The Holy Spirit our Counselor is here with us today. Today I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Doing Works without Love.” Today, our society is gradually becoming cold and heartless. In comparison to the old days, we are now living a life of abundance where there are skyscrapers reaching for the sky, cars completely packed on roads, and plentiful food on dining tables. However, for some reason, love is gradually withering away. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I posses to the poor and surrender my boy to the flames, but have not love. I gain nothing.” We should solve all problems with love in our hearts and through the measure of love. Jesus once told a parable about a plank and a speck of sawdust in our eyes. Luke 6:41-42 says, “"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” There is a huge difference between a speck and a plank. The speck of sawdust is tiny enough to enter our eyes, but the plank is a gigantic wood to be used in housebuilding. The speck of sawdust can be found only by the eye doctor’s special lense. However, people easily find any speck of sawdust in other’s eyes. It is because of human corruption and sinfulness. After Adam ate the forbidden fruit, God asked him who did it. Then he answered that it was not he but Eve who was to blame. Genesis 3:12 says, “The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Adam did not recognize his own blame but laid it on his wife instead. Furthermore, he murmured against God who gave him his wife. Since Adam all people fail to see their own fault and rather blame others. We must look to the cross of Jesus and judge everything through it. Mark 10:43-45 says, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Therefore, when we judge others, we should not forget that Jesus took the cross even for them. Only through the glasses of the love of the cross of Jesus Christ can we judge our neighbors; we must not judge them on our own. When we try to judge others with love, we find that we fail to reach that love but hatred fills our hearts instead. We must be changed with love. Love is not lip service; it should work changes in us. Love also brings changes when we always keep looking through the law of visualization. One of my deacons put up fabric on which he wrote love on the walls of his children and told them to read it every day. They were ferocious and rebellious so they refused to listen to their parents. However, their father wrote the Scriptural verses about love and asked them to see it and read it whenever they went to sleep or wake up. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” This is almost impossible to practice in our daily lives. However, when the Word of God enters into us, it changes us wholly, amazingly. For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. When we read these words of love by the law of visualization, these words will enter into our hearts to change us. The deacon testified that his sons could not be changed by any other things, but by the law of visualization they always saw and read the fabric of love while they came in and went out so that their personality was wholly changed. Not by any threatening words of their parents but by the words of love their change happened! In a particular small town in America a human face was carved on the big rock so one boy kept looking at it. Later as he became older, he looked at his face in the mirror and found that the rock changed his face into the sculptured face in it. Likewise, when we focus on the suffering of Jesus on the cross, our thoughts, words, and deeds will be changed. When we are in our weakness, if we look to the Words of God, it will strengthen us. Romans 5:6 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” While we were still sinners, Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were God’s enemies, Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Therefore, when we think of and give thanks to the suffering of Jesus in our place, the covenant of Jesus will enter into us with the power of change to strengthen us in our weakness and to make us righteous when we are sinners, to reconcile us to God when we are enemies of God. We must be trained to forgive and love. We forgive by the love of God. Jesus said, “"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." This becomes an example of forgiveness and love. In John 8:3-7, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. There is no excuse. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. The Bible did not mention what He wrote, but they were so startled while their eyes followed what His finger was writing on the ground. It is because Jesus was writing their hidden sins on the ground! At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, saying to themselves, “If I throw a stone at her, I would be the next one that would be stoned to death!” Jesus kept writing something with His finger, but from the oldest to the youngest they put down stones on the ground and silently began to go away one at a time! After a quite awhile Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She looked around but found only stones here and there. "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." How marvelous the forgiveness and love of the Lord is! Forgiveness and love should change people. True faith is not confined only to forgiveness. If we forgive someone, we must pour out love on him, for him to be changed. Jesus wanted her to be forgiven and loved to be changed wholly. Unless we forgive and love, we can’t tell that we have true faith. Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!” Jesus appeared in Isaiah 53:4-5, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” The Lord completely took away all our sins and curses. Love means to give, not to receive. Apostle Paul wrote to the church of the Thessalonians. “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”(1 Thessalonians 1:3) Then Paul did not use the mere word ‘love,’ but ‘your labor prompted by love.’ Here the word ‘labor’ is a Greek word which indicates “labor until one becomes worn out.” It is not just lip service but to do labor until one is exhausted. Therefore, real love does not come from one’s mouth but his hard work and service. It is love that mothers takes good care of their baby while staying awake during the night. Fathers work hard because of their love for their family. Jacob worked hard for seven years to get Rachel for his wife, but they seemed like only a few days to him. Genesis 29:20 says, “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” Love made a difference to Jacob. Love changes us. If we truly love our neighbors, we cover them over and do not expose their weakness. Even if we show off our love toward others without covering over their weak points, we can’t prove our love at all. Proverbs 10:12 says, “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” Therefore, as Jesus covers over other people's offenses and forgives them their sins with His love, Christian faith must cover over others’ offenses and forgive and love them. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Many people come to church dressed up in fancy clothes and jewelry and say nice things to each other and worship God, but they hate and fight each other and find fault with each other within church. It is not real faith. God does not love that kind of person’s behaviour. The Lord covers over all of our sins and clothes us with His righteousness and forgives them. Now if we stand before Jesus and say, “Lord, judge me,” The Lord will say, “What kind of judgment are you saying?” “I have sinned too much!” “I have settled all your sins. Put on my righteous robe now. It is finished!” This is what Jesus did on the cross. Therefore, by the love of Christ we have been changed. Christian faith means that we believe in God and are changed by the grace of God. Faith without change can’t be real faith. Through God’s love we sinners turn into righteous people, filthy people into clean people, unreliable people into reliable people and hated people into lovable people. If not love, our words will become only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. By practising love we can spread the symphony of love across our society. Nowadays Korean society is full of hatred. Whenever a few people gather together, their hate can cover the whole world! We would be corrected when we look to Jesus who delivered one of the criminals on the cross. One of the criminals who hung there recognized Jesus as the Son of God and said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus did not point out his many sins but covered over them and answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Now Christ’s shed blood covers over us before God. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God and were cast out from the Garden of Eden, God took an animal and made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. This is a great symbol. When God banished them, He did not let them be naked and frozen to death but killed the animal to make garments of skin for them. Even today for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not be naked but have the robe of righteousness. The Lord has become the robe of righteousness. He holds you in His arms and says, “ Be clothed by me. As I give you My robe on the cross, put on Me.” When we rely on the love of Jesus, His blood will cover over all our sins to make us righteous and the Holy Spirit will change us.