Passage

[1 Corinthians 12: 1-7]
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This is the 2009 College and Canaan Mission Devotional Service. Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have this devotional service. I also give thanks to all the devotees who have prepared for this service with all your hearts, minds, and souls.
God the Father has given us the title 'One Who Longs for Spiritual Things' for this College and Canaan mission devotional service.
Do you long for spiritual things?
In the past many people's spiritual eyes were opened and they began to see the spiritual realm. The whole church was so full of the Spirit back then.
Many of you fasted and prayed because you wanted to have your spiritual eyes open.
Whenever you believers gathered, you talked about only things of the spiritual realm.
You talked about the kingdom of Heaven, the patriarchs of faith, angels and the spiritual lights. Your only interest was to go into spirit more quickly.
You tasted just a little bit of the spiritual things, and you came to long for them so much.
But as time passed, we have seen your longing has somewhat reduced.
We can see a great deal of difference comparing now with back then.
God the Father wants you College and Canaan mission members to long for spiritual things.
You can have the heart that God desires of you only when you long for spiritual things.
You can go into a better heavenly dwelling place when you long for spiritual things.
I will explain to you a little later, but to long for spiritual things is not just about having the spiritual eyes opened. I hope your longing for spiritual things will be set aflame again through this message.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will only give glory to God like the apostle Paul who only sought and followed the things above.

