Sermon(Col 1:20-23): To be at peace with God

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025286436

 

>> 20 ... and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, 23 provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (Col 1:20-23) <<

 

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (Jn 8:32)" My brethren, when was the peace between God and man broken? It was when the Devil told a lie to man, so that man accepted it as a truth. He who accepts Devil's words as a truth thinks God's words to be a lie, therefore God breaks off his relationship with the man for he thinks the God a liar. Then today, who is he that makes God and man be enemies each other? It is he who spreads false gospel and who teaches people that something that God hates is a good thing; because God does not keep close relationships with those who reject truth and do not trust in him.

 

What makes God unpleasant about the church in Korea today? God is raged very much that the servants of God are not revered in the society. If you are criticized while preaching the gospel, you deserve the prize of martyrdom. But even all the other sincere servants of God have lost their credibility and honor thanks to some pastors who are full of greed for high positions and honor, who have committed all kinds of illegality to occupy good clerical positions. "Oh, those rotten greedy hired pastors! And their rotten sons who inherited their fathers' churches, and who preach confidently with triumphant expression! Shouldn't you at least have a better character than Buddhist monks who serve idols?" The church in Korea will never be reconciled to God as long as the saints in Korea look up to those who hurt the glory of God. "So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. (Deut 13:5)" Please do not ordain unqualified people to be a pastor. Do not ordain anyone a pastor rashly because he, purchasing a church building, comes to your denomination. A lot of fake doctorate holders appear on TV these days. Pastors have the largest proportion of the fake doctoral degree in Korea. There must be some pastors who have got a doctorate quickly from unauthorized seminaries to which they submitted sloppy dissertations full of plagiarism, I think. Did the saints give you a lot of money so that you may get a fake doctorate? The proverb '가재는 게 편이다(The crawfish sides with the crab), (Birds of a feather flock together)' holds good here. How frequently and easily the self-proclaimed sincere servants of God so generously tolerate illegality, evasion of church law, and falsehood of other pastors! You should openly apologize to the saints, you who, having bought the fake doctorate at high price, boast to the saints, saying, "I'm a doctor of theology," or "I'm a doctor of ministry," or "I'm a doctor of philosophy." As long as the members of the church forgive with love(?) those deceitful pastors who have no intention of repentance, the reconciliation between God and the members of the church has not yet been achieved. Korean pastors, please be servants of God with clean hands. Shouldn't you hold the hand of God with one clean hand and the hands of the saints with the other clean hand? Shouldn't you lay clean hands on the saints when you pray for them?

 

Then who is one who reconciles God and man to each other? He who speaks truth is the one who reconciles God to man. It is never an act of love to cover the chronic sins. It is the act of killing a sinner and the act of making him and God inveterate enemies to each other. Those who are committing sins do not know how wicked and severe their sins are because their heart is severely darkened. They, committing sins, misunderstand that they are loved by God and are at peace with him. They are sure to go to hell. He who reconciles God and man to each other says to a sinner, "You are an enemy of God for you are committing such sins." It's been a long time since the right voice, "This is the wicked sin," disappeared from Korean churches. The prophet Elijah reconciled God and Israel by telling the truth. The prophet Nathan reconciled God and David, because he revealed David's secret sins and rebuked him. There are few, if any, prophets who are courageous like Nathan, these days. Who would say courageously as a fellow pastor to another pastor in the same denomination, "Pastor ㅇㅇㅇ, you should not do that! It's a sin," in order to reconcile him and God? How many pastors would say honestly to the bishops of the Methodist Church or the chairmen of the presbytery who imposed hands on them to confirm their status of pastor, "Reverend ㅇㅇㅇ, what you're doing is against God's will, I think"? He who speaks truth is one who reconciles God and man, and who liberates and frees those who are caught in Devil's trap.

 

At the time of the Exodus, when Israelites were staying in Shittim, they had promiscuous sex with daughters of Moab. The Lord raged at them and killed the implicated people. So the Israelites were grieved, but at this time an Israelite brought a Midianite woman to his tent to have sexual intercourse with her. Now priest Phinehas the grandson of Aaron rose and went to the man's tent and killed both with a spear. And the plague that, caused by God's wrath, had killed 24,000 Israelites ceased. God said at that time, "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace; and it shall be to him, and to his descendants after him, the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the people of Israel.' (Num 25:11-13)" There can be reconciliation between God and man when God's wrath has appeased. He who thoroughly punishes and eradicates evil is one who reconciles God and man to each other. Woe be to those who utter an abominable saying, "It's not love," when someone tries to root up the evil in the church! Forgiveness is a church law that applies only to those who repent their sins and want to live a right life.

