The One Thing You Must Concentrate On (Heb. 12:1-3)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. May the great power of God be upon the individuals and families that are worshiping in the church, in their homes, and especially out of state. The title of today’s message is, “The One Thing You Must Concentrate On.” People are concentrating on something and if you want to look from a broad perspective, there are two categories of concentration. There are people who are constantly interested and concentrated on their own thoughts and plans. Whatever I want, whatever is my goal–that’s what I concentrate on and race towards.
People in this world are living such busy lives and are concentrated on something, in other words, people live their lives, separated from God. Instead of concentrating on God, they concentrate on themselves as the main figures of their lives. We live for whatever our goal is, to have more than others, to be higher than others, to accomplish more than others. Everyone in this world is living their lives, sucked into the stream of this world.
Everyone who is separated from God does not have God, so they have to live their lives, centered on themselves. But it turns out, it’s actually Satan who is holding onto people from behind the scenes with the authority to control the earth, and that’s what he is currently doing.
Hebrews 11 was about the heroes of faith, and Hebrews 12 talks about what kind of faith we must live with, and how we must live. There is a race in which we must compete, and people in the world race the way we talked about earlier, but that is the race that the people of the world, who do not have God, are dragged into. The world pushes everybody into the race of who can be the biggest, the greatest, the fastest, and the highest in their schools and in their families, and as a result, our lives are so difficult and hard.
Our lives are lived within competition, confusion, and conflicts, and there are people who are pushed off to the side in this and even commit suicide. It’s impossible to escape from this stream of competition, and it doesn’t only apply to America; you cannot escape from this stream of the world anywhere because this is every culture. Everything you see on TV and in movies is only touching on this.
1. What we must throw off
1) Everything that hinders (Heb. 12:1)
The people of faith are racing for another race and there is something we must discard. If there’s something that hinders the racer, that’s something that will only slow them down, and they must quickly throw it off. These are the things that weigh us down.
(1) Legalism
Of the things that weigh us down, the heaviest thing is legalism. The law is God’s Word. However, if you interpret everything and apply the law to everything, that is a legalistic person. The role of the law is to show our sin so that we can go to the gospel with it, but a legalistic person will block the others from going into the gospel. But we cannot receive salvation from the law; we receive salvation from the gospel. Even if they have become children of God, a legalistic person will put heavy burdens upon themselves and upon others.
(2) Prosperity faith
The second hindrance is the prosperity-based faith that is seeking physical blessings. Physical blessings should naturally follow us, but people based on prosperity faith are chasing physical blessings.
(3) Mysticism
The third hindrance is unhealthy mysticism, people seek to experience God by seeing Him or feeling Him physically.
(4) Humanism
2) The sin that so easily tangles (Heb. 12:1)
There’s sin, and then there are the acts of sin. The actions of sin come from sin, but what is the sin? Furthermore, what is the sin that so easily entangles? Disbelieving God is sin, and because we don’t believe in God, all the actions that come from disbelief are acts of sin.
(1) Whatever were gains to me (Phil. 3:7)
Apostle Paul confessed in Phil 3:7, before he met Jesus Christ, he lived his life for whatever was gain for himself. Whatever you use the name of God for, that is for your own gain, that is the sin that easily entangles you.
(2) Idols for me, Greed (Ex. 20:4, Col. 3:5)
Exodus 20:4, God told us to not make idols for ourselves. “For yourself”: God is already for you, but if you’re fighting for yourself, that’s a sin. Col. 3:5 says that our greed and ambition is idolatry. All of these are channels of Satan, and this is the sin that entangles us. I think I’m living for myself but it turns out it’s a snare from Satan that drags me down.
(3) Satan’s snare (Jn. 8:44)
Jn. 8:44 says that your father the Devil is a liar and a murderer from the very beginning. Even right now, Stan is spreading lies in the world to make people compete in the wrong race. Satan is enslaving the children of God with the lies that ensnare us, then how can we cast this off? Legalistic people will say to do it with your own strength but that’s impossible.
3) Let us throw off everything (Heb. 12:1)
(1) Jesus Christ – Gave us rest (Mt. 11:28-30)
Jesus Christ says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened,” because we can’t do it ourselves, we have to go to Jesus. “Then I will give you rest.” It seems like this world is competing so diligently, but they have no rest inside. So they are suffering an internal hell before they go to an eternal hell. On the outside they may seem perfectly fine, but on the inside, they are suffering. That’s why we must go to Christ, exactly as we are, and give everything up to Him. The Lord is our Master so He will take the burdens on our behalf. “For my yoke is light.” The only burden we’ve been given is the mission God gave us.
