Let us go to Father's house

[瑤翰 김요한]

 “I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener.” (John 15:1)

Sometimes I sing this hymn out loud.

‘Oh, I am a weak pilgrim, living in this sad world, where there is no toil, no sickness, no danger, the bright place I go

I am going to my father, to the place where there is no more wandering, I am going, crossing the cross and returning to the bosom of the Lord’

However, 'in front of the cross' is changed to 'across'.

The reason is that we cannot be embraced by the Lord in front of the cross, and only when we cross the cross in union with the Lord's death and resurrection can we be embraced by the Lord and dwell in the Father's house.

John 15 explains the principle of dwelling in the Father's house.

So, "My father is the gardener ; I am the vine; you are the branches."

The place in the Bible that most realistically expresses the spiritual condition in Father's house, that dwelling place, is John 15.

So, even if the rulers of the world come to arrest us, no one can lay a hand on us if we follow the words of the Lord, ‘You shall abide only in me’ and ‘Abide in my love’.

Don't stay where the king of the world is and say, 'Let's go out to fight the devil.'

The best way to fight the devil is to hide in Jesus Christ.

Resisting North Korea does not mean that I have to go to North Korea and beat Kim Jong-un, but living well as a citizen of the Republic of Korea is the way to resist North Korea.

Doing well in military service and doing well in economic activities in South Korea is to stand against North Korea.

Obeying God is the way to resist the devil (James 4:7)

So, at the end of John 14, when he said, “Arise, let’s leave here,” he goes directly to John 15.

In John 14:30, the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, comes, and the ruler of the world also comes.

The world always follows Satan according to the flesh.

Those who belong to the world have nothing to take from Jesus Christ.

In fact, John 14 is a very difficult words.

These questions of Thomas, Philip, Judas (not Judas  Iscariot )  are  very human questions.

In John 14, Jesus Christ gave a spiritual answer to such a question of rational thinking.

In John 14, Jesus Christ gave a spiritual answer to such a question of rational thinking.

John 14 is difficult because many people say they know Jesus Christ, but they try to know His Father only through the knowledge of the Bible and prove themselves better to the world by believing in Jesus Christ.

But whoever is taught, reminded, through the Spirit of Truth, surely knows that Jesus Christ is ‘the way’ to the Father.

And we know that in the Spirit of truth we know Jesus Christ, we know the Father, and unlike the world, we enjoy true peace because the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, reveals and teaches us Christ. This is the true blessing we receive.

The Lord says, “That the world may learn that I love the Father and that I do as the Father commands” (John 14:31).

In other words, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will fulfill the law and make us people who love God and love our neighbors.

However, God makes His chosen people like His children with their zeal, but what will God do with the world?

At the last moment, the moment you feel something is wrong, it will end.

Look at the parable of the wicked, foolish, and lazy servant.

At the end of the day, when the master returns and explains all the facts and settles accounts, the moment the realization comes, “Oh, I was wrong,” “Cast out this worthless servant; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).

Since the accounts are settled in this way, there is no opportunity to repent at that time.

The same goes for the five foolish virgins. Oops! The moment they did, they went out to buy oil and the door was closed (Matthew 25:10).

Even the chosen people are the same as the world, who do not know at first.

Everything we and the world do not know is the same, but because God's determination and zeal are at stake, God will surely complete the law to love God and love our neighbors in the Spirit of truth. We are in grace where this fact is believed.

But the world will go into judgment in the moment of regret at the end .

At that time, there is no time to listen to the Word, understand, and repent.

Go right into the judges.

Therefore, we must realize it every day in our lives and know that it is a blessing to be able to return to the bosom of the Father according to the grace of the redemption of the cross of Christ.

However, if the Spirit of truth does not dwell in us, we will only have regrets realizing that we have done something wrong, but we will not be able to correct ourselves.

Without the message of the cross of Christ, repentance is just like plucking grass of weeds  confessing one's sins, and feeling refreshed, but it's like pouring water on a frog's face.

Without the message of the cross of Christ, repentance is just like plucking grass of weeds  confessing one's sins, and feeling refreshed, but it's like pouring water on a frog's face.

Is there no time like this because we quench the Holy Spirit in our lives?

You know it's going wrong, but you're lost the way to fix it.

Without the Spirit of truth, we cannot see the door and the way back to our Father's house.

I know it's wrong, but I can't find a way to solve it, it's proof that I've quenched the Holy Spirit.

Without the Spirit of Truth, I realize that I am wrong, but I am not corrected at all.

It becomes like riding a merry-go-round for the rest of your life and spinning around in place.

Our flesh has no ability to heal itself.

It is the Saul of the Old Testament and Judas Iscariot of the New Testament.

Even though Saul had the realization that he was doing something wrong, he was unable to correct himself, so he went ahead and perished.

The same goes for Judas Iscariot. The moment I think I've made a mistake, I can't turn around and return to the position of a disciple of the Lord like other disciples.

He committed suicide by hanging himself and went down the path of destruction.

So, it is a great blessing that God rebukes us by the Holy Spirit and causes us to repent every day, so that we can give up the weakness and uncleanness of our flesh, deny ourselves, and mourn to take up our cross.

However, what I felt while preaching the Word to many people was,  There are many people who realize that "Oops! I am doing something wrong”, but I see that not many people pray in mourn as the Holy Spirit teaches and reminds them.

Because the Holy Spirit has been quenched, there are too many people who have “regret" but do not "correct“.

In the past, he had experienced the Holy Spirit and saw signs and spoke in tongues, but because they do not know the way back to their place following the death of the cross and  His resurrection.

They live their whole lives only with the gifts, signs, and tongues that come from the appearance of the Holy Spirit.

So, many people think that repentance is all about realizing one's mistakes.

It just say this, “Oops! I was wrong. Oops! I acted carelessly.”  

They do not return to the Lord after praying in mourning before the Lord with essential problems.

It is because the process and procedures of faith and baptism following the grace of the redemption of the cross are omitted.

Then, because the blood of the Lord is not effective, the confession that forgives sins and cleanses all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) is not made, so the blessing of rest and peace dwelling in the Father's house in the Lord Jesus Christ is lacking.

We must ponder what Calvin said that if Christ is not in us, the effectiveness of His earthly ministry will not be manifested in us.

As the anointing of the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are holy in the truth according to the redemptive grace of Christ's cross, and we learn the secret of becoming one with Christ and going to the Father's house, I hope we can always sing a hymn saying, "I'm going to the place full of love, I'm going back to the arms of the Lord."

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION