Passage

Philippians 2: 5

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,"

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

This is the first devotional service for the year 2008, which is the pastors' devotional service.

Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have this pastors' devotional service. I also give thanks to all devotees who have prepared for this service with all your heart, mind, and strength.

The title of today's message for the devotees is 'the Heart of the Lord Jesus Christ'.

Pastors, who are servants of Lord, must have the heart of the Lord. When they care for the flock of the Lord, they have to do it with the heart of the Lord.

You already heard so much about the heart of the Lord. You also heard so many urging and encouragements to have the heart of the Lord.

You have be meek, you must have love and virtue, you must not seek your own benefit, you have to sacrifice yourself for the souls, you should not be served as pastors, but humble yourselves and serve others. How many times have you heard these things?

You also heard so many times that you must have spiritual power to guide the souls to life. But God has worried anxiously that there are few among the pastors who have accomplished these words.

There are so many things to do and the time is so near. God is earnestly asking you once again at this time.

God is asking you to have the heart of the Lord Jesus and to become a true servant of the Lord.

Until becoming pastors, all of you have had your own experiences and the grace of God.

Each of you have confessions like, "I've met God this way. I experienced God's grace through the shepherd this and that way, and that is why I have become a pastor with my love for God."

You began with this kind of confession, but has your life really been a proper life as a servant? I hope you will check yourself once again through this message.

I hope you will check whether you are trying to avoid the eyes of God and the shepherd with fear, or you are boldly looking into those eyes.

How much did you love God with all your heart? How much did you love the shepherd and the souls with all your heart?

Is there any pastor whose fervor for sanctification and life-giving faithfulness have backslid?

If you have no improvement for five or ten years, it is same as backsliding. When the Lord has to entrust His flock to such a servant, how worried He must be!

Each of the souls entrusted to you is bought by the precious blood of Jesus.

For this precious flock, you pastors have to have the heart of the Lord. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you will be proper servants who can lead the flock to green pastures and quiet waters.

Body

Dear pastors, firstly, the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ is the heart of obedience.

Obedience is emphasized in each of the pastors' devotional services. 2 Corinthians 1:19 says, "[Jesus] was not yes and no, but is yes in Him."

Jesus did not insist on His will but only followed the will of God. And since you are servants of this Lord, you have to obey even more.

A servant does not have a free will. To choose to go the way of a servant of the Lord is to give up one's freewill.
It is the determination to follow only the will of the Lord whether you live or die. Even though you seem to be diligent and faithful in your duty, if you do not obey, you are not a true servant.

When pastors do not obey, many problems arise in the church.
The pastors have problems with the church members and peace is broken between them. Other than this, there are many improper things.

Of course, all of you say you have the willingness to obey. But why is it that there is constantly disobedience?

It can be explained in two aspects. One is because you have selfish motives. The other is because you have fleshly thoughts.

Let us first look into the selfish-motives. Pastors must not have any self-oriented motives.

They must not look for fame, authority, or money. And rather than they themselves and their family members, the church and the flock must be first priority.

Also, even though they are very faithful and they devoted their lives, they must not try to be acknowledged. They must have the heart of the unworthy servant, being able to confess that they are nothing and it is only the grace of the Lord.

But if you have selfish motives, you want to be acknowledged when you do something well.

You want to become the head, and you come to insist on having your opinion over your flock.

Let me give you more specific examples. A pastor thinks, "I long for spirit, and I follow spiritual persons. I somewhat belong to the level of spirit."

But God says 'No' to this.

What is the purpose of following spiritual persons? It is to learn their heart and words and actions closely so that you can also change into spirit.
But this particular pastor has a different purpose in following spiritual people.

He thinks, "If I help him, I can also gain much power. I can accomplish what I want and I can be also acknowledged, if I stay close to her."

Just as the worldly people follow after those with authority, this pastor is following the men of spirit just for his own benefit. Still, he does not realize his heart, and he just thinks that he is longing for spirit.

Furthermore, he even has arrogant mind thinking that he is close to spirit since he is following the spirit.

I hope you will discern yourself very well. It's the same when you follow after the shepherd or those who are revealed as men of spirit.

If your following is truly spiritual, through that following you must learn something and change yourself.

Sometimes, there are people who diligently follow after the shepherd and say they are following the spirit, but their spiritual progress is minimal.

This is not 'spiritual following'. It's just 'fleshly following' for they are just following the shepherd and spiritual men to get what they want.

Also, it is to show to others that they are close to the shepherd. Sometimes, when a person appears to be close to a man of spirit, other people may look at this person with envy.

Some people respect this person thinking, "Since he is so close to such a precious person, he must have something as well."

