Gospel that Comes out of Religion (Mt. 23:1-12)
Let us bless and greet one another, Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. The title of today’s message is, the “Gospel that Comes Out of Religion.” It’s important that we begin our walk of faith correctly from the beginning. It’s the same thing with exercise or anything else, you must have the proper beginning. If you have an incorrect beginning, then the longer you go, learning the incorrect thing, the longer it will take to change, and the Jewish people are the representative example of that. They held onto the scriptures but they were not aligned with God. They might have been correct from the perspective of people, and they may have been highly regarded by people, but they were not highly regarded by God.
As soon as humans are born, we are born with a sense for religion. The tendency for religion is that we are born with the idea that, whatever I do or my accomplishments or efforts can bring good results from a god that I believe in. The religion for nonbelievers is that they believe in themselves. Yes, there are people who believe in other religions, but most people believe in themselves, and that is their religion. The idol or religion that nonbelievers hold onto and live with is thinking that, “I can try, with my own efforts and abilities, to accomplish the life that I want for myself.”
What do you think the Jewish people did? They had received God’s Word. The Jewish people, however, took that Word of God and tried to accomplish it, by their own strength to accomplish their own righteousness. That would result in a benefit for them, so they were using their own diligence and hard work as their input, and the output they wanted was “good things from God.” That was their religion, and even as people go to church, if they don’t receive God’s Word and grace moving their hearts, everyone will result in that. The more we live our lives like that, the more people will live their lives bearing a heavy burden.
1. Sadducees and Pharisees
1) Sit in Moses’ seat (Mt. 23:2)
(1) Seat of relaying, teaching the law
The evidence of how long people have lived their walk of faith is that they try to show their actions of faith to other people, or they keep on trying to sit in a position that teaches the Word of God to others. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were set apart from the rest of the community, that’s what the word, “Pharisee” means. From the very beginning, the Israelites were called apart by God and received God’s holy commandments, and the more time passed, the further they became from God’s original intention for His law, and they got to the point of actually crucifying Christ Who came to this earth.
(2) Legalistic actions
The church must be centered on the gospel and aligned with God, but if the law becomes the center, then we will always push out the gospel. The characteristic of the law is, they discern what is right and what is wrong based on actions. Then, people have no choice but to package themselves externally because that is the standard for whether their walk of faith is good or bad. In the church, it might be easy to package yourself, but it will be difficult when you go out into the world. Our walk of faith in the church is the same as our walk of faith in the world. If people don’t understand that, they think they are different only when they are inside of the church, because they have a position like being a deacon, or an elder, or a senior deaconess, but out in the world, they’re exactly the same; it’s not like that. Our walk of faith should be the same, whether you are in the church, in your field, at work, or at home. In order for that to happen, the gospel must be inside of you.
Everybody hears about Jesus Christ when they go to church, even the Jewish people had heard about the Messiah since they were young, but that is something we can understand only by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In Mt. 16:16-17, Jesus said, “Blessed are you, for this was revealed to you by My Father in heaven.” This is not something you can understand by analyzing the Bible deeply, but only those who are moved by God can understand, then the gospel is very simple and it’s good to live our walk of faith.
As you live your walk of faith, if you find that it is difficult and tiring, you must quickly change what is religious inside of you with the gospel. If you always think, “Oh, I’m always in so much suffering, my relationships are not going well, and nothing is going well in my life,” I hope you will quickly realize you cannot do this with your own power, and quickly turn to the gospel. If you go into the gospel, then God will carry it out. If you don’t know this well, then you will try to carry something out, so you’ll feel your limitations.
America is the nation that has the most imports of drugs. There are certain countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru that have a very high elevation, so in order to combat their lack of oxygen, they will chew a plant. Then, they mix that plant with some other chemicals and create cocaine, which they now sell through Colombia and Mexico, into America. Then, in order to try to prevent those drugs from coming into America, America will deploy their troops and give other resources to Colombia. So, they tried to cut off the drug supply from Colombia, but all the supply went to Mexico instead.
