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Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 15-4] If You Love the Lord and Keep His Commandments, You Will Be Filled with Joy (John 15:1-17)
(John 15:1-17)
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 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. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”
Warm greetings to all our saints gathered here. This revival meeting has been an excellent gathering. Since Monday I’ve been sharing fellowship with you, I’ve broken bread together with you, and I’ve also had a chance to see the beautiful changing colors of the fall on Mount Seorak. I’ve really enjoyed the last three days. The turning leaves of the mountains set against the backdrop of the blue sea provided some spectacular natural scenes, making our gathering that much more special. I give all thanks to God. God always blesses wherever the righteous are gathered like this. And through His amazing plan, He has led us on this occasion to make some important decisions. I am truly grateful to God. Although I wish we could stay here longer, when the evening sermon is over today, you and I must all return to each of our places and resume our work.
The Lord Is the True Vine and the Head of the Church
This evening, we read John 15:1-17 as our main Scripture passage. Jesus said in verse 1, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” Drawing an analogy to a vine, our Lord explained what it means to live a life of faith abiding in the Lord, and what true joy is. The Lord called Himself “the true vine.” The Lord is with us, who are the branches that bear grapes, and He is the Head of God’s Church who has saved us from sin. And we are the members of God’s Church.
The Lord also said that His Father is the vinedresser. The vinedresser cultivates the vineyard to harvest the grapes of the vine. The vinedresser takes care of the vine according to His desire and plan. Like this, just as the vinedresser thus harvests the vineyard, so does Jesus Christ fulfill all the will of God the Father through us, the branches. God the Father, the vinedresser, had decided to save us sinners from our iniquities through His Son. What we must realize here is that Jesus Christ had come to this earth to destroy the works of the Devil. The Bible says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Accordingly, when our Lord came to this earth, He indeed destroyed all the works of the Devil with the gospel of the water and the Spirit—that is, He obliterated all the sins of mankind.
However, even now Satan still continues to deceive Christians time after time. The Devil deceives Christians constantly so that they would not be able to fully appreciate and understand the love of God. With his deception Satan is misleading people to misunderstand the Truth and believe in Jesus only as a matter of religion. He has thereby made Christians speak in false tongues and lead a false religious life. All the existing religions in this world are nothing more than false religions made by mankind itself, and people are bowing down to the very objects of their own creation and blindly following them. They put their trust in the gods of their of own making, and they are praying to these objects to bless them. Simply put, they are worshiping idols. This is what the religions of the world are all about.
The Lord Came to This Earth to Vanquish the Evil Wiles of Satan and Saved Us from Sin
This afternoon we went on a hike through the hills and came upon a Buddhist temple. Usually, a Buddhist temple has an inner temple dedicated to Buddha and another shrine dedicated to the gods of the mountain. The old shamanistic beliefs in Korea held that everywhere was a god—every mountain had a god, the sea had a god, and even the moon had a god. Basically, the traditional beliefs in Korea were pantheistic, believing that every object held a spirit. So some people went as far as thinking and believing that even a sweeper used to clean the floor could be possessed by a spirit.
The gods of the mountains are better known among all these innumerable animistic deities in Korea. In the ancient times, Koreans used to build shrines to mountain gods and bow before the idols, praying to them to bless them with prosperity. For instance, when a woman was barren, she would pray at the shrine asking its god to make her fertile. When animism was at its height in Korea, every mountain had a shrine dedicated to its god. However, once Buddhism was introduced to Korea, such shrines were built inside Buddhist temples next to the inner temple, and visitors bowed before the shrine dedicated to the mountain god as well as Buddha’s statue, asking them for prosperity.
This is what religion is all about. It’s about people asking the objects of their own making to bless them. Ultimately, every religion is of man’s own making. Although it may seem as though religious people are leading a life of faith, in reality, they are just practicing religion. The life of faith is strictly distinct from any religious life. The Christian faith is all about revering God and believing in what He has done for us. In contrast, a religious life is about making one’s own idol, and submitting oneself to this object and praying to it for blessings.
Are we then leading a proper life of faith? The Lord said that He came to this earth to destroy the works of the Devil. How are today’s Christians then? Today, even among Christians who claim to be leading a life of faith in Jesus, there are so many people who don’t know how Jesus has saved them through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They have no idea that it is through the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus has saved them from all sins and made them God’s people. And not knowing how to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit into their hearts either, they just insist blindly that they believe in the Lord as their Savior somehow. Like this, there are many people who profess to believe in Jesus as their Savior even as they don’t really know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and none other than this is leading a religious life.
Right now many Christians are leading a religious life in vain rather a life of faith. People pray to God for blessings without any understanding of the Truth of salvation, and it breaks my heart whenever I see such people. They are not interested in the real Truth of the washing of sins, in what exactly Jesus Christ has done for them through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and instead, they ask God to accept only their own devotion. When the Bible says that Lord came to this earth to destroy the works of the Devil, it means that Jesus came to destroy precisely such works of the Devil that mislead people into practicing a futile religious life, and to thus save us from the clutches of the Devil.
In actuality, Jesus Christ the Son of God came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, and when He turned 30, He accepted all the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist. And as the price of all these sins, He was crucified to shed His blood to death, and rising from the dead again, He has saved us. Therefore, Jesus is indeed the Almighty God and our Savior who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God the Father of Jesus Christ has destroyed the evil wiles of the Devil, so that He would save us from all sins through His Son and make us His own people. Before Jesus Christ’s arrival, Adam and Eve had fallen into Satan’s temptation in the Garden of Eden and committed sin by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; as a result, the entire human race had been temporarily estranged from God.
However, Jesus Christ then came to this earth. By being baptized on this earth, He took upon all our sins; and to pay off the wages of these sins, He was crucified to death. And rising from the dead again, He has become our true God of salvation. We were therefore able to find God again, from whom we had been estranged since the day Adam and Eve fell into Satan’s temptation and sinned. We were able to become God’s people. The Lord has thus saved us from all sins perfectly and completely.
The Lord is saying, “I am the true vine,” and it is written, “He is the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). Jesus Christ called His Father as the vinedresser. Even before the foundation of the world, Jesus’ Father had planned to save us from sin and make us His people in Jesus Christ, and through His Son, He fulfilled His will. When Jesus Christ said here, “I am the true vine, you are the branches,” He meant that He is the Head of the Church.
It Is the Lord’s Desire for Us to Pool Our Strength Together and Bear Fruit
Today’s Scripture passage speaks about our lives of faith that are led in the Church after we find and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord wants to cleanse away all our sins to perfection with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, so that we would believe in the righteousness of the Lord even more and bear even more fruit. The Lord also said that He would remove those who don’t bear any fruit. Therefore, in order to bear fruit, we must abide in our Lord and in our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the members of God’s Church, and as those who have become such members of God’s Church, we must lead our lives of faith by trusting in the Lord. Now that the Lord has saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, He wants us to bear even more spiritual fruit.
We must live by faith following the Lord’s gospel of the water and the Spirit. Realizing our insufficiencies, by faith we must follow the gospel of the water and the Spirit the Lord has given to us, we must love the Lord the most, and we must remember His commandment not to have any other gods before Him. We ought to be always thankful and serve the Lord of Truth in our lives, always thinking about how the Lord has saved us. And to live in this way, we must dedicate our lives to saving souls according to the will of the Lord.
The Way to Fill Your Life of Faith with Joy
When are your heart and mine rejoiced the most? It’s when we love the Lord the most. When our hearts love the Lord the most, and when we remember His love and follow Him with all our hearts despite our insufficiencies, the Lord plants your heart and mine with tremendous joy. It’s when the Lord fills us with joy that our hearts are rejoiced and made forthright, and we can have fellowship with the Lord. It’s when we have no other gods than our God that, even though there is little reason for us to rejoice in this world, joy still fills our hearts, and we feel happy and forthright. Ultimately, this is what the Lord said: “If you abide in the vine, you will bear abundant fruit.” He also said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
My fellow believers, what must we do in order for our lives of faith to be filled with joy? All that we have to do is just love the Lord the most. Joy will then fill our hearts. It’s as simple as that. Whether we are filled with joy or not has nothing to do with our own performance. For your heart and mine to be filled with joy, all that’s required is that we don’t have any other gods before the Lord, love the Lord with all our hearts even though we are insufficient, honor Him and be grateful to Him. We will then be full of joy, as the joy of the Lord will fill our hearts. That is why the Lord said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
When is the Lord the most rejoiced? It’s when we love the Lord the most. The Lord is rejoiced when we love Him more than anything else in the world, and when we have no idols before God. Moreover, it is in doing so that the greatest joy bestowed by the Lord remains in our hearts. That is what our Lord is teaching us here.
We, Too, Have Become Slaves of Love
After saving us from sin through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, Jesus said to us, “I loved you truly. I have saved you from all sins.” To see this, let’s look at the dialogue the Lord had with Peter.
“Do you love Me, Peter?”
“Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
“Feed My sheep.”
Jesus then asked Peter again, “Do you love Me more than all these people?”
“Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
“Tend My sheep.”
For the third time, Jesus asked again, “Do you love Me more than all these people?”
