Sermon of this Month
By Pastor Ock-soo Park(Good News Gangnam Church, Korea)
God Himself
Accomplished
His Word
When Noah built the ark, outwardly, it
seemed like Noah built the ark. But in
fact, it was God who built the ark. When
Moses delivered the Israelites out of
Egypt, it seemed as if it had been done
by Moses outwardly. But it was God who
actually delivered them. In my life as well,
it was God who accomplished many
works, both in minor and major aspects.
How Can I...
IN THE STORY OF NOAH’S A RK IN GENESIS CHAPTER
6, God said to Noah,
“Make thee an ark of gopher wood: rooms
shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch
it within and without with pitch. And this is
the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The
length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits,
the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it
4_ The Goodnews | March 2005
thirty cubits. A window shalt thou However, each and every time
make to the ark, and in a cubit God showed me certain works, it
shalt thou finish it above; and the was very burdensome for me in
door of the ark shalt thou set in the the beginning. It was very burside thereof: with lower, second, densome for me when God told
and third stories shalt thou make me to start the missionary school.
it.” (Genesis 6:14-16)
“How can I start a missionary
Noah probably thought, “How school? How can I run a missioncan I make an ark 300 cubits long? ary school? It is nonsense.” I told
That’s nonsense,” and would have God that I could not do it. God did
been overwhelmed just thinking not say anything. So I thought He
about that. Also, if he thought, forgot about it. But after about
“Even if I built the ark, how can I six months passed, in my heart,
bring male-female pairs of beasts once again, God said, “Start the
like lions and leopards into the missionary school.” However,
ark?” then it would have been very once again, I replied, “God, I
burdensome. When we live our cannot do it. How can I start a
spiritual lives, we see how God missionary school?” Then, God
works as our heart comes closer became silent once more, so I
to God. Then even when we face kept on thinking He forgot about
great difficulties, we receive the it. However, He once again proheart, “Ah, God will make this voked in me the heart to start the
happen.” On the contrary, when missionary school. Each time,
I am far away from God, and the however, my heart changed little
more I become aware of myself in by little. “Although it is imposfront of certain problems, I often sible, what if I do get to do it?” As
step forward to make it happen.
I came to think these things, the
heart to go for it arose. “Ah, I can
do it like this, and I can do it like
I Truly Thought They Were
that,” and eventually, I was able
Impossible
to start the missionary school.
A S I SERVED THE L ORD AFTER HAVING
Starting the broadcasting at
received salvation, God accom- the Far East Network was very
plished many works through me. burdensome for me, and about
Sermon of this Month _5
publishing books I thought,
“How can a person like me publish books? It is really impossible.” It was not only these aspects
that were like this: when we first
bought the chapel in Daegu,
when we started the mission in
Africa or China, when we built the
retreat center… all these things
God showed me in my heart.
However, it was too burdensome
for me. Therefore, I wanted to
avoid them and thought I could
not do them. But when I think
about it now, God remarkably
accomplished all those works.
The One That Spoke
Accomplished
A S G OD SHOWED JOSEPH ’S DREAMS
to him: the dream of the sheaves
of Joseph’s brothers bowing to
Joseph’s sheave, and the dream
of the sun and the moon and the
eleven stars making obeisance
to him. God informed Joseph
that he will become a ruler in the
future. After seeing the dream,
Joseph did not study or work
hard to become the ruler.
When God puts a certain heart
into us, that heart is God’s heart.
In other words, God, Himself,
6_ The Goodnews | March 2005
will accomplish it. If God will
raise me to build the retreat center, raise me to publish books,
raise me to start the missionary
school, raise me establish missions in Africa, then it is not I
who will do these works, it is God
who will be doing the work.
If God told me to start a mission, then it is not something for
me to do, but it means that God
will do it through me. Therefore,
if I just say, “Amen,” and give
myself to God, then from that
point on, God will accomplish it.
Actually, I do not believe that it
was I who started the missionary
school. I absolutely do not think
that I had opened the way for
broadcasting, publishing books,
buying the chapel in Daegu, or
that I built the retreat center. All
these things, God, Himself, spoke
of and accomplished. It was God.
God said to Moses, “Come now
therefore, and I will send thee unto
Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring
forth my people, the children of
Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)
This is not God telling Moses to
do such an act. God is saying
that He, Himself, will do it. God,
Himself, will go to Pharaoh and
deliver the Israelites from Egypt.
When God puts a certain heart into us,
that heart is God’s heart. In other words,
God, Himself, will accomplish it.
God will do it through Moses.
