Justin CFM

Justin Koh
 ·
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is with increased urgency, having a heart desiring for the welfare of your souls, and a mind set on the preparation of hearts and hands for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ the Lord, that I penned down my humble thoughts on Mosiah 16 as per the Come Follow Me manual.

I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual rejuvenation that I have felt these past few days, to be blessed to see and understand the truth as never before. I'm forever thankful to the Lord, my Savior Jesus Christ for leading me from one place to another, expounding His truth and His doctrine, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little (2 Nephi 28:30), and allow me to progress in my spiritual maturity. I've shared previously that I had a faith crisis, and to that I now do say that I remain faithfully committed to the Lord and in doing His work, laboring in His vineyard. I now do also say that the Lord has not required of me at this very moment to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and thus in accordance with His will, I will remain, and serve diligently the Giver of Life, and all who are His children. I hereby consecrate my life and my heart to Jesus Christ, and relinquish ownership and governance of my very heart, my very soul, and my very life to my Redeemer Jesus Christ, so that He may take His rightful place on the throne of my heart, and I take my rightful place on the cross of my heart, that I might die to myself. For this is my very desire, that "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). I hereby rededicate my life to Christ and pledge allegiance, once more, to my Beloved Savior, the Lord God Almighty, who saved me from the gates of hell, freed me from those awful chains that tries to drag me within those abominable gates and into the depths of it, so that I may live by His every word and by the whisperings of His Spirit, for my soul desire greatly to "go where sacrifice is required and suffering is inevitable... [To] follow Him everywhere, including, if necessary, into arenas filled with tears and trouble, where sometimes [I] may stand very much alone" (Jeffrey R. Holland, Lifted Up upon the Cross, October 2022 General Conference). And these are my utmost desires, not because of what I can do for God but what He has done for me, for it is He who "reached down from on high and took hold of me. He drew me out of deep waters" (Psalms 18:16), and because of that, I am filled with immense gratitude, and wish to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving all the day long unto Him who is above all, in all, and through all.

Now, my fellow brethren in Christ, it is expedient for you to understand the immensity and the magnitude of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A truth I want all of you to listen closely and give careful heed to is this: Because Christ bled from every pore and was crucified for the sins of the world, our most gracious Heavenly Father opened the floodgates of grace that thereby grace may outpour in abundance unto all of His children who would but hearken and heed the words of Christ and come unto Him, repenting of their sins with sincerity and with real intent, coming before the throne of grace, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, having an understanding of their brokenness, of the filthiness of their sins, and of the dire need for a Savior in their lives to rescue them from that bottomless pit, by which pit they were numbered with those who either ventured into forbidden paths or have made themselves comfortable in the great and spacious building (1 Nephi 12:17-18), that thereby they may receive a remission of sins through faith and repentance, and prepare their hearts, minds, and souls, even their entire beings to be sanctified by the Spirit and to be set apart according to the purposes of the Lord to be instruments of His ministration unto His lost sheep. As they continue down this strait and narrow path, progressing and persevering at every trial of life, repenting when need be, even unto the enduring to the end in Christlikeness, they shall be perfected in Christ by grace through faith, for the blood of the Lamb shall cover them, that their garments shall be washed clean. Thus, if you consider the words of a mere servant of the Lord as above, surely you would be able to see clearly and understand that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is and ever will be "the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

My dear brothers and sisters, we all know that the work and the glory of God, or rather, God's purpose for us is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". But have we really pondered and give thought to what exactly should be our response to such a loving and selfless God, whom we have the absolute privilege to call as our Father in Heaven? God intends and is determined to save all the works of His hands, but we all know that this is not possible, "because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). Another truth I would that ye should have a good understanding on, is this: We all know that few be that "enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life", but this I tell you, that there would scarcely be anyone who would "continue in the path until the end of the day of probation" (2 Nephi 33:9).

