[2023 New Year's Message] "This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent."

Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household. (2 Kings 7:9)

I was saved in 1962. There was no one to teach me, and after wandering and suffering because of my sins, I came to know that my sins were forgiven in the Bible. It was a really dreamy story. God gave me the Bible because he wanted to convey God's heart to a human being like me. I listened to many sermons and read the Bible, but I was still a sinner.

It was the fall of October 7, 1962. God wanted His Word to come into my dark heart and become light and glory. However, since I belong to Satan, even though I read the Bible, I couldn't imagine that my sins were forgiven.

At dawn on October 7, 1962, I realized that my sins were forgiven in the Bible. I don't know how God did that, but I thought, 'My sins are forgiven!'

From then on, I was at a Presbyterian church called Seonsan-eup Church, and I started talking about my sins being forgiven.

‘Pastors are sinners and elders are also sinners, but what does that person know? He is not great, does not live well, and has not learned anything.’ Everyone said the same thing. But in my heart, I was absolutely certain that my sins were forgiven through the blood of Jesus.

One day, the pastor ordered a suspension of communion, saying that I rode in a car on a Sunday.

“Pastor, what is the reason for this suspension of communion?”

“Because you sinned by driving a car on Sunday, do not participate in Holy Communion”

'What about the pastor's daughter?'

The pastor's daughter goes to school from Seonsan to Daegu. They eat lunch in the afternoon on Sundays and drive to Daegu once a week.

I went to Daegu and came back on Saturday. But I didn't have the money to ride a car, so I got into someone else's car one time. I just wanted to shout, ‘What about the pastor’s daughter?’

And I was ostracized by the church.

One day I was trying to open the door to the church playroom, and inside they were talking about me.

“Park Ock Soo is a funny guy. I know him, and he is innocent?”

Yes. Because I did bad things with you, you know me too well. But I firmly believed that my sins were forgiven. Around the time I was being bullied, I was able to go to missionary school, and after finishing missionary school, unlike others, no one asked me to come. So, I went alone to Apgok-dong, where I didn't know anyone, and stayed there for 9 months. During that time, God fed me. I didn't beg for help, didn't steal, and lived in the small village for 9 months. It's so amazing.

While evangelizing in the market, I felt the need to urinate, so I went to one side of the road, and there were red ripe strawberries on the lower tier. It looks like it was farmed, but as I picked and ate strawberries, my stomach hurt. After the word of God enters my heart, no matter what I encounter or wherever I go, God is really with me.

If you look at 2 Kings 7,

‘Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord.” The Lord said, “Tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria a seah of fine flour will cost a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel.”

The king's minister said, "Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?"

Everyone, 2 Kings 7 is really mysterious. There were four lepers at the entrance of the city gate, saying to each other,

"Why are we sitting here waiting to die?

Even if we say let's go into the city, the city will be hungry, and we will die there, and if we sit here we will die. So let's go and surrender to the Syrian army."

Until now, these lepers lived according to their own thoughts, but since God's word entered them, God's thoughts are leading them. When God's wisdom comes in they are able to say, "How can we sit here? We will die here, and we will die even if we sit in the castle. Let's surrender to the camp of Syria."

I never thought about it, but the Holy Spirit of God gave me that heart and I went forward.

In particular, in verse 9,

The lepers said to each other, “We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.”

This story of the leper is our story, and many people keep their mouths shut even after knowing the Gospel, but what God says to our hearts is, “Let’s go to the palace and tell it.” The Lepers went, but they didn't believe it at first. So God used lepers to save many people dying in the city of Samaria. First, he feeds them to the full, shows them how God works, and then makes them go and shout.

“Listen to us.”

“What are those lepers?”

“When we went to the camp of the Syrians , there was no one. The house is the same, the tent is the same, the food is the same.”

At night the king heard the news,

“This is a trick of the Syrians. They'll try to catch us when we come out."

Because the king is full and he is not hungry. So he is able to leisurely say those words.

“Let’s have a look. Let's take a horse.”

When they went there, it was full of real food.

This is the story of our salvation. Before we were saved, we were immersed in sin, but when God's word entered our hearts, these lepers were just sitting at the entrance to the city gate. But when God's heart entered, a new life and a new thought that they had never had before came into their hearts.

‘If we sit here, we will die right away. The city is in hunger, so who will bring us food?'

'That's right. Yes, why are we here? If we go to the camp of Syria, there is food there, and we can even watch them eat. If we die, then we die. If we life, then we live.'

That's why they go to the camp of Syria.

If you look at the brothers and sisters in the church, there are people who do not accept this gospel well no matter how much you talk about it. There are people who accept the gospel and yet sit at the entrance of the city gate. However, the new spirit of Jesus enters us and works within us to make us people like Jesus, not people of the past. If the word enters our hearts, if God works in us, we can safely preach the gospel.

I went to Tanzania, and about 2,000 people gathered in this auditorium. Anyway, while preaching the gospel, there were so many heart-warming and thrilling things. There are so many people around us right now who don't know what to do with joy when the pastors and elders are saved.

If we camp this year, there will be a lot of people coming from overseas. Their wish is to go to Korea once. It is very surprising to see the world within the gospel we have while staying in Korea for 10 days a week.

We rejoice that God is still preaching the gospel to many people. However, it is written in detail in the Bible, and there are many people who live according to their own thoughts, not God's voice. Satan blinds them completely even though they go to church diligently, pay tithes well, pay offerings, are loyal, and do good things.

One day the lepers realize. “How can we sit here and wait to die? Let's go to the camp of Syria.”

God is leading their hearts to the camp of Syria. Finally, the lepers stumbled and fell and limped toward the camp of Syria. That's the most beautiful step in the world.

