Power (2) Power to Renew the Heart of Man
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August 12, 2018 |
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"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father" (John 14:12).
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.
"Power is the expression of God's love to lead all people of all nations to salvation, and it is a secret weapon to bear abundant fruit in the end time of human cultivation. In addition, God wants us to feel His goodness and love more through this power and resemble Him." - Excerpts from Leadership Seminar "Power"
The power of God is fathomless and beyond the imagination of humans. The basic level of the power is the manifestation of signs and wonders, and the original heart of God embedded in the power is His goodness to give the very best thing, New Jerusalem and His love to save souls. What, then is the most advanced level of power?
The most advanced level of power is to renew the heart of man. It is impossible for humans to change their hearts, but it is possible with the power of God. The power purifies the heart stained with sin and evil and transforms the heart of flesh into that of spirit. In this edition, we are going to look into four typical fleshly attributes that you must and can cast away by the power of re-creation.
1. You Can Cast Away 'Changing Mind' that God Detests.
Flesh changes, rots and decays. The spirit on the other hand, does not change and it is eternal. To the extent that people have hearts of flesh, the more the heart is subject to changing. So, people of flesh cannot fathom and predict even their own hearts.
Suppose you decided to go on a diet starting tomorrow, but when you go to work next day you find out your department is going to have a dinner party. In this case, you might easily postpone your decision to start. Or, let's suppose that you decide to stop smoking after having just one more smoke. So you hold back one and throw the rest of the cigarettes in your trash can. However, after a few hours you need a cigarette and go to the trash can and take them back out.
The Israelites showed this kind of changing mind after the Exodus. When they saw the works of God such as Ten Plagues and the Red Sea being parted, they were pleased. But when they were faced with difficulties, they immediately blamed God. They saw the pillars of clouds and fire and ate manna that God sent, but they still changed their thinking (Numbers 11:4-6, 21:5).
Today's Christians also blame God when they are faced with trials, whereas they were once pleased when they felt like they gained the whole world with joy of salvation. They may have started to work faithfully with thankful hearts, but after a certain period of time passed, they returned to fleshly things. They made a vow of fasting and prayer, but they soon broke it. They made a vow committing to something, but they changed their minds.
You may have said you would do something but you didn't, or you said you wouldn't do something but you are still doing it. This too is changing mind. Check if you discover such an attribute in your heart but you just say it is not a big sin and do not take it seriously. You must cast away this changing mind, no matter how insignificant it appears. When small actions of changing are piled up, a great disaster may come. In the case of Ananias and his wife Sapphira who appear in Acts 5, such calamity is inferred.
They sold all they had and said they would give all to God. But when they were actually about to give it, they did not want to give all. They hid some of it and took the rest to the apostles. Apostle Peter said they had lied to the Holy Spirit and they breathed their last. Of course, it was not just because they lied just this one time that they were faced with such a disaster. They had piled up deeds of lying and changing mind, which led to more grave sins and resulted in this death.
1 Samuel 15:29 reads, "Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." Those who do not change their minds will do what God tells them to do, not do what not to, throw away what to throw away, and keep what to keep. So, they can keep the grace they received without losing joy and thanks and they can lead the Spirit-filled believing life.
2. You Can Cast Off the Cunning Mind by which You Pursue Personal Benefit.
With this cunning mind, motivation for your choice is not in righteousness, but in your benefit. That is why people with cunning mind change their words and actions frequently. And it also leads to lying, changing mind, and betrayal.
For instance, you must not break the vow you have made before God, but some people broke it for their own benefits. It is not only changing mind but also lying to God. It may make them far away from salvation. People with this cunning heart sometimes make crafty schemes to achieve their goals. Besides, they flatter other people in power, avoid responsibility, blame others, take a step back with fear of possible loss or damage when something unrighteous happens, or speak something different from the truth and lie in order to hide their mistakes.
They even take credit for others' work or cause another person to be blamed for their own mistakes with crafty words. They do not frankly confess their wrongdoing or disobedience, but in their cowardice they make excuses. They blame situations, others, and even God. This heart of cunningness and cowardice are serious fleshly attributes and evil deeply rooted in mankind.