 

Jesus said that those who make peace are blessed and are sons of God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mt 5:9)" God the Son is a God having the same divinity as God the Father. He is from the beginning (by nature) the only Son of God. This Jesus Christ is the one who reconciled God and man. He made peace between God and man. First, he told truth. He said also the words, "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (Jn 8:23)" Jesus said of himself, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. (Jn 14:6)" "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Jn 1:17)" At that time, Jesus upbraided hypocritical religioners, saying, "You brood of vipers! (Mt 12:34)" He sternly warned them not to think they would go to heaven, into Abraham's bosom after death. Jesus said to the people of that time, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Mt 3:2)" After all, he defined many people of the time as sinners. Jesus is the One who came to here from heaven, in human flesh. He knows God the Father better than all the other human beings. He taught people that the Father felt pity for publicans, prostitutes, and the poor, and would save them. He teaches us that the Father has mercy on us, loves us, so he wants himself reconciled with us and wants to give us eternal life. If anyone believes Jesus' words as truth, he can quit his enemy-relationship with heavenly Father and have complete reconciliation with him and call him Father.

 

It's not so easy to tell the truth. Why are Paul's epistles true? Because Paul, who wrote the epistles, lived a righteous life in the eyes of God. His epistles are a summary of his righteous life. Would God have made his letters the word of God if he had committed all kinds of dirty sins, yet showing himself as a righteous man to people? No! The epistles of Paul are writings where the truth practiced by him was recorded. Of course, if a fallen pastor gave a wonderful sermon based on the words of Paul's epistle, the sermon would be a truth. If a thief stole a lump of gold, and said to others, "This is gold," his word is not wrong. Nevertheless, if a pastor invites others to do the truth he does not do, his sermon can't have spiritual power. Look here, you, a pastor who secretly commits dirty sins. Almost all men of God around you don't talk about you, but know all your deeds well. So be ashamed of yourself! Your words can't be truth if your life is not a life of righteousness and truth.

 

What I want to say is that those who would reconcile God and man must live a righteous life. The Scripture says Jesus has no sins. He lived a righteous life in order to be the reconciler of God and man, although there were a lot of difficulties on his way. Jesus endured all kinds of difficulties and lived righteously to make 'the truth that he spoke' the real truth. J. Smith, the leader of the heresy of Mor---, had several concubines, but he said to his followers, "You may feel that my life is not righteous, but believe what I've said, because what was revealed to me is a truth." It is a sophistry of him who has sold his soul to the Devil. Can the vision of a man who had lived such a life be a truth? The contents of the revelation of that deceiver are like a comedy, so are not worthy to be mentioned; and we need not listen to his words, considering his unrighteous life itself. S. M. Moon, a religious swindler, too, forsook his faithful old wife and married a very young girl. Therefore you need not be interested in his revelation (his vision in which he said he met Jesus), even a word of his words. His vision is 100% a false revelation. What I want to say is that those who preach the word of God should live righteously. The powerful sermons come from the righteous life of the preacher. Is there any weight in the saying, "Love your neighbors," which a robber and murderer uttered? The word 'love' is very good indeed, but the word 'love' on the lips of the robber is a nonsense. The word of God is the truth indeed, but the preaching that a hired contemptible pastor gives is the lightest saying in the world. You can't reconcile God and the saints while living an unrighteous life. Pastors must be righteous also in the eyes of the secular people. You'd better resign your divine office in order to keep the glory of God, if people cast a suspicious glance at your character. You should open the door of evangelization by showing that truth and righteousness are still alive in the church, although you may suffer some losses then. It is not the attitude of a servant of God not to give up a good position in the church to the end, to the hindrance to the evangelization of the world.

 

Jesus' sayings are powerful real truth because he spoke only truth and lived righteously. He became a reconciler between God and man because he said correctly who God was, and in what condition man was. He expelled all who sold goods in the house of God. He swept away all the sins of the temple. God visits a place where sins are removed, and meets man there. Jesus our Savior offered himself to God as a sacrifice for the redemption for sins of men, or as a peace offering. He offered himself as a sin offering to forgive sins of humans. A sacrificial offering should be without blemish. All humans except Jesus can't be a peace offering or a sin offering to God. Jesus loved all humans, so he bore all human sins and took the responsibility for their sins. How different is he from those who estrange people? There are some people who alienate God and man for their own interests. They are those who say to the manifest sinners, "You're not guilty," so that the sinners pay them all kinds of respect and service, or who, expecting some sin offerings, that is, some money, try to threaten the innocent believers as if to curse them in the name of God (for some unknown sins). To force the saints to donate money in the name of God is an act of estranging, too. We are not in a position to suffer for the sins of others. Therefore we cannot reconcile God and man in the way of crucifixion like Jesus. But we have another way. God hears our prayer if we, living a righteous life, pray to him for others. Moses prayed to God over Israel's sins, and God forgave them. The question is what the righteous life is. A righteous life includes the enduring all with gratitude without complaining about all the pain and hardship in spirit and flesh. If we live righteously and pray to God for others, God will reconcile himself to them. The Holy Spirit will touch them and make them turn around from sins and come to God. And God hears intercession of the righteous for the other people, and forgives them. My brethren, blessed are those who make peace in the world, for they are genuine sons of God. Sons of God will inherit the heaven. A son of God is a true disciple of Jesus, and is one who practices true love.

 

May you speak truth, remove sins from home and church, reconcile God and man and man and man while living a righteous life.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                      - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -