2013 March 10th
Sunday Sermon at Yoido Full Gospel Church – Seoul, Korea
Speaker: Senior Pastor Emeritus Rev. Yonggi CHO
Take Up the Ark of the Covenant and Cross the Jordan
(Joshua 3:13-17)
The ark of the covenant contains the stone tablets on which the commandments are written. God gave the
commandments to the Israelites to follow in the Mount Sinai. On the stone tablets, there were four
commandments the Israelites must follow before God and 6 commandments regarding the relationship
between people. Joshua said that as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet
touched the water’s edge, the Jordan would be divided so that people would cross on dry ground.
1. The life of taking up the ark of the covenant
1) The Ten Commandments are God’s promises to Israel.
- They are the commandments of ethics and morals and, at the same time, the prerequisites for blessings.
2) The cross is the ark of the covenant today.
- Believers of modern times shall carry up their own cross, be purified of their sins and inequities, live a life
of righteousness and holiness, and give their lives in service of others relying on the help from the Holy
Spirit.
3) The cross is the source of the grace of atonement – five-fold gospel and three-fold blessing.
2. Go into the Jordan with faith
1) We become the people of God by carrying up the ark of the covenant, which is, the cross.
2) Live by faith, not by sight.
3. The new heart and the supernatural life
1) New thoughts – real and supernatural life, the life with God
2) The rainbows we dream about in our hearts, the colorful dreams with full of hopes
3) Challenges in faith
4) Positive declaration
4. The Jordan divided
1) Go into the land flowing with milk and honey.
2) Carrying the cross, we will see the Jordan of death divide.
① The river of sins will divide.
② The river of inequities will divide.
③ The river of diseases will divide.
④ The river of curses will divide.
⑤ The river of death will divide..
Without the cross, humans cannot cross the river but have to live in the desert. Carrying the cross and
becoming the chosen people of God and of the covenant, humans would see the Jordan of darkness divide
and set foot on the land flowing with milk and honey.