Drugs continue to come to America because there are so many people here who want to purchase them. Even though this is a nation where the President is sworn in on a Bible, what happened? People think, “Isn’t it enough to just go to church?” but it’s not, and people think, “Can I just study the Bible with my own diligence?” That’s not what it takes, that’s something the Pharisees and the Jewish people did in the past, even more diligently than us. Eight times, Jesus Christ said to them, “You are the ones who will be cursed,” and Christians are not able to overcome these curses and disasters. It’s not because they didn’t go to church; it’s not because they didn’t read the Bible; and it’s not because they didn’t give their offerings and tithes; it is because they were just unable to block these curses and disasters. America is the land that has the most churches and most seminaries, but it is also the place that has the most drug problems and mental illnesses.
Right now, there is the war in the Middle East, and they’re keeping count of the number of people who are dying, but in America, people are being killed everyday, and this is the land where you can tell that something has gone very wrong. But people comfort themselves saying, “We are the strongest nation in the world,” and they say, “We have the highest level of education and technology,” so people comfort themselves with things like that, but they are continuously falling into curses and disasters.
People should be happy, but they’re not. They have these heavy burdens out in the world, and the more they go to church, the more people tell them to do more things and add to their load, so they’re going crazy. The Pharisees of the biblical age are being revealed in today’s churches exactly the same way. In the scriptures, not only is the curse upon the Pharisees, but it is on this age and the next generation. Simply put, the Jewish people were given the gospel, but they changed the gospel into legalism, and that is how they cursed the entire world. The actions of our diligence are not what are important, but we must know and believe in what God actually desires of us.
(3) They do not practice what they teach (Mt. 23:3)
So, in today’s main scripture, Jesus Christ is speaking to the crowds, but especially to His disciples, about the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were sitting in the seat of Moses’, teaching the law but not fulfilling the law or keeping it. So, Jesus says, “Do what they say, which is the law, but don’t do what they do.” They are not all like that, in Phil. 3, Paul confessed that, in regards to the law, he was blameless. Most of these people did try very hard to live according to God’s Word, they were doing their very best and they gave their entire lives to live their walk of faith.
2) Error of the law
(1) Tie up heavy loads and put on people’s shoulders (23:4)
But the Lord Jesus Christ says in Mt. 23:4, “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on men’s shoulders.” In Mt.11:28, Jesus Christ says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest.” So, the law is holy and it is the Word of God, but because people don’t know the real intent of the law, they use it to burden other people.
(2) Done for people to see (23:5)
Because the Pharisees and Sadduccees are teaching other people the law of God, they have to act as if they are keeping the Word themselves, and that is why Jesus says in Mt. 23:5, that they are packaging themselves. The characteristic of these people is that they always want to receive a reward for their actions. These are people who are stuck in legalism.
(3) Anticipate something in return for their actions (23:6-7)
But for the people who have received the gospel by God’s grace, they will see their actions as repayment for the grace that they have received from the gospel. But the Pharisees and the Sadduccees wanted to be known as the teachers of the law and wanted to be respected as Rabbis because they taught God’s Word.
3) Result
(1) Exalt themselves (23:12)
And as a result of that, it says in Mt. 23:12, that they did not humble themselves, but exalted themselves, and the Bible specifically tells us that those who exalt themselves will be lowered; “but the greatest among them will be the servant.”
(2) Woe to you (23:13-32)
Then, it says later, that eight times, Jesus curses them. From Mt. 23:13 onward, Jesus says, eight times, “Woe to you, you hypocrites!” If someone becomes legalistic, this is what happens to their walk of faith, but they think they are doing very well. But the disasters continue to come. The standard of a disaster means it cannot be resolved by man’s power or knowledge. The problem of mental illness and drug addiction becomes more and more severe, but no president or anyone else can do anything about it; that’s a disaster. Why did America become like this, even though there are so many churches? The gospel that God truly desires is not inside the churches; they are not believing in, enjoying, or relaying that gospel. So, disasters come, but they enjoy praying because they think that if they pray, they’ll receive benefits, so they ask everyone to pray for them. If you go to a shaman’s house, you will see little prayers written on scrolls on the walls, so people are praying like that. And they think it’s better the more people pray for them, so they go from church to church, asking people to pray for them.
(3) All this will come on this generation (23:26)
That individual needs to be changed with the gospel, but the more they do without actually changing with the gospel, the more they face disaster, and that’s relayed directly to the next generation. So, the Lord is saying to His disciples in today’s scripture, “Look at those hypocrites! If you live like that, you will be destroyed.”
2. Religion and Gospel
1) Religion, law
(1) Zeal, not based on knowledge (Rom. 10:2)
Then what is a religious or legalistic life versus the gospel? Rom. 10:2 says that, “I can testify about these people, that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” They pray so much, they know that praying is good, so they ask for many people to pray for them. They have diligence, they pray in the early morning, they do that. If you go to any other religion, they all have Early Morning Prayer, but they didn’t follow the correct knowledge. These people are trying to follow the law that God gave them, but it is not the correct knowledge; it is important to have the correct knowledge.
(2) Establish own righteousness (Rom. 10:3)
Rom. 10:3 says that these people try to use the law to establish their own righteousness. They were using their own effort to keep the law by their own actions, and they say, “Look how righteous I am!” It’s that, they were always thinking, “I gave worship today, I did everything that I needed to do, according to the law, so God is going to bless me.” Or, they use the actions of the law, by saying, “Oh, I gave the offering, so now God will give me economic blessings.” So, because they are exalting their own righteousness, they are bound to compare themselves to others, and the way they compare themselves is saying, “I can do this, why do you fall short?” Buty from God’s perspective, that is not “righteous.” But these people keep on comparing themselves with their actions, asking, “How much training have you received? I’ve received this much, and you’ve received less than that,” and they try to differentiate themselves from others based on action. It’s almost like the people who usually don’t do their work well, but they try to brag based on their metrics or statistics. The longer you stay at a company, the more you should be a benefit to be able to guide other people to learn and grow as well, but instead, the longer they stay at that company, the more they try to push down or kill the new hires, so, people keep trying to speak to the little children, based on how long they’ve lived their life. They don’t talk about how they’ve lived their life, they just brag about how long they’ve lived their life. They say, “I’ve lived my walk of faith for a long time, so what I say is right,” that is how the spirit of the Pharisee can come into the church. This is a very spiritual thing, so it doesn’t matter how much you try to avoid doing it with your brain. If people listen to the words of the law for a long time, then one day, their spirit changes to the spirit of the Pharisee.
(3) Letter of the law kills (2 Cor. 3:6)
In 2 Corinthians 3:6, it says, “The letter of the law kills.” Not only did they have the law of God and the commandments, but they also attached 613 additional laws and amendments to keep the Word of God, and all of those things were used to kill. The law is not a bad thing, it is the Word given by God. Especially in Leviticus and Exodus, God talks about all of the other commandments or statutes. That is God’s Word, but the issue is, people misunderstand that Word. If they understand that Word differently, they will have a different result. You have to know that 1+1 is 2 in order to know that is the answer in the world, but if you say, “1+1 = 1” then it’s not going to work.
That is why Gal. 2:16 says, “By keeping the actions of the law,” which is good, “We cannot be considered righteous.” Then, does that mean we should get rid of the law? What should we do?
2) Gospel
(1) Christ – Culmination of the law (Rom. 10:4)
Rom. 10:4 says that, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” Christ is the end of the law, the core of the law is two things: love of God and love of man. And the Jewish people knew that well, too, but all of that was fulfilled on the cross. Before Jesus Christ died on the cross, He asked God three times, “Take this cup from me,” but in the end, He said, “Your will be done, not my own,” so Jesus loved God by obeying God’s desire, and then, Jesus fulfilled the love of man by dying for the sinners with His own body. So, the only one who has come as a human to fulfill all of the law is Jesus Christ, and He is the True God. For the Jewish people and the Pharisees, they knew about Christ and Christ was right in front of them, but they rejected that He is God, and the moment Jesus Christ said, “I am God,” these people were filled with anger and plotted to kill Jesus. If you live your walk of faith incorrectly, you will push out this very important gospel. It’s not enough to just live a diligent walk of faith, because you cannot live more diligently than the Pharisees. “Oh, it should be okay if I just pray a lot,” but you cannot pray more than the Pharisees did, or, “Oh, what if I just act out this knowledge about God?” But you cannot do that more than the Pharisees did. From God’s perspective, only Christ Himself is righteous because He has kept the law. Jesus Christ is the True God, He had no sin, yet He came to this earth as a human, died on the cross, and resurrected.
