Jesus Christ, the Perfector of Love (Mt. 22:34-40)
Let us bless and greet one another, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. May today’s answer be unprecedented. Humans are created differently from animals. Animals have intelligence, and they can even use tools, but they are completely different from humans. Humans have two different lives. First, we have the physical life that is maintained if we eat food and keep breathing, and the Bible says the physical life is in the blood. The physical life is kept in the blood because the blood transports all the oxygen and nutrients.
We can only maintain our physical body if we keep on eating food and breathing. But it doesn’t matter how much I eat good food and breathe in good air, I might maintain my physical body, but there is another life that humans must maintain. It is the spiritual life that is connected with God. So, it doesn’t matter how many good things we have, if we are not spiritually connected with God, then we will spiritually die away.
Today in America, there are too many drugs. I went to Mexico, and they said there was this blue drug that makes people act like zombies, and it cost $100 million dollars, and there was a drug bust. The fact that this drug bust was being reported on the news means that the cartel and the police department were not able to come to an agreement; otherwise, the cartel would just make a deal to split the profits, and this would go under the table. But we only have the import of drugs if there are people here purchasing those drugs. In one drug bust, they found $100 million dollars worth of this drug, then imagine how many times that profit is made. This is the life we are living in, in America.
In other words, America is a place that is spiritually and mentally dying. Why is that? America is the place that has the most convenient scientific advancements in the world, and that’s why everybody wants to come to America, because relatively speaking, America is a place where you can get along physically well, but humans don’t have to only maintain their physical life, they have to also have their spiritual life. Humans are created with spirit, mind, and body, so if we don’t have strong spiritual strength, our mind will also disintegrate. It doesn’t matter how much money we make or how successful our children are, if our life is not spiritually filled with the life of God, then we have no choice but to be addicted, that is humans.
The reason why we are worshiping today is not so we can make more money or get better food, it is so that we can be spiritually filled with life. We must be fully charged with the spiritual life in order to live the physical life as well. In other words, you can live a life that is worth living and full of joy.
1. The Pharisees
In today’s Bible scripture, the Pharisees heard that the Sadducees tried to trick Jesus and were stumped, so the Pharisees again tried to trick Jesus with this question, but their perspective is from the law.
1) Background
(1) After being taken captive by Babylon
(2) Reason Israelites were captives – Fail in the Word
The reason they were so focused on the law was because, 70 years after being taken captive to Babylon, they were released, and after researching why Israel was doomed like that, it was because they failed in God’s Word.
(3) Research the Word – Create 613 sections of the law
So, these people would unravel these scrolls of Scripture and study the Bible. God gave us the law, and God made a relationship between us and Him through this law. How can we be so detailed with the Ten Commandments that we can keep them in our everyday life? So, these people created 613 additional laws. They created these 613 additional laws because there are 365 days in a year and 206 bones in our body, so they wanted the law to be like the skeletal structure of our life. So, they created these 613 sections, or additional laws, so they could keep the Word of God in a detailed way in their lives.
These people came to Jesus and asked, “What is the greatest of all of the laws?” There is the same content written in Luke 10:25; it says, “An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus, ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” So it’s slightly different, but the meaning is the same; they are asking these questions to try to trick Jesus. These are people who keep the Word of God and the law in such a detailed way in their lives, but the way that Jesus answered was not the way they expected Him to answer; Jesus replied, “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, your soul, and your mind.”
In other words, the people asking this question don’t love God. On the outside, their actions look like they are keeping the law, but they are centered on themselves. They use the law of God to teach other people, but it’s only to elevate their own wisdom. Throughout the entire Bible, the Lord is criticizing them, saying, “Why do you emphasize the Law, that you cannot even keep yourself?” Jesus said the second command is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Yes, I understand, loving my neighbor, but to love my neighbor as I love myself?” These people have nothing to say to that because they thought they were keeping the law of God, but Jesus’ response was something they didn’t expect at all.
2) Pharisees
(1) Meaning: Separated from others
You need to live your walk of faith correctly from the beginning. There are many people today who reject the spiritual world like the Sadducees. If you reject the spiritual world, then not only will you be powerless, but you will be attacked by evil forces without realizing why. On the other hand, the Pharisees acknowledged the Spirit, but the Pharisees were the ones who always emphasized that we need to keep the law of God with our actions, and even their name means that they are set apart.
(2) Acknowledge the resurrection, angels, spirit (Ac. 23:8)
Muslims, Buddhists, Catholics, and Christians all have some kind of religious scripture or text, and every religion says, “We need to live as it is written here,” and it’s easier for us to understand like that, but there is another goal with which God gave us the law.
(3) Don’t know the original sin of mankind
Rom. 7:13 says that the reason God gave us the law was to reveal our sin. If we have the law, then the crimes of our sins are revealed. If we have the traffic laws, then it shows when I break those laws. Then, who do those traffic laws exist for? It is for us. For example, if there were no green or red light signals, whoever is the strongest would go first. Or, the biggest cars or trucks would just go recklessly, and that’s what would happen if we didn’t have laws. Because we do have the traffic laws, even the smallest cars and the smallest people can drive safely and be protected. The reason why God gave us the law was ultimately for ourselves.
3) Jesus – Won the Sadducees (Mt. 22:34)
(1) Pharisees – Test Jesus (Mt. 22:35)
(2) Which is the greatest commandment in the Law? (Mt. 22:36)
(3) What must I do to inherit eternal life? (Lk. 10:25)
2. Jesus Christ
1) Response
(1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
(Mt. 22:37)
(2) First commandment (Mt. 22:38)
(3) Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt. 22:39)
What does it mean, that “This is for me”? You’re not able to live by the law, are you? That is, “For me.” You know that you cannot live according to God’s Word, right? But the Pharisees thought, “But I am living according to the law, I don’t have any sin.” Then when Jesus asked, “Fine, then do you love the LORD with all your heart, mind, and soul?” They have nothing else to say. “Do you love your neighbor as yourself?” They have nothing else to say to that. So the Pharisees are receiving the Word of God differently. As you live your walk of faith, you need to live it correctly. If you live your walk of faith correctly, it will naturally take place. Even the things you hated so much will begin to change because it is not by “my abilities.” Even my enemies will change, this does not change by going to church diligently. It only happens when you follow the words of Jesus exactly.
2) Law
For the future generations, you need to get married and have human relationships based on love and these words, but without these words, your life will be filled with hatred and animosity. A parent and a child must have a relationship of love, but instead, they are filled with resentment. Even spouses should be married in love, but later on, they turn into enemies. What does that mean? It means you cannot do it even if you tried. Even just you holding in your anger is just you keeping it to yourself; you cannot love them as yourself. That’s why God gave us the law, to show us we cannot do this; only God can do it, and God gave us the law to believe in that. The Pharisees tried to keep the law of God by themselves, and so on the outside, they looked so clean and great, but on the inside, they were rotting and dying away.
(1) Recognize sin (Rom. 7:13, Rom. 3:20)
(2) No one declared righteous by the works of the law (Rom. 3:20)
Rom. 3:20 says, “No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.” It means, there is not a single person who can claim that they’ve lived by God’s Word, then does that mean we should live however we want without God’s Word? It doesn’t mean that, either.
(3) Fulfill the law (Mt. 5:17)
Matt. 5:17, Jesus Christ said, “I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law.” Only Jesus Christ is the One Who can keep the law perfectly. We humans cannot do that. That’s why God recognizes us as having fulfilled the law, simply by believing in Jesus Christ.
3) Jesus Christ
(1) Death on the cross, resurrection – It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
Jesus Christ fulfilled the law because by dying on the cross, He demonstrated His love for God, and by saving us, He demonstrated His love for humans. You need to believe in Jesus Christ in order for Jesus Christ to be inside of you, revealing love for God and love for people through you. If you don’t know this, then you’ll be like a person who I used to know who used to be a Catholic nun. All she used to do was study, and she accepted Jesus Christ but still wanted to study, so she attended seminary school. She’s very smart because she studied all the time. As a nun, she didn’t have a family and she didn’t make any money, so all she did was study. As a nun, what she would do is, she would have a picture of Jesus Christ on her desk, and she would say, “Jesus, I love you,” but it was an unrequited love. Because she doesn’t really know who Jesus is, she looks at the picture of Jesus and says things like, “I cannot live without Jesus.”
What does it mean to love God? Is it coming to church and cleaning up the garbage and wiping down the walls, and repeating, “Lord, I love you”? Not only just love, but God says to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and body, so it has to be like that kind of love, and if it’s not a love like that, then that’s sin. When you love somebody else, it’s not just occasionally, you’re not just giving them money, but you need to love them as you love yourself. We have unlimited forgiveness for ourselves, no matter how many times I mess up, I will forgive myself infinitely, and if I cannot forgive myself, it’s torment. Just like you love yourself, you must love others exactly the same way. This is not just about loving other people occasionally, but you need to love other people as you love yourself every single day. There is not a single person in the entire world who can live like that, but when Jesus says that is what the law is, everyone surrenders.
The human love is based on the standard of themselves. Why do I love my child? Because it is “my child.” Why do I think of and love my family so much? Because it is “my family.” Why do I like my friend? Because they are “my friend.” Why do I like that person? Because they make me feel good and say things I like to hear. Why do I hate that person? Because they make me feel bad and say bad things to me. Human love is based on the standard or condition of “me.”
When you have a child, you love them so much because they are “your child,” and you don’t love your neighbor’s child as much because that is not your child. That is the love that humans talk about. Two people love each other and they get married, but the reason they love each other is because the other person seems like they are capable. Even if they are not very capable, you look at them physically and think you would make great children together, so you like them. Or, let’s say they’re not that attractive, but they are very smart and they can make a lot of money, then for that condition, you like them. That is the love a human can do, but that is not God’s love.
God’s love has no condition, and human beings cannot love like that. Only God Himself can do that. That is why Jesus Christ fulfilled the law to love God and love mankind by being completely obedient to God’s Word on the cross and dying to save all of mankind from sin. The reason God gave us those laws is for us to realize we cannot do it with our own strength, and we must believe in Jesus.
(2) Faith – Justifies (Rom. 3:26)
Rom. 3:26 says that, “So as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” If you live your walk of faith incorrectly, it will be suffering. If you’re not able to live according to the law, you will be so afflicted with guilt.
(3) Law of the Spirit who gives life (Rom. 8:2)
Rom. 8:2 says that, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life set me free from the law of sin and death. The “law of sin and death” means, no matter how diligently you live, you will face the curses of your sin, and “death” is the state of being spiritually separated from God. Satan controls people with the power of death. No matter how successful or educated you are, you cannot escape from that. Only through Jesus Christ have we been moved over to the system of the Spirit Who gives life. The “Law of the Spirit Who gives life” means we are living within that system, now. That means, now we have the condition to live spiritually. Now, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, lives within us, and guides us in the direction of loving God and loving people.
If you have scars, you will carry them for your whole life, and even if you smile on the outside, they will not go away. Even on the outside, you may be laughing, but you’re just waiting for revenge, and when that moment comes, you’ll explode. Humans can never love. “Even until yesterday, we were so close, but the moment I don’t like you anymore, I’ll turn my back on you,” those are humans. That’s why we cannot trust or rely on people. Humans are the ones who need to acknowledge this fact and to forgive them and accept them, but we should not be the ones relying on them or trusting them.
3. Triune God
1) People – Reason for suffering (2 Tim. 3:1)
There are many people who are going to church and suffering, and there are many nonbelievers who are living in this world without realizing why they suffer. But the Bible tells us that in the end times, there will be great suffering.
(1) Love self, money, pleasure (2 Tim. 3:2)
2 Tim. 3:2 says that people will be lovers of themselves. If I love myself, I should be happy, but that actually brings about suffering. They will be lovers of money, there are many people who make money without having any sense about money. Why would money itself be lovely? “I love that money because when I have more money, I can do whatever I want,” and it’s because you think you can do whatever you want, instead of believing in God. Even if you think you believe in God, you believe in Him incorrectly.
“People will be proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,” they will love pleasure more than they love God. In other words, why do people keep on suffering? They suffer because they love something else more than they love God.
(2) Church member – Form of godliness (2 Tim. 3:5)
(3) Nonbeliever – Suffer without knowing the reason (Gen. 3:5)
The reason why we fail and the message of the devil is always from Gen. 3:5, “If you eat this fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you will be like God: you can love yourself, living by yourself, for yourself.” We need to give this answer to the nonbelievers in the world. You guys are going to work, but you shouldn’t be going there just to make money; you need to use your work to give people the answer to life. If you’re running a business, then all the people who are working with you need to also receive the Word of loving God and loving people in order for the field to change. If you don’t know the gospel, there’s bound to be betrayal, even among your parents. Even children will betray their parents when they get older, it’s not because people are bad, that’s just human nature. Humans only think of themselves, “I only like this when I like it.” That’s what humans are like. We thought that this person would be infinitely great, but they’re not.
Then why is it that people go to church and believe in Jesus, but still suffer? 2 Tim 3:5 says they have the form of godliness but deny its power. The “form of godliness” means they are set apart from the world. What is being “set apart”? The deepest and most inner part of ourselves must be centered on the Triune God and no longer ourselves, but these people don’t change their inner core, they only look more holy on the outside. On the external shell, they look like they are very holy because they go to church every Sunday and that’s not something everyone does, but on the inside, they are not very holy. On the inside, they’re relentlessly centered on “me.” When the gospel goes into somebody, that center is bound to change, but it is not going in. Do you have any idea how wicked, and at the same time, great, humans are?
2 Cor 10:3 says there is a stronghold inside of us, and nothing can break down that stronghold. That is what causes our suffering. It is the ideology that has set itself higher than God. In the land of America, it looks great and comfortable, but spiritually it is a land that is dying, why is that? Because ever since the children are young, they are educated to believe that humans and individuals are of central importance. They are always imprinting the kids with personal freedom, personal privacy, and human rights. Yes, all of the subjects may be the same across different countries, but they are planting this ideology. Because there is an ideology that moves America. The ideology that moves America is inside of the UN as well. The United Nations is a group of multiple nations, and the people who are aligned with America’s ideology will make alliances with the US. If they’re not aligned with the ideologies of America, they cannot make an alliance. Yes, they are physically and scientifically strong, but there is an ideology moving all of them, and the reason why the North Korean nation is continuing to function is because of their ideology. From our perspective, they don’t even look like a nation, but they have an ideology that cannot be shaken. There are hundreds of thousands of people dying in the war in Russia, and for us, it seems so ironic, but there are a tremendous number of civilians who are dying during the war. For us, it seems even weird now that when the president mobilizes the army, he can move hundreds of thousands of people.
So I studied Russia, “Why is he like that?” Before Russia was communist, they were run by a Czar, or some sort of nobility, so they were in a system where, whatever the Czar said, the people had to follow, and then they went into communism. All the nation must follow for Communist ideologies, and for us who have experienced democracy, we cannot understand Russia at all, but they are different from us; when somebody tells them something, they go in that direction. So many of them died in the second world war, and that’s possible in Russia because this ideology is frightening. Why were there the hippies in North America? Because there was the first World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, and the young adults thought, “Do we have to keep on dying?” The young people are the ones who go out to war, and they began to realize that everything the adults had taught them was wrong. Then in America, there was the Catholic President Kennedy who got rid of prayer in public schools. From that point on, there was the young hippie movement in America where people grew out their hair and were smoking marijuana, why? Because they wanted to oppose the American education system; that is how America has been moving since the 60s.
If you don’t know the ideology of the nation, then you’re being brainwashed without even realizing it. Then the thing that America emphasizes the most seems so great to everyone else; it is human freedom. There is the Statue of Liberty in New York. America is the land of the free for all. Even poor people can study and do well in America. It is the land of equality. That is the ideology that America shouts out. From a human perspective, it is such a good land, and the reason so many nations immigrate to America is to earn that freedom. Even people who have a handicap or a disability can come to America and be treated equally. They want to come to this land where they can study and live on their own. From the perspective of people, it is such a good place. But spiritually, it is a very good ideology to break off the connection with God, because when we have this ideology, we don’t accept the absoluteness of God. That is why the spiritual life is dying away, but the physical life is strong.
There are many churches, but the churches are not telling this answer, so even as the kids are going to church, they’re doing drugs; this is not a problem that can be solved by politics, this is not a problem that can be solved by school teachers. It is only solved when the ideology of Christ goes into them. Then, they can gain true freedom. They can gain true peace. We should naturally be able to quit drugs; we shouldn’t have to focus on that. Alcohol should just become less desirable for me, but if I’m trying to hold myself back because “I’m a Christian and I should act like it,” later on it will get worse. The scars should naturally go away, but if you say, “I’m a Christian, so legalistically, I shouldn’t act like this,” it will not go away. Even if there are a lot of Christians, if they don’t know the gospel, it will be a big problem. People need freedom but they have no freedom. They think being able to do whatever they want is freedom, so if somebody makes them feel bad, they quit and say, “I don’t want to do this,” but having true freedom means being able to do those things.
This is the state of America today, and if you realize, it’s very severe and urgent. If you don’t know the spiritual things, then you’ll think America is great, but because America is spiritually dying, there are so many addicted patients and drug sales. The standard of that in the Bible is that people love themselves. They are lovers of money. We have no choice but to go in that direction, unless we come to the conclusion that everything is in Christ. Inside of God is everything, including money and success. Do you really need that so much? I don’t need that personally. Before I knew God, in the past, I lived my life holding onto those things, and even with my personal relationships, I had to hold a lot to myself because I couldn’t break that relationship. In order to make myself seem more valuable, I have to use more eloquent words. If possible, I wanted to live my life learning a lot, so I could get more respected positions in my job, and I try to learn more knowledge because that is how I will gain more respect from people. But after I knew Christ, I’m not saying I no longer need those things, but I let go of the hand that was chasing after them. Because inside of Christ is already hidden all of the knowledge of hidden wisdom and knowledge. So my scars began to heal, my inferiority complex began to change.
I went to Mexico, and inside of me, there was a feeling of, “You heard what I said, right?” But that voice is from the devil, always trying to exalt yourself. And then I said, “May God be the glory.” But I still have that inside of me. Right when I get that thought, “You’ve heard a lot of messages, but none of them are like mine, right?” I stop that thought because who gave me that message? It was God. I didn’t research the Bible myself and realize this message, God gave me His grace and I am relaying His message, why am I bragging of myself?
2) Love God
(1) Holy Spirit – Dwells within your midst (1 Cor. 3:16)
Jesus Christ finished all of the fundamental problems of my life on the cross, and lives within me as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit that connects God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit who understands and reveals the deepest things of God. The One Who has the power of re-creation is with me. He is not far away; He is inside of us. We must believe in that and then enjoy it. The solution is not somewhere far away but we already have the solution that is leading me from within. Earlier, we were talking about suffering, but even financial suffering is also suffering. You’re suffering because of your kids, and that counts as suffering too. I hope you will change it to be within Christ. Then, you will receive power.
(2) Guidance – Fulfill the law (Rom. 8:4, Gal. 5:18)
Then what is the Holy Spirit doing inside of me? He is leading me ahead. The Holy Spirit must lead me forward; I cannot calculate what is ahead of me. Romans 8:4 says that if we follow the Holy Spirit, then we will live according to the law. Even if we try so hard to keep the law, it will not work out, but if we are led by the Holy Spirit, He will guide us in the direction that fulfills the law. Gal. 5:18 says, “If we are led by the Spirit, we are no longer under the law.” Starting from Gal. 5:19, they talk about not good things like sexual immorality, idolatry, or drunkenness, but all of those things you can overcome with the Holy Spirit. It means that, on the other hand, we cannot overcome those things with human strength. The Lord is with me, and when I’m receiving the guidance of His Holy Spirit, even when I’m not trying to keep the law, it will naturally be fulfilled in me.
If you’re holding onto Christ, then money follows you. I’m not able to love by myself but if I’m inside of Christ and inside of His Holy Spirit, then even the people I hate, I will start to pray for. Only then will you realize how precious your parents are. If you educate your children in an American style, do you know how they’ll treat their parents when they’re older? American education says it is obvious that when the parents get older, you send them off to a home and you live your own separate life. People who are not like that, it’s because they still have some kind of Confucianism ideology from their Korean upbringing, the American education is not like that. It’s America itself that says, “Once you reach age 18, you should leave the house.” Likewise, then when the parents get too old, we send them off to an elderly home and we go live on our own.
If you don’t want to be treated like that, then you have to give them the gospel correctly, and then naturally, according to God’s Word, they will honor their mother and father. Because I believe in God and I believed God sent me to earth through my parents, I’m able to honor my mother and father for what they’ve done. But if the kids don’t know the gospel but you’ve educated them in the American style, they’ll never know, and later on, no matter how much you lament and cry, it’ll never work, because that is the individualism ideology America implants. “You are you and I am me.”
There is a good part of independence, and it only goes in the way that is beneficial to the individual. There are bad things going on in the New York subway system, but inside of trying to stop or intervene, there are people who are using it to post it on YouTube to get more views. No one is criticizing that person for doing something bad. Why did they do that? Because this is America’s ideology. “No matter what this person is doing, it does not affect me,” and it seems so comfortable and free for us. But if I’m being attacked and the people nearby me don’t do anything, then I’m simply attacked. It’s a tremendous and fearsome superpower nation that is being affiliated and moved by this tremendous authority, and it is completely opposing God. That’s why we are spiritually dying.
That’s why I said in the beginning, “Nobody does drugs because they want to.” No one in America teaches us to do drugs, but people are bound to go in that direction; they become zombies and ruin their lives. What parent would give birth to their child just for that? That’s the kind of land we’re living in now, but it looks physically so good that everything is stolen away, then spiritually everyone is dying.
(3) Filling – Authority – Witness (Ac. 1:8)
You guys come to church and you worship, but you must receive the correct grace and the spiritual life from God, that’s why God promised to give you the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Triune God, when people are demon-possessed or possessed by evil spirits, they have power. If you are filled with the invisible Holy Spirit of God, then you will receive authority. Inside of that strength, everything else follows. As you guys may know this, I’m kind of strange as a pastor. Instead of acting or speaking in a holy way, I say things like “This guy,” or,” that guy,” I can’t even be an elementary school teacher. I normally wasn’t like that.
When I was a nonbeliever, I packaged myself and because that’s the standard nonbelievers live with. But when the gospel went into me, the thing I was holding onto disappeared. I’m not saying that the way I am is good, but I’m saying that I have freedom. There is something I don’t lose hold of everyday: Jesus Christ Who finished everything on the cross is with me now. That Triune God is my background. Nobody can help me, but only He can help me. My abilities are limited, but He must work upon me with His infinite power. I experience that every day. Everything is in that. The “me” of my past used to live with my own mental strength because that’s a kind of strength as well. If one person is able to endure something for 5 seconds, but a second person endures for 10 seconds, then they win. So, the more you live, the more you realize, you have to be persistent, because that’s our type of strength. then inside of my face and my life, in every aspect, it shows my resilience and persistence, but now that I know the gospel and prayer, there’s nothing I enjoy more.
On Oct. 31, it is Halloween, but in Mexico, they also invite the spirits of the dead on Nov. 1, and Nov. 2. On Nov. 1, they call the spirits of the children who passed away, and then the next day, they call the spirits of the adults who passed away. So they combined the Dia de Los Muertos, and they have these fun activities to celebrate the dead. Halloween, on the other hand, is putting up all these scary things on their doors, so that evil spirits cannot come in. But there is already a goddess of death that Mexico already believes in, and during the Covid pandemic, this worship of the goddess of death became more fervent because they were asking her to stop the deaths. It’s very similar to their spiritual flow to when Mexico used to be part of the Aztecs, they would build these huge pyramids and used to give human sacrifices, for greater harvest and it’s a complete cluster of disasters and demons.
Catholicism has been reigning in that region for over 1500 years, and if you go into the Catholic Church, they have three, but it is God the Father, God the Son, and Mary the mother of God; They don’t have the idea of ”Only Christ,” and they don’t even have the idea of the Holy Spirit, they’ve only heard of it in the Bible, and there’s some doves they’ve painted around. But with that kind of Word, it cannot change all of the spiritual stream of Mexico. There’s a mix of different influences, and it’s only been 70 years since the church has gone in. It’s only been a few years since they received the gospel because it used to be the Charismatic movement, where they would try to show the power of Christ, even though Christ Himself is power. Then after seeing the field, I was having forum with the messengers there, and they thought, “Oh, we just thought this was Mexican culture,“ but that culture is a culture of idolatry, of demons and Satan.
Because these things are in the works, there are all sorts of curses and disasters that are being spread through the gangs and cartels of Mexico. You need to know the spiritual source. It’s not just Mexico, that’s why I talk about America. America doesn’t work like in Mexico; Satan works invisibly here. Satan makes it seem like we are doing something great for humans, but it separates us from God, and makes it so that nobody can notice, that’s why all of our kids are sucked up by it. It’s not just drug addiction–there’s alcohol addiction, sex addiction, work addiction, video game addiction–and they’re all getting sucked in. There’s no place for the kids to receive true freedom and pray. But we’re not able to see that, so we live our life not knowing why we suffer. There are many churches but it is useless if they cannot relay this correctly. People go to church but they worship something else, and they don’t teach the spiritual things at all.
