The greatest joy in Pyungkang Cheil Church
is saving one life that is more precious than
the whole world

Luke 15:1-32



The Bible is a record of the history of redemption ? that is, the record of God’s creation of mankind and His work of salvation to lead them toward an eternal heaven. World history only plays a supporting role of leading us to the redemptive history. As the visible world flows in a big stream, the invisible redemptive history also rapidly flows in a gigantic stream to save mankind.

We sinful humans have no choice but to die. Any individual, family, workplace and business with sin are meant to perish. In the Bible it says, “Whoever perished being innocent?” (Job 4:7). The moment we commit a sin is sweet, but God makes us pay the price for it. There is none who unknowingly commits sin because everyone has a conscience. The price a person who commits a sin must pay is death. They will be thrown into the eternally unextinguishable lake of fire (Rev 20:12-15). For what reason would God ever lie to such frail mankind?
God has given us the Bible to save us from death. He has given us the Bible for the sole purpose of redemption and for the truth that never changes. Even a child’s own parents will not consider the child as their own if he or she misbehaves repeatedly. However, God never deserts us. He sent His only son Jesus Christ and imputed our sins onto His son. Jesus hung on the cross to pay the price for our sins. If it all ended with Jesus’ death on the cross, then there would have been no hope for mankind. However, Jesus broke the power of death and was resurrected on the third day. Through the blood of the cross, our original sin, inherited sins from our parents, and personal sins committed both consciously and unconsciously were forgiven once and for all when He declared, “You have no sins.”

Therefore, the main figure of the redemptive history is Jesus Christ. The redemptive history reached its peak with the birth of Jesus Christ and was completed through Jesus’ becoming an atonement offering on the cross.

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1Cor 1:30).

All we have to do is believe in this. God does not ask for compensation. It is so easy to do, yet people do not believe. This has been the history of mankind. With sin, nothing works out. God said, “Let anyone who was ruined while believing in Me accuse Me!” Parents often boast of their sons and daughters who grew up well and have good jobs and good spouses. However, there are many cases where these people face downfall. That is why we need to go to church to get rid of our sins. Church is not for those without sin but for those who have sin and need to be forgiven. This is same as people with a lot of grime going to a bathhouse.

God gave us the Bible in order to save us.
The world changes. Material things change and nature changes. A person’s mind changes within three days and can even change from morning to night. However, God stays the same from everlasting to everlasting (Heb 13:8). He remains the same, whether it was 10,000 years ago, 1,000 years ago, or now (Heb 1:12). People grow old and get sick. When they pass the age of 40, their vision becomes blurry and the tops of their heads become bald. We get another leg ? that is, we end up with a cane. Even the looks of a beautiful woman fade as she gets older. This is life. “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb 9:27). There are people who say, “Where is heaven?” But God said that there is both a heaven and a hell. What will we do when we die and find out that there is a heaven and a hell? The fire of hell is an eternal fire, a place where even maggots do not die.

People easily lie. However, those who lie will be judged accordingly. Some love to talk about others. God said, “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment” (Matt 12:36-37). God said that those who want to see good days should keep their tongues from evil. Those who truly believe
in Jesus do not talk behind people’s backs. Those who do are terrible people. King Solomon advised us to avoid being in the presence of those who speak of others behind their backs. In Psalms, God tells us not to stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers (Ps 1:1).



God gave us the Bible in order to save us.
There are three parables in the main verse. The first parable tells of a shepherd who has a hundred sheep and loses one; the second, a woman who has ten silver coins and loses one; and the third, a father who has two sons and loses one. These parables speak of the heart of God who seeks His lost children.
Jesus came to this world and conversed and had meals with harlots, tax collectors, and sinners. But the Pharisees who strictly followed the law contended with the disciples of Jesus, saying, “Why does your teacher eat with those who disbelieve?” However, Jesus replied to them by using the parables from the main verse: “What man among you does not go after the one which is lost among a hundred sheep? What woman who has ten coins and loses one coin does not light a lamp to find the lost coin? What man does not look for his son who has left home? I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