Loving folks, put a small Bible in your bag and carry it around. Open the Bible at any time and preach the gospel. In the car or anywhere. Then, we can clearly see that the heart of God's grace changes that person through us.

Some time ago, we held a Christian Leaders Fellowship Reception before doing a cantata in the US. Pastors are asked to come two and a half to three hours in advance. They come and preach the gospel for two hours. There, I got to know and become close to pastors in the United States. Then, most of them received salvation and were truly amazed.

God gave four lepers a new heart.

“Why are we sitting here waiting to die? They will enter our city and we will starve, and we will die. Let's go to the camp of Syria and surrender. Perhaps we might live?"

God gave those lepers a new heart.

“Why are we sitting here waiting to die? We will die here or there."

They were led by God and went to the camp of Syria. When they went to the camp of Syria, to their great amazement, all the Assyrians were gone and the lepers ate, drank, and enjoyed themselves until they were full.

In 2 Kings 7:9, the lepers said to each other, “We are not doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we are silent. If we wait until morning, the punishment will be upon us.

In the heart of the lepers, they thought only of being hungry or poor, and then the Holy Spirit of God gave them a certain heart.

“How can we sit here and wait to die?”

On October 7, 1962, I also received a heart that I did not have before. I used to commit sins, steal, lie, and say I was a sinner. At that time, a thought entered my heart. ‘It is true that I am a sinner, but through Jesus’ crucifixion, he was punished for all of my sins, and my sins were washed away and I became righteous.’ I came to believe in that.

And behind that, there were difficulties and problems. I am not qualified to do a great ministry, but God opened the way while preaching the gospel so that people all over the world could hear the gospel and receive salvation.

At first, the lepers were thinking of themselves. They were vaguely at the entrance of the city gate. One day, God put His heart into the four lepers. So, when God's heart came in and they saw themselves. Before, they thought they were doing well by being at the city gates. But when God's word came in and they thought about it, they realized that they were doing something foolish. ‘Let’s go to the palace and report it.’ ‘Let’s go preach the gospel.’

That's it. God keeps making these things happen in your heart. Yes, when you are led by God, the desire to preach the gospel arises. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are led by that heart and preach the gospel, God will solve all of the 1,000 or 10,000 problems that arise afterwards.

I was tried in court by bad people who tried to get me arrested and I also went through many things. The prosecutor interrogated me on a Friday from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. And after that, the trial started on Monday, but since I came out on Friday night, the bank didn't open on Saturday, and the bank didn't open on Sunday, I couldn't go to the bank to organize the bank account balance or prepare for the trial. The prosecutor had done this deliberately. But the prosecutor's mother-in-law passed away. He had to hold a funeral, so he had no choice but to postpone the date. In the meantime, we were given such an opportunity to prepare for the trial.

God is guiding us in detail. Everyone, even if you think you are living a rough life, if you listen to God's voice, God will lead you. ‘Let’s go to the city and tell them. Otherwise, the punishment will be upon us.’ The four lepers who went to the camp of Syria went to the camp of Israel again to preach the gospel, but now they have the word of God in their hearts. When the lepers reported to the city, the people got up in the middle of the night, took carts and horses, and went to the camp of Syria. That evening, the Assyria soldiers were trying to eat Budae-jjigae, but when they lifted a spoon, they heard a loud noise, so they all ran away and no one was there. All they had to do was eat the cooked food. How happy they must have been after starving for several days.

So, a measure of fine flour equals one shekel, and two measures of barley equals one shekel. God has done all the work in us so that we can realize God's grace by awakening it in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, preaching the gospel of the Lord, confessing that our sins are forgiven, and confessing that we have been made righteous.

However, many people say that they are still immersed in human thoughts and consider it a burden. If it's burdensome, try it once, twice, three times, ten times, a hundred times, and you won't feel any pressure at all. It won't be a hundred times, but five times will be fine. However, there are too many people who just live doing nothing after their sins are forgiven.

Now, from 2023, let us also shout. God is leading us that way. It seems that four statues of lepers were erected at the entrance to the city of Samaria. They would be so grateful to the lepers who saved them. They are lepers who are despised and despised by humans, but I am truly grateful that they have become people and family as long as they are led by the Spirit of God.

God is still speaking in our hearts so that we can preach the gospel in our hearts. We are the one killing the voice of God, but if we live by the word of God, miraculously, the work of God and salvation will take place through us.

When you reach that level, from then on, the Lord will take care of your life, not you. Difficulties come, hardships come, and even if you get sick, while I live in the Lord, even if I have illnesses or difficulties, I overcome them all and live happily with God's grace.

If you think about it, there are many people on this earth, but there are many people who know this salvation vaguely, but no one knows exactly. How precious will God see you when the gospel is preached to the whole world through us? When we go and preach the gospel to those whom God wants to save, they will change when they receive salvation and rejoice. He continues to do such things within us. However, there are too many people who do not accept it well because their hearts are dark.

‘The lepers said to each other, “We are not doing right. Today is a day of good news, but we are silent. If we wait until morning, the punishment will be upon us, so let’s leave now and report to the city.”

The lepers told the story. So all the lives of Samaria could be saved.

We too are lepers in this age. When we open our mouths, God works. The first time, I also did it once, then twice, and then several times, but I continued to preach the gospel to those who received salvation, and it was very good.

In the New Year, I hope that all of you will personally evangelize and experience the work of salvation. I believe that if you preach the gospel throughout your life there will be nothing more blessed and glorious when you stand before the Lord. I give thanks before God.

God is planning to make all of you precious servants like these lepers in 2023.

Who would have known that they would be the lepers who saved the Israelites, not the lepers sitting at the entrance of the city gate? Now, I hope that you will follow the word of God and walk with God, and may God always guide you and bless you in 2023.

Thank you.