In every service, I ask my congregation to keep their eyes on me. Since the pastor gives the Word of God according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I truly want my congregation to listen to the Word, so they can thereby receive eternal life abundantly.
When someone dozes in sermon time, I wake the person up so that the person can listen to the word of life and possess heaven. If you don’t listen to the word of God that the pastor conveys though his mouth, you cannot gain life even after attending services.
The Bible tells us, “Consequently, Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)”.
You should receive the Word of God as yours, by keeping your eyes on the pastor when he teaches the Word of Jesus. If Matthew, when he was writing his Book, had not focused on Jesus when He was giving His sermon, he would not have been able to record the word of blessing or the word of Heaven that gives us so much hope.
Likewise, if you are distracted during the sermon, and not able to remember it even though you have attended the whole service, you cannot receive the blessing that God gives by His Word. If you are distracted in this way, you will have a big obstacle in your spiritual life.
Today, some people say that they believe in Jesus, even though their lives are far removed from the Word of God. They mistake their diligence in attending services for faith. Such people, who have the wrong faith, will end up becoming religious people.
To make your faith firm, you should listen to the Word of God that comes from His mouth, believe it and possess it as your own. You should know that this Word is the essential life by which you should live.
If someone were to preach that believing in Jesus could extend your life by 5 years, many people would come to church. But when I preach that believing in Jesus will give you eternal life in Heaven, people don’t believe it. That is the reason that they don’t come to church.
However, by the grace of God, we believe in the work of God’s eternal life and can spend eternity in Heaven. How thankful should we be for this?
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #609
