The One Who Lives for the Glory of God (Jn. 7:1-18)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” May the unprecedented and never-repeated answers of God be upon all the members who are worshiping in the church, especially those who are worshiping in the regional church of Yakima and Seattle. The title of today’s message is, “The One Who Lives for the Glory of God.” The opposite of the one who lives for the glory of God is the one who lives for their own glory. So, there are times where we are living our walk of faith, and we get confused whether we are living for God’s glory or for our glory. For example, King Saul was made to be the king of Israel in order to glorify God, but later on, he tried to glorify himself, and refused to give his throne to David. If God had chosen King Saul’s son, King Saul could have given the throne to his son, and that would have given God glory.
1. God’s time schedule
So in today’s scripture, the first thing we come across is God’s time schedule, and next, we hear about God’s glory. All of this is connected. We all have our own time, and God has His own time. Through Jesus and His older brothers, we have to understand the difference between our time and God’s time.
1) Jesus’ brothers and their time (Jn. 7:3)
Jesus’s brothers told Jesus that, “In order for many people to know about the works and the teachings You are teaching us, You have to go to a larger city like Judea especially during the feast of Tabernacles, and show many people because in order to be a great figure, You cannot just stay hidden in this small town.” But actually, Jn. 7:5 says that His own brothers did not even believe in Jesus, in other words, the actions of people who do not really believe in Jesus is that they want to show their actions to many people.
(1) For the works Jesus do (Jn. 7:3)
(2) Wanted him to go to Judea (Jn. 7:3)
(3) Show Jesus to the world (Jn. 7:4)
(4) How people who don’t believe in Jesus work (Jn. 7:5)
(5) Can do works of people any time (Jn. 7:6)
But Jesus responds to this, “My time is not yet here.” When Jesus talks about “My time” being here, it is talking about what God’s Word has permitted. My timeline is different, my timeline is focused on, “How can I reveal how great I am to other people?” Jesus says about this, “For you, any time will do,” in other words, you can reveal your own greatness anytime you want, however, the time of Jesus had not yet come. We believe in Jesus Christ, so we need to follow the time schedule of God, right? But for the people who don’t believe in Jesus, it is always about their own standard.
(6) Food, Honor, World success – Temptations of the devil (Mt. 4:3-10)
In Matt. 4, Jesus goes into the desert to be tempted by the devil. It was His time schedule where He needed to be tempted by the devil, and the way the devil tempts Jesus is with food to eat because He was hungry. Our time schedule is always focused on what we need to eat and what we want to eat. But the Lord goes through with His fast through the Word of God. Fasting means He went through it through prayer, because that was God’s time schedule where He had to pray. But we are always focused on what to eat, like food, “What should I eat? Today is a holiday so we should go somewhere special to eat.”
The second temptation the devil gives to Jesus Christ is for Jesus’ glory, “Go up to this very high steeple and jump off in front of many people, and you will not die because the angels will catch you.” We always have that sense in our minds, my pride or my self-esteem, showing off what kind of person I am to others. The third temptation the devil shows Jesus is all the glory and the splendor of the world. “I will give you all the success you want, just worship me instead.” The devil is constantly, always tempting us with these three tests, but Jesus was able to overcome that by praying and the Word of God.
(7) The world cannot hate you (Jn. 7:7)
“Pastor, what do you mean? We have to make a living, the economy is so difficult; how could we come out to worship?” But that’s your time schedule. But Jesus tells us that when the Word of God is proclaimed, that is God’s time schedule. Jesus’ younger brothers loved the world because they were part of the world, but the world hates Jesus. The world hates Jesus because He tells them that they are evil.
If you talk to the world about the things about the world, then they will not hate you. However, the moment you tell them, “You need to escape from the authority of sin, death, and curses through the name of Jesus Christ,” they’ll say, “Who are you calling a ‘sinner’? I’m not seized by the devil,” so if you tell the world things like this, they will hate you. Because Jesus Christ told the world that they are evil, the world hates Jesus.
