Today Pastor Choi talks about Christ’s second coming in three aspects: A. Why He comes again?  B. How will He come again? C. When is it going to be?  In conclusion, he reminds and exhorts the congregation that they must be on the alert in prayer while they await their Savior.

      Watch

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Watch!

Mark 13:32-37    New American Standard Bible (NASB)

³² But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

³³ “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. ³⁴ It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. ³⁵ Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— ³⁶ in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷ What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”

Introduction

According to the Church calendar, today is the first Sunday of Advent.  Advent consists of four Sundays before Christmas Day.  During this Advent season, we remember the spirit of Christmas from awaiting the promised Messiah to witnessing His actual coming as our Savior and Lord.

In the past, God communicated with His people through many means such as nature and people, dreams and visions, signs and wonders.  Today He mostly communicates with His people through the Bible (because the Bible is freely available—the best-selling book in history).  However, when the Scripture was not available, for instance, in the Old Testament times, the primary way of communication was prophets.  For hundreds of years God has spoken to His people through prophets (Hebrews 1:1).  Through the prophets He promised to Israel that He would send them the Messiah who would restore God’s reign on earth.  That promise had been fulfilled 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem.  God sent His Son to humanity.  In fact, that’s what Christmas is all about.  Jesus Christ was born with a mission: to save His people from their sins.  Let me assure you again the very reason for Jesus’ first coming: (as His name says the Lord saves) He came to save humanity from sin and to give them eternal life.

Now, our Lord Jesus Christ lived on earth for 33 years.  Especially, the last three years of His earthly life, He did many miracles, healed the sick, preached the good news, and taught the Word of God.  At the cross He completed the work of salvation: His body was broken so that we may be healed.  His blood was shed so that the wages of our sins may be paid.   The best part is this:  He arose from the dead in order to show us that death is not final.  We do have hope of eternal life.

After His physical resurrection, for the next forty days, the risen Christ repeatedly appeared to His disciples and performed many more miracles.  Eventually, He ascended into Heaven to be seated at the right hand of God.  As He was ascending to Heaven, He promised His disciples saying, “I will come again.”

Since His ascension, 2,000 years have passed.  We Christians still await the fulfillment of His promise.   We are still waiting for His second coming.  In the New Testament Jesus in His own words had already told us about His coming (Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21).  So, it would be foolish of us if we fail to take heed to what He said about His own second coming.  That’s our topic this morning.

Contents

One day Christ’s disciples asked Him about His second coming (Mark 13:4).  Today’s passage is part of His answer to them.  If Jesus were here today in our midst, and if we asked Him the same question (that is, when He is coming to us and what signs we should look for), I doubt that He will change His original answer.  He would give us the same answer and say to us, “I already have given you.  Read My Book—-Mark 13.”   Based on that chapter, I am going to explain to you three parts of His promise of coming:  A. Why He comes again?  B. How will He come again? C. When is it going to be?

A. Why will He come again?  (Hebrews 9:28)

One thing I know about His second coming is this: He will come to judge the world.  It is going to be different from the first time.  When He came first time, it was for salvation for all.  But this time it’s going to be for judgment.  The Bible says He will come to judge the ungodly.  Listen to 2 Peter 3:7:  But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 

Christ will come again for the judgment of the world, not for its redemption.  It is not going to be pretty for those who refuse to obey God.  It is going to be miserable for those who are ungodly.   We don’t have to be afraid of His coming, though, because it is going to be our salvation and deliverance (Luke 21:28).  It is going to be our glorious day to meet the Lord in the air.  Listen again to Hebrews 9:28: so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.  Folks, His coming is great news for us!  Rejoice!   Let’s share this great news with others so that they too can be included in salvation not in judgment, Amen?

B. How will He come again?  (Acts 1:11, Matthew 24:26-27, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

In what manner He will come, first, Jesus said that He will come in the same way as He was taken to Heaven (Acts 1:11).  In other words, as the disciples of Jesus witnessed with their own eyes Him taken up into Heaven, we too will be able to see Him come down with our own eyes.  Furthermore, when He comes, everyone on earth, with no exception, will be able to see Him simultaneously.  It won’t be like: we Americans see Him, but folks in Australia won’t.  Rather, everyone in the world, from America to China, from Antarctica to Greenland, even people in North Korea will be able to see Him at the same time.  How do I know?  The Word of God says so.  Listen to Matthew 24:26-27: So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ²⁷ For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Next, He will come in clouds with great power and glory (Mark 13:26).  He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven (Mark 13:27).  He will come in the clouds with the trumpet sound.  No one will miss His coming.  It’s going to be loud and clear to all ears.  Listen to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.  [play Handel’s Messiah: The trumpet shall sound].

C. When will He come again? (Mark 13:32)

We must know that His coming is the appointed time (Kairos) (v. 33).  It is firmly written in God’s schedule book.  He has every intention to keep it.  Therefore, Christ’s second coming is not a matter of “if” it happens, but “when” it happens.

As far as the exact time of His coming is concerned, no matter how curious you are, don’t waste your time in speculating, because no one knows the day or hour, neither the angels in Heaven, nor Jesus; only the Father knows (Mark 13:32).  In the past 2-3 years, many God’s servants say that we are getting close to His coming.  Don’t blindly believe what they say.  Rather, check yourself with what’s going on in today’s world.  Collect all the news yourself and compare them to the words Jesus has spoken in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21.   Here are some of the signs of the end times that I checked myself in recent months: wars, rumors of wars, nation against nation, earthquakes, famine, darkening of the Moon, persecution against Christians, and false prophets.  Consider also other signs in our society.  Paul the Apostle prophesied about them well in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.

In terms of what we must do while we await His coming, the Lord Jesus commands us not to panic (Mark 13:7), or be deceived (Mark 13:5, 21), nor worry (Mark 13:11).  The first and foremost of Christ’s command for us is to be on the alert [γρηγορειτε]—four times in today’s text (v. 33, 34, 35, 37).  ‘Watch’ in KJV.  By the way, how did the disciples of Jesus understand the word ‘watch’?  Here’s how they understood:  watch means to ‘remain awake’—Oxford Dictionary— ‘for a period of time.’  It is also used in the context of ‘pray.’  So, ‘to be on the alert’ means ‘to watch and pray.’  And, ‘to watch and pray’ means ‘to stay spiritually awake and keep on praying.’

Why do we need to stay awake and pray?  Because, we don’t know the day or the hour of His coming.  He will come like a thief at night (1 Thessalonians 5:2).  Since we don’t know the time of His coming, we relax our attitude and our expectation of His coming.  Consequently, our hearts will get dull to the signs of the times so that we live out our lives as business as usual.  Our hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life.  Another translation (the Message Bible) puts this way—Don’t let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. We must watch lest we live a life of dissipation, our hearts be drunk with the worldly pleasures and wrapped with the worldly cares.  And to those souls, the Lord warns, the day will come upon suddenly like a trap (Luke 21:34—NASB).

Don’t think that His warning is just for some pastors.  It is for every believer in Christ.  Jesus says in v. 37: What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’   Listen again.  But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

Conclusion

Be on the alert.  We can do it, until He comes, Amen?

Next Sunday, we are going to listen again to the Word of God: this time what kind of life we should conduct while we await His coming.

Let us pray.

Today Pastor Choi talks about God’s will in Christ for all God’s children: be thankful in all circumstances.  He shares with the congregation three keys to thankfulness; thankfulness is a choice, thankfulness is a trust, thankfulness is an attitude of worship.

    The Old Man and the Horse

The following is a summary of the sermon:

The Old Man and the Horse [subtitle: three keys to thankfulness]

1 Thessalonians 5:18   New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Introduction

Let me begin with a Chinese folk tale.  It is called “The Horse of an Old Man in a Remote Village.”

Once upon a time there was an old man in a village in the northern Chinese border.  He lived with his only son.  He also owned a horse and one morning his horse was gone.  The village people came to see if he was all right.  They comforted him saying, “We are sorry that your horse is gone.  It is a misfortune!”

The old man responded with little emotions saying, “Don’t be sorry for me.  Who knows if this may turn into a blessing?’

Several months later, the horse came back.  Not only had he returned, he also had brought a beautiful mare with him.  Once again, the village people gathered around and said to the old man, “We are glad that your horse is back with another horse.  Congratulations!  What we thought a misfortune was a blessing!”

The old man replied as-a-matter-of-factly saying, “How do I know if this is a blessing or not?  It may turn into a curse.”

Sure enough.  His word came true a few days later.  While the old man’s son tried to break the new horse, he fell from the horse and broke his legs.  Once again the villagers comforted the old man saying, “We are sorry about what happened to your son.  This new horse is a bad news!”

The old man spoke plainly. “Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse?”

A year passed and China was engaged in a war against a neighboring country.  All the able men of the village went to the war and many of them died.  Only the son of the old man was spared because of his injury.

The morale of the story is this: Do not jump to conclusions too quickly.  No one is wise enough to know how things will turn out in the end.  Only God knows.

Contents

Thanksgiving is just four days away.  As we gather with our families and friends, let us not forget giving thanks to God for all the blessings.  

A pop quiz for you: If you squeeze the entire population of the world down to 10 people, how many of them would actually remember to say “thank you” to you when you do something nice for them?  The answer: only one (10%) [Both statistics and the Bible confirm it].  This is true when things are good.  For bad things, very rarely people give thanks to you and to God [actually we tend to blame God for bad things, don’t we?].  But, God commands us to be thankful in all circumstances; both good and bad.  That’s our topic this morning.

Before I dig deeper, let me read today’s text one more time to you: this time my own translation of the original Greek: in all circumstances and all the time be thankful; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  Some of us already think that it is impossible to be thankful in all circumstances.  You’re right.  In fact, with our own power, we can’t be thankful especially in adversities.  I am here to remind you, though, that God never asks us to do something impossible.  For the things that He asks us to be thankful, He also equips and enables us to do it.  Being thankful in all circumstances is not only possible but also doable [but only in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13)].  I am going to share with you three keys to thankfulness in all circumstances. 

