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Burnt Offering
Ch. 4 · Audio in EN
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ES
Chapter 4
Taking off th Skin of the Heart
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Taking off th Skin of the Heart
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And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.
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Leviticus 1:1-9
And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.
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The Korean World of the Heart During a summer retreat one year, we invited Missionary Randy from Chick Publications. He was in charge of international outreach, and we shared the word of God with him. Because it was his first time, he was very curious about Korea. The way we lived was very different to him. He was curious about many different things. He said it was the first time to see people having retreats like we did. He returned to the U.S. I don't know what he said about us, but when I visited America, Brother Chick, who headed Chick Publications, invited me to dinner. As I ate with him, he often said, "I don't know the Korean customs, so I don't know if I'm treating you properly." When Missionary Randy was in Korea, I wanted to show him a little bit of Korea, so I said to him, "I would like to tell you an interesting story. Do you want to hear it? You can only listen if you pay me some money." "What's the story?"
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he asked. "It's worth about one hundred dollars. Would you like to pay one hundred dollars and hear the story?" "How can I know the value even before hearing the story? First go ahead and tell me the story," he said. So, I explained the story of how noble Sul Dal Kim sold the water of Daedong River: It's an ordinary story to us, but it is a very interesting story to foreigners. "How was it? Was it fun?" I asked. "Yes. It was very funny," He replied. "That was just the appetizer. Now I have a real funny story for you. Would you like to pay $150 and hear this story?" "Yeah sure." This time, I talked about the Kyung Sang Do Province Scrooge and the Jeolah Do Province Scrooge. Maybe because he was from America, which is a rich country, he had so much fun listening to the story about the two Scrooges. "Now you need to pay me that $150." Right then, the brother did not know what to do, and he just said he would pay me next time. If I find myself in a situation in America and I need some money, I think Missionary Randy would have to pay up if I asked him. One of the hardships that foreign missionaries go through in Korea is that they understand the surface-level actions of Koreans, but are unable to understand their hearts very well. Foreigners are not as conscious of other people, so they are able to freely express their hearts. However, when the atmosphere is not perfect, Koreans never say what is inside their hearts. If foreigners do not know this about Koreans, it is easy to misunderstand them. There is a song that can best teach foreigners about the world of the heart of Koreans. It is a song titled, "Gapdol and Gapseun." Gapdol and Gapseun lived in the same village, and the two of them really loved each other. However, it was only in their own hearts. Outwardly, they acted as if they despised each other. It is a song that so fittingly expresses the hearts of Koreans. American people don't usually behave this way. When they love someone, they say, "I love you," and they express the love in their hearts. When you look at the lyrics of verse two and three, it is even funnier. "Then one day, Gapseun married another man. The night of her wedding she just cried and cried because in Gapseun's heart, all she wanted was Gapdol. However, on the outside, she acted like that wasn't true. Gapdol also got angry, and so he got married." It is a song that we casually sing, but foreigners do not understand this song at all. How can you love each other and just ignore each other? How can you leave behind the person you love and marry someone else? This behavior has changed quite a bit in recent times. However, this world of the heart is laid out in the depths of the hearts of Korean people. That is why I often tell the missionaries who visit from abroad that Korean people must preach the Gospel to Koreans. Foreign pastors think that when Korean people answer, "Yes," to something, that they must actually feel that way in their hearts. A missionary who I knew preached the Gospel to someone. Later he asked him, "Do you believe?" and the person answered, "Yes, I believe." The missionary rejoiced and told us that this person received salvation. However, when I met that person and spoke with him, I could see that he was nowhere near salvation. This actually happens from time to time, even when it is not a foreigner, but a Korean pastor. One time, a pastor preached the Gospel to someone, and told me, "Pastor, he got saved." He was so happy. I was thankful and curious so I asked the pastor a question: "How did he get saved?" He replied, "I spoke to him for about four hours. He listened to the word, and his heart was completely open. He got saved and he left rejoicing." When I heard that, I could not express how happy I was. The next day, I went to the house of the person that he had preached the Gospel to and said, "I heard you got saved yes-terday. Wow, I'm so thankful." The person became wide-eyed and said, "Excuse me?" I replied, "Don't you feel peace in your heart now that all of your sins have been cleansed?" He asked me, "What?" I did not know how to react to this unexpected response, so I carefully asked, "How was it after speaking to that pastor yesterday?" He then replied, "Pastor, it was hot that day and the other pastor was completely drenched in sweat, trying to speak with me for four hours. How could I tell him that I didn't believe? Not only that, but if I told him that I didn't believe, he would have gone on for another four hours. How would I be able to bear that suffer-ing? So I just told him I believed, and he let me go. I really needed to use the bathroom, too. If I told him I didn't believe, I would've been in big trouble."
