March 22^nd 2009 Sunday Message Summary
Message given by Joshua Jung Myung Seok
Summary by Will Yeh and Shaun McMillan

Scriptures: Luke 17:22-30, Matthew 22:1-14

In every time period, people were warned before they were judged. Like in the time of Noah, God warned them about the coming flood. So Noah starts building an ark. If you think about it, Noah didn’t have time to eat and drink like other people. All he and his family did was to build the ark and prepare for the coming judgment. As people asked him why he was doing this, Noah preached to them and warned them to repent and to put God first.

The people of the time failed to live in ways that fitted the times. They were told, but still kept eating and drinking and doing what they wanted. People today, we really live in ignorance. How many people would do the things they do if they knew it leads to death?

In every time period, God always notifies the people he loves, the people of the light. All these people must only do what is necessary of that time. The rest of the people receive salvation only if they hear and follow the words spoken by those of the light.

Lot was one who lived in the light, and that’s why God’s angel went to him and warned him about the judgment of Sodom. The angels told him there was no time left, and Lot believed absolutely and followed the angels. But do you think Lot knew the judgment would come the very next morning? He was only warned hours before the judgment. The time is really short. Lot too also tried to warn all his family and friends, but they thought he was joking. This is the same as the time of Noah. They were completely oblivious and kept living their lives.

The word is life. The word at the time of judgment is life. If you don’t hear it, then you will die. In this time period too, there are people who are warned earlier, to prepare like Noah and those who are warned right before, like Lot.

Lot’s wife looked back because of 2 reasons. First, is that they still have lingering attachments to this world. Second is that she did not have absolute faith, faith that God will take care of it all. Even if you give something up, have faith God will take care of that thing. The same thing will happen to people in this time period.

If you’re dedicated, you can do anything. It’s not that you have an excuse, it’s that you’re not dedicated. You can’t make excuses. Stop putting God second. Put God first, and then see if you can fit everything else in. In Jesus’ time, he preached with earnestness and dedication, but many of them were harsh and critical.

History happens with those who live with absolute faith. You have to live with 100%. Equip yourselves with the accomplishments of evangelism, righteousness, and you must have the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. (patience, peace, joy, love, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control)

You must do things till the end, steadily. Step by step. You must do everything from alpha to omega.

March 25th 2009 Wednesday Message Summary

It Is Like This

Scriptures: Luke 17:26-30

You can have a good understanding of Noah’s time by reading Genesis 6 and 7 and you can understand really well about Lot’s time period by reading Genesis 19. I urge you to read these chapters many times each. You must read them after you pray to really realize/understand. These are words spoken to tell you to understand about the things you didn’t understand yet about the Lord’s second coming, gain knowledge about things you lack complete knowledge about through the things you realize from looking at the situation outlined there, gain correct/proper understanding of them, look at the present times correctly, and realize/understand about the day of the Lord’s second coming. He is saying that we should gain realizations/understanding about the things we haven’t realized/understood yet through the things in our lives that we have already received realizations/understandings about.

At the time of Lot and Noah too things didn’t stop at people eating, drinking and getting married. They faced judgment about those things. [The point is,] “Just as you have seen this and realized from it, realize also about the time of the Lord’s second coming which you have not realized about yet.” [The point is,] “Through realizing about sins, repent also about sins you haven’t realized about yet.”

The Lord warns people in this time too before such things come like a thief and warns people like they were warned at Noah’s time and Lot’s time and informs people by preaching through the people of mission. However if people disobey that, they ultimately get judged and destroyed. Even when the time period was destroyed, the people in every time period who put God and the Lord first and believed their words and obeyed them received salvation and continued their line.

In today’s scriptures it says, the “Time of the Son of Man,” or “The day the Son of Man is revealed.” The “Son of Man,” refers to the “Lord.” The Lord was the Son of Man. He came in the body of a person of Israel and preached the words of salvation and life. However, like the time of Noah and Lot people ate, drank, were given in marriage, got married, built houses, were immersed in their lives and lived putting their lives first. The Lord spoke about that reality.

So that everyone will be saved, God and the Lord gave people time to prepare beforehand and even gave people warnings toward the end. However only those who were absolutely obedient to those words escaped judgment and survived.

Even if people are told clearly about things beforehand, according to each person’s level of spirituality and faith, some believe with conviction, and some believe only partially and take action accordingly. Only when it actually happens do some people finally believe and preach about it. However, prophecy is no longer necessary once the event happens. Like they did in Sodom people realize things are happening only after they happen. Specific details are unknowable because they are God’s secrets and God doesn’t reveal them, it is hard to receive revelations about them, and God and the Lord hide them.

At Noah’s time, when Noah preached that the judgment of God will start soon, people thought, “That’s unlikely,” and could not believe when he preached it. At Lot’s time too, when Lot told people that the city will soon be destroyed and they should follow him out, people thought “that’s unlikely,” and did not believe. If they had believed, they would have followed. If people had heard Jesus’ words and immediately believed like the criminal on the right of Jesus when he was being crucified, they would have been saved no matter what life they lived in the past.