Identify the Spiritual State of the People (2 Cor. 4:4-5)
Today’s message is, “Identify the Spiritual State of the People.” It is very important to identify the spiritual state of people. When we first meet people, we first look at their outer appearance, but because people are spiritual beings, it is very important to see their spiritual states.
Introduction
1. Spiritual Problem
There is a characteristic of people who are afflicted with spiritual problems.
1) Desperate (Afflicted)
For one, they are desperate, because they are overtaken by spiritual problems, their outer state is one of desperation. Even when they come to church, they are afflicted.
2) Depression
And they get depressed. They are depressed because of these spiritual problems.
3) Confusion
Even as they listen to this message, they are in a state of confusion. Instead of listening to the Word, they listen to people’s words, so they are in a state of confusion
4) Mental
And they also receive mental problems. And these people are looking for something and then they arrive at the church. But the problem is that people are unable to see this state, even if they come to church, so we judge people according to their outer appearances and we question their actions and behaviors. But when we come to see their spiritual states, we are able to understand and help them. But let’s say a person like this came to our church and we’re unable to help them or to understand them, they will go to another religion.
The fact that this person is facing spiritual problems means that God has prepared great spiritual blessings for them.
2. Another way
Even if the spiritual problem does not arise in this kind of way, it arises in another place, so these spiritual problems arise in a different sort of way. It can also appear in the form of poverty. A person can be poor, but if they’re stuck in poverty, it means they are facing a spiritual problem. We can become ill, but if you’re constantly ill, that means the spiritual problem is arising in another state. Or, you have division among people because you constantly fight with them.
3. Success (Jewish People)
The third point we are able to see are the successful people. Successful people say they don’t have any problems, but these successful people have even more problems. You know the Jewish people, right? According to their actions, they look like perfect and successful people, however, inwardly they are afflicted by spiritual problems. But these successful people cannot say, “I am afflicted,” and a representative of that is Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was very successful in a legalistic sense, but he could not share his problems with other people because he had his pride as a successful person. To other people, he would say he had no problems.
You must know this accurately about people who may come to this church as well as people outside of the church.
Satan’s Strategy
1) Genesis 1:2, Genesis 3:1-5 (15)
Satan attacks with confusion and blinds people’s minds. In Genesis 3:1-5, Satan enters into a snake and corrupts people. People may question, “Then why did God create Satan? He could have just not created Satan,” but angels and humans are created with a personality. Because they have personalities, they can be either very holy or very evil, and angels can likewise become very holy or very evil. This affects people as well. When this angel was corrupted, he became Satan.
Genesis 3:15 states the offspring of the woman would crush Satan’s head.
2) Genesis 6:1-20
This describes the age of the Nephilm. The entire age is filled with evil spirits and they control the culture of the age.
3) Genesis 11:1-8
This describes the incident of the Tower of Babel. Satan destroys people with the idea of success.
4) Exodus from Egypt
You can see that God destroys ages through the idols they carry. Satan controls their cultures with their respective idols, but the Israleites were not able to recognize this. The Isrealites could not realize this very well, other than Moses and a few others. As evidence of that, even after the Israelites came out from Egypt, they fell under Satan’s temptation again. The people who have salvation do not know this, so that’s why they keep getting attacked by this.
5) 7 Tribes
And Satan continous to work through the 7 tribes
6) Philistia – Dagon
The Philistines worship the idol Dagon
7) Babylon
In the Bible, it tells of three friends who did not bow down to the idols of Babylon.
8) Pharisees
The Pharisees could not understand this, even with the word. Because the Pharisees held onto legalism, they were unable to solve their spiritual problems.
9) Rome
The age of Rome is an age filled with idols. Satan controls these ages through cultures and idols and it is the same inwardly even though the outer appearance may change, but the person who knew this was the Apostle Paul.
Paul
1) Acts 9:1-15, Acts 11:25-26, Philippians 3:1-20
Paul, in Acts 9:1-15, was able to see the accurate answer through Jesus Christ. Not just holding onto this answer, but he completely bowed down before Jesus. All the questions he had, he brought it before Jesus, and in Acts 11:25-26, he received training through Barnabas. In Philippians 3:1-20, Paul confessed everything is rubbish. He said, “I need the knowledge I have, but that is all rubbish” because that cannot solve our spiritual problems. I’m not saying your education is unnecessary, but it cannot solve our spiritual problems.
Up until this point, Paul held onto that as his legalism. He was only holding onto the actions, behavior, and conscience. It’s not unnecessary, it’s necessary, but through that you must come to know the gospel, but because you don’t know the gospel, you cannot solve the spiritual problems, so that’s why Paul confessed that the greatest knowledge is the knowledge of the gospel, because the answer to the spiritual problems are not taught in the world, they don’t teach it whatever school you go. God teaches it to us directly by His grace.
Paul said, “I want to be known by Christ,” he desires to discover himself inside of Christ, to discover his life inside of Christ. He is running the race of being held onto by Christ. He is running the race towards the heavenly rewards, that is a person who has the conclusion and answer that Jesus is the Christ, this is a person who lives only for Jesus Christ. In living for only Jesus Christ, that person saves everyone. You’re living only for Jesus Christ, so everything that is rubbish is actually restored and used for saving other people.
Colossians 2:2-3
Everything is contained within Jesus Christ. Because we cannot discover this, we cannot solve our spiritual problems. We believe in the same Jesus Christ, but there is a difference between the person who has discovered this, and the person who hasn’t discovered this. The person who has discovered this knows that everything is contained within Jesus Christ. All creation is in Jesus Christ, all creations are for Jesus Christ, and your work is contained within all creation, so your work is for Jesus Christ. But because we do not know this, we work with our own efforts for our own goals, but that is all for nothing. Everything, all creation exists for Jesus Christ.
At this time, God has called us. Age by age, there are many churches and religions, but in this age, it is an age where they do not reveal the real problems. America’s problems are not physical problems. People think they have a problem due to a lack of physical things but that isn’t a problem. It’s not even a lack of knowledge. If it’s developed to this extent, it is enough.
Now, it is the age of Artificial Intelligence, so we can diagnose diseases even before they happen, so it’s not a lack of knowledge, but it’s a lack of spiritual knowledge, and that is why God has called each of you. With this spiritual knowledge, give the spiritual answer.
1. Desolate
Among the people you meet, there are desolate ones. The ones who say, “I don’t need God; I rely on myself.”
1) Luke 16:19-31
It says these desolate ones are always partying around, enjoying themselves. They attempt to solve the problems of mankind through partying. Around this time on Friday nights, the parties open up, and it’s like a party scene in the night clubs, so these people attempt to solve their problems by partying up in the clubs. They listen to music, they talk with one another, they do drugs, why is that? Because they do not have this.
After enduring so much,they try to solve it and let it all go here,but that is the culture of this world. Do you find happiness in your school or work? There’s no happiness. That is why they become intoxicated in order to receive happiness from this, because they cannot find happiness inside of Jesus Christ, they have to go to these places. Even if we tell them not to go, they go, why is that?
2) Romans 3:10, 23 (Fundamental Problem)
It’s because of Romans 3:10 and 3:23. They have fallen short of the glory of God, and they do not have the Word of God. They have fallen into the fundamental problems but they do not know the fundamental problems.
3) Romans 6:23
As a result of sin, Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. In Eph. 2:2, they are overtaken by the ruler of the kingdom of the air.
4) Solution John 1:12
However, the solution is John 1:12. So, the desolate people you meet claim, “There is no God,” and they try to solve their problems through partying.
2. Assurance X
And there are people who don’t have assurance. They have no assurance because they do not know the state of destruction.
1) Ephesians 2:1-2, 6
You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live by following the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Because these people attend church without knowing these states they have no assurance, and it says Christ is seated in heaven.
2) Salvation
What is salvation? Coming out of this, out of death, coming out of Satan is salvation. But there’s no assurance in this because they do not know this state.
3) Matthew 16:13-20
Those who believe and confess His name, they are given the blessing of being the rock of the church as well as the keys of heaven, but they do not know this blessing. Those who do not have assurance must know the state of death and sin, and following the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air.
3. Discouraged People
There are some people who go to church and they are discouraged, why is that?
1) Hebrews 11:6
Without faith, you cannot please God. Because they do not have the assurance of faith, they cannot please God.
2) Proverbs 3:5-6
They do not have the experience of being with God. They have to acknowledge God. They do not have this experience. Do not rely on yourself, but rely on God. But because they live life apart from this, they become discouraged. What’s the reason?
3) 1 Corinthians 2:10-14
The people of the flesh cannot realize the spiritual things. Without the Spirit, you are not able to realize or know God.
4) John 1:12, 14:26-27
In order to experience God, you must accept. You must accept Jesus Christ, and in John 14:26-27, the Holy Spirit will guard your minds and your heart. Matthew 12:28 says, when you accept Jesus Christ and God’s Kingdom is established, Satan’s forces will be departed and bound, you have to experience this blessing.
5) Acts 2
When you pray, you must experience Acts 2. You must raise the hearts of those who are discouraged with this Word.
4. Idol Worship (Ancestral worship) 1 Corinthians 10:20
In other words, those who do ancestral worship. In 1 Corinthians 10:20, you must tell them they are doing this to evil spirits, not their ancestors, but they worship the evil spirits of Satan. Ancestors do not die and become ghosts, but it’s Satan’s evil spirits who become ghosts.
5. People Who Are Possessed by Evil Spirits
1) Genesis 3:1-10
They are possessed
2) 1 John 3:8
You must tell these people that the reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
3) Mark 3:13-15
The reason we call for disciples is because in Mark 3:13-15, it is to give the authority to break down the curses.
4) John 1:12
For those who believe in His name, He gave them the right to become children of God. Matthew 12:28, you must first bind the strong man, that is, Satan, you must accept Jesus Christ.
6. Diseased People
Disease can come through many channels, it can be through one’s mistakes, or by other people, or there could be diseases that come from overworking, and the person already has failed, or even through evil spirits where spiritual diseases become physical diseases, that is what you must tell the diseased person. “First, receive the spiritual blessings.” It’s not a matter of healing the illness, but it’s a matter of receiving the spiritual things first, and you must know this in order to do healing.
There are a lot of people like this in America, and medical technology has advanced but it isn’t solved. We must first relay the spiritual things and then the illness will become a blessing. The illness could be cancer, but people tend to solve that cancer. That is the human heart, but you must know the reason why you have cancer, you must solve the origin and cause first. That’s a spiritual thing.
7. Terminal Illness
When people are not healed.
1) Start
The cause is Genesis 3, separation from God. When we meet with Jesus Christ, then we have that fundamental healing. This terminal illness is in God’s hands. It’s important to first become a child of God. You become a child of God, then you face the illness. Then, it’s a time of blessing where you can focus entirely on Jesus Christ.
8. Legalistic People
These people are those who attend church.
1) Diligent
Their characteristic is that they’re very diligent, they live a walk of faith very religiously because their standard is one of religion, a set of actions. The characteristic of these people is that they face limitations.
2) Suffering
They work diligently but because it isn’t effective, they are suffering. These people tend to lie because what’s inward and what is outward is not the same, so they have no choice but to lie. They work hard in the church but they are suffering and they have no choice but to lie to others.
3) Nicodemus John 3:1-8
Nicodemus comes to find Jesus and he is a Jewish leader who comes during the night because he doesn’t want to be seen by other people, and he’s in a lot of pain but he cannot tell other people. If he’s a jewish leader, he’s someone who works according to the law, but even though he’s very legalistic, it doesn’t solve his problems, so he has no choice but to lie. He has to pretend he’s not suffering. We must teach him what the gospel is.
Many people just try to work diligently because even in the world, they live diligently. And they believe their walk of faith is to keep the Word very diligently. Spiritual things are not about diligence; you just have to believe in Jesus Christ, but they believe diligence without faith is faith and that is when they face their limitations and they fall. There’s a lot of this going on. There are so many people who attend church while being legalistic, then they face their limitations and stop attending church.