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The Unrevealed Sinner
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When Jesus was in this world, a woman was caught in the act of adultery and brought out to Him. Scribes, Pharisees, and many others wanted to stone her to death and they even had stones ready in their hands. They said to Jesus, "Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such a woman should be stoned: but what sayest thou?" Jesus said to them, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."Soon afterwards, what happened to her? Was her face stoned, or was her face damaged? Did she die pitifully? Not at all. Not a single person threw a stone at her. Actually, they were all the same sinners in front of Jesus. The woman taken in adultery was a sinner revealed, while the other people were sinners not yet revealed. There is a very subtle psychology that works in people's hearts. Whether they are Korean, Japanese, American, people do not feel much guilt about their sins even though they commit them, until they are revealed. Only after their sins have been revealed do they recognize they are sinners and experience fear and suffering. When you go to the hospital, there is a way the doctors diagnose a patient's illness. Doctors know the symptoms of diseases. People with tuberculosis show certain symptoms. People with typhoid show certain symptoms. The doctors examine the patients and run tests in order to discover the symptoms. The doctors say things like, "Stick out your tongue. Open your eyes wide. Take a deep breath." People who preach the Gospel can distinguish between those with sin in their hearts and those without sin. In other words, they know how to distinguish between people who are born again and not born again. There are many ways to distinguish the two, but the clearest difference is that born again people do not feel very burdened about their sin being revealed. On the other hand, the people who are not born again try to hide their sins. We can say that most people who try to hide their sins are not born again. That is the way many people of the world live today, right? Even though they do many bad and unclean things, they are boastful and emboldened up until the point that their sin is revealed. They live continually attacking people who have had their sins revealed. It is evident that this kind of psychology has taken root and is active in people's hearts. From time to time, our pastors sometimes quarrel with their wives. I went to a church once where a member approached me and said, "Our minister and his wife had a huge fight." He said that he fell into trial because of that. When I heard that, my heart felt heavy. I have also fought with my wife on occasion. I thought, "Are they like that because they are following my example?" However, it is not only our church's pastors and first ladies who fight, but found that every couple fights. It is just that some hide their fights, but our pastors reveal them. I realized that was the only difference. The people who have been freed from sin, no matter what the sin, are not very burdened to have them revealed because the sin is already dead. On the contrary, the more the people who have not been freed from sin commit their sins, the more they try to hide them.
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A long time ago, before I was saved, I thought I was the only sinner. I thought it would be so embarrassing to have my sins be revealed to everyone. However, after being saved, as I read the Bible and lived spiritual life, I realized that all people are the same. The only difference is the amount of revealed sin. Once I thought about people. I felt that it was so foolish for people to try to measure each other, like labeling someone else tall, short, fat, or skinny. I'm not saying this to criticize anybody, but one pastor once said, "How could a man be a man when he doesn't even weigh 80 kg?" Well that does not mean that the difference in weight between that pastor and a person who is really skinny is several tons. Even if there is a difference in height between a tall person and I, the actual difference is just a matter of centimeters. Just because he is taller, he is not a hundred meters taller. Even if the fastest person in the world and I race each other for 100 meters, the difference in time is not even ten seconds. There is a difference of how well people have covered up or not covered up their evil. There are no good people in the world. All people are completely evil, filthy, and dirty. I do not know exactly what your heart is like, but Jesus knows. In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus said, "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphe-mies." One day I opened the Bible and read it. I took a pen and underlined words as I read them closely. There is not even one good thing that comes out of man's heart. If that is the case, there is no good in man. I think people live enjoying the act of being good, smart, great, and clean as if they were any of those traits. In addition, even though they have sinned, they act as though they have not. Some people say, "Well, I have stolen, but I have not done anything to others I shouldn't have." Well, does that mean theft is something you are allowed to do to other people? Whatever sin it may be, sin is always sin.