First, thankfulness is a choice.  It is not a feeling.  We don’t thank God only when we feel like it.  We don’t thank God only for good things, either.  In fact, even the people who don’t know God can be grateful for the blessings.   We, God’s children, are different.  We choose to be thankful no matter what (why?  Because it is God’s will).  In the midst of all life’s situations, we choose not to go with our emotions but with our will.  Don’t misunderstand here: when God commands us to be thankful, He doesn’t mean that we should be happy because bad things happened to us.  No, He rather expects us to stay thankful to Him despite bad things and despite our bad feelings.   

There are two words in English we interchangeably use to express our gratitude: ‘grateful’ and ‘thankful.’  Let me point out here that it was rather intentional when the Bible translators chose the word ‘thankful’ over ‘grateful’ in today’s text.  In the Bible, ‘grateful’ is used for only good circumstances, while ‘thankful’ covers a greater territory and is used in both good and bad circumstances.  For instance, we are grateful for a promotion at work.  We are not grateful, however, when we are laid off.  Let’s say we lost our jobs.  We may not be happy; we may be far from grateful for the situation.  However, God still wants us to be thankful.  Remember: we are commanded to be thankful not just grateful.   We choose to stay thankful.  We choose to obey God’s will even when we don’t understand why bad things happen to us.  Thankfulness is a choice.

Next, thankfulness is a trust.  Without God, you can’t be thankful in all circumstances.  Without trust in God, you can’t be thankful at all, either.  Thankfulness begins with the understanding of who God is.  God is all-powerful.  He is everywhere.  He knows everything.  He is the author of time: He sees everything simultaneously; the beginning, the end, and everything in between.   He is the only One who sees the entire picture of our lives.  He knows when we were born.  He sees when we are going to die.  He sees everything in between.  He sees the whole picture of our lives.  That’s why we can trust in Him.  That’s why we can rely on His wisdom.   Remember the story of the old man and the horse?   We humans pretend that we know all about our lives, yet the truth is that we don’t.  We only see a piece here and a piece there.  Without looking at the big picture, we make quick judgments on our situations (either good or bad) and we are bound to make mistakes.  None of us knows how our life will turn out in the end.  But, God does.  Do you believe in God’s faithfulness and goodness?  Then, trust in Him and put everything in His hands.  Defer your judgments to God.  He is the fairest of all.  Trust in His good will that He will cause all things to work together for our good (Romans 8:28).  Thankfulness is a trust.

Lastly, thankfulness is an attitude; the attitude of worship.    

You may wonder: what does worship have anything to do with being thankful to God?  How can worship help me to be thankful to God in all circumstances, especially in bad ones?  

By the way, the worship I am talking about is more than Sunday morning worship services.  Worship can take place, if we choose to, anytime and anywhere; we can worship God when we drive.  We can worship God when we rake the leaves or even in the shower.

This is how it works: worship shifts our attention from us to God.  In worship, we fix our eyes on God and His greatness, not on our problems.  In worship, we remember who God is.  We adore and praise His Holy name and invoke His help for our situations.  In worship we remember who we are; we are God’s children and we call out to our Heavenly Father who cares about every need of ours.  In worship, we encounter the God who is faithful to His children.  In worship we remember God’s goodness and hold unto His promises, not unto our fears or anxieties.

Let me put it a different way.  In worship, we don’t focus on the bad things happening to us.  We focus on God, His greatness, His faithfulness, and His goodness.  Worship helps us to look up to God and trust in Him who makes all things beautiful for those who love Him.  Worship reminds us to trust in God’s ultimate good will for us.  You see, we can be thankful to God only when we trust in Him who turns all the bad things into our good in due time. 

Stay in constant spirit of worship of the Lord wherever you are and whenever it may be, and you will be able to be thankful.   Thankfulness is an attitude of worship.

Conclusion

A well-loved hymn: It Is Well with My Soul—the words were written by Horatio Gates Spafford in 1873.  Mr. Spafford was married and lived in Chicago with his family.  He was “professor of medical jurisprudence of Lind University and he bought a great deal of real estate on the lake front.  Then tragedy struck repeatedly.  First, the Chicago fire of 1871 wiped out his real estate holdings.  Then, in 1873, he planned a family vacation in Europe.  Spafford sent his family ahead aboard the ship Ville du Havre.  Out on the high seas, the Ville du Havre collided with the Lochearn and sunk.  Mrs. Spafford was saved but their four daughters perished.  Spafford took the next boat to meet his wife in Cardiff, Wales, where the survivors had been taken and while sailing past the spot where his daughters perished, wrote It is Well With My Soul.  Their son also died an untimely death in 1880” (Charles Johnson, One hundred & One famous hymns, p. 144).   He lost his five children in 7 years.  [Hymnal #377] Verse 1: When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.  I have no doubt that only his determination to trust in the Lord in the attitude of worship carried him through his life’s tragedies.  

Anyone can be grateful for good things.  Very few people in their own might can be thankful in adversities.  However, God’s people are called to be thankful in all circumstances.   In Christ and with God’s help, we can and will be thankful all the time in all circumstances.  Thankfulness is a choice, it is a trust, and it is an attitude of worship.

Amen.

