God’s Absolute Plan (John 3:16-21)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The title of today’s message is, “God’s Absolute Plan.” What is the reason why humans suffer? It is because they are not remaining within God’s unchanging and absolute plan. People have no choice but to suffer because they are holding onto the things they have created for themselves. Then, may today’s worship be the Word that restores everything for you.
All suffering, mental suffering, physical suffering, suffering with finances, and suffering with your human relationships come from being outside of God’s plan. Why are there so many mental patients and drug addicts in America? It’s because they are holding onto the things of America more than they are holding onto God’s absolute things. America is trying to spread the things of America to the rest of the world. Satan uses that to take the entire world towards disaster.
Even though I believe in Jesus, why do I continue to suffer? It’s because you are holding onto the things you received from the world, deep inside you. Without realizing it, you are holding onto things like your personality, justice, righteousness, or your rationality inside of you as the absolute thing. You are holding onto the things you’ve experienced and the little bit of success you’ve had in the past, rather than holding onto God’s Word. Or, instead of holding onto God’s Word, you are holding onto the words of these great heroes.
As evidence that humans cannot amount to much on their own, even the greatest heroes met a pitiful end. Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, how did all of these great individuals and heroes meet their fateful end? If you know how they ended their life, then you’ll realize that their words should be taken as reference, but they are not absolute. You keep trying to follow after the books that you’ve read. “If I do this, then I will succeed; if I do this, then I will win,” we keep on trying to chase after that. And maybe that might’ve worked temporarily and momentarily, almost coincidentally as the alignment of the times, and those physical things should continue, but we cannot. Because God is still moving His unchanging plan even now, we must go into that plan.
Last week, a man named Nicodemus went to ask Jesus Christ how to see the Kingdom of God, and Jesus said, “You have to be born again,” and Nicodemus did not understand what He meant. Starting from John 3:16 is a continuation of what He was saying, and He says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” So the One Who gives here is God; it is not me, it is not my parents, but God so loved the world. After everything has gone away, the love you are talking about and the things you have in this life are all gone.
1. God’s plan – Love
God says that He so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. So, the answer to every problem of mankind in this world is the one and only Son. Even though we go to church, if we don’t see this as the answer, we will continuously suffer. We have to relay this to the world as the answer, but because we are not relaying it, God puts us through suffering. Why is that? We are wandering because we are currently seeking another answer. The Jewish people were seeking signs and the Gentiles were seeking wisdom, but within Jesus Christ are hidden all the wisdom and power of God. Within Christ, the one and only Son, are all the answers contained, but even the Christian believers are not looking for answers inside of Christ; they look for answers elsewhere, so they are bound to suffer.
1) For long ages past (Rom. 16:25)
(1) My gospel that is hidden (Rom. 16:25)
(2) Proclaim about Jesus Christ (Rom. 16:25)
The plan of God sending His one and only Son was actually predestined from long ages past. It says in Rom. 16:25 that the gospel is now revealed./
(3) Chose us before creation (Eph. 1:4)
Eph. 1:4 says that God had predestined to save us even before we were created. God’s absolute plan does not change. I’m not the only one He has chosen; there are people in the future He has chosen. So, age by age, God will carry out the work of salvation to reveal His longstanding, absolute plan.
2) Son (Jn. 3:17)
In today’s scripture, we hear about God giving His one and only Son, and there are people who say, “Well, if Jesus is the Son, then God the Father must be greater than the Son.” Some people say, “If there is God the Father, there should be God the Mother as well,” so Catholics emphasize Mary and there is even a religion that talks about God the Mother. But Who is this one and only Son?
(1) With God in the beginning (Jn. 1:2)
He existed with God in the beginning.
(2) Word, Creator, Life, Light (Jn. 1:1-5)
He is the Creator God, He is Life and He is Light.
(3) The Word became flesh (Jn. 1:14)
The Word of God came to us in flesh, that means He was human. Isaiah 9 says He is the Almighty God, He is God the Father and He is God the Son.
3) Into the world (Jn. 3:17)
(1) Offspring of woman (Gen. 3:15)
He has come to earth in the form of a man, and it was written in Gen. 3:15 that He would come as the offspring of the woman. So, yes He does have to come to earth in the form of a woman, so He simply borrowed Mary’s womb, but He has the genetics of God and was born as a human through Mary. So, that means He has the genes or genetics of God, but He was born as a human. He is not the descendant of Adam, He is not a descendant who has the original curses and sin, but He is the Almighty God, the One Who is the Light and Life.
(2) Light (Jn. 3:19)
Only He is the Light; everything else is darkness. When these words are deeply embedded into your heart today, then the way that you will see the world is different. The fact that Jesus Christ is the only Light means that no matter what methods you use, no matter how hard you work, it is all darkness; only Christ is the Light. I’m not sure how well you will receive these words; you working your hardest and best is darkness. Your power and abilities, they are darkness because only Jesus Christ is the Light, and only when you remain within Jesus Christ will your efforts have value. Only when you remain within His absolute plan will your personality have value. Your righteousness, your correctness, your morals and your ethics, all of that is darkness outside of Christ. In other words, those things cannot save you. If anything, the more correctly you live inside of darkness without the Light, the more afflicted you will be.
(3) Immanuel (Mt. 1:23)
He has come to us to be with us, and we must come to all of our answers with this. All of your problems, the problems you will face in the future, and the problems you’ve already faced in the past, how must you find your answer to that? You must finish everything with the fact that He is with me. If you don’t find that believable, then even as you go to church, you will continue to suffer because of your problems. This Jesus has come to earth as the Christ, as the Messiah, and as the Savior, and now, I believe in Him as my Lord. Even if you believe that Jesus is the Christ and the Messiah, if you don’t believe in Him as your Lord and the Master of your life, your family, and your business, and all America, that is the beginning of problems. We must worship and believe in Him as the Lord. But if you’re not able to do that, then you keep on pleasing yourself as the Lord, that is how you go into the control of the devil, that’s why suffering continues to happen. Your mental problems, financial problems, interpersonal relationship problems, there is only one thing you must do. “He is with me,” and from the moment you believe He is your Lord, then all these problems will melt away like snow.
What is making you suffer right now? Try comparing your spiritual state. You are your own lord right now, you are trying to move yourself, you are holding onto the traumas of your past; you are holding onto the scars of your past, and you are holding onto your depression. You are holding onto your own panic disorders. You are holding onto your own bipolar emotions. You don’t entrust it to God because you are afraid. Satan knows that and places that fear into you, he is threatening you, but you are shaking in fear because of that threat, and you are enslaved by Satan.
Nobody tells you this, they don’t teach you this in church or school, and you think your life will only get better if you meet a good man or a good woman, or you think your life will get better because you get first place, but it only gets worse. If the Lord of Light has come into my life, then I must believe in Him as my Lord and Master. He is seated at the throne of heaven but He is also within me forever.
2. World
1) To save (Jn. 3:17)
Jn. 3:17 says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” Then, what was the world like that God had to send Jesus to save the world? “Saving the world” means that was your state before salvation, and now they must be saved out of that situation. When Jesus Christ said, “I will make you into fishers of men,” meaning, just like a fisherman, they will bring people up out of the water. What kind of state are all the people of America and the world born in, now? They are born in a state that is dead by their transgressions and sins. The physical life we are living, the greek word for that is “bios,” and that’s where “biology” comes from. The spiritual life is called, “zoe,” so Life is different, but we think the physical life is everything, but our spiritual life is dead.
(1) Sin – Death (Eph. 2:1)
That means that Adam and Eve sinned against God, and every human being born after that is born into a spiritual state of death and sin.
(2) Authority of Satan – Cravings of our flesh (Eph. 2:2-3)
That state is described in Eph. 2:2, that they are following the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Instead of following the ways of God, they follow the ways of the world. The ways of the world” say that we are our own master, “I live however I want,” and every individual thinks they are just living their lives, but actually they are dragged by the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Eph. 2:3 says that this state is being dragged to gratify the cravings of their sinful nature and the desires and thoughts of the flesh. They were by nature objects of wrath, we must be saved out of that kind of world. The world drags everyone by saying, “You just have to take care of yourself, you just have to live a good, just life,” but that is darkness. Justice itself is not dark, but thinking justice is all we need to live, that is darkness. The world keeps on making people centered on themselves, thinking they can do something on their own. You just have to take care of yourself, there’s no god there, you just have to be in your right mind; there is no god there. This is the way that Satan, the devil, is controlling America and the world.
How is the devil moving America? Ever since these little children are enrolled into schools, they learn about many subjects, but they are indoctrinated with the ideology of self-centeredness, that is what the schools are teaching the children, and every part of society is teaching them the culture of being centered on individual privacy, individual rights, and individual freedom. Then, when people who emigrate here study and go back to their nations, they spread this ideology to their nations. That is the reason there are so many drug patients in America today. That is the reason why there are so many campus shootings in America today, because of this ideology, and in the future, America will become worse.
The reason I say that America will become worse is because I have a basis to say that it becomes useless, even going to church, because even the people who go to church only go to church for themselves. Ever since they were little, Satan planted the ideology of individualism inside of them, so even if this makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable, that’s my standard. “I will only accept God’s Word if I understand it; if I don’t understand it, I reject it. What is God’s Word saying? I have no interest in that,” and the evidence of that is, when you face a problem, you have no interest to hear what God’s Word is telling you; you are only worried about solving that problem or getting stuck and dying in that problem. You are not centered on hearing me; what is God’s Word talking about here? You are only questioning, saying, “Why haven’t you done what I’ve learned?” That’s why there are so many conflicts and divisions.
(3) In Jesus – Seated us with him in the heavenly realms, Eternal life (Eph. 2:6, Jn. 3:16)
Eph 2:5 says that by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, we have been seated at the throne of heaven with Him. This world will ultimately be judged, meaning they will face the result of their life.
2) Condemned (Jn. 3:18)
(1) Does not believe in the name of God’s one and only Son (Jn. 3:18)
John 3:18 says that the people who haven’t believed in Jesus are already condemned. Even before they go to the eternal hell, they are suffering from a hellish life on earth. No matter how great of an individual we elect as the President, they cannot solve that problem. Even if we have a president who has the greatest financial policy, they cannot save mankind from the suffering of condemnation.
(2) Love darkness instead of light – Love myself instead of God (Jn. 3:19, 2Tim. 3:1)
The reason these people suffer is in John 3:9, they loved the darkness more than they liked the night. So it means, where is your heart? Instead of placing their hearts towards Christ, they were placing their heart in something else. 2 Tim. 3:1-2 says that the reason there will be great suffering in the end times is because people will love themselves and money more than they love God. So, even as they go to church, they will love their own thoughts more than they will love God’s Word. Even the reason they believe in God is so they can make more money, so in reality, they love money more than God. There are some people who say, “I’m not interested in money,” but they’re interested in something else, like success. Because they are going to church like this, they don’t have the things of God inside of them, they only have the things that Satan has planted into them,
(3) Everyone who does evil – Hates the light (Jn. 3:20)
In John 3:20, it says these people do what is evil. What is “evil”? It is, not following the Light. This is not talking about what is evil based on our thoughts, morals, and ethics, it just means not following the Light of Jesus Christ. In other words, they hate Christ Who is the Light. Of course this is true for nonbelievers, but even as people go to church, they are like this. They say, “Oh, but I’ve never hated Jesus,” but what are you holding onto right now? Are you holding onto Christ or are you holding onto your own thoughts? Are you holding onto your present circumstances or reality, or are you holding onto the Christ inside of that? That’s why you suffer.
3) Reason for not coming into the light (Jn. 3:20)
(1) Belong to the evil one – Child of devil (1Jn. 5:19, 1Jn. 3:8-10)
The reason these people cannot go into the light is because in John 3:20, it says they are under the control of the evil one. Before this person makes their decision or action, where do they belong? It says they are under the control of the evil one. Satan controls them to the point where they can’t even sense what is right or wrong. Then Satan just makes us chase after the cravings of our flesh and sinful nature, and we race in that direction. 1 John 3:8-10 says that there are children of the devil. The world does not teach you this, the world just tells you, “You have to work hard, you have to succeed,” but God is asking, “Do you belong to God or do you belong to the devil?”
(2) Cain’s murder – Belonged to the evil one (1Jn. 3:12)
1 John 3:12 says that the reason Cain killed his younger brother Abel is not because he is evil, but because he belonged to the evil one. Then, what about my state? Is my spiritual state within the light of Christ or is it somewhere opposite? People in this world have mental illnesses, they commit suicide, but even before that, where does their spiritual state belong?
(3) God of this world – Blinded the minds (2Cor. 4:4)
2 Cor. 4:4 says that the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that the gospel of the glory of Christ cannot go in. Then, even if they go to church, the Truth does not go into them. Then, because they continue to suffer, they just end up leaving. Or, by God’s grace, they have received salvation, but they relentlessly remain centered on themselves instead of God. Because America continues to force you to think about personal freedom, personal rights, and personal privacy, we are drunk on that. All of the decisions and all the judgments we make in life are centered on “me.” These are words that are so good for people to hear, but what is the end result? As evidence that I am not God, I will continue to face things that I don’t want. The only method people can give as the solution is to do drugs, drink alcohol, or go on vacation. But just because you go on vacation does not mean your problem will be solved. This is what the world is going like, but we are the ones who follow the Truth.
3. Those who follow the truth
1) Those who follow the light (Jn. 3:21)
In other words, we are the ones who follow the Light of Jesus Christ, Jn. 3:21. You are the ones who follow Christ as the Light, not only inside the church but out in the world as well. There is one condition to follow the Christ; You must deny yourself. When you face a problem, your thoughts will come out and you must deny those thoughts. You must follow Christ. You need to chase after the plan that the Lord has in the midst of this problem, crisis, or situation. There are some people who face the same suffering, over and over again. They are in a state that leaves them no other choice; no matter what method they use, they cannot get out of that problem. That’s why they suffer, why? That’s the result of living however they wanted, centered on themselves. The church is not a place you go to get what you want and to do what you want. We are coming to church to receive God’s unchanging words of Truth, and when that Word really comes into me, all my incorrect thoughts will change . There are incorrect things from this world that become our imprint, root, and nature, but when the Word of Truth comes into us, those things will change.
(1) Cross – It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
We follow Jesus Christ and on the cross, He said, “It is all finished,” John 19:30. What does it mean that everything is finished? It means that He has finished what we could not do on our own. The only thing we can do is maybe make a church building and maybe worship here, but we need to know Who it is we are worshiping. We can even make a church that has is 100 times bigger than this by human effort, but there is one thing we cannot do. We cannot block the disasters that come as a result of our Original Sin. We cannot overcome or come out of the darkness of Satan without the Light. We cannot solve the suffering of mankind, no matter how much you try to meditate under a tree. It doesn’t matter how much America tries to go into transcendental meditation, they cannot escape from mental suffering. The Lord has finished all of this by taking all the curses and disasters of our sin, and He took upon Himself all of our suffering and illnesses. He was spat on, mocked and ridiculed by all the people, and He took on our mental suffering for us.
The reason you have your scars is because you’re ashamed or embarrassed, but the Lord has already taken all of that mental suffering. There is no reason for me to suffer again, twice. The Lord was for us, for He has taken up all of our physical suffering, and He went down to hell to take the suffering of death for me.
(2) God’s kingdom (Ac. 1:3, Mt. 6:33)
Then He resurrected and told us about the Kingdom of God. You need to know the Kingdom of God in order for you to pray correctly because Jesus told us to first seek after God’s Kingdom and righteousness. The Kingdom of God is where God reigns and rules over me. You might believe Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, but you must believe in Him as your Lord and Master, that is when His Kingdom will be established in me. That Kingdom will bring upon us joy, peace, and righteousness. We do not get joy from doing drugs; we do not get joy when our children succeed. We do not get joy when we can change our fate, we do not get joy when our business does well. All of that may be temporary, momentary, but we cannot receive the joy of God through our own abilities. We need to believe in Christ as my Lord in order for His Kingdom to be established on me. We are living in this world, the physical world, to eat and make a living, however, Satan is moving the kingdoms of the world so we are centered on the physical things and people. Even right now, you should be asking for Christ to be your Lord, for Him to reign over you. Specifically speaking, you should pray for the Holy Spirit to completely fill and reign over your mind, your heart, your emotions, your spirit, your body, your business, and everything.
(3) Holy Spirit – Authority – Witness to ends of the earth (Ac. 1:8)
Mt. 12:28 says that, if it is by the spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. Every time there is a new superpower nation that comes to the power of the world, they try to spread their nation to the word; they’ve all failed. Rome failed, Egypt failed, Persia failed, Greece failed, Great Britain, or the UK, failed. It’s not that far back. Same thing will be for America. However, the Kingdom of God is continuously ongoing and it will be spread, you must understand that Kingdom of God. The reason your family is so noisy is because the Kingdom of God is not established there. If everybody is their own lord, they move however they want, and that’s the result.
Why does our life turn out like this, even though we don’t want it? That’s how we learn. You’ve learned that ever since you were little, even since you started school. They are taught, “Instead of Christ being your Lord, you are your own lord.” So, America has planted this so they have no choice but to have mental problems even since a young age. I’m not talking about the mental illnesses you can see on the outside, even if they are elites and can see fine, they have mental illness. That’s why no one is able to stay in the family anymore; “it’s hard enough for me to exist on my own, how could I add two or three more people?” If they’re not able to handle being on their own, “How could I go to a church with so many people?” That’s why they don’t go to church.
