The Gospel of Greatest Value that Saves the World (Isaiah 62:6-12)
We will share the grace of God today with the words from Isaiah 62. In the content of Isaiah 62, the Israelites will be taken captive to Babylon and then they will return. They will be taken captives to Babylon as a result of losing hold of God’s covenant and mission. You can see that reality well in Isaiah 6. They were in a state where even if God revealed His Word to them, they could not hear. If the people who have been called as the salt and light of the world lose hold of this mission, they will be cast aside.
In the last part of Isaiah 6, it says, “Though only a tenth remains, again it will be laid waste,” meaning they will also be taken captive as well; however, among those, the “holy seed” or the remnant will remain. It is talking about Jesus Christ. This means, in the Old Testament, that no matter what, Jesus Christ is bound to come to earth. Regardless of what happens on earth, the covenant God gave of Gen. 3, the Holy seed, will come.
Jesus Christ doesn’t appear from out of nowhere; He comes through His forefathers. Then it means Jesus Christ will come to earth through the people who hold to the covenant. Then for the people who hold to the covenant of Christ, even though they’re taken captive to Babylon, God uses those people to restore the Israelites and begin His work.
Even though they will face difficulties, God says, “I will be with you,” meaning God will not desert those who hold to the covenant. In Isaiah 40, it says God’s Word is eternal, so whoever holds onto God’s Word, God will hold onto them and God will guide them forever. After Isaiah 43, it talks about God’s promise to the Israelites that God will bring the Israelites back after 70 years. God began to do all this through those who held to the covenant as they were captives in Babylon.
In other words, there is no hope for us unless it is the gospel of Gen. 3:15, and this gospel, this mission was entrusted to the Israelites. If God had entrusted this gospel to any other nation, they would have the responsibility, but God gave it to the Israelites. God made them a nation of priests, and God made it so that anyone who held onto this covenant in Babylon had success.
Your diligence cannot fight against Satan and your success cannot match against Satan. Even if you succeed, you will crumble. No matter how well you try to think, that will be destroyed by the devil. That’s why I have no hope, that’s why God gave you the covenant because it will only work if you hold to the covenant of Christ. That is the only way I can escape from the authority of curses, Satan, and hell. If I do not hold onto the covenant of Christ, the curses flowing down my family line will continue to the next generation.
People do not do drugs because they’re happy by themselves. When people go around to gamble, it’s not because they’re already overflowing with joy. We do those things because God has given us the gospel, but we don’t know how incredibly big the value of the gospel is. The gospel is the unique thing, but they don’t know the value of the gospel.
If God has given us the thing of greatest value, but we don’t know the value, we’re bound to hold onto things of no value. Then God’s method of allowing you to realize the value is to put you into suffering. Because you have to realize that whatever you’re holding onto is worthless in order for God to give you what is of true value, so God will take it away. Because people think, “I don’t need the gospel, I only need money,” God takes their money away. When God takes our money away, it’s because God wants us to know what the truly valuable thing is, it’s not for any other reason. We rely on money but now I have no money, so I suffer and things are beyond my control, so I turn to God and restore the covenant.
Some people say, “All I need is my physical health,” but God takes their health away, God is actually giving us an opportunity to know what true blessings are. Only once we go to Babylon will we restore how valuable the gospel God had originally given to us was. He wouldn’t have to do that if we just realized the value of the gospel in our everyday lives, but God didn’t have to do that; that’s God’s method.
Sometimes God will even use the children we love, because only then will our only hope be broken down and we have no hope but to hold to the gospel. Imagine all the different methods and efforts parents put into raising their children, but the value of the gospel has not gone into them, then God has no choice but to use or mess with the future generation. God will bother the future generations so we realize the value of the gospel.
What happens if we continuously don’t realize? Suffering gets worse, until when? Until we completely give up to the point where we hold onto the greatest thing. That was the goal with which God dragged the Israelites to Babylon. There will be many things that happen in our lives. The normal walk of faith is that Christ is our everything and we’re completely satisfied with only Christ. It’s normal in our walk of faith if we’re able to maintain our faith with only worship and God’s Word. However, if you look down on any of these things or think there is something of greater importance, the gospel hasn’t gone into you yet. Then, God has to drag you to Babylon to allow you to realize the greatest value of this gospel.
Some people are afraid of being taken to Babylon. They’re afraid of losing everything they’ve lived for and built up. No reason to be afraid of that; let go of it, you need to only hold to the covenant of God. For people who held onto only God’s covenant, like Daniel and his three friends, they were taken captives but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter for people like Esther, but for those who didn’t hold to the covenant and they held to something else in Babylon, they were afraid.
We were sent here by God to the superpower nation of America. If you don’t know this, God will continuously do this until you realize. The gospel of the cross is the greatest blessing. Until we realize that. If you realize that, then it doesn’t matter what happens.
When they realized, God told them in Isaiah 60 to shine the light. Now that the light has been restored upon you, take hold of the mission of the gospel. Some say “It’s hard to hold onto the mission, though.” What do you think will happen naturally for those people? They will naturally go and look for having fun and playing. They never say things like that is hard, but if they’re told to take hold of God’s mission, they think it’s so hard and they’re oppressed. It’s because the gospel hasn’t been restored yet, then what do they have to do? They have to go to Babylon. What happens if they still don’t realize in Babylon? That person doesn’t return to Israel; they have to go back.
A minority returned to Israel because now the Israelites assimilated in Babylon and said, “I would rather stay here than to go back to the Temple.” America is the greatest place to realize the gospel; everything is already prepared, but if this one thing doesn’t take place, you will always suffer until you realize. That’s why we shine the light. Shining the light should be the easiest thing. Studying is hard but shining the light is not hard because God will make everything happen such that this takes place. If we have to make something happen, it’s really hard, but God will do everything, so arise and shine this light.
If people think missions and evangelism are hard, what’s easy for them? That person will suffer. Missions and evangelism should be the easiest thing because God is doing it. Running our business is hard, but missions and evangelism are the easiest thing because God already made everything; He just tells us to shine the light and give the answer. Studying is something I have to do; our business is something we have to do with our brain. But if somebody knows of the missions and evangelism, their business and studies naturally take place.
What is the standard for things to naturally take place? It means God will give you enough strength to fulfill God’s mission naturally. That’s why our walk of faith should naturally take place. But if you lose hold of that one thing, everything will be hard. Arise and shine the light, that should be the easiest thing but we say it’s the hardest. Just believe, all you have to do is believe. Believing isn’t work you do; believe in the covenant.
That’s why it says in Isaiah 62 to stand watch as the Watchman. “I have posted Watchmen on your walls because the Israelites must return to Jerusalem.” They will be centered on the first people to return to Jerusalem, like the prophets. In terms of the New Testament, these are the disciples and church officers. Because the platform of the Jerusalem Temple has been completely destroyed, first raise the platform and watchtower where people can come to worship and come to life.
The church must be the platform where people can come and come to life. Your schools and your businesses must be the platforms that save people. That’s how God will send people to you. Everybody else in your life is useless. When God sends the people He has prepared to you, God will bring everybody else, and so if God brings everybody to your life, it means there are people whom God has prepared hidden among them. Through those people, create the platform in your field.
It means, determine the platform with a time and location. If the platform is not set up, people cannot go. Do you think God would attach people and send them to you? When would He send them? If you have not set that platform of the time and location, then when would God send them and where? That is why the church officers and remnants, make the platform in your field, a platform where people can come.
You need to make it so that everybody knows. On this day of the week, at this time and location, there’s a platform. Even if people don’t know about it, prepare it. If your employees are busy, it should be at lunchtime because during that lunchtime, what do you do? You raise the platform of prayer. Why pray? It says to give the LORD no rest. Because God answers us 24 hours a day, raise up the bartizan of prayer.
What is the content of that prayer? You must pray for the people who are trapped in darkness in your region so that they can correctly come. That’s why we pray. You must become the watchmen. In order to be the watchmen, you must be spiritually vigilant. You are remnants doing your studies and business while being spiritually awake and alert. If you’re spiritually dead, God would send people to you but you would kill them. Think about it, if there’s no church, where would God send them to? That platform must be there. When you raise up your family as a mission home platform, God will send people. But if it’s not a platform and it’s just a location I need, there’s no need for God to send people.
This platform in my field is the regional church. Set a time and location to save people and you pray there. What do you pray? You are enjoying that the Triune God is with me. Going into Harvard is hard, but this is easy. If you have the money, it’s easy to spend it. It’s only hard to enjoy if the Triune God is not with you, but the reason you think the Triune God is not with you is because you think He is.
Ifsomebody doesn’t believe the Triune God is with them, then the hardest thing to do is to enjoy God being with them. That person only looks at the physical things without seeing the spiritual things. Then that person’s spirit dies and Satan takes hold of them in the same way he holds the field and their family line. That’s why the same things happen in your field because these things happen according to the person’s spiritual state.
That is why we make an ark for ourselves. Did Noah just keep his mouth shut and build the ark himself? It says in the Bible that Noah proclaimed the gospel of the Ark to the people. The fact that nobody else joined in the Ark is in God’s hands, but Noah kept explaining the disaster would come. If your job or studies take higher priority than saving people, then it’s not aligned with the Holy Spirit. Then that person will fall into one of three categories: Pharisees, unbelievers, or the crowd. But ultimately it means the value of the gospel means nothing to them, that’s why they hold onto something else as more valuable.
The gospel God has given to you today is something humans cannot do. It doesn’t matter what you do; you can’t change it. Without Christ, you can never save the spiritual things, you cannot overcome the work of Satan. That is why everything must come from the rock of Christ.
Today it says here, “Raise up the watchmen and pray without resting.” Continuously pray for the power of God to work upon me and my fields. When you pray, you need to receive so much strength, and that strength must continuously flow out of my life. When you ask, “Give me this, give me that,” that doesn’t strengthen you. Physical things cannot save you. When you pray, you should come to life and you pray to save other people as well. But even as you pray, instead of praying to save, you pray to kill. The spirit saves; the flesh counts for nothing, so what must you pray for first?
You must save yourself. You must save yourself by the filling and being seized completely by the power of the Throne of Heaven. The power that saves the field completely covered in darkness, how can we save them? We save them with the prayer transcending time and space. Then, you need to clear the path and raise the banner so people can come. If you hold onto your pride, people will not come, so quickly lay that down. If you have your scars, you will keep stabbing other people so they cannot come to the gospel, so quickly clear those stones. If your arrogance rises up, that blocks people from coming to the gospel; quickly let that go. Be in a humble state to the point where anyone can come and it will be okay.
Someone who holds onto only the gospel will have no other condition. It doesn’t matter who it is; the only condition is the gospel. If you prepare this platform in your field, God will send people to you. Not everyone will receive salvation. The people who will receive salvation are hidden among the crowd. All the many people whom God sends to your life are there so you physically maintain your business, but some will receive salvation through that. God has to send them into your life, but if you’re trying to pull people to you, how hard is that? If you’re simply shining the light and praying, holding onto your mission, God brings people to you, but life is hard as you hold to something else.
It says to raise the banner for all nations. In the past, they would raise up a banner so you would know what kind of people live there, but it means to raise the banner of the gospel. If you go to the fortune teller’s house, they have a banner so you know who lives there. There’s a symbol for hospitals as well so you know it’s a hospital. Even schools have a certain flag, for California, there’s a bear, so raise up that banner. No matter what, raise up the banner that this is the place that saves people. You don’t need to make such a fuss about it, but make sure people know, when you go there, people can receive counseling and healing. That’s what we must do.
Remnants, have this prepared before you go into the field. You didn’t learn this, you only learned you have to study and get a job, that’s why you suffer like a dog. Because you go out without knowing God’s mission and path, you suffer so much as the Bible are not aligned with your life; the words of Daniel are not aligned with your life. All of us have known about Daniel and Esther, but they don’t fit with my life. I think there are so many people named Esther. I think there are thousands of people named Paul because everyone loves Paul, but you must be aligned with Paul, that means the Word of God and my life must be aligned. Being aligned doesn’t mean you obey all the actions realistically, but go into the faith of the important covenant and God does that work.
There are a lot of Daniels, too. They named their children Daniel in hopes their children will be scholarly like Daniel. But you can’t compete with people who graduated from Harvard. Naming children this way will only get through to stupid people, not smart people. Why use some kind of extra method like that? There are some people who go into top universities with their efforts, not such strategies. If you want things to take place rightfully, you need to hold to the covenant and save.
There’s a strategy for how to study and it’s very popular. They also have Daniel prayer meetings, “If I pray for Daniel, my kids will be smart like him,” but if the covenant goes there, then it’s a good prayer meeting. Some people try to use Daniel in a religious way for their own motives. If you want to hold onto Daniel, you have to hold to the covenant and you will naturally be like Daniel. But because people lose hold of the covenant and only hold onto the outer shell, people lose hold of this and take only the physical things.
God has given you such an important thing that people of the world cannot know. So if something is important, you must receive it as important and of the greatest value. You must pray the prayer that saves. Everything else will come even if you don’t pray for it. Not that you don’t pray for it, but there’s no need to, because everything follows in the direction of evangelism; no need to seek anything else. Your children are involved in that. If you’re not holding onto evangelism of Jesus Christ, you’re holding onto something else, so God will strike your children. Hold to the important things.
Prayer
May you restore this kind of blessing. Let us hold to the word God has given us and pray the prayer of the Triune God being with us, the prayer of establishing His power in us, that prayer that establishes the work of the Triune God in our fields, so we receive the answer where our past, present, and future are revived. Let us pray together.
Our second prayer topic, Chris and Carlos came to church today. They wouldn’t do that just because we told them to. They’re here because they have to do 15 hours of community service for school, so I told them to come to worship. It’s okay, it’s good to experience things like that, because later on, you won’t do things like this. It’s better to learn this now than later. Even though I’m sure it’s hard for them to understand all the words, it’s great that they’re here. Our lovely Chris and Carlos, and my daughter is also here. The remnants at our church, let us pray for them. Let us pray for God to establish God’s correct covenant in their hearts, and allow them to know the mission for why they’re in America. May everything they are experiencing be part of knowing and testifying of this gospel.
On Saturday, we have our evangelism schools. What must we plant in the evangelism school? Everything else is useless if you plant it. It might be good for me, but it doesn’t align with God. It must be Christ so they can pray with Christ. You need to deliver the mission for why they’re living here through the Word of God in order for them to hear that and be saved. You shouldn’t do it according to your level; od you think the kids will understand? It’s through the Holy Spirit they understand it.
They won’t understand with your knowledge; you shouldn’t do things according to your level. You must relay God’s correct word, so let us pray for tomorrow’s children, youth, and young adult evangelism schools and the business and industry message.
Let us pray together for the Sunday message. God is the Lord of our church and there is a message He desires, and you also must come to church to receive the message God desires. If you receive the message you determined, then you are God. If you want this kind of message, you’re being your own god. We don’t even know ourselves and we don’t know the message we need, may the Word God desires be relayed. May the Word be the Word that fulfills God’s plan and will for this region. It is not about what gives me grace but what God desires. Even our grace is according to our hearts. We think we receive grace if it makes us feel good, but whatever God desires is true grace. Let us pray for the Sunday message.
Finally let us pray for our missions. God has opened a lot of doors in a very wide territory this year, and yes, it’s important for those doors of evangelism to open, but it’s more important for us to digest and maintain the evangelism doors. After the Thursday Young Adult Regional Church, we had a meeting for the mission home for the first time. Communication was being blocked, and it would be better for me to guide them, but God gave me the heart to communicate with the Young Adults and their missions in the field.
When I was listening to them, I realized they were continuing to do areas I didn’t even think of. Because these young adults have to give the message, I gave them guidelines. If God has opened these doors, we must digest that. There must be the workers in the church to handle all those whom God sends to our church. God would not open the doors if there is nobody prepared to manage or handle those people. Especially for multiethnic people, we must have English people arise. Isn’t that God’s will? If anything, just for interpretation, these fields must arise. Especially in Kenya, Missionary Kim has a building where he is doing his ministry, but it’s being sold, that’s where he does all his ministry and classes, so we pray for guidance.
In Tanzania, they have an RTS and they do two weeks every semester where they have concentration 12 hours per day. This is the second semester of the year, and they have two weeks where they concentrate for 12 hours every day, and that’s their classes for the semester. They have this kind of concentration because all the people who go to RTS have their churches and ministries and cannot go every day. Charles sent me a picture of him listening to those messages as well. I asked Missionary Kim to have this ministry with Charles. I told Missionary Kim, “Keep doing ministry with Charles after he returns to Nigeria.”
We’re doing Spanish interpretation for El Salvador right now. I think after a few weeks, it’s going to be properly set. We didn’t have any special setup or location, but in the area back there, Chris Jung set that up and he might also be able to do something for Mongolian interpretation as well. I think this is the first for our church. Even if we have wanted to do it before, we needed interpreters, skills to broadcast, and those who will receive it. Why am I explaining things in such detail? I’m doing this so you know what God is doing in our church so you know where you must be interested and fix your eyes. I’m telling you so that you continue to pray, knowing that such answers will continue in the future.
This is not something we do well or not, but it is God answering the time schedule of this church. Let us pray for the missions field, the remnants in our church, and the interpretation and missions.
I’ll give you one more prayer topic. We’re doing the evangelism camp at the law school and there is one female Chinese student who continues with us. She was going to come to church on Sunday but there was an emergency. She is so smart but her English is difficult. “You can help her study the law in English.” She wants to become an immigration law lawyer. She’s from Shanghai. I hope you will pray for her and be good to her when she comes, and even before that, we have to set up the online Upper Room meeting.
Twice a month, the remnants go to evangelism camp at USC on Saturday, and I think it would be good to do evangelism camp with the law school nearby there because you don’t know where to go. You can go towards the law. If that female student from Southwestern comes in and is raised up here, we want to stop that evangelism camp, and after we see this female student matured, we’ll go to the law school evangelism camp at USC. I’m telling this to the remnants who are going there so they can be in prayer and not just imitate that.
If we didn’t go to the evangelism camp, we wouldn’t have met the female student. Isn’t it fascinating? You can’t meet people while standing by, thinking of the gospel, but we go out and meet them, that’s called the field. If the field is dead, everything is dead. Let’s pray for the evangelism camp. The law school camp, the USC camp, and the regional camps.
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, the multiethnic remnants, to raise the watchtower and be in 24 hour prayer in the fields, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.