Believe, Hold onto, and Share the Word of God for World Evangelization (Deuteronomy 4:1- 9)
Hello! I’m so thankful to be here to tell you about how the Word of God was fulfilled in my life this week, along with the answers I’ve received. I’m just going to go through Deuteronomy 4, the passage we read, and tell you how that Word was fulfilled in my life, and how it was connected to the flow of the Word we have received.
In Deuteronomy 4:1, it says, “Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may go in and take possession of the land, the LORD the God of your ancestors, is giving you.” In the Wednesday worship, I received from Assistant Pastor Lim that the blessings and the land that was promised in Genesis 1:28 is talking about world evangelization, just as the land of Canaan that God is giving to the Israelites is for world evangelization. Therefore, the mission for our entire lives, the reason for our existence, is world evangelization.
In Deuteronomy 4:2, it says, “Do not add to the word or take away from it.” One thing I received from the Sunday message was the difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith. A childlike faith means it’s very simple and pure, it means that you only focus on Jesus Christ and the mission of world evangelization, and that’s it. A childish faith, though, will go up and down based on the physical answers and circumstances, and when things are bad, when you’re not receiving answers, you’ll be discouraged; when you get answers and you’re doing well in life, you’ll be very happy and arrogant.
That’s the Word I held onto this week, and it really helped because I was often feeling very down this week. In those down times, I realized that it doesn’t matter. I stay focused on Jesus Christ who is with me and the mission of world evangelization. Unbelievers say something similar, right? “Oh, don’t go too much up and down, stay cool like a cucumber.” They say, “Whenever someone says something mean to you, just let it roll off your back like a duck.” However, if you act like that, you’ll become mentally ill because you’ll bear it, and bear it, and bear it, and one day, it’s going to be too much. But for us, we see something different, and that’s why we don’t have to go up and down based on our circumstances.
We see the spiritual world. That’s Deuteronomy 4:3-4. “You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor, the LORD your God destroyed from among you who bowed to Baal Peor but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today.” So, Deuteronomy 4:3 tells us about the Kingdom of Satan where everyone is doomed to die. No matter how powerful, successful, or fun they may look, they will all die of a terrible destruction. Deuteronomy 4:4 tells us about the Kingdom of God that gives eternal life. No matter who attacks us, no matter how difficult life gets, we will never, ever die.
That’s it, there are only two worlds. The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan and that’s the only two spiritual worlds. We have to see that. If you look at physical things, you’ll lose hold of spiritual things. For example this week, I had difficulty focusing and waking up in the morning. I know a lot of my remnant friends have the same problem. My work starts at 8am and sometimes I wake up at 8:30am or 8:45am or 9am. Usually when that happens, I get really upset with myself and I start punching my bed. I think, “How am I going to do world evangelization if I can’t even get up out of bed? I’m so lazy and stupid.” My sister’s waking up and probably judging me, and all of that is very “me-centered” and people-centered. It’s physical-centered, none of it matters.
What does matter is that I’m still a child of God and my identity doesn’t change. Jesus Christ is with me, and if this is a real problem, He has to heal me. So, whenever I make mistakes, instead of beating myself up, I go back to Jesus, I thank Him for healing me, and I ask Him to heal me, and I thank Him for being with me, because no matter what happens and what other people have, I am with God and God is with me, so there is no reason for me to ever be jealous of someone else, what they have, or what they can do.
Whenever you look at other people, don’t look at them physically; realize that spiritually they’re doomed for destruction. Realize that they are spiritually enslaved. Remember your identity as well. Even if you feel like a slave right now, Jesus Christ set you free and you’re on your way to be healed. You’re way different than your friends and coworkers. Always see the spiritual world, the Kingdom of Satan and their slaves, and you, the people of the Kingdom of God.
The next part is Deuteronomy 4:5. “See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.” God shows us, through His Word, how to conquer. On the other hand, if we don’t have God’s Word, then we become enslaved. I realized this week that we really, really have to be rooted firmly in God’s Word because things are going to get really, really, really hard. Of course it’s going to get really hard because we are going into the land of Canaan, the land of idolatry, and the kingdom of satan to establish God’s Kingdom.
Because we’re spreading the Kingdom of God, of course Satan is going to attack us. God will use that hardship to make us stronger. I realized that this week because I had a meeting with the Honeywell Aerospace CFO, and he was so scary. He kept interrupting and was really loud and kept asking questions that I didn’t have answers for. Before that meeting, I prayed, “Father, help me to save everyone in my field.” But the minute I joined the call, I started getting nervous and I worried about my reputation. He came into a meeting in a really bad mood, and the whole time, I was thinking, “How do I make myself look better?”
After the meeting ended, I was like, “Oh, I am not like Joseph.” The CFO can’t kill me, but Pharaoh could definitely have killed Joseph. Even then, instead of being all bold and confident like I wanted to be, he said, “I cannot do it, but God Who is with me can do it and He will give you the answer because He loves you.” I would never say that in a meeting with the CFO.
So I realized, when you’re facing danger and you’re scared, your first reaction is to protect yourself and make yourself look stronger. That’s the reason God emphasized worship, imprint, root, and nature in the Old Testament. Because they’re going to the land of Canaan, and it’s filled with giants, and all those giants want to kill us, God gives us today, the words of the ten foundations and the five assurances. If you don’t have a foundation, then when things go badly and you do badly, you’re going to be so discouraged, and when things go well, you’re going to become really happy and arrogant.
Last week, I did really well, I was kicking butt in meetings and thinking to myself, “Oh yes, I’m really smart and professional,” so I was really excited and I started messaging my friends out of my happiness. God told me not to do that, “You just stay focused on Christ Who is with you and your mission for world evangelization.” Whether good things or bad things happen, your mission and identity are the same. The 10 foundations must become so solid that it becomes our foundations. That’s why it’s called the 10 foundations. It’s not just a random word.
1. God’s Absolute Sovereignty
So, the foundations I held onto this week are, number one, God’s absolute sovereignty. Everything that happens in this world must be allowed by God, and therefore, there is nothing for me to worry about; I just have to trust the Word that God gives me because He works according to His Word and His method is only Jesus Christ, saving people through Jesus Christ.
2. My Field Is My Missions Field
I was not strong in this during my meeting, but another foundation I held onto after that meeting is that my field is a mission field, and that mission is God’s mission to save people through Jesus Christ. Whether I live or die or succeed or fail, that’s in God’s hands, so there’s no reason for me to be worried, sad, upset, or happy. The only reason I should be happy is because God is always with me, because I’m a child of God,and no matter what I do incorrectly, God forgives my sins, and whenever I’m with Him, I will overcome.
There are still six other foundations and two other assurances that I didn’t even cover, and many of you may think, “Oh the darakbang messages are all the same thing. It’s so redundant.” Here’s my question to you, do you know the ten foundations? Do you have the five assurances? Then we need to be listening to the same message until we do, don’t you think? We need to listen to this message until it becomes the foundation for my whole life, so I’m so thankful that the message will be the same forever, because God’s Word never changes and my life needs to go into God’s Word.
In Deuteronomy 4:6, “Observe them carefully for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nation who will hear about these decree and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
So first, things will get really, really, really hard, especially with the fourth industrial revolution and the civil unrest all over the world, there will be increasing mental illness and social problems and problems with addiction and crimes. But for you, there will be incredibly good things in this life as well. Other people will see you and think, “Surely, this great person is a wise and understanding person.” That’s what I call the cultural summit where all the nations and people around you look at you and say, “Wow.”
It’s not because you’re great, but it’s because the laws and decrees of God are so amazing. In that moment when people say, “Wow, you’re so smart and wise and amazing,” what are you going to say? Are you going to give glory to God from the deepest part of your heart, or will you think, “Yeah, yeah, I guess I’m pretty cool”? 99.99% of people entering into positions of power where people love and respect them end in themselves being corrupted, so that is why God is telling you not to shake up or down. Have a simple and pure faith, only focus on Christ Who is with you and your mission for world evangelization.
In order to do this, Deuteronomy 4:7 says, “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to Him?” When the whole world acknowledges us and says we are the remnants who are really classy and cool, if we’re not in prayer, we will go further away from God and closer to Genesis 3, 6, and 11. Therefore, if prayer is not your nature, then God cannot give you anything big or important because you’ll just become full of yourself.