That is why, “only when the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ comes upon us, you will receive power and be a witness of Christ to the ends of the earth.” I hope you are praying, even right now. Even if you’re worried, nothing will happen. The more deeply you think and worry, the more deeply you study, the more afflicted you’ll be spiritually. “Pastor, it seems you are really scolding the people who are really good at studying,” I’m not trying to put them down, but I’ll tell you why they have more mental and spiritual problems.
Because all these people accomplished more from their own strength and power, so these people are characteristically stronger in being centered on themselves because these people will say, “I accomplished this with my abilities,” there’s no way the devil will leave them alone because the more they are like that, the more it is easy for him to take over, and because they are completely taken over, they cannot escape, and they are suffering. I’ll give you an example. If an animal is caught in a trap, what do they do? If their leg is caught in a trap, they want to escape but they cannot, so that is suffering, and they do everything they can to try to escape, but that is a mental problem.
If you are caught in a mental problem, you cannot escape. They will try to use every method that they can, and the last resort is drugs. It’s not because they want to; it’s because they have no other method. There’s no other way. You need to be able to tell them that, but you don’t tell them that. Because we don’t tell other people that, God will give us a great suffering that even nonbelievers will be able to see, then He heals us so we confess it is by Jesus Christ and that other people may hear. The Israelites should have proclaimed the gospel and evangelized to the Babylonians, but they didn’t, so God brought them as prisoners of war to proclaim the gospel in the midst of Babylon. Because they were suffering so much there, they shouted out to the Lord, and the nonbelievers saw that, and God began to work. That is how the nonbelievers and Gentiles came to know of the Lord God.
If you don’t go into God’s absolute plan in your life, field, or job, God will give you suffering. God will not give that suffering in hiding; God will give it to you so that even nonbelievers can see. Because you cannot overcome with your own strength, you’ll shout out to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and then God will bring you out of that suffering, so He will force you to testify of Jesus Christ to nonbelievers. “Oh, but I live my walk of faith well, I give my offering, why is it like this?” People who are usually good at everything in their life, there will be a model in every aspect; there are more people who aren’t like that, but that’s not the resolution. You must believe in Him in your heart. It may not seem like much, but this grace must be upon you, then you will go into God’s absolute plan. Then, God will continue to push you from behind in order to fulfill His plan.
Jesus Christ died on the cross and went to heaven, but where is He now? He is inside of me, what is He doing? Even right now, He is doing the work of saving the people who are being judged and condemned in the world. “Why was I born here? Why did I move here?” To fulfill the plan of God. When that is aligned with you one day, everything will be restored. Even if you don’t ask for healing, you will be healed. That’s not something you can do; God must say, “This is gone,” and it will be erased from your memory, why? Because God’s plan must be fulfilled. Just because you ask for money does not mean you’ll get it. God has to give you the money and savings account He has for God’s will. I’m telling you in a way you understand. Everything you know is just working hard and saving up, that’s something that God gives to believers and nonbelievers. But God has prepared a separate fund specifically to fulfill His plan. When you re aligned with that, then God will give you answers from heaven. Is temple construction God’s will? If it is, God will give the funds. Is proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth God’s plan? If it is, God will give you the funds. Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant to Him; only 0.1% succeed, but may you and I go into God’s absolute plan.
2) With
(1) Authority of heaven and earth, disciple of all nations (Mt. 28:18-20)
That is why God promised to be with you with all authority in heaven and on earth to make disciples of all nations. There are disciples who are prepared in your business field, that is what you must race towards, holding onto that absolute plan. Then, the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth will be with you, working upon you.
(2) Those who believe – Overcome the world (1 Jn. 5:5)
How can we overcome this world? 1 John 5:5 says the one who believes in Jesus Christ can overcome the world. Succeeding in the world is not overcoming the world; you must overcome the world. The one who overcomes the world must have success. But if you succeed without overcoming the world, you’ll only be a slave.
(3) Word – Soul, spirit, flesh, thoughts, heart – Healing (Heb. 4:12)
God is His Word, and Heb. 4:12 says the Word of God will heal our thoughts, our heart, our joints and marrow, our emotions.
(4) Love God – Drive out fear (1 Jn. 4:18)
The beginning of all spiritual problems comes from fear. If God is with you, then fear disappears. As soon as a child is separated from its mother, they are immediately filled with fear, and because we are filled with fear, we try to build up these strategies of humanism. In order to get rid of that fear inside of us, we do drugs, we drink alcohol, we do music, whatever we can. 1 John 4:18 says that only the love from God can drive out fear. Loving Christ is the way to drive out fear. There is no human who can overcome fear, and the beginning of mental problems is fear. But there are some people who are unbothered by this answer, that means they have no fear. The one who believes in Christ, the one who believes they have eternal life. Even before the problem comes, because they are afraid to fail, but there are some people who are unafraid even as they are failing, that is not taught in the world. That fear will only go away if we believe in Jesus Christ and love God.
