To Bear Abundant Fruit as God Promised
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May 13, 2018 |
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"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19)
Dr. Jaerock Lee,
Senior Pastor of Manmin Central Church
Chairman, The United Holiness Church of Jesus Christ
Permanent President, The World Christianity Revival Mission Association
Founder & Board Chairman, Global Christian Network
Founder & Board Chairman, World Christian Doctors Network
Founder & Board Chairman, Manmin International Seminary
Founder & Board Chairman, The Alliance Holiness Theological Seminary
Doctorate of Ministry, and Honorary Doctorate of Divinity
His sermons were broadcast by the Far East Broadcasting Company and the Asia Broadcast Station.
His Christian columns appear in The Chosun Ilbo, The JoongAng Daily, The Dong-A Ilbo, The Hankook Ilbo, The Seoul Shinmun, The Hankyoreh Shinmun, The Kyunghyang Shinmun, The Korea Economic Daily, The Shisa News, and The Christian Press.
He conducted crusades in New York City, Washington D. C., Baltimore, Maryland, Los Angeles, and in Hawaii of the USA; Japan; India; Pakistan; the Philippines; Argentina; Honduras; Peru; Russia; Germany; Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Jerusalem of Israel; and Estonia.
The God of love presents His promise of blessing to all people through the sixty-six books of the Bible. But some people receive the blessings while others don't. Among those who receive the blessings, some receive much while others a little.
What, then, should we do to bear abundant fruit according to God's promise of blessing?
First, we should please God with faith.
Hebrews 11:6 reads, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." This God-pleasing faith is the faith to completely believe all the words of God recorded in the Bible.
It is spiritual faith pleasing to God in which we completely believe in something that seems impossible or that seems to be far from the reality of a situation. Jeremiah 32:27 says, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?" If you believe that God created heavens, the earth, and all things in them with His word and controls human history including life, death, fortune, and misfortune, then no matter what the word of God is, you will be able to completely believe every word of God.
When I opened the church in 1982, the promise of God sounded impossible in reality, but I was assured that everything He said would be fulfilled just as He said. He told us that we would accomplish the world mission and we would build the Grand Sanctuary where all people of all nations would come before and glorify God. I believed every word of His without any doubt.
At that time, thirteen people including the children offered up the Opening Service in a sanctuary of approximately 33 square-meters that had no windows set in it yet. We started it with just seven dollars. There was no fan though it was scorching hot and there was no microphone or piano. But I relied only on God. I only prayed earnestly to God with my church members. I was so happy whenever God answered. God gave whatever we asked for with faith.
When you engrave the Word of God in your heart and completely believe everything regardless of the reality, such faith becomes the way to blessing. Only through such spiritual faith can you experience the work of God and receive the blessing God promised. Moreover, if you have seen, heard, and experienced evidences of God the Almighty, then how could you not completely believe the Word of God written in the Bible!
Second, we should perfect our faith by deeds.
The spiritual faith that pleases God should be accompanied with works as James 2:22 says, "You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected."
If the Israelites had not crossed the Red Sea following Moses, though Moses had parted the sea, they would have been overtaken by the Egyptian army. If the Israelites had not crossed the Jordan River, although the river stopped flowing when the priests stepped in it, they could not have entered the land of Canaan (Exodus 14:21-30; Joshua 3:14-17). Although God promised to give us a blessing and you confessed your faith in it occurring, it's only when you show your faith by works that you can enjoy the blessing.
God opened the way of blessing for us by Jesus Christ and allowed for many ways for us to enjoy blessings recorded in the Bible. The methods were written in the way that He told us to do, not to do, abstain from, and keep things. 1 John 3:21-22 reads, "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."
If you truly believe the Bible, you will act upon the Word in it, cast away sin and evil quickly and do your God-given duties earnestly and faithfully. However, some people seek worldly pleasure though they say they love God. It is because they do not truly believe the Bible. It is not perfect faith, so they burst into anger, hold ill feelings against others, and compromise with untruth for their own benefits.
Without the act of casting off sin and evil and the works of deeds of faith you cannot reap the fruit of blessing God promises. If you sincerely believe the God-given vision and promise, you must pray and ask God to fulfill His promise (Ezekiel 36:37). And when you pray fervently, you will understand what you have to do to fulfill His promise.