9. Buddhists, Taoists
Many are Buddhists or Taoists. These are different religions.
1) Original Sin
They don’t know what Original Sin is, they only talk about general sins. In other words, John 8;44. They do not know who Satan is, so we must teach these people.
2) Romans 3:23 Sinner
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Everyone is a sinner. All the religious people try to see the sin and attempt to solve the sin.
3) Effort
They do not know Original Sin, but they see general sins and try to solve that sin with their efforts, and that’s why they will say, “Shave your head and go to the temple.” Many innocent people try to cleanse themselves of sin, but because they do not know the Original Sin, no matter how much they try to solve that sin, they cannot solve it.
4) Human
Then why did Jesus Christ come as a human? He is someone who is the same as us, as flesh, yet He was without sin and He will not make any sins. That is why we must tell religious people about Original Sin and about who Satan is.
10. Possessed by Spirit – Shaman
There’s a difference between someone who is possessed and someone who performs demon-possession.
1) Exodus 20:4 Destruction
The ones who do idol worship will fall into destruction
2) Matthew 12:43-45
It states that the more you do idol worship, you will receive 7 times more evil spirits, so 7 times more suffering
3) Mark 5:1-20
It describes a man who had a legion of demons within him, and he was in a constant state of suffering. The priority is for these people to accept Jesus Christ.
11. Catholic
It’s kind of confusing because they hold onto a similar BIble.
1) Idol Worship
The Catholics do worship idols. They have removed the first commandment which states, “Do not serve any idols,” and the Catholics slightly twist the God that they believe in. For instance, in South America, they worship St. Mary as a goddess.
2) People of the Bible Revelation 22:18-19
They have changed the gospel. Revelation 22:18-19, when you change the Bible, it leads to destruction and disaster. They have switched the bibles, they took out the part where it says to not serve idols. There are ten commandments, so they removed the first one and made the last commandment into two commandments. Serving idols means they are serving evil spirits.
3) Original Sin X – Mary
These people do not know Original Sin. They say Mary does not have Original Sin. The Argentine Pope John Paul II declared Mary had no Original Sin, meaning Mary was also a child of God, and eventually they mean they raise Mary as a saint, and that’s why they always picture Mary as the mother and Jesus as the child. I saw in a mexican airport there was a statue of mary that was covered in gold, but why is Mary there? Even if there’s Mary, Jesus should be there as well, and that is how Satan grabs hold of these people.
The Catholics say, “Don’t say bad things about other religions,” but we’re not saying anything bad. They are worshiping idols. They don’t know what Original Sin is, and they claim Mary was sinless.
12. Heresies
1) Jesus Christ – X
These heresies denounce Jesus Christ.
2) People of Satan
The heretics hold onto the Bible and they believe in it but they do not believe in Jesus Christ.
3) Behavior
They are also focused on their behaviors. All religions are focused on behavior. If you do not know the gospel, you’re unable to evangelize. No matter how frustrated you are towards the heretics, you are not able to evangelize when you are focused on their behavior or actions. Look at all religions, they’re focused on behavior. God will bless or curse you based on people’s actions.
But we have become righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has poured upon himself all sins, curses, and disaster on the cross. Our actions, our goodwill cannot solve the disasters and curses Jesus Christ has solved. We must believe in the fact that Jesus Christ has solved all that. If we do not know the gospel, we cannot save. We’re just going to church,and people who do not believe in Jesus Christ are all the same. We may meet these 12 groups of people.
Conclusion
1. New Believers
What must we do for the new believers?
1) Spiritual problems
These newcomers have spiritual problems. Outwardly they look fine but inwardly they have these problems so we are unable to tell.