If you want anything like this, you must cast off that selfish motive.

Also, another pastor thinks that the flock of the Lord entrusted to him is his flock.

He has strong feeling thinking that, "These sheep are entrusted to me, so they must listen to me."

Also, he tries to reveal himself more than the Lord and the shepherd to the flock saying, "I received this guidance of the Spirit. I am bearing good fruit since I tried hard. The problems of the flock can be solved only when I make visits to them."

Another pastor just walks away from his position if what he wants is not accomplished there. He leaves his position and duty, and says that he has laid down everything without any selfish motive.

But walking away in itself comes from selfish motive. I already said that a servant does not have any freedom, but he is the Lord's whether he dies or lives.

It's not that he can either do it or quit as he wants.

When God, or the church, tells him to go or stop, he must go or stop, that is being the servant of the Lord.

But because this pastor cannot do things as he wants, he just leaves his position.

It is not to step back with a gentle heart or to follow peace. It's just that he neither wants to fight insisting his own opinion nor obey.

It's because of his desire; he wants to go to a place where he will not have constraints and do what he wants. Still, he says, "I have stepped back without any desires. I followed goodness, and what is wrong?"
Because he does not realize himself this way, he cannot be guided by God.

The second reason of disobedience is the fleshly thoughts. The original root of fleshly thoughts is the flesh.

Namely, because of the sinful natures that you did not cast off, the fleshly thoughts come out.

Because you have your own desires, envy, jealousy, and other kinds of wickedness in you, you think from only your own standpoint and standards.

Even when I say something, you just interpret it as you like. You say, "It's because senior pastor does not understand the situation. This will be better."

But God says obedience is better than sacrifice. If a servant works as he wants in this way, how can he do the work with the heart of the master?

Also, being disappointed or disheartened is because of fleshly thoughts. You utilize your fleshly thoughts and accept the sorrow and darkness in your heart.

Also, you have misunderstandings or resentment toward the shepherd and your love for him cools down.

In this case, even if you try to be faithful, you won't have the strength to do it. You sometimes put your heart in something fleshly.

If you really want to become a true servant who really obeys, you have to cast off both selfish motives and fleshly thoughts.

I urge you to become proper servants of the Lord who say only "Yes" and "Amen" before God.

Dear pastors, secondly, the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ is love.

Our Lord loved God the Father and the souls until He gave His life completely.

A servant of the Lord has to love God and the souls with this heart of the Lord. Also, he has to love the church and the shepherd. Love is the most basic qualification for a pastor.

If you truly love the souls, you can sacrifice your body for the souls.

But sometimes, we see some pastors who say they love God but lack in love for the shepherd and the souls.

They follow the shepherd but with little love. They think they love the souls in their own standards, but in God's sight, it is not true.

It's because they are staying within their own frameworks and thoughts, and they seek their own benefits.

Within that framework, they give hard times to the flock. They command and give orders and insist on their own way. If they say they love God while they don't love the flock this way, then, it is not true.

Also, there are pastors who love God the Father but do not love the shepherd. They think, "I love God, so that's enough. I should sow before God and give to God. It's enough if God knows my heart."

For them, God the Father, the Lord, and the shepherd are all separate.

These pastors should also think about themselves.

They say something like that above, but as we see their acts, most of them are not true.

Of course, in their opinion they say they pray, make visits and love the souls.

But it's that they are staying in their own limits, thinking, "I am doing this much, and this is enough."

We cannot find passionate love or deep spiritual communication in them.

In fact, they don't really sow anything before God, and their sanctification is slow.

John 8:42 says, "Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me."

Those Jews who were confined in the frameworks of the Law thought that they loved God. But they did not love Jesus.

Jesus did the will of God and preached the word of God. Those who were seeing the powerful works that Jesus performed could feel the glory and love of God.

If they truly loved God, they must have naturally loved Jesus as well.

It's the same today. If you really love God and long to meet Him, wouldn't you love a man of God who is visible to your eyes?

Some say they love the man of God, but their heart and deeds do not comply.

And, they also cool down the flock's following and fervor. They don't connect them to the shepherd. They make the flock try to read their face when the flock wants to follow the shepherd.

1 John 4:20 says that if you do not love your brother you cannot love God who is not seen.

And if you do not love a man of God, how can you say you love God? Also, you cannot say you really love and serve your brothers in spirit.

As a result, the revival in your church or parish will stop, and you will have spiritual stoppage. The blessings of the flock will also decrease.

If you really love God, how can you make the spirit of your flock weaker than before? I urge you to love not only with words and tongue but with deeds and truth.

Dear pastors, thirdly, the heart of the Lord is humbleness. Our Lord is the original God Himself. But He did not take the glory but only gave glory to God.

If you are a pastor, you have to humble yourself more.

Until now, when I did anything for the kingdom of God, I have never thought I did something with my own strength.

When the Father God gives me the inspiration, I can preach on the pulpit even for the whole day.

But if God does not give me any inspiration, I don't have anything to say.

Because God is attesting me, I could revive the dead and drive away even typhoons.

But if God were not with me, these things would not take place, even if I wanted.
Even though I preach the deepest secret and perform such amazing works of God, I am only an instrument of the Lord. Furthermore, the word and the power that you pastors teach the flock is not gained by your own effort. It is guaranteed by God through this church and the shepherd.

But when some pastors yield fruit, they think they did it with their strength. They think, "I could do this because I am loved by the shepherd," or "This fruit was born through my effort."

They mention the word 'God' and the 'shepherd' in their words but in their mind, they think they did it.

Also, some people are quiet when they don't bear any fruit, but as soon as there is a fruit, they reveal their fleshly attributes. If you have any desire or boasting left in you, you can show something ungraceful when you are praised by others.

But because you are praised for the fruit, you don't realize your lofty mind. You just think you are doing well.

Also, some pastors force the flock to follow their opinions and thus break peace. They say, "I love God and I am acknowledged by the shepherd. I am in spirit and whole spirit, you have to listen to me."

Sometimes, they try to plant themselves in the heart of the flock by saying, "I have to make the visits because I can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit well. This is the way to solve the problem."

Just because they experienced the voice of the Holy Spirit a couple of times, they think they hear it completely and perfectly.

Also, when their words were right as a coincidence, they think they are guaranteed by God.
Arrogance is such a fearful thing because it causes you to be deceived by yourself. But God searches the deep hearts of men. Even if you cheat others and even yourself, you cannot cheat God.

Devotees, in fact, when God is giving me these words, He gives me even the names of those who belong to these cases. But when you listen to this message, some of you will think, "Oh, that cannot be me."

Because you are just soaked by the old habits of the flesh, your heart cannot feel it even when the Holy Spirit is groaning in you.

You should never be a foolish servant like this. Only when you receive all these words as yours will you gain great strength.

You should not just say, "These words are all for me," only with lips. I hope you will receive them truly with heart and change yourself.

Conclusion

Dear devotees, as you look back on the past year 2007, what kind of pastor were you? How did you dedicate yourself and what kinds of words and deeds did you have?

Our Lord who is our master is searching everything with His blazing eyes.

And are your words and deeds good enough to make you acknowledged as true servants? As we get closer to the end, the flow of spirit and flesh will be so different from each other.

The darkness of this world will become deeper, and at the same time, the flow of spirit in this church will also flow more rapidly.

In 2007, many members came into spirit, and in 2008, more members will come into spirit.

In the meantime, what will you pastors do? Won't you have to go ahead of the laymen members? You should be pastors who are recognized and trusted by the laymen members.

At the time of the reorganization, near the end of 2007, didn't most of you individually experience understanding of many things?

But this will not take place just once.

After this year 2008 passes, God can give us His word again.

According to how you cultivate your heart into spirit, the organization can be changed again. Also, if the number of proper servants in God's sight is not filled, God can replace you with laymen members, too. If the laymen members go into spirit and whole spirit first, they can fulfill the duty of parish pastor and even great parish pastor.

God will not have any losses in His kingdom, so He will surely use those who are prepared and proper in His sight.

And you should not take this flow that awakes you with feelings of difficulty.

What God wants of you is not something either difficult or big.

It is just that He wants you to change yourself to be proper servants of the Lord and receive the most glorious rewards.

You all know God's love. And with that love, you are going the way of servants to dedicate your lives to God.

That is why God considers you very precious. He wants to give you the very best of things. But if you do not have the time to come to a realization of yourself like this, and just stay in flesh, what will happen? You will fall into spiritual slumber staying within the frameworks that you have of yourself as a pastor.

God is putting you into this flow so that you will wake up from slumber and finally receive rewards at the time of final judgment. I hope you will remember this love.

I hope you will certainly realize the love of God who does not break a bruised reed but tries to save it and give blessings. You should not fall back thinking you lack so much. You have to remember the love of the Lord and rise up.

I hope none of you will fall into spiritual slumber but change your heart as the heart of the Lord.

Also, to those who are ahead in spirit, I want you to care for and embrace others so that you will all go this way together.

I pray in the name of the Lord that you will all become God's true servants who are used for precious purpose by the hands of the master.

Amen