조영진목사
I thank you truly for inviting us to the States in God's love. Also I give sincere thanks to the love and care of Rev. Cho and the congregation of KUMC.
When we believe in Jesus, we become God's children, his decendents, and get to inherit the God's kingdom. The fact that I accepted Jesus means that there is a way. The way to happiness, victory, and eternal life. Today many people wonder because they don't know this way. I believe the church's mission is to introduce the gospel to people with no purpose in life and change them into Jesus people.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Just as fish can't live outside the water, we can't do anything apart from Jesus.
As we can draw a circle with compass, we can bear fruit only when Jesus is at the center of our lives (John 15:50). Shakespeare of England said that life is a play. Born on this earth, what main character are you playing? Life is like weaving a roll of silk. What kind of silk are you weaving?
During my ministry, God showed me death first. In 1988, 70 children, 40 youth, and 17 young adults were evangelized. In the midst of persecution and affliction, 9 grown ups were evangelized. But 8 of the 9 grown ups died due to their illness. Thankfully, we carried out Christian funeral ceremonies in this place of heavy idol worshipping. God sent us new believers through these funerals. This became a turning point for me to decide to commit my life to only Jesus in this seaport village as long as I live.
There is an order to our births but I experienced that there is no order to our deaths. We should be like the brides, always awake, prepared to receive the Lord, saying "Lord, please come soon" even if he came at this hour today. I pray that all of you will become blessed saints like this.
In the Bible, there are many churches. There are churches in grace and problematic churches like the one in Corinth. There are model churches like Thessalonians and like the church in Sardis being rebuked as 'having a reputation of being alive but dead'. Also Antioch church full of the Holy Spirit and faith but then there is Ephesians church that forsaken the first love. There are growing churches and then ill churches that stopped growing and staying at status quo.
There are churches sighing about being small and not being able to do anything. On the other hand, there are churches small but praying fervently to make miracles happen and witnessing to carry out the gospel ministry. The church in today's scriptures is the church that received praises from the Lord. This church also received blessings from the Lord.
(1) This church had little strength.
There are some people who have amazing strength and power and yet do not achieve anything big. On the other hand, some people who have very little strength still get to do great things.
In verse 8, the Lord says, 'I know your deeds'.
It means Jesus knows how we actually live our faith.
He says he knows if it's real or fake.
He says he knows if it's a lie or truth.
He says he knows if it's a goat or a sheep.
In today's scripture verses, what does it say he knows about the conduct of Philadelphia church congregation?
It says, "I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." They were able to keep their faith and their hope despite the persecution from Jews because of their belief to trust Jesus Christ only, not because of the worldly authority or power.
They prayed to keep their faith.
Prayer enables people.
Prayer keeps our minds away from being fearful.
Prayer is the source of power to change everything.
Prayer has ability to heal.
Prayer brings out an incident. People of the first church prayed with all their hearts and were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Prayer is the key to the heaven's gate and secret source of solving problems (Jeremiah 33:3).
If you pray, God will use you (Elliah).
If you pray, you are bound to receive reply (Hannah).
Therefore, you should always stay awake, not to make the sword of prayer dull and rusty.
The secret to keep the people of Philadelphia church in faith is that they prayed from the bottom of their heart sincerely.
God's history of salvation starts with something small.
Moses' staff.
The miracle of five bread and two fish.
The collapse of Jericho wall.
If God is with you, everything is possible.
Look at David as a boy. David was an extremely small boy. But he stood before Goliath boldly. Israelites were breathing lightly. David relied on only God. He shouted in front of Goliath, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord." (1 Samuel 17:45). The victory of David was due to his faith to trust God.
Philadelphia church had very little visible strength and yet carried out great work. The congregation had nothing to show off in their social status or wealth. But our Lord praised this church. We often think we need big strength to be able to do the Lord's work.
To build a snowman, you start with a fist size snowball. Small drops of water falling from gutter can put a hole through a rock. These proverbs tell us even a very small and trivial thing can result in a wonderful outcome if our due diligence, patience, and passionate effort are there.
A small dynamite can crush rocks.
A stone of 2.5 ton builds a pyramid of 230 meter base and 147 meter height made of 3 million pieces of stones.
Where is the greatness of mustard seed? The mustard seed is the smallest seed of all. But there is life inside the seed. If there is life, it grows. The Lord said that "……it becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32). Do you know the secret to have a victory even with little strength? It is Prayer.
How did Moses win the fight against Amalekites? It was the sincere prayers to God. Just like Elliah, the secret to win over 850 prophets and sorcerers was his sincere prayer. Esther, too, rescued the nation and people from the national emergency situation by fasting and praying to God.
A powerful church is a church that prays. Praying church, God provides the strength. I may be small but God is big. We should all become the enablers of prayer for God's use. Then God's history of salvation and gospel can happen anywhere. I hope that we all pray with all our body and soul, to fulfill the history of the Holy Spirit.
(2) This church kept God's word.
To keep His word means that they obeyed and practiced the words despite harsh circumstances. In verse 8, He praised that "you have kept my word" and "you have kept my command to endure patiently."
The sermon of the mountain Jesus gave concludes with how to practice His words.
A wise man and a foolish man.
The parable of building a house on the rock and on sand.
The man who hears the words and puts them into practice is like building his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. (Matthew 7:25)
The man who hears and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:26)
This means putting the God's words into practice leads to a victorious life.
Jesus, after the forty days of fasting, overcame Satan's temptation using the words as a weapon (Matthew chapter 4).
When Peter was in despair after a futile effort to catch fish all night long, he followed Jesus' instruction to go deeper and then throw the net before finding full of fish.
Philadelphia church congregation is said to have kept His command to endure patiently even in the hour of trial.
There are times when the world is difficult, tiring, and discouraging. Sometimes hardship comes. I hope and pray that we all become like Philadelphia Church congregation to endure till the end to live according to the words.
(3) This church did not deny the Lord's name.
Philadelphia was under the Romans' rule. Roman government persecuted Christianity for 300 years in the name of emperor worshipping. As the persecution continued, some in fear left church and the Lord, Christ and some compromised with other religions or leave the Christianity all together to be part of the world. In the midst of such trials, Philadelphia church congregation did not betray the Lord despite the fact that they didn't have power, authority, wealth, honor, and had very little strength. The challenges Philadelphia church faced was not limited to persecution from outside only. There was a challenge from within (verse 9)--"the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews". The Satan's work to destroy church by arrogance of people claiming to be Jews surfaced inside the church.
Exactly what Satan's synagogue did inside church is not recorded but we can imagine all kinds of means--making factions, fishing for church's weaknesses to expose, blaming others, and eventually keeping the church from growing. Even today, such interference of Satan is continuing. To betray Jesus because of temptation and abundance is greater sin than because of through persecution.
Philadelphia church did a great work with little strength. We, too, possess no more than little strength. However, when we do great things with little strength, God works through that and lead us to a victory.
Blessings given to Philadelphia church
1) He said, "I will keep you." (verse 10) Our Lord says, "I will remember you." No matter how hard and difficult things get, He will protect us like shadow. I hope everyone can listen to this promise. People change. The world changes. But the Lord does not change. The promises the Lord said that He would keep are the promises that will never changer ever. They are the promises of Immanuel.
Example story - Protection of Daniel
I hope and pray that we all win by believing in this Lord's firm promise, the promise worth believing and trusting in. The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not be in want.
Case Story - God's protection in the fear of sleet (for 9 years)
Case Story - tribulation during the church construction, falling
During the church construction, faced with difficulty, had a fall, and gave a sermon on "I will help you." to DahnBee church in Seoul, Mok Dong. The promise is worth believing in. Hope you all believe.
2) It is promised to make a pillar in the temple of my God (verse 12).
Making a pillar means that he would make us into people who are needed, important, and standing firm like a pillar. This is the promise of protection. In the desert, God protected Israelites with pillar of fire and cloud. Those who keeps his faith and does not betray, the Lord will protect their lives. I pray that all of you become pillar like person where you are right now-in your position, location, and situation.
3) He promised to write the name of God (verse 12).
This is saying that he would recognize us. He says that he would write us warrantee papers. It can be interpreted as that he would give us a blank check with his signature on it.
Conclusions
Let us not lament about lack of ability but work diligently. Philadelphia church worked to their best using their little strength. Let us not fault lack of time but work.
A little ant hole can tumble down a big dam. Disobeying and disbelieving in small matter that you may consider trivial can lead to the destruction of faith later. On the other hand, obeying and believing in small things, when they are put on God's hands, can bear so much fruit.
Like Philadelphia church that received praises from the Lord for keeping the faith till the end, even though they were given little strength, I hope and pray that we too keep our faith by praying and believing. No matter how hard and discouraging it may be, let us all receive praises from the Lord. I pray all this in the name of the Lord.