Today Pastor Choi urges the congregation not to be a fool in the sight of God.   He points out a three-fold error the rich fool made: fixing eyes on the life on earth only, setting his heart on the increase of wealth, and neglecting the welfare of others.  He exhorts the believers to be rich toward God by living with an eternal life perspective, setting their heart on true riches of God, and giving to the poor.

    Don’t Be a Fool

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Don’t Be a Fool.

Luke 12:13-21   New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Covetousness Denounced

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Introduction

Some years ago, I was much into children’s literature all over the world: from Europe to Africa, from India to Korea.  After reading scores of them, I began to notice certain common themes such as ‘don’t be greedy,’ ‘be honest,’ ‘honor your parents’ and so forth.  One of the themes across the board was this: don’t be a simpleton.  Don’t be a fool.   I guess it is a universal lesson for humanity for centuries.  Even the Bible talks about it.  That’s our topic today: don’t be a fool.

Contents

Let me begin with a question for you.

Are You a Fool?

• It all depends.  Some of us would deny that we’ve ever been a fool.  Others may say that sometimes we are but most of the times we are OK.
• One thing is for sure: none of us wants to be a fool, either before people or in the sight of God.
• Definition of “fool”: person without much sense; stupid or rash person (Oxford Dictionary)
• Biblical Definition: person who says there’s no God.  Psalm 14:1: “Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’”  E.g. April 1—Fool’s Day.
• By the way, we all know that the belief in God alone doesn’t automatically make one wise.  We can confess our faith in Jesus until our face is blue, but we can still be a fool.  How?  Here’s how: if we believe in Him with lips only not in action.  The lip-service people in Christ are fools.   You don’t have to take my word for it.   Listen to Jesus (Matthew 7:24-27):  ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
• Jesus, in today’s text, gives us another example of a fool.  We’d better pay attention to this story; because it’s one thing if people call us a fool, but it’s quite another if God calls us “You Fool!” (Luke 12:20).  We sure don’t want to be called by God a fool, right?
• Let’s check it out: the parable of the rich man.  It is a simple story yet its message is powerful: don’t be a fool to God.Meet the Investment Guru
• I must say that the rich man in today’s story was quite smart in the worldly sense back then.  He must’ve been the envy of the town-folks.  I doubt they would ever call him a fool.  In today’s standards, no one would call him a fool, either.  Far from it.  On the contrary, people would seek after his wisdom as a businessman; he would make a conference speaker on investment.
• Here’s why I believe so.  This man did so well in his business (in this case farming).  One year his land produced unusually good crops that would take care of him for the rest of his life (excellent hedge fund manager would he be at Wall Street today and we would invest with him any time, wouldn’t we?).  He did so well that he needed a bigger storage space.  So, he ended up tearing down old barns and building them bigger, setting up a sufficient retirement funds, and he was ready to enjoy many years of relaxation and fun (the joys of eating and drinking).
• The trouble I have with the story is this: why did God call him a fool in the end?  Not just a fool, but “You FOOL!” (with an exclamation point).   Why did God call him that way?  The answer is found in verse 21: (he was a fool because) he stored up treasure for himself but was not rich toward God.  May I say that his life was always about “ME” and never about “GOD”?   His life was full of ME and none of GOD.  I am not the only one who believes so.  Fred Craddock (preacher and commentator) asserts that the man lived totally for himself, talked to himself, planned for himself, and congratulated for himself [Interpretation, Luke, p. 163].  That was the problem: a fool’s life is totally immersed with self and no room for God.  To a fool, everything is about himself and nothing for God.   Fools not only say that there is no God, but indeed they have no room for God in their lives.THE Rich Fool’s three-fold Error
• Here’s my humble analysis on the life of the rich fool.
• He fixed his eyes on life on earth only.  He was well prepared for “many years” of his life on earth. Yet, he wasn’t interested or prepared for the life eternal that never ends.  Remember: this life on earth is four scores if we are strong; soon it is gone and we fly away (Psalm 90:10).  There are things that we have no control over.  Death is one of them.  The eternal life starts afterwards and lasts forever.  The wise ones live everyday with eternal life in mind and prepare themselves accordingly.  Fools don’t.  They may gain the whole world yet lose their life (Luke 9:25).   E.g. Movie–You can’t take it with you.
• Next, the rich man set his heart on the increase of wealth.  A lot of us do, too.   Did you know that there’s a warning from God’s Word on such attitude?  Psalm 62:10 says “though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.”  Why?  Because, the riches in the world can and will fool us with its deceitfulness (Mark 4:19).  They rot; thieves get into them, too.  They are fleeting and uncertain for sure (1 Timothy 6:17).  E.g. Retiree from Lucent Technology lost his over-a-million-dollar assets overnight.  Trusting in material possessions is like trusting in a paper umbrella in the storm.  Listen to what Christ says in today’s text: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15).
• The rich fool was only interested in his own welfarethat he ended up neglecting the needs of others.  The Other’s Welfare (T.O.W.)=100-mine.  A trade-off.   When mine is 100, then zero for others.Rich toward God (Be Wise)
• Let’s think about being rich toward God this time.  If we take Jesus’ warning seriously, we all would desire to be rich toward God.  How do we do this?  By doing the following three things:
• Live your life with eternal life in perspective.   Prepare for the future—eternal life—not just with lips but in action.
• Set your heart, not on riches, but on God and His kingdom.  Seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness first (Matthew 6:33).  Seek after true riches of God: glory, kindness, tolerance, patience, wisdom, knowledge, and grace (Romans 9:23, 2:4, 11:33, Ephesians 1:7).  These are heavenly currencies.
• Increase the welfare of others by decreasing of your own.  How do we do it?  Only one way: give to the poor (Luke 12:33).  The more we give, the richer we will be toward God.  Giving and richness toward God is proportionate.  Remember the welfare equation? [The Other’s Welfare (T.O.W.) = 100-mine].  By giving to the poor, we prepare purses in heaven that do not wear out; by doing so, we keep our “unfailing” treasures in heaven where no thief comes near or moth can destroy.John Wesley’s Way of Living
• Let me introduce a man who was rich toward God; his heavenly account is pretty solid.  His name is John Wesley.  He took Jesus’ word very seriously and methodically practiced it throughout his life.  To him giving was living (and vice versa).  He wasn’t a poor man.  In fact, he was a wealthy man according to the worldly standards.  He said, “Make all you can, save all you can, and give all you can.” “When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart.”  E.g. His expenses for 60+ years remained the same.  He pre-arranged to hire six beggars to be his pall-bearers at his death.  That way, he spent his last £ 6, paying them £ 1 for each).
• Chart: John Wesley’s Way of Living
  