And for the third time, Peter gave the same answer, “Lord, You know that I love You.”
Why did Jesus ask Peter three times here, when He knew everything all along? When Jesus was tried before the court of Pilate, a little maid had spotted Peter and accused him of being a follower of Jesus. To save his own life, Peter had denied Jesus three times. It would have been better if Peter had not denied Jesus and instead followed the Lord until the end according to his conviction. But when the maid exposed Peter and he was put under the spotlight, he denied Jesus and cursed Him, saying, “I know no such a man!”
At that time a rooster began to crow. When Peter heard the rooster crowing, he was startled into remembering what Jesus had told him. He remembered that, when he had said to Jesus, “I will follow You to death,” Jesus had told him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times before the rooster crows.” Hearing what Jesus said, that Peter would deny Him, Peter had said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” However, it came to pass that standing around the court of Pilate, Peter indeed ended up denying Jesus three times before the rooter crowed. So when Peter heard the rooster crowing, he wept from the depth of his heart.
Peter was a man of loyalty. When the Roman soldiers and the servants of the Jewish leaders came to arrest Jesus, Peter had struck the high priest’s servant with a sword and cut off his right ear (John 18:10). That is how loyal Peter had been to Jesus, willing to dedicate himself wholly to God.
Given how loyal Peter had been, he could not bear the shame when he found himself denying Jesus three times and even cursing Him. So even after Jesus was resurrected, he went back to the old life he had led before meeting Jesus, unable to present himself to Christ. Although some other disciples wanted to follow the Lord once they saw the resurrected Lord, because of his shame, Peter could not bring himself to face the Lord as he had before. Even though he himself had gone to Jesus’ tomb and witnessed that His body was not there, Peter did not look for Him. Instead, he went back to old occupation—fishing.
When Peter and six other disciples were out fishing, toward the dawn Jesus appeared on the shore near where they were fishing. He then said, “Friends, have you caught any fish?” “No,” Peter answered. “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some,” Jesus said. When Peter threw the net on the right side of the boat as told by Jesus, he caught a lot of fish. Peter then came ashore and saw a fire of burning coals with fish on it and some bread. Jesus then asked Peter to bring some of the fish he just caught, and together they had breakfast with grilled fish.
After finishing the meal, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” Even up to that point, Peter was still too numb to answer Jesus, unsure if this whole thing was real or just a dream. Although he was happy that Jesus had risen from the dead again and come to see him, hidden deep in his heart was shame. When Peter heard Jesus’ question, he got even more ashamed and he couldn’t bear it. Before Jesus was crucified, He had asked Peter, “Do you love Me more than all these people?” At that time Peter had answered with unwavering conviction that he indeed loved the Lord. Even when Jesus said to His disciples, “You will all abandon Me and flee,” Peter had said to Him, “Lord, I’d rather die than flee. I will never run away even if I die!”
However, the Lord already knew what would happen, and everything indeed came to pass just as the Lord had said. Yet despite this, the Lord Himself had come looking for Peter who had denied Him, and at first Peter could not say anything before His presence. However, Peter realized the true love of the Lord through His repeated questions, and so when Jesus asked him, “Do you love Me more than all these people?” he answered, “Lord, You know that I love You.” Now the fountain of Peter’s love for the Lord was no longer himself, but it was our Lord.
“Lord, I now realize that You really love me like this. Even though I am so insufficient, You still came looking for me, You had spoken about me beforehand, and Your Word was indeed true. You are the Son of God, You are My Savior, and You are the Almighty God. Even though I had denied You, You still came looking for me after Your resurrection. I am at a loss for words. You know that I love You.”
When Peter thus answered, the Lord said, “Feed My lambs.” And when the Lord asked him again, “Do you love Me more than all these people?” Peter still had no other words to say than to repeat his earlier answer, saying, “Lord, You know that I love You.” The Lord then said to him, “Tend My sheep.” With these words, the Lord told Peter to feed the sheep, guide them and nurture them well.
Peter knew that Jesus was the living God, and he also knew just how much He loved him. Yet despite this, he had denied Jesus and betrayed Him, and so Peter thought that he could not possibly present himself before the Lord with a clear conscience. However, the Lord had saved him out of His love, and He had also come looking for him. At last, Peter was able to discover the real reason why he could not help but love the Lord.
Just like Peter, we have also become slaves of love. A popular musician in Korea croons that love is the seed of tears, but love is not the seed of tears. Love is the seed of joy. We have become slaves of love, the seed of joy. Given how the Lord had not forsaken Peter but loved him forever, how could Peter ever abandon the Lord? “Before, it was I who loved You Lord, but now, it is Your love that reigns in me. Now I cannot leave You ever again. You know that I love You.” Peter confessed like this several times. Jesus had drawn out this confession with His love. Peter confessed all his wrongdoings to Jesus, and he came to once again remember in his heart that all these sins had also been passed onto Jesus when He was baptized.
