of all the grace that we received is the grace of salvation. It is the grace that we have become God's children by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. I urge you in the name of the Lord that you will engrave such grace one by one and more deeply so that you will become increasingly more fervent day after day.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I also hope you will try your best in this march of faith with love for God, with an unchanging heart, and with your gratefulness for the grace received. In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will eventually dwell in the glory of New Jerusalem.
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