  Year	Income (Annual)	Expenses	To the Poor
  1	47.40 (Pounds)	44.24 (93%)	3.16 (7%)
  2	94.80	44.23 (47%)	50.56 (53%)
  3	142.40	44.24 (31%)	97.96 (69%)
  4	189.60	44.24 (23%)	148.36 (77%)
  Later	2,212.00	47.40 (2%)	2,164.40 (98%)

•  Source: Wesley’s Giving (http://new-wineskins.org/blog/2010/03/john-wesleys-spending-habits/) 

Conclusion

• I hope and pray that none of us would ever hear from God “You Fool!” in terms of our own wealth management.
• Rather, I pray that every one of us would hear from God saying, “Well done, my faithful servant! You are rich toward Me.”
• Go and do like John Wesley did.
• Let’s pray.

Today Pastor Choi encourages God’s people to pray for the persecuted believers in Christ in the world.  He also urges the congregation to take up their own cross and follow Christ. He points out that Christ Himself suffered on behalf of humanity.  We too as followers of Christ must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him for the eternal good for all.

    Church and Suffering

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Church and Suffering

Colossians 1:24  New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

Introduction

Bulletin insert: “I Commit to Pray”— use it to lift up our sisters and brothers in Christ in prayer. [Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body—Hebrews 13:3].

Our topic this morning is Church and suffering.

Suffering is a very unpopular topic to talk about in today’s society; whenever you talk about it, it is almost certain that you will make someone mad, either at you or at God.  In my 25 years of ministry, I preached over 1,000 times.  Yet, only once or twice I spoke about pain and suffering, because people generally don’t appreciate it.  Furthermore, the topic itself is too broad to cover with one sermon; you have to deal with evil in the world (to begin with) and with so many sufferings that don’t make any sense such as school shootings, plane crashes, children’s cancer, and so forth.

This morning, I am going to wise up myself and limit my focus on the Christian suffering; suffering in the context of Church, the body of Christ; the believers’ suffering due to their faith.  Questions or comments on other types of suffering must wait for another time.  Lord willing, I will deal with them later.  So, pray with me now: Lord, open up our hearts and ears to listen to Your truth about Church and suffering.  Amen.

Contents

MY OWN TRANSLATION OF GREEK TEXT

Let me read to you today’s text one more time—this time my own translation with my own commentaries.  Remember: Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter— in a Roman dungeon—not because of his wrongdoing but because of his witness for Christ.

Now I rejoice [keep rejoicing—not liking it, but whenever suffering comes, I take it in stride and with an attitude of welcoming it] in my sufferings [multiple occasions] on your behalf [my sufferings have a purpose in it—they are for you the Church], and I fill [keep filling] up in my flesh [my own share of physical pain] the lacking things of Christ’s afflictions [‘lacking’ means, afflictions will continue to happen to God’s people until God says enough—Revelation 6:11. ‘afflictions’ means unpleasant experiences] on behalf of His body [once again my sufferings are not meaningless—they are for His body], which is the church.

DEFINITION OF SUFFERING

Secular understanding: Oxford dictionary defines as [u] pain of body or mind; [plural] feelings of pain, unhappiness, or etc.  General attitude: avoid it at all costs.

Biblical understanding: in the entire Bible there are 150 entries under ‘suffer,’ ‘suffered,’ ‘suffering,’ or ‘sufferings.’   Only once, it talks about suffering as a consequence of our sins [murder, for example].  It is not God’s will for us to suffer for wrongdoings.  However, there are times and occasions that God wills and considers it worth suffering; for instance, sufferings for Jesus and His Kingdom.  In the New Testament, the believer’s suffering is described exclusively in the context of Christ, Christians, and Church.  E.g. suffering on account of faith in Christ, suffer according to God’s will, suffer while doing what is good / right in the sight of God.  Proper attitude should be like Paul’s: rejoice and take it in stride.