This doesn’t mean that all of your human relationships should be hateful, but it means that we must proclaim the Word of the gospel, and in order to tell people about the gospel, you need to tell them what spiritual state they are in currently. Of course, they don’t want to hear it, but for the people who have been prepared for salvation, they will receive it with thanksgiving. Even when I look at my friends, when we were younger, we were very close friends, because we lived in the same physical world and did the same physical things, but now that I’m older, I’m a pastor, they get shocked when I tell them about spiritual things, and even Jesus Christ was the same way. So in the biblical times, every male over 20 years old had to go to the Temple to celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles, that was the law, and if Jesus does not go to that feast, then He is breaking the law, but that’s not what He was talking about; He was saying, “My time has not yet come.”
2) Jesus’ time
(1) Time when God’s word moves
So, when is Jesus’ time? Only when the Father God gives the Word to go, that is the time schedule of Jesus Christ. We believe in Jesus Christ and we follow His guidance according to His time schedule, so when must we move? When He gives us His Word. But most people will move based on their circumstances and their benefit, that is the way to be tempted by the devil.
(2) Did not go to Judea for the festival (Jn. 7:9)
(3) The world hates Jesus – The world is evil (Jn. 7:7)
(4) Went to the festival in secret (Jn. 7:10)
So Jesus Christ does end up going to the feast, but He goes in secret because they are trying to kill Jesus. So, Jesus goes to the place of the festival and begins to teach there, and there are two reactions. There are some people who are saying, “What kind of nonsense is He saying? I don’t understand anything.” There are people who respond to the pastor’s lectures the same way, they say, “What is the pastor saying? I don’t understand it. If the pastor were to talk to us about money or food or human relationships, I would understand immediately, but I have no idea what he’s saying,” but if I give the messages based on what the world desires, then that’s really not a sermon. In fact, the sermon does not fit with the world because the things that the world desires and the things that God desires are not the same.
2. God’s things – God’s glory
1) Jesus’ teaching (Jn. 7:14)
But there’s another group of people who react, saying, “Wow, how could He teach us such amazing things? When we look at this Jesus, nobody has taught Him, but how could He teach us these deep words like this?” This means, “He has not even been taught by a Rabbi before; how could He teach us the deep meanings of scriptures like this?”
(1) Content is from God (Jn. 7:16)
Then the Lord responds that there are people who teach their own words and there are people who only speak the words that God has told them. In Jn. 7:16, Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own, it comes from the One Who sent Me.” So in order to know the will of God, you need to know if this person is speaking from their own desires or from the Word that God has given them. Most people will come up to me and say, “Oh pastor, I think this is the will of God, I really want to do this this term,” but it’s all their thoughts, they just force it into making it God’s will because they know that if something is not God’s will, it’s doomed to be destroyed, but when we say that something is the Word of God, ask yourself, has God given you the Word about it? If the Word has not been given to you specifically but you’re just creating your own idea of what you think God’s will is, then that’s a problem. There are also people who take the Word of God and mix it into their own thoughts, “This is what the Word of God told me,” but the specialists will be able to see. It’s very easy to become like this if you go to church for a long time, because you know that you’re supposed to follow the Word of God, not the words of the world, so you mix in your own words with the Word of God, and then it becomes a mix of spiritual and physical. But those are the religious people who go to church. Nonbelievers will of course only talk about their own benefits and their thoughts as they live, but for us, we listen to the messages, we can’t completely avoid it, so we just mix it together with our own thoughts in a jumbled mess.
How do you know if this is really God’s will or not? If something really is the Word of God, God will give me peace in my thoughts and my heart as evidence that I am aligned with His thoughts and will. If I don’t have that peace, it is evidence that I am not aligned with God, then we have to stop. If it is aligned with God, then we must move. But if you think, “This is God’s will,” but you’re still worried and stressed about it, then it is not God’s will. You’re just shouting and yelling, “Pastor, I know that this is the will of God,” because you’re not a nonbeliever, you know you need to follow the will of God, so you force it. That kind of person is doing everything for their own glory.