(2) It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
Jesus Christ finished everything. The curses you should have received were taken by Jesus Christ by His death. Jesus Christ has overcome your slavery to satan so now we serve Jesus as Lord. Everything is finished, so now only hold onto and follow Jesus. Are any of you guys in your walk of faith holding onto these burdens? I hope you will take it to the Lord, may you take everything to the Lord and make the Lord the master of your life.
(3) The surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:8)
(4) Consider them garbage – Gain Christ (Phil. 3:8)
Paul didn’t know this and lived his life so diligently, and that’s why he says that he considers everything that used to be gain for him to be rubbish. The world thinks you need to gain more of those things and greater quantities of those things to be victorious, but Paul considered them all rubbish. Phil 3:8 says “knowing the knowledge of Chris is of greatest worth.”
Col. 2 says that all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden within Jesus Christ. Everything is in Christ, “hidden in Christ ” means it’s a mystery and we can only know it by God’s grace. Paul lived his life without knowing this, he thought he could live his life for himself, he held onto the law so diligently thinking he could keep it himself, but the law will only bring sin. Then they have to drag their heavy burdens and give burden to others. That’s the devil’s strategy. But Christ has liberated us from all of that. It’s all finished, all the problems of our past, present, and future have been finished. He is my Lord, as my King and my God. My yoke is light.
2. Race with perseverance (Heb. 12:1)
We are competing in this race with perseverance. People in this world have to endure in their own race for their life, for their sake. They have to endure and persevere to gain the goal they desire, then what do you think will happen? We don’t have the ability to persevere and that’s why we have mental problems, and once that mental illness becomes severe, it will even become a physical problem. Physical diseases don’t come from out of nowhere. These are diseases that come from long-standing stress and inner problems. Mental problems don’t crop up from out of nowhere. We will be liberated from them if we have Christ as our Lord, but we don’t live that way.
America has no choice but to continue to increase in mental problems. Because America keeps pushing its people into the race that seeks comfort, because that’s the culture outside, it’s impossible to escape, but our race is different.
1) Race (Heb. 12:1)
(1) Relay race of faith
(2) Many witnesses (Heb. 12:1)
We are competing in the race of faith, and it’s not only me, but Heb. 12:1 says there are many witnesses. You are not fighting this fight alone, but there are models of faith even from the Old Testament who have relayed this baton to you.
(3) Baton of the Gospel – Relay
Therefore, we must enjoy the baton of the truth of the gospel and relay it. This gospel is the solution to all problems. But if we don’t receive that, it’s impossible to receive the baton of the accurate covenant. Jesus Christ even died on the cross to solve all our problems, but we’re not able to relay the truth.
2) Signpost (Phil. 3:14)
This race of faith has a goal, it’s in Phil 3:14.
(1) Prize for which God called me (Phil. 3:14)
Paul is racing towards the goal, the heavenly prize for which he has been called. The people of the world may think we’re just wandering, but that’s not the case. There’s a goal and prize to which we race towards.
(2) My mission (Ac. 20:24)
In Acts 20:24, Paul confesses, “that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry that I have received from the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God,” then I will not count my life as a loss. There are many people burdened by this verse. There are people who are willing to run the race for their own goals but feel their God-given mission is a heavy burden. I’ll talk about this later, but actually, God gives you the grace and joy to do this. “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-burdened and I will give you rest.” Our life should be strengthened, but because we are constantly spinning our wheels without stopping, we have mental problems.
Jesus Christ came and gave us a mission, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” I don’t feel this as an obligation; I am eagerly anticipating it. I believe this is the mission not only given to pastors, but also young children believers. God fulfills these words. For people who are inside of God’s mission, their race is easy, but if you’re not inside of this mission, we have to live for the mission of the world, and if you get sucked into that, you cannot escape.
Genesis 3, you are God. Gen. 6, they have become physical, they live entirely for physical things. They live their lives and everything in the direction of “what I like, what is a benefit to me.” It’s impossible for them to escape from that race. If they save up a little bit, they do the Tower of Babel movement that opposes God. This is the nation of America, but Satan has deceived us all into thinking this is good so we race towards it. The Evidence of this is that people have no rest. Do you have rest in your work? This rest is not given by the world, but it’s given by God. If you don’t have that, then you’re walking the wrong path. If you do have it, then you’re walking down the proper path, that’s how you can distinguish.
