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The Light of the nations by Pastor Young Joon Park January 4, 2009 1971, God calledme what the purpose of my life for the world vision through Matthew 28:19-20. And God spoke tome about my calling and the vision of my ministry very clearly through Isaiah49 around 1980. I'd like to sharewhat God had spoken to me about what He had planned for me to pursue in myministry in the year of 2009. Openillustration) The AlexanderGreat and his soldier Isaiah 49: Isaiah49:1-7 1 Listen to Me, O islands, Andpay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORDcalled Me from the womb; From the body of My mother He named Me. 2 He has made My mouth like asharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. 3 He said to Me, ¡°You are MyServant, Israel, In Whom I will show My glory.¡± 4 But I said, ¡°I have toiled invain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely thejustice due to Me is with the LORD,and My reward with My God.¡± 5 And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to beHis Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered toHim (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength), 6 He says, ¡°It is too small athing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes ofJacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a lightof the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end ofthe earth.¡± 7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and itsHoly One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To theServant of rulers, ¡°Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down,Because of the LORD who isfaithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.¡± I. The World Vision Isaiah 49:1 Listen to Me, Oislands, And pay attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb; From the body of My mother Henamed Me. John 3:16 – The world visionis the Lord's plan, but not man's. 1 Listen to Me, O islands(coastlands), And pay attention, you peoples from afar (distant nations). II.We are His special chosen Ones A. as His Perfect Plan 1. The Lord called Me from thewomb; Isaiah 49:1b 1 ¡¦The LORD called Me from the womb; ¡¦. For His perfect time 2. The Lordnamed Me while I was in My mother's womb. Isaiah 49:1b 1 ¡¦ From the body of My mother He named Me. For the purpose – our destiny B. As HisWeapons 1. The Lordmade My mouth like a sharp sword, Isaiah 49:2a 2 He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, ¡¦ Revelation 19:15a – Jesus Christ From His mouth comes a sharp sword, sothat with it He may strike down the nations, Hebrews 4:12 – the Word of God For the word of God is living and activeand sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division ofsoul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts andintentions of the heart. Ephesians 6:17b – All His People ¡¦and take the sword of the Spirit, whichis the word of God. 2. The Lordhid (concealed) Me in the shadow of His hand; Isaiah 49:2a 2 ¡¦ In the shadow of His hand He hasconcealed Me; ¡¦. For a secret weapon to be used by the Lord, and theprotection of the Lord He is preparing me until today with His own plan. Weneed to keep patient and wait the Lord until He releases me from His quiver andHis sheath only in His time until then I have to be shut up and humble all thetime. What He is doing to me right now is sharpening His sword, polishing Hisarrow, and concealing me from others. He will use me for His glory when thetime is come. 3. The Lordhas made Me a select (polished) arrow. Isaiah 49:2b 2 ¡¦ And He has also made Me a select arrow,¡¦ For the right target It is well prepared by the Lord for the special purposeto be used for the right timing and the right target. 4. The Lordhas hidden Me in His Quiver. Isaiah 49:2b 2 ¡¦ He has hidden Me in His quiver. For His right timing During certain times He keeps it hidden and duringother times He uses it to make the biggest impact on the enemy's heart. Jesus Christ had been hidden for 4000 years since Adam's falluntil 2000 years ago. Jesus was released to this earth for the redemption fromFather God's Bow 2000 years ago. He hit all the targets to destroy the devil'swork. God released you to this earth from HisBow, so our life will hit the right target continuously by His Will. We have to wait for the right timing in every area ofour life. 1 Peter 5:5-6 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to yourelders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another,for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUTGIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6 Therefore humble yourselves under themighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, C. As HisServant 1. The Lordcalled Me as His Servant Isaiah 49:3a 3 He said to Me, ¡°You are My Servant, Israel, ¡¦ Mark 10:45 – Jesus For even the Son of Man did not come to beserved, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many 2 Corinthians 4:5 – All of us as HisPeople For we do not preach ourselves but ChristJesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 2. The Lord willshow Me His Glory. Isaiah 49:3b 3 ¡¦ In Whom I will show My glory. He will reveal His Glory to His Servant. John 12:28 – Jesus Father, glorify Your name.¡± Then a voicecame out of heaven: ¡°I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.