CHRIST THE SUFFERING SERVANT

The Christian understanding of suffering begins with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Did you know Christ Himself was not exempt from suffering even though He was equal to God and sinless?  Why did He suffer, then?  Not because He had done anything wrong, but because God willed His suffering.  It was God’s perfect will for Christ to suffer and die for us.  He suffered vicariously for humanity.  In Isaiah 53, we see Christ the Messiah, the suffering servant.  He was without sin yet suffered on behalf of the sinners.  God sent Him to the Cross to pay the wages of our sin.   On the cross, He had to endure excruciating pain for hours.  Let’s not forget: He didn’t deserve to be punished like that.  Rather, He suffered on our account and on our behalf so that we may go free.  Such suffering, God wills and approves.  Listen more.

SUFFERING WITH A PURPOSE

I already told you that God appointed His only begotten Son to suffer and die on the Cross: not that He didn’t love His son, not that He wasn’t pleased with Him, nor that the Messiah deserved such a punishment.  But that it was God’s will and His plan that were laid out even before the creation of the world.  Here’s the truth.  Christ’s suffering was with a divine purpose.  It was not meaningless or senseless.  Christ the Righteous died for the unrighteous.  It makes no sense in human eyes where the penalty should go to the perpetrator, not to the innocent, yet it sure makes perfect sense to God.  Some of us still grapple with it.  You may call it God’s mystery.  You may even reject the cross and accept only good things of the gospel such as peace, joy, love, and eternal life, yet one thing you cannot deny is that Christ suffered.  The same God expects us to be like Jesus including suffering (2 Corinthians 1:5, 4:10, 1 Thessalonians 3:3).

TWO-FOLD MEANING OF CROSS: suffering and eternal good

“Deny yourself, take up your own cross daily, and follow Me,” commands the suffering Christ (Luke 9:23).  He means what He says.  He is never ambiguous about it.  Neither should we.  Remember: cross means suffering.  Think of the cross in the time of Jesus.  It was a means of public execution.  Everyone understood the meaning of it —public disgrace and hours of excruciating pain that led to death.  As Christ took up His own cross, He commands us to take up the cross of our own—be ready to die for Him and for the sake of others.  We too, as He suffered, have our own share of suffering in our heaven-bound journey.  However, our suffering is not senseless or meaningless.  It too has a purpose.  What’s the purpose?  Eternal good for ourselves and for others.  Imagine a relationship where no one wants to sacrifice themselves on behalf of others.  Imagine a family where no one wants to take the garbage out, cook, do the dishes, or clean the toilet.  Every troubled relationship or nation has one thing in common: no one wants to take up their cross and they blame everybody else for the problems.  Somebody has to take up the cross for the sake of others.

Let’s face it.  When we became a believer in Christ, very few of us signed up for the cross; rather, we signed up for blessings such as eternal life, health, wealth, wisdom, love, joy, peace, and self-control.   Now, we must realize that those ‘good’ things are not the ultimate goal of a Christian (they are benefits, not the goal).  Our ultimate goal is Christ Himself; do whatever He commands, go wherever He leads, and live out His will.  All other ‘good’ things are the byproducts of the cross: they come afterwards not before.  Jesus says, the cross is good for you; take up your own cross and follow Me; in the end, it will benefit all; you, others, and the Church.  Let me tell you one more time: the cross is eternally good for all.  The cross and crown go together. However, the cross comes before the crown.   You can’t have the crown without the cross.

APOSTLES AND THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE NEXT TWO MILLENIA

I already told you that Paul wrote today’s text in prison taking part in Christ’s suffering.  Later, he was executed.   So were all the other apostles; they fully participated in Christ’s suffering by enduring public disgrace, shame, and death: all of them filled up their bodies with suffering on behalf of the Church.

For the next two thousand years, countless believers followed Christ’s steps and filled up His body the Church with their own sufferings, too.  Like Pastor Suta today.  Like an Indian sister in Christ who was attacked with acid that ruined her face.

We call those believers who died on behalf of Christ “martyrs.”—meaning “witnesses” with their own death.  For them, it was worth it all—for the sake of Christ and His Church!

Wherever martyrdom takes place, one thing always happens to the body of Christ; revival and growth.  The opposite is true, too.  History tells us that when there was no persecution or suffering, the Church became corrupt, compromising, stagnant, and even declined.  E.g. one American Christian sect dissuades its followers from meditating on the Cross because it reminds them too much of suffering and pain.  They even removed the crosses from their church decorations.  Is it a coincidence that the Church in America is dying when it avoids the cross by all means?  I don’t like a recent increase of persecutions in America against believers, but in a grand scheme, perhaps God has a different plan to purify His Church through suffering.

When persecution arose against the body of Christ, and when the believers underwent torture, imprisonment, and death, the Church of God stayed pure, strong, and even grew in number.  Today, all around the world, persecutions abound and the Holy Spirit is at work.  The Church is growing leaps and bounds in the midst of suffering.