Let me tell you why this is so, for those who walk in and progress on this strait and narrow path which leads to Heaven, the eternal kingdom of our marvelous Heavenly Father, will be heavily tempted by the Adversary, in his efforts to lead these God-fearing men astray and detrack them from placing priority in doing the work of God. I can say with all certainty that many of the few who traverse on the narrow path will, in one way or another, venture into forbidden paths or joined themselves to those who are in the large and spacious building, "for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 12:16). Why will they succumb to such temptations? Don't they feel privileged to be the few who found the strait and narrow path? Why would they so easily give way and allow the devil to have place in their hearts that thereby he may lead them astray and usurp the throne of their hearts? The answer to this question is yet another truth, and that truth is that man are unwilling to give up control over his own life. Man wants to be in control over his life, he wants to be able to say no, and so he sits, high and mighty, upon the throne of his heart, and that has consigned Christ unto the Cross, crucified because of his sins. Now, what happens when man wants to be in control and refuse to be submissive to the will of God? "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence many are called, but few are chosen" (D&C 121:39-40). It is with this in mind that I make mentioned that I desire and wish so deeply to relinquish ownership and governance of my very heart, my very soul, and my very life to my Redeemer Jesus Christ, so that He may take His rightful place on the throne of my heart, and I take my rightful place on the cross of my heart, that I might die to myself, so that Christ could live within me.

I really hope you can see why God's intent to save all the works of His hands is not at all possible, because men's agency is at play, yet agency is necessary so that men might choose the right and thereby receive his inheritance through the grace of God by faith, for this life is filled with many tests, and each day has it's tests, and it is our response to the tests we face that will indeed have eternal implications, by which our responses would either determine whether we become joint heirs with Christ, or we become subjected to the devil that he exercise all power over us (Mosiah 16:3-5). Although God cannot save all the work of His hands, that does not stop Him from reaching out to all His lost and wayward sons and daughters in hopes that they may come back home, where they belong. I believe that God knew He couldn't save all the works of His hands, but that it still remains to be His goal to this very day, to save all of them, as many as possible, as long as it did not interfere with the right for all men to exercise their own agency. If God were to interfere in men's right to exercise their agency, how would Him be any much different from the Adversary, who in premortality, proposed to restrict the gift of agency from men so that he might save all of God's creation, and thus glorifying himself instead of God? Therefore, God being the merciful and just God that we know, could not allow such unjust interference, and thus, accepted the fate that He could not save all the work of His hands.

Now, we have gone over much of God's purpose for us, and, if I may, I would like to proceed to speak to you about what our response should be to our most gracious and most loving Heavenly Father. Now, as the work and glory of God is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39), with us being the sole beneficiary, our response to God is that we should lift up our voices unto Him in praise and thanksgiving for His glorious purpose in us that is overflowing with His supernal love, and that we will live our lives according to His standard that by the lives we are leading, He will be glorified, and not us. This is what it means to have Christ living within us, that God is glorified and gets all the credit, for He deserves it, while we don't. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). He must increase because He has paid the penalty for our sins, for because of His infinite Atonement which through it grace abundantly flows, we have been redeemed and ransomed. We are the ransomed ones, and are made the sons and daughters of the living God, entitled to "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18). Brothers and sisters, we are undeserving of His matchless love and the gifts, blessings, and privileges that He so freely bestow upon us. Although we can never repay our Lord God Almighty, our Provider, through all that we are able to do, but because of His life which was sacrificed so that we may live with Him again, how much more should we then, with hearts filled with gratitude, offer our whole lives to God that He may reign and govern and own our lives, and how much more should we glorify God through the way we live our lives, as God's redeemed, as God's chosen, and as faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ?

My dear brothers and sisters, an impediment to such a response to the purpose God has for you is to reject the gift of His grace, and the gift of your salvation. Now, you may ask, how and why would we want to reject this amazing gift? My dear friends, this I tell you, that there are two great fallacies that cause men to err, and they are, first, to think that we can earn our way into God's Kingdom, and second, to think that we are righteous, and going about our way, judging others, as though we ourselves have no sin. I would like to address the second fallacy this time as I've addressed the first one in my previous posts. To those who are self-righteous, I would liken you unto the scribes and Pharisees, who asked the disciples of Jesus Christ, "How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?", to which Jesus replied, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:16-17). My dear friends, aren't all of us servants of the Lord God Almighty who "has created you, and has kept and preserved you [...] from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another" (Mosiah 2:20-21), and that in him there is no partiality (Ephesians 6:9)? So then, my beloved brethren, cease to be self-righteous, replace your eye of judgment with an eye of service and of compassion. True enough, our Savior Jesus Christ has taught us plainly, "Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire" (Matthew 18:8-9). Therefore, my beloved brethren, hearken unto His words and do likewise (I meant figuratively, not literally). He that hath ears let him hear! This is why for some of us, being seasoned disciples of Jesus Christ, may not be a good thing as with it comes the great tests and temptations. I've come to understand that the more the experienced Christian we become, the harder it is for us to "become as little children" (Matthew 18:3).