(2) God’s righteousness (Rom. 10:3)
Romans 10:3 talks about the righteousness of God that was fulfilled by Christ. If I’m trying to keep the law with my own actions, then I’m elevating my own righteousness. But my righteousness cannot love God and my neighbors as myself. So, the more you rely on yourself, the more your walk of faith will not happen. For nonbelievers, they are their own gods and they believe in their own power and their own expectations. Then the walk of faith does not take place, then God said, “This is not going to work, so I will give you a new covenant.” God gave the people the law, and it didn’t work.
(3) New covenant – Spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6)
Now God says He will give you a new covenant, which is to pour His spirit into our heart and spirit. 2 Cor. 3:6 says that the spirit gives life. That means God must come into us. If we don’t do that but we try to do everything else we can, then the more time passes, the more we die. It’s difficult to live in the world. But if you live in this world with the law, then you will always be oppressed and in suffering. The people who live with faith in the gospel will know that the world is not an easy place to live in but they will stand as a witness of God’s works and power. So, the beginning, the correct beginning to your walk of faith is knowing the gospel correctly.
3) Spirit of the Lord
(1) New covenant – Write on their minds, hearts (Heb. 8:10)
Heb. 8:10 says that this new covenant has imprinted the law into our hearts. This means that Jesus Christ Who already finished all of the law will be within our hearts and our spirit. Simply put, it’s like teaching a child a few times, but they refuse to do what you tell them to do. So, God is just saying, “I will just stay next to you, 24 hours.” Now, the Triune God is promising to be within us forever, 24 hours.
(2) There is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17)
2 Cor. 3:17 says that, wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is freedom. This is a freedom that the land of America is not talking about. The freedom that America talks about is a freedom that is centered on “myself.” People who don’t know about this difference will talk about the wrong freedom because they hear the churches talking about freedom, they talk about the American freedom which says, “I have the freedom to not do this.” But the freedom the Bible talks about is when the Holy Spirit lives within me and I follow it, then that is true freedom and I’m not bound by sin. I will no longer be tied down by the conditions of the law, “Do I have to give tithes, do I have to give offerings, should I not do this, should I do that, what should I do?” 2 Cor. says it is not about forcing your heart to do something, but with thankfulness and joy, because of the grace God has given to you, whether you give one-tenth or ten-tenths. Do it by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Some people will misuse that, saying, “I’ll be led by the Holy Spirit,” but what they really mean is, “I’m just going to do what I want, I’m just using the language I used in the church to do whatever I want,” and even those people, when time passes, they may receive healing and go in the right direction, but they’re not being led at that point.
I hope you will stop wondering about whether, “Do I have to do this or should I do that?” and instead, be led by the Holy Spirit that is inside of you. “Should I marry this person or should I not?” If you want to talk about the conditions, then you’ll talk forever. If you talk about the conditions, you can talk forever, but every time I prayed, God would give me the heart, and that’s why I got married. “Should I go to this company or not?” Stop thinking about the different conditions. If the conditions are right for me, then it might be by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but it might not be. But if you begin praying to God, then the Holy Spirit will guard our hearts. Let’s say I go to this company, but I keep having bad relationships with people? Then try praying to God about that, and once you pray, you can just follow God’s guidance. When you follow the Spirit of the One Who has fulfilled all the law and is within you, you will receive true freedom. The freedom that America talks about is doing whatever you can within the sphere of your own abilities, however, the freedom that America talks about is not true freedom, and they fall as slaves to drugs. They are in a state where they are following their own logic and rationality, instead of the spiritual Word of God, bringing them further into disasters.