It is just one person! People grovel before those who dress up and possess wealth and power. When their children befriend poor friends, they do not approve. Jesus was not like others. He put all His efforts into bringing back just one sinner. He focused on one. When counting a great amount of money, we need to start from one. The basic unit for all great numbers is one. Number one is the beginning, the progress, and the end. We need to learn the significance of the number one.
The heart of our Father focuses not on the son who is at home but on the matter of bringing back the son who has left (Luke 15:10). The son returned in a wretched state after spending all of his wealth eating and drinking with harlots. But the father was so grateful and happy that his son had returned safely that he killed the fattened calf and invited his neighbors to a feast. When the older son who was in the house complained, the father reproached him, saying, “All that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.” The shepherd who found the lost lamb brought back the lamb, carrying it on his shoulder, and called his neighbors to celebrate (Luke 15:7). The feast probably cost more than the price of a lamb. However, this is how much God rejoices over finding the lost one.
Today, we are celebrating a new life. When one soul decides to believe in God, how pleased must God be? When God helps one family, the family rapidly becomes prosperous and wealthy. One who registered today in Pyungkang Cheil Church is the beginning of the whole. Our church does not only welcome those who have power, honor, and money. The soul of a beggar is just as equally valuable as the soul of a president. We should not discriminate. One hundred sheep start from one sheep. God created a great number of people but started from one person. It was to seek one godly offspring.

"But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit and what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth” (Mal 2:15).

It is said that the end days of the world will be like the days of Noah. In the days of Noah, people were flesh (Gen 6:3). People became corrupt flesh when they sought only the ones that pleased their eyes.
God was so displeased that he said he would no longer be with men. But Noah, the 10th descendant of Adam, found favor in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8). It was just one person. It will be exactly the same in the last days. People will seek after money, fame, status, and honor. However, those who try to live according to the will of God will never perish. Even if we cannot bequeath a great fortune to our children, if we can pass down the eternal Word of God to them, our children will be greatly blessed.
God looks for one meager person. When Jesus was walking with His disciples, a blind beggar was sitting and begging for money. One of His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the work of God might be displayed in him.”
Jesus came to this world for one meager man. The heart of Jesus was on the poor, on the people who had nothing. We must repent. Ever since I received the grace of God, I never give one dollar to beggars. I always give at least ten dollars. One dollar cannot even buy a meal. What would we do if the beggar were Jesus? The Bible tells us to treat our neighbors as we would treat God. We need to teach our children to do the same. However poor one might seem to be, we should not dishearten that person. If we do, Jesus will reproach us by saying, “I came to this world because of that person. Why do you make this person, who says he will believe in My name, feel dejected?”

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt 18:6).

Today, our Pyungkang Cheil Church must become the church that remains till the end. We can do this by becoming a church that does not let others down and receives everyone equally, whether a person has the character of a president or that of a beggar. There is an old proverb in Korea which says that if we look down on one penny, there will be a time when we will cry over this one little penny. The complete number of Jesus’ redemption is one. If one member of a family does not come to church, the rest of the family members must give all their hearts and pray for that family member. The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). Have we prayed for the new lives? We need to pray in fasting and in tears: “God, may those who do not understand the Word come to You during this festival, so that they and all their future generations will come to believe in Jesus and be blessed forever.” We need to have the heart of parents. Would we be able to eat when our children are lost? What parents will buy meat and feast with plates of steak when their children are lost?



The church needs to find the lost sheep with the spirit of a good shepherd, the spirit of self-sacrifice.
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

A sheep needs a shepherd. A sheep without a shepherd cannot live on its own. We need to find our lost ones with the heart of a father. We need to look for the lost ones like the woman who lit a lamp and swept the room to find one coin. Let us find all the lost ones and be blessed in the name of Jesus. We will be blessed whether we come in or go out. Everything will go well. Our family will be joyful. Husband will be pleased with his wife, wife will be pleased with her husband, parents will be pleased with their children, and children will be pleased with their parents. Our families will be blessed and so, too, will our nation be blessed.
The result of finding the lost one is a great joy. It is a festival.
Beloved Saints,
May is the month of family. We are all brothers. When God created man, He created one man, Adam. We all came from one Adam. We need to become shepherds who bring our brothers to God. We need to learn from Jesus’ fervent enthusiasm for one person. The character of one person is the character of God. One life is more precious than the whole world (Matt 16:27). We need to focus on the one and bring this person back to God, so that there may be great feasts in every family and every region.

Think of how the shepherd would feel while bringing the lost sheep on his shoulder. He would think, “I could not sleep because I lost you. I looked for you everywhere.” It was just one sheep, yet he was so happy to have it back. Think of the father who replied, “You are my son,” and brought out the best robe, a ring, and sandals to put on his son when his son said, “Father, I have sinned. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” The congregation of Pyungkang Cheil Church should warmly embrace our new family with the heart of the Father and be grateful to God.

One is the beginning of the whole. One is more precious than the entire world. One is the progress and the end of Pyungkang Cheil Church. I pray in the name of the Lord that God’s work of life will lead all of our new family members to return and become that completion before Him.

From the Second Lord’s Day Sevice on May 13, 2012