Sermon(Rev 21:1-8): Jesus wipes away your tears

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025256214

 

>> .... 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. 5 And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment. 7 He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.” (Rev 21:1-8) <<

 

To whom does God show himself, or who can meet God? Is there anyone who knows that? Socrates was a famous and great man indeed, but God didn't appear to such a great philosopher. God does not appear to a man like a Roman Emperor. God manifests himself to a man to impose a heavy great mission on him. God appeared to Moses and Paul and gave them great missions. God comes to those who are suffering and crying in lowly positions. He appeared to the Israelites who had been slaves in Egypt and delivered them. He came to Hagar, Sarah's female servant, to comfort her and to promise her that he would help her. He met Moses and Paul and encouraged them when their work knocked them out. Those who have really met God keep the Christian truth, inform people of God's will, and fulfill with all their strength the good mission God has commissioned them. Therefore those false prophets such as S. M. Moon a heretic in Korea, Mohammed the founder of Islam, and Joseph Smith the founder of Mormonism, who adulterated the Christian truth, had never met the angels sent by God, but evil spirits who disguised themselves as the angels of God. So they made strange theological theories.

 

Sometimes your testimony (your religious experience) could give others great strength and confidence. So some people bravely tell of their religious experience to others although it could look somewhat boastful. I'd like to give you a testimony because it can encourage some people. You cannot step in the priestly world neither by your determination nor by your conviction. You can be a servant of God only after God's calling. I became a servant of God because he had called me. I, who majored in physics in college, prayed to God, expecting an answer from God about my future, or as to what job I should seek. I had the same dream twice at an interval of several days. In the dream, I was going up to a prayer retreat in a mountain with a pastor, a close acquaintance to me. On the way, about the middle of the mountain, he stopped and turned back to me, and saw me and said to me with another voice than before, "This is a holy place, so take off your shoes. Even a gangster becomes God's servant. Is there any law that you should not be a servant of God?" With this word, suddenly I heard from above my head a magnificent hymn of God in a holy and perfect harmony, a melody that I'd never heard before! With the hymn I woke up. After having the same dream twice, I understood this as God's will that I should be his servant, so I decided to enter a graduate school of theology. All went smoothly until I finished the graduate school.

 

After the graduate school, I worked as a jundosa (an evangelist) in charge of religious education of children and teenagers, for a church in the country. I lived in a city then. On Saturday, I packed up my baggage, departed from home, went by bus and train for about three hours, and arrived at the church. I gave sermon to the students (the teenagers) on the Saturday evening, and slept in the church that night. On the next day, that is, on Sabbath day, I preached the children in the Sunday School, then conducted the Choir in the worship-service for adults. And I returned home in the afternoon. I suffered from heavy carsickness on the way to church and back to home, but it was a very nice weekend trip always. And the church gave me much pay, with which I had a wonderful trip every week. Oh, how beautiful days I've had! (But, you students who listened to my sermon, thank you for listening to my boring sermons patiently. Thinking of your kindness, I have prayed to God for you every morning, calling your names, since I left the church. If you've been much blessed by God, perhaps it is because of my prayer for you, I think.) I had a dream in the church at morning of a Sabbath day. I was sitting on a pew in the back of a small church in the basement to participate in the worship of God. And a man in his 50s who had sat on the rearmost pew came to me and imposed his hand on my head for about three seconds, then he returned to his place. I perceived intuitively that he was not the pastor of the church in the dream. It was a dream, but I was so confused that I went to him and asked, "What's your name?" However he answered to me, "Why do you ask my name?" The dream ended there. And on that day, the pastor told a parable in his sermon. The pastor said, in the parable, "Jesus imposes his hand on the saints." I thought that Jesus in a person of a Korean came to me and imposed his hand on me in my dream at dawn of that day. Even now I think his attitude and dignity make me acknowledge that he was the Lord (the Owner) of the churches. He came to Korea to see how small new-established churches in Korea were doing. And he imposed his hand on me during his inspection of churches in Korea.

