The Revelation of Jesus Christ Revelation 1 Rev. Min Chung (Lord s Day Service, Sunday, January 22, 2017)

Transcription

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ Revelation 1 Rev. Min Chung (Lord s Day Service, Sunday, January 22, 2017) 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Introduction The inauguration of a new president of the Unites States in the last week reminds me of the verse: Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. In this verse and at that junction of Israel s history, King Uzziah passed away after being a good king for almost 50 years. The concomitant political instability had people worried, however, as we can observe in this passage, God wanted them to be reminded that He was on the throne and that they had no reason to worry. Although I am neither a fan of Trump nor Clinton, I believe that we must still respect the election process. Next, we briefly examine a few verses that help us to be submissive.

2 Romans 13: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore, whoever resists the authorities what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Authority, as used in this passage, is similar to the one used whenever parents, local church authorities, and teachers are being referred to. Being respectful of our authorities does not necessarily mean that we must agree with everything that governing authorities, for example, say. Specifically, you can disobey them if they tell you to go against the scripture. While we may express our disagreement to governing authorities, we must be careful not to do so in disrespect as they are God-given. The same principles of civility apply to our respect for parents, church authorities, and different institutions that we belong to. 1 Timothy 2: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. There have been very bad governing authorities in history, hence, one thing that we can be thankful for is that we are not under Hitler, for example. Besides, this passage was given by Paul to Christians who were under Nero who notoriously killed many Christians. However, Paul urged the Christians to be thankful and still pray for the governing authorities. Similarly, we must pray for those who are in high positions, including kings and politicians, so that we can lead peaceful and quiet lives in living out our Christian faith. Changes in the law in any place can tremendously hinder the living out of faith and the Gospel proclamation to different people in the world. For example, missionaries may be kicked out of a country due to a law change, thus hindering the gospel. With this in mind, please pray for governing authorities that we can keep our faith and also spread the gospel, expanding the kingdom of God for the glory of God. In summary, remain respectful, even through your disagreement with authorities, but prayerfully go through this period. Pray that during the next presidential election, you would want to vote for Donald Trump because he would have changed so much. Pray that God would use this governing authority for his glory, as Christ is on the throne. For those you know who are in fear and worry, please be sensitive to them and minster to them from this perspective. Chapter 1 of Revelations shows that Jesus Christ is on the throne so that we can live out our faith for his glory. I. About Revelation: Why Revelation is written A. The outline of the Bible Jesus The big picture of the Bible is Jesus. That is, it is Christo-centered. 1. The Old Testament Jesus is coming to save The Old Testament is about the coming of Jesus the Messiah - a prophet, priest, and king who was going to save us. We know that he eventually came, died, was resurrected, ascended to heaven, and will return. 2. The New Testament Jesus came to save and is coming again to judge The New Testament is in the time period between Christ s first and impending second coming. The outline of the New Testament can be split in a threefold manner: a. The Gospels the biography of Jesus Christ

3 The Gospels consist of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and tell the story of Jesus. b. The Epistles the explanation about Jesus Christ The Epistles explain who Jesus is and what he had done. c. The Book of Revelation the victory of Jesus Christ The Book of Revelation says Jesus is going to win and we are on his side. B. The outline of the Book of Revelation The victory of Jesus Christ 1. The introduction: The revelation of Jesus Christ [Ch. 1] 2. The letters of Jesus Christ to the churches [Ch. 2-3] These principle-containing letters were written to the seven churches in Asia minor and presentday Turkey, during the first century. 3. The visions for the church [Ch. 4-22:5] The visions tell of events of the future, as well as things that will continuously happen throughout church history between the first and second coming of Christ. These visions apply to us as well. 4. The conclusion [Ch. 22:6-21] C. The outline of the first chapter of Revelation The revelation of Jesus Christ 1. The purpose of the letter [1-3] The first three verses explain why the book of Revelations is written. 2. The greeting to the church [4-8] Verses 4-8 are a greeting to the church. Apostolic greetings are not a mere hi, rather they start with the Trinity (including Jesus). This gives weight as to how much we need to pay attention to these letters. 3. The commission to write the letter [9-11] In verses 9-11, John first encounters the vision of Jesus Christ, and is told to write the letter. 4. The vision of Jesus [12-20] In verses 12-20, John sees the resurrected, ascended, glorified Jesus Christ. Scattered throughout this first chapter, we notice five pictures of Jesus that help us know Him deeper. In addition, in this first chapter, we can also learn about our identity in Christ because of our relationship with Him. II. About Jesus: Who Jesus is These five things about Jesus that we can learn and then be assured of about who Jesus is for us are now examined. A. Jesus Christ is the One who died, resurrected, ascended, and will return therefore, He is to receive the glory forever and ever Past Revelation 1:4-5 John seeks to talk about Jesus as observed in his greeting. Thus, he refers to the Trinity that Jesus Christ is a part of. Verse 4 mentions the Father, in reference to God the Father, who first appears in Exodus 3:14 as God appeared in a burning bush to Moses and gave His name as I AM. I AM