Prayer has to become your nature, but this doesn’t mean to be a routine. Your routine may stop because you go on vacation or something, but you can’t stop your nature. To get a sense of what “nature” means, think about how often you reach for your phone in one day. This week, I discovered a television show on Comedy Central, and I watched the entire playlist in one day. Do you know how long it takes to go through an entire playlist on YouTube? Bruh. I was like, “Oh, I can’t watch it,” but the next thing I know, my hand was already there. That’s our nature; we can’t stop it.
Do you guys pray like that? If not, it’s okay; start working towards it. That’s why we start with scheduled prayer and then we go into continuous prayer. That’s why scheduled prayer is so important because that’s the way to make prayer into your nature. The reason you go on your phone and devices so much is because it makes you happy, it makes you laugh and forget about your problems at home. But that should actually be what prayer does for us.
Prayer should make us really happy and make all our problems melt away, because instead of holding onto our thoughts, we’re holding onto God’s Word. God’s Word is that He’s always with you and guiding you towards world evangelization. Prayer is by God’s grace; we can’t pray unless God allows us to pray, but every day, we should make the attempt and wait for God’s grace. But we should still try because we believe God will give us that grace. If you’re bored with prayer, it’s because you’re still praying with your thoughts and not God’s Word. God actually gives us so much of the Word with which to pray; we should never be bored.
On my wall, I have written out the 62 life points on a piece of paper. I start from the 21 lifestyles, but I’ve never made it past the second line. Usually I can stay on Mount Calvary for 20-30 minutes, then I have to sleep because I have to wake up the next day. But when God gives me the grace, I get so happy and excited when I pray that I can’t sleep. Then I have to force myself to go to sleep because then, I think, “Satan will make me tired tomorrow.”
Last night, I worked until 2am and I still had my scheduled prayer time, because I wanted to; I was excited to do it. It’s part of my life now. This wasn’t always the case; it started in October 2020. Before that point, I never, ever prayed because I thought it was super boring and useless. To be honest, I probably actually started later than that.
But anyway, in conclusion, let’s read Deuteronomy 4:9. “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live.” God is telling us to be careful, to watch ourselves closely because it’s so easy to boop go astray. So, you always have to be asking yourselves, “What is the motive of my heart?” I started asking myself that about two weeks ago, and God gave me this verse. Every single time I talk to someone at work, I’m trying to make myself look better, or I’m trying to get what I want. I’m always like, “Ah ha ha, no way.” I’m just trying to make myself look better, and even when I help other people, I only help them so that I look better, and I’m sure during this message, I was just bragging about myself a lot.
So, I repent to God, I believe He forgives my sins, and I believe that He will *ove the correct answer and the correct grace to the people listening. That’s just our nature, we brag about ourselves and exalt ourselves. That’s why we have to be so careful, 24 hours a day, that instead of being motivated by Genesis 3, 6, and 11, I’m being motivated by God’s Kingdom and only the gospel.
Our true motive is revealed during times of hardship and during times of blessing, as I said earlier, but these are also the times when you become rooted in the Word of God the best. So, when God puts blessings and hardships into your life, the output should be the Kingdom of God. But if God gives us hardships or answers and our output is Genesis 3, 6, and 11, then our code is messed up.
So, we have to change ourselves. When you listen to God’s Word, don’t be like, “Yeah mom, listen to this. Yeah dad, this is talking about you.” Instead, look at yourself because God is giving you the Word so that you will output the Kingdom of God. But if you’re judging other people, the only thing you’re outputting is Genesis 3.
Finally, in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” So, all of you remnants, teach the younger remnants. Speak the Word of God because saying the Word of God is another method for being imprinted, rooted, and to have this nature. Do it now, not later because you’re never going to be ready. “I’ll do it once I have more spiritual strength,” but God will strengthen your spiritual state when you start telling the Word of God to other people, because God doesn’t want you to mess those other people up.
So, just stand up and serve the church. God knows you’re lacking, and that’s okay. This mission is for world evangelization, so let’s go all in. Let us pray.
Prayer
Heavenly Father God, thank You so much for showing us Word fulfillment throughout the week. Thank You for showing us our sinful nature and the Kingdom of Satan in the world. Thank You for saving us through only Jesus Christ and for giving us the mission of world evangelization. Thank You for being with us through the Word and Your Spirit. Please send Your guardian angels to break down the forces of Satan upon all the members of the church. Heal all those who are suffering spiritually, mentally, and physically. All of this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.