12 –OUR
REAL FATHER WHO SANCTIFIES US
AND
MAKES US BEAR FRUIT
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f you look in the Bible, it is written
that God has chosen us from among the peoples of this earth. Is God love? Is He fair? Does He have impartial love? Actually, not
at all. He’s very unfair and very partial. What’s the reason? Even though we are all God’s children,to some He says, “Come here,” and chooses
them and takes them to heaven. And to others, He
just leaves them alone whether they die or not. Do you
still believe He is fair and impartial?
Back home, my second
brother changed his business. He
said that he was going to
change his business and start a stone factory. He was going to cut
rocks. So he had all his
machineries come in. I asked him, “Is it better
than the old business?” He replied, “Yes.” There are some rocks that are worth a couple
thousand dollars each. Right next
to his stone factory, there’s a mountain where there are a lot of rocks,but he buys rocks from far away. He pays a lot of money, puts them on a truck and
have them delivered to his factory, and then
sculptures those rocks. Why does he bring those rocks from far away and pay so much money for them when there are so many other rocks in the mountain right next to his factory? He wouldn’t even have to pay all that money to
have them transferred? Why doesn’t he use those?
Then he told me, “It costs so much money to cut the rocks and to write each
letter on it. I had to spend a lot
of money to buy expensive machinery,
and had to pay all those people for cutting
letters into the rock. If I use those rocks from the mountains right next to my factory, I could cut them, but because
they are soft stones, they wouldn’t last for
more than a couple of years.So I only look
for firm and hard rocks.”
This is also the reason
why God has chosen us. Those people in the nearby neighborhood
who prevent us from coming here are also
God’s children. There are a lot of people who live in Wonju City. And of course, there are more than 10 million people in the city of
Seoul. So why does He bring people all the way from Jeju Island, from
Japan, from America, and from China? It is
because the people, the stones here in this Wonju neighborhood
are soft stones. He is looking for firm and hard
rocks. That’s why our
Daddy selects those rocks from here and there.
Do you know how much was invested in you? If a certain person invested a million dollars but
only made 800 thousand dollars in profits, would there be anyone willing to invest that much money? If you invest a million dollars, you expect a return of at least 1.5 or 2 million dollars. Who would invest in anything in order to lose money?
Do you know how much was invested just for you? The heavenly Son of God, Jesus
Christ, was invested for you.
Once, there was a
very humorous emperor in Germany. He gathered
all of his cabinet ministers and asked them, “How much do you think I am worth?” The emperor was
asking them how much he was worth, so
who was going to answer him? Everyone just remained quiet. But
there was among them a very funny subject who said, “Emperor, your majesty, you are worth 27 cents.”
“What? You say I’m worth only 27 cents?” And he replied, “Jesus was sold for 30 cents and He
came from heaven. Then shouldn’t you be a little cheaper than Him?”And apparently everyone laughed.
How much are you worth? At least the price of
Jesus. Actually, you are worth more than
the price of Jesus. Like I said, who would invest a
million dollars to only make a profit of a hundred
thousand dollars? People would invest
that much money to make a big profit. Wouldn’t
they? In order to save each of you, heaven invested the entire heavenly host,
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They were all invested in order to save you. So I hope you will never
say, “A sinner like me,” or “A worthless
being like me.” Never say things like that anymore. Even if all the people in this world were brought together here, they could not be exchanged for even one of you. That’s why heaven
invested so much to save you. If those “soft stones” were brought here, they would later change and
the image of God and the image of Jesus wouldn’t
remain in their hearts. Because they
are soft stones, once they go
to heaven, they would change and
sin again. So God only chooses the real stones, the
hard stones to inscribe His image and character upon, the ones that will last forever. This place
here is the “stone factory.”
People say, “I have an awful character. I don’t
think I can go to heaven.” I hope that
you will be happy about that. When you break soft stones, they turn into powder. They are not
sharp and people don’t get hurt from them. But if you
crack those hard stones, they are very hard, very
sharp, and you can even get cut by them. Why? It’s because they are real stones. When you go home, do you hurt other people, hurt your husband, or hurt your wife? I hope
that you will be happy about it because you
are the true stones. If you just remain in this “factory,” then you will become nice, smooth, and shiny. God’s image and His character will be written in you. And when you are taken to heaven, you will never change. That’s why God is not fair. He loves everyone the same, but He swallows His tears and does not choose those people who He knows will change and ruin heaven again if they go to heaven. So He chooses
people from Japan, from America, from
the end of this country, one or two people from this denomination, a few people
from that huge church…and with that
He ends His work. Do you know what a precious place and what a precious seat
you are occupying? I hope that you will not leave here
but come out as perfect jewels.
