We have life but we aren’t able to enjoy it. Why not? If I become my own master I cannot enjoy my own life.

Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God. You guys just made a very blessed confession, and once you realize that these words are the greatest blessing. I hope you believe that a blessing is not someone who curses someone to win but someone who is able to give the blessing of Christ.  As the choir praised, your hope is in Christ alone. If there is anyone who does not have hope or thinks the future is bleak, I hope you will quickly come to Jesus. Last week we received the word of the peace of the one who is commissioned. It’s not that He gives you peace and then sends you out, but Jesus Who is Peace is with you and carries out His work through you.

Today the title of God’s word is “God’s Goal is for You to Have Life.” The background of today’s scripture is in John 20:31 where it says “the reason these things are written”– the reason the Bible was recorded, the reason I am living here, the goal with which I go to church, the goal for which I am going to school and work, the reason I’m in the middle of sickness, the goal for which I am in difficulty–this is what we’re talking about. I hope that this blessing will be upon you. 

1. Thomas

Last week Jesus Christ resurrected and he found his disciples. There was one person missing among them; in v. 24 it says it was Thomas also known as Didymus. 

  1) Faith that personally confirms

In John 20:25, we see that the other disciples tell him “The Lord has resurrected” and Thomas responds “I will not believe until I see and feel the nail marks in his hands.” Later on, Thomas would be martyred doing missions in India. Even now, the place where Thomas evangelized in India is still a Christian village.  It seems like this person had a picky style.

  (1) Person who doesn’t know unless they see (Jn. 14:5)

In Jn. 14:5, Jesus tells him “I will make a way for you to come where I am” and Thomas asks “where are you going?” It seems like what Jesus is saying was very vague so Thomas asks questions about it. “How can we know the Way You are going?”  The other disciples stay quiet even if they don’t understand, but Thomas’s style is that he can’t keep things to himself and he has to ask. Jesus responds by saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Because Thomas asked the question, Jesus gave Him the answer, that Jesus Christ is the Way Himself.  If it weren’t for Thomas’s question, those words wouldn’t have come unto this earth. 

    (2) Person who doesn’t accept vague content 

Thomas’s style is a little picky and all the disciples are fishermen so they don’t have good sense but Thomas is very accurate. And Thomas is saying “I’m sure who you guys saw is someone else. 

    (3) One who listens to the words of the disciples but doesn’t believe (Jn. 20:25)

“Until I see for myself and touch the nail marks and where Jesus was stabbed, I won’t believe.” It seems he has a very precise personality, and it’s good if it goes in the direction of faith. However, when he said “I will only believe Jesus has resurrected if I feel his nail wounds and his side,” he only believes things that are scientifically proven, so his faith will not grow. 

  2) Jesus came to them

    (1) Appeared a week later (Jn. 20:26)

In John 20:26, Jesus Christ comes to the disciples’ house where they are gathered one week later. As he finds them, he says “Peace be with you.” This means “believe in me.” You can only have peace if you believe in the Lord. Because the Lord is with you, believe in Him.  The Lord understood the words that Thomas said, so He says “Reach out your hand and put it into My side,” because when Thomas was with the disciples, He said, “I won’t believe unless I touch His side.”

    (2) Confirm Jesus’s body (John 20:27)

Do you think he really touched his side? I don’t think he did. Because Jesus Christ is right before him; he sees the nail wounds and His pierced side. The important thing is that Jesus Christ gave the word at that time. “Reach out your hand and touch my side.  Stop doubting and believe.” I believe that Thomas did not actually touch his side, but instead received faith through the grace of the Holy Spirit. But you and I believe in the Lord without seeing Him personally; we believe with the Word, and that is the grace that came upon Thomas. 

    (3) Believe (John 20:27)

Even before this point, the center of the disciples’ faith was still on themselves. They had to see to believe. They only believe in Jesus after he showed them the signs and the miracles. Because Jesus died on the cross, they were still masters of their own lives, so they ran away. When they heard he had resurrected, they had no choice but to gather together, but the center of their lives and their faith was still themselves. Before his death, they believed the Lord because they saw Him with their eyes and saw His miracles but once He died, their faith disappeared. 

  3) Confess

If there are any of you like that, I hope you will have a new faith today.  Thomas begins a new life here today. 

    (1) My Lord (Jn. 20:28)

What does it mean when Thomas says “my Lord and my God”? It means that he will change the master, owner, and center of his life. Before this, he only believed what he could see and confirm for himself but now he is saying he will give himself up for the Master and Lord. 

    (2) My God (Jn. 20:28)

When he says “My God”, he is confessing that Jesus is the One who created me, who gave him life and death and moves everything on this earth He created. This is not the Jesus he believed in before. There are still people who believe in Jesus Christ but are still their own master, then there are some of you who still believe in Jesus Christ even though you’re your own master, then you will always be shaking in fear and suspicion. It doesn’t mean you don’t believe; you may believe, but you will live like this for decades. 

    (3) Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (Jn 20:29)

There are people who still live on their own time schedule. They think “If I believe this long, no one has greater faith than me,” and that’s their standard.  But your life will change the moment you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will change into one who will be able to devote and become a martyr to the ends of the earth, proclaiming this gospel. 

2. Purpose of recording the Bible

  1) Reason for giving miraculous signs

In John 20:30, it says Jesus performed many other miracles that are not recorded in this book. There’s a difference between signs and miracles. A miracle is a wonder that takes place in nature. However, there are many signs that the Lord gives throughout the Bible and there is a reason for them. 

    (1) Wedding at Cana – Disciples’ faith (Jn. 2:12)

The first sign was when he turned the water into wine at the wedding of Cana. Why did He give this sign?  In John 2:12 it says the disciples believed in Jesus after seeing this sign. This is when their faith wasn’t very deep. 

    (2) Nicodemus – Came to Jesus after the miraculous signs (Jn. 3:2)

Nicodemus saw these signs and went to see Jesus Christ Himself. He said “If you are not sent by God himself, you wouldn’t be able to perform these signs.” The reason Jesus performed these signs was for others to believe. Later, Nicodemus changed into someone who participated in burying Jesus after his crucifixion. There were a few different reactions to these signs.

    (3) Miraculous sign of the two fish and five loaves – To give life (Jn. 6:33)

There was one sign that God revealed by feeding 5000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. There were some people who said “This must be a prophet,” but the majority of people followed him around. What did Jesus say at that time?  He told them, “You do not follow me because of my signs but because I fed you bread.” There are many people who live their walk of faith like this still. 

Jesus Christ will give you answers and do things that other people can’t do, but the reason is so that you believe in Jesus. But there are people who are not interested in believing in Jesus at all but they only want him to give them money or heal their disease. These are the people who will run away when Jesus dies on the cross. The Lord Jesus says “the reason I gave you this sign of the loaves and fish is to show you I am the bread of life from heaven Who gives life to the world.” When Jesus shows us a sign, there is always a goal.

In the past, I was evangelizing in the field and there was someone who said “Pastor, I used to have a disease long ago and I was healed.” But this person did not have faith; the only assurance they had was that Jesus healed their diseases. They have the assurance that Jesus is alive, but there’s no faith beyond that; they are still the master of their own life. When I ask him if he believes, he says “Of course, he is the God who healed my disease.” 

It’s very important who you first hear this gospel from. There are some believers who proclaim the gospel to non-believers or people who have lost their faith by saying, “Believe in Jesus; He will give you blessings, cure your diseases, or help your business; I was blessed in this way” If you proclaim the gospel like this, their faith will not grow because it’s the same as following Jesus for the 2 fish and 5 loaves, just following Jesus because you think you will receive some benefit. 

Honestly, there are still so many believers living like this; they live a walk of faith that has no choice but to be in fear. The reason Jesus Christ healed your disease is so you will believe in Him, but He is not someone you can just call to heal your diseases. God is showing you these signs so you can make the same confession as Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” Why did Jesus Christ show Thomas the sign and tell him to touch his side? It is so Thomas could confess “You are truly my Lord and my God.” If there is anyone who is living their walk of faith incorrectly like this, I hope you can change your faith today.

Otherwise, this person’s faith will not grow and they will stray away during the coronavirus. No matter how much they hear the word of God, it will not go into them. They are still their own master. They believe in Jesus Christ but still rely on their own experiences and knowledge, and even though God is still giving them the message that Jesus is the Christ, they will not accept it. I’m not going around just to forum, but I’m going because God sent me, then later on, they end up cursing me.  I gave them the message of God but they end up cursing me.  It’s not important whether they curse me or not, but what’s important is that they are rejecting God.

Why does this person have no choice but to do that? Because that’s how they believed in Jesus. Instead of making the same confession the disciples did when they saw the resurrected Jesus, “My Lord and my God,” they are staying at their low level of faith. I’m not saying this to talk about whether people cursed me, but they are rejecting the Word of God . What this person is always relentlessly interested in is how to run their shop, and my words don’t fit with that, so they get mad at me. All their interest is in the signs, “If I believe in Jesus, then He will make my business do well.” Why? Because they want the God who cured their disease. The God of the Bible and this person’s God may be similar in some aspects, but many aspects are not aligned. Because this faith was rooted in him, he was stuck in it and rejected it from the core of his being, even if he didn’t want it. Unfortunately, I received the news that he passed away. God called him because his mission was complete. I’m not threatening you guys but I’m talking about faith. 

  2) Jewish leaders who study the Bible

    (1) To possess eternal life (Jn. 5:39)

In Jn. 5:39 Jesus Christ says to the Jewish leaders, “You study the scriptures thinking you will have eternal life through them.”

    (2) Scriptures testify about Jesus Christ (John 5:39)

They study the Bible in the original languages in order to gain eternal life, but Jesus says that these scriptures testify about Him, yet they do not come to Jesus even though Jesus is life. 

    (3) Refuse to come to Jesus to have eternal life (40)

You guys are digging deep into the scriptures to gain eternal life, and Jesus Christ is the life so why don’t you go to Jesus? Then Jesus Christ says that the reason these Jewish leaders are digging deeply into the scriptures is so that they can be glorified by humans, not so they can have eternal life. 

  3) Purpose of recording the Bible

    (1) Jesus is the Son of God (Jn. 20:31)

But in today’s scripture, in v. 31 it says that the book of John was written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Everything in the Bible was inspired by God and they are recorded so that the future generations can see and believe. Nobody else in the world saw the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ except for those who lived during that time period, but by recording it in the Bible, we can read it, receive strength, and are saved by it.  

    (2) Believe that He is the Christ (Jn. 20:31)

It says “It is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.” This word comes from the Greek word Christos and the Hebrew word Messiah–it’s the same word. Even now, the Jews are waiting for their Messiah, but they didn’t believe the Messiah Who came, and that’s why they killed Jesus because there was another Messiah they were still waiting for. However Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God Himself, who came to the earth in the flesh. Those who have seen Jesus have seen God.  He says “I am the Son of God and God himself.” 

    (3) By believing you may have life in His name (Jn. 20:31)

He did the work of the Christ but what is that? Christ means one anointed with oil. In the old Testament, the only people anointed with oil were the kings, prophets, and priests. This means the thing we need the most is to receive the blessing that comes through these three roles.  Anyone who was anointed as a descendant of Adam is also insecure and received curses and disasters because they are sinners. It must be the offspring of the woman, not Adam, who fulfills these three roles for us to receive the blessings of these three roles becoming complete in us. 

By dying on the cross, he finished all our curses, disasters, and sins. That is the role of the Priest, fulfilled by Jesus Christ.  As Jesus Christ resurrected, he worked upon me as the true King who overcame Satan and death in me. There is no other name in this world who can overcome the authority of Satan and death except Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, when I accept Jesus, His spirit comes within me and gives me strength, and this is the role of the Prophet, completed by Jesus. We believe in the name of Jesus Christ, receive this strength, and come to life. 

3. Life

  1) Jesus Christ

The opposite of life is death. When we talk about biology we talk about physical life and death, but the life we are talking about today is not biological life but spiritual life and death. Non-believers are in a state of spiritual death. On the outside, they are living their lives, but on the inside their spirit is dead. Believing in Jesus Christ means that on the outside you look the same but on the inside you have the life of Christ within you. 

  (1) Life within God the Father, God the Son (Jn. 5:26)

  John 5:26 says “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.” In other words, when Jesus Christ died and resurrected, He said “I am the resurrection and the life.” In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth,and the Life,” and 1 Jn. 5:11, it says “Whoever has the son has life.” So whoever has Jesus Christ has life.

  (2) Jesus is life (Jn. 11:25, 14:6, 1 Jn. 5:11)

Why is this important? We have life but we aren’t able to enjoy it. Why not? If I become my own master I cannot enjoy my own life. If you are worrying, it means you are your own master, so you are not enjoying life. You have fear and many things become difficult. What is life? Gal. 2:20 “I have been crucified on the cross and Christ lives within me.” I have to give myself up to the life so it can control me. That is the confession Thomas made today. “You are my Lord, my God, and I give my life entirely to you.” This is a blessed confession and the beginning of our walk of faith. Before this point, even if I believed in Jesus Christ, I was still my own master, so I lived, seized by worry and fear.  But no matter what situation you’re in, if you enjoy life, everything will come to life; life saves.

    (3) Those who have and believe in Jesus – Eternal life (1 Jn. 5:12,13)

If you look at Africa, after a few years of famine, all the animals and crops die. The physical biological life dies, but when the physical water comes, everything comes to life physically. Jesus Christ Who is the life comes into me and everything I do will come to life. If the life of Jesus Christ comes into me, my depression will become a blessing. But if I am my own master, my depression and fear will control me, I’m depressed and holding onto my depression. I’m holding onto my fear, and the reason you are depressed and afraid is because you’re holding onto yourself as your master, so you have no choice. 