Manmin Central Church believes God does not lie nor does He have need of regret, but He fulfills His promise without the slightest error. So, we have practiced what we should do to fulfill the promise of God. We have trained many pastors. We have also trained dancers and singers and formed the Nissi Orchestra because we were aware of the importance of the Christian performing arts culture. We were also aware of the importance of broadcasting ministry, so we have made investment in the broadcasting ministry.
To accomplish all of these things, a tremendous amount of finance, devotion, and sacrifice were needed. Initially we had no finances and no human resources. In fact, they were not in urgent need at that time. However, we prepared ourselves to fulfill the Word of God with faith because we believed that our church would accomplish the world mission according to the God-given word and it would be done before long. What if we had said, "We can't do it now since we don't have the resources. Let's do it later"? What if we had just said, "God, we believe You will achieve it" and then we had done nothing? If we had, we could not have accomplished the world mission to the extent that we've managed to accomplish today.
We have overcome any kind of hardship with faith and tried our best to accomplish the world mission, and we will accomplish the providence of God with approximately 11,000 branch and associate churches. It was the power of God that could stop the Jordan River, but it was the Israelites that had to show the act of stepping in the River and crossing it. In the same manner, we have prepared ourselves in actions to please God with faith in His Word, and now have become capable of doing everything in the Lord.
Third, we should stay patient and show deeds of unchanging faith until we reap.
Galatians 6:9 reads, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." God has allowed us to reap what we sow with faith. But we should remember that we should keep patient and unchangingly show the deeds of faith until the end.
Let's think about what God said to Joshua at the time the Israelites were conquering the land of Canaan. He told them to march around the city of Jericho to conquer it. He told them to circle it once for six days and seven times on the seventh day and to shout with a great shout.
In all common sense, such an impregnable city would not fall just by people's circling it. Moreover, the people were not trained soldiers. It could be very dangerous for such unarmed people to march around the city. But they did not complain but only obeyed what Joshua said. Since they believed God, they followed the Word and acted upon it. God caused the city to fall when they finished circling it 13 times then shouting in complete obedience to Him (Joshua 6:1-21).
God could have let it fall at once, but watched over their faith until the last point. The city would have not been destroyed without the people's perfect faith and their united hearts. The same is applicable to every matter in our lives. We must unchangingly sow with faith and deeds until the end just as Jacob did not let the angel sent by God go until he blessed him even though the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated (Genesis 32:24-32). Only then can we reap the fruit.
James 1:6-7 says, "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord." Some people seem to pray with faith, but when an answer is not received, they may eventually stop asking. They forget the promise of God given to them. When things seem to get worse and go against their prayers, they may lose heart and complain and thereby turn what they piled up into nothing. If you give up in the middle, you cannot reap fruit no matter how diligently you have sown.
Manmin Central Church has consistently experienced revival and developed year by year as we believed and acted upon the promise of blessing. In the course of the growth, however, we have also met with tests that God allowed to us. At times it seemed as if the church would fall. The church's reputation was defamed and the church members were persecuted due to evil people's slander and libel. It seemed as if everything that the church had achieved would fall in an instant. They were seemingly very desperate situations. However, we only gave thanks to and praised God with joy. It is because we believed that God never changes His promise.
Every time we go through the tests practicing truth, God allowed us to dramatically overcome every crisis and give great glory to Him. And indeed, we overcame every kind of hardship with faith and joy and eventually revealed His great glory because we believed Him. Meantime, the church members increased their faith, received blessings both in spirit and body, and got more strength to accomplish the word of the promise given to the church. If we had given up in the middle of the tests and lost heart even for a moment, we could not become what we are now.
When God told the Israelites to conquer the land of Canaan, they could not enter the land immediately. They had to cross the Red Sea and the Jordan River and then conquer the city of Jericho by circling it as well. In the same manner, only when we unchangingly act to achieve the promise of God with perfect belief in the promise can we reap the fruit and glorify God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the almighty God can accomplish His providence transcending human thought and ability though it seems impossible in the sight of humans. If God is willing He can bless anybody no matter what a difficult situation they are in. Sometimes the answer seems to be delayed, but it is just because the prayer title is important and major. That is why it takes more time than expected.
If you are acting in faith, though nothing seems to be happening, God is working in reality. When His appointed time comes, everything will be done in an instant. Although nothing is seen today, the answer could come tomorrow. What we need to do until we receive the answer is to completely believe, act, and reap unchangingly.
I urge you to believe the faithful God, rely on His promise, and act upon it. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so what you sow with faith will come out as abundant blessings and you will bear fruit as rewards in the eternal heaven.
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