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A Sin-Stained Conscience As I had Bible studies with prison inmates, I would sometimes hear what they kept in their hearts. When I first went to prisons, I thought the people who committed murder and adultery would feel guilty and be suffering for their sins. For example, suppose a murderer killed a man. His death must have greatly impacted his wife, children, parents, and all his relatives. His children could become orphans, and live wandering in the streets. I thought they would be in tremendous pain whenever they recalled the moments they committed murder. However, when I actually met and spoke with them, they may know the fact that they are sinners, but they did not feel any guilt in their conscience. They did not even think about the pain they caused to their victims' families. I once went to the ward of Suwon Prison where female inmates were kept. I held a conference there for one week. There was one inmate in particular who listened to the word so well. That inmate received salvation. Her face became bright, and I saw her change. As I was preaching, she really stood out to me. One day, while I was preaching the word, I thought about her. "She looked like such a nice and sincere person. I wonder why she is in here. Well, of course she must be in here because she has committed a crime." I heard her story by chance after the conference. I discovered she had committed a terrible and unbelievable crime. Man has a talent that even God does not have. That is the talent of smiling on the outside, while possessing a dirty heart on the inside. Even though people possess filthy and dirty sins on the inside, they have the heart to act like they are good on the surface. This is what they call their "con-science." However, because the conscience is stained in sin, it is also dirty all the same. When you go to military reserve training, you see people who had lived an upright and conscientious life acting terri-bly. You see people gathered here and there gambling. Nowadays, reserve training has been adjusted a little, so it is not as bad. But when a person speaks about how he has stolen something, everyone surrounds him and listens with excitement. That much, at least, is somewhat gentleman-like. When a person tells a lustful story or stories about how they committed dirty sins, people listen so intently. Most of these people are heads of households. They tell their children, "Study hard, you must become good people." Among them, there are teachers who teach children. They, too, are no different from other people. No matter who a person is, their dirty sins are squirming inside of them. But with class, position, reputation, and train-ing, they have covered it all up and maintain an appropriate appearance. In some instances, because of their decent outward image, people are deceived. In that state of mind, many people think they are better than others. There are lots of people who think they are smart, clean, and truthful. If a person is smart, how smart could that person actually be? Is there anyone who can count the hairs on his head? Does he know the number of hairs in their eyebrows? A person cannot even count the hairs in his eyebrows or on his head. Then how could sins be counted, especially the ones that cannot be seen with the naked eye? People cannot even count how many sins they have. Knowing that, then how can people say, "I am good. I am clean. I am truthful"?
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Take off the Skin of the Heart When you read about the burnt offering in Leviticus chapter 1, it explains about removing the skin of the calf. It does not mention removing the skin with the other offerings. It only talks about what is required for the burnt offering. When you think about skinning something, it is disgusting. Why? There is a reason. One day, God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Now, imagine Abraham skinning his son, Isaac. If you also look in the book of Judges, it talks about Jephthah giving his only daughter as a burnt offering. Jephthah actually took his loving daughter and skinned her with a knife, from head to toe. He then cut her into pieces and gave her as a burnt offering.
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The burnt offering must be skinned for it to be acceptable to God. The question is then, why is the skin completely removed from the burnt offering? In chapter 1 of this book, I talked about how plants are very complicated on the outside, but simple on the inside. I also talked about how animals are very simple on the outside, but very complicated on the inside. And when the insides of animals are exposed, it is disgusting. When people's insides are revealed, it becomes very complicated. One day, there will be a time when we are all skinned before God. It will be very disgusting. I am not talking about the skin of our flesh, but everything we have covered up, including our filthy and dirty thoughts. It is talking about your reputation, class, etiquette, and other similar constructs. It means that every skin of hypocrisy will be removed. When the skin that covered us is removed, our insides must be revealed in order for a true burnt offering to take place. In the story of the woman taken in the act of adultery in John chapter 8, apart from Jesus, every person gathered there was a sinner. It is just that the sin of the woman was revealed, meaning, she was in a state where her skin was removed. On the contrary, even though the other people had sin, it remained hidden. This means these people's skins were not removed. That is why it was only this woman who met Jesus heart to heart. In the same way you remove the male calf's skin to prepare the burnt offering, even now, Jesus removes our reputation, class, position, and everything that has covered our fake hearts, and reveals what is truly inside. You may hide your filthy and dirty aspects from your friends and family. However, just as the priest removes the skin of the male calt, if Jesus removes the skin covering you and every little thing inside your heart 1s completely exposed, you would probably be completely shocked about your filthy and evil image, and not know what to do. Many people want to show off that they are righteous even though they are terribly wicked. In this way, they live covering up their dirty parts. They strain to exert their own righteousness, and do not submit to the righteousness of God. People who want to exert the righteousness of Jesus are completely different. Even though their evil and filthy aspects are revealed, they are not concerned about that so much. Even though their evil is completely revealed, they live receiving the righteousness of Jesus. They rejoice, living and tasting that righteousness. While Jesus Christ was in this world, many people met Him, but through the Bible, we know very well that not every one of those people received the grace of Jesus. Then, who were the people that received Jesus' grace? The Samaritan woman, the man with the 38-year infirmity, the woman taken in adultery, the thief at the cross, and Zacchaeus the publican were the kinds of people who received grace. These are people whose filthiness was revealed. Contrary to them, the priests, scribes, Pharisees, and religious people were the ones who had skins so thick that the things inside of them were never exposed. That is why they thought they were good on their own. They fooled themselves into thinking that they served God very well. People who live this way become people who have nothing to do with Jesus Christ. There are people today, just like during Jesus' time, locked into the religion called "Christianity," and they live a hypocritical life. These are people who have nothing to do with Jesus.