3) Field of the world
(1) 2-3 people gather in Jesus’ name (Mt. 18:20)
The Bible says that the world is not worthy of us, and the Bible tells us that though we are hard-pressed on all sides, we are not crushed. Even though we fail, it doesn’t matter because our failure is not the central point, but the Lord’s plan being fulfilled within us is the central point. So, when you go out into the field, where 2 or more people are gathered in Jesus’ name, the Lord promises to be there. If you gather together and you just criticize and gossip about other people, then the devil will gather. If you gather with your family and you’re just worried about your future or you’re just talking about success, then Satan will be with you. “The place where people gather in My Name,” the Lord promises to be there, then nobody can block you.
(2) Gather everyday – Added those who will be saved (Ac. 2:46-47)
God is telling you to do that in your field. Is it hard to do this on your own? Then find somebody else like you. When 2 or more people gather, what do they do? They look for God’s absolute plan. The members of the Early Church did this every day, and the people who received salvation were added to that. The members of the Early Church gathered together every day, and they held onto the Word of God and prayed, then God added to the numbers being saved.
(3) Evil spirits, fortune telling, idolatry – Healing (Ac. 13,16,19)
There are many people who are suffering in the field, there are many people like Nicodemus, there were many people who were demon-possessed by doing meditation. There are many people who are suffering because they’re not able to escape from their childhood scars, they cannot handle it. Only when you move their focus to center on God will God move. As soon as you wake up in the morning, the most humble person is the one who concentrates on God’s Word. That’s what God says in Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the one who meditates on the law of the LORD, day and night.” The one who does not do this is seated in the seat of mockers.
Conclusion
1. Meditation – God is the master (3 concentration)
Who is the one who is truly humble? It is not somebody who looks down and tries to look humble in front of other people, but the one who meditates on the Word of the Lord as soon as they wake up. Somebody who does not meditate on the Word of God from the moment they wake up, whenever they face problems in the day, they will scatter in the wind. Psalm 1:6 says they are destined for destruction. As soon as you wake up in the morning, give your tithe to God by concentrating that time to God. Stop waking up for yourself and thinking of other things for yourself, but have a time to concentrate on God’s Word in the morning. You live your life so centered on yourself that you’re not even able to concentrate on God when you wake up in the morning; that is the state you’re in. Before you sleep at night, have a time to concentrate on God’s Word. You live doing whatever you want, and that’s why you keep facing things you cannot control. The way you can diagnose your spiritual state is by seeing, “When I wake up, do I meditate on God’s Word, or do I think and do whatever I want?” The you can also predict the future: the things you don’t want will happen.
2. 3 answers (Problem, conflict, crisis)
However, if you meditate on God’s Word, then God’s absolute plan will continue to be fulfilled through you. For that person, when they face a problem, they look for God’s plan immediately. But if somebody lives however they want, then when they face a problem, they try to solve that problem, or they get stuck in that problem.
3. 3 settings (Platform, watchtower, antenna)
May you and I remain within God’s unchanging and unshaking absolute Word.
Message Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We thank You for giving Your grace to allow us to know Christ and to believe in Christ as our Lord. Allow us to live throughout this week with faith in this covenant, and allow us to remain within the stream of the absolute plan, the salvation of souls. We have returned Your material blessings as offering. May you bless the hands that have given the tithe and temple construction offering for the church, and bless the hands that have given the offering for missions to the 237 nations and the future generations. We pray You will also bless the hands that have given the offering for Sunday worship and other offering topics with the economy of light. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Mon.-Fri. 5:30, Sat. 6AM) – Raise the bartizan of prayer
2. Native American Navajo camp is on 6/23(Mon.)-27(Thurs.)
3. Florida camp (Anticipating end of July, beginning of August)
4. Regional Summer camp (Children’s) – 6/11(Tues.) -6/12(Wed.)
5. College Retreat: New Jersey 6/26-27
6. 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, filling, and working, and guidance of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of the people of God who desire to hold onto the absolute plan You have made to save the people from long ages past by sending us Your one and only Son, and upon Jacob and Monica’s family who is being commissioned to Seattle, upon all their businesses, ministries, and academics, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.