Adam, the first man, ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and said to God in Genesis 3:12, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." He blamed the wrongdoing that he had done on God. Even if Eve tempted him, it was he who acted against the will of God. He knew it had been forbidden. Moreover, he failed to guide his wife although he was the head of his family. He should have blamed himself even for it.
People with this cunning heart usually don't admit their mistakes. When they are stuck in trouble, they keep changing their words to avoid difficulties at hand. Even if someone else is mistakenly blamed or even falsely accused for their own wrongdoings, they pretend not to know it. God's holy children must not have this kind of attribute. Moreover, they must keep what they once decided to do and achieve a sincere and upright heart so that others can trust them.
3. You Can Cast Away 'Adultery' That Causes All Kinds of Dirty Sins.
When people do not follow holiness and godliness, they easily fall into the temptation of adultery. Jesus also said in Matthew 5:28, "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Lust derives many kinds of sin and evil. It leads to sensuality and homosexuality and many others. The history of mankind tells us the cities where sexual sins were prevalent were destroyed due to miserable disasters. As seen in the cases, adultery can lead people to destruction, and it must be cast away for sure.
To cast away adulterous mind, you must refrain from lust of the eyes, pray fervently, and control your thoughts and hearts. Once you lower your guard, it can grow quickly. So, you must stay wary of it. You must not stop your efforts to cast it off but try hard until it is completely rooted out. You must not let any minute sign of adulterous mind into your heart. If you prefer to talk to opposite sex, or if you feel good when he/she other than your spouse shows interest in you, or if you want to appear attractive to opposite sex, or if your way of speaking or attitude changes in front of the opposite sex to whom you want to look attractive, you must not overlook your desires and actions.
Also, it is important to keep you away from lust of the eyes constantly until adulterous mind is rooted out. The worldly TV programs, movies, and materials on the internet are straight passage ways leading to lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and boastful pride of this life. Thus, you must abstain from them. If you keep exposing yourself to such materials, lustful elements are planted in your heart and you cannot cast them away even if you do not commit adultery in action.
As Ephesians 5:3 says, "But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints," you must quickly throw away such fleshly elements and put holy things in your hearts. I hope that by doing so you will adorn yourselves as the Lord's brides who are holy, without spot or blemish.
4. You Can Throw Away Your 'Selfishness' in Seeking Your Own Benefits and Loving Yourselves.
1 Corinthians 10:24 reads, "Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor." Romans 14:7-8 says, "For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."
God's love is selfless. It is the love to give His only begotten Son's life for sinners. The fathers of faith realized the depth of God's heart, so they also lived for the Lord and souls. Moses even asked God to blot out his name in the Book of Life as long as his sacrifice could save the Israelites who sinned (Exodus 32:32). Abraham obeyed God even when He told him to offer up his son Isaac who was the seed of God's promise as a burnt offering. After this obedience of his, God set him as the father of faith and expected with great hope many more people to become friends of God like Abraham.
Only with such trust and love can you understand and fathom deeper level of God's heart and even manifest His power. To do so, you must thoroughly cast off the fleshly attribute of 'selfishness' which seeks your own benefits and loves yourself. If you don't cast it off, even if you say you can sacrifice your life for the Lord now, you could change your mind and betray Him.
With the heart to seek your own benefit, you may lie or plot evil schemes. You may stay away from and hate someone who does not follow your will. You may feel hurt when he does not care about you or does not treat you as you want to be treated. You may betray people who you worked with or separate from the group you belong to with other people when it is not beneficial for you. Even if you know what the duty of man is, you may just choose the side that gives you benefits immediately.
Think about situations of married couples, families, and relatives. If you think in their positions and seek their benefits, you may have no problem. But since you think only from your own perspective and seek only your own benefits, you may often feel upset or uncomfortable or you may even argue with them. Moreover, you may put enmity between you and them.
Thus, you must always seek others' benefits and try to empty yourselves in every matter including some daily or insignificant matters, not to mention in such a great work as martyrdom. Then, you can recover the lost image of God and become His true children who please Him.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is impossible to deny oneself and enter spirit and whole spirit by one's own strength. But it is possible by the power of re-creation to renew the heart of man. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will die daily as Apostle Paul did, confidently meet the Lord when He comes again to take us, and later enjoy the exceedingly great glory in New Jerusalem.
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