4 the one who exists by myself. I AM the creator. When you do not have anything, I AM. I AM the one who was, and is, and is to come, who is God Himself. I AM all you need. We notice that each name starts with the word from. This greeting is from first of all, the Father, the Spirit and also Jesus Christ. The second from is in reference to the Spirit as verse 4 says, from the seven spirits. These seven spirits do not refer to seven Holy Spirits, rather, seven is an important number because it originates from the seven days of creation indicating completeness. Hence, the seven spirits means the Holy Spirit working in fullness. For example, Zachariah 4:2 talks about seven lambs, then Zachariah 4:6 says but by my spirit. It was talking about the fullness of the Holy Spirit working in the temple, with the seven lambs representing the spirit which brings grace for the building of the temple. This is symbolic of his empowerment to us so that we can become the temple in which God dwells. The third from is Jesus Christ followed by an extensive description of Him: the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. Faithful witness means he faithfully witnessed God to the people until death. The word martyr comes out from the same Greek word witness, as used here. Next, he became the the firstborn of the dead, as he was resurrected. Importantly, when it says firstborn of the dead, it is not referring to Jesus as the first one to be resurrected, as people were resurrected in the Old Testament, although they died again, unlike Christ. Here, Jesus Christ is resurrected as the firstborn of the final physical and spiritual resurrection that will last forever. Finally, the ruler of the kings on earth insinuates that he ascended to Heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God, which is a place of kingship. He is the ruler of the king of kings. In summary, the first five verses talk about the first coming of Jesus Christ, our foundation. We next examine the following two verses that talk about the present and future. Present Revelation 1:6 Revelation 1:6 says to him be the glory. In other words, because of all these true things mentioned about Him, give Him all the glory, live to praise Him, and worship Him. We are presently living for His glory until He returns. Future Revelation 1:7 Verse 7 talks about the future aspect of Jesus in saying that He is coming with the clouds. We must look forward to His coming. B. Jesus Christ speaks to the churches [10-11] Verse 11 talks about the seven churches. Jesus was speaking to John with messages for those churches. Likewise, Jesus always wants to speak to us. He does not have to, but continuously reveals Himself to, and communicates with us. Also, in terms of location, the seven churches are situated in order of their listing in the verse, as during that time, they read the letter in the sequence of how they traveled to give the letter to the first-century church. Then, some people would memorize the letter or have a hand copy of it. At the church, a pastor or preacher would explain those things so that people can live according to God s word. In addition, the number of the churches, seven, is a common theme throughout Revelation. It signifies completion, fullness, and is originally derived from the seven days of creation. Seven churches represent not just the seven churches mentioned, as there were more churches in the first century. Rather, the chosen seven churches represent all the churches not just in Asia Minor and Turkey, but all of us between the first and second coming of Christ. All the given principles are for all the churches of Jesus Christ.

5 Jesus speaks to us through the Bible. That is why in verse 10, he tells the writer John to record what he saw in a book and then send it to seven churches. It became part of the Scripture so that we can read it even now in the 21st century. In Revelation 1:10, you can see the phrase, I was in the spirit. This phrase is used often in the Old Testament when the prophet receives revelation or vision, to write part of the Scripture. For example, Ezekiel 2:2 says And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. Both prophets of the Old Testament and apostles of the New Testament, were aware when revelation from God, for scripture, came to them. This kind of experience was unique to the Biblical writers but not necessarily to us in the present day. We are capable of being in the Spirit in such a way that we can receive God s word, albeit not in the same manner as in the book of revelation. When the apostle said, I was in the Spirit, he places himself at the same level as Old Testament prophet as a New Testament apostle who is going to write the New Testament Scripture. He was aware that he was in the zone to receive the revelation of God. In verse 10, the phrase, a loud voice like a trumpet means that the voice was clear, rather than a mere loudness of voice. This clear voice was piercing and not ignorable, like a trumpet being played cannot be disregarded. Here, messages would come to John in the Spirit and then he wrote in such a way that the churches could receive it. The take home message here is that God wants to speak to us in the present day even though we cannot receive the revelation like John did. John, however, wrote it in such a way that as we read it, the same Spirit that gave the revelation to John would use those words to us in such a way that Jesus would speak to us through the Bible. Keep on reading the Scripture and meeting Jesus through his word and listen to Him through the word of God. C. Jesus Christ is the Kingly Priest [13,15] These five insights about Jesus have a sequence. Jesus Christ is the foundation, the gospel is there, Jesus Christ is the one who died and resurrected, ascended and will return. Now, he speaks to the church in the present day, so we have to listen. But what happens when we fail? Well, that is why Jesus Christ is the Kingly Priest who is going to help us as we now examine. Verse 13 says in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man. Son of man is a phrase that is used in the book of Daniel 7: Daniel 7: I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:14 is talking about the Kingly aspect of Jesus Christ. Going back to Revelation 1:13, it says, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. These clothes were worn especially by high priests. The phrase translating to robes reaching the feet is not used anywhere else in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament it almost always refers to the robe of the high priest. So, Jesus is not only the King, but a high priest who accomplishes the cleansing of sin for the people. Jesus is not only the Son of man to receive everlasting dominion over all nations as a king, but he is also the final high priest who brings all the priestly work to the temple to an end so that when we fail to live for our King, he will cleanse us, wash us, and help us. In addition, Revelation 1:15 says, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. These bronze feet refer to irresistible strength. And then it says, his voice was like the roar of many waters. He had a majestic, clear voice that cannot be ignored, and can make a lasting impact in us.

6 D. Jesus Christ is the wise judge [14,16] Jesus Christ will return to judge everything. Verse 14 says The hairs of His head were white, like white wool, like snow. Usually when the Bible mentions the color white, it is either referring to purity or wisdom, especially used with head or hair. Here, it is talking about the pure wisdom of Jesus. Unlike in the world where old equals bad and the statement you look old, is more like an insult, according to the Bible, old is equivalent to fantastic. Once God does away with sin and curse, and establishes the new heaven and earth, aging will not have any of these negative connotations. It will only be associated with growing, wisdom, insight, and maturity. This is what John saw in Jesus. He saw Him as the Ancient of Days, so old, so wise, so wonderful, and so beautiful. The Ancient of Days was with all wisdom of eternity and all the maturity and steadiness of age without weakness shown through his age. Besides, verse 14 also says, His eyes were like a flame of fire. This refers to eyes of the sharpest clarity that misses nothing that happens in the universe. They are exploding with energy. There is an emphasis on how He knows everything. He is wise, knowledgeable, and omniscient, and because of these, he can judge. Verse 16 talks about from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, which is in the context of judgment. Isaiah 11:4 - but with righteous he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. People who wonder why there is so much evil in this world must be patient until His return when he would make everything right. Besides, God gives people enough time to repent. E. Jesus Christ is the first and last and everything in between, who is the eternally sovereign God [17-18] Verse 17 says, Fear not, I am the first and the last. Jesus is talking about the beginning, the end, and everything in between. Verse 18 says the living one. That is, He is the one who always existed that is going to have the last words in eternity and history. However, why is he talking about the timelessness and eternity? Well, we get the answer from the other part of verse 18, I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Jesus is saying that he is eternally sovereign and holds everything in his hands. He is going to judge us, but until then, he is going to protect us and guide us, thus we can put our faith in and trust in him, as He is the sovereign Lord of eternity. Next, it is important for us to think about the characteristics of Jesus throughout this chapter because we need to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ. But why? First, let us examine this scripture: 1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. The more and more we see Jesus, the more and more we become like Him. We are changed into His image according to the degree to which we can see Him now. Often, many of us focus on our problems and especially ourselves, instead of looking to Him. So many times we look at the evil and injustice in the society and get discouraged. Many of you might have had a bad year or even a bad weekend making you to look at yourself in discouragement. I say, LOOK UP. Look at Jesus, fix your eyes on Jesus who is the author and perfector of our faith. He will forgive you and strengthen you to go through situations. You can always start over again. He will train you, raise you and use you for His glory. Some of us may get discouraged while ministering to people, including our spouses and children. He is in the process of changing you, your spouse, and your children. Just trust Him and keep on looking at Jesus even when things do not seem positive. Some of you might be tempted and some

