Title: A Church That Pleases God
We can say that the world is a spiritual war zone, and the church is like a fortress on this earth with spiritual wars taking place. These are the defenses built in important places and the city of Jerusalem which early church was born is a natural fortress. On one side it is surrounded by mountains and the other 3 sides are cliffs. That’s why it’s difficult for the enemies to conquer Jerusalem. That’s why Jerusalem is called the shadow of the church in the Old Testament (Acts 6:1-7).
Psalm 125:2 said as the mountain surround Jerusalem, the Lord surrounds His people this time forth and forever. Psalms speaks about Jerusalem that symbolizes the church today. What does it mean for us today?
This teaches us that the church of God is a mighty fortress. Beloved Saints, even now Satan is using all sorts of methods to bring the church down. Particularly in this end time, the spirit of heresy is doing all they can to confuse the saints of the church. Moreover, we know that this region is the area with a lot of spiritual conflicts. Therefore, as saints we must recognize that we must handle the Word of God as written in Tim 2:15.
I believe as covenanted people we must honor God with good deeds for the kingdom of God for we have Word of the Redemptive History. It is through these words that we proclaim and be acknowledged by Him through the Word of God.
What kind of church is a church that pleases God?
- A church that pleases God is a church that gradually grows in the number of disciples
The word disciple is here is not only talking about Jesus’ 12 disciples but speaks of those who actively believing and following the teaching of Jesus Christ (Acts 6:1). Here the word of disciple is speaking of a mature world of the church. In Korea we call this type of saints the saint like a grain. These people are the soldiers of the cross, people who suffered together with the Lord. Apostle Paul spoke to Timothy this way (2 Timothy 2:3). Beloved saints, we must focus on the difference between a true disciple and a large crowd.
During Jesus’ time we can see a large crowd followed Jesus and seek healing from Jesus (Matt 4:22-25; Matt 4:25). The large crowd here follow Jesus for their own purposes, to be healed and to have money.
When we look at Matt 5:1, His disciples came to Him. Here we can see the separation between the crowd and the disciples. Are you all the large crowd or the true disciples? I pray for all of you in TLCC Malaysia, to cultivate great power and strength with faith, may many of you be true disciples.
Today we can see that the church is becoming lethargic. In the end time, it’s the power of the saints that is going to be at work. I pray that TLCC will be the power that change the world by God’s grace. In this time, it’s the saints that has this ability to change the world. Furthermore, I pray that those who are given the Word of Redemptive History by Rev Abraham Park, may move forward to save the world.
Satan and devil will be afraid of you all. I pray that you will become this type of church.
- A church that has workers that work after fitting in the system
Acts 6:3 says, brothers and sisters, select from among you 7 men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.
The early church in Jerusalem were divided into Apostles and the saints. They established deacons full of Holy Spirit. The Apostles were able to devote themselves into the Word and the prayer. The saints in Jerusalem were strong in faith.
The image of the true church is the one whose members all work together.
In Exodus 18:19-20, the church in the wilderness under Moses’ leadership put a system in place. He put people in charge over thousands of people with jurisdiction under them. The church in the book of Acts was able to attain this kind of system. What is clear is this organization are qualified workers who are able to do this over and over again.
In Acts 6:3, they chose people with wisdom, filled with the Holy Spirit and with good reputation. If these men do not have these quality, they won’t be growing. These are the 3 elements that can cause the church to grow. In the end we must understand that it’s the character and faith of those at work that is important. Today we have come upon this special day where the church established 6 new leaders who will be working with the church. I pray that this church may continue to install more and more leaders going forward. How much easier if there is a pastor that grows from you to evangelize.
3. A church that is devoted to the Word and prayer as servants of God
Acts 6:4 says we must devote ourselves to administer the Word. The Word here speaks of apostles, they are the servants of God. The servants that God put in place, He does not give them worries and concerns so that they could focus on the Word of God. The saints will be able to receive the proper spiritual guidance. That’s why the early church in Jerusalem was able to change to grow.
Who are the servants of the church? In broad prospective, all of you are the servants of the Lord. However, in your view it’s Pastor David Shin. All of you here must pray for Pastor David and support him so that he could focus on the Word and prayer. I pray that TLCC will be able to attain great work in this country. It testifies in the text today, when the saints of God focus on Word of God and in prayer, they will gain power.
The Lord's Covenant Church Malaysia 