Not Having Any Other Gods before the Lord Is the Secret to Keeping the Lord’s Commandments and Leading a Joyful Life of Faith
Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). What should we do for us to really be filled with joy in the Lord? We should abide in the Lord by faith, walk by His commandments, and love Him the most. Also, we must remove from our hearts any idols that are placed prior to God. And if we know our insufficient selves and follow the Lord by faith, then the joy from the Lord will indeed come to us. The Lord will give us joy and make us rejoice with our hearts filled with His joy.
The way for us to lead a joyful life of faith is not to have any other gods before the Lord. This is how we love the Lord the most. And this is how we keep the Lord’s commandments. Just as the Father loved the Lord, and just as the Lord Himself kept the Father’s commandments while living on this earth, so must we also love the Lord and keep the Father’s commandments. God’s commandments are to love God the most and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Our Lord also loved God the Father the most. Likewise, we must also love the Lord the most. As the Lord said, our hearts will then be full of God’s joy.
As such, if we want to lead a joyful life of faith, then we must first remove the idols of our hearts, keep the Lord’s commandments, and love the Lord the most in our lives. We will then always be smiling in joy. Our hearts will be rejoiced all the time. While working, even when we are compelled to look at our circumstances and see our insufficient and weak selves exposed, if we love the Lord wholeheartedly, then our hearts will be most rejoiced and happiest despite our shortcomings. It is when we love the Lord the most that His joy comes into our hearts to the fullest extent.
My fellow believers, I admonish you all to realize that we cannot please the Lord by doing something good on our own. By ourselves, we are incapable of doing anything worthwhile. Whether it is about being martyred for the sake the Lord, bearing abundant fruit, and following the Lord, all these things are likewise made possible by keeping the Lord’s commandments in our hearts and removing all idols.
Even though I am insufficient, I still love the Lord the most. The Lord is my love. He is my Master. I have nothing else but the Lord. Of course, there are times when my own thoughts, emotions, and weaknesses come between the Lord and me and prevent me from approaching the Lord. But even so, I have no one else but the Lord. Only the Lord is the most cherished and honorable One for me, and He alone is my true God.
I once heard a famous preacher in Korea saying that he respected Admiral Yi Sunshin the most when asked about whom he held in the highest regard. Then, another renowned preacher next to him said that he respected Wonhyo the Great Monk who lived about 1,400 years ago. To me, these answers sounded so funny that I laughed out loud. Of course, Admiral Yi does deserve our respect because he is the greatest admiral in the history of Korea. During the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 1590s, Admiral Yi defeated the far larger Japanese fleet single-handedly and repeatedly. And Wonhyo the Great Monk also is a respectable figure because of his teachings and virtues. Like this, everyone has someone whom he respects. Some people respect certain scientists, others respect certain philosophers, and still others say that they respect some other figures. How about us then? Do these figures deserve our utmost respect? As the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you and I respect the Lord the most. There is no one who is more worthy of respect than the Lord.
Do you love yourself the most? Of course, it is in our human nature to love ourselves. Human beings are selfish because they love themselves too much. But is anyone as worthy of love as the Lord? No, no one deserves to be loved as much as the Lord. Can we then compare the Lord to the things of the world, such as its wealth, pleasures, riches, or power? No, they are not even comparable. Even if we were to compare them to the Lord, can any of them come ahead of the Lord? Of course not!
The Lord has saved you and me through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and with this Word of Truth He has washed away all your sins and mine. We have thereby become righteous people. Is there anything that can be compared to this blessing of love and grace that has made us God’s own children through the gospel of the water and the Spirit? No, there is nothing comparable! Because Jesus loved us unconditionally, when we fell into sin destined to destruction, He saved us freely without demanding anything in return. Regardless our merits and demerits, the Lord had compassion for us because He loved us, and it is also because He loved us that He embraced us in His arms and saved us all.
Therefore, before this love and salvation, we cannot attach any conditions but only accept them in gratitude. In other words, we cannot cling to anything else before the love of the Lord and His salvation. Even though from time to time something else tries to trumpet over the Lord’s love, there is absolutely nothing that can bring Him down from the highest, most exalted place of honor. In fact, the things of the world are not even comparable to the Lord, but they sometimes do appeal to us. Nevertheless, none of them can ever take up all our hearts.