7 brothers and sisters in different parts of the world are also experiencing persecuted. Again, fix your eyes on Jesus for just a little while longer. Keep going! Even though ten years of suffering, for example, might feel long, in comparison to eternity, it is quite small. We can persevere if we fix our eyes on Jesus who overcame everything, who endured the cross and carried all the sins of the world and all the wrath of God on Himself. Finally, those of you feeling purposelessness must also fix your eyes on Jesus, such that He will be your purpose. Today, just follow Him and live for Him. At this moment praise Him and do whatever you are doing for Him. I wrap up this point by quoting 21 st century poet, Lady Gaga, who sang in her song, Million Reasons that, There might be a million reasons for you to quit, but there is one great reason to persevere, simply Jesus Christ who is worthy. Jesus is worth it, so keep on persevering. III. About us: Who we are and how we should live Here, we examine five things about who we are because we are in Jesus, and also how we should live. A. His servants [1-2] At the beginning of chapter 1, it talks about how we are His servants. Importantly, we are a part of the chain of Revelation. Let us examine this deeper. There are five parts of the chain of Revelation. God Christ Angel John Servants There is the revelation of Jesus Christ but that revelation is given by God the Father. First, God to Jesus Christ and then, Jesus Christ somehow involves angels. This is why verse 1 says, he made it known by sending His angel. And then from the angel to His servant John, who wrote this book of Revelation for Scripture, so that His servants, the people of the first-century Christian churches, could receive it. Also, we receive it through the same letter that the first-century Christians received. The fascinating thing is that John was considered a servant but was also the one who received the letters. Like John, we and the first-century Christians are servants. John, in the process of receiving the revelation from Jesus and then giving it to the people, is definitely a servant. In fact, the definition of a servant, is one who receives something from God and serves others with what was received from God. Jesus Christ gives to us so that through us, He can give to other people. So many times, people try to do things for other people. While that is great, the best thing we can give to people is Jesus Christ through His word. It is the best way to serve others. Give Jesus to people through various means including teaching ministry and word ministry, either as one who counsels or disciples people. B. Blessed [3-4] What does it mean that we are the blessed people? What do we receive? Verse 4 says, John to the seven churches that are in Asia, Grace to you and peace from Him. Grace and peace are constantly used in the Epistles in the New Testament. Grace is what we receive from God by the means of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. Peace is not just absence of problems, but wholeness. When we receive the grace of God, we are lead to wholeness in Jesus Christ. We can receive these things concretely through His word. Verse 3 says, Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. In those days, the letter carriers sometimes took the letters themselves but sometimes the pastors or leaders of the church often read aloud because they did not have copy machines. In some countries, many cannot read, so they do not have their own Bible. Thus, as someone reads the Scripture or gives sermons, they gain a big listening culture, as well as developed ears. As they go home, sometimes miles away, after a sermon, they would meditate and remember. They memorize and know it. Our culture is not like that as we are so bombarded with many amazing things, but we neither meditate nor think about it even right after we go out of the church, because we have so many other things to look at. But this passage is saying that if you want

