God’s Grace to Align to God’s Direction
In Acts 2, we see God continues the world evangelization movement, and that ministry is well-written in the Bible. There was the creation of the church in Mark’s Upper Room, and the church in each of their families, that would be our fields in today’s word, but what direction did God lead them in through His Word? We must align with that direction. It doesn’t matter how hard I work; that is a diligence that is not aligned with God’s direction. Even if it seems like we’re not doing anything, if we’re aligned with God’s direction, God will continue to give us answers.
Then, in today’s churches, if they’re not aligned in the direction of God’s word, they will not receive the working of the Holy Spirit, and if the direction of the church is not aligned with God’s direction, the individuals will not be aligned, either.
99% of the Jewish people in the Jerusalem Temple were not aligned with God’s direction, and it doesn’t matter how grand or large the Temple is. God said He would destroy it so that no stone would be left atop another stone. However, in the Early Church, the Church that gathered in Mark’s Upper Room, there were only 120 people, but the power of the people doesn’t matter; God is bound to work when we are aligned with God’s direction. In order for us to be aligned with God’s direction, we must understand Christ and the gospel accurately according to the Bible. If we do not believe in that, we will have no choice but to go to the Jerusalem Temple.
It doesn’t matter how much we follow the words of God from the Old Testament in Jerusalem, we will not be aligned with God’s Word. There are many tremendous and successful people who gathered at the Jerusalem Temple, starting from the High Priest and the other priests, they were all gathered there in other words, they had everything including money and power, however, as time passed, that Temple was destroyed. As more time passed, these people were dragged as captives all over the world.
Why? It’s not their lack of diligence. They knew every letter and every word in the Bible and they memorized it, ever since they were very young, at baptism, they needed to meditate on and memorize this Word. There were people who struggled so hard to keep every letter and every word of the Old Testament laws, then why did they fail? The direction with which God gave us the Word of the Old Testament was the Word to believe in and testify of the Christ, and Jesus Christ came and they killed Him. Then what do you think we would have done? If we lived 2000 years ago, what side would we have been on? Would you be on the side that killed Jesus, or would you be on the side that did not kill Jesus? Where do you think you would be?
Raise your hand if you think you’d be on the side that did not kill Jesus. Raise your hand if you think you’d be on the side that killed Jesus. Everyone else is an opportunist who looks at what everyone else does, but you follow what people say. We would be on the side that kills Jesus, if we don’t receive grace. All humans are born with Original Sin so we are on the side that opposes God, and we would also be shouting to crucify Jesus. However, the people who received God’s grace were liberated from that, and it was only possible because God gave them that grace, then what is our level? Our entire lives are going in the direction of killing Jesus. But you say that you’re not? Maybe you think that way because you’ve received salvation, you are only on the side of Christ because God gave you that grace. If God has not given you that grace you would be on the side that kills Jesus, too, then what must we do every day? If we do not receive God’s grace, we are bound to turn our back to the gospel again.
Instead of living for evangelism, you live how you want to live, so the Early Church received a very important grace from God, and something impossible took place. Why is it that even when 99% of the people gathered, holding onto the Words of the Old Testament in the Jerusalem Temple, these people gathered in Mark’s Upper Room? That’s God’s grace. Even if God does give us that grace, our nature is to turn away from the cross saying, “I don’t know Him.” Simon Peter confessed when Jesus Christ said He would be crucified, “Don’t worry, I would never let you be crucified,” and that’s the words of the people of the world. “You and I are in it until the end,” but that’s nonsense.
We might say that in the moment because of our humanistic thoughts and emotions, but there’s no way for that to be true for humans. Then, how can we believe in Jesus? He came as the son of a carpenter and He had nothing to show for Himself; how could we believe in Him? He was making such a big fuss and a big noise, but one day, He was crucified? Then you would say, “I made a mistake, “and revert to your old ways.
We read the scripture today, and if it weren’t for the grace of God, they wouldn’t be int hat position. We have no choice but to live of ourselves, to live for success, money, and my glory. You shouldn’t pretend like you’re not like that; you need to receive God’s grace, it’s harder to pretend like you’re not like that. It’s harder for you to pretend like you’re not like that when you’re giving your forums, and that’s why God’s grace must be upon us.
The Lord resurrected and found them, and one day, by God’s grace, the fact that Jesus is the Christ comes into us with assurance. There’s no way for us to be confident without that grace. It’s not that they did not know Jesus; they followed Jesus, but without Christ giving us that grace, we wouldn’t experience the resurrect Christ living with us now. There wasn’t a single person who went to find the Lord by themselves, because even though they heard about the resurrection, they didn’t receive the grace to know what that meant.
Then they went to the Mount of Olives and for 40 days, by God’s grace, in concentration, they receive Christ’s word on why He had to die and resurrect, and what their mission was now. Because they were the Jewish people who already knew the words of the Old Testament very well, He confirmed to them according to prophecies why this had to be. Before that point, even though they knew the bible, they didn’t understand His death and resurrection. It says in Luke 24, there were two disciples who were walking on the path to Emmaus, and it was only when the Lord was walking with them and He revealed to them what the Old Testament was about that their hearts were on fire. They had a new understanding, and there’s no way for them to understand this unless the Lord gives us this grace into our hearts.
That is when they realized in the Mount of Olives, this is why the Lord had to die on the cross and resurrect, and this is what the Old Testament is talking about., but the Jewish people went in a different direction from that, so that’s’ why they went onto the side that killed Jesus. They did all of that thinking they were doing a very good job and worshiping God well in the Temple of Herod. But those who gathered for 450 days received God’s grace in concentration. “This is what I must testify of,” that’s God’s Kingdom. It is the righteousness of the gospel. We received righteousness by faith, and by that faith, we go into God’s kingdom, and the power and blessings of the Throne of Heaven come upon us. Then if the power of the Triune God comers upon me, that is the Kingdom of God, I’m not a citizen of God’s kingdom.
They received that covenant, they came back down, and they concentrated in prayer in Mark’s Upper Room for 10 days. On the tenth day, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit worked. After that, the content we read in today’s scripture is very important. In Acts 2:42, they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Simply put, every day, in the church or in their homes or in their fields, they received the words they received, not the Temple of Jerusalem, that’s where they had to sacrifice animals, but instead, they took that and had the Apostle’s teachings, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. This is extremely important. God continuously gives His covenant centered on a church or organization.
They received teaching of the Apostles. They had fellowship with one another with that Word. They broke bread, meaning they did Communion, and they devoted themselves to holding onto God’s Word and praying. This is what the members of the church did when they gathered together after having received God’s Word, and the key here is the Apostles’ teachings, the word God gives through the apostles. They had fellowship with the other members o the church with that Word, meaning they communicated and they had forum with that Word. With that, they devoted themselves to prayer, then you yourselves will be revived. Your spiritual things will come to life. The church is a place that continues this. Yes, the church might do different things, but if you lose this, this is no longer a church.
If we receive the Apostle’s teaching, but we don’t’ have fellowship with that Word, but instead we just play with one another and talk about the news of the world, that is no longer a church. The church is the place that holds onto the Word they’ve received and pray for it, but otherwise, you’re praying about your worries, spreading your worries, and leaving the church, then of course, that’s not church, and because that’s not a church, the Holy Spirit cannot work, then what is the result? We go towards the states of the unbeliever.
It was well-documented how the Early Church did this in continuation, and in Acts 2:44-45, they had everything in common, all of their possessions. Because they were excommunicated from society, they had to live with one another. Communism actually came from these words in the Bible, “No matter how much you work, we should all have the same amount of things,” but that was a misconception because those people were not centered on God; they were centered on humans. It’s impossible for us to share everything evenly. If anything, they revert back to that system where the top percentage is stealing from everybody else, and today, we may have social movements like this, if God gave according to everybody[s need, it means God filled everyone’s needs. That includes your business as well as your offering, God fills all your needs for missions and evangelism.
In Acts 2:46-47, ti says they met every day continually with one heart, and they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple courts. The characteristic of the individual and the church coming to live is that they sue their efforts to gather together. The characteristic of people and churches where they don’t work out is that they don’t put their strength in gathering together, but they do the worldly gatherings very well. But they don’t want to go to the gatherings that are centered on the Lord. So, every day, they continued to meet together in the Temple courts, they broke bread together rand ate together with glad and sincere heart.
What does it mean that they broke bread in their homes? This is talking about Communion. They ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God, and enjoying the favor of all the people. The Lord added to their number those who are being saved, meaning evangelism continually took place. This is the model of the church God gave us through the Early Church. So I hope you will stop looking for a model, but the Bible is your model, so we just go into that. Humans can not be your model, but the bible is the logos word of God, and we must simply follow the Bible.
This was re-created in all the different regions. So, these 120 people gathered in Mark’s Upper Room, which is the modern-day church, and in prayer, they received the working of the Holy Spirit and they did this in their individual homes as well. Whether they were in the Temple Courts or in their homes, they were the same, and that’s important. That’s the church that gathers and the church that scatters. What is important is that wherever the Lord is moving, that is where we are moving, then what happens? These kinds of things take place. God will attach people to receive salvation. This flows in the exact same way, whether you’re in the church, your homes, in your business fields, or school. All your life is already given to you by the Lord in the Early Church.
But it’s difficult, isn’t it? Because we don’t like Christ that much, and we don’t like the gospel that much. If anything, we like something else more, and that’s why it’s so hard. It’s difficult because Christ is not the greatest treasure In my heart, I like money more, and that’s what happens. It’s not because we don’t go to church enough, but the value of the gospel hasn’t yet been in my heart, because the Bible tells us that our eyes will be different based on what’s in our hearts. If we serve money inside of our hearts, then regardless of what’s in the Bible, we’re bound to see things the way the world does, and it’s impossible for us to change that because the state of our heart isn’t changing.
So, for the members of the Early Church, there’s nothing more important or valuable to them than the gospel, the Christ, the death and resurrection on the cross, and the kingdom of God, that is why they held onto the Word they received every week, they had fellowship together and prayed, and they did the same thing together int heir homes, they did the same thing in their businesses and jobs because that is our goal. Giving glory to God is the goal, working is not the goal, but the goal is in the place where we are working, we are establishing God’s kingdom and giving glory to God, and if you’re alone, you can just do that alone, set a time, set a location, and do this worship on your own. When you’re in your family, whether you do this together or on your own individually, you just do it.
For you, first seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, this must go directly in your fields as your priority, then you must receive great and deep grace on Sunday because it’s impossible for you to do this without God’s grace. If you just live haphazardly, you’ll just live a lukewarm life. Just do this, stake your life on worship, that’s how you win. As much as your heart is a fertile ground, that is how much fruit you will bear. Even professional athletes stake their entire life on every single tournament or game. But the people who just play basketball int heir neighborhood don’t sake their life on it, but it’s their hobby. For them, they will just remain as the neighborhood basketball team forever; they’re different from athletes, but the professional athletes know what’s important, sot hey stake their lives on it.
There’s no reason for you to comment on what the worship is like or what the message is like. People say, “Pastor, I received God’s grace,” but if your heart is a fertile ground, you’re bound to receive grace no matter what the messenger says. As a person, I’m thankful to hear words like that; however, as your individual spiritual walk, you must always receive God’s grace through His Word and worship because you stake your life on it. That is how you will be centered on the covenant, prayer, and relaying this, that is the path of greatness in your week.
You must be filled with this throughout the week. If you do not receive God’s Word, you have to look at it again, until you’re able to confirm it. Otherwise your life will be captive to the world, and that’s why worship is so important. If you’re just worshiping and the Word of God doesn’t go into you, stay until it does, because the Bible says we worship in Spirit and in Truth, so the Holy Spirit is bound to give you God’s word, until that is confirmed, you confirm it very surely on Sundays so with that Word, you cannot continue in prayer throughout the week.
You must be certain with what you go out into the week with. If you go somewhere but you’re not certain of the path, you’re bound to wander, and if the Word God gives you is not certain on Sunday, you’re bound to wander throughout the week. You need to receive God’s word every Sunday by reading through the Bible verse sand asking God, “What is the Word you want to give to me? What is the Word you are speaking to me through the pastor?” You come toc church with an eager heat of anticipation, then your heart is ready to receive the word even if it’s just slightly tossed to you, then do you thin the devil will leave you alone to do that? Never.
You know what you do on Saturday nights. He’ll let you do that. You know what you do on Sunday mornings. He makes it so that you do what you do, and even if you receive a message, it doesn’t get imprinted in to you r hearts, and that continuously repeats. If you listen to the message, you already know it because you have the knowledge in your brain, but the spiritual things will just be bouncing off, then you know you’re spiritually dying and you realize you need that life and breath; you need emergency help.
“I need to go to the emergency room in the hospital; I need to quickly be revived,” and it takes time because we’re so slow and numb to this. That is why on Sunday you need to think, “I will have revival on my own; I will be filled with grace today.” You don’t work on Sunday, so just spend that entire day until you’re certain that this is the specific Word God has given to you. That’s how when you set sail for the rest of the week, you’re going with a definite direction.
When you’re in the military, the commander must give his commands to the people beneath him very definitely and surely. But if the people receive this message do not receive tit so definitely, people will be confused and wonder what they have to do, then that becomes a powerless commander, and if there’s a powerless commander, the people under them will suffer Because they’re telling their subordinates to do something that isn’t aligned with the higher orders, so they’re always criticizing and saying something. It’s the same thing with us, our spiritual chief is Jesus Christ and He gives us His word, then we must stand in that definite and sure line for the rest of the week. That is how you will go firmly in the direction of that Word for the week.
Then even though you face many different circumstances, incidence, you will go in the direction of that word, but if you don’t hold onto the Word, you’ll be swept up by the incidences and circumstances. Then what happens? There is nothing human being can overcome without the strength and grace of God, so you’ll be swept up by problems, by mental problems and physical problems, it’s just a matter of time. For the people who are sure in this, they receive the Word of God and they worship God form the fields of their home sand their jobs. They hold onto that word and pray for the salvation of all the souls affiliated with them, because that’s the reason God has brought them into your life, so then the Holy Spirit will only work there.
Just like the Holy Spirit did not work upon the Temple of Herod, the member so the church who do not do this will not receive the working of the Holy Spirit in their business fields. This is continuously connected to the ends of the world, meaning, until I leave this earth.
Earlier I told you guys to develop the church. There was a person who said that, they were a pastor’s kid, so I thought, “He must have a lot of scars about the church.” However, if you have scars, that’s your personal problem, the correct walk of faith is to receive the Word from the church. Just like there’s no reason for you to drop out of school, just because there’s one loud person talking a lot in the back; you just have to study and receive the material yourself. There’s not a lot of people who drop out of school because of one loud person, but there are many people who live their walk of faith like that.
When we come to school, we notice people who are sitting in the front row, they listen closely to what the teacher is saying and take notes; they don’t care if there’s a gangster int h back, but the person who sees a fight break out in the school and says, “I’m not going to this school anymore,” that’s a weird one, but there are many people who live their walk of faith that way. You just have to receive the word and you just have to take that Word into your field, and you just have to receive God’s answer sand continue in his path.
But because you’re not able to do that, you get conned and God allows you to lose your material possessions. Everything moves in God’s hands and God just allow you to get conned. God closes the doors of your wisdom so you make foolish decisions. If you’re in a state where you can’t understand this most fundamental thing it doesn’t matter how well you know the bible, if you’re a pastor’s kid, or you’ve been a Pharisee for dozens of generations, you’re still a sinner. Who cares if you’re a Pharisee? You’re trapped in Original Sin. If you’re someone who says, “I’m this kind of person,” instead of saying, “I need the grace of the Lord,” you’re already outside of the gospel.
If you know why you are every day, then you’re bound to humbly worship before God, isn’t that right? But if you don’t know that, you’ll act audaciously. You’re very rude by thinking you can live without prayer. You are the devil’s prey. Who am I? we are the ones who killed Jesus on the cross, if you just acknowledge that as who you are, you’ve receive the answer of what you must do every day. But if you think you’re not someone like that, you think you have your own righteousness just like the Pharisees and that is why the evil charges for you. Lord, I want to live the rest of today with the grace and the power of Jesus Christ’s cross and Your Word.”
In your professional field, you are not working; the Lord give you what you need, allow God to work in this field. You say you don’t have time, but you do, and if you don’t have time, God will make time, God will make it so that you’re hospitalized and this is all you can do. That was the Israelites, they were taken captive to Babylon so they had no one to look to except God. So, we’re supposed to look to God every single day, but they say, “I don’t have time, I don’t have this,” so God says, “Take them to Babylon,” and as you look upon God this way, God begins to work. God gives you important wisdom because when you pray, the Holy Spirit works, right?
What happens when the Holy Spirit works? Just like He worked in Joseph’s field, He’ll work in my field. Joseph didn’t think of that with his own brain; God gave him the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but we don’t rely on this; we rely on our own hard work. Those are all the people who were Joseph’s older brothers, not Joseph. You hear about joseph so much, you think you’re Joseph, right? But you’re his older brothers. We talk about the Jewish people, and you think you’re not one of them, but we are the ones who would crucify Jesus. You think you’re part of Mark’s Upper Room, right? No, if you don’t do this every day, you’re worshiping in Herod’s temple. You must confirm who you are, every day.
This is the map of our faith, so may you confirm God’s word anew today and say, “I need God’s grace. I need God’s word. If I don’t have Christ, I’m always opposing Christ. I’m bound to hold onto God’s Word of the law and boast of my own righteousness,” so every day, before Christ, hold onto this and ask Christ to give you this power because we must save those who are dying in the field, and as you simply align your direction to God, He will begin to work, that is the creation we are, and that’s what you call those ones who remain, that’s just the sojourner or the pilgrim because we must continue to travel this path of life. This is the path of the conqueror that conquered Satan and saves people. We have confirmed that in the Bible today.
No reason to listen to the words of people. Listen to the Bible. You are not the types of people who follow the words of the pastor just because I say it; follow the Word of God exactly as it is, that is the way to be with the Lord. That is the way to continuously receive this blessing. Let us pray together, holding onto the Word we have received. On Sunday, we receive the Word, “First seek god’s Kingdom and His righteousness.” What is the greatest treasure in my heart? Wednesday, it was to raise up the city of refuge in your family, your region, and your church. Today, how will you individually nurture? May we be rooted in these three things, and today, we read about how the Early Church members were able to continue until the very end. The Lord has given this stream of the Word to our church. Let us pray.
Prayer
The reason I organized all the messages in the end is because God is the Word and walking with the Word is walking with God, and answers will follow the stream of this Word, and that’s why I said earlier to establish or choose your church. Otherwise, people will just go on YouTube and listen to messages that they like, that make themselves stronger, but have nothing to do with the direction of the church. The characteristic of such people is that they don’t know why they’re failing, so I hope you will know this and be able to relay it well to new believers as well as those wandering in the field.
On Sunday, we have Baptism and the week after that will be Thanksgiving. I gave the questionnaire to the English-Speaking remnants because this must be relayed well, and they are the future church officers. If we have time, we’ll confirm it; otherwise we’ll baptize them, so I’m just telling them to play the role of the church officer now. If you guys are 20 years old, as soon as you graduate college, people go on missions trips and even die for that, but you guys are way over 20.
Let us pray together for this communion and baptism to be the one where the death and resurrection of Christ are proclaimed.
Tomorrow there is no youth evangelism school; there’s only the children’s evangelism school at 1pm and from 1:30-2:30pm, there is the baptism question and answer session, and then there is the young adult evangelism school and the business message. If you’re confident in your business, don’t come, I’m sure you are all confident in your business. If there are people who think they can run their business without God’s grace, do not come. Only the people who say, “I must follow the stream of God’s Word regardless of my business,” such people should come, God has placed the stream of the Word in to our church and you’re living regardless of that? Then you are outside of this stream. I’m not telling you to come outside of this, but I’m saying, receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. “
I explain in such detail but people still don’t understand, “Why is the pastor saying such weird things today?” May you receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Elder Choi is a witness of this because he’s always attended without fail. I think he has received much grace. It’s not about doing business, but healing business. I was holding onto the wrong meaning of the word, “Business,” but hold onto the word, “Business,” as God intended. If you don’t know this, your children will remain ignorant, so all of that will take place tomorrow; let us pray also for the Sunday message.”
Let us pray for the Remnant Conference of America, from Nov. 21-23, please register for that quickly. The deadline is coming up. It’s important to receive the direction of the Word of God and to go in that direction, so let’s pray for the messenger. There’s also the LA Youth Retreat on Dec. 27-29, and that will be in-person. There are three praise teams, and one will be from our church and we will lead praise for one day. I hope that through this year, the praise teams will be properly set. There are many different roles that must be played underneath; I pray this will be properly set this year because praise is a very important part of the retreat, and so I hope you will pray for the remnants to be able to remain within the work and the grace of God He has prepared before we go into the next year. Let us pray for RCA and the Youth Retreat.
I think it will be important for the praise team to lead the praise between the Friday Healing Evangelism School and the Friday Night worship. Even if the praise band goes longer, I will shorten the message so we will end at the same time. Even though we may be very lacking, I hope this will be a good beginning for this year. I hope you guys will also raise up the future generations who can take on these different roles; we need this stage every week for them to arise.
If we start praise at 7:30pm, we can end at 8pm and I’ll give the message for 20 minutes, so no matter how it takes place, I would like it where this year, the remnant praise team rises up. We can put the violin in there, too, so that all instruments give glory to God. Anyone who can play an instrument can participate as well, so I’d like it if you bring many remnants on Friday nights and receive grace that way. Let us pray for the praise team as well as the missions fields.
Just as reference, a church in New Jersey purchased a church with $750,000, and you can barely buy a house in LA with that. That’s how big of a difference there is. We could buy a church like that right now, we could buy three churches like that right now, immediately. We can just do it and pay back the loan in a few years. That is why the way God works upon the businesses in LA is different. That is why the way God works in each region is different, but God will only work if your thoughts are aligned with that. If you think the same way as New Jersey, that’s not aligned. If you talk to the people of New Jersey and you’re similar, then something is wrong.
As we pray for Temple Construction, I hope you will ray holding onto the rightful ness of the covenant, and if it’s not fulfilled for you, the it’s for your children because the covenant is absolutely fulfilled, so may you go into the important answer of the covenant.
Pastor Park Sung Su bought an American church this week and it’s similar to True Love Church, it’s a Lutheran church, and I’m sure it’s quite cheap over there. But either way, God works appropriately to each region, and we’re set to save the LA regions, o God will work appropriate to that, and God is already preparing that, but our faith must be aligned. Let us enjoy that blessing.
Let us sing one praise, benediction, have our church prayers and personal prayers, then go home.
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 all the heads of the people of God who desire to worship and testify of Christ, whether they’re in the church or in their homes, wherever they are, be upon all the businesses and schools and whatever the remnants and people of all nations are doing, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.