Today I hope you will lay down everything of yourself and have Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior and have everything inside of God’s goal. Inside your business, there are disciples hidden. The business you’re running is an instrument for raising disciples; it’s an instrument for missions. Preach the gospel to all peoples and heal them, that’s Mark 16. America is so diseased, but it’s invisible. We cannot see the inner things because people package themselves so firmly with physical advancements and scientific progress, but even though they have succeeded, their insides are like hell.
However, we cannot see the inner things because of the fancy walls they’ve built outside; they don’t have the true rest and peace that God gives them; they are so exhausted because they have to run the race of the world. May everyone today, without exception, have Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. At that moment, everything else disappears. You have to believe that Jesus Christ is God in order for you to let go of your heavy burdens. If you don’t let go of your heavy burdens to him but you’re trying to appease him with your prayers, service, and actions, it’s not going to work.
(3) All nations, people – Disciples, Healing, Future Generation, Temple
John 20, Jesus says to raise up the next generation. The future generations in America are in big trouble. Legally speaking, there’s no more “sex,” they’ve created a gender not made by God. It’s not about it being illegal, but when people listen to these words, they’re not able to listen to the words of God. We may say this isn’t illegal and there’s no problem, culturally speaking, but it blocks us from hearing God’s Word. The goal of the devil is to block the future generations from receiving the truth of God’s Word, so he’s moving everything in that direction, little by little.
Therefore, raise up the next generation with the proper words of the gospel; therefore, God will prepare the temple construction in order to do that. Even demon-possessed idol worshipers will build these fancy temples, and even in Europe, most of the tourism is based on churches built in the Middle Ages. What’s there to see in Europe? There’s the Eiffel Tower, but the reason people go to Europe is so they can pay money and look at historical buildings like churches from the Middle Ages. Why do you have to go to the Alps? Any mountain is just a mountain. If you look at this mountain, is your heart filled with something? The European people and the American people are the same, but it must be the temple God desires.
The Temple that is able to have the proper gospel, worship, and world evangelization, a temple that can heal the things doctors cannot. Doctors cannot heal the fundamental problems of mankind, even with surgery. That’s not something you can get counseling for. It’s a problem of disbelief; it’s not something we can get counseling for. That’s a problem that can only be solved by the faith of Christ coming in, but Christ is becoming weaker and weaker, and that’s why this world is weakening the gospel with unhealthy mysticism and legalism.
Especially Korean churches are pushing people into prosperity-based faith, and Korean people are bound to go into that direction because they’ve lived such poor lives. Because they lived in an age that didn’t have doctors, they’re pushed into unhealthy mysticism with the words of healing. Nowadays, we have so many medical advancements that people can receive treatments without coming to church. Nowadays, it’s the mental problems that are the problem; there’s no medication for that. If something can be treated with medication, it’s not really a mental illness; it’s impossible to treat. Unbeknownst to me, my thoughts are dragging me around; it’s not something that can be treated with medication. I had no choice but to be dragged into my addiction, that’s not solvable. One day, a demon comes into me and drags me around, that’s not something I can control.
I met someone like that last week and was ministering to them. They were on their way to a funeral and they said something came into them from above. From that point on, they heard voices in their ear and it dragged them around, in a state of paralysis. How is it that things like this are happening in the 21st century? I told them the answer is in the Bible, these are the evil spirits that Satan controls, but this person didn’t even know that. This person could have been saved with just one word, they came to America and they’ve been to churches, perhaps the churches are the problem. If they had the proper gospel, they might have been healed, but because their churches were so big, they didn’t really have an interest in this.
Because they’ve gone to churches, they have legalism imprinted in them, so they got down on their knees and begged for forgiveness. I said, “You don’t have to do that.” if they had gone to church and received the gospel, they would have received liberation, but instead they received the law, so they only received the words of the law that only kept telling them that they’re a sinner, so from this person’s perspective, they’re under the misconception that they have done something wrong. So I give them the word every day through the phone.
3) Perseverance (Heb 12:1)
(1) Receive what he has promised (Heb. 10:36)
How do we run this race? The people in the world just grit their teeth and bear it, but we have a different perseverance. Heb 10:36 says we can fight with perseverance to receive the things that are promised. This perseverance is not just our ability to endure, it doesn’t mean that we’re persevering through a difficult today, looking towards a better tomorrow.
(2) Suffering -> perseverance -> character -> hope (Rom. 5:4)
This perseverance is one that has hope. If someone has a dream and hope, their perseverance will not wane. Romans 5:4 says that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance produces proven character, and character produces hope. So how can we have this perseverance?