8 to be blessed, you should listen to God s word and as you hear it, meditate on it, then it cannot help but to come out through your life, actions, and life choices. Please, read and obey in such a way that you cannot help but give it to the people surrounding you including your family and at your job. I summarize here by saying that so many people are afraid to go into the book of Revelation but we should not be afraid of this book. We must be aware that the book is full of God s blessings and we need to read and understand it as much as we can because blessings are hidden in every portion of the Scripture. We have to read, listen, and keep it, such that we receive these blessings, internalize it into our lives, and then give it to other people, as servants of God. C. Loved by Jesus to represent Him [5-6] Verse 5 says, To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Jesus Christ died for us, bled for us, freed us, redeemed us, bought us back from the slavery of sin so that we can be free and we can continuously be made new. Verse 6 says made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father. We see that the phrase kingdom of priests was also used in Exodus 19:6. Exodus 19:6 And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. The Old Testament predicts the future in utilizing the phrase you shall be. However, in Revelation 1:6, it is written in past tense, made us a kingdom, priests. This means that we are kingdom citizens and that we have the rule of priests. Priests are people who take God to the people through the word and then take people to God through their prayers. We are a kingdom of priests, where kingdom in one sense is not just a territory but almost like a function. We are living under the King and His rule so that one heart at a time, we would expand God s kingdom as priests standing before God, bringing God to others and bringing others to God. This must become our identity being loved by Jesus Christ to represent Him as kingly priests for the glory of God. D. Partner in the tribulation Tribulation, kingdom, and the patient endurance [9] Verse 9 says partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance. John is identifying three pivotal themes in Revelation. There will be suffering, tribulation for Christians, but it is also about the battle of the kingdoms evil kingdom and Godly kingdom. Importantly, it is about the patient endurance by His grace even as things get progressively worse through the centuries. Will America be great? Not according to the Bible and not just America alone, but the world as a whole will get worse, however, we can become greater through Jesus Christ. We will face more tribulations and hardships in our lives. Revelations was written so that it can instruct, train, and get us ready. As parents, we need to prepare children to be tough as there will be the battle of the kingdoms in hearts. We need to know how to fight and grow through worsening conditions. We have to be partners in the tribulation, expanding God s kingdom, and having patient endurance by His grace and His mercy. The word partner is an important word in verse 9, as it contains the word koinonia, which means Christian fellowship. For example, we have fellowship in the church when we share meals together, pray together, play sports together, and play games together as this is our concept of fellowship. However, fellowship also means fellowship in tribulations and suffering together. If someone is suffering in our church, in our small group, in another family, they should never go through it alone. In our hearts and in prayer, we need to suffer together because it is going to be a lot harder as the days progress. Please, learn how to go through things together to expand God s kingdom and persevere until the end.

