To Achieve a Sincere Heart (2)
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June 24, 2018 |
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"Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22).
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.
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.
"To achieve a sincere heart, you firstly have to achieve goodness that is recognized by God firstly. For this, you should reflect upon yourself with the truth and achieve a broad heart free from changing mind in any kind of situation. Secondly, you should sacrifice yourselves even to the point of giving everything and achieve true love that trusts and believes others". - Excerpt from the Leadership Conference Seminar titled "A Sincere Heart and Perfect Faith"
In the previous edition, we talked about the first requirement to achieve a sincere heart. It is to achieve goodness which is 'good' in the sight of God. To do so, I told you we should reflect upon ourselves based on the truth and accomplish a broad heart that does not change in any kind of situation.
In this edition, we are going to delve into the second requirement to achieve a sincere heart: it is true love. Love may be the topic most frequently talked about even among people of the world. They talk about love and also 'love' someone in their own way. But only in the Word of God can true love be found, and the Word is the standard of love.
The emotion that people of the world call 'love' is mostly based on lust and self-centeredness. It is fleshly love that changes over time. However, true love belongs to God and lasts forever. It is spiritual love and is accompanied with deeds of faith and truth. 1 John 3:18 reads, "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." What, then, should we do to achieve this true love?
1. We should sacrifice ourselves to the point of giving everything just as Jesus did.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
Spiritual love has no evil at all and it is flawless, spotless, and pure. It is to seek only others' benefits. The ultimate level of spiritual love is to sacrifice oneself to the point of giving everything. That is, if you truly love someone, you can give even your life for him/her. In the same way, if you truly love the Lord, your love will never change. Furthermore, you will willingly accept martyrdom with thanks. If one can give up his/her life for the Lord out of love for Him, what else then is there he/she cannot give up for Him?
Many people say they have given their everything for the Lord, but in most cases they did not give all of their 'self'. That is, they still keep the love for the world that the Lord hates. They also have their strong pride, so that they break peace with other people.
In 1969, there was a preliminary match between El Salvador and Honduras during the FIFA World Cup qualifier. After the match, a man committed suicide, and tensions were mounting in the two countries. Both countries had huge fans of soccer, so the match result was closely associated with their national pride. Together with a dispute over their national border, the match led to a war.
The Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras, and it claimed approximately 2,000 people's lives. It was just barely ended by the help of other neighboring countries' mediation.
This incident is called 'The Football War'. It is an example showing that one's pride can bring about a great disaster. Many people may think, 'How could they cause a war just because of their pride?' However, there are many people around us who are on bad terms with their parents or children, with their siblings, with their spouses, or with their neighbors or friends due to pride. They do not want to be the first to apologize, and some even refuse to accept other's apologies.
After I met the Lord, I have loved God and the Lord foremost of all. My love for God is not even comparable with anything in the world. When I read the Bible telling us to do this and not to do that, I did not have any reason to hesitate to obey. No matter how much I liked something and how valuable something might have been to me, I cast it off or got rid of it if the Lord's word said not to keep it.
I have not had any regret over it. I used to have strong pride, but because I love the Lord I could cast away everything that came from my strong 'ego'. Thus, I did not have any conflict with anybody as well as with the Lord. There was no reason for peace to be broken. Just as I did, if you love the Lord, there is nothing you cannot cast away. If you can give even your life for the Lord, you will naturally be able to cast away every form of evil.
Mark 12:31 reads, "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." If you love your neighbor as yourself, you can give everything to them. How much more, then, do you have to love your souls that God entrusted to you and give to them? I have loved the souls who have been entrusted to me by God, as I love myself. I have loved and cherished them more than myself. I have unsparingly given everything and even given myself to them without sparing.
I have prayed with tears for them, fasted for them, and offered up all my heart and body and even my life to lead them to New Jerusalem, the best dwelling place in heaven. I have unchangingly loved them in the sight of God in deed and truth.
True love is not about treating well only those who like you, but it is to love even those who do not like you.
Even evil people love those who like them and give thanks to them. Luke 6:32-33 reads, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same." If you accomplish true love in which you can give and sacrifice your everything, you will be able to love even those who hate you and to do good to those who do harm to you.
Giving only in your own limit is not giving everything. It is not sacrificing everything. Suppose you have enough money. You may help others. But it is not easy to do so when you yourself are in need.
Since the opening of the church, I have helped countless people in need. It is not because I had enough. Of course, God has given me so many blessings that I have not lacked anything, but I stayed frugal and saved money because I wanted to help more people. I saved money by buying less and not eating good and expensive food. I did not keep much money in my account, but I just gave it by faith to people in need. It is because I love them.
The reason I want to lead you to New Jerusalem by whatever it takes is also because I love you. If I want to go to New Jerusalem by myself, I do not have to take the way that is this hard. Of course, I took this way because I love God and the Lord. But another reason is, you. As long as I can lead you into New Jerusalem, I can give up everything and to that extent I love you. I will do so without any hesitation as long as I can enter there with you.
I love you with the heart of the Lord as Moses and Apostle Paul did to their people. I long for the day when we can live together in New Jerusalem. And I love you so much that I can give everything to you. I hope you will love souls entrusted to you and achieve love that can give everything to the Lord. It is true love and a sincere heart.
2. We should believe and trust others.
I said that true love does not change forever and is accompanied with deeds and truth. Trust is basic foundation of the true love. If you truly love the Lord, you will say 'amen' to any and all of His words. You will never give any reason or excuse not to obey Him. You will not think, 'Why did He say that to me?' or 'Did He make a mistake?'
The forefathers of faith who truly loved God trusted God completely, 100%. Abraham the father of faith did not give any excuse nor use any fleshly thought when he was told by God to offer up his only son Isaac as a burnt offering (Genesis 22). He never thought, 'Why did God tell me to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering like an animal? He gave him to me as a seed of promise.' But Abraham did not hesitate with such thinking. He did not even talk to his wife in order to obey God perfectly. It is because he trusted God completely.
1 John 4:20 reads, "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." The same is true of trust in God. If a married couple do not trust each other, how can they say they love each other? Only when they completely trust each other can they say they love each other.
I hope that you will achieve true love in which trust relationship is established between God and you. In other words, you should also gain perfect trust from God as well as you trust Him. If then, God will achieve great works through you. I hope you will quickly accomplish true love based on perfect trust and possess a sincere heart that God wants from you.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, only when you have goodness and true love can you achieve a sincere heart. When you have such a sincere heart recognized by God, perfect faith will be given to you from above. You will not change in any kind of situation and will be able to obey the Word of God 100%. If you pray fervently in addition to this, His power will follow you and you will be able to communicate with God clearly.
If you achieve a sincere heart and possess perfect faith, such fruit will follow you as the fruit of good health, rejuvenation, and financial fruits. God's answers will be given to you in every part of your life. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will quickly achieve a sincere heart and perfect faith and join in amazing ministry of Manmin.
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