I thank you truly for inviting us to the States in God's love. Also I give sincere thanks to the love and care of Rev. Cho and the congregation of KUMC.
When we believe in Jesus, we become God's children, his decendents, and get to inherit the God's kingdom. The fact that I accepted Jesus means that there is a way. The way to happiness, victory, and eternal life. Today many people wonder because they don't know this way. I believe the church's mission is to introduce the gospel to people with no purpose in life and change them into Jesus people.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Just as fish can't live outside the water, we can't do anything apart from Jesus.
As we can draw a circle with compass, we can bear fruit only when Jesus is at the center of our lives (John 15:50). Shakespeare of England said that life is a play. Born on this earth, what main character are you playing? Life is like weaving a roll of silk. What kind of silk are you weaving?
During my ministry, God showed me death first. In 1988, 70 children, 40 youth, and 17 young adults were evangelized. In the midst of persecution and affliction, 9 grown ups were evangelized. But 8 of the 9 grown ups died due to their illness. Thankfully, we carried out Christian funeral ceremonies in this place of heavy idol worshipping. God sent us new believers through these funerals. This became a turning point for me to decide to commit my life to only Jesus in this seaport village as long as I live.
There is an order to our births but I experienced that there is no order to our deaths. We should be like the brides, always awake, prepared to receive the Lord, saying "Lord, please come soon" even if he came at this hour today. I pray that all of you will become blessed saints like this.
In the Bible, there are many churches. There are churches in grace and problematic churches like the one in Corinth. There are model churches like Thessalonians and like the church in Sardis being rebuked as 'having a reputation of being alive but dead'. Also Antioch church full of the Holy Spirit and faith but then there is Ephesians church that forsaken the first love. There are growing churches and then ill churches that stopped growing and staying at status quo.
There are churches sighing about being small and not being able to do anything. On the other hand, there are churches small but praying fervently to make miracles happen and witnessing to carry out the gospel ministry. The church in today's scriptures is the church that received praises from the Lord. This church also received blessings from the Lord.
(1) This church had little strength.
There are some people who have amazing strength and power and yet do not achieve anything big. On the other hand, some people who have very little strength still get to do great things.
In verse 8, the Lord says, 'I know your deeds'.
It means Jesus knows how we actually live our faith.
He says he knows if it's real or fake.
He says he knows if it's a lie or truth.
He says he knows if it's a goat or a sheep.
In today's scripture verses, what does it say he knows about the conduct of Philadelphia church congregation?
It says, "I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." They were able to keep their faith and their hope despite the persecution from Jews because of their belief to trust Jesus Christ only, not because of the worldly authority or power.
They prayed to keep their faith.
Prayer enables people.
Prayer keeps our minds away from being fearful.
Prayer is the source of power to change everything.
Prayer has ability to heal.
Prayer brings out an incident. People of the first church prayed with all their hearts and were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Prayer is the key to the heaven's gate and secret source of solving problems (Jeremiah 33:3).
If you pray, God will use you (Elliah).
If you pray, you are bound to receive reply (Hannah).
Therefore, you should always stay awake, not to make the sword of prayer dull and rusty.
The secret to keep the people of Philadelphia church in faith is that they prayed from the bottom of their heart sincerely.
God's history of salvation starts with something small.
Moses' staff.
The miracle of five bread and two fish.
The collapse of Jericho wall.
If God is with you, everything is possible.
Look at David as a boy. David was an extremely small boy. But he stood before Goliath boldly. Israelites were breathing lightly. David relied on only God. He shouted in front of Goliath, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord." (1 Samuel 17:45). The victory of David was due to his faith to trust God.
Philadelphia church had very little visible strength and yet carried out great work. The congregation had nothing to show off in their social status or wealth. But our Lord praised this church. We often think we need big strength to be able to do the Lord's work.
To build a snowman, you start with a fist size snowball. Small drops of water falling from gutter can put a hole through a rock. These proverbs tell us even a very small and trivial thing can result in a wonderful outcome if our due diligence, patience, and passionate effort are there.
A small dynamite can crush rocks.
A stone of 2.5 ton builds a pyramid of 230 meter base and 147 meter height made of 3 million pieces of stones.
Where is the greatness of mustard seed? The mustard seed is the smallest seed of all. But there is life inside the seed. If there is life, it grows. The Lord said that "……it becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." (Matthew 13:31-32). Do you know the secret to have a victory even with little strength? It is Prayer.