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Jesus Knows the Blemishes in Us
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That Even We Don't When the sins inside of our heart are revealed and we realize we are sinners who can no longer hide before God, we become people who seek His mercy and are able to receive God's grace. It is exactly the same in regards to living spiritual life after receiving the forgiveness of sins. Reflect back on how you lived after receiving salvation. After receiving salvation, you must have thought of yourself as someone good, and as someone truthful for a while. You must have thought that you are a person who did not sin, and was completely fit to go to heaven. However, after some time passed, even though you are saved, you come to realize what a pathetic human being you are. When I first got saved, for a while I really hated myself. It is said that we are not supposed to hate people, but more than hating other people, I hated myself. If God had saved somebody other than me and established him as a Gospel preacher, I often felt that the person would do this work so much better than me. The more we discover about Jesus Christ, the closer we become to the Lord. The more I realized what a dirty human being I was, I could only give fervent thanks to the Lord, who loved a person like me the more that time passed. There was never anything inside of me that was better than that of others. There was certainly nothing righteous. I deeply realized that there was nothing good in me. As I do the work of the Gospel, there are people who speak against me from time to time. Some people tell me, "I know your past." When I hear such things, in my heart, I think, "No matter how well you know my past, you do not know my past as well as Jesus does." Whenever people say they know me, they turn out to be people who just made things up and pieced them together. Even if they did know something about me, it could only be something very small. Jesus knows every little piece of me, and in spite of it all, He still loves me. I cannot understand why He loves, upholds, and utilizes a person like me. After Jesus removed all my skin and looked at all my insides, He saved me. And in addition, He lives with me. I cannot express how peaceful this is. If Jesus did not look at all my insides, but only looked at one side of me and made me a Gospel preacher, then imagine how insecure I would feel. "I have this blemish. What if Jesus finds out about this? Will He kick me out?" I would definitely feel this way. But as Jesus removed my skin, He knows every little filthy thing in every corner of me. He even knows things about me that I do not know. He still loves me, and inside of that love, I enjoy freedom and liberty. This is also true with you. Jesus did not save you because you deceived Him, or because He made a mistake. Jesus completely knows the blemishes in you that even you are not aware of. And Jesus still loves you despite it all.
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Jesus knows that you are filthy, dirty, untrue, petty, and picky. God said that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; however, He loves us. That is why we praise Jesus and glorify the Lord. It is man's heart that is dirty. It is our hearts that are dirty. However, the truly thankful thing is that Jesus looked into all of our filthy and dirty insides, and still loves us. When I stand at the pulpit to preach the word of God, does it not look good to you? Even though I may usually be somewhat dirty, but I wash my face, wash my hair, shave, and brush my teeth to look nice and neat when I am at the pulpit. If you see my insides, you might probably faint. So I try to at least clean up my outside. Jesus can clearly see what is inside of me and knows everything about me, including all the filth and evil, as if my skin was removed. Even so, He loves me. Therefore, I cannot hold back my thankful heart towards Him. Actually, I am so much filthier and dirtier than I could ever know myself to be. Regardless, there is no way to fully understand why He loves me.