Let’s open our book, The
Key to Happiness Chapter 12,
“Our Real Father Who Sanctifies Us and Makes Us Bear Fruits.” Please read.
“[Jesus
answered and said unto him, ‘Most
assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.’] (John 3:3) [Do not marvel that I
said to you, ‘You must be born again’]. (John 3:7) [That which is born of
the flesh is flesh] at any rate; [and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit] at any rate. [Unless one is born of ... the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of God.] (John 3:6, 5)”
You could live 50 to 100 years, but the flesh will always be flesh. Whether you’re 10 or 20 years old, if you are born of the Spirit, then you are spirit. Jesus was born of the Spirit, so you must also be born of the Spirit. The only difference is that He was born earlier and you were born later. Please continue.
“[And I say to
you] (Luke 11:9), [I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit
He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, that it may bear
more fruit.] (John 15:1-2)”
Jesus said here that He is what?
He is the true vine and the Father is what? The vinedresser.
And what are we? We are the branches. Whether it’s an apple orchard or rice paddy, who must take care of it for it to
grow well? The farmer must take care of it from the morning until evening all year long for it to bear many fruits and
not die from disease or bugs. Now do you know why those churches have no fruits
of regeneration and sanctification? It is because they have not gone to the
hand of the Farmer for so many years now, so how could they bear
any fruits of regeneration and sanctification? It is written
here that the [Father is the
vinedresser]. But they
reject the Father and only go to Jesus. How can they
bear any fruits? You may take
care of apple trees for 10, 20 years, but if you don’t take regular care of them for even a year or two, you would have to get
rid of them all.
A certain man from Kangwon Province had a large orchard. He only grew a few apples, but then he didn’t take care of it for a year. He ended up having to get rid of them all. He dug out all those apple trees. But for so many hundreds of years now, those churches have not gone near our Father. Instead, they have cast Him away, so how could they bear
fruits? That’s why they are useless trees and have been forsaken. Yet all of you
have been here for only a few days. Are you bearing the fruits or not? You are bearing fruits. Why? It is
because the Farmer is here. The heavenly Farmer adds fertilizer, and if
there’s a disease He applies medicine. If there’s anything wrong,
he takes care of it. That’s why you are already starting to bear fruits. You have the leaves and
flowers of regeneration and the fruits of sanctification. I hope that you will
never leave the hands of this Farmer.
Am I telling you a revelation, something new? No, I’m reading from the book of John. [I’m the vine;
My Father is the Vinedresser], so you
should not leave the hands of the Father. If you leave, then you won’t bear fruits.
Even though people read this all the time, they still
do not understand what it means. There are some people who memorize it but they still don’t know what
it means. Only when the eyes of regeneration are opened can you understand these words.
Let’s look at the bottom of page 132, the words of the Son of
Man. “[Son of man, how is the wood of the
vine better than any other wood? ...Is wood taken
from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel
on? Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel.] (Eze15:2-4)” When our Father says, [Son of Man], He is speaking to each one of you, “My youngest son, My youngest
daughter, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood? What makes
the vine better? Can you make anything from it? Can you make a peg from it? Can
you make a stick from it? What can you do with it? It is
completely useless. All it can be used for is firewood.” I hope that you will think about the grapevine right now.
When I was in charge of a pioneer church, I had many acres of fields, rice paddies, and
vineyards. When I was taking care of the vineyard,
there was so much to do. I had to add fertilizer, cut the branches, do
this and that –I was so busy. I had never farmed before, but now I had to take care
of the rice paddies and other fields. So I made up My mind. “My Father
sent me here not to take care of this
vineyard but the vineyard of souls.” I started getting rid of each one of those
grapevines. People in the neighborhood asked, “Why are you getting rid of such delicious grapes?” But because I was the owner,
they could not stop me. You have to look good in the
eyes of the owner. Even if the church or the world acknowledges you, if the Lord, the Farmer, doesn’t acknowledge you, then it’s useless. That’s why Jesus
said, [All those of you who are loved by My
Father, receive your inheritance.] We have to
be loved by the Farmer.
I used to respect the grapevine. Do you know why?
Jesus said, [I am the
Vine.] I thought the vine was the king. But
as I dug up this grapevine without any fruits, I was very disappointed. It was the first time in my life that I
was disappointed with grapevines. They were so ugly,
crooked, twisted, and very
weak. You couldn’t even use them as a stick. It says grapevines can be
thrown into the fire, but actually, it wasn’t even
any good as firewood. So I dug them all up and threw them away. It was the
first time in my life that I was so disappointed with grapevines. Ah, what an ugly tree.
But who is this grapevine? It is speaking of the
church. It is written that the vineyard
of Jehovah of Hosts is the people of Israel and
Judah. Then why did Jesus say that we are such ugly grapevines? Are we all that
ugly? But though the grapevine is so ugly, once it is regenerated and sanctified and bears
fruits, then it is the king of kings and the best out of all trees. Out of all those trees,
grapes are the only fruits of a tree that can give
life. When we eat grapes, it helps to produce
blood. And isn’t blood life? That’s why grapes can give us life. Likewise, even if a church is
ugly, once it becomes regenerated and
sanctified and bears fruits, it can save
the world. If this grapevine does not bear any fruits, then it is useless.
Who is this Park Myung Ho? Will I become the President of this country, a
cabinet minister or congressman, or will I be a hero in the Park family? I’m
useless. But once the fruits of regeneration and sanctification are borne in me, even if you were to combine a thousand
presidents of the United States together, they could not be exchanged for me. I would
be the king of kings, don’t you agree? It is true. That’s why if the churches do
not bear fruits of regeneration and sanctification, then they are all useless. All they do is kill people. But if the
churches were to bear fruits of regeneration and sanctification,
they would be the king of kings.
The churches in the world were established to be
channels of life and a blessing for
the whole world. So are they the channels of eternal life or are they the ones
getting in the way? They are the channels of
Satan, blocking and preventing other people from receiving eternal life. That’s why they are left to burn. I hope that you will be different from the
churches in the world and be the true grapevines who will share life with
others.
If you go to Jeolla Province in
the southern part of Korea, there’s a city called Naju. What is it famous for? Pears. Just
like each area has their own special products, Naju is famous for pears. These days they even export them to other
countries. These pear trees are different from other trees, they look very
beautiful if you go to a pear orchard. But in a certain pear orchard in the
area of Naju, one of the owners was quite puzzled. In other parts of his orchard, though heads fertilizers
and chemicals, the trees don’t bear such good fruits.
But in a certain area of the field, even though he doesn’t add anything, it bears huge pears the
size of a baby’s head! Later on, he learned why from an old man. A long time ago during the Korean War, there was a
mass grave of South Koreans killed by the communists of North Korea. It so happened that they had
all been buried in that very spot. And now, the bodies were acting as a fertilizer. So even though he did not add fertilizer
in that area of the field, it bore such big pears the size of a baby’s head.
The heavenly Farmer killed
His own Son and put Him into the ground in the middle of the orchard of this earth. Because
these “trees” did not bear any
fruits, He killed His Son and buried Him. He said,
“What else is there left for Me to do for this vineyard? I even gave My only
begotten Son and killed Him, so now there should be fruits.” But were there any
fruits? Instead of real fruits, there were only sour, wild
grapes. He was so disappointed. Those
churches in the world call out to God, saying, “Lord, Lord,
we will be going to heaven,” and are so proud of themselves without bearing
any good fruits. So you can imagine how dumbfounding it is for the Farmer. God just killed His Son in vain. Then, what will He do to these wild vineyards. Let’s hear His voice, page
135, in the middle of the first paragraph.
“[And now,
please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its
hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be
trampled down.] I will not take care of those churches any longer. I will let
Satan devour their hedges and break down their walls so that they will be
trampled upon. Satan can go to the church and do whatever he wants and I’ll just leave him alone. [I will lay it to waste.] I will let the church be destroyed so that it can never be regenerated
and sanctified again. [It shall not be pruned or dug],” so the Father will never take care of it again. “[But there shall come up briers and
thorns.]” That’s why their
characters are like thorns that only hurt
people and poke others. “[I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.] (Isa 5:5-6) So never
again will I give the latter rain or the former rain of Holy Spirit. And [ten
acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield one
ephah.] (Isa 5:10)”
He will pick one or two
from among the denominations and churches. Let us wait and see if these words are fulfilled or
not. No matter who goes to those churches, God will never take care of them; He will never tell the clouds to bring down the rain of the Holy Spirit upon them. And all
those churches, pastors, and followers
will have briers and thorns that only prick
and hurt each other. Their characters will never
become perfect. Is this true or not? All you have to do is to wait and see. If
you can’t believe me, just wait
and see. That’s why in the Bible, in the Book of Amos, it says in
certain cities there will be the rain of the Holy Spirit and in other cities
there will be no rain.
A long time ago,
I think it was during the Shilla Dynasty– when was the “Emily Bell” made? There
is a sad story about that “Emily Bell.”A while ago, I was astonished to hear that it cost about 8 million dollars
to make a bell. I didn’t know that it cost so much to make a bell. A long time ago,
the king of the nation asked an expert bell-maker, “Please make a bell for the
country and for me. I will give you money from the national treasury.” So this
bell-maker gathered some iron and melted it until it turned red. It was so hot
that he was sweating. He poured it into a mold and waited until it cooled. When he rang it though, it didn’t
sound very good. It was very hard, it wouldn’t ring. He failed. So he broke it into pieces and melted it again. He poured it into the mold and let it cool.Then he struck it. But he continued to
fail. Then one day, a man walked by and said, “If you want it to ring well, you’ll have to use your only daughter. When you’re boiling the iron, throw her in there. Then the bell will ring really, really well.” And he left. This bell-maker was so distressed, “How can I kill my daughter?” But because it was the king’s command, for the country and for the king, he sacrificed his
daughter. While the iron was
boiling, he took his only daughter and threw her in. As she went in, she cried, “Mother! Mother!” and this bell-maker wept while making
the bell. After the bell was made, he struck it and it sounded very good ringing far and wide. If you
listened to it when it rang, it would sound like, “Mother! Mother! Emily! Emily!” So it was called the “Emily Bell” or “Mother Bell.”
In order to make us the bells that would ring for eternity, our Father gave His only begotten Son and killed Him for us. He threw Him into the
boiling waters of tribulations. But how sad it
is that the bells in the world do not make any
sound. Since you are the bells made by throwing in the
Son, Jesus Christ, into that burning cauldron of death, I hope that you will
ring out eternal life to the ends of the earth.
13 –
OUR REAL FATHER WHO GAVE UP HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON IN ORDER TO SAVE US
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hen, how did our Father and Jesus save us? If you go to the fields in the countryside, there is an insect called an ant-devil. People from
the city may not know what I’m talking about. This ant-devil builds a little
pit right where the ants like to walk by. It is usually in sands or soft dirt. I don’t know how it breathes, but it hides under the dirt or under the sand. When the ants try to walk
by it, no matter how fast they walk, if they fall into the pit, the ant-devil suddenly comes out,
grabs it, sucks its blood, and throws out the shell. It devours it completely. So whether there are ten or a
hundred ants that fell, you could never tell there was anything in
there because this ant-devil would take care of the remains so well and hide so completely.
One day, there was this mother
ant that was getting old and she knew about this ant-devil. She called her
son and took him to the edge of the ant-devil
pit. She said, “Son.” “Yes, Mother.” “Look down over here.” “What is it?” “Down there is an ant-devil that devours ants. It’s a pit.
While playing hide-and-seek, if you go down there, the
ant-devil will come out and kill you, so don’t go there.”“Mom, I don’t see
anything.” “It’s hiding right now but it is certainly there.” “No, I can’t see anything. There’s
nothing down there.” “Yes, there is.” But no matter how much the mother explained it to her son, he wouldn’t believe her. Faith is not something that is necessary just between God and us, the whole universe is joined together in faith and trust. So if there’s no
faith between parents and children, then the family breaks. If there’s no trust between the husband and his wife, they must divorce. And if there’s no trust between God and us,
then we must separate from Him. And when we do, we will die.
So let us love and trust one another.
No matter how much this mother ant tried to
explain it to her
son, he kept saying, “I can’t see anything.” Later on, he said that he would try going down there when playing hide-and-seek. He didn’t believe his
mother. So she made up her mind. “I will give
up my life and save my son.” She put her son at the edge of the pit and said, “Watch your mother.” Then she slipped down the pit. “Watch me, look at me, look at me….” As soon as she reached the bottom of the pit, an ant-devil that had been invisible grabbed her. “Look at me, look at me, Son! Never come into this pit!” And this
was the mother’s last lesson to her son before she
died.
This mother ant is our Real Father. We should have been the ones to fall into that pit of death. All five billion people of this world could fall in there. But Jesus fell in
there and said to us, “Don’t go near this pit, and
don’t fall in.” Our Father sacrificed Himself. Jesus gave
up His life to save us. That’s how much our Father and Jesus loved each one of you. If you knew the extent of Their love and sacrifice, you would never cause Them pain, you would never disappoint
Them.Instead, you would do everything you could to make Them
happy. But the only way to make Them happy would be to live for eternity. He does not want your sacrifices or your money. He is not a beggar who needs
money. Everything in the universe is His. “The silver and
gold are Mine,” He says. Why would He want your coins and
paper? What would He do with the sacrifice of lambs
and calves? He knows that where our property is, that is where our heart is, and because He wants to save us, that is why He wants us to make these
offerings. The only way to make God happy is not by
giving anything but simply by living for
eternity.
Who are the people on this train? They are all of us, the people who are on the train
of this earth. It is speaking of the churches. Who killed who in order to save
them? Those churches do not even know this. They only say, “We need Jesus. Who needs the Father
and who needs God? The Bible only speaks of Jesus.” They say, “Real Father is evil. He’s a fanatic,” and make fun of Him as they sit in
that train. I hope that you will not be like those foolish
people but realize what sacrifice our Father went
through and how He sacrificed His one and only Son in order to save you. I hope
that you will thank Him.
Hymn
1. For God so loved the world
That He gave His only begotten Son,
That whoever believes in Him
That whoever believes in Him
Should not perish but have everlasting life,
Should not perish but have everlasting life.
2. My heavenly
Father loved me a sinner
And gave up His only Son,
That I might be brought to His arms.
What a wondrous love it is to me!
That I might be brought to His arms.
What a wondrous love it is to me!
What a wondrous love it is to me!
3. My Father so loved me
And He will again send His Son,
That I might have life there above
With Him to live for eternity.
That I might have life there above
With Him to live for eternity,
With Him to live for eternity.
14 –
OUR REAL FATHER WHO WAS TORMENTED WITH HIS SON ON THE CROSS TO SAVE US
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et’s go now to chapter 14. “Our Real Father Who Was Tormented With His
Son on the Cross to Save Us.” Please read.
“[Indeed, the
hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own,
and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.] (John 16:32)”
To those disciples who were so sure that they would follow their Teacher to the end, Jesus said, “The time is coming when you will forsake Me. When I’m on the
cross, you will all run away but I will not be alone. Though you may betray Me and
leave Me, My Father who sent Me”– is what?“…is with Me even at that very place
where I am crucified.” Do you
believe this? Let’s continue reading.
“This is what
Jesus our Eldest Brother said to His disciples who would abandon Him just
before He was to be crucified alone on the cross as a sacrificial Lamb for the sinners on Earth. He knew
that even though His disciples should flee away
and leave Him, His Father–who did not send His Son alone, His
innocent Son, into this fearful world filled with demons– would never leave Him alone but stay with Him to the end, just as He had from His birth in the manger of Bethlehem.
[Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that ... He who sent
Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that
please Him.’] (John 8:28-29) [Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be
scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because
the Father is with Me.] (John
16:32)”
Will you believe these words, that when Jesus died on the cross, the Father
was with Him? I hope that you will believe
it. Even we, evil parents who have no love, would never send
our young children to dangerous places. We would carry them
or hold their hands. Then how could our heavenly
Father– who is love, who had walked with Jesus His
Son since eternal ages – send Him to His death alone? Of course that doesn’t make sense at all. From
the beginning when He sent His Son and
made up His mind to kill Him, He was already
resolved to die together with His Son. Our Father walked with Him from the
manger of Bethlehem to the cross on
Calvary.
[Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come,
that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I
am not alone, because the Father is with Me.] (John
16:32) Therefore [whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me] [and he who
rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.] (Luke 9:48,
10:16) In other words, “whoever accepts
Me accepts Him who sent Me, whoever treats
Me unkindly treats Him who sent Me unkindly, and whoever persecutes Me
persecutes Him who sent Me.” [The Father
is in Me, and I in Him.] (John
10:38)Therefore, whoever crucifies Jesus, the Son of
God, crucifies His Father who walks with Him, for Jesus is one with His Father.
Amen? Please continue.
“Truly the
agony of Jesus, the Son of God, in Isaiah 53, is also the
agony of the Father. [Who has believed our report?] (Isa 53:1) When [He (Jesus) was despised and rejected by men,]
the Father in Him was despised and rejected by them. When He was despised ‘as one from whom men hide their faces,’ the Father
likewise was despised in Him. [And we did not esteem Him.] (Isa 53:3)When He (Jesus) bore our grief and carried our sorrows, the
Father in Him also bore our grief and carried our sorrows. When He was wounded
and bruised for our transgressions and iniquities, the Father embracing Him was
also wounded and bruised.”
There was once a professor who went to America.