How did Moses win the fight against Amalekites? It was the sincere prayers to God. Just like Elliah, the secret to win over 850 prophets and sorcerers was his sincere prayer. Esther, too, rescued the nation and people from the national emergency situation by fasting and praying to God.
A powerful church is a church that prays. Praying church, God provides the strength. I may be small but God is big. We should all become the enablers of prayer for God's use. Then God's history of salvation and gospel can happen anywhere. I hope that we all pray with all our body and soul, to fulfill the history of the Holy Spirit.
(2) This church kept God's word.
To keep His word means that they obeyed and practiced the words despite harsh circumstances. In verse 8, He praised that "you have kept my word" and "you have kept my command to endure patiently."
The sermon of the mountain Jesus gave concludes with how to practice His words.
A wise man and a foolish man.
The parable of building a house on the rock and on sand.
The man who hears the words and puts them into practice is like building his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. (Matthew 7:25)
The man who hears and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:26)
This means putting the God's words into practice leads to a victorious life.
Jesus, after the forty days of fasting, overcame Satan's temptation using the words as a weapon (Matthew chapter 4).
When Peter was in despair after a futile effort to catch fish all night long, he followed Jesus' instruction to go deeper and then throw the net before finding full of fish.
Philadelphia church congregation is said to have kept His command to endure patiently even in the hour of trial.
There are times when the world is difficult, tiring, and discouraging. Sometimes hardship comes. I hope and pray that we all become like Philadelphia Church congregation to endure till the end to live according to the words.
(3) This church did not deny the Lord's name.
Philadelphia was under the Romans' rule. Roman government persecuted Christianity for 300 years in the name of emperor worshipping. As the persecution continued, some in fear left church and the Lord, Christ and some compromised with other religions or leave the Christianity all together to be part of the world. In the midst of such trials, Philadelphia church congregation did not betray the Lord despite the fact that they didn't have power, authority, wealth, honor, and had very little strength. The challenges Philadelphia church faced was not limited to persecution from outside only. There was a challenge from within (verse 9)--"the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews". The Satan's work to destroy church by arrogance of people claiming to be Jews surfaced inside the church.
Exactly what Satan's synagogue did inside church is not recorded but we can imagine all kinds of means--making factions, fishing for church's weaknesses to expose, blaming others, and eventually keeping the church from growing. Even today, such interference of Satan is continuing. To betray Jesus because of temptation and abundance is greater sin than because of through persecution.
Philadelphia church did a great work with little strength. We, too, possess no more than little strength. However, when we do great things with little strength, God works through that and lead us to a victory.
Blessings given to Philadelphia church
1) He said, "I will keep you." (verse 10) Our Lord says, "I will remember you." No matter how hard and difficult things get, He will protect us like shadow. I hope everyone can listen to this promise. People change. The world changes. But the Lord does not change. The promises the Lord said that He would keep are the promises that will never changer ever. They are the promises of Immanuel.
Example story - Protection of Daniel
I hope and pray that we all win by believing in this Lord's firm promise, the promise worth believing and trusting in. The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not be in want.
Case Story - God's protection in the fear of sleet (for 9 years)
Case Story - tribulation during the church construction, falling
During the church construction, faced with difficulty, had a fall, and gave a sermon on "I will help you." to DahnBee church in Seoul, Mok Dong. The promise is worth believing in. Hope you all believe.
2) It is promised to make a pillar in the temple of my God (verse 12).
Making a pillar means that he would make us into people who are needed, important, and standing firm like a pillar. This is the promise of protection. In the desert, God protected Israelites with pillar of fire and cloud. Those who keeps his faith and does not betray, the Lord will protect their lives. I pray that all of you become pillar like person where you are right now-in your position, location, and situation.
3) He promised to write the name of God (verse 12).
This is saying that he would recognize us. He says that he would write us warrantee papers. It can be interpreted as that he would give us a blank check with his signature on it.
Conclusions
Let us not lament about lack of ability but work diligently. Philadelphia church worked to their best using their little strength. Let us not fault lack of time but work.
A little ant hole can tumble down a big dam. Disobeying and disbelieving in small matter that you may consider trivial can lead to the destruction of faith later. On the other hand, obeying and believing in small things, when they are put on God's hands, can bear so much fruit.
Like Philadelphia church that received praises from the Lord for keeping the faith till the end, even though they were given little strength, I hope and pray that we too keep our faith by praying and believing. No matter how hard and discouraging it may be, let us all receive praises from the Lord. I pray all this in the name of the Lord.