It’s so simple, you need to give it up to him, and to do that, you need faith.  That’s why we need grace, because we believe by grace.  Don’t try to believe, but I hope you will have the grace to believe, that’s why we ask for God’s grace. Grace is something God gives to us without any of our own effort. Worship is something you receive without doing anything for it.  It’s not about asking for this or that.  It’s possible for someone with weak faith to pray like that. But instead you need to give everything to the Lord, the master of your life. If you have problems in personal relationships, I hope you give it up entirely to the Lord. All human relationships are dead, it’s always about fighting, and your business is dead because you are still your own master. I hope you will give it up entirely to the Lord of life towards the will of God. 

  2) Lord of life

    (1) Jesus is the Master within me (Gal. 2:20)

If you have a disease, it doesn’t matter, you just need to give it up completely to God. “God, in this state, I give my life to God.”  Whether or not He heals you, you live the rest of your life for the Lord. “Whether I live or die, it is for the Lord.” That was the same confession of Daniel and his three friends, “Even if I perish in the fire, I’ll go.” They say “Even if the Lord doesn’t save me, I will not bow down to idols and I will go into the fire.” But if you say, “If you do this for me, then I will believe,” that’s conditional.  The Lord you believe in is unconditional; you need to give your life entirely to him. Whether you have a disease or not, you must let the Lord control you completely. That is the greatest faith and the greatest prayer. 

If you have a problem, it’s only a problem because you hold onto it.  But if you give it up to the Lord and it won’t be a problem anymore. If you give your life to the Lord, He will do whatever He must do with it.  If you have problems with your spouse, you fight because you are holding onto your own selfish standards.  These are your standards, so it’s not the Word of the Lord and it’s not that you are your own master, so you’re fighting.  If you’re your own master, you are changing your blessed relationship into a channel for Satan to attack. If you receive the life, I hope you will enjoy it well. 

But if you are holding onto yourself, you cannot enjoy this; it is darkness, in other words, it is death.  Because you’re already dead, you’re externally expressing death.  You end up speaking your own words, and because the thoughts within you are death, all the words you speak are your worries and fears and humanism.  Nothing is a problem because I’m not the master.  The Lord of life is my Lord. I pray that that blessing will be upon you today. Then nothing will be a problem. 

When you do face a problem, you become excited to see how God will give you an answer and guide you with His word. There’s no point in fighting with other people because you just yield everything.  You’re only fighting because you’re doing everything with your own level and standards.  Give it up to the Lord. “You dirty person,” just give it up to the Lord, because you’re just two dirty people fighting against each other, so I hope you will give this dirty person up to the Lord and He will figure it out well. 

    (2) Block life – Legalism, prosperity faith, humanism, mysticism (Me)

Enjoy that life; it has come to you, but you aren’t able to enjoy it. The characteristic that stops  you from enjoying this life is legalism. The law is the command and Word of God, but what is legalism? You are remaining at the level of the law. The word of God says “don’t do this”, and the one who remains at that level is a legalistic person, so if you aren’t able to keep that law, you are oppressed and feel guilty. If you are able to keep it, you feel good and want to boast about yourself. You are self-centered. The reason God gave us the law is so that we can realize our sin and go into the gospel by God’s grace. 

There are some people who look at others and keep judging them by their own standards, “Why does this person act like this?”. That is a legalistic person. I’m not saying to get rid of the standards of the law; we need them to evaluate. You must see the law, but you need to help these people so they can go into the gospel of grace. You must enjoy the life through prayer so that people can go into the grace of the gospel, but this is why you can’t have personal relationships. But this isn’t working out because of the legalism you have where you’re centered only on the law. This person will oppress themselves because they are trapped in their legalism. 

You need to quickly escape from this, and that’s why we need the grace of Christ, if you receive this grace, you will go naturally in the direction of being able to keep the Word. That’s what it means to enjoy the life of the gospel. The characteristic of people who go to church for a long time without hearing the gospel is legalism. They look very straight and clean but they are dying, oppressing themselves. And they are always ready to fight because their standards are so firm. These standards of the law are those that create fights, and if you have that standard and go into the life of the gospel, you can enjoy the grace and life, but if you stay at that level, you will fight with yourself and others. That’s why we need grace. 

