Sermon on 25 July 2021 by Elder Lee
Matthew 12:20 - “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.”
Matthew 12:21 - “And his name will be the hope of all the world.””
God takes care of everyone, whether we are strong or weak, whether we are healthy or ill, or no matter how much we serve in church. God doesn’t specially look out for you if you serve a lot in church. Often we give ourselves excuses that we can’t see God. A lot of times, we base it on our own morals to decide what to do. We always forget to seek God’s face. All of us can see God’s face, as long as we are able to come humbly before God, to seek Him, and are willing to repent.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6 - “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”
We can’t see God because the devil has blinded our eyes. We have been misled by many things in the world, like the lust of the flesh, eyes and pride of life. When we come to church to come close to God, it’s not all for our own sake and glory. It is to truly share the gospel to others. If you have such an attitude, you would have a pure heart. Jesus said that those who are pure in heart will be blessed. They will definitely see God. If we read the Bible with a pure heart, the holy spirit will open up our spiritual eyes, ears and heart. Jesus will be knocking at the door of our hearts and entering our hearts. Jesus promised us that if we abide in Him, His words will abide in us.
God will always look out for us until the entire world places their hope in his name. Will this only happen when Jesus returns to Earth? This is a misunderstanding.
Matthew 24:9-14 - ““Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”
In the last days, the Holy Spirit will work so mightily. This is when the end day will come. Now it’s our responsibility that even in such tough times, we have to be the light and salt of the world. If we don’t want the devil to blind our eyes, we only can rely on Jesus. If we don’t have the heart of repentance, the blood of Jesus isn’t able to purify us. If we want to remain as a Sunday Christian, we are not living up to the responsibility that we have. We have to change our bad habits.
1 Peter 2:24 - “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.”
Jesus said that because of your faith, you are healed.
In our lifetime, we will face various challenges and difficulties, at times even feeling helpless, where the road ahead is lonely and full of sufferings.
We can go through long periods of prayer, meditating on the scriptures, seeking God, but still seem to not have any help. We begin to have a doubtful heart, to complain, to be frustrated, just like Job and Elijah, we may wish for God to take away our lives, and to just end everything there.
In the Bible, we have read of many accounts of saints who were once weak and lonely. Like Noah, Job, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Ruth, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, Mordecai, Peter, John, Thomas, Stephen, Paul and many others. They all suffered major life and death trials and challenges.
Thomas did not believe Jesus had risen until Jesus appeared in front of Him. God will give us the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 - “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
God tells us to love Him with all our heart, mind and soul. God tells us to love people like how we love ourselves. God gave us a new commandment to love each other. It is not a one way traffic where God loves us only. Love is two ways.
2 Timothy 1:7 - “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
They were once timid, they once doubted, once struggled. Their faith and courage was not something they were born with, but rather because of always being in desperate trials and challenges, and because of God’s mercy that He has chosen them, they were given the supernatural power from God.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 - “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.””
We are able to receive the saving grace of God, to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, to be chosen to bear the fruit of the spirit, to receive the revelations to understand the spiritual truths, to receive protection and escape death, to have the grace to be called into the Kingdom of God and have eternal life. This is all part of God’s goodness, that even before He created the Earth in Jesus Christ, he had already made all these plans
Hence what we should do, is to humbly obey His will that is filled with His goodness and kindness, to have the complete faith in the full gospel of God, and to love God with all our heart and strength and to have mercy on our neighbours. Then the Holy Spirit and the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, will definitely make their home in our hearts, Emmanuel, God is with us.
John 14:23 - “Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”
His oil of joy will continue to anoint us, to grant us the grace and ability, to be the light and salt of this earth, just like the 5 wise virgins, that whether life or death, we will continue to glorify the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrew 1:9 - “You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.””
Amen.
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