 

I've made long introduction-like remarks. I hope that those who listen to my testimony may be comforted and have inner confidence about their future. Today's Bible text says that Jesus wipes away tears from the eyes of the saints. Are you shedding tears now? Look at Jesus who comforts you. In the Scripture, Jesus, too, wept while he was on earth. The saints weep while living in the world because it is by no means easy to live in obedience to God's will and his words. Everyone has difficulties living in the world. You might say that rich and healthy people are not in trouble. But they, too, weep if they would go to heaven and obtain a glorious crown, because God burdens them with heavy duties and they should fulfill them. For example, the church, for some reason, needs a lot of donation, and the rich members of the church have to give up some part of their wealth to take up the responsibility, which might be a great pain to them like cutting off of some of their flesh. Humanly speaking, how painful it would be for them? Of course, some believers donate gladly then. That faith is beautiful. However, God rates also it high that they bestow the offering of money to church in the pain of cutting off of their flesh as when Abraham would offer his only son Isaac. Are you silently weeping every day, because your pride was hurt for you haven't been named as a janglo (an elder)? Do you know how hard it is to fulfill the duty of an elder? The burden of an elder is fundamentally different from that of a gwonsa (an exhorter), so you must not try to be an elder if don't want to fall into temptation when you are not up to the position of elder. If you become a general in the army, you'll begin to live in a quite different world. An honorable title requires a lot of tears from you. Therefore you must give thanks to God not only when you become an elder but also when you don't become an elder. Be faithful to your duty at all times, giving thanks to God. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. (v. 4)" When we go to heaven after overcoming all the difficulties that we met while we worked here on earth in a lot of tears for ourselves or our family or for the church whose owner is our Savior Jesus, the Savior will wipe away the tears. There will be no tears at all after that, says the Bible. Of course, the merciful sincere Jesus is with us now, looking after us, comforting us and encouraging us. Surely he wipes away our tears even today. "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. (Mt 28:20)"

 

In order to have a wonderful time with the Savior Jesus in heaven, we must lead a successful Christian life to the end. What should we do now in order that we can meet Jesus with joy in heaven? We can make it if we live a right life of the last days, or a right life of the eschatological age. Apostle Paul tells us about the depravities that the saints must overcome in the last age: "Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. (2 Tim 3:1-5)" Take an attentive look around you. Who is caught in the trap of the last days, or gets the eschatological illness? He who is so rich and healthy that he doesn't have to weep is easily caught in the eschatological trap. He who loved money and earned much money tends to love himself, so he uses the money to increase his pleasure. Such a man is haughty and ungrateful. He spends money for holy appearance, but shows no power of holiness. If you are not moderate in eating and drinking, you'll be obese and get adult disease and modern disease. Likewise, if you have a lot of money in a liberal democratic country, you are more likely to suffer from diseases of (or symptoms) of the last age (the last days) that the Bible diagnose. Are the sufferers only the rich? Poor people also can be no less immoral than the other people in the world if they make up their mind only to become rich, discarding all the good moderate teachings in the Bible. "The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. (2 Tim 4:3-4)" You who are poor must overcome such symptoms of the last days. My brethren, if you do not pray awake and subject yourselves to the words of God, you'll suffer from such diseases of the last days. We can boldly enter the heaven if we overcome this diseases of the last age well and win the victory. In order to overcome the diseases, we must endure the pain of the split of our bones, or sometimes must strive to get over the diseases, weeping in the pain.

 

What is Paul's prescription for this eschatological disease? "As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Tim 4:5)" My brethren, the goal of our life is preaching the gospel. We must focus all our concern on the evangelism to save as many as possible. We can get free from all the symptoms of the last days and become healthy workers of God, and powerful disciples of Jesus, if we turn our eyes away from ourselves to God and set our goal not at the transient pleasure on earth but at the heavenly glorious crown. My brethren, long for the works of Jesus, for in heaven the Master is Jesus. The Master (or the Giver) of the eternal life is Jesus. If you do his works here on earth, you can be his people later in heaven. If you have earned plenty of money, you can enjoy yourself with the money. The Scripture clearly says that a miser too stingy with himself is a fool who does harm to himself. My brethren, enjoy the blessings of wealth moderately, and give thanks to God for them. Nevertheless, my brethren, spend more money for the church of Jesus than for yourself. Never forget that the church is always fighting with the army of the Devil. So be a crusade for Christ who takes part in the keeping of the church and in the expanding of the kingdom of God. Exert your best efforts for the position and work the church entrusted to you. Jesus will receive you into heaven gladly and comfort you later in heaven, because of the tears you have shed while doing the works of God on earth. But how many believers will Jesus himself comfort, wiping away their tears? Do you want to be just one of the people in heaven who clap hands beside Jesus to congratulate other victors? Or, do you want to be a hero or a heroine in glory, honor and victory in heaven, who worked hard for Jesus as his crusade on earth?

 

No crown for you without your cross. Our teacher Jesus who is the God also suffered all kinds of hardships and even wept on earth in order to gain glory. We are his disciples. We must imitate him and win victory. Disciples of Jesus who love him, be free from the symptoms of the last days today, and be his powerful army. "I (Paul) have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Tim 4:7-8)"

 

I pray that Savior Jesus may comfort you, strengthen you, and give you victory.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                                  - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -