Solution of the Fundamental Problem, Jesus Christ (Mt. 9:1-8)
Let us bless one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” I hope that this will be the greatest blessing of your whole life. There is no person who doesn’t have problems. It is possible that all of the efforts and direction of their life is towards solving their problem, but the Lord wants to tell us what the real problem is.
1. Own town
1) Capernaum (Mk. 2:1)
In today’s scripture, in the land of Capernaum, Jesus Christ heals a man who is paralyzed, and through Jesus’ ministry, I hope that God’s interest and your interest will become aligned. Jesus Christ crossed back over the lake, went back to the land of Capernaum, and in this situation, He was preaching the Word to a house full of people.
(1) Jesus preached the word (Mk. 2:2)
(2) Gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door (Mk. 2:2)
(3) Four men brought a paralyzed man (Mk. 2:3)
In Mark 2, it talks about the same situation, and there are four people who are trying to bring a paralyzed man to Jesus, but they are not able to, because the house is so full. Even nowadays, if people are paralyzed, they have a very difficult life, but back then, there was absolutely no solution for them.
2) A desperate situation
(1) Made an opening in the roof above by digging through it (Mk. 2:4)
So, imagine how desperate these individuals were. Because they didn’t have room enough to go into the house, they cut a hole in the roof and lowered the paralyzed man on a mat to meet Jesus. We don’t know if these four individuals were the paralyzed man’s family or friends, and I think it might be their family. In the world, there is no other solution for this paralyzed man, he is backed into a corner. When God calls us, He calls us in a situation where we have nowhere else to go, and we are backed into a corner. Before that point, we use our own methods and try whatever we can in our ability, and when we have no other option, that is the point to which God takes us.
(2) Lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on (Mk. 2:4)
(3) Their faith (Mt. 9:2, Mk. 2:5)
The faith of these men who lowered the paralyzed man through the roof was very sincere. They approach Jesus Christ, believing there is no other option for them. Among all of you who are listening to today’s sermon, if any of you believe that we have no hope other than Jesus Christ, you are truly blessed. Being able to know that is God’s grace. If you still think there is some other way, you have seen incorrectly.
3) Ministry of Jesus Christ
(1) Saw their faith (Mt. 9:2)
Jesus’ saw these individuals’ faith. He calls them, “My son.” “My son” means His child; as Jesus heals the paralyzed man, He calls him, “My son.”
(2) Take heart (Mt. 9:2)
And He says, “Take heart,” this son comes to Jesus with a problem of being paralyzed, but the first thing the Lord does is to change this man into a child of God.
(3) Your sins are forgiven (Mt. 9:2)
Then He says, “For your sins are forgiven.” In our life, we face many different problems, and some people might want to solve that problem of paralysis quickly; we want to quickly heal our personal problems. Some people are addicted to alcohol, drugs, or gaming, and some people are addicted to working, but they don’t want to fix that problem because they think it’s a good thing, but every person has their personal problems they have in their family that they cannot speak of, out loud, and people want that problem to be fixed, but God is not interested in that problem. God is interested in another problem than that.
First, we must become His child. Once you become a child of God, He will take full responsibility. When unbelievers are backed into a corner and approach you, the first thing you must help them do is to become a child of God. If somebody is not a child of God, but instead, they are a child of the devil, no matter how well or not well they do, they are outside of God, that is why they must receive forgiveness of their sins.
The sin we’re talking about right now is the Original Sin. It is talking about the sin that I didn’t even commit. It’s talking about the sin where, as soon as we were born, we were in a state where we did not know God. Because of the state of that sin, the sins of the parents go down into their children. Then, there’s the actions of sin that we do commit. We want to solve our problems first, but God wants to solve the sin first. In other words, He wants to solve the fundamental source of all problems first.
Whether you want to work well or study well, no matter what you want to do, you must first have the fundamental things solidly, and for that person, it doesn’t matter what they do, they already know. Our interest and Jesus’ interest are different. Jesus wants us to solve the invisible, fundamental problem first. Sin means that we are trapped under the authority of sin.
1 John 5:19 says we are children of God but the whole world is trapped under the authority of the evil one. In the Bible, when Cain killed his brother Abel, the Bible says he belonged to the evil one. Sin means that we are in a state where we are trapped under the authority of Satan and sin, and we are pulled in the direction of curses and disasters. As a result of sin, there’s death, we are in a state of spiritual death. That is the thing God wants to solve first.
But instead of solving the spiritual things, we keep solving the visible, physical things, and we will always have repetitive problems. Let’s say you’re living in an apartment complex, and you find a cockroach; killing that one cockroach doesn’t solve the problem, and it doesn’t matter how much I clean my apartment unit, they will come again from the next-door unit. If you want to get rid of the fundamental problem, you need to eradicate cockroaches from the whole building, but what the churches are thinking is, “This paralytic man might receive prayer from a church, and he might get better.” But not only Christians heal, there are also shamans and sorcerers who heal, and there are religious leaders who heal, so healing the disease is not the issue here; we can heal diseases with the power of demons as well. It is possible that we are only interested in solving the problem at hand, quickly, but the Lord desires to solve the fundamental problem. When you have surgery on cancer, you need to take out the root of the cancer; you cannot just take out what is visible. That is why Jesus Christ says, fundamentally, you are forgiven of your sins. This means that we have been changed into children of God.
(4) Word has been finished (Jn. 19:30)
These are the words in John 19:30 where Jesus says, “Everything is finished.” What is finished? The most fundamental problem of every human being, Satan, sin, and hell, are finished. Then what is the problem I face right now? It is in the Lord’s hands and there is a plan of the Lord, and you must receive the answer from the Lord. Sometimes God may allow the problem to remain for the rest of your life, and for other people, their problem disappears as soon as they believe in Jesus, but that is all up to God. Everything changes based on God’s plan.
There may be people around you who say, “As soon as I believed in Jesus Christ, my problem was healed,” however, if that person is not interested in anything but their disease, they are not a proper believer. They should realize, “Through this disease, I got to know the Christ.” It is possible that your disease will be healed through prayer; then, what are you going to do next? If you don’t have that faith, then another problem will repeat. The faith must be within you. God desires to solve the most fundamental problem of our disbelief through faith.
2. Reaction of people and Jesus Christ
1) Teachers of the law and crowd
The second point is that, through Jesus’ ministry, there are the reactions of people, and among them, there were teachers of the law, these were the ones who recorded the Bible. These people are interested in the words Jesus was preaching.
(1) Thought it was blasphemy (Mt. 9:2)
When Jesus Christ says that this man’s sins are forgiven, they think Jesus Christ is a blasphemer. These are doctors of the scripture.
(2) Who can forgive sins but God alone (Mk. 2:7)
The teachers of the law know that the scripture says, “There is no person who can forgive sins, only God has that authority. Then, how dare this Man say that He forgives sins?” Those words are correct; they’re speaking from the basis of the Bible, but that was the state of the Jewish people, they knew the Bible so well, and they heard the sermons ever since they were young, and they had faith for multiple generations. They knew the Bible very well but they didn’t know who Jesus Christ is.
(3) Don’t know true meaning of original sin and law
The son of man who was standing in front of them was the reason the entire Bible was recorded, but the teachers of the law did not know that. The entire Bible is written to tell us about Jesus Christ, but they don’t know that this Jesus Christ is the solution to all of life’s problems. They don’t know that this Jesus Christ is the Master of their lives. They are going through Bible studies and sermons, where they have no reached the conclusion that Jesus Christ is Who they must live their whole life for, but these individuals think they know Jesus and God well. So, if I talk about Jesus, they say, “Why do you say the same thing again and again. There are so many things to talk about; why do you only talk about Jesus?” It’s possible that the churches are filled with people who are like the teachers of the law.
(4) Praised God (Mt. 9:8)
The Father God gave all authority to Jesus Christ and He says, “Anyone who has seen Jesus has seen the Father God,” and there is no way for us to know God unless it is through Jesus Christ. The conclusion is Jesus Christ. If the goal of our lives is not to testify of Jesus Christ, then you do not know the Bible. Jesus Christ must be revealed to glorify God, but it is possible that we have believers who are like the teachers of the law.
So the Jewish people and these teachers of the law, though they held onto the Bible, were in a state where they had no choice but to fall. The rest of the crowd, I don’t know if they knew the Bible as well, but they saw the works of Jesus and they were in awe. The fact that they were in awe did not mean they were afraid of Jesus, but that they respected Jesus. It is possible that a parent might be like a friend to their child, however, if the child does not feel the authority and obey the parent’s words, then that’s not right. If we have no respect for God’s Word, that is not the Truth or knowledge. If you think the words of God are similar to the words of people, then you do not know God. We are standing before the Word of God in respect. This is not some kind of lecture you hear in college. This is not something you hear from a great lecturer. These words of God are the words that give and take away life. We give glory to the God who has given this authority to Jesus.
The teachers of the law looked at Jesus Christ and said He was a blasphemer, but there were other people who gave glory to God because they saw. These are two reactions of people who saw the same situation. When you see somebody, there are those who only see what others are lacking, and you might see that they are seeing things accurately. So, all the words they say are negative. “That person cannot do this, this is their problem or their lacking.” Those words may be correct, but that person does not believe in God. They don’t see the work God is doing through the other individual, that is a person you call “legalistic.” That person thinks they are correct, and they think they are right, but they are trapped within their own frame.
As you look at the church, you see what it’s lacking, right? We cannot be perfect. You can see what your family is lacking as well, right? But if you don’t see the work God has done through them, then you’re not glorifying God; you are dropping God’s glory. The person who is able to see the work of God is the one who is blessed. You cannot do that by studying well in school. God does not give the eyes to see to just anybody; they must receive God’s grace. Then God will continuously pour His blessings upon that person. God has no choice but to continue working on them because they are in the same line of God’s work, but we are so trapped in saying the correct words that we push God aside.
We put ourselves in the seat of God and make our own judgments, but we don’t know that that, in fact, is sin. The devil continues to follow these people around and work through them. But there are these other people who see the same Word and the same situation, and they turn it into a blessing and they give glory to God. As you have lived the year 2022, there were people who gave glory to God for all the work He has done, but there were other people who only thought about the things they were lacking, and they repented of their sins, and they might have the Word of God, but they don’t know God. That is the lifestyle of an unbeliever elitist, and that is someone who pushes God to the side.
God made us flawed and lacking on purpose. But if you keep on trying to make yourself perfect and not acknowledge your lackings, that is disregarding God. If you live your walk of faith like that, you may think that you’re correct, but things will not work out. You are a child of God and all problems are finished. Whose child am I? If you’re a child of God, everything is finished, then God takes responsibility. The only problem is that we don’t believe this.
2) Jesus Christ
(1) Knew the thoughts of the teacher’s of the law (Mt. 9:4)
The teachers of the law did not say out loud that Jesus Christ is being a blasphemer because Jesus was making all these works take place, but Jesus still knew their thoughts and heart.
(2) Why do you entertain evil thoughts? (Mt. 9:4)
These teachers of the law might look very nice and polite on the outside because they’re so used to keeping all of the law, but Jesus says their thoughts are evil. “Evil” simply means being outside of God’s Word. From the perspective of people, this might be someone who gives a lot of donations to charity, they know a lot about the world and the Bible, and they might be very successful in the world, however, they are on the side of evil.
In Psalm 1, who is the blessed one? The one who is on the side of God’s Word. Who is the evil one? The one who is on the opposite side of the Word. God has no interest in whether you are conservative or liberal. God has no interest in whether you were born in LA or New York. God has no interest in whether you’re a communist or for democracy. We might be interested in that, but God is interested in whether your sins are forgiven or not.
God is only interested in whether you are on the side of God, or if you are not on the side of God’s Word, which is the side of evil. If someone is on the side of evil, then they will always receive evil answers. But if someone is on the side of God’s Word, then the fruits of God’s Word will continuously follow them.
(3) Sins forgiven/Get up and walk (Mt. 9:5)
Then Jesus Christ explains to them, “Which is easier to say? ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Get up and walk’?” Don’t you think it’s more easy or good to say, “Your sins are forgiven”? Why do you think Jesus did this kind of work for the paralyzed man?
3) Son of Man – Jesus Christ
(1) Know authority to forgive sins (Mt. 9:6)
In Mt. 9:6, it says Jesus did this work because He wants you to know that the son of man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. Before this point, Jesus Christ wasn’t saying these words; He was simply healing a disease, and starting from Matthew 9, Jesus Christ is revealing full-force that He is the King of the kingdom of heaven with authority. The first person to find Him is the paralyzed man, and He heals him both spiritually and physically.
There are some people who believe in Jesus Christ, but their disease is not healed, that belongs to God. “God has the power to make me better, but why has He not?” There is a plan why God is not making it go away. Without a doubt, God has a plan for salvation for the members of your family and the people around you. God is allowing your problem to remain to follow His plan for salvation.
(2) Word – Ministry (Mt. 9:6, Heb. 4:12)
(3) Get up, take your mat and go home (Mt. 9:6)
After Jesus Christ heals the fundamental spiritual problem of sin for this paralyzed man and changes his identity into a child of God, He then gives His Word, “Take your mat and go home.” Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God is living and active, and it heals, even penetrating to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
3. Biblical healing
1) Fundamental healing
(1) Authority of sin, Satan, hell – Only Christ
At this time and location, when you’re hearing God’s Word, without you even realizing it, you are being healed. But I’m sure you’re interested in healing the problem in your life and in your family, but God desires to heal the fundamental problem that results in the other problems we see. Yes, God could take away your drug addiction immediately at once, but why does He let it stay? Because God is trying to heal the fundamental and invisible problem that leaves this person no choice but to do drugs. It’s the same thing for mental illnesses, “Why doesn’t my depression get healed quickly?” Because this person’s spiritual state has no choice but to fall into depression, and God desires to heal the spiritual state where the person has no choice but to be addicted to alcohol, and such people fail no matter what they try to do. God desires to heal the fundamental source of those problems.
This repetitive problem keeps going down the family line. Even though the parents never taught their kids this, their children have the same problem. No matter how much we decide not to live like our parents, we have no choice but to walk the same path. There are some people who think if they move to a different country, maybe the problem will go away, but it doesn’t matter. No matter what we try and struggle to do, it will not work.
(2) Word and background – Only Kingdom of God
The Lord is giving you His Word now. There was something inside of you that you received while you were in your mother’s womb, without you even knowing it. The state of the mother’s suffering gets relayed directly into their children. Just like if the mother does drugs, even if the kid themselves have never done drugs, that spiritual state is relayed directly to the children. So, even in the mother’s womb, the spiritual things are developing and have now matured to this point.
So now this child has grown up into an adult, but they don’t know why they face these problems because they actually started in the womb, and without me even realizing it, my life continues to flow in this direction, and that is what the Lord desires to heal, He desires to heal the fundamental problem. You are a child of God, once your identity is healed, then God heals you with His Word. There is something inside of you that you don’t know. Without you even realizing it, that is the reason your life is falling askew, that’s what we call destiny. My life keeps going, regardless of what I do. I don’t want to do this, but I keep getting sucked into this kind of environment with these kinds of people, so my life just ends up that way.
Today, when you’re listening to the Word, you may not feel this very well, but the Word of God is healing your spirit. Later on, the result you’ll have is that you’ll realize, “Oh, this is not a problem for me anymore,” because as you continue to receive God’s Word in worship like this, you’re receiving healing. There are many people like this in our church. I’ve never prayed for them by placing my hand on their head, they just stayed listening to God’s Word, and their disease was healed. As they continued to listen to God’s Word, the things inside of them were healed. I’m a witness of that, too, that’s why God raised me up as a witness. We would like the problem to be healed immediately, at once, but that’s just our thoughts. God wants to do it the right way.
(3) Spiritual strength – Only Holy Spirit
Do you know why there are so many shootings in America? We have a shooting every week and there are even more incidents that are taking place that are not publicized or broadcast. Even now, these things might happen in your job, in your school, or at your mall. That is why God gives you the grace to block those things. You can only heal somebody else if you know their state. If somebody is so filled with anger and wrath, they just want to kill everybody with a gun, but why do you think that anger is in them? The first trigger is their scar, “This person said this to me,” and one day, they just explode, and when they explode, they don’t do it alone, but it is the work of the devil, and later on, they regret it. There are other people who never recognize they did anything wrong, so they do it again. Even before the shooting happens, you need to know this, see them, and heal them.
Today, this year when I went to Washington DC to give the message at the retreat, I told them, “From my memory, the first mass shooting in America happened at Virginia Tech, and it was a Korean person, and he made a video before he did the mass shooting, and he was so full of anger and wrath, and he killed his professor first and then he went and found all the people who were bullying or fighting against him, and he killed them first. But he went to church. Why do you think that happened?”
If that person knew and received healing from the fundamental things, he would not have gone to that extent. Lenin, who was one of the figures of communism, was originally a Christian, so a lot of people who make evil in the world were Christian. It’s because the correct thing did not go into them, but this vague and incorrect thing went into them, and that’s the result of these works. The first president who made North Korea was from a Christian household, he was not an unbeliever. All of these were Christian households. But it’s because they understood in an ambiguous or vague way. There is no way to solve the invisible problems of Satan, sin, and hell that are controlling this person, other than Jesus Christ. That is the first spiritual identity you must change.
From that point on, they’re in God’s hands. Because they have become a person of the kingdom of God, God takes responsibility for them, and that’s why they receive God’s Word. One by one, we receive healing by God’s Word, and from that point on, you must receive spiritual strength from that. It’s impossible without the power of the throne of heaven that comes from God. Whether you’re creating music or no matter what you’re doing, if you don’t have spiritual strength, you are bound to rely on something else because it is impossible to go to the very highest maximum just with the strength of mankind. Without a doubt, all of those people received a different strength, they did that by receiving another spiritual strength, then later on they were all destroyed so pitifully. It’s impossible to accomplish that with the strength of a human.
(4) God’s time schedule and plan
When God created human beings, He originally designed us to live by the life and the power of God. Whether you’re studying or working, you need to do that with the strength of being with God. “If I work hard, I can do it,” that’s not what I’m talking about. If you don’t receive spiritual strength, then you will receive spiritual damage. There are forces of darkness in every region and they are attacking your business, your family, and you.
I take the college kids to shaman houses and fortune tellers, and the reason I take them there is to show them the spiritual facts. If somebody is spiritually weak, they cannot endure going to those fields. One time, I took someone from Canada and Korea and we went into those fields, and he was so spiritually oppressed, he had to leave. That fortune-teller is demon possessed and they are able to use the demon possession to tell the future and to heal diseases. But if you don’t know that spiritual fact, then you will be taken over by it.
If you’re able to understand these words right now, then your spiritual eyes will be opened, then do you think only fortune-tellers can call upon demons? If anybody prays in any name other than Jesus Christ, they are actually calling out demons. If there is some kind of religious organization in your region and they are continuously praying, then that is not going to bring about the works of God, it brings about the works of evil spirits. Underneath that spiritual influence, all the physical results will be revealed. It affects some people with powerlessness; for others, it affects them with diseases. For some people, it will be revealed by murders. We cannot educate this problem away; we’ve received a good education through America, there are some people who are too poor to come to America even though they want to receive an education here, but we’ve received that. If you’re not able to see the region where you live spiritually like this, then the problems will continue to affect your business and you won’t know why.
There is the church that gets rid of this darkness. The people who know this, their whole life in that region becomes a regional church. Everybody I’m sure wants their business to go well, however, in Matthew 12:29, it says you must first bind the strong man, so you’re doing your business so diligently, but something keeps attacking you, and you don’t know the reason why. That’s why you must shine the light upon your business, that is what you must do first.
You need to solve the fundamental problem first in order for the visible things to follow after. It’s the same thing for your family. Before you try to gather and talk things out, there is a darkness that is gathered in your region. Think about it the other way, this church continues to pray for this region, and the works of the Holy Spirit take place, and the other religious organizations are also praying, and there’s no work of the Holy Spirit unless it is through Jesus Christ’s name. Then what must work instead? It is the evil forces of darkness that work. That is what is going into your business, your children, your families, without you even seeing it. If people live their walk of faith for a long time without knowing the spiritual reality, they have so many problems but they don’t know why. That is why you and this church are so important because we are the only ones who can change the entire atmosphere of this region.
If you just know this fact, you can block disasters, you can block the shootings, because there is no other reason for those. It’s not because someone just wanted to shoot someone, and these kinds of issues will continue to happen in America. If the churches don’t know this, the problems will persist, that is why God gave us the mission to relay and testify the gospel.
2) Given to the church and me
(1) Gospel proclamation (Mk. 16:15)
The work that Jesus Christ did on this earth, He is now seated at the throne of heaven and has entrusted that work to us.
(2) Drive out demons, heal the sick (Mk. 16:17)
In Mk. 16:17, it says He has given us the authority to heal the sick and cast out demons. You are studying and working, and you need to do that in the direction of Jesus’ ministry. That is the way for you to receive the fundamental blessing. However, if you believe in Jesus Christ from the side of the teachers of the law, you are on the side of evil. Or, you might be part of the crowd where you’re still in awe of the works of Jesus Christ, but you’re not able to change the entire atmosphere of the region.
(3) Infinite power of the throne – Promise (Ac. 1:8)
God has entrusted this work to us, God has given us the mission to change the spiritual stream of the region. That is the reason why you work. Then you are not just a worker; you are actually working to change the spiritual flow or stream. You are not just studying, you are studying to change that spiritual stream. Then, God has no choice but to work upon you. That is the power and blessing that comes from the throne of heaven.
3) Business and academics
(1) Used to save people
(2) Temple – 237 nations, healing, summit
In order to do that, we need the church temple. Other religions build up these grand temples and buildings, and they are influencing the whole region spiritually. Even if you have a business, you have the location of your business, and when you study, there is the campus location and you have the buildings. We have the location of a building for worship, and that is God’s plan in order to save the region and the future generations; that is what God has prepared. I hope you will challenge towards that in faith.
(3) Faith – Challenge
If you’re poor, you must overcome that. You overcome that by faith because God fulfills His plan. God does the work. God pours out economic blessings upon those people. It’s not because of who you are as an individual, but in order for God to accomplish His project, He will work. So, we will conclude the Word.
Conclusion
1. Only Christ – Fundamental healing
There is no way to have fundamental healing without only Christ.
2. Only Kingdom of God – Visible healing
If only the Kingdom of God is not my background, then we cannot receive healing through God’s Word. We must entrust everything to that.
3. Only Holy Spirit – Witness of healing
When we face a problem, entrust it to that. If you stew and think over your problems, you will fall into the evil of your problems. “But God, work upon me with the power of the Holy Spirit, so I may be a witness of this healing.”
Message Prayer
May you be a witness of this blessing. Let us pray holding onto the Word God gave us. “God, I will hold onto this Word for the rest of this week and be with the Lord.”
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Prayer
God, we thank You. Thank You for opening up our spiritual eyes. We pray that You will help us heal the problem before all problems in Only Jesus Christ’s name and allow all of the other remaining problems remain in the blessings of God in God’s Kingdom.
Allow us to stand as witnesses of world evangelization by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we give this offering in faith, we pray that You will use it for world evangelization, for the temple construction, future generations, missions, and the church. We pray that You will work with the blessing of the economy of light upon the hands that have given this offering. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. God, we pray that You will bless these newcomers so they may have the fulfillment of the Word in their lives. We pray that You will give them the blessing of specialization, so whatever field they are working or studying in, they may bless and save people. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the unending love of our Father God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the future generations who desire to know, testify, and enjoy the fact that Jesus Christ has finished all problems on the cross, be from now until forevermore always, amen.