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I Will Never Leave You
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The reason I lived a life of a hypocrite before I was saved was because it seemed as though my friends and all the people I knew would really despise me if they know every little detail about me. For this reason, I tried really hard to act as if I were great. I had to act as if 1 knew something, and I acted as if I were smart. Do you know the hymn, which reads, "I cannot tell the half of love unfeigned, supreme, divine, that caused my darkest inmost self with beams of hope to shine." I've never opened my heart to anyone even once because I thought that if I opened my heart, then surely people would despise and spite me. However, for the first time in my life, I opened my heart to Jesus. This was because Jesus knew how filthy and dirty my heart was, and yet, He still loved me. He received me, He was for me, and He promised that He would never throw me away. The Lord promised that no matter what sin a person like me might have ever committed, He would be with me for-ever. This is the promise that Jesus made. I did not do this. That is why, even though I curse Jesus everyday, and even if I hit Jesus with my fist, Jesus is still with me. When I stand before the loving Jesus, I have freedom and true rest in my heart, even though I am weak, filthy, and dirty because I was not the one who made this promise. It was the Lord who made the promise. When I didn't know this precious truth precisely, I did the work of the Gospel. When there are saved brothers and sisters and even pastors coming to church, I thought, "Why is God using a person like me?" At first, I believed that God used me because there were no other people who were wit-nessing. However, after some time, I thought, "Now there are many preachers so He will throw me away." One day, at one of our retreats, there was a pastor who was preaching the word, and it was so graceful. In the begin-ning, I was listening to the word, resting my chin on my arms. And without me even knowing it, I found myself sitting up right. Then I got on my knees and listened to the word. That brother was younger than I was, and he was a brother that I used to teach. But I could see that the words from his mouth were not his, but they were the words of the Lord. I got on my knees and listened to the word. However, after the sermon was over, all of a sudden, in my heart I thought, "Now it is time for God to throw me away. God does not need someone like me, so He wants to establish a brother like him." Even though I was so thankful and joyful for the works of the Lord that appeared through that brother, on one side of my heart, I was very disappointed. It felt as though immediately I would be kicked out to a far away place. The thought that now God would forsake me rushed into my heart. Why do you think I had that kind of a thought? As I lived, there were times I felt condemned like this in my heart: "After being saved, I have been so unfaithful to the work of the Lord. A person like me is not worthy to become a servant of God. If I pour a little bit more of my heart into it, then people would get saved. I am too lazy and I poured too much of my heart into useless things." When I wake up in the morning I say to myself, "Today, I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that." I then hold onto myself and I hear the voice of the Lord in my heart, "Are you a pastor or a steward? You just preach the word and pray." Then I answer, "Yes, Lord, I will do that. I'm a pastor." And then in order to do just that, I would close the door, sit down, open my Bible, and I call out, "Lord!" Then I'd begin to read the word. Then, I'd get a phone call. "Hello...?" After talking on the phone, without knowing, I would find myself going outside to work on this and that. When I saw myself doing things this way, it is true that I am a pastor, but I think I am a pastor who's not all there. When the heart to pray arises in me, I seek the Lord. I say, "Lord, this brother is..." and I would pray for our brothers and sisters. When I pray, it is really graceful and good, but after a little bit, I can see that I'm in the car moving here and there. This is what I think, "You really met a good master. If it weren't Jesus, you'd be fired already." So when I see a brother preaching the Gospel well, giving graceful sermons, ministering well, and I see the gift of God manifest in that brother, I think, "Wow, that's really nice. It's okay even if God does not use me anymore. I can take a break now." Even though I think that, but on the other hand, I feel sad in my heart. At times, it feels as though I'm wandering in the darkness alone. Many times it felt as though I was a person who was just waiting to be thrown away by God. It felt as though God would throw me away, but He didn't throw me away. One day, the words in Hebrews came to my mind, so I opened up to that verse and I read it from the Bible. "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:" (Hebrews 13:5) Then I thought, "That's right, there's no need to love money. You spend whatever you have. If you have a lot of money, it's so tiring to take care of it all. A pastor doesn't need any money. If I don't have any food, I can ask the brothers and sisters for some food and eat that. If I don't have money for traveling, I'll walk. If I get sick, I'll preach the Gospel to the people who come to me. If I can't do that, I'll just read the Bible and pray." "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have:" (Hebrews 13:5) I really like these words. But after these words, more amazing words followed: "for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." As I read these words, I never dreamt that the Lord had made such a promise. No matter what my image was, His promise, "I will never forsake you and I will never leave you," was accepted so preciously into my heart. It felt as though I had fallen deep into the great love of God. After getting married, I have lived with my wife for twenty years, but I really had not felt that kind of love from my wife. However, as I lived together with the Lord, I could feel this burning love in my heart that brought me to tears many times from my core. If someone in the world was doing something grand, that person would never use someone like me. But I am so thankful to the Lord, who loves me and says that He will never throw me away, someone so weak and with so many shortcomings. He knows every little detail inside of me, and His love is great and beautiful. Even though Jesus knows every part of our filthy, dirty, and fake aspects, He still loves us. That love is perfect, indeed. That love is the only true love.
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Do We Need to Cover Our Blemishes in Front of Jesus?
