Psalms 68:19
Good Friday Service – 19 Apr 2019 11:00:04 am – Pastor James Yang
“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah”
Psalms 68:19 NKJV
Are you with burden in your life? If so, then you do not have faith in the Lord. For in the Lord there are no burdens but instead of having us loaded with burdens, we are ones loaded with benefits on a daily basis.
Recently, our brothers went to invite leaders from other churches. They met one of the priest from an Orthodox Church. He refused to consider our invitation. He bluntly just told us – “You are not a church. You are merely a community. Only if you are Orthodox, you can be a church and go to heaven”. As I heard about this, I felt so stuffy within my heart.
Folks, in the bible, there is the born-again church and there are churches that are not even born-again.
““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Matthew 7:15-20 NKJV
Just like how many people undergo plastic surgery these days, many pastors have also put on plastic surgery in their heart. They do not know the true gospel.
Once I disputed with church leaders for 3 hours. I explained to the pastor and the deacons that I was born-again. I explained that no matter how much I believed in Jesus, my sins could not be washed away. So when I asked the pastor how it could be washed away, I was told by the pastor to go to the theology school where my sins could be all washed away. I told the pastor then that what he said did not make sense to me. His answer implied that everyone who searched for these answers also needed to go to theology school. After arguing with them, they all declared that they were all sinners. Then I declared before them that I was righteous. I gave them the book “The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and being born-again” and departed.
Folks, it is important to meet a good teacher if you want to learn. Likewise, it is important to meet the right pastor if you seek to know the gospel. No matter what kind of pastor or deacon or elder you may be, if you still have sin in you, then no matter what you do, you do from sin and thus are still bound in sin.
A true church firstly tells you the truth and the Way as to how sins are washed once and for all, of the past, present and future. Second, the true church teaches you the way of salvation and of faith.
If you have the heart of God in you, then you will no longer carry burdens in your heart. Many people claim that they believe in God yet they are so loaded with the burdens of the world.
Today is Good Friday. It is supposed to reflect the meaning of Jesus who died for us. But instead what do we see? Easter eggs. Rabbits and bunnies. Even with Christmas, we are supposed to exalt and promote Jesus Christ. But instead, what do we see? We see Santa Claus instead.
Do you follow the Christianity of the world or do you follow and believe the bible? Not considering what denomination we are in or the doctrine of the church, we ought to follow the bible.
““I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 NKJV
Folks, we are nothing but branches. The function of the branches only is to pass nutrition from the root to the leaves. Without Jesus, we are truly nothing.
When I came to Sydney, I was disappointed in that there was a lot of construction work awaiting for me. The previous pastor had left back for Korea and had just purchased the property. So we began the process of obtaining the development application (DA), the construction certificate (CC), etc. for the church. We received help also for the works of construction. We had no idea how to begin. God sent us money through one sister’s superannuation. God sent us help through councillor Sam Mitry to get the DA and CC. God sent us a recently saved brother called Frank, who apparently was a brick layer and a constructor. God also sent us brother Peter from Townsville who worked for free for seven months. I am so thankful as I think about all this.
The moment we receive the Word that we are nothing but branches, then God works for us amazingly.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NKJV
This part is so so amazing. For it says “And by His stripes we are healed”. It represents the stripes of Jesus. This word is written about 700+ years before Jesus was born. So why did God write it like this? It is because Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday and forever. He exists in all these dimensions of time for He is eternal. In the realms of time, we are unable to understand this. Even our future sins are all forgiven. For those who are under the realms of time, this is hard to understand. But those in the realms of eternity, they can accept.
“Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”
Isaiah 38:17 NKJV
It says here “For You have cast all my sins behind Your back”. Under the realms of time, it should say “For You will cast all my sins behind Your back”. But the verse is written under the realms of eternity.
Do you have any problems with your marriage? With work? With life? Please do not worry. Even if you worry, can you do anything about it? You have no strength for it, right?
Would a baby or a child at home worry about what food they would eat, or where the money comes from? We are such as babes before God. There is nothing we can do. Therefore, worrying is illegal. This is why God says to us so many times to not worry. Worrying is not our thing nor responsibility but that of God. This is why Jesus carries our burdens daily.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Psalms 23:1 NKJV
It is illegal for us to worry – for it says here “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”.
Respond to the situation only. Do not respond to the circumstances.