Can we just do missions if we just go to Mexico? No, not if we’re giving them the text like the Pharisees did. In the field of our lives, the Word of God must be living and become the answer to our field. So, you and I must realize that it is not possible by us, but the Holy Spirit must fill us and work upon us, in order for things to work out, and that is God’s love. How else can we love God? Do we love God if we repeat, “I love you, God,” and clean the podium at church? Yes, those things can be expressed as an expression of love, but it cannot be love itself. The only way to love God and to be able to love other people, is if you believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son, Who finished all problems on the cross and is with us through the Holy Spirit, to fulfill God’s Word. Then, we’re able to love our neighbors as God loves us and we love ourselves by giving people that we’ve never even met, the gospel to save them. You must be filled with the gospel in order for you to save people at your workplace and give them the gospel and the answer to life out of love.
Humans have no choice but to utilize other people for their personal benefit, and that other person is bound to use me as well. There’s no choice but for that to happen, because we don’t have unconditional love, but that’s what brings us suffering. But if you receive the power of being filled with the Holy Spirit, then you have the ability to love others and give them life. Then you’ll be able to make disciples of all nations and proclaim the gospel. But if you don’t have this, it becomes a catch phrase in the Bible to you; it’s irrelevant to me. Then just like the Pharisees, you’ll have a lot of the Word of God as knowledge in your brain, but you won’t be able to live it out because it’s not within you. “I go to church and I don’t get along with this type of person and they make me so mad,” then how could you love others? You need to experience and receive the grace and the love of Christ for you to be able to do that to others.
3) Love neighbor
(1) All nations – Disciple (Mt. 28:19)
(2) All people – Proclaim the Gospel – Healing (Ac. 1:8)
Mark 16 says to go to all people and heal them. Nothing else can heal them; comforting people is only temporary. If you go to American churches, they are always hugging each other but they don’t give the Word of God. The Word must go into you in order to be set free from things that Satan is binding you with; he is binding you with money so that you are enslaved. You’re so enslaved and bound by your scars that you’re offended by other people’s words. They didn’t even say anything to you, but you hate the way they look at you and you say, “Oh, I got a scar, I’m not going to this church anymore.” Is that going to be solved with a PhD degree? You must be able to pray for those people with the gospel, and save them and heal them. Otherwise, your family life will be hellish and it won’t work. If you just say, “You live your life and I’ll live mine,” then you are just living separately. You’re going to enjoy YouTube, or you’re going to try to enjoy vacations because there’s no other way.
(3) Lamb – Save through the word (Jn. 21:15-18)
Or, the kids hate this world so they try to escape to another reality by listening to music, that is why we feed the Word of God to the young lambs, or the future generations.
Conclusion
1. Christ – With the Triune God
2. My background and power
Through Jesus Christ, the Triune God is with me as my background. You can try this right now. The power doesn’t come from far away, it is inside of me. You can just pray for the Holy Spirit to work upon yourself. From that point on, my job will be used.
3. Answer of the world – Through my business, academics
Before that point, it won’t work. You’re holding onto yourself so firmly so God cannot use you. God uses your studies. May you and I remain within this blessing throughout the week.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We thank You. We thank You for giving us and allowing us to believe and enjoy this perfect and complete gospel. We thank You for giving us righteousness, not by human actions, but by faith in Jesus Christ. We pray that the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Who is the Perfecter of love, may be within us, guiding us and filling us, so that we may be instruments to love God and to love people. We pray that this answer of Christ will be relayed to those who are dying in the world without the love of God. We pray that You will bless the hands that have given this offering with the economy of light to save the 237 nations. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. We pray that You will bless us so that, according to Your Word, we may live to love God and to love people through the working of the Holy Spirit. We pray that You will use her as someone who will save Mongolia and America with the gospel. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Mon.-Fri. 5:30, Sat. 6AM) – Raise the bartizan of prayer.
2. Holy Wind is on 10/31 (Tues.).
3. End of RCA registration (10/22).
4. Communion, baptism (11/26).
5. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who believe in Jesus Christ Who has fulfilled the love of God and love of man on the cross, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.