3rd Spirit, Soul, Body (4)
2004-10-31 | Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee | Gal 5:19-21
Today, in order to become the beloved children of God who possesses eternal life, I will testify to the sins committed by works from the past, namely, witchcraft, enmity, and strife among the “works of the flesh.”
Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Here, death means not only the death of the body, but also the soul of a person falling into hell and receiving the punishment of eternal death.
But a loving God has opened the way for us to salvation. Jesus, who had no sin, died on the cross to pay for our sins. Those who believe in this will be able to escape the punishment of hell and enjoy eternal life in the beautiful heaven. However, it is true that many people misunderstand the providence of salvation through faith.
Jesus has forgiven all sins, so those who believe in it are mistakenly thinking that even if they still live in their sins, they will be saved and go to heaven. However, those who believe in the Lord must turn away from sin and live a holy life (1 John 1:6-7, 1 John 2:4). He thought he was saved because he believed in the Lord, but on the day of judgment, if God says, “You are a liar, you have nothing to do with me,” it would be a big deal.
1. trickery
“Magic” means magic or tactics. Among them, “magic” refers to things performed in shamanic beliefs or divination. There are often people in the world who are shrewd, who say that they can bring blessings or foretell the future through the power of an evil spirit. There are many people who visit these people and wish to make their wishes come true through magical methods.
For example, they make good fortunes about their children who are about to enter college or get a job, or their spouses to marry, and if there is a problem in the family, they go to ask the reason. So when something ominous happens, they use amulets or some secret to avoid it. Some people wear amulets that are said to be efficacious in order to harm their rivals by cursing them or to fulfill their wishes.
But the children of God should never do these things (Leviticus 19:26). To be deceived by these things while claiming to believe in the Lord is to follow the evil spirit that is the enemy of God, so it is a really great sin to betray and oppose God. Also, even for non-believers, using this type of magic is of no benefit, rather, it attracts evil spirits and only causes greater calamity.
In the past, it was often seen that when a disaster occurred due to the work of evil spirits, rites were performed. In these houses, disasters do not disappear, but only things that should always be done. Once the ritual is performed, the evil spirits working in the family are quiet and it seems that they have found peace. But after a while, the previous calamities come back or worse. It is the evil spirits that bring these calamities in order to be served again. Also, if you open your spiritual eyes, you can see that evil spirits are flocking to the person or house with the amulet.
Also, divination does not mean that evil spirits can foretell the future. Since evil spirits also belong to the spirit world, they can read the minds of fleshly people to a certain extent, deceiving them as if they knew the future. It is the scheme of the evil spirit to try to be worshiped and served by people by deceiving them with only temporary blinding and deceit.
Only the living God, the all-powerful God, who is in control of life and death, knows the future and everything, and can give blessings to people. It is the fact that no man can receive blessings from any craftsmanship without relying on God, and conversely, it will only bring calamity.
By the way, the word “magic” does not only refer to the technique of dealing with evil spirits, but also includes tactics, in other words, tricks, tricks, and tricks to entice others with clever lies.
As you go through life, you will see a lot of things that use evil schemes to intercept or trap others. A man named Haman in the Old Testament book of Esther also plots a scheme to destroy Mordecai and the entire Jewish people. Also, you can see that Daniel was greatly favored by the king, and the envy of his servants plotted a scheme and threw Daniel into the lions’ den.
However, because God protected the people of Judah, Mordecai and the people of Judah were saved, but rather the wicked Haman was put to death. Also, even though Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den, God kept him, and the servants who framed him became food for the lions. In this way, devising evil schemes and harming others is a remarkable work of the flesh, which leads to self-destruction, and moreover, will result in the judgment of a just God (Proverbs 26:27).
The important thing to remember here is that if God’s children walk the right way, they will not be deceived even if evil people try to deceive them by using scheming. Among the saints, there are often cases where they are deceived by tricks and suffer great damage, such as being deceived. But fundamentally, this is because greed is mobilized to break the truth and go beyond the norm. If the saints walk the right path without pursuing their greed, they will not be deceived no matter how plausible the other person is. Also, even if evil people try to harm the saints by plotting them, God protects them when they walk in the right way, preventing damage and working together for good in everything.
2. Enemies
“Making enemies” means holding a grudge against the other person, wishing the other party to be ruined, and making it happen. When a person harbors evil feelings toward a person whom he does not agree with, he turns away from him and even hates him. If it goes too far, emotions explode and even try to harm you.
The people of the world think that it is righteous to repay one’s enemies with evil if the other has done evil. But God said, “Love your enemies too” and “overcome evil with good.” No matter how much the other person has done me wrong, I can forgive them whenever I think of the love of the Lord who died on the cross for sinners and saved me.
Pastor Yang-won Son, who is called the “atomic bomb of love,” was imprisoned for refusing to worship a shrine during the Japanese colonial era, and as a martyr during the Korean War, even adopted a murderer who killed his two sons. said to have been given.
At the time of the Yeosun Incident in 1948, Pastor Yang-won Son’s two sons were captured by the rebels and forced to deny the Lord’s name. While leading the revival meeting, the pastor heard the news and said that he finished the sermon without any disturbance. They say that they only thanked God when they heard that their two grown sons had died.
The pastor said that when his two sons were martyred, he offered ten prayers of thanks. “First, I am grateful for the fact that a child of martyrdom was born out of the lineage of a person with flaws like me. Second, thank you for giving these treasures to our humble home among the many saints. Third, I am grateful for the opportunity to dedicate the most beautiful eldest and second son among three sons and three daughters to God. Fourth, it is difficult for one son to be martyred, but we are thankful that two sons were martyred. Fifth, it is a great blessing to die in peace while believing in Jesus. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy the glory of being shot and martyred while preaching the gospel. Sixth, they were preparing to study in the United States, but I am thankful that they went to a better heaven than the United States. Seventh, thank you for giving me the heart to make the enemy who shot the two sons my son. Eighth, thank you for believing that countless fruits of heaven will be produced through the martyrdom of my sons. Ninth, thank you for giving us the faith that enables us to realize God’s love and rejoice even in such adversity. Tenth, thank you for allowing me to enjoy all these undeserved blessings.” Not only did he pray like this, but at the time, he gave 10,000 won as a thank-you offering at a time when he was receiving 80 won a month as a pastoral fee.
The Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Therefore, we should not form enemies with anyone, but change many souls with the love of Christ that the world cannot bear.
3. Dispute
A “dispute” refers to putting one’s own interests and power first and fighting for them. From a self-centered position, they want others to follow what they claim, and they try to satisfy their greed even at the expense of others, so conflicts arise.
Even between parents and children, due to each other’s stubbornness, there are severe disputes and sometimes sever ties. Even between husband and wife, quarrels and disputes arise because they claim that their views are correct. Even between well-righteous brothers, when there is a difference of opinion about the inheritance or when the guarantee is wrong, there is a lot of strife and often becomes an enemy.
Neighbors also have disputes for their own interests. For example, when a house is being rebuilt or repaired, it is noisy, dusty, and traffic becomes complicated. In the past, people still lived in the same neighborhood and lived in the same neighborhood, but these days, if you think you will lose even a little bit, you come to us right away to protest and start a dispute.
In this way, as the end time approaches, love grows colder in the world, and as we seek our own interests more and more, strife increases, and wars and strife increase not only between individuals but also between peoples and nations. However, believers who believe in the Lord must be united only with the band of the Holy Spirit and the band of love. Moreover, within the church, there must be no conflict and there must be complete oneness (1 Corinthians 1:10).
If there are arguments and quarrels within the church, Satan’s work will surely follow there, and a wall will be created between the church and God. Then, not only the revival will stop, but also the blessings of individual members will be blocked. How happy would we be if we could consider each other’s point of view, respect each other’s opinions, and seek the other’s interests, both at home and at work?
As it is said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” We should sow peace wherever we go and be acknowledged as the children of God who sow peace.
Dear saints,
Those who practice the works of the flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19). Of course, just because you didn’t know the truth and saw divination in the past, not being able to forgive someone, or having a dispute with each other doesn’t mean you can’t be saved.
Therefore, we must repent thoroughly and turn back while praying as we hear the word of God and understand it. It is best to cast off sins at once, but even if the old customs of the past come out again in an instant, you just need to repent and change again and eventually achieve completeness. God acknowledges these efforts to change through faith and leads them to heaven.
Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will enter the eternal heaven, New Jerusalem, as God’s beloved true children by living in the light through sincere faith and deeds.