Why is this so? Let's turn our scriptures to Matthew 19:23-24, and I would like to you pay very close attention to what Jesus is trying to teach us here:

    "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God".

Now, here's the question: What is the definition of the word "rich"? Well, we can all infer that in this case, the word "rich" refers to being physically or materially wealthy based on the context of Matthew 19. Now, I would like to challenge you to think deeper. How does the verses that I have quoted tell you why it is a challenge for seasoned Christians to become as little children? My dear brothers and sisters, do ye suppose that Jesus was just referring to those who are materially rich? What about those who have blessed with spiritual riches in abundance? Think out of the box, could the spiritually wealthy be the not-so-obvious "rich man" Jesus is also talking about? Yea, it is, and let me tell you why one that has been blessed in abundance with spiritual riches would find it hard to become as a little child.

And this is why, when we have been abundantly blessed by God with knowledge, with wisdom, and with understanding, we would naturally tend to have the proclivity to be lifted up in the pride of our hearts, and set ourselves to be a judge over anyone we observe or encounter. The more faithful and knowledgeable we are in the Lord, the more it is that sin will be glaring to our spiritual eyes. This is suppose to be a good thing, my brothers and sisters, for it is a blessing to look at sin with disgust and repugnance for that enables us to discern with clarity good from evil. Yet, one can also argue that there is a test embedded in this marvelous blessing, and that test is to see if we would despise the person who sins or detest sin itself. This is a lesson that I've still learning, and oh boy, is this hard! Now, on one hand, if we grow to detest the person who sins, we become self-righteous, lifted up in the pride of our hearts, and set ourselves to be a judge over the world, and on the other hand, if we grow to despise sin itself, it will enable us to discern with clarity good from evil so that we may avoid that which is evil and do that which is good.

My dear brothers and sisters, these things I so freely share with you in hopes that you would uproot the seedling of self-righteousness which seeds were planted deep within your hearts and minds by the Sower of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30), and delay it no longer lest that seedling groweth over time into a plant and ultimately into a tree. And this I say out of concern for the welfare of your souls, that I may get to see you face-to-face in the Kingdom of our Lord God Almighty, feasting at His table, and having a good time together as one body of Christ. My sisters and brothers, do you not know that they who think that they are righteous before God, or rather, they who are self-righteous have no part in His grace? Do you not know that those who are self-righteous shall be numbered amongst those who shall say to the Lord, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?", and to whom the Lord shall profess, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:22-23)? Wherefore, I say unto you, my dear friends, once more that grace have no part in nor claim upon the self-righteous, therefore they will not be saved and shall also be numbered amongst the goats which are set on the left hand of Christ, to which Jesus shall say, according to the scriptures, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:33,41), "for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:2-4). Let me just conclude by saying this, that grace does not cover the righteous but covers the sinners, and I feel the need to make this clear also, that God will not be glorified by your clean hands save you have a pure heart also, and your Heavenly Father will not accept a pair of clean hands dedicated to His work unless you have also dedicated a heart that is pure to His glorious work. Wherefore it is "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalms 24:4) that the Lord shall say, when we come face-to-face with Him on the day of Judgment, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me" (Matthew 25:34-36).

With all that is being said, I would close my sermon with Mosiah 16:

    "Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent. And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?"

I have thus preached the Word of God unto you, it is your choice to either believe what has been said thus far, or walk away from it. Your choice. Whether you want to come unto Christ on your own terms or on His terms. You decide. There is only so much that I can say and write. I hope that the Spirit has touched you one way or another just as He has touched me deeply as I prepared this entire sermon, so that you would no longer stay in sin and let it take control of your life, so that you many understand the ways of the Lord and choose the right, and more fervently seek to know the Lord and search the scriptures with utmost diligence and faith. And it is these things that I leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.