Faith in Christ to Change the World (Deut. 28:36-46)
We are coming to give the first Wednesday worship of the year 2023 to God. God is invisible to our eyes and we cannot feel God, either. We cannot know God through our dreams. There is no way to know God other than through His Word. However, the Jewish people knew the Word of God well and they followed all of the laws, but they still failed, and the reason is because they misunderstood the Word of all words.
There are people who fail even though they go to church for a very long time, why is that? It’s because even though they listen to and follow the Word of God, they were outside of the Word God truly desired. So, it’s not about the Word of God that I know, but it’s about the Word that God desires. We are not holding onto the Word of God so that we can get the plan of our lives that we desire, but we get the plan of our lives that God desires.
In order to do that, we have one condition. We must have this sure faith that the Word of God is perfect, otherwise, I will interpret the Word of God how I desire, I will add to and subtract from the Word. That is what we mean when we say we are putting ourselves in the seat of God. If my experiences and the Word of God do not align, then I must lay down my own experiences. If your knowledge and the Word of God are not aligned, you must lay down your knowledge.
If you try to understand the Word of God based on your knowledge and experiences of the world, that is not the Word of God; that is only your knowledge of the world, and that is the reason why the elites cannot understand God’s Word. On the other hand, does that mean that people who are not elites can understand God’s Word? Sometimes it doesn’t work because they are too ignorant.
We must find what is the Word God tries to give us through the Bible. He is telling us about Jesus Christ that is written about in John. For the people who listen very well to the past week’s Sunday messages from Matthew 5-7, the content of your life should have changed, but for the people who did not understand what those words mean, they are still living in the past. They are going into the year 2023, but they themselves have not changed. Then, even if time is passing, I’m still living the same way I used to.
Your life doesn’t change just because the calendar is changing; only when your life changes by the Word of God does your whole life change. People who hold onto the Word of God just as knowledge will not have their inner life changed, and we get deceived by that knowledge. So, the entire Bible is telling us about one thing, jesus christ.
In the Old Testament, the book of Deuteronomy tells us about the blessings as well as the curses, simply put, these words are telling us, “If you keep the law, you will be blessed, and if you do not keep the law, you will be cursed.” but the Jewish people kept the law but they were still cursed, so that means they are following the Word of God incorrectly. That’s why the New Testament Jesus Christ completed the law. Even in the Old Testament, they needed to believe in Jesus Christ. Through the law, we must find Jesus believable. Even in the New Testament, we must believe in Jesus, and if they have a law that does not need Jesus, that is the reason for their failure, because every single human is born with original sin. Even before the law was given to us, we were born with original sin. Even after we were given the law, even if we kept all the law, we are still in Original Sin. The reason God gave us the law was to show us that we are sinners, but if somebody thinks, “I’ve kept the law well,” they think they are not a sinner.
What is the standard of sin? The Jewish people judged whether someone sinned based on their actions, but Jesus Christ does not talk about the external sins that are expressed, but the internal state of our sin. Even before we ever commit adultery, adulterous thoughts have already started inside of us. If we incorrectly understand the law that way, we must hold onto the covenant of Christ’s blood in our hearts. God gave us the law to save us, but the reason people fail is because they understand the law in a physical and visible way. Even in today’s land, even in today’s society, when people think of Jesus Christ as the solution to their physical problems, they will fail.
Even before the physical problems, God speaks about the internal problems, and we call that the spiritual state. Depending on our internal state, if it’s always thinking adulterous thoughts, we will one day commit adultery. We are always thinking thoughts of deceitfulness, and one day, we lie. That is why it’s important for you to check your internal state through the Word of God. In order to do that, we must stand before God. The people keep thinking they can live their walk of faith in front of other people, whether their actions are clean or not, and that’s why one day they fall. The walk of faith importantly emphasizes internal things.
If you look at the words of whether you keep the law of God or not as a physical action you keep, that’s a big problem. If you keep going centered on actions, it’s not going to work. We don’t have the spiritual state that allows us to keep the actions. The very state where you think you can do something with your actions is a spiritual state that is collapsed. That’s when people say, “What about you?” It’s because we are living a walk of faith with the standard of physical, visible things. That’s why people fight.
We all boast of ourselves. Satan already knows our inner state, and that is where Satan is holding us. That’s why Apostle Paul confessed in the latter half of Romans 7, this is why we need Christ. We can never escape from the law. Only through the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is the law fulfilled within us; we ourselves can never keep the law. If we say that we can, it means we do not yet know who we are or what the gospel is. The walk of faith is not talking about whether you follow traffic lights or don’t spit. It’s not talking about, “Don’t lie to other people,” the Lord did not come to earth so we do not con or swindle others.
He is saying, “You cannot do this, that is why I will solve this for you.” I need to know why I cannot do this, and that is why God gave us the standard. God gave us this standard but we keep thinking we can do it by ourselves, so we don’t think we need Jesus, and we say, “I don’t need Jesus, I just need the blessings,” and that’s why people go centered on physical things and actions. The spirit saves; the flesh counts for nothing, then what do we save with? Jesus says, “My Word is Life and it saves.” Not the words of the law, only the words of Christ save. So, when the gospel, the words of Christ go into you, you will come to life.
This is the introduction that I told to the remnants in Washington DC, and these are words everybody should understand. I need to save myself, and the only way to do that is through the words of the gospel. I need to come to life in order to save others, but if I am dead, how can I bless others? These are words that can only be understood through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so even young remnants can understand. Anybody can understand this because worship is given in spirit and in truth, and the Holy Spirit of God allows us to understand the Spirit of Christ.
Even if there is a man who is 100 years old and never went to school and doesn’t know how to read, they can still understand the Word of God. They can’t even read, but they are able to understand words, so they can understand. How does this person realize? They realize the Word of God through the working of the Holy Spirit. If you’re well educated, does that help you? Sometimes that may hurt you because you’re trying to apply the Word of God to the knowledge you know, you may actually have a harder time understanding. The Word of God is at the level of the heavens, but if you try to compare it to the level of knowledge you have, you cannot even compare.
Jesus Christ finished everything, Jesus Christ fulfilled the law because we cannot do it with our actions. In the Old Testament, God says, “I will bless you if you keep the law,” but in the New Testament, He says, “You cannot keep the law so I will do it,” and He simply says, “Believe that. Simply believe in Jesus.” And it’s talking about the actions of that faith, then the blessings follow. Without faith, you cannot please God. The only way you can have faith is by listening to God’s Word and by God’s grace coming upon you.
So, this is not about knowing the knowledge of the Bible with your brain, you need to have faith. Then what do we believe? We must believe that Jesus did the work of the Christ. Many people do not understand what the words “Jesus” and “Christ” mean. Even as they go to church, they do not understand what the words “Jesus” and “Christ” mean. “Jesus” is the name that means “Savior,” and “Christ” is the role. Just like “Biden” is his name and “President” is his role, but if you just know the words, “President Biden,” you don’t really understand what that means.
Just because you say, “Jesus Christ,” doesn’t mean you know, but it means Jesus did the work of the Christ, and the work of the Christ is the work of the savior. It means that He has rescued us who were trapped in sin. He has liberated us from being bound by Satan. He has liberated us who were trapped in the authority of hell. It’s impossible for us to do that with our own strength. As Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected, the work that He accomplished was the work of the Christ. The ones who believe in these things believe in the Lord, and the Lord is with them.
Do you believe in that? Is this the conclusion of all problems in your life? If you say, “No,” it means you don’t believe. If you say, “Jesus is the Christ but He has not solved the problems of my past, present, and future,” then you don’t really believe, and if you don’t truly believe that, then your actions of faith cannot come out. It is impossible for you to make the confession of faith that no problem is a problem. It’s because you don’t believe that Jesus is the Christ.
Then, just like today’s Word, something else will come to you. It doesn’t matter how diligently you come to church. Christ has completed everything in the Old Testament and believing in that is the fulfillment of the law. Then, are the many problems you face in your life really problems? “I thought Christ really finished it all,” do you really believe that? Believing in that is the blessing.
Then the problem or circumstance you face is not a problem or circumstance, it is a blessing. Simply put, we do not believe. We think we believe, but we don’t. Today’s Word says those who are disobedient will be cursed, and that’s what this means. No reason to memorize everything in the Old Testament because Christ finished it all, do you truly believe that?
If you truly believe that, then you should have the actions of that faith coming out in your everyday life. When you face a problem or a situation, your actions should be of faith. You say, “It’s not a problem. I’m actually facing a problem but it’s not a problem.” Why is it not a problem? Because everything is finished on the cross, and even though this looks like a problem, God’s plan is within it. The people who have this faith will have this blessing, but we don’t have this faith. Instead, we have legalism and our efforts. Then, even if you do resolve that problem, it’s not a blessing; it’s a curse.
Blessings are given to us by God. If we make something by ourselves, that is not a blessing; it’s effort. That’s something even unbelievers can make. But a lot of diligent people fall under that misconception. Hard workers often misconceive, your working hard is not a blessing; God must bless you, and that’s how we do Temple Construction.
Do you think you can build a church with your efforts? The blessings must be upon you. THe Lord has finished everything and that’s why we’re able to act, it is not our business; it is our action of faith. If you do not believe then you have no choice but to have the actions of unbelief. God promised world evangelization to take place and we have the actions to that faith, that’s how the regional church takes place in your region. If you don’t believe in that, there’s no reason to do it. Then, because you’re holding onto something else, your life will result in something else.
This is not telling you to do something, but there are actions that naturally follow your faith in the covenant. Because God promised world evangelization, we have the actions of missions, but if God did not promise something and we’re acting diligently for it, that has nothing to do with God. This seems very basic but most people have not truly organized this. That’s why they don’t truly know why their walk of faith is not taking place. God says He is blessing you, but you think you’ve come this far with your efforts, “I don’t really see the blessings.” Yes, working diligently and being a hard worker may be one blessing too, but even unbelievers do that. In fact, if you look at it that way, unbelievers have more blessings.
In the Old Testament, they talked about obeying and following the Word of the law, but in the New Testament, Jesus has fulfilled the Law so are you following the words of Jesus? This is not telling you to do something but by God’s grace, you are going with God, and just as God promised, God’s blessings will be upon you. Simply put, that’s what it means when you’re at the spiritual summit and the skill summit, the physical things follow you. The skills God gives you changes the culture, that’s a cultural summit. The most important thing about being at the spiritual state is that Jesus is the Christ, He has finished all problems on the cross, then what is the greatest problem?
Is it money? Yes, that might be a problem, but there are some people for whom money is not a problem. If somebody has the most money in the world, they don’t have any financial problems. In the olden days, kings could do whatever they wanted, and they didn’t have any human relationship problems because everyone had to follow their words. So the king didn’t have any problems with people because if they disobeyed, they will kill them. If somebody is very wealthy, they have a lot of money, so they don’t have any financial problems. Then they wouldn’t need Christ. Then that means that kings and rich people don’t need Christ, is that what this is talking about? If you think that making money is the problem and that’s why you’re seeking Christ, I’m sorry to tell you but you’ve found the wrong essence.
God does not say that the problems in life are money or human power, God is saying the problem of mankind is that, instead of listening to God’s Word, we listened to the words of Satan and we have been separated from God. I’ll tell you again to the people who listen to this as a theory. In your heart, you don’t want to put the Word of God in there, that’s what God is saying is a problem. It turns out, that’s what it means to be seized by Satan’s authority, and that turns into curses. That’s what the Lord says is a problem.
It’s not being able to sit down and worship, that’s what it means, because God gives us His Word and worship. “I really hate praising God. Talking about the people, the words for praising people. Even if somebody doesn’t tell me to do that, I will sing their praises, but I can never praise God.” The world doesn’t say that’s a problem, but God says that is the problem. So you need to see the problem God sees as a problem as my problem in order for you to receive His grace.
If any of you think that if you do not give worship tomorrow, then God will kill you immediately, you would probably come to worship. Assistant Pastor Bae’s leg hurts if she sits in worship for 2 hours, but if she thinks that she would die if she didn’t give worship, I’m sure she would be here. Do you stake your life on this? Is this enough to stake your life? Is worship valuable enough for you to stake your life? If you do not stake your life on this, you will stake your life on something else. You will stake your life on something unnecessary. You will stake your life on your pride. You will stake your life on money, that’s not even worth it. You pull each other’s hair and you fight over who’s right and who’s wrong, and that’s what you stake your life in.
We just need to stake our life on God. If we die here, we can simply die here. We call that martyrdom. If you die out in the world, that’s not martyrdom, that’s just death, and you need to have this sense of faith. You don’t have faith because of this or that; there’s something inside of you. Last Sunday we talked about military schools, and there’s something in West Point’s anthem. They have something to that song. Soldiers do not stake their lives for no reason; just because they’re a soldier does not mean they will stake their lives. Something must be hooked inside of them, and the same is true for you, something must be hooked on you. Something within you allows you to stake your life: the Word of God’s Spirit. It’s something inside of you that makes you not want to exchange this for anything else.