(1) Root of the Gospel
These people must have that root of the gospel. These spiritual problems cannot be solved other than with the root of the gospel. It’s different from knowing the gospel and having the root of the gospel. Having the root of the gospel means the gospel has been rooted deep inside your heart, but having just the knowledge of the gospel means, because you don’t have the root of the gospel, you won’t bear fruit. That is why people are just finished with just the knowledge of the gospel, they don’t have any fruits. And that’s why people with the knowledge of the gospel claim that every message is the same and they get sick of it, and that is why the spiritual problems won’t be solved. You must have the deep roots of the gospel.
(2) Filling of the Holy Spirit
Hold onto the Word and receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Pray, listening to the Word. You must listen to the Word and pray, receiving the filling of the holy spirit, and if possible go into the deep places
(3) Deeply
Go deep into the Word. There are people who have shallow worries, but others go deep into their worries. There are people who go deep into their problems, and some people who just go past their problems really quickly. So, hold onto the Word but go deeply into the Word. That’s how you can have this healing of the spiritual problems.
They came to church but if you’re not able to see this, you’re unable to save them. It’s not a matter of just knowing Jesus Christ as the True King, True Priest, and True Prophet, but you must have this deep root, not just knowledge but through prayer and the word, deeply rooting it in. The person who speaks and relays the message must have this take place. The person who relays this, having only the knowledge, will not able to save the new believers.
2) Evil Spirit
There are people who are possessed. They must accept Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit must reside within them. This means there are some new believers who are possessed.
(1) Acceptance
When you accept, the Holy spirit resides in your spirit, and when the Holy Spirit resides, Satan cannot attack uor spirit. He shakes our thoughts and mind, and there’s this nature of being possessed for a long time.
(2) Authority
Then, we must work and use the authority of Jesus Christ, because our personalities are easily captured by Satan through our thoughts and mind. When we use the authority of Jesus Christ, the evil spirits depart but they come back. We must make it so that the evil spirits will completely leave.
(3) Depart
How is that possible? Make the evil spirit know that they cannot be with that person. In other words, having Jesus Christ as that root. .The direction of your life becomes, “I must save people like me,” and that’s when evil spirits depart completely. The evil spirits will come to realize that, so it’s very difficult to shake this person.
3) Healed X
Among the new believers, there may be people who cannot be healed. Even though they attend church, they constantly have problems. Is it that God is powerless? We must discover God’s plan in this. Through this person, God desires for the entire family to be saved.
(1) Famly
And because of this person the family and the family background will all be changed.
(2) Church
Because of this person, the church will also receive spiritual blessings. These people come to church and have these strange actions because they’re not able to be healed. Is the church going to stand still and ignore everything for that person, they must pray for that person, and that is how we receive spiritual problems.
You must know this accurately, that this person who is strange and cannot be healed, is actually an opportunity for spiritual; blessings for the church. Anyhow, whether this person is healed or not, they need God’s grace.
2. Those with a Mission
The church officers.
1) Problem
We must know that there is no problem. In other words, because God is with me, there are no other problems, and instead they will restore thanksgiving. Because God is with us there’s no problem. If God is not with us, they must be worried and be in confusion. He knows, and you’d just have to wait until God gives you that answer. We must wait until you discover the answer in that problem. But because the church leaders do whatever they want to try to solve the problem, that is why evil spirits attack.
2) Guidance of the Holy Spirit
Who you meet is very important. How are you receiving guidance in the field? Being able to continue in the parachurch.
3) 24 Hour Prayer
Until the point they have 24 hour prayer. When this person is able to discover what God has in store for them, they are able to restore 24 hour prayer, because God called this person for that reason, so it must be made.
4) Grace
Because the reason God has called this person is for that, so it must be made so that person discovers that. Just as God gave Paul his lifelong prayer topic, a person must have a lifelong prayer topic; the person must have that lifelong prayer topic thinking about it 24 hours. So, there are people within the new believers in the church.
So, today it is very important to identify the spiritual states of the people in the field and in the church. First and foremost, enjoy the blessing of identifying their spiritual state and restoring the spiritual state
Prayer
Dear Father God, thank you. Allow us to know our spiritual state, and may they be used for the sake of saving people’s spiritual states in the field. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.