He had lost his father when he was young and
had only his mother. He was the only
son in the family. Long ago, when the North
Korean communists started
bombing his town, he
remembered how his mother had wanted to save her only son. So she cried out to her
children, to her youngest son she said, “Lie down here on the floor,” and he laid down. Then she called her daughter. “Come here. Lie on top of
your younger brother.” Finally, she lay down on top of her children. Why did she do this? When they were bombing the neighborhood, she
was afraid that the roof would collapse because the bomb was so powerful. If it blew up the house, then it would blow her up, then blow up her daughter, and she hoped by hiding her son under these human shields, he would be spared,
as if her body was an iron shield. This is the love of a mother.
Now Jesus says, [If you then, being evil] (Luke
11:13) love your children so much, how can you think your heavenly
Father would send His only Son alone into the
world of darkness where furious enemies abound? Truly [the Father is in Me, and
I in Him], in the bosom of the Father (John
10:38). [I and my Father are one.] (John 10:30)
Do you believe this? Yes. When Jesus,
the Son of God, was wounded and bruised, the Father who was embracing Him, was first
wounded and bruised. With His chastisement and stripes we have peace and are
healed; but it was really the chastisement and stripes of our heavenly Father
who was holding His Son in His arms. Please continue.
“When the
violent Roman soldiers and the more insidious Jewish leaders were mercilessly
nailing down the hands and feet of the only Son of God, they were actually
nailing down the hands and feet of the Father who was embracing His Son in His bosom. When Jesus was crucified on Calvary in the midst of the
world between heaven and earth, the Father who so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son and became one with the Son, was also crucified. [Behold,
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the
sons of God!…The world…did not know Him.] (1John 3:1)
Behold the Father who, in order to save the world, came down with His Son to
the land of Judea!”
Let’s look back to 2,000
years ago. Behold the Father who came down to this
earth to die with His Son in order to save us. Will you believe that the Father
came down with His Son? I hope that you will believe this. It wouldn’t make sense that He would send Jesus alone to this earth. Next.
“Behold the
Father and the Son surrounded by a throng of mocking and insulting people, who
are like starving wolves and furious dogs! (refer to Psa 22:16)” Try to look back on this scene with eyes of
faith. Please look at it. Behold the Father who came down with His Son in the land of Judea! Can
you see His sad face that face in anguish, wondering, “Do
I have to give up My Son?” He came down
to this earth to give up His Son. Please
behold our Father.
“Behold the
Father and the Son who, to save sinners, were hung on
the cross of Calvary between heaven and earth!”How pitiful!
How sad! Do you feel sorry for Him? Why did He have to give up His only Son? It was because He loved us, the youngest children. Though He gave His
only begotten Son for these children, instead of thanking Him, He was
surrounded by a throng of mocking and insulting
people. There are no dogs that bite their own owners unless they are crazy. If those Christians do not acknowledge God in their faith, then they are no better than mad dogs. All
throughout history, the reason why religion and the church were so evil was because God was not present in them. I hope that you will not become part of those evil
multitudes. You must be careful. May you not leave the side of our Father.
Behold the Father and the Son who, to save
sinners, were hung on the cross of Calvary between
heaven and earth! O what an incomprehensible sacrifice of the Father and the
Son [that surpasses knowledge]! (Eph 3:19)
Behold the Father grasping onto His Son crucified on the cross. Let’s read this.
“God sacrificed
Himself in Christ for man’s redemption.” In order to save us, it says that
God sacrificed. Who? God sacrificed Himself. He gave up His body in Christ. Will you believe this? What an amazing
fact! Jesus did not give up His body, did not give up His life alone, but the Father also. God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself.] (2Cor 5:19) It was our Father who sacrificed Himself to join us and reconcile us to Him.
“From the time
when He appeared as a babe in Bethlehem … to Calvary,
the storm of Satan’s wrath beat
upon Him, but the more mercilessly it fell, the more firmly did the Son of God
cling on to the hand of His Father and press
on in the blood-stained path.”
I told you yesterday that the whip of the Roman
soldiers was well-known to be very painful. At the end of the whip were bits of metal and spikes. To Jesus, who was
already tired and exhausted from praying on Mt. Gethsemane, they stripped Him of His clothes and started whipping Him mercilessly. He was thirsty and in pain from the
whippings. And when He was in that kind of pain, whose hand did He hold onto as He continued on the blood-stained path? He
held onto the hand of the Father. Though He was sinless, He was bloody and in
pain. I hope that you will look at the Father who was watching all of this,
holding on to His Son’s hands. Do not look at the
Son but look at the Father. Just think about how anguished our Father
must have felt, to the point of going mad.
And when Jesus collapsed and fainted, He said,
“My Son, get up. Be a little more patient. This is the only way that your younger brothers and
sisters can be saved.”Think about
our Father who is encouraging His Son and lifting Him
up. Behold our Father who has collapsed together with His Son. If I were the Son who was being whipped, I believe I could endure it
though fainting in pain, but I don’t think I
could be the Father who must watch His Son go
through that. Please think about the Father who had to watch His Son go through all that. This is something that you wouldn’t want to think about or even dream of; it is something that you wouldn’t be able to
bear even in your dreams. His Son was so innocent like a lamb, and yet He had to go
through this because of other people’s sin. And when He was bleeding and in pain, He must hear His Son’s cry of anguish. Can you imagine what
the Father was feeling as He lifted His Son up again to
continue His journey to the cross?
“[God was in
Christ reconciling the world into Himself.] (2Cor 5:19)
He suffered with His Son and through the agony of Gethsemane and the death of
Calvary, the heart of Infinite Love paid the price of our redemption.” Not only did Jesus pay the price but our Father also paid the price for our redemption. Not
only did Jesus pay the price by His death, the Father also paid the same price
and went through the same pain, suffering, and death. Our Father paid
a bigger price even more so than Jesus, for He had to kill His own Son. He had to watch His
only Son die and watch His other
children on this earth also die.
“In the thick
darkness (of Calvary), God’s presence
was hidden…. The Father was with His Son. Yet His
presence was not revealed … and in that
dreadful hour Christ was not to be comforted with the Father’s presence….” Will you
believe that the Father was with the Son on the cross? In
order to save me alone, the Father
gave up heaven and came down to the cross and held on to His Son hanging on Calvary.“The Father
was with His Son. Yet His presence was not revealed … and in that dreadful hour Christ was not to be comforted with the
Father’s presence…. In the thick darkness, God veiled the last human agony of His Son. No
eyes could pierce the gloom of God’s presence
that surrounded the cross, and none could penetrate the deeper gloom that
enshrouded the suffering soul of Christ…. But God
suffered with His Son.”
These days, many people give sermons and say, “Oh,
when Jesus died, there were dark clouds that covered the cross.” But
they don’t even know what those dark clouds were. It was the
presence of our Father weeping as He covered His naked Son. Even in that situation, if the glory of the Father had been shown, all men would have died, so He covered His glory. He came to the Son, embraced Him and wept. May you behold our Father now. Let’s continue,
“No eyes could
pierce the gloom of God’s presence
that surrounded the cross, and none could penetrate the deeper gloom that
enshrouded the suffering soul of Christ…. No one could
see with their rotting eyes, no matter how much they looked, the Father holding His only Son and weeping
aloud. But it says here. “But God suffered with His
Son. The hosts of heaven (angels) veiled their faces from the fearful sight.
Inanimate nature expressed sympathy with its insulted and dying Author. The sun
refused to look upon the awful scene. Its full, bright rays were illuminating
the earth at midday when suddenly it seemed to be blotted out…. In that thick darkness God’s presence
was hidden…. All heaven was filled with amazement…. What a startling scene it was to the universe of heaven!”
The heavenly King of this universe had come down to the very place where His own Son was dying. And
every time His Son faltered on the path
to His death, the Father had to embrace Him and support Him. It wasn’t strangers but those very so-called
believers of God who were doing this to His Son.
Jesus said, “Father, Father, why have you forsaken Me?” And with that He bowed
His head and died. So all the pain and suffering He went through was over with
His death. But behold the Father
who continues to weep even after
Jesus has died. How He
lamented and wept aloud. Is the Father’s sacrifice greater
than the death on the cross? It might have been consolable if our Father
could also die with His Son, but
because He couldn’t die, His pain was
a hundred, thousand times greater. The entire
heavenly hosts came down to this earth and beheld the Father
holding His Son. And it says that they could not
bear to watch the scene so they turned their faces. The sun could not bear to
watch the scene. And though it was shining so bright at noonday, all of a
sudden it became dark. And at that time, there was an earthquake and rocks fell from the mountains. All of nature cried
together. But those religious leaders were the ones that killed the Son, and not
only the Son but they had killed the Father as well.
When your eyes of regeneration are opened later on, you can ask nature, “Sun, did you
see what happened 2,000 years ago?” The sun will answer, “I saw with my own eyes what happened 2,000 years ago.” And the
ground will say, “Oh, my heart exploded.” All of nature will
be able to tell you what they saw. But it was those very followers, the so-called believers of God who did not have God in their hearts
that had done this. I hope that you will be awake and
alert and not leave our Real Father to become part of that evil multitude.