(2) Seek glory of God (Jn. 7:18)
The people who follow the will of God and proclaim the Word of God live for God’s glory, then what exactly is God’s glory? If your children go into the Olympics and get the gold medal, does that glorify God? No. Your child’s name will be revealed, not God. There was a member of John MacAuthur’s church, which is quite large, who got a gold medal in the Olympics, and people in the church were celebrating, “That’s part of our church!” but nonbelievers don’t care about that. Christians might care because they think, “Oh, is that gold medalist in our church?” But that gold medalist’s name is revealed, God’s not glorified in that.
(3) Speaks on their own – Personal glory (Jn. 7:18)
A lot of people think, “Once I really succeed, I’ll glorify God,” but that’s never in the Bible. If you succeed, that reveals your own name, not God’s name. Then, what about if I get last place? Will that block God’s Word? The members of the Early Church were completely outcast from society; did they block God’s glory? All of the children of the members of the Early Church were outcast from school and couldn’t get basic schooling, does that mean that it blocks God’s glory?
2) God’s glory
(1) God’s promise – Old Testament (2 Cor. 1:20)
(2) “Yes” in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20)
(3) Through Jesus the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God (2 Cor. 1:2)
It says in 2 Cor. 1:20, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes” in Christ, and so through Him, the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” This means that God’s promise to us in all the Old Testament is to send us the Christ. Christ died on the cross and He fulfilled that promise. If you believe that and say, “Amen,” then God receives glory. 2 Cor. 1:21-22 says, as evidence of this, He will give you the Holy Spirit. So, what is the glory of God? It means that if you believe and say, “Amen” to the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross to finish all problems, then that glorifies God.
3) People’s glory
(1) Study the Old Testament to obtain eternal life (Jn. 5:39)
(2) Refuse to go to Jesus (Jn. 5:40)
So if faith in Jesus Christ is the way to glorify God, then what is the way to not glorify God and instead glorify man? Jn. 5:39 says, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. But all of the Scriptures bear witness about Me, and yet, you do not come to Me to have life; you do not have the love of God in your heart.” Therefore, if you believe and say, “Amen” to the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross to solve all of our problems, then God receives glory. Everything that happened in the Old Testament is to show us that we must receive salvation through Christ Who is to come. Before Jesus Christ came to earth, there were many shadows and forms that represented Jesus Christ, like the feasts and traditions. You guys spent all this time studying the scripture of the Old Testament; the reality of all of those shadows is Him, why don’t you believe in Him?
(3) Don’t have God’s love – Seek glory from one another (Jn. 5:42,44)
Because from the beginning, you did not have the love of God in your heart, then what were all of their actions of faith? It was for themselves. What does it mean to do something for yourself? God gave them the Ten Commandments and they added hundreds of extra laws on top of those Ten Commandments, and they say, “I’ve kept all of these laws, just to show how great we are.” Jesus Christ is saying, “You yourselves are not able to keep all of the laws that you have made; why are you criticizing me for healing a man with just my words on the Sabbath?”
For example, when a male is born, eight days after his birth, he must be circumcised, and the Bible says that if they are not circumcised on the eighth day, then they will be separated from God’s lineage, meaning, they will die. The reason why the Israelites circumcised the Israel babies was because of the covenant that God made with Abraham that, “You will be my people and I will be your God, and I will take you into the land of Canaan to bless all peoples, and I will put this mark on your body through the circumcision.“ So, the circumcision is a physical representation of our covenantal relationship with God that we see when we look at the male form. But let’s say there’s a male baby who is born and eight days later, He is born, it is the Sabbath. We’re not supposed to work on the Sabbath, but if this child is not circumcised on the eighth day they were born, they will die. When Moses was refusing to follow God’s Word to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, God was about to kill Moses, and at that time, Zipporah, Moses’ wife, took the circumcised flesh of Moses’ second’s son, and threw it at Moses’ feet. This means that this son was supposed to be circumcised on the eighth day, but Moses lost hold of everything after receiving this mission. So, Zipporah, Moses’ wife, knew what had to happen. She circumcised her son, put the foreskin on Moses’ feet, and the Lord did not kill Moses.
So if a male baby is not circumcised on the eighth day, they will die, but if the eighth day is the Sabbath and you’re not supposed to work, then what are you supposed to do? Jesus Christ is saying, “All I did was say words that healed a man on the Sabbath. You guys have to wrestle a baby who is crying, you have to use a sharpened stone to circumcise the baby; that’s so much work.” So Jesus is saying, “You’ve created your own laws and you’re getting twisted up and lost in your own laws; why are you criticizing Me? You guys are saying words that don’t even make sense, and you are killing yourself in your own law, but the real reason the Lord told us to obey the Sabbath, is so that we can worship.” Back in those days, there were servants, and they would make the servants work all day long, and God was protecting them. All they had to do was keep the Sabbath holy so that they worship on the Lord’s day, but instead, they say, “You’re not allowed to walk a certain number of kilometers, you’re not allowed to press the elevator button because that’s counted as work,” all so that they could say, “I’ve kept the law, I’m such a better person than you,” even though they don’t even go to Jesus. The circumcision, the Old Testament, everything is pointing to Jesus, but they don’t even go to Jesus, then they are living to fill their own glory. That’s why the Jewish people have no choice but to suffer.
Why do people suffer even as they go to church? It’s because they don’t live for God’s glory. They live for themselves and their own glory. That’s why 2 Tim. 3:2 says that there will be times of great suffering if you love yourselves or money more than you love God. “Pastor, my life is so hard,” it should be hard, and I’m not saying that to wish bad things upon people. What I’m telling you is, the reason it’s hard for you is because you love something more than you love God, and the Bible tells us that God will make our lives hard. More so than clinging to the cross of Jesus Christ, you’re clinging to something else and relying on that, and that’s what’s causing you to suffer. Then on the outside, you say, “Pastor, after I succeed, I’ll do this for the glory of God,” that’s just what you’re saying, that’s not what’s in your heart. Anyone can say things like that. “Oh, pastor, after I get a really good job, I’ll do Temple construction,” anyone can say words; believe in Jesus.
3. People who live for God’s glory
1) Mount Calvary (Jn. 19:30)
Do you believe in the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected to solve all of the problems of your past, present, and future completely? Then God will receive glory. “Once I succeed and make it big, then I’ll glorify God”? No, the Bible never says that. In fact, Apostle Paul said he’s learned to be content in both poverty and wealth. Like I said, most of the members of the early church’s children could not receive education because they were outcast from society. They spent their entire lives in the catacomb caves and died there. They couldn’t even run a business. Then, do you think those people blocked God’s glory? No. By believing in Jesus Christ, they glorified God.
What are you and I living for today? “Pastor, just wait a little bit more, as soon as I get to college, I’ll come to worship. Pastor, just give me a little bit more time, as soon as I graduate from college and get a great job, then I’ll come to worship and glorify God,” what does “glorifying God” mean to you? Do you think that after you accomplish something physically, you’ll glorify God? What kind of glory is that? You need to have faith in Christ. If you don’t believe in the fact that everything in the Old Testament was showing us that Jesus Christ had to be crucified to finish all problems, then you are not glorifying God no matter what you do. Even though you go to church, this gospel has not gone into you.
(1) Sin and death – Satan’s kingdom (Rom. 8:2, Col. 1:13)
Because this gospel has not gone into you, all the scars and traumas of your past are seizing you as channels of Satan. You can’t solve that with anything. There are parents who put their kids into schools thinking that will educate the children, but the children are going through so much torment in the schools that they can’t tell anyone about. When those kids go to school and they get bullied, abused, or harassed, that scar follows them as a channel of Satan for the rest of their lives, and that becomes an explosive rage inside of them. The devil does not just leave that alone, when there’s rage inside of someone, Satan works upon that to explode, and even their parents are not able to control that because this is the power of demons; it is not your individual strength. When this person thinks about the scars and traumas they received in the past, they are overwhelmed by the control of demons, and that’s why there are shootings, so people don’t just want to kill themselves, they want to kill everybody else with them. There are some personalities where Satan makes them want to kill themselves quietly, these are things that are actively happening in American society today, yet people are saying, “Once I succeed, I’m going to glorify God,” that’s why people are dying.