If God Justifies Us, Then We
Become Justified
When God said to Noah, “Make
thee an ark of gopher wood: ... The
length of the ark shall be three
hundred cubits, the breadth of
it fifty cubits, and the height of it
thirty cubits,” Noah could not
even imagine the ark. Of course
Noah does not have any experience in building an ark. Noah,
too, was probably burdened and
overwhelmed. Three hundred
cubits in length is about 150
meters. Today, we have great
tools to make the framework, but
at that time, they had to connect
the wood to build the ark of 150
meters. How could that be? Also
when such a huge ark went into
water, it had to overcome thousands of tons of water pressure.
How could he build something
that it could have overcome such
water pressure? We cannot imagine. However, it is clear that God
helped Noah to build the ark in
such way.
It is the same way with the
words, “And of every living thing
of all flesh, two of every sort shalt
thou bring into the ark.” How can
Noah bring lions and leopards
into the ark? It is impossible. God
led them in there. This means,
although it seems like Noah built
the ark, but it was actually God’s
doing.
It is the same way with the
works of our sanctification, salvation from sin, and us becoming righteous. If we misread the
Bible, we must become righteous
and holy all on our own. We will
think that we must become that
way. However, it is not that we
must become these things, but
that God, Himself, will make it
happen.
When Noah was building the
ark, since God told Noah to build
it, if Noah made it himself without
God’s guidance, then he would
Sermon of this Month _7
not have been able to build the
ark. In the works of Moses delivering the people of Israel out of
Egypt, if Moses, himself, tried to
deliver the Israelites out of Egypt
without God’s work, then it would
have been impossible.
In the same way, God told us
to become perfect, holy, and
righteous. So if we try to become
perfect, holy, and righteous,
then it is impossible. We have
dirty, filthy, and lustful thoughts
arising inside of us. How can we
become holy, and how can we
become righteous? On the other
hand, if God makes me perfect,
holy, and righteous, then we can
become righteous and holy.
Noah did not make the plan for
him to go into the ark and receive
salvation; it was God who made
the plan. Also, our receiving salvation from sin is not something
we planned, but something that
God planned. Therefore, it can
only be accomplished.
The Conditions Of
Accomplishing The Word
Are Within The Word
TH AT IS W H Y W E NEED FA ITH TO
believe in God. God knows that I
8_ The Goodnews | March 2005
am unrighteous, filthy, dirty, and
abominable, yet He called me
holy. I am not righteous, yet God
said that I am righteous. I am not
clean, yet God said I am clean. I
had not gotten my sin cleansed,
yet God said that it was cleansed.
“Ah, if God said it as such, then
God already made me in such a
way. He made me holy. He has
washed me. He justified me.”
That is how you believe in
God.
When Jesus commanded the
disciples to depart to the other
side of the sea, a tempest arose.
We can only think, “Jesus said to
got to the other side of the sea,
yet how come a tempest arose?
The ship will flip over. We cannot
cross this sea. We must hurry
and get to wherever is the closest.” The Word of God is the living Word. And it has the power to
move. There is power in the Word
of God, which accomplishes
the Word. When the things that
are in the heart of God appear
through the Word, all the conditions to accomplish those things
are in the Word.
“For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth
Our salvation from sin is not something
we planned, but something that God
planned. So, it can only be accomplished.
the earth, and maketh it bring
forth and bud, that it may give
seed to the sower, and bread to the
eater: So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth: it
shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I
please, and it shall prosper in the
thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah
55:10,11)
No matter what God says,
His words will not return unto
Himself void. The Word will
accomplish that which God
pleases. And it shall prosper in
the thing whereto He has sent it.
No matter what God says, all of
the power we need is in the Word,
therefore, we do not need to try
to accomplish it.
God Accomplishes
Salvation And Spiritual Life
JESUS DIED HAVING BEEN NAILED TO
the cross. Salvation is not something we have accomplish, but
God has already accomplished
it. Yet, we try to accomplish salvation that is why it is difficult
and strenuous. When Noah built
the ark, it outwardly seemed like
Noah built it, but actually, it was
God who built the ark. When
Moses delivered the Israelites out
of Egypt, on the outside it seemed
like Moses did it, but in actuality,
it was God who delivered them.
In many major and minor
works of my life, on the surface, it
seemed as though I had worked.
However, there isn’t even one
thing I have done, but it was God
that accomplished all things. It is
even the same when it comes to
our salvation and Christian life.
It is not we that have to accomplish something, but it is God
who accomplishes them. Then
how can we become holy? When
we believe in God and look unto
Him, we become righteous and
holy through God, and our lives
also become clean.
Sermon of this Month _9