REALITY CHECK IN AMERICA

Understand the culture we are living in: Get rid of pain/suffering by all means.  E.g. pain killer business—multi-billion dollar business every year.  I understand why non-believers push suffering away from them.  What about the Church?  We too avoid suffering at all costs, do we not?   But, how can we help the people in the world without knowing and experiencing the suffering first hand?  How would we understand the meaning of apathy, sympathy, empathy, and compassion when we have not tasted of suffering at all?

Don’t get me wrong.   I am not advocating needless pain or suffering for the sake of suffering and pain.  Neither am I looking for it for the sake of having it.  Like many others, I myself prefer no suffering and a painless life.  Yet, when it comes down to legitimacy and necessity of pain and suffering in the believer’s life and the life of the Church, if that’s what God has in mind, I am willing to take it.  In fact, God’s Word confirms it.  That’s why I urge you all to be willing to take your own share of suffering for the sake of Christ.  I am thankful that ours will not be as drastic as Christ’s or Paul’s.  Most of us are grateful that God doesn’t consider our faith as strong as Paul’s.   However, all of us have our own crosses to bear.  As long as we take it, let’s take it in stride.

Conclusion

Millions of believers in the world today go through all kinds of persecution because of their faith in Christ.  They rejoice as they fill up their own lives with Christ’s afflictions such as mockery, physical pain, financial loss, and even death.  Let us remember them in our prayers.  Support them financially if you can.  May the Holy Spirit convict us; strengthen our hearts to follow Christ all the way like our brothers and sisters in the world do.

May God awaken our souls and grant us the desire to follow Him with our own crosses.

Let us pray.

Today Pastor Choi talks about life worthy of God’s calling: God the Creator and the Sustainer of all creations has chosen us to be His adopted children before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).  His choice was intentional and He called each of us by name.  The same God calls us to live a life worthy of His calling.  Pastor Choi exhorts God’s people to make God proud through a lifestyle that is worthy of His name.

    Life Worthy of God’s Calling

Following is a summary of the sermon:

Life Worthy of God’s Calling

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (New American Standard Bible)

¹¹ To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Ephesians 4:1-3 (New American Standard Bible)

4 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Introduction

It’s hard to believe that we are already in November.  Two more months to go, and another new year!  In January this year, I designated 2015 to be the year of knowing Jesus.  I encouraged every one of you to get to know Him personally.  I myself was blessed to know Jesus in a newer and deeper level than before.  I pray and hope that all of you made progress in knowing Jesus personally.  Let’s continue knowing Him every day.

Whatever and however we get to know Jesus, one thing we want to make sure is this: to know Him right.   Here’s why: after many years of serving Him in many capacities and doing many things in His name (prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles), there’s a chance that we still could get Him wrong.  E.g. Matthew 7:21-23 “I never knew you.”  We may think that we have known Him well, yet He could say to us in the end of our heaven-bound journey, “I never knew you! Depart from Me.”   Now, none of us wants it to happen to us, right?

Therefore, let us come before Him with humility and a prayer that He would illumine us with the true and correct knowledge that it would bring forth in us the lifestyle of which He would be proud and say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  Enter into the joy of your master!” (Matthew 25:21).

Contents

Please look at the sermon title: life worthy of God’s calling.  I am going to highlight three things here.  First, God who has called us—we are going to ponder on the greatness of God.  Next, we are going to think about the object of God’s call: us. Thirdly, the life worthy of God.

The Greatness of God:  The life worthy of God’s calling cannot begin without the right understanding of how great our God is.  Most of us have a general and shallow understanding of God.  Some believers even call Him “a man upstairs.”  We all know that God exists and He is greater than we are.  But, that’s just about it.  We seldom take time to think or meditate on the greatness of God.

I don’t have enough time to give you a sermon on God’s greatness, so I am going to give you a brief summary of who God is.  First, God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).  He created all the things visible and invisible; every living creature that has breath in it.  By the way, folks, He doesn’t share the credit of creation with anyone else, not even with evolution.  Check yourself.  Numerous times in the Scripture, God claims that it is He alone who willed every single creature, designed them, and created them all (Isaiah 45:8, Revelation 4:11).

God is not only the Creator, but also is the Sustainer.  He gives life and health to all the creatures.  He provides their needs every day, too; food, shelter, and clothing.  He takes care of them all.  E.g. One day, Jesus was talking about worries.  He says when you are worried, lift up your head and look at the birds of the air.  They don’t sow, reap, nor gather into barns, yet the Heavenly Father feeds them.  Look at the lilies in the field, He continues.  They do not toil or spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these (Matthew 6:26-29).  If God cares about the creatures like that, Jesus concludes, how much more He will take care of your needs?  (Matthew 6:30).

Thirdly, God is the One to be worshipped.  He is the only One worthy of our worship and devotion.  Here’s why.   He has created us; He sustains us; He provides every need of ours.  We owe Him everything we have and enjoy.  Therefore, He deserves our total devotion to Him, and we render it in worship.  Look at the first commandment of the Ten Commandments: you shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).  You shall worship Me alone (Exodus 34:14).  We worship God alone, because no one else deserves our worship but God.