(3) Holy Spirit poured God’s love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5)
Hope does not disappoint because the love of God is shed upon our hearts, through the Holy Spirit whom God has given to us. We are able to enjoy perseverance because God pours His Grace into our hearts. How do people in the world persevere? They say, “This too shall pass,” but once that pases, they face something else. So they create their own hope for themselves and say, “One day, this will pass,” but that’s not how we persevere. God continuously pours His love into our hearts so that we can persevere. Gal. 5:22 says patience is a fruit of the spirit. We’re not gritting and bearing it; God continuously pours out strength and blessings into our hearts so we can endure it.
3. Concentration (Heb. 12:2)
1) Jesus Christ
(1) Pioneer of faith (Heb. 12:2)
(2) Perfector of faith (Heb. 12:2)
(3) Fix our eyes (Heb. 12:2)
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Heb. 12:2 says Jesus is the pioneer or initiator of our faith, and the perfector. We receive faith through Jesus Christ, we are not forcing ourselves to believe in something, but the One Who is the main subject of our faith gave that faith to us. The perfecter and completer of that faith is also Jesus.
Romans 10:9-10 says we receive faith by listening to God’s Word, we don’t receive faith by doing some actions, but only by listening to the words of the gospel. That’s why we must fix our eyes on Jesus. Where is Jesus?
2) Right hand of the throne (Heb. 12:2)
Heb. 12:2 says He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Where is heaven? Is it above us? That’s just the sky; heaven is wherever God is. This isn’t a spatial thing, it means that God is controlling everything from the throne of heaven. The Holy Spirit is inside of our hearts and controls our hearts. If we go into His control by faith, then His peace and grace will find us.
We all have scars. I used to go to my uncle’s house when I was in high school, and there was the first generation of cameras. While I was sleeping, I overheard my aunt and uncle talking. My aunt was saying, “This camera is so precious and I won’t even give it to your older brother,” that is, my father, and these words were imprinted in me. I heard her say that, and I said, “You’re not even going to give it to your older brother, meaning my dad?” That stuck with me. She didn’t even say this to me, but if she believed that about my dad, it got caught in my heart and hurt my pride a lot. On the outside I didn’t say anything, but my aunt looked down on my family. If we’re family, she should be able to give this camera to my father; why can’t she give this camera to my father? This really hurt my pride as a high schooler. Adults can just lightly express things this way, not with any particular intent, but that’s how I heard it.
But why do we get scars? It’s because we only listen and hear from our perspective. However, if I were a little wiser in that situation and heard it from my aunt’s perspective, I would have never received that scar. There are people who, even after becoming a child of God, receive scars. That’s just human weakness. But even if we think a little bit from the other person’s perspective, wondering why they said those words, we would not get scarred. Even within a marriage, both people are so intent to fight for their own personal perspective; they cannot think from the other person’s point of view. But we take it even a step farther, we say, “why did God allow me to hear these words through this person. If you stand before God, you receive your answer from God, and that’s the answer to overcome our scars.
It’s accurate to say your scars came from you. If it’s still a scar from you, it means your thoughts are seized by that scar. That’s why many decades later, they will meet up and cry saying, “I didn’t know you had this misunderstanding,” they could’ve just done that in the beginning and it wouldn’t have been a scar, but that’s just the weakness and limitations of humans. But if someone has a larger vessel, they’re able to communicate with people while considering their perspective.
For us, we stand before the Living God because He controls everyone’s words and actions, then instead of being scarred, I receive God’s plan and answer. I think I used to have a lot of scars, because my pride is so strong, there were a lot of things that hurt my pride. But all of those scars were a result of me being separated from God because I was the standard of my life.
(1) With (Mk. 16:20)
Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Throne, but that’s not the only place He’s at, in Mk. 16:20, it says he was with the disciples when they went out to preach. The Word of God is the Word that saves people. The words we just speak by ourselves may be necessary to run the business, but they cannot save people. However, the words of God can change someone’s destiny. The word of God can save someone who is at the brink of committing suicide. Jesus Christ was with them, and as they declared the Word of God surely, there were signs accompanying it to confirm. Even right now, there are people who pray for miracles, and I don’t know why they do that. Someone always stands in front of this grocery store and evangelizes about their Korean church, but all you have to do is enjoy the accurate gospel.
(2) Transcend time and space (Ps. 103:20-22)
Psalm 103:20-22 says the LORD is seated at the throne of heaven but He is sending His angels to give and fulfill His Word. Right now, He’s seated at the throne of heaven but He is giving us His Word through His angels. That’s the work God is doing from the throne, so invisibly, He gives us His Word, then the Holy Spirit within us will reveal that Word to us. Then when we hold onto that Word, the angel of the Lord is also the one fulfilling that Word in our fields. When you hold onto the accurate Word of God during worship in your heart, that Word will be fulfilled exactly in your field. We are so disinterested in this that we keep paying attention to other things, but if you keep holding onto this Word, then God will guide you to fulfill it.
