I know.

 

1.     In the letter which was recorded in chapter two and three by John's revelation there is a story of seven churches which were in Asia Minor, currently Turkey. More specifically, it's a letter of Jesus Christ's love for His people.

 

2.     In Revelation there is not just a story of the seven churches but also other stories about the seven golden lamp stands, animals, women, and horses, all with an interesting message about the future

 

3.     Among those stories I like the seven church stories from chapter 2 and 3.  Especially 2:2 2:9 2:13 2:19 3:1 3:8 3:15

 

4.     Even though these churches were in close proximity of each other, they had significantly different culture and church styles, likely because they didn’t have easy means of communication, such as TV, internet, or telephone. For example, even though they lived in the same era, the churches dealt with circumstances differently, and when they had problems, their reactions to them differed.

 

5.     Many historical theologians believe that the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 represent different periods in time from John’s days to today when we prepare for Jesus’ return to earth. 

 

6.     But in today’s sermon, I want to discuss the words “I Know” which was spoken by the One who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands in the 2:1 and 2.

 

7.     Yes. Jesus Christ knows everything about the characters of each church.

 

8.     I’m not talking about the outward appearance of the church buildings, but rather their mission in the community, problems they faced, and their response to them.

 

9.     When we read each verse carefully, we can find that Jesus not only knows about the problems they faced and their past actions and reactions,

 

10.   but He also knows what they are capable of doing, becoming, and achieving.  He knows everything.

 

11.    This is a story about what happened to me about 7 years ago.  

 

12.   While I was a student learning Japanese for about five months, I got a questionnaire from Japan union conference concerning the mission fields.  

 

13.   Among the many questions I remember two specifically.  The first question was, “where do you want work?”  Thinking very simply, I checked [Big city], because I thought “the more fish, bigger the catch.”

 

14.   The second question asked me to choose a city among the five mission fields listed (Tokyo, Kohu, Seto, Matsuyama, Okinawa).

 

15.   I had been in Japan for 5 months by that point, so I knew where Tokyo and Okinawa were located, but the other cities were not familiar to me.  At that time one pastor wanted to go to Tokyo and another pastor wanted to go to Okinawa.

 

16.   Therefore, I chose number three, which happened to be Seto. 

 

17.   Then one month later, I had a meeting with the 7 leaders from Japan Union Conference.  I had 30 minutes with each person.

 

18.   One person questioned me “why did you check Seto?  That does not make sense because you checked BIG CITY above.”

 

19.    I then suddenly realized that Seto may not be a large city.  That person who questioned me was in charge of the Western Japan Conference (the conference of Seto), so he knew everything about Seto.

 

20.   He said “Seto is a rural area.”

 

21.   So I answered “I didn’t choose Seto.  Rather I choose the number 3.  Seto happened to be 3”.  I truly did not know anything about Seto. 

 

22.   I visited 4 of the 5 mission fields except Okinawa during the past 4 years.  After my visits, I can testify that “God knows everything.”  

 

23.   God knew each of the five missionary pastors, each of the five churches we chose from, and all the church board members deciding our mission appointment, and He gave the best mission field for each person.

 

24.   Tokyo is the biggest city in Japan but not an easy place for Mission work. All of the citizens are individualists in their culture.

 

25.     Kofu is located in right of Fuji Mt. The place is blessed by nature but there were too many homeless people around the church. They came and stayed at the church every day. Some people slept and lived in the church with a Korean pastors family. The pastor used his personal money to support them financially.

 

26.   Matsuyama is located in a small island in southern part of Japan. The place is blessed like Kofu but doing Mission is too difficult. There were a no church members when the Korean pastor started his mission work. He worshiped at a beach with his family for the first 3 months.

 

27.   Okinawa is the most famous place for tourists in Japan but it is a very weak place for economic support. The Korean pastor rented a place for the church but afterward he didn’t have enough money to refurbish the church. So he did all the work by himself without any help.

 

28.   Before I visited other places I thought Seto is the most difficult mission field in Japan. But after I visited other places, Tokyo, Kohu, Seto, Matsuyama, and Okinawa turned out to be the best setting for each pastor assigned to these cities.  I can tell you now that “we do not know, but He knows.”

 

29.   Yes, our Savior knows everything.  He knows the problems I face, how I respond to them, and what I am capable of doing.  Even the things I do not know about myself, He knows.

 

30.   The God who called the 7 churches and said “I Know” in Revelation is calling each of our names and says “I Know”.  He is calling the names of each one of us and telling us

 

31.    “your family does not know, your friends do not know, co-workers do not know and even you do not know about yourself, but I KNOW.”

 

32.   Why don’t you listen to his loving voice that’s calling you and telling you “I KNOW.”