Speaking of worship, some people say that they don’t go to church because they don’t get anything from the sermon.  Even though you get nothing out of the sermon, it doesn’t exempt you from worshipping the Lord with fellow believers.  E.g. A history book describes Pilgrims as folks who loved to travel by sea.  Seriously?  They came to America for the freedom of worship.  I am afraid that some textbook writers in future may describe Christians as folks who love to get together once a week to have fellowship; as the folks who love to sing songs; as the folks who love to give offerings.  No, all these are on the surface.  The center of worship is God.  He is the main focus and object of worship.  That’s why even when we get nothing out of sermon, we still worship the Lord.

Let me tell you about the true nature of worship: worship is an encounter with God where we acknowledge who God is in our life (Creator); and we acknowledge who we are before God (Creature).  E.g. Heavenly worship in Revelation 4 & 5.  Every creature, including the 24 elders and four living creatures, along with angels and multitudes of God’s saints, worships God in His throne prostrating before Him (Revelation 5:12-14).  They all declare, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power” (Revelation 4:11).  What about Jesus?  In the same Heavenly worship, they too worship Him declaring, “The Lamb of God who is worthy of power, riches, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).  “He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14).  “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Philippians 2:10).  That’s how majestic our God is.  That’s how great our Christ is.  That’s the Christ we follow and serve.  That’s the God who has called us to be a part of His kingdom.

We are called by God:  Have you ever played “bingo?”  As you play, have you not always desired to be called the winner?  How exciting it is to be chosen!  How much more exciting it is to be chosen and called by God to be in His family!  The sad reality is this: some believers have no idea of this blessing to be called by God.

God has called us from darkness to light; from bondage of sin and death to freedom; from fear to love; from condemnation to forgiveness; and from death to life.  Furthermore, in Christ, He has adopted us into His family and made us His own sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:5).  If God is the King, what would it make us to be?  Princes and princesses, right?  Hello, how many of us feel that way let alone realizing this great blessing?

It gets better.  God’s choice is intentional.  God hasn’t chosen us on the spur of moment.  Rather, He carefully thought it through and executed the adoption.  Listen to God’s Word:  He has chosen us to be His children even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).  Mind boggling, isn’t it?  Yes, long before we were even conceived in mother’s womb, He has chosen us to be His children.  God knows this.  Jesus knows this.  The Holy Spirit knows it, too.  God’s Word confirms it.  Angels know this.  Even the devil and his followers know this.  Yet, do you?  God has not chosen you by number, either.  He knows you by name.  He called out your name and invited you to join the family.  It can’t get any better than that, can it?  Such a God expects us His children to lead a life worthy of His calling.  That leads us to the final part.

Life worthy of God’s calling:  E.g. The story goes that a young boy was brought before Alexander the Great for stealing a horse. Alexander saw how young he was and heard his story and decided he would go easy on him. Getting ready to release him, Alexander asked the young boy, “What is your name?” He replied, “Alexander, sir.” Alexander the Great was furious and asked him again, “What is your name?” The boy, this time with fear in his voice said, “Alexander, sir.” In anger, Alexander the Great threw the boy to the ground pointed at him and said, “Boy, change your conduct, or change your name.”  

Source: http:pastorericsblog.blogspot.com/

Think of the life worthy of God’s name.  We carry the name of Christ.  We are Christians.  Are you proud of the name you carry?  Is Christ proud of you carrying that name?

Let’s not forget: You and I represent God and Christ.  We are His children.  We belong to God.  We belong to Christ.  We are a Christian.  By the way, let’s not be ashamed of being a Christian.  We are living in a society where the mockery and persecution of Christianity is ever increasing.  Let’s not be ashamed of Christ whom we follow.  In fact, if we are ashamed of Him before people, Christ will be ashamed of us in front of the angels (Mark 8:38).  Let’s be proud of the name we carry.  We are a Christian!

Now, God considered us worthy of calling, and the same God calls us to live a life worthy of His calling.   In terms of what entails of the life worthy of Christ’s name, such as humility, gentleness, patience, and love, you can find them in today’s texts.  Do your homework.

Conclusion

Now, I am going to close my sermon with a story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17).

One day two armies gathered for battle: Philistines and Israel.   “The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. ⁴ Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath whose height was [about 10 foot tall]. ⁵ …a bronze helmet on his head,…clothed with scale-armor which weighed [125 pounds] of bronze. ⁶ He also had bronzegreaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. ⁷ The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed [15 pounds] of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him. ⁸ He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” ¹⁰ Again the Philistine said, “…; give me a man that we may fight together.”

⁶ The Philistine came forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.  ²⁴ When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.

One day David delivered a care package for his three brothers who were in the army of Israel. “²³ As he was talking with them, behold, …Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them and said, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”

 ⁴⁰ He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

⁴² When [Goliath] looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.⁴³ [He] said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And [He] cursed David by his gods.⁴⁴ …said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” 

The rest is history.  I want to be that David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).  I want to live a life that is worthy of God’s name and His calling.  I want my God to be proud of my words and actions like He was with David’s.  I pray that all of us live the life worthy of God’s calling.

Amen.