Go and tell them the gospel. That problem you have has been crucified on the cross. Yes, you were unfairly abused, you were sexually assaulted, you were forced to take drugs, and the Lord has taken all of that suffering on your behalf. Jesus Christ has finished all of that at once, and now He is with you as life and your Lord. You have to help them escape from those, because Satan is controlling those scars and making that person fall into addictions. Alcohol and substances numb your brain, and your intellect or logic is numbed, and your emotions take over. Now, because your inhibition or intellect is numbed down, all of your inhibitions regarding your scars are numbed, so it’s just your emotions left, you either get really depressed or really manic. Then your body needs to purify all of those toxins out of your body, so your liver is working even as you sleep, so when you wake up, you feel terrible and you have to chug water. So your body is broken and everything is miserable, but this person has no other choice, because as long as their mental state is clear, they think about their trauma and scars, so they have to numb themselves.
People who are alcoholics or have a tendency to drink know what I’m talking about; as soon as you’re stressed, the first thought you have is to drink. You don’t like to think about what stresses you out, and if you drink, then you don’t have to think about it anymore. When you take drugs, your mood is elevated multifold, so, even though you have the things in your life that are very difficult, because you’re living in a difficult world, and for the people who depend on substances like this, it’s because they are suffering; they don’t go into that reality because they are happy. It happens when we are young, it happens in the family and at school. Especially for immigrants, especially in LA, because we have such a mix of ethnicities here, we have people who don’t have the same culture as us; it’s very diverse and it’s hard. It would be fine if, when that student faces an incident like this, they are in the spiritual state where they can pray, and the parents are in a spiritual state to lead them, and the church is in a spiritual state to guide them, but nobody cares. That child has nowhere to go, their home is not a safe place, the church is not a safe place for them, and that’s why they want to kill themselves. Or they have so much anger inside of them, they say things like, “I want to kill my dad,” because they think, “My dad gave me a scar,” there are many children like that, or there are people who receive so many scars from society so that they say, “I want to kill everybody and then myself.”
We need to give them the gospel in order for them to be set free from their past. That person is always seized by it, then you always have to go and tell them. Why do the parents have to know this? Because the parents have to continuously tell their children about the gospel. You think giving them to a minister for one day a week is good enough? Satan is attacking your children 24/7, and the parents are next to their children all week, so the parents need to know the gospel, and you need to help the parents know what the real problem in their family is, because the parents’ problems have gone to the children. So, what is the glory of God? It is correctly relaying the gospel of Jesus Christ; that glorifies God.
(2) Life and Holy Spirit – Son’s kingdom (Rom. 8:2, Col. 1:13)
We are people who are created to live for the glory of God, and in order to do that, we must begin at Mount Calvary, we must believe and say “Amen” to the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected to solve my problems. This means that all of my life’s problems have been finished on the cross. We must find this believable. If you don’t believe in this, then the correct gospel has not gone into you, why is that? Before I received the gospel, I was under the authority and control of Satan, under the law of sin and death. Satan was continuously controlling me because of my sin, the sin of not believing in God, and the price of sin is death. Satan was pushing me towards curses and disasters. “Sin” is me wanting to live as my own god, centered on myself, regardless of God. So then instead of living with God inside of us, we live with an idol, we worship money or success, and Satan controls us with that.
Christ has completely destroyed that on the cross, and then He has changed us to be under the control of the law of the Spirit of Life in the Kingdom of God. There are people now who suffer from so many mental problems from the traumas of their past, and they keep getting stuck in the past; that’s why you must continuously give them the gospel to remind them that they have been set free. Now, they are bound to be controlled by the law of the Spirit of Life. You need to tell them the fact that they are completely a new creation. Even though you may look like the same human on the outside, your inside is completely different. You do not change into a new creation by coming to church, but by believing in Jesus Christ.
(3) Those who enjoy 24 life
Religion tells you, “If I go to church very diligently, then I’ll change.” No, fundamentally, your background and kingdom have changed, and now the Holy Spirit is guiding me, so my weakness doesn’t matter at all. I enjoy that life, 24 hours a day. You must be able to have this gospel and enjoy it in order to relay it. What does it mean to not have the gospel? You know about Jesus Christ because you’ve heard about Him, but you don’t know the fact that your problem has been completely finished. Because you know the gospel so vaguely, the churches are blocking God’s glory. Then, people have no choice but to just live for themselves. For us, God does not receive glory because we do so much. No matter how much you work you do, that’s just your thought. God does not need your work, God doesn’t need your money; God receives glory by our faith when we say, “Amen” to Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if your children get a gold medal from the Olympics; that’s just for you, that’s not for God. Where does it say that in the Bible?
2) God’s glory
(1) Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do (1 Cor. 10:31)
1 Cor. 10:31 says, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,” then what exactly is the glory of God?
(2) Do all things to please people, not for my good (1 Cor. 10:33)
(3) Seek the good of many, so that they may be saved (1 Cor. 10:33)
It says in 1 Cor. 10:33, “Even as I try to please everybody in every way, I am not seeking my own good but the good of many so that they may be saved.” So, living not for my own good, but for the good of many, even nonbelievers do this, they do charity work and volunteer, there are many people, even nonbelievers, who give to others. There are many people who actually empty their bank accounts to give to the less fortunate, but that has nothing to do with God’s Word because they are just revealing their own glory. Then, even if they donate all their money to the less fortunate in secret, they are still revealing themselves. So, ultimately why do we have to seek the good of many? It is so that they may be saved. Why do I study? Why do I work? Why do I eat, drink, and do whatever? So that by doing that, I may give benefit to many people so that they may be saved. So, that is how you can confirm whether you are a businessperson or a student who is working for God’s glory or not, through His Word; if not, then you’re just living for your own glory. It would be fine if we could live for our own glory and be happy, but instead, we are suffering.
There’s been a statistic that 100,000 churches will close down by the year 2030. This means that the younger generations are disappearing. So, the younger generations of America are suffering, but the churches are not able to give them the gospel of “Only Christ,” so the younger generations are going to self-meditation to try to receive healing. Even if they succeed, they’re not able to solve their internal problems, so now they use their great loads of money to buy very expensive drugs. The people who are inside the group I’m talking about know what I mean. Politicians have their own groups of politicians where they do other things amongst themselves. What’s important is that my life can only be happy if I conclude everything with Christ alone, what does that mean? It means my problems, crises, and circumstances have nothing to do with me. You think that it does have something to do with you, that’s why you suffer.
Why is it irrelevant to me? Because my identity has changed; now, Christ is my Lord, so the Lord has to take care of it. Why are you stuck in the scars of your past? Because you’re stuck in being your own lord, centered on yourself, in the past; you haven’t escaped from yourself yet, Satan knows that state and so he takes over you again. You’re holding onto it, Satan’s holding onto it and completely pushes you into suffering. While you’re here at church, if the complete and perfect gospel doesn’t go into you, you will have no hope. For the adults, you may come to church for another reason, because life is so hard, but for the kids who grew up here, their life’s not that hard, they can all go and make money and get jobs. But if they don’t know the gospel and they don’t know these things, then one day, they will suffer, and how will you take care of that? That’s why of course, the churches are closing down, because the younger generations go to church, and there’s only elderly people there; it doesn’t feel charismatic at all.
3) Power of the Holy Spirit
(1) Witness in my field and to the ends of the earth (Ac. 1:8)
So, whether they are young or old, we must lead them so that the Holy Spirit of God goes into them and guides them. It doesn’t matter what kind of valley of the shadow of death the devil of America pushes me through; the reason I am not afraid is because the Lord is with me. That’s what it means that the Lord has finished everything in my life. Now, the Lord is holding my hand and He is walking with me. It doesn’t matter what kind of scars and traumas I had in my past because the Lord has finished it, that’s not yours; why do you keep holding onto it as it is? The Lord has already paid to finish that, but you don’t believe that, so you keep holding onto the scars of your past. The devil knows that and he holds onto you again, and you already have this explosive anger inside of you because you were under Satan’s control. If you don’t know these spiritual facts, how can you save other people? These are all things that are in the Bible. Make it so that Satan cannot make a foothold.
(2) Filling of the Holy Spirit (Ac. 2:1-4)
(3) 237 Nations, Healing, Future Generations (Mt. 28, Mk. 16, Jn. 21)
The churches must be able to save. The reason you work is to save people’s lives; that is how the Lord receives glory. “Oh, once I’ve made a lot of money,” that’s just your thought; it has nothing to do with God. It is only the gospel for me to confess of Jesus Christ and for me to save other people by giving them the gospel through my business. That’s why God promised to give you the filling of the Holy Spirit, so that God may continue to make disciples of all nations through your jobs, to the ends of the earth, all the nations and tribes. The Temple construction might be God’s glory and it might be people’s glory. If you say, “Huh, I’ve given this much offering and this much donation, and this is how big our church is now.” That’s human glory. But God destroyed King Herod’s Temple, because that was a temple where God did not receive glory.
Conclusion
1. God’s covenant
2. Reveal God’s glory
3. Temple construction (3 Courtyards)
Then, what must we do with the Temple Construction to give glory to God? The location must have the gospel of the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross to finish all of our problems, and people of all nations must come to this church to receive that and say “Amen” in faith to glorify God. These people must come to church and receive healing through that gospel for this building to glorify God. And the next generation must be raised up to know this gospel. Therefore, if this Temple Construction is a location that is for the benefit of the people for them to receive salvation through the gospel, then that is for God’s glory. Everything other than that is just for your own glory, that’s not God’s glory. The pastor talks so much about Temple Construction, but that could just be for their own glory, not the glory of God. “Oh, if we go into Temple Construction, God is going to bless us so much,” that’s just for your own benefit.
We have to do it for the gospel, for the salvation of souls; and when we gather together and move as one to save people’s souls, that is the Temple Construction that glorifies God, and at that point, God will reveal His hidden economy of light upon us. Whether you are a believer or a nonbeliever, if you work hard, you get money, and if you don’t, you lose money. That’s just logic, that’s just a general grace that God gives to people whether they believe or not. However, there is a separate economy that God has prepared altogether for the salvation of souls. That’s not something I can gain with my power, only when I give this economy for the Temple that glorifies God and saves people’s souls, that’s when God works. But why is it that members of the church become enslaved to nonbelievers? It’s because they don’t really know Who God is. They think, “If I just work really hard and go to church, that’s God’s glory.” That’s not true. You must enjoy the gospel, and you do everything to testify of the gospel, that’s why you work, that’s why you raise up the next generation and build up the Temple Construction and do missions. God must receive the glory for everything to be finished. May you and I become the people of God who live for the glory of God, according to the accurate words of the Bible.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We pray that You will bless the hands that have given the offering of these materials so that it may be used to save the world. God, we pray You will receive all the glory and bless us so that we may be the ones who live for Your glory. 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. Middle School Evangelism School, Sat., 1-3PM.
3. Starting September, there will be High School Summit School at 1PM-3PM in the main sanctuary. We will cover college prep, grant/scholarship help, job application, resume, interview help.
4. North America Businessperson’s Evangelism Conference, 9/11 (Wed.)-12(Thurs.), ICSC
5. LA Young Adult Retreat, 9/14(Sat.), 9AM-5PM, $100.
6. 3:30pm Education Department Meeting
7. 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, guidance, and working, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to live for the glory of God, believing in the gospel that has finished everything, and living their lives to save and to testify of this gospel to others, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.