(3) Light of 237 nations (Is. 60:1-3)
Isaiah 60 says the light is already upon us; arise and shine! Your sons and daughters will come from all corners with silver and gold from kings. There are people we must meet in order for us to see the light from the darkness. If you just shine the light of Christ, they will escape from darkness. But instead of talking about the light of Christ, we keep talking about the electrical lights. You cannot change someone’s destiny with an electrical light. You cannot change someone’s destiny with science. You cannot change someone’s destiny with a Harvard degree, but by declaring the gospel light, the darkness flees and you’ll be able to see the things you haven’t seen before.
3) Concentration time
We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, but how? The world makes us concentrate on something else, that’s transcendental meditation. The world makes us concentrate on gathering the energy of the universe into me, or they make you look at a stone and concentrate on that. Or they make you concentrate or meditate on chanting beads, or on emptying yourself.
(1) Meditate night, day (Ps. 1:2)
But Psalm 1:2 says to meditate on God’s Word day and night, to delight in the law of the LORD. We’re not forcing ourselves to do something we don’t want to do; the Word of God is delightful to us. This is not a delight that comes from our hobbies. It should be very delightful to hold onto the covenant and pray. Worshiping should be delightful; everything should be delightful. If you’re forcing yourself to endure it, you’ll contract a disease. It should be enjoyable, and you should enjoy it; that’s how you can go for a long time.
Meditating and praying on the Word of God should make your heart race. Right before I come to worship, I’m so happy. If I think about delivering the Word of God today, my heart races. I don’t know why. I’m sure that even getting my heart to race like this, any cancer cells would be destroyed because if you’re so joyful that your heart is racing, everything else is healed. God gives me that because God wants me to deliver His Word.
Is your business enjoyable? It should be. It is not enjoyable because of the business, but it becomes enjoyable because God’s Word is inside of your business. When people think about their business, it’s just a heavy burden, it’s not enjoyable. If things work out well, that might be a delight, but that is not the reason we enjoy it. Meditating on the Word of God day and night brings me true joy, and that’s why as time passes, the fruits are established based on God’s Word.
(2) Healing (Heb. 4:12)
Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God will penetrate our body, our mind, our spirit, capable of dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. You cannot heal this with the qi movement or with transcendental meditation. You cannot heal yourself with transcendental meditation. The God Who made us is the Word, and when that Word comes into us, we receive healing.
(3) Summit (Ac. 1:8)
As we meditate, one day we will be in a position to save other people, and that’s what we call the summit. Even though I didn’t do anything, God brings it to me, and this is the race we run. But people are breaking their heads open in the races of the world, and only one person can win, only the 1%. Our race is a race we run until the end. It’s a race where God is with us and saves lives. Our studies may be difficult, but when we think of our studies like this, God gives us joy and that’s how we persevere. Is your business hard? Is it hard because of COVID? If God continuously pours His love out into our hearts, even if it seems difficult, we can overcome.
Conclusion
1. Only Jesus Christ
2. Only Kingdom of God
3. Only Holy Spirit
Therefore, the only thing we should concentrate on is only Christ, only the Kingdom of God, only the Holy Spirit. We must fix the eyes of our heart on this, but the devil will take you astray to look at something else. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the evil spirits of the spiritual world. May you and I have victory in faith this week.
Prayer
May we hold onto the Word of God we’ve been given and pray. God, please work upon us with grace and strength, so we can complete this race that’s already been won.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Prayer
God, we thank You. We thank You for calling us toward the race of faith instead of the race of the world. We thank You for giving us the grace and faith anew every day so we may run this race to save lives. Allow us to let go of everything I was a master of, may Christ be the only master so we can run this race together.
We have returned our material blessings as offering. We pray that wherever it is used, there may arise the answers of the economy of light, and we believe you will work with the blessings of the economy for world evangelization. We pray that You will work with the answers of the economy of light for Temple Construction and for the future generations. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. God, we believe You will bless this newcomer with the Word exactly as You have given it. We believe You will give them the grace and faith to run with perseverance the race you have given to him, and that he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. We pray that the blessing of Your work may be upon him so that everything he does will be used by the Triune God. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all of the people of God, all the multi-ethnic peoples, and the remnants who desire to run this race with you, be upon their businesses, studies, and ministries, be with us now and forevermore always, amen.