Idolatry (Ex. 20:3-5, Col. 3:5)
What is an idol? It is something for me. Why is that an idol? In Exodus 20:1, it says “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of slavery in Egypt.”
I should be led based on God’s Word, but if I’m led based on money, that’s an idol. Your life isn’t problematic because of your skills or character, but it’s because of idolatry. People say, “You can’t study? You’re a failure. You can’t listen to your parents? You fail. You don’t know what you’re going to do in the future? You’re a failure.” These are all lies, God never said anything like this. But God said, “If you serve idols, your life will fail,” and the cost of this sin will be repaid over three and four generations. That’s what ruins my life. My studying capabilities does not determine whether my life is good or bad. Even if you’re good at studying, you can fail.
What are visible idols? It’s creating an idolatrous image and bowing down or worshiping it. Ideologies like democracy. But I will not live for myself; I’m satisfied with God; I have to be completely satisfied with Christ, so I don’t live for myself. If I’m not satisfied with Christ, then I’m bound to worship to visible and invisible idols. Then the devil drags this person around, invisible to our eyes, with these lies.
This person has greed in their heart. They’re not satisfied with God alone. They’re not satisfied with the God Who created me, who created the heavens and the universe, the God Who is with me now, so you keep looking for something else. That’s a lie. In John 8:44, it says, “Your father the devil is a liar, and you long to carry out your father’s desires.” Then, you should be able to distinguish this, right? You should know whether you’re serving an idol when you go to church or not.
Idolatry is failure. You don’t fail because you can’t study or you are weak, your life fails because of idolatry. This is the reason our businesses fail. You must not listen to the words of the people; they are words of the devil. If you say, “My life is like this because of my parents,” that’s a lie. Your parents’ lives crumbled because they served idols, but all I have to do is not worship idols.
You know the thing in your heart you really want? That’s your idol. The Word of God should come into you, and that’s what you should want, and that’s how you live for God’s glory. But if it’s not something God-given and I’m trying to accomplish something by myself, I’m trying to satisfy my emptiness, so that’s an idol. When does success become an idol? I live for success, centered on it, so of course it’s my idol. If I’m living centered on God’s covenant for world evangelization, success will naturally follow. But if I live for something else, I’m a channel for failure.
“My parents are so poor; I have to make a lot of money.” If you live and study centered on this, that’s an idol, and that’s not right. Now, I need to live for God’s plan to save the whole world with the gospel. As you do that, money will naturally follow, and that’s how we were meant to live. But if you change that order, then your life has failed.
What’s a failure? Living not according to God’s plan is a failure. Following God’s plan is success. True success will give you a reward in heaven, too. Fake success is on earth, so you’ve failed. Idolatry is a channel for Satan, and that’s the reason we have mental problems, it’s the reason people face depression in all problems.
If you keep listening to the words you hear at school, it becomes an idol. If you keep listening to your parents when they do not speak words from God, it becomes idolatry. “No matter what, you have to do well and get plastic surgery and be pretty.” Why would they say that? They think you have to be pretty to get married to a good spouse and kids grow up listening to this as their idol. Then that person’s life will be destroyed because they keep planting something that isn’t God’s Word, that isn’t the covenant.
What about guys? “You have to be skillful and successful.” These are not biblical, but if we receive things that aren’t from the Word of God, that’s the beginning of failure. Whatever you’ve heard from your parents growing up, that becomes your ideology. Ever since you’re young, you should be mature with the imprint, root, and nature of the gospel, with the covenant of God. That’s revealed over time, when? When a big incident takes place, whatever is inside of you will come out.
Joseph was taken into Egypt as a slave, but because there was a big incident he faced, what was imprinted in him was revealed. Other people are destroyed because of big incidences like this, but an incident like this becomes an opportunity for blessings for someone with the correct imprints. David was also correctly imprinted while young, and when he faced Goliath, it was an opportunity for blessings.
When is the covenant revealed? It is revealed during times of crisis and problems. You can’t see this in your daily life, but when you face a really big incident, your covenant will be revealed. Everyone else may be destroyed because of that incident, but you will stand firm.
In the age of Noah, everyone was studying and working diligently, but they were holding onto idols. If anything, Noah was always worshiping and in training, but when was this revealed? This was all revealed in the disaster of the flood. Right now, we’re in an age of spiritual confusion. Right now, all the movies and books and music you take in are not leaving your spirit alone. As you listen to the music, something gets imprinted in you. Even when you read a book, when you’re not careful, the content of the book will seize your heart.
You’re surrounded on all sides. When you go on your phone, the internet will not leave you alone either. There is one mystery, though you are hard pressed on all sides, you can still overcome with just the covenant. “I am the LORD your God Who brought you out of slavery.” This is everything, everything is found in Christ, and through worship, you will gain true victory over everything. So, this time is the greatest time of blessing, and you must know this. Noah knew this, and he built the Ark because he knew what would happen in the future. You are training and worshiping now, knowing what will happen in the future. After time passes, it’s going to be revealed.
Humans cannot live just by studying well. God is preparing very diligently for us now. There’s no reason for you to hold onto or to worship idols. I’m completely satisfied with just the Triune God, so there is nothing to be greedy about. It turns out, there’s nothing that makes me that happy or that upset. In the past, when something good happened to me, I felt good, and if something bad happened, I’d feel bad. But nowadays, I don’t feel that either. Honestly speaking, there’s nothing good or bad, why? Because I’m so interested in God’s plan, my preferences disappear. If I like something, it’s because it’s advantageous to me. If I don’t like it, it’s because it’s not helpful to me. That’s the life of someone separated from God.
Nowadays, the old opinions are disappearing in me, when something good happens, I wonder, “What is God’s plan in this?” Then I don’t recognize things as good or bad. In the past, I sued to be so worried when I faced a problem, I would get stressed out. But now, nothing is a problem, and nothing is good or bad; it’s all stoic. At first, I thought Rev. Ryu was just making an excuse because he was expressionless, I used to think, “Why doesn’t he just tell the truth? Why does he twist his words like that? Is he a little arrogant?” Even though he says nothing, it’s like he’s looking down on you. “Is he testing me?”
Many pastors in Korea would be tested by Pastor Ryu, “Are you the only pastor? You’re so arrogant,” and the one who is giving the special lecture for Remnant University was most tested by Rev. Ryu. A long time ago when I used to know him in seminary, he would indirectly say bad things about Pastor Ryu, “He’s such a country bumpkin,” and I could sense this while in seminary, but at some point, he completely kneeled as he saw what God was doing.
Before that point, he didn’t see what God was doing, so all he could do was say bad things. “His church is smaller than mine, he’s from the countryside,” and he oozed bad words, but one day, he changed and became numb. Now, he doesn’t walk in front of others, he holds his bag and walks behind Rev. Ryu. In the past, you could see he emanated this aura of superiority over Rev. Ryu, but when you get to see how God is working, you’ll see, “Wow, God is using this guy.”
People have no choice but to compare themselves to other people, “Is this pastor better than me or not?” However, if you see what God is doing, it’s no longer about your standards. As time passes, I begin to understand, it’s not because he’s expressionless, but imagine how many good or bad things he’s seen. He just continuously looks for God’s plan. That’s the reaction of those who live centered on God’s plan or covenant. That’s why regardless of whether something is good or bad, it’s good.
That’s how people change as they live their walk of faith, and the one who knows this the best is my wife who lives with me. I may be able to deceive the church members, but I cannot deceive my wife. She knows how I feel just by looking at my face, but nowadays, I genuinely feel if something is good, it’s good, and if it’s not, it doesn’t matter. For example, I used to get sucked into big problems, but nowadays, I realize that when I face a big problem, I think, “God has a plan and will fulfill the covenant,” so when someone looks at me, you can tell, just as a parent can tell whether their kids did well in their test. They can tell from their facial expressions.
But if I’m holding onto the covenant of God, the remnant movement, then good things are good, and bad things are also good because God will guide us based on the talents God has given us. Otherwise, we stake our lives on our children and we have to invest so much in our kids who have strange imaginations of their future, but idolatry is the path towards a failing life.
The standard of an idol is one that lives for oneself. That’s the masterpiece of a devil. God is already living for us, but all we have to do is believe. When you don’t believe, you worship idols. Who cares if you work diligently? You’ll fail. If you’re lazy, you’ll fail because it’s all about idolatry. You have to understand idolatry well.
You all have idols in your family and family line. Your family must be centered on only Christ, only the Kingdom of God, and only the filling of the Holy Spirit. Everything has to come from that, but if you keep adding other things of your own, you’ll walk the same footsteps of your family line. It’s fascinating.
How did my dad educate me? My entire family is a bunch of unbelievers. My mom and I are the only Christians. Ever since I was young, how did my dad educate me? “Never trust anyone else; only rely on yourself. Don’t even rely on your brothers.” My dad said, “From my experience, they’re only brothers as you get older, but in the future, you’ll have to develop your own strength and rely on yourself.” He didn’t read that from a book, it was from his experience, so he would say this while being sober or drunk.
Because that was imprinted in me, I was very proud. You have no idea how hard it was to live. I couldn’t receive help from anyone but now that I believe in Jesus Christ, I like it. There’s nothing that is a problem because God is with me, and all paths are opened through worship. I stayed in Korea for 10 years without a single penny, and I confirmed everything in the Bible for 10 years. I confirmed that manna really comes from the sky. I purposely didn’t receive help from anyone because God is alive. I confirmed that for 10 years.
Then as an answer, God brought me to study abroad, and I still had no money. God did all of that. I experienced this during 10 years of training in Korea. People say, “America is so hard,” there was a pastor who asked, “Pastor Park, isn’t America hard?” “Honestly, it’s the same because I was broke in Korea and in America, if I have anything, God takes it away.” It’s all the same. But other people go to training and rely on their parents; I never went home, I just kept going based on the answers God gave me, so it’s the same in Korea as it is here.
“Is it harder here? If the devil is stronger here, don’t you think God’s grace would be stronger here as well?” Even though he himself gives messages every week and says the gospel is everything, he says, “Isn’t America hard for evangelism?” It’s confusing. “What if you go to Korea?” Then it’s the best there because God is with me there, so nothing is a problem. Your family is not a problem because the God within you and with you always is not affected by your family.
There’s no need for you to worship idols. If you only hold to the covenant, you can overcome everything, and I’m a witness. Nothing is a problem; God will take care of everything according to His time schedule. Does it really mean you don’t need money or someone to help? If God, does it, then okay, but if I feel like I’m lacking something and seek help from others, that’s the problem. I don’t have everything, it took a long time to change this nature, but now, there’s nothing to worry about.
If your family problems are big, God has more grace for you. If you’re not smart, God has a greater blessing for you. If you’re smart, God prepared a smaller blessing for you, because you’re already smart. Don’t be shaken by people’s words; you are a child of God, and the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth is always with me. Whenever I face a problem or incident, He is there. Hold onto this correctly.
This becomes your power, your shield, your guarantee. There’s no need to fight, no need to argue with anyone, because you don’t win with your words, but you only use God’s Word. If someone says something mean to you, just let it go, but you engage in an argument and fight. No reason to do that, you’re both wrong anyway. Only the devil will love it. But if you hold onto prayer, you hold to the covenant and pray silently for them, the Word of God will work. But if you don’t understand spiritual things, you’ll try to go there and patch up relationships.
Tiffany makes the Elementary messages, but lately she hasn’t, so I pray for her, so God will work that she has no choice to make it. I don’t tell her to make it, but God will give her incidences in life to make it. Even if you threaten someone, you have to threaten them with grace. She can’t make it because she’s so busy and her work is very important, and God will make an incident that shows her that it’s not the case. She may think it’s very important, but she’ll realize that what she thinks is important is not.
It doesn’t matter, just start from here, and God gives us strength from here. We cannot be perfect. If we’re not satisfied with Christ alone, we have no choice but to worship idols. We have idols we see and invisible idols.
Snares
Satan holds onto every single human and drags them around, but we are the remnants who will liberate them from that. Stop looking at yourself based on your own conditions. That’s a problem. The only condition is Jesus Christ. That’s not even enough to be a Harvard graduate, it doesn’t matter how nice you are, you can never be like that. That’s only something that can be taken care of if God does it. It’s not just that God died, but He resurrected.
That’s why your weakness doesn’t matter; God is strong. No reason to touch idols or keep them. What does it mean, “To win is to lose”? I run diligently to win but I lose. But holding to the covenant and remaining still, I will win. But if you keep trying to win and to persuade others, the devil enters. Then winning isn’t really winning and after some time, you will fall. But what happens if you hold to the covenant and lose? Look at Joseph, he held to the covenant and lost but became governor.
Just hold to the covenant and get beaten up, because those will become paths of blessings, just as Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph and sent him to prison. He took it and going to prison was a blessing. That’s the standard of the covenant. Not having strength or on the other hand, having strength? It seemed King Saul had strength, but he did not. David was only 17 years old and seemed to not have strength, but he did, and that’s God’s strength given through the covenant.
Christ has finished all problems, covenant. No matter what incident you face, hold onto it. It’s not a problem to me, my parents and school are not problems for me. My weakness is not a problem because the Triune God is with me, and I’m born to save this age. This world is trying to survive or succeed; we are trying to save. People worship idols for themselves but that will lead to failures later.
For us, we hold to the covenant that saves me and the rest of the world. Christ. It is the Word that makes the demons tremble, the name the devils hate the most, the name that breaks down curses and disasters. Put this into the center of your heart, throw away your idols and plant this in. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the One Who has all authority in heaven and on earth.
Who am I? I’m the one with God, to fulfill God’s plan. You shouldn’t misunderstand, there’s no need for you to have idols. This is something that worship demons would do. We have Christ, the blessings of the Throne of Heaven are within me. Who cares about my weaknesses? The blessings of heaven and earth are with me. Who cares about my skills, why do we compare environments? God will overcome my environment with blessings.
Nothing is a problem; do not be deceived by lies. “I’m holding onto one thing.” That’s how your studies will follow, too. If you hold onto your studies to succeed and then come to church, you’ll be weird. Within “only,” God’s power is revealed even in our weakness. Everything is contained and follows when you testify of this one thing. All authority in heaven and on earth are in Jesus Christ’s hands. He is within me as life, and He wants me to stand in victory.
Prayer
God, we thank You. We thank you that Jesus Christ finished all problems on the cross and the Triune God is with me with all the blessings of the Throne of Heaven. Allow us to remain within the great grace of the covenant that allows us to destroy idols. We pray that You will use the remnants that they may be witnesses to testify of the living Christ to the 237 nations. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.