Main

Dear devotees and church members, now, what are the spiritual things?
The spiritual realm that belongs to the light, for example, everything that exists in the kingdom of Heaven, is something that is spiritual.
The things that you see with spiritual eyes are only a small part of it.
There is nothing in heaven that perishes, and the lights won't become dim.
In the heavenly kingdom there is no evil. It is full of only goodness. There is no darkness, but only light. There is no sorrow, pain, or hardship but only joy, happiness, and peace.
Therefore, to long for spiritual things is to long for this Kingdom of Heaven. It is to hope that your heart will become like the Kingdom of Heaven itself.
Namely, it is longing for your heart to have only goodness without evil, and only light without darkness.
But, we are living in this first heaven; and the Kingdom of Heaven is in the third heaven.
The Kingdom of Heaven is a spiritual realm, and we are living in a physical world.
Then, how can we taste the spiritual things and long for them even more?
It can be possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:17 latter part speaks about the Holy Spirit, "He abides with you and will be in you."
The Holy Spirit is with us, and He is working in our hearts.
In the chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians are recorded the specific works of the Holy Spirit.
First, the Holy Spirit dwells in our heart and helps us believe Jesus Christ as our Savior.
He also gives to each one spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."
If we taste and experience the spiritual things of heaven through the Holy Spirit, it will benefit us in many ways.
I will explain three aspects of these benefits.
I hope all of you will long for spiritual things even more through this message.
First of all, those who long for spiritual things can easily forsake the meaningless things of the world. For example, suppose you like pears.
But what if you eat a spoon of honey and then eat the pear? Can you feel the taste of the pear as usual? Of course not!
Because the honey you tasted first is so sweet, you may feel that the pear tastes like a radish.
Likewise, those who tasted the spiritual things cannot sense any taste or fun that comes from the things of this world.
That is why they can easily forsake them and let go of them.
After he tasted the spiritual things, the apostle Paul considered all the worldly things rubbish. Once he had tasted the spiritual things, he realized everything in the world is useless. And in fact they were rather harmful.
We can just cast away worldly things if we feel that they are rubbish.
We will cast them away immediately. We will be on alert that we will not take them up again.
The apostle Paul forsook the world completely just by the one-time experience of meeting the Lord.
He was thankful for the grace of the Lord who forgave him while he was persecuting the Lord, and so Paul continually denied himself.
The more he changed into spirit this way, the deeper he came to experience the spiritual realm.
He came to realize the heart of God more and more deeply by the clear inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He also had the experience of visiting the heavenly kingdom in spirit.
He was on earth sometimes facing persecutions and hardships, but his heart was always as though he was in the heavenly kingdom.
Dear devotees, the spiritual grace of God cannot be compared with anything of this world.
Through that grace, we can gain peace, joy, and thanksgiving that we cannot gain from anything or any place else in this world.
This grace also contains true hope that will never fade away.
So, if we receive this kind of spiritual grace, we can receive the strength to easily cast away all the meaningless things of the world.
We receive the strength to drive away worldly temptations.
To the extent that we cast away the things that the Father God hates, we will be filled with faith and true hope. Then, we can have the good heart that God desires of us.
I urge you to care for only spiritual things in your heart.
Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth."
I hope you will give up all the earthly things without hesitation by longing for spiritual things.
Dear devotees and church members, those who long for spiritual things, secondly, will receive the strength. Furthermore, they can receive the power of God.
It's because, those who long for spiritual things can go into spirit and whole spirit.
If we go into spirit, we can receive spiritual strength. If we go into whole spirit, we can receive the power of God.
From the time I first met God, I diligently lived by the word of God. Of course my intention was not to receive power.
I just wanted to live by the will of God because I was so thankful for His grace in giving me eternal life before death.
So, in order to understand the will of God I attended many revival meetings.
I didn't want to pass by any place where God's grace was present.
Through the Word and prayer, I wanted to continually have the grace and emotion of the love that I experienced when I met the Lord for the first time.
So, I read the Bible, the word of God, with a great deal of eagerness.
Especially when I was reading the Four Gospels which write about Jesus, because of the crying and the falling of my tears I couldn't continue to read.
The Lord received the sufferings to save a sinner like me, and His grace and love touched me so much.
The reason why I prayed whenever I had time was because I longed for the grace of the Father so much.
Prayer is the personal communication a person has with God. Through the prayers, God gives us His grace and answers.
He also gives us the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and thus we can receive happiness and joy that the world cannot give.
Through prayer we can receive the spiritual grace to the fullest. So, I wanted to pray whenever possible.
I loved praying with longing for God's grace, and I gradually realized the will of God more and more.
I didn't know the will of God completely from the beginning, but whatever I realized I put into practice.
I was so full of the Holy Spirit with continual prayer that it was so easy to live by the word of God.
I didn't do the things God tells us not to do, and I did the things God tells us to do.
I kept and cast away the things that God tells us to keep and cast away.
If I couldn't cast away something, I fasted for 3 days or even 7 days to cast it away.
I wanted to cast off the heart of untruth that God hated as soon as possible.
As I longed for the spirit earnestly and lived by the word of God I readily received the answers to prayers.
It was done as 1 John 3:22 says, "and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."
Even when I was just a deacon, healing works took place when I prayed for the sick.
Not only simple and light illnesses, but even serious diseases as well were healed.
At that time I didn't know the spiritual principles, but the power of God was manifested to the extent to which I went into spirit.
Then, after I went into spirit through the 3 years of refinement, even greater power of God was bestowed upon me.
As I went into the whole spirit, the power and authority of God were manifested. Those works took place even more amazingly from the time of opening of this church.
For a relatively long time now I have been manifesting the power of God, but my longing for spiritual things has never cooled down.
It's because the more you know about spiritual realm, the more wondrous it is. Also, spiritual world is endless.
Even after you go into whole spirit, there will be higher and higher spiritual dimension without an end.
And I have been trying my very best to achieve new spiritual dimension all the time.
To understand the spiritual realm completely and cultivate it in my heart, I considered the word of prophecy so precious and put it in my heart.
I sometimes listened to the same thing several times with a fear that I might have understood even a single word mistakenly. The power of God became greater through all those times.
If anyone longs for spirit and cultivates the spiritual heart this way, power will descend on him from above.
He will also receive the authority to drive away the power of darkness. If one achieves the whole spirit and prays fervently, he can also receive both the power and authority together.
To accomplish the heart of spirit and heart of whole spirit means one possesses the third dimensional space, which is like the Kingdom of Heaven.
Therefore, he can rule over Satan and devil that are 2nd dimensional beings, and even the things of the 1st heaven, when it is in accordance with the justice.
They will enjoy the authority as heavenly citizens not only after they go to the heavenly kingdom but also on this earth.
God says that if anybody can manifest the power of God, God will send him for handkerchief crusades, even if he is just a layman member.
Regardless of the titles as pastors, Levites, or elders, God is giving the chance to everyone to be used by God if he is united with the Lord in spirit.
The kingdom of God is not in word, or in title or position, but only in power.
Therefore, I hope you devotees will long for spiritual things and come into spirit, and whole spirit.
Dear devotees, and church members, those who long for spiritual things, thirdly, understand the heart of God and bear the fruit that God desires of us.
Whether they do the work of God or do the work of the world, they can bear the fruit that God desires of them and give Him glory.
Those who long for spirit and whose souls are prosperous can work by hearing the voice and receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Namely, it's not they who do the work, but they are able to work with the wisdom given by God.
Therefore, they can bear the fruits that are more than what they can achieve with human power and wisdom.
Being valuable people, they can be acknowledged and loved in the society and at home. Just think about Daniel and Joseph.
They were both slaves and prisoners in a Gentile country.
But no matter what the situation, they kept the law of God and lived with spiritual hearts. So, they had the wisdom and understanding from above.
They had all the qualities to be capable of handling the job as the prime minister of the country.
They were loved and acknowledged by both the kings and the people.
The power of God was shown in this way through Daniel and Joseph.
They understood the heart of God and bore the fruit that God desired of them.
They fulfilled the providence of God which God wanted to fulfill during that particular era. The more you long for spiritual things and go into spirit, the more deeply you will realize the heart of God who is spirit.
You will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and receive His guidance more clearly.
So, if you will only obey, then you will excel in studies and in businesses.
You will be prosperous in all things. You can be so outstanding that even the worldly people will recognize you.
If such people preach the gospel, who can just ignore or directly refute the preaching?
If you say, "I lack knowledge and wisdom but I am prosperous in all things because God is with me. Why don't you accept God?" then, that word will have the spiritual authority in it, and the darkness will go away from the listener.
It's because the fruit that can be recognized by everyone and the evidences that God is with you are clearly shown in your life.
Therefore, even though you are just a simple company employee, you can bring many souls to salvation.

Conclusion

Dear devotees and church members, in this sermon, I talked to you about the three aspects of longing for spiritual things.
First, those who long for spiritual things can very easily cast off worldly things.
Secondly, they can receive power and authority.
Thirdly, they can understand the heart of God and put it into practice to bear the fruit that God desires of them.
After all, they will give glory to God in all things, whether they eat, drink, or whatever they do. God gives to everyone the same 24 hours a day.
Some people follow their lusts during those hours and pass their days meaninglessly. Some people commit sins in the time given, so it's better for them not to have had the time at all.
I hope you devotees and church members will fill these given hours with only the spirit.
By increasingly longing for spiritual things you do not give the worldly things any chance to come into your heart.
Even though you are filled with grace and fullness of Spirit, that grace and fullness may decrease when you accept the fleshly things of the world again.
Once you receive grace at any given moment, you should now keep your heart in the truth not to lose that grace.
I urge you from now on to get rid of the remaining flesh in your heart and fill it only with things of the spirit instead.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you come into spirit and whole spirit. I want you to receive spiritual power and authority from above.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will bear the good fruit that God desires of you in your life and give Him all the glory in all respects of your life.

[Amen]

2009-04-06 Posted
2009-04-07 Updated