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If you remove the skin of your heart, you will acknowledge that you, too, are not special people. Your heart is full of filthy, dirty, and deceitful things. Because your insides are dirty and deceitful, you have to labor trying to become good. You have to labor to keep the filthy and dirty things from being revealed. When you live that way, from time to time, those things pop out by mistake. Jesus sees your deep insides, and He truly knows us all. That is why, when Jesus was on earth, He truly loved the people who were despised by other people, such as the woman taken in the act of adul-tery, the Samaritan woman, the thief at the cross, and Zacchaeus the publican with all of His heart. These kinds of people could not find comfort or rest anywhere in this world. However, after they met Jesus, and entered into Him, they were able to gain true rest and comfort. In Matthew chapter 1, it talks about the genealogy of Jesus Christ. There are four women mentioned in that genealogy: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; and Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar.." (Matthew 1:1-3) After Tamar's husband died, her brother-in-law didn't want to continue his brother's line. So while sleeping with her, he died. Later on, she had a son through relations with her father-in-law. No matter if it were of the world, if such a story was presented, she should be put to shame. However, in the genealogy of Jesus, it says, "and Judah begat Phares and Zara of Thamar." Her name is written right there, clearly. When we read such words, it brings so much rest and comfort to people who lack like us. That is why we are able to boldly come before the Lord. "And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; and Aram begat Aminidab; and Aminidab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; and Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;" (Matthew 1:3-5) Rahab is the second woman mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. She was a harlot from the city of Jericho, a city that was destroyed. She was a dirty woman who sold liquor and her body. She was a filthy woman people did not want to deal with. However such women are in the genealogy of Jesus. If so, then in front of Jesus, you should not hide your blemishes. It may not be so in front of other people. In front of Jesus you do not have to labor to hide your filthy image. For example, suppose a person makes a thousand dollars a month, and another person is paid a hundred dollars a month. The person who makes a thousand dollars will live a life that fits his income. The person who receives a hundred dollars will live according to his income. If the person who makes a hundred dollars tries to live like the person who makes a thousand dollars, he may live happily for a day or so. However, he will eventually experience suffering. In the same way, a person who has a thousand dollars worth of righteousness has to show that much righteousness. A person who has a hundred dollars worth of righteousness must show that amount of righteousness. However, if a person with a hundred dollars worth of righteousness tries to exhibit a thousand dollars worth of righteousness, from then on, he runs out of righteousness and evil begins to reveal itself through him. This flow is inevitable. People think that it is good to cover themselves and try to be good. But then a greater evil arises from the inside. However, in front of Jesus, we do not have to act as if we are good. We do not need to labor to try and become good. This is because Jesus has already known our filthy and dirty aspects, and He has still loved us. That is what the story of removing the skin from the burnt offering is about. Just as you skin the offering, remove all of its insides, wash it all with water, and then burn it up, Jesus Christ has taken care of all the filthy and dirty things inside of you. Amazingly, Jesus has turned you into someone who can stand before God, lacking nothing. Let us love Jesus. Let us give glory to Jesus. Let us praise Jesus. Jesus not only saved me, but also even after being saved, there were many chances for me to go down the wrong path. But every single time, I could feel the Lord upholding me. The same way He has upheld me, I can see that He is upholding all saved brothers and sisters, too. The Lord was kind to my heart, and He gives me the strength to overcome the temptation and sins of the world. A long time ago, I used to mindlessly sing this hymn: "The kind loving Lord came to my heart and gave me the strength to overcome the temptation and sinfulness of the world." However, because the Lord knows my filthiness and weaknesses, I can experience God giving me the strength to overcome, and that He helps me with whatever I go through. The story of removing the skin of the burnt offering, it is not Jesus telling us, "From now on be good." Jesus knows how filthy and evil we are. Therefore, He will reveal every little bit of that. When we do not know how dirty and filthy we are inside, Jesus pulls it out once in a while and says, "You have these kinds of things inside of you." Right then, we should ask God, "Lord, what should we do about this?" We seek the Lord and He takes care of everything. That is how I have lived, and many of the people around me tell me that I have changed.
38:29
Righteous According to the Law of Heaven Finally, I want to explore the burnt offering mentioned in Leviticus chapter 1. "If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by they door of the tabernacle of the congregation." (Leviticus 1:3-5) While talking about the burnt offering, I cannot avoid mentioning blood. So, I will speak a little bit about blood. In Leviticus chapter 13, it talks about leprosy. Leviticus chapter 14 talks about the procedure of purifying the leper. A leper is not clean just because he is healed. In Leviticus chapter 14, verse 2, it says, "This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing," and it talks about the law of how the leper is cleansed. When a person is healed of his leprosy, he is taken to the priest. The priest examines him, and if he is completely healed, then two birds must be brought. One bird is killed and cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop are dipped into the blood. Then the bird's blood is sprinkled on the healed leper three times, and then the priest says, "It is clean." Afterwards, that person remains outside of the congregation for seven days, and then comes back in. After this procedure, the healed leper can be recognized as clean. If you have leprosy and you are healed, does that mean you are clean? Your body is healed, but the Bible says that you are not yet clean. So, I asked God about this. "God, how is a pastor supposed to explain this to church members? You're supposed to say that the sick person is sick, and the healed person is clean. The leper is healed, but how can I not say that he is clean?" Those were my thoughts, but the Bible is saying that even though you are healed of leprosy, it does not mean you are clean. You must go through the laws of being cleansed in order for you to be clean. I thought deeply about this. For example, suppose I stole a brother's watch. Did I just commit a sin, or not? I committed a sin. Because of that, my heart became very weary and tormented, and I went to the brother and asked for forgiveness. "Brother, I stole your watch. I was so tormented, so I brought it back so please forgive me." Then he says, "Well, these things happen. You brought my watch back, so it's fine. Let's just forget about it." That brother has to forgive me for my heavy heart to be relieved. The problem between that brother and I was com pletely taken care of. Then, is my sin of stealing the watch taken care of? Not at all. The sin is one sin, but many laws apply to that sin. The problem is resolved between that brother's heart and my own, but the problem is not taken care of before the law of God that says, "Thou shalt not steal." Because I have broken the law of God, just because the problem between the brother and I is taken care of, does not mean it is resolved before God. It must also be resolved in front of God. Also, even though your sin is taken care of in front of God, there are those whose sins have not been taken care of in front of people and vice versa. There was a brother who was saved in the Suwon Prison. He raped a girl, killed her, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. One day, he attended the prison Bible study and received salvation. In the prisons, an inmate's earned status of freedom within the prison is expressed through the acquisition of bees. If a person has two bees on his shirt, then that person is allowed to freely go anywhere within the prison. The brother I just mentioned had three bees. If you have three bees you have many benefits. Last year, that brother got a week vacation, so he came out and went sightseeing around the city of Seoul. Then he simply went back to prison. After receiving salvation, he changed so much. When I listened to what he realized from the Bible, or when I heard his prayers, it brought great joy to my heart. When I visit the Suwon Prison to have Bible studies, many inmates attend. However, it felt as though I am just teaching the Bible to that one brother. That is how I feel because he listens to the word so well. After receiving the forgiveness of sins, this brother experienced a great change in his life. Last year, I heard that the brother was being released. However, because of a special law, his sentence was not reduced at all because of the type of crime he committed, even though he was a model inmate. Therefore, he still had a few years to go before his release. In the eyes of man, this brother is a terribly grand sinner. Even now, when I talk to him about the crime he committed, he cannot look me in the eye. Nevertheless, he has still been made righteous before God. I could feel that the Holy Spirit is living and working inside of his heart. When that brother is released, I have the heart to take him to my house, and give him guidance. In the world, he is a scary, terrible sinner. He is a filthy and dirty person who committed a terrible sin. However, he is righteous in God's eyes. Some people are clean in the eyes of the world, but dirty in the eyes of God. That is why the laws of the world, and the law of God are different. There are similarities between the laws of Korea and of America, but there are also many differences. However, the law of God and the laws of the world are so different from one another that they cannot be compared. And therefore, even though you may not be a sinner according to the laws of the world, you may still go to hell through the law of God. There are also people who may be sinners according to the laws of the world, but are righteous in the eyes of God. I once knew a death row inmate who was executed. The day he was executed, the prosecutor, executioner, a pastor, a priest, a monk, and a doctor were present for his death. They put a dark rag over his head, and the prosecutor asked, "Do you have any final words to say?" He replied, "Yes, I do." Then he was asked, "What is it?" "Please take this rag off of my head." This was his final wish in life and last requests are usually honored. So, they removed the towel and these were his final words: "You will see me and feel sorry for me because I am not of the age to die. However, I am being executed. In my eyes, I feel sorry for you. You, too, will one day die, won't you? The laws of Korea have not forgiven my sin. However, according to the law of God, all my sins are forgiven. You are all clean according to the laws of Korea, but you are all sinners in the law of God. We are in this world, temporarily, but that other place is an eternal place. Can you go there? Can you be bold in front of death like me? In my eyes I really feel sorry for you." Afterwards, he sang a hymn, "All the way my Saviour leads me." I heard that after he finished singing this hymn, he passed away. After he died, the prosecutor who witnessed this cried, and said, "I am so bitter that there are no laws in Korea to save a person like him." An eye witness told me about this.
46:19
Without the Shedding of Blood There Is No Remission
46:24
What are righteous in your eyes are things that are righteous in the laws of the world. But according to the law of God, sin can never be washed without blood. "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without the shedding of blood there is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22) In Leviticus 17:11, it reads, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." I do not know what the laws of the world, the laws of a country, the laws of your heart, and the laws of one's conscience are like, but the law of God says that blood must be shed for sins to be washed. The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood, sin can never be washed. In essence, whether a big sin or a little sin; whether there are many sins or a few sins; whether it is the sin of murder or the sin of lying; whether it is the sin of adultery or the sin of hatred, without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness, no matter what the sin. That is why when you read the Old Testament, it says that the blood flowed on the altar like a river because many people have committed sins. And above the altar, smoke constantly rose from the things of the offering being burned. However, the Bible tells us that all the shed blood and all the smoke that was burned up was not enough to wash away the sins of the people. That is why a new calf, or a new lamb had to shed its blood. In addition to all that, is that the fat of the new lamb also had to be burned. Life had to endlessly die, and that was the life of the Israelites. In the Old Testament, when the Israelites came out from Egypt, the men totaled 600,000. Therefore, to take care of all of their sins, the blood of the lambs flowed endlessly, like a river. Additionally, the smoke of the burnt offerings flared endlessly. How much more is needed to take care of the sins of billions today? Would killing every lamb on earth be enough? Even if we were to burn them all, would there be enough to forgive all of our sins? In the Old Testament, there were so many sins committed. The fact of the matter is that lamb blood was never enough. That is why they needed another path. Jesus Christ, the son of God, came to this earth. For Him to wash away the sins of mankind, He had to become the offering and be given as the offering. The blood that Jesus shed through crucifixion on the cross is much more powerful than the blood of the countless lambs slaughtered in the Old Testament. His blood forgives the sins of all mankind. The only thing that can cleanly wipe away our sins is the blood of Jesus Christ. When you take the written driver's test, you must use a pen that is legible by the computer. Even though you mark all the right answers on your answer sheet, if you do not use a pen recognized by the computer reader, the computer cannot recognize your answers and you will get a zero. One person I know took those words lightly and used a regular pencil, even though he heard that you must use a pen that the computers can recognize during the test. He got a big zero on that test. The good thing was, he only did this when taking a drivers license test. What if he had done that when taking a test to go to heaven? What would have hap-pened? No matter how much or how well people cover up their hearts using good deeds or morals, their sins could only be revealed in front of God. When the blood of Jesus Christ covers our hearts, God is satisfied with this and He accepts us. He does not even remember our sins. That is because the blood that Jesus Christ shed redeemed all our sins. As a result, the blood of the lamb, the blood of the goat, and the blood of the male calf, which used to flow like a river, is no longer necessary. It is because the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, which is more powerful than that blood, has been shed. If the blood of Jesus Christ could not redeem our sins, then we would need to kill lambs again. We would have to give sin offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings again. The blood of the lamb must be shed again. The smoke coming from the burning of the lamb fat must be sent into the skies again. We do not have to do that because the blood of Jesus Christ lacks nothing in forgiving all of our sins, yours and mine.
51:10
Jesus Who Is with Us
51:14
Jesus Christ not only forgave our sins, but He is also with us. Even though we are not good at anything, He trusts us to do His work, one by one. Revealing Jesus Christ at a school, in your neighborhood, or at work is the will of God. That is why I cannot say how joyful it is for us to witness. Before being saved, witnessing was a burden. That is why even after being saved, in the beginning, I did not know that I had changed. Like before, if you remain quiet thinking that witnessing is difficult, then your heart becomes very frustrated. But after you begin to witness to people, whoever it may be, word by word, your heart becomes joyous and happy. That is how we all have changed. People who have not actually witnessed think witnessing is hard. However, if you do it, there is nothing more joyful than witnessing. I have been to many countries all around the world, seen many beautiful sceneries, and eaten good food. I have had good things. But I have never tasted a joy greater than the joy I received from preaching the Gospel to a person needing sal-vation. No matter how big the joy in the world is to us, we must remember the joy is not bigger than what we have received from Jesus by doing the work of the Lord. There is no greater joy than bearing the position the Lord has given you. I could see that the Lord is pleased with using us to preach the Gospel all over the world, not only in Korea. Even though God knows how weak and lacking we are, this is the way the Lord wants to work. I could just say, "Yes," and follow the Lord. Because the Lord said, "I will do it," I believe that He will. I believe that He will lead many people to sal-vation, and I believe that He will receive the glory. I hope we are all used for that glorious work.
End of chapter
Taking off th Skin of the Heart
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