9 E. In the hand of Christ [20, 13, 16] In the midst of hardships, always remember that we are protected and strengthened in the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 20 says that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. First of all, seven lampstands are the seven churches, from verse 20 relates to verse 13 s, in the midst of the lampstands. This means that in the church of Jesus Christ, he is walking among His church. Jesus Christ is in the midst of lampstands and in the midst of us. You may ask, what are the angels of the seven churches? According to different commentators, there are different theories about what the angels of the seven churches are. Some people say that in Greek, angel could be messenger or actual angels. So they say it is talking about the messengers of God, and that it probably refers to leaders of the church who were reading the letter. Some people say that it refers to little angelic beings because when one looks at the book of Daniel, there were angels in charge of a nation. Similarly, in some places in the New Testament, we know that sometimes there are guardian angels for some people being referred to. This is why some people think it is talking about angels that guard the church. There is a good possibility that this is right as well. Personally, I believe angels is used in reference to God s people in the church. Whether it is in reference to pastors and leaders who are representing the church, or angels who are guarding the church, I believe that stars that you saw in my right hand from verse 20 means Jesus Christ has people in His hands. The reason why I believe this can be found in Isaiah 49:16. Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Hence, His people are in His hands. He is walking in the midst of the churches of Jesus Christ and He has His people in His hands. Jesus Christ is standing among the churches. He is not merely over the churches. He is not distant from the churches, rather He is in the middle of them. He holds each and every one of us in His hands. Our church is one of His lampstands and Jesus Christ is here. He is eager to see us burn with His light by His spirit, shining the light of Jesus Christ into our family, workplaces, cities, and the world. We become brighter as we listen to His word and mediate. The Spirit uses it in us for us to grow, so that we can go out and glow for the glory of God. Conclusion I conclude by talking about my experience in church as an immigrant. I came from Korea to the United States in 1976 and joined a difficult immigrant church. A bad church is one that does not operate according to biblical standards. As a teenager, there were moments when I was really blessed and desired to really hear God s Word, but during the sermons preached in Korean in that church of a small congregation, they would rather talk about social things and immigrant issues in place of the Bible. Desiring to hear God, I often read the Bible during sermons. There were numerous difficulties in many immigrant churches and many leaders were basically people who had stable income and higher societal status, and not necessarily Godly people. After a few years, these churches would encounter problems because the leaders were not qualified spiritually and in their character, often leading to church separation. I urge you not to try to figure out what church I attended. This church separated about three or four times. I remember being in a youth group when I was in my early teens. The church separated and most people went to one church, while my brother and I were in the other church. Once, we were in our apartment and many of the youth group kids from the other church were living in our apartment as well. When a church van would come for pick-up, we would see them laughing and having a good time. In fact, I remember crying as I wanted to be there with them so badly, but I could not do so because our parents fought and the church was separated. My brother cried as well but neither of us wanted to let the other see the tears.

10 After about three or four separations, five families left. One of these families was my family. Once, on the verge of another church separation, a phone call came in, and my father who is now in Heaven, answered the phone, but interestingly, the phone was ringing in the other way as well. Somebody answered and said, Did you call? Did you call? No, no. Oh okay, sorry. And then they hung up. I checked out whether there was a three-way call during that time. Three-way calls, in fact, existed but nobody knew how to use it in the mid-70s. In retrospect, I believe it was part of the miracle of God. The next day, my mother answered, and the same thing happened to another family out of the five families. Another day, my brother answered, and it was another family. It was not until the fourth or fifth day when I answered the phone. I had no idea what was happening. All I knew was that there was a phone call. I answered the phone and one lady from the church picked up. She only spoke Korean and we had nothing in common, so we just said hello and hung up. We discussed as a family on these events. I believe that God was connecting us. Eventually, the four or five families gathered together and thought that maybe God wanted us to remain together. There were a lot of problems after this but we continued together and that church still exists today. I learned a lesson from that incident even though I did not think it was a real church. Then, I sometimes wondered if anyone was saved or blessed during that time. However, looking at that incident, I am reminded that the church was in the hand of Jesus Christ who loves His church. No matter what kind of church background you have, never say negative things about the church of Jesus Christ, because any church I believe is in the hand of God, whether it still exists or not. The institution of the church of Jesus Christ which he bought with His blood, for His use, can still be used by Him to glory Himself, regardless of imperfections. Looking back, did God really use them to expand the kingdom of God in these immigrant churches? I believe so, because so many people became Christians through these churches, including my Father. Some went to church only as a means to meet other Koreans during that time, but again, because the church of Jesus Christ is at the hand of Jesus Christ, he still uses it to expand His kingdom for the glory of God. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus Christ. Let us keep going. Do not you ever quit. There are a million reasons to quit but there is one reason to stay and that reason is Jesus Christ. Throughout history, there was no perfect church, no perfect person, no perfect family, but God still uses all. You are imperfect, just like me, just like this church, but we are in the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is going to use this church. I have been saying it for the last 27 years. God even uses this pathetic imperfect pastor, so God can certainly use you. He is always greater than our sins, flaws, imperfections. He is on the throne and is working in us. He is going to work through us. He is our foundation, our justification, our Savior, and also our forgiver. Let us boast in Christ by His blood that allows us to go on.