The Bartizan that Transcends Time and Space (Acts 2:9-12)
The scripture passage we read today, where 15 nations were all far apart, gathered together with the blessing of meeting. It’s honestly not possible for us to plan to meet together. Back in these days, they didn’t even have planes, however, by the work of God, He has given the meetings of the 15 different nations. In other words, how can we have a meeting between the 237 nations of the people of this world whom we cannot meet? It’s impossible without the work of God.
We cannot go there, and even if we can go there, it is not as if we could communicate. However, by the work of God, the doors were opened and these people were able to meet. We call that the “Bartizan that transcends time and space,” then to whom does God give these works?
First, we must have the bartizan of God within us, in other words, it means the light of Jesus Christ is within me. Once you receive salvation, Jesus Christ is with me, then what does the word, “Bartizan” mean? It means, continuously shining that light. If Jesus Christ is within me, then this is talking about Christ continuously working in me, then the state of our thoughts, heart, and emotions are constantly changing.
But where is the state of our thoughts, state, and heart coming from? Our thoughts, heart, and emotions come from a place that is separated from God; it is from Satan and sin, but we are holding onto that so firmly, why? Because those are my thoughts, emotions, and mind. Then, what happens? Then the bartizan of Satan is formed. We must change that into the bartizan of God.
What does that mean? It means you continuously entrust your thoughts, heart, and emotions to God so that He can reign. Otherwise, you’ll be trapped by your own thoughts, heart, and mind, and you’ll have no choice but to face the six states of the nonbelievers. There is a continual increase in the numbers of people suffering mentally. Think about it carefully, is it because these people are wrong and thinking evil thoughts? That’s not true.
Everybody is bound to suffer mentally unless the bartizan of God is raised in them. As long as the Holy Spirit within me does not completely reign over my thoughts, heart, and emotion, we have no other choice. Even right at this moment, you need to be praying for God to reign over your thoughts and heart, because even right now, you’re thinking. If someone is not thinking, it means they are dead, but because you continuously think so deeply, you establish Satan’s bartizan, then what will be the end result? It has no choice but to lead to mental problems. You’ll be trapped in a state where you cannot overcome your problems, trapped within yourself.
But what happens if God’s bartizan is established in me? You’ll find the answer to your problem and you’ll find God’s plan. That’s what you must find first. If you do not enjoy this first, then you’ll just go back and forth to church, but internally, you’ll fall deeper into Satan’s trap of Gen. 3, 6, and 11. Christ must reign in me, that’s how I come to life. People are stuck in depression but you must send that to God so that God reigns over all your emotion and works through you.
But if I say that, people say it’s too hard and it doesn’t happen, and that may be true, but even so, entrust it to God. If you’re holding onto your depression, you will not have a masterpiece. Why are you depressed? We are depressed because we’re always stuck in our own thoughts. How can we change that? You need to change it so that God is upon you. Then, you will even see the future, and because God is established in your thoughts and heart, you’ll be able to discern in everything you do.
All our thoughts and emotions go in the direction that benefits me, and we try to avoid things that are a loss to myself. That is the state with which Satan seizes us. We always make our decision based on what will be success to me. No one can come out of that. Everybody is racing to raise their name and accomplish their success. Satan puts that in us shockingly, so that’s why people go to church. We call that “religion.”
Going to church is not the issue; religion cannot do anything. People go to church for “myself,” then what happens? You’re continuously seized by the category of “me,” but the gospel means I have been finished. I died on the cross with Christ; there is no more for myself; that state is given to Satan. Now it is for God. That is the normal thought.
But how is America’s education now? They respect and exalt the individual so much. First, there is personal freedoms, and individual privacy. They emphasize and respect that so much. What about the countries that are opposite? They degrade individuals, they will oppress the individual with the ideology of communism. Then, yes it is true that democracy is better than communism, but democracy is still not the gospel. But we are so used to democracy without even thinking.