You and I desire to lead our lives of faith in God’s Church and truly follow the Lord faithfully. And although we are insufficient, we want to serve the Lord united together, and despite our insufficiencies, we still desire to follow the Lord. What is the first and the last demand that the Lord makes from us? It is none other than to defend His gospel of the water and the Spirit by faith. In other words, we must keep the commandment of the Lord instructing us not to have any gods before Him. We must obey this commandment, realizing fully that nothing in this world can be compared to the Lord, that He is the most cherished One in the whole world, and that He has an incomparable beauty.
Even though we are insufficient and weak, we still love the Lord the most. Our hearts can have fellowship with the Lord precisely because we have removed all the idols from our hearts, we keep the Lord’s commandments, and we love the Lord the most despite our insufficiencies. That is why our hearts are rejoiced, happy, peaceful, and strengthened. When the Word spoken by the Lord comes into our hearts, our hearts find so much peace that it comes as a second nature for us to love all our brothers and sisters living with one heart, and all the people of God loved by the Lord. We love the Lord so much that there is nothing that can bring us more joy.
This is precisely what the Lord said in today’s Scripture passage from John chapter 15. That is also why the Lord wants us to devote our lives to Him, saying, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14), and, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). For our sake, the Lord laid down His own life. If we really obey the Lord’s commandment and love Him the most, then there is nothing that’s greater than to die for the Lord. No love is greater than laying down one’s life for his friends. The Lord truly loved us, and He truly sacrificed Himself for our sake. Therefore, if we indeed have no other gods before the Lord, love Him the most, and follow Him with such love and faith as to lay down even our own lives for Him, then nothing would be better. We would then become true friends of the Lord. That’s why the Lord called us His friends. And He said that He would make everything known to us.
Calling us God’s friends, the Lord raised us to be God’s workers on this earth. It’s not we who chose God, but it is God who chose us and raised us. Jesus said that He has made it possible for us to receive everything from God the Father in His name, so that we would bear even more fruit. So whenever we lack anything, we pray to the Lord. It’s now possible for us to attain everything we ask from the Father if we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of God Almighty. Jesus Christ is the Almighty God, able to answer all our requests when we ask Him directly. It’s because the Lord has permitted us everything that we are able to trust in Him and follow Him. It is by this power given by the Lord, on account of His love, that we love the Lord the most.
The Lord said to us, “These things I command you, that you love one another.” If we really obey the Lord’s commandment not to have any other gods before Him and love God the most and follow Him, then we will indeed come to love each other and have compassion for other souls. The Lord has made us lead a life of faith so that we would love each other just as He loves us. Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church, has placed us in the Church as workers, and He has made us love the Lord united together in this Church. As well as commanding us to love each other, the Lord also told us to bear abundant fruit in our lives. The Lord is indeed the Head of the Church, our Savior, and God Himself.
Although you and I are insufficient, at least our hearts must always abide in the Lord. There must not be anything that we love more than the Lord. This means that all our hearts must be devoted to keeping the Lord’s commandments. We must obey the Word of the Lord commanding us not to have any other gods before Him. Even though we are insufficient, we must try our utmost to keep the Lord’s commandments on this earth, and we must obey them by faith. And if we ever go astray, we must remember what the Lord told us and return to our place of faith to love the Lord the most. Despite our insufficiencies, we must still cherish each other and love one another. And united together in cooperation, we must preach the Truth, the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, to all those who still do not know the Lord. Like this, our lives should be led while serving the Lord, loving other souls, and loving each other. We must thus love God the most and live according to His will. I am absolutely convinced that this is the right way for us to live. Do you also believe so?
Although we often stumble over our weaknesses like Peter, God’s profound love has already been planted in our hearts. We cannot ever forget that the Lord came to this earth and saved us through the Truth, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That’s why we love the Lord the most. Though we are insufficient, we still love the Lord. Do you also love the Lord?
All of us are inadequate. Yet even though we are utterly insufficient, we love the Lord so much. Because the Lord loved us first and He continues to love us forever, we cannot help but also love Him. We truly love the Lord. Do you really love the Lord? Will you continue to love the Lord? Do you find it impossible not to love Him the most? I give all thanks to God!
These past three days have been like a dream to me. I am so glad and happy to have met you here. I am also very grateful for the delicious food served at this gathering, as well as for all the wonderful sceneries of autumn mountains created by God. And above all else, I am very happy that our ministry workers got a chance to get together and discuss God’s work. We’ve accomplished a lot of spiritual works. The only thing that I regret is that we didn’t get a chance to share fellowship with our brothers and sisters abroad. I hope and pray that one day, the Lord will give us such a blessed opportunity to meet and share fellowship with all the saints from each and every corner of the world. Amen!
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