For example, not in today’s society but in the old society, women would rather die than give up their virginity, meaning something is in their spirit about that. There is some kind of value that you cannot change; that is the faith we must have. Otherwise, we would always be changing this way and that. We change if we’re busy or something comes up; that’s not faith. You need to have something that allows you to not exchange this, even for money.
Look at all the heroes of America. They had something for America that allowed them to even exchange their lives for America, so they were able to stake their lives. It’s the same no matter the organization. If somebody thinks Democracy has the greatest value, they stake their life on it. If somebody thinks communism is worth their lives, they will stake their life, but the majority of people are not like this. That’s just the majority of the population, the crowds, and it’s the same thing for your faith and message.
There must be something inside of you that allows you to lead the next generations with your faith. You need to have this value in this that is not tied up in anything. The confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ cannot be exchanged for anything. It doesn’t matter what situation you face, you must be able to make the confession that Jesus Christ has finished everything. Because the Lord has truly finished everything and it is our faith about that. It’s talking about our actions from that faith, that’s the blessing, and depending on the state of our faith, blessings follow.
But if you don’t have that faith, you fall into your problems, then that person will live their entire life, falling into problems. They may know a lot of Bible verses and can talk about the words of the Bible as they’ve gone to church. “Jesus is the Christ ” is just a theory for them but they must have this faith and the reason we live is to testify the value of this truth. The Bible tells us such a person will be the head, not the tail, that is the person who will lend others money but will never need to borrow money. That person will be blessed coming in and going out.
In your job and in your family if you are playing the role of this maker, then the physical things will follow you because you’re at the spiritual summit. I didn’t go to the Winter Retreat in LA this year but there were some things that happened. My daughter was in that room. There are five in the room, and two are students and two are more advanced in that room. They were kind of more like people of the world and my daughter listened to their words, so the other two students did not want to hear it so they left. My daughter was just following along without knowing the result, she was just there listening.
At night, they got hungry and asked their team leader to go to 7-eleven, so they got up and left. They’re teenagers and they were supposed to turn in their cell phones, but they lied and didn’t. She said she had something important to talk to her friend about, so she didn’t turn in her phone, so what should we do? I told her, “If there are two students saying strange things, will you side with them? That changes the environment of the whole room. However, if you recognize that these two students are talking about evil things, then the majority would be the other side, so those two students will stop talking.”
I told her, “As a father, I want you to be a maker, a leader to make the environment of the room on the side of good, but you didn’t have that sense. I’m sorry but you will have to go to the nearby school. If you go to the school you want, you cannot overcome the culture of America, and because you lied about your phone, I will take it away. It will be taken away until you graduate from high school because we cannot lie. It doesn’t matter how urgent the situation was; you should have told the truth and asked for an exception, so I’m taking your phone away. I didn’t want to give you a phone to begin with, but I didn’t want you to be scarred as a pastor’s daughter, so I got you a phone, but I will only give you a phone when you prove that you can handle it.”
Why do I give this example? Those who can make the environment for the Lord will receive blessings even if we don’t ask; they follow us. It’s not talking about the knowledge of the Word of God we have in our brains, but in our actual lives, we’re able to follow the Lord, we change our environment. When you believe in that and act accordingly, God gives you the blessings.
That’s why it says that the members of the Early Church devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teachings and shared fellowship about that Word in prayer. But most people in the world follow the environment and culture of the world, just like the five roommates. From her circumstance, she may say, “What did I do that was so wrong?” There’s only two options: are you going to change the environment to follow the Word of God, or will you be dragged along to follow the culture of the environment? How do you lead forum in the church as well? That’s what this is talking about. If you communicate with other people and go to work and school centered on God’s Word, everything follows you. This is what this is talking about.
Blessings will be upon your children. As you create this culture in your region through the regional church, God pours His blessings upon you, the words of Christ and the actions of faith that come from your faith in Jesus Christ. The environment maker who is able to change the culture and flow of the words of the world into the flow of the words of Christ. Once you go into the environment, it’s going to be hard.
There’s only two options: you can either change the environment of the world or you get sucked into it, and that’s why God promises to be with you to do that work. God has to give you that blessing for you to see it and know. People will only know if they see somebody just doing this, but they get the physical and spiritual blessings, so God will work so people can see physically and spiritually that God is alive. Your hard work and diligence are obvious, but you cannot change the environment with that. God’s blessings must be upon you. The true blessing is upon the person who believes in the words and blessings of Christ.
On the other hand, what happens when you lose hold of that? Your children will be dragged away. Just like the story of the five roommates in the room, two students were dragged away. The words of the world may seem fun, but later on, you’re completely seized by the world and Satan. It doesn’t matter how good those words are, that’s what this means. Then you’re going to have to go around borrowing money. We read in today’s scripture, it doesn’t matter what you do. You spend your entire life farming but you lose all the crops. You spend so much time working to climb to the top to be the head, but you’re the tail. That’s what this means.
I’m using this example so you can understand more easily, but it starts in the church. What side will you stand on? If you look in the last chapter of Joshua, it says, “Decide what side you will stand on now.” This does not talk about the knowledge of the Bible you have in your head. Are you going to stand on the side that declares the Word of Christ, or will you stand on the side of the world? “I will stand in the middle,” there is no such thing. Are you going to stand on the side that enjoys and testifies of Christ, or will you stand on the other side? Anybody who wants to stand in the middle are already on the other side and will receive answers that way, so the more you try, the less things will work out.
You must stand on the stream and in the environment that testifies of Christ. That was Joseph. He went as a slave but stood on the side of the Word that God desired. Because of Joseph, Potiphar’s whole house was blessed and all of Egypt was changed into a blessing. But if you don’t understand what these words really mean, you think you can change the world with your hard work, but that’s the words of nonbelievers. Even nonbelievers can take what they have and work their hardest to change it. If you think that’s it, that’s a problem. You think, “I’m working so hard so my walk of faith will work out,” but that’s not the case. Diligent people misunderstand. The harder you work, you get things, but they think that’s the walk of faith.
God doesn’t talk about that; He talks about blessings, the work of God that follows our faith, that is the only thing that can change the environment. That’s why I told my daughter, “You cannot go to the school you want to go to.” I can see that’s a good school for her to attend, but the academic level of the school is not what’s important; what’s important is standing on the side of God. The cell phone isn’t important; why did you lie? If I don’t tell her now, she’ll lie as an adult, and she’ll have a lifestyle of lying. Without thinking of it, she will lie, and a parent shouldn’t just let that be.
We must teach the children correct things but the children do not know the standard. “Don’t have a boyfriend.” Why must she not have a boyfriend? Because a student is supposed to study. You can have just friends, and it’s normal to have romantic feelings at that age, but if you become a boyfriend or girlfriend, that’s too far; we do not live according to our emotions. What happens if you get married but you keep getting drawn to like another boy or girl? will you follow your feelings then? Let’s say you go to Target but you have no money; is it okay to steal? We must not live according to our emotions or feelings, we must control that, but the kids don’t know that because they’ve never learned it. America tells them to do whatever they want, so the kids of course will not know.
Because America tells that you have freedom to do what you want, the kids do not know self-control. Many people do not know the difference between freedom and self-control. They think freedom is being able to do whatever they want, but that’s not freedom; inside of freedom is self-control.
If there’s a red light, can you still go? What happens to the other cars? Because of one person’s freedom of action, all of society is thrown into chaos. We have to teach her as a middle school student, but it’s the same for adults. It’s not about doing whatever you want. It’s not about doing whatever you want because you have all authority and power. What is God’s Word? That is how we must be in order for blessings to naturally follow, but if your nature is set in something else, curses will follow. I’m saying kids and adults are exactly the same.
In conclusion, do you truly believe Jesus is the Christ, the solution to all problems? Then in your fields, I hope you will make the decision and confession of faith. I hope you will stand on the side that relays this environment to other people, then everything else will follow. That’s what this means. The Christians are meant to do this but if they lose the most important thing and work diligently, they will be pushed to the side. I know the message was long but I hope you understand this brief conclusion: Jesus Christ Who finished all problems. You will always face more problems, but will you make the decision of faith? The fact is, all problems have been finished. May you find the true plan and answer.
“I will make this environment of the Word. In the region, in the field, in the job, in the school and family, I will make this spiritual environment,” then there is a blessing of God that follows. May you confirm and enjoy this blessing today.
Prayer
Let us pray, holding onto the Word with which God hit our hearts today, not making it complicated.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of all the people of God Who desire to change the world by holding onto the covenant of Christ and world evangelization, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.