It’s most true in America where democracy is so strong, and that’s why people in faraway communist countries will even come to America. America is a nation where the systems are set up so that people can advance themselves as much as they want. They have a system where people have no choice but to gather, then what do you think Satan is doing? Satan is seizing people like this so they cannot escape from themselves, and if you’re not able to see it, you’ll be taken in by it. The reason why mental illness is increasing is because people can’t see this, and if we don’t know the gospel, we get lost in this as well; but if you do know the gospel, you can overcome that.
The gospel says, “It is no longer me, I have died on the cross with Christ. It doesn’t matter how great of an influence my personal freedoms and rights have; they cannot overcome Satan.” When God created us, God did not create us to do things with our individual power; we were created to live with the power of God. We are not created to live with the freedom of our own thoughts; we were created to live with the thoughts and Word of God. We were not created to live for self-actualization but for the Word and world evangelization.
If this doesn’t take place for you, you’ll be a complete slave in America. What is a slave? They have no freedom. We talk about personal freedom but if you suffer from a mental illness, it means you have no freedom. If somebody takes a gun and shoots people, it means they’re seized by wrath. If someone is not able to live without drugs, it means they’re seized by something. Even right now, the kids run for success and they’re seized by success. But if you’re seized by that, there’s no freedom.
Humans must have freedom. There is complete freedom within the gospel, but if we’re not able to enjoy that, our insides are dying. In the land that gives physical freedom, there is no freedom within me, so we’re scared of our future, seized by the scars of our past, and we have no freedom today. Even though the land of America gives us complete freedom, we’re not able to enjoy that. That is why this gospel must come into me. I must finish my life with the gospel. In other words, the gospel where nothing is a problem to me.
Only when you understand this can you say you understand the gospel; if you’re not able to understand this, your life will end after continuously trying to fix problems. It’s the same thing as you, taking the gospel of the cross, and throwing it onto the ground. Christ says He has finished all the problems of our past, present, and future, but people go to church trying to fix their problems? Then of course people are confused.
Nothing is a problem for me because the Lord is my Master. That is the first bartizan that must be raised up. People say, “If I go to church, I’m sure God will give me what I want,” but that’s not what the church wants; that’s a religion. It’s not about what I want, but I must go into the greatest thing that God desires. Then, my life will go into the work of meeting people in the 237 nations.
Think about this, the plan you have for your life is the one you can’t even carry out, but if you go into the plan of God, your life will be used to save yourself and the people of the 237 nations. If you want to be someone like that, you must know what the gospel of Christ means to you. If you have accepted Jesus Christ, it means the Master is no longer you, but the Master reigns over you with sovereignty; the bartizan is enjoying this in actuality through prayer. In our lives, we constantly face situations and problems, then you need to have a bartizan for that problem to not be a problem. In other words, you need to be able to pray to receive answers.
The second thing is the bartizan of the church. The church is the gathering of people with the conclusion of “only.” Only Christ, only the Kingdom of God, only the Holy Spirit. A gathering of people who enjoy these three “only’s” is the church. We talked about only Christ earlier; only the Kingdom of God where He is reigning over me. So, allowing God to completely take control is raising up the bartizan. Whenever you receive a thought, you just entrust it to God. That’s the bartizan, but the way we continuously think is starting from “me.”
What a sinner does is put themselves in the seat of God, and every time we do that, we should change that. You need to continuously make the bartizan where you change the Master to God through prayer, then God will reign over you very well. As evidence that He is reigning over you, you will see many things. Instead of going in the direction of your thoughts, you go in the direction God gives you so God’s power is actually upon you.
You must pray because God gives you the power to be a witness to Christ to the ends of the earth. Your heart and mind must have strength; that is how you’re healed. I have no strength to overcome my depression. I have no strength to save the future. I have no strength to see the reason why I live my life the way I do. I pray that the power of Christ comes upon me. Even now, pray so you can be a normal person. Praying doesn’t mean asking God to give you what you want, but praying for God to reign over you.
You’re constantly getting thoughts? Change that to prayer and raise that bartizan, then the works of you becoming a witness to the ends of the earth will happen. Students, discover your talents. Don’t do what you want; do what God has given to you. You need to have the talent God gave you for you to develop into the correct specialization, and that’s how it will be used until the very end to save lives. God will confirm that because God has given it to you. Ever since God made me, God gave me talents.
Athletic people should work out, they shouldn’t be studying. If God has given you a talent for athleticism, work on that for your DNA to be revived. If someone is born with athleticism, they shouldn’t sit inside. It’s possible they may be smart as well, but just because they can study doesn’t mean they should go in that direction.
If God has called you as a pastor, you should be a pastor. That person should not do something else just because they’re smart. There are smart pastors as well. There are pastors who have skill and success in the world as well. Pastors must walk the path of a pastor and God guides them towards this specialization. I cannot do it well but the thing that fits with me the best is, “pastor.” When I think about other things, I can’t do anything else and that’s normal, but this is something God does through me even as I stay still because I can talk all night long, I can meet for 24 hours and just talk, and if He tells me to go anywhere in the world, I can go.
Don’t you think that’s a talent? There are some people who talk and get tired and have to stop, but I was always talkative. I talked while I drank, but before I met the gospel, I was using my talkativeness for other things. I would talk about politics because I didn’t have the gospel; I’d drink alcohol and talk. Nothing else was fun. I didn’t know this before I had the gospel, but now I’m a pastor and I realized God had always given me this talent.
How could I know that? I can know that through the other people who have the same talent that I do; God’s Holy Spirit reveals this to me as well, and because I have this knowledge, it goes into specialized knowledge so I can do this better than others. It’s not just with your brain; you need to have the talent. Your talent is your skill. Even with celebrities, some make their way with their efforts but others have natural abilities. That’s a talent.
People in the legal field, some have natural talents. If somebody’s father is in the legal field, the child goes into the legal field as they only saw that as they grew up, but they may have a difficult time. They ended up in the legal field because that’s how they grew up in the family. However, if you stand before God, God will give you the heart of what you need to do. The reason God gives this is so you can save the world. God doesn’t give you this to self-actualize; the moment you receive the gospel, you’re already self-actualized. God has completely changed your identity, so of course you’re already self-actualized. There’s no more “me.”
If you’re saying “me,” you’ve already died on the cross and Christ in you is true success. Now, we receive the talent God gave us, and we develop that God-given talent into specialization and go into the field to save people, so you won’t be a slave. If you’re not going into your field to save people but you’re going to self-actualize or to make money, you’re a slave, a slave to people or money. That’s why living in America is so hard. When you initially come into America, it seems you can make a living here, but it’s difficult, why? You’re a slave. Go there to save, for the work of God, then God is bound to give you strength because you’re doing the work of the Lord.
Kids need to listen to this and be trained before they go out, and it’s the same for young adults. It’s not important to get a job quickly but something is prepared for you to save the field. If you simply wait, God’s answer will come. God’s bartizan must first be raised within you and the bartizan of the church is raised up and the bartizan to save the field will be raised up. This is God’s process.
Look carefully, how have we lived our lives? When our friends say something, or we listen to the words of somebody who doesn’t know very much? One day we end up doing this work, that’s how we live, but what is a normal Christian like? That’s not how we live. Normal Christians are bound to go down the path the Lord has prepared.
When you look at me, before I knew Jesus Christ, I was a nonbeliever. I’m sure nonbelievers understand when I say that being a nonbeliever is just suffering. You’re already in a state that has separated from the life of God, you cannot overcome your own thoughts and level no matter how much you try. You cannot escape from yourself or your environment.
I received the gospel and then I was spiritually set free. But once I was spiritually liberated, I wasn’t able to receive God’s mission through the Word so I was confused again. Being confused meant I kept living my life with the plans I had as a nonbeliever; however, God has a plan for me to do world evangelization. However, once that bartizan was raised up in me, I could see the future.
“I will make disciples of all nations,” in the past, I didn’t have any thoughts like that, in the past, my only goal was to actualize myself. But once I received the gospel, I realized God’s plan is for me to do world evangelization and that’s why God’s power comes upon me. That’s why “only” must take place. Without “only Christ,” and “only the Kingdom of God” taking place; you live in vain. Without the power of “only the Holy Spirit,” you cannot live.
Today we have the bartizan that transcends time and space. Without understanding evangelism, you’re dragged around, but people interpret evangelism however they want. First, they imagine evangelism according to what they experience. We have no influence over how evangelism takes place, but God is saying He will do evangelism through me. Then, my body and mind and state must be aligned with Him. My studies, my work, and my state must be aligned with God. In other words, you must be aligned with the idea that God is using me to do missions and evangelism.
What happens if this is not aligned? You will receive a lot of grace in the church but once you go out into the field, you will not be aligned with God. You receive grace in church as you worship; once you’re in the field, you’re not aligned with God so you face suffering and situations for no reason. Why? In order for you to align yourself with God’s plan.
What happens if you align with God’s plan? It’s okay even if you go to prison or people block you, why? God will do this work through you. That’s the seven remnants. It’s okay even if Joseph went in as a slave because God’s plan for Egypt evangelism doesn’t change. The only person who knew about that plan of God was Joseph. Nobody at your workplace knows this plan other than you. God does His work through that person. That must come into you very purely without any motive. If you attach anything else to evangelism, God doesn’t work. If you think, “I heard if you evangelize, you’ll get blessings.” Yes, that’s true but you can’t be aligned with God. Think, “This gospel must be relayed for people to be saved. This is the reason God has called me.”
Simply put, you must have a very pure motive. It’s possible we have relentless motives, so that is why we must start correctly with the gospel. We need to save ourselves very cleanly with the gospel, then even missions and evangelism will happen with no motive. Even nonbelievers look at such people and think they’re cool, “They have no other ulterior motives, they just want to save me,” but if you have other motives, other people will know that, and God doesn’t attach people to you. That is why you must have the correct motives.
Within us, we must have the bartizan of healing, but something is strong within us. Matthew 12:28 says we must first bind the strong man. In other words, something within me is stronger and more firm than the gospel, and that must be broken down. If that is not broken down, even though I believe in Jesus Christ, something is stronger, moving me. Even without me realizing it, demons move in, and although people believe in Jesus Christ, they have problems, why? In this state, the strong thing remains. This must be healed.
Every individual has this. Even if somebody grows up believing in Jesus Christ, if they don’t have the accurate gospel, there is something very strong within them, even if they’re born a Christian. It is, “My diligence,” they think, “If I pray diligently to God,” it is their diligence and I meet people in the field like this. They’ll say things like, “You must have prayed so much.” That’s essentially saying, “If you do not pray a lot, works will not take place; if you pray a lot, they will,” then prayer is based on my actions.
Other ideologies are within you that are not the gospel, and that ideology completely seizes people. Until that ideology is broken down, you cannot have proper healing. Every family has that, something that is higher than the gospel, something that goes before the gospel. As soon as you wake up in the morning, that is your state. As soon as you wake up in the morning, what do you do? That is your state. As soon as you wake up in the morning, your first thought is your state. That’s how you’ve lived.
First, your thoughts must change. The things you think about the most, we call that our ideology, and the ideology will move this person. I talked about the democracy ideology. Democracy is not the gospel, God never talked about democracy, isn’t that right? God talked about the gospel. It is simply that democracy is relatively better than communism. But it’s not the gospel. We cannot ignore democracy, that’s our nation, but that is why, in the early morning when you wake up, you must begin with the gospel. As soon as you wake up in the morning, the emotion you feel. As soon as you wake up in the morning, the thoughts you continually get. As soon as you wake up in the morning, the state of your heart. Satan seizes you from the morning, so we must change.