If I were an artist, I would not draw one
cross on Calvary but two crosses. There would be a bigger cross for the Father
and a smaller cross for the Son. Why? Because our Father went through a greater sacrifice. He
had to watch His Eldest Son die and
watch His youngest children
kill Him, ridicule, and torture Him. So the Eldest Son was dying, the youngest children were killing Him– imagine what
unendurable agony the Father was going through having
to watch all this.
There was once a man from America. He was driving on a wooden bridge
because a long time ago, there wasn’t any concrete. He had to drive slowly over this very
narrow wooden bridge. It was a cold winter and there was lots of snow everywhere. As he was going by in the morning,
he could hear the cry of a baby. “Oh, that’s strange.”
So he parked the car and went down under the bridge. And when he went under the
bridge, there was a naked woman who was wearing just her
underwear. She was holding on to something. From that something, this bundle, he could hear crying. So he moved that woman’s body aside and began to unfold the bundle. On the outer
cover was this mother’s thermal underwear. He removed it. After that, there was a sweater. He took that
off. Then the jacket which the woman had
been wearing, he took that off. And when he peeled that off, there was a little
bundle of clothes. Inside was a baby. This mother had wandered from this house to that house for a place to stay
during the cold winter, but everyone had rejected her. After
wandering here and there, because it was snowing so much, she had gone under the bridge to avoid the falling
snow. Later on in the night, it became colder and
colder and her baby was freezing. So she took
off her overcoat and covered the baby. But because the baby was still cold she took off her outer clothes, then her inner clothes, and finally she completely
embraced this bundle. Later, she froze to death. But the baby
lived. So this man buried this mother in a very
nice are and took her
baby to care for it.
This young girl grew up with her foster parents and started going to school. One day, she ran home and said, “Mother, Father! You are my real mother and father, right? Please tell me the truth. The
other kids said that I was picked up from under a
bridge. Please tell me the truth.” She was crying in tears. So this man told her the truth. “This is what happened, and so I took care
of you.” “Then where is my mother’s grave?”“If you go to that mountain over there, in that nice area, there is a grave.”It was cold
winter at the time, but this girl had disappeared. So her foster parents went looking for her. Even though it was lunchtime, she had not come. The man thought he knew where she might have gone, so he walked over to
the gravesite, and sure
enough this girl was in front of her mother’s
grave. This man had bought her such a nice
jacket and nice clothes, but she had taken off her jacket and
covered the grave, then her sweater, and then her shirt, and then all of her thermal underwear that her parents had bought for her, and covering the grave with her clothes, she knelt by the grave in her underwear, crying out, “Mother, were
you this cold? Were you this cold, Mother? Why did you have to die trying to save me?”
This man could
not bear to watch the scene. Even a little girl can
understand what her mother went
through in order to save her, weeping in anguish and
sorrow, but though we are all grown up, though we know what our Father went through to save us, and even though we hear this story, we have become so degenerated. We’ve become like
pygmies that cannot even shed a tear. Have we
become this dumb? We should know
what the Father went through having to watch both of His children die. His heart probably exploded in pain. And when His Son
fainted, He said, “Son, be patient just a little more. Only through this method can you save your younger brothers and sisters.” When you go back home
and back to your churches, you may be chased out, pastors
may be kicked out of their church,
followers and church members may be asked to leave. At that time, I hope you will think about
our Father who held on to the Son in order to save you. May you become victorious to the end so
that you may go to heaven.
Over there,
on the lonely hill of Calvary,
Stand two
crosses side by side,
A big
cross,
And a small
cross.
The big
cross is my Father’s cross,
And the
small cross is the Son’s cross.
They are
the crosses carried by my Father and Eldest Brother,
Who gave
their lives
Solely for
a sinner like me.
Song
1. On a hill far away
stood two old rugged crosses,
The emblem of suffering
and shame;
And I love those two old
crosses where the Father and Son
For a world of lost
sinners were slain.
2. Oh, those two old
rugged crosses, one big and one small,
Where my Father and
Eldest Brother to save me a sinner
Sacrificed with blood and
death for me;
They are the symbol of
infinite sacrifice.
3. On the hill of
Golgotha stand the two old crosses,
Where the heavenly Father
and Eldest Brother in order to save this prodigal
Discarded heaven’s throne
and jumped down to this black hell;
What an unbounded love it
is that They died for me.
DOALNARA (GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE DECALOGUE STONECOUNTRY)
doalnara.com /
email address for inquiries: doalnara101@gmail.com
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