¡± John 17:24 – All of us as His People Father, I desire that they also, whom Youhave given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which Youhave given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. I pray for all of you to encounter with the Lord thisyear, and enter into the deep relationship with the Lord, and go to Glory toGlory of the Lord. 3. The Lordwill be My Reward Isaiah 49:4 4 But I said, ¡°I have toiled in vain, Ihave spent My strength for nothing and vanity; Yet surely the justice dueto Me is with the LORD, AndMy reward with My God.¡± Through Jesus Christ life The ministry Many people followed Him, but most of His disciplesleft Jesus and turned against Him except His 12 Disciples at one of the momentsof His Speaking which was hard for them to understand at the time. Even few days ago they tried to put Jesus as theirking by force because of the miracle of the 5 breads and 2 fishes. It seems as if that His Labor that He had toiled throughoutall of His time and with all of His energy for 2 years was in vain. But He did not struggle nor was confused about thewhole matter, because He knew that this entire situation was under His Father GodAlmighty. His only focusing was on God and reward He was going to get was from FatherGod alone. John 6:65 And He was saying, ¡°For this reason I havesaid to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from theFather.¡± The persecution He had gone through not only this situation, but alsoa lot of hardships such as, being accused, mocked, harmed and crucified by allkinds of people who were against Him. He did not even condemn them a bit, but rather gavethem forgiveness and relied on the Lord until His death on the cross as theSacrifice for our sin. For us; There are always many different kinds of problemsamongst our selves. The most problems are our mind set that was formed duringmany years of our bad experiences of bitterness or insecurity. We all have our own individual mind set, and each oneof our lives operates with this mind set. And if there is even tiny difference,then this mind set will take over us, and starts making decisions on this mindset instead of looking for the Lord's Will. We need to understand that satan's first target forthe relationship area is the communication. He is going to use our mind set tobring the division. Whatever the cases may be, the intention of satan isto bring the destruction of the relationship, and this absolutely is enemy'swork, and we did participate with the devil. So remember that we have to humbleourselves to serve others at all times. That is the point that Paul emphasized for us inPhilippians. Philippians 2:3-4 3 Do nothing from selfishness or emptyconceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important thanyourselves; 4 do not merely look out for yourown personal interests, but also for the interests of others. As His servant, I have been through this kind ofsituation many times and still going through. When you follow the Lord, many people could notunderstand you. Even we have the difficult times among us, and it isthe time to stand strong to follow Jesus, because we will have the reward fromthe Lord sooner or later. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, besteadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing thatyour toil is not in vain in the Lord. Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward inheaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who werebefore you. III. Our Special Secret Mission as His Servant Isaiah 49:5a And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to beHis Servant, Why does the Lord keep emphasize about the chosenfrom mother's womb? Because the Lord Himself created you in the secret placethat no one can see you at all. His creation is very unique and very importantto Him. You are the most important person to the Lord, andyou are His secret to reveal to the world. Even you are in the world no oneknows what You are going to do and who you are yet until the Lord reveals you tothe world for His Kingdom. Even sometimes you do not know who you are. I do notknow who you are, but there is one thing I certainly know who you are, that is; You are honored men and women in the sight of theLord, because you trust Him and rely on Him alone. Isaiah 49:5a For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength God prepared lots of His secret people around theworld, and you are one of them as faceless and nameless people for theKingdom of the Lord. A. for therestoration of His People Isaiah 49:5b To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him This is the year of the restoration in many areas inour life and in the ministry. 1. Jacoband Israel mean Israel people. Malachi 4:5-6 5 ¡°Behold, I am going to send you Elijahthe prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 ¡°He will restore the hearts of thefathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, sothat I will not come and smite the land with a curse.¡± According to this prophetic word, John the Baptistcame before Jesus Christ, and he fulfilled a portion of this prophetic word. So it seems that only Israel people are qualified forthis prophetic word. We had some confusion in 1999 because of Y2K theory. God spoke to me to pray for Israel. I never did pray for them before. I started praying for Israel from 1999. And Irealized that many Christian leaders who are not Jews and some Christianorganizations are getting involved to reach out to them. We met the group whoare in the middle of Jerusalem and interceding for Israel people. This movement is very significant for Israel, but I do not know whether the Israel government appreciates this movement or not. Even today it is illegal to share the gospel to Israel people in Israel territory. Who are really qualified people to be brought to theLord? All Christians are the Ones to be qualified. You can start praying forthem from today, and your prayers will be a big step to fulfill this propheticword. You are a part of the calling of Elijah in this time. That is why you are honored men and women in thesight of the Lord. And you are one of them, because we trust the Lord asour God and He is our strength. 2.Jacob and Israel means Christians. Jacob is a descendant of Abraham, and Israel is namedby the Lord for Jacob. Romans 4:16b ¡¦so that the promise will be guaranteed toall the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to thosewho are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, All Christians are Abraham's descendant. Among the Christians – slidden back, no vision, nohope, and no discipling, spiritual orphan, living in sin, follow the wrongcrowd, so religious and legalism¡¦ Those people are needed to bring back the Lord. 3.Jacob and Israel means the lost Israel people were rebellious to the Lord like as non-Christians. We need to reach out the lost and bring back to theLord. Bring them to your Cell Group or to our church. You can start to pray for your city and Your Countyeach day. B. for God'sSalvation may reach to the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:6 He says, ¡°It is too small a thingthat You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restorethe preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations(light for the Gentiles) So that My salvation may reach to theend of the earth.¡± It is too small a thing to bring back His People tothe Lord, more over He will raise you as His Servant to the nations. You might think that God did not call you to thenations. You might not be called to go other nations, but you can reach out thenations by prayer. Or you do not have any heart for other nations, but you willgo if God called you to do. We can reach out the nations by our prayers as ourfirst step. You can start by praying everyday for each nation. Also we will have opportunity to go to othercountries as a team for the short mission for the future. I believe that One Glory Church will sendmissionaries all over the world for coming years. We will also see theGreat Harvest season coming, and we will be part of this harvest. He called us to the nations to reach to the end ofthe earth, and conquer the world through the disciple making. We are the Joshua Generation to conquer the world. Our Lord makes you as a light of the nations, andwherever you go you will carry His Glory and His salvation with the greathope to the hopeless and the helpless. Jesus did not say that you are going to be a lightfor the future. Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city seton a hill cannot be hidden; Wherever you go the light will be shinning, sopeople's heart will be exposed to the Lord, and you are going to bring thespiritual change. We heard a testimony from Anna. She and her mom wasin Korea, they carried His glory and shone the light to the people, and peoplestarted getting healed. Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such away that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is inheaven. It is time we need to rise and shine our light to theworld by faith. I believe that this year God is going to release thedifferent level of the healing and the deliverance anointing. C. The nationswill come Isaiah 49:7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, To thedespised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, ¡°Kingswill see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the HolyOne of Israel who has chosen You.¡± 1.Hardship To the despised One, To the One abhorredby the nation, To the Servant of rulers, This person is identified as Jesus. Jesus was despised,abhorred by Israel people, the leaders and Roman authority. Because of Hishardship brought the great salvation to us. We are going to deal with similar hardship too,because satan does not like us. 2.Nations will be changed ¡°Kings will see and arise; Princes willalso bow down, But we will see the great fruit through our ministry. In the Christine History The Emperor Constantine (313 AD) – his mother, Helena, became a Christian, Emperor Constantine came to the Lord, and then the history waschanged. National leaders today The President of Korea, Myung Bak Lee – He is aspirit filled Christian Many US presidents Also God is going to use you to change the governmentof nations too. So we need to prepare continually where we are inright now. 3.The Lord will use you Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You. The Lord who is the Redeemer – He is the only Onebrings the Salvation to the nations. We are just a vessel to carry the Jesus'Salvation to the nations by our obedience. And He will bring all things come to pass through usby Him. IV. Conclusion You do not need to remember every thing that I share withyou today, but remember that God chose you as His secret plan and as His secretweapon, and He will release you when His right time comes. We have the greatestsecret mission from the Lord. I will share about this Isaiah 49: in the comingweeks continually. Catch the vision of the Lord. Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people areunrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law. Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack ofknowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject youfrom being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also willforget your children.
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