I hope that those who are not able to pray, that you may listen to the message. Otherwise you hold onto your thoughts. As you keep listening to the message, your state will be changed. When I was a nonbeliever, as soon as I woke up in the morning, I was uncomfortable with all the stress and competition. I didn’t have God; all I had was studying. So, I was oppressed by that all night long. I wasn’t delighted by studying, I had to force myself, and because I was supposed to be studying, I was oppressed by a heavy burden.
As soon as you wake up in the morning, you must change your state to God. I hope you will listen to the Word. It will be difficult for you to pray so I hope you will listen to the Word. When I look at the people who come into Early Morning service, people turn off their cameras on Wednesday. It’s everybody doing this at once. They come to Wednesday Night worship and start Thursday worship. That’s normal, I was like that as well. When I received spiritual strength, I would go until maybe Tuesday. Even though it should take me through the week, it would go about two days and stop. That’s when you’re tested.
Test yourself in this. Some people, it’s so hard for them that they come into zoom and leave; they cannot stay. At least, it’s very important to discover yourself but you must have victory in the morning. If you have victory in the morning, it means you have victory in the beginning of the day. As you listen to the word of God, you begin to pray and continuously heal yourself.
Then, we will be able to save the remnants. In the Bible, this is the Mizpah movement. What is the Mizpah movement? To throw away all the idols and go before God. That is concentration. Let go of everything in the world and allow the kids to concentrate, to only listen to the Word of God and pray, then something changes. That was the Dothan movement. They gathered all these prophets and made them concentrate.
We are going into the age of the three day weekend. We gather the remnants on the weekends and make them concentrate. There are people who participate in that, in other words, people who stake their lives in raising the remnants. That is the movement that took place in Deut. 6, imprinting the children, and it continues even today. Those things are not just in the Bible, but it’s also today. The children must arise to save the future.
Help the kids concentrate. How difficult is it? I’m sure everyone goes through the maturation phase, but even when I look at the young adults, I can tell what their spiritual life is like. There’s no reason for you to worry about what I think. I already know so you can be comfortable at church because I already know everything you do at home. There’s a way for me to know all that, so just be comfortable. You’ll comfortably change, continuously.
As that time of concentration changes, you’ll also have the concentration to study. That means you’ll get mental strength through the spiritual strength God gives you, and you’ll do your business with the strength God gives you. That comes through concentration, everything is restored, but right now is an age with no concentration. People are addicted to the internet, to drugs, an age where people are addicted to substances and games. There’s nothing other than concentrating on God. Even right now, it’s that time. It may seem you’re sitting there with a blank mind but you’re concentrating on God.
How does healing take place? As you continue to worship, you’re naturally healed, and that’s normal. As you concentrate, you’re healed. If not, it’s a disease. When you concentrate in worship, your diseases go away. This is everything. If you’re able to concentrate, those things go away. No reason to pray to get rid of your depression; all these problems come because of not concentrating on God. The reason why kids cannot concentrate on their studies is because they cannot concentrate on God.
This is worship and it’s precious. There’s a difference between worship and Bible study. There’s a reason why we take away kids’ phones during worship. For a normal person, even as time passes, they wonder, “I wonder if I even had that problem.” What’s the characteristic or telltale sign of concentrating on God? That’s spiritual health. Being able to concentrate on God for 24 hours is that person’s spiritual state.
Through these people, God will attach the people of the 237 nations, people we cannot meet or go to. For businesspeople, God will attach disciples to your business. In the church, while we pray, God will open the door to the 237 nations, transcending time and space. That is the normal believer.
If we conclude the word, concentrate on God from the morning. Don’t force yourself to concentrate but listen to God’s Word because that’s concentration. If people have a little bit more leisure, have deep breathing prayer to ask God’s power to come upon them. We did deep breathing prayer with a few people in early morning prayer; do that continuously by yourself. Then God’s power is actually going to come upon you and your spiritual state changes. If your spiritual state changes, then even when you think about the people you meet, as you do your business, your thoughts will change. You face a problem today? Your thoughts will be different.