When I talk about grace, people who live very diligently get offended. They’ve lived their life so diligently, so when I talk about grace, they feel bad.  The more someone is like that the more they are trapped in their mental and spiritual problems. We must go into the gospel, into grace.  Because you are lacking like this, you need the gospel of the grace of Christ. If you raise your children with legalism, they will have mental problems because they cannot live, fulfilling the law. No one can fully keep the law, and even if they were able to, that doesn’t satisfy God, so that is why we have received the gospel of grace. 

Later on, the one who has received this gospel will go into the field of saving others. The person with legalism can succeed, but their characteristic is that they won’t be able to save even one person; they’re trapped in their own fears and anxieties that they may lose their success, so they fall into mental problems. 

Also, prosperity-centered faith: the faith that only sees the miracle of the 2 fish and 5 loaves as blessings. Even if we don’t see any physical answers or benefits, we should still believe in Jesus, but these people don’t. Let’s say I believe in Jesus Christ but I get cancer, then I’ll stop believing.  We must believe that the Lord who gave me cancer is still the Lord, but these people do not.  This kind of faith prevents you from enjoying the life. If you get cancer, you should still believe in the Lord and enjoy. You should say “Hallelujah” and give the cancer up to God, give it to God even if He saves you or not. Your body will hurt, but in that pain, you look completely to the Lord only. “Even in the midst of my family, please work upon me so I can save them with the life.” 

Humanism, instead of following the words of God, you live according to your calculations, living at the standards of the unbelievers of the world.  You try to control and manipulate others with your own thoughts. We must enjoy being controlled by Christ but we try to manipulate everything, so even though we’ve received the life, we cannot enjoy the life.

Mysticism, people who are so focused on trying to experience God with their body. They believe they will only feel God exists if they speak in tongues. There is a separate goal for which God gives the gift of tongues, but they believe God only exists if they have physical experiences like chills or see God in their dreams. Some people have a faith that prevents them from believing and enjoying the life, where Christ is realistically living within me. 

    (3) Life – Power (Ac. 1:8)

If you don’t believe this, you won’t have faith at all. Without believing that the life of Christ is within you, you’ll always have your standards on external things you can see, like physical blessings. But realistically, the Holy Spirit is with you, through the power of life. You have to give your entire life up to the power of the Holy Spirit so he can control your mind, thoughts, heart, and body. But you don’t give it up to the Holy Spirit; you hold onto your thoughts, so that’s why your mind is diseased. 

If your IQ is 100, you will only be able to live at that level, but you have to pray to give up your life and thoughts up to the omniscient God who controls you completely. The real life is given by the Spirit, who works even at this time. It’s just that you don’t see it. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean you can disregard it scientifically. You can’t see electricity, you can’t see telepathy, but these exist. You don’t see emotions, but you can feel them.  People are able to lock eyes with someone and know they will marry that person. It’s not something you can see, it’s something you can feel, but the Holy Spirit of the Lord of Life is with us now. To enjoy this, you have to give it all up to Him. Set a time where you can give everything up to God. 

  3) Faith that saves the lives of the world

I’m not very smart and I can’t give sermons, and I don’t have a great personality, but I prayed this morning that the Holy Spirit would control my heart, my thoughts, my spirit, and my body.  I go even further, to pray that God will completely take care of my body because it was destroyed by my past alcoholism.  The family trait I have is that, when the males of my family turn 40 years old, they become very weak, so I gave this all to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit realistically works.  It’s so simple but you live such a difficult walk of faith.  

What is there to worry about?  If your brain is very bad, you just need to put your head in your hands and pray for the Holy Spirit to take over your brain. Instead of calling your kids stupid, you should place your hands on their head and pray that the Holy Spirit to come into their lives.  If their mouth is a little crooked, why don’t you pray for the Holy Spirit to work upon their mouths?  I pray for my daughter every night and she tries to avoid it, I pray that the Holy Spirit will suck the rudeness out of her. By nature, her personality is so much like mine, so I pray that the Holy Spirit will control all these terrible traits, and later on, we’ll see who wins: her or the Holy Spirit. 

No reason to fight with people or businesses; you just need to pray for the Holy Spirit to work, but you don’t enjoy your life.  You are your own master, so you fight in your workplace.  You should just pray for everybody, not persuade anyone. Give it up to the Lord and pray so He can work as the Lord.  That’s the reason He gave us the life. Even at this time, I hope you can enjoy it. May you have a blessed week where you give everything up to the Lord of life.

Conclusion

1. Death of Jesus Christ, through the word of the resurrection

2. Faith of believing in what we cannot see

3. Walk of faith that saves…

Prayer

Let us pray holding onto the Word we have received. Christ is with me through Life. God, completely take control of me. I give myself completely to the Lord.  I give all my diseases and hidden issues to the Lord.  Give me the evidence to save lives.  Let us pray together.