(3) Led by the Spirit, not under the law (Gal. 5:18)
Gal. 5:18 says that if you are led by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, you are not under the law. This means that you will no longer be so tied up with, “Should I do this,” or “Should I not do that,” but instead, you will be led by the Holy Spirit. Then, you live in the world by following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then things are more than possible. If you understand and believe in this gospel correctly, then you will receive true freedom. When the gospel goes into people who are seized by depression, then they will receive the freedom from that depression. People who are so seized by their firm standards regarding money, when the gospel goes into them, then they receive freedom. Because they begin to believe He is the True God, then money is no longer the issue. God promised He will guide us, and God is not guiding us by beating us half to death. God promised to fill our need according to the need, and guide us. Only the one who truly believes in and enjoys this gospel can enjoy true freedom.
There are some people who worry what other people think of them, they tend to be perfectionists. These are people who are always wondering, “What do my actions look like to other people?” They keep on trying to explain their own perfection to other people, that perfection belongs to the legalistic people. They keep trying to persuade other people with their own righteousness with their own logic and actions. We are not perfect; we must receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you must not follow your own rationality, you must follow God’s guidance. You must not follow your own logic; if you follow the Holy Spirit, it may expose parts of your lacking, but that’s okay. That’s how you as an individual and the future generations will come to life.
If you know and enjoy this gospel, then you must relay it out into the world to block the disasters for the future generations. The problems of America are the fault of the churches. If the churches were to relay this accurate gospel, then the darkness, curses, disasters, and the authority of Satan will continue to break down as God’s Kingdom is established. The Bible says David was a man after God’s heart, and when Samuel went to David’s father to ask, “Who is the greatest of your sons?” the father brought out the firstborn son. When the father brought out his firstborn son, that was because regarding his faith and many other areas, this was a great person. But God said, “This is not the one.” David was the one who was chosen because David’s heart was one with God’s, and there’s only one way to have a heart aligned with God. You must be righteous, without sin.
The only way for God to regard someone as righteous, is if they believe in Christ Jesus who is to come and who has come. Because the sin of Adam and Eve flows down the spiritual DNA through us, ever since we were in our mother’s womb, we were born in a spiritual state that opposes or rejects God. In other words, we were born in another state that has no choice but to be familiar with the ways of the world and Satan. In that kind of state, it doesn’t matter how hard you try to keep the law. In that kind of state, it doesn’t matter how diligently you pray or not, because first, you must be set free from that through the gospel. Because first and foremost, by believing in Jesus Christ, God must regard us as righteous, not by our actions, but by faith in Christ.
People who don’t know that will say, “You’ve been living your walk of faith for so long, how are you still like that?” But this is actually a good thing, if they hadn’t believed, they’d be worse-off than they are now. At least they’ve believed this long. Our walk of faith should not be before people but it should be right before God. During the Exodus, God promised that whomever had the blood of the lamb on their doorpost, the disaster will pass over them. There was no standard of, “How morally or ethically did you live? How much did you pray?” There was no standard to, “How much should you serve the church?” because all of your actions are filthy rags to God. A filthy rag is still a rag even though you wash it. It doesn’t matter how relatively clean this rag is compared to that rag, but it doesn’t matter, it’s still a rag. The Lord must completely purify you, and the curses will only pass over you when you apply the blood of the lamb. How much you’ve devoted to the church, how much you pray, that’s not the standard for God. “I’ve done all this, God, why are you doing this to me?” That person’s input system is wrong. not under the law. If you truly had the grace to believe in the gospel and have it go into you, when you were in a state that was lost in sin, curses, disasters, Satan, and hell, you wouldn’t say words like that.
3. Proclaim the Gospel to religion and the world
1) It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
(1) God’s kingdom – Mission (Ac. 1:3)
(2) Filling of the Holy Spirit – Authority (Ac. 1:8)
(3) Ends of the earth, all nations – Witness (Ac. 1:8)
And that’s why in John 19:30, Jesus says, “It is finished.” This means that you no longer have sin, you are righteous, because “I have fulfilled the law,” with our own abilities, we are relentlessly sinning. We are always jealous of people, fighting with people, but simply by believing in Jesus, God regards us as sinless. All of the problems of our past, present, and future have been finished, and now the Holy Spirit lives within me. “Holy Spirit” means there is another spirit, it is not the evil and dirty, impure spirit, but it is the Holy Spirit, set apart. When this Holy Spirit fills me, He will give me power. When you receive that power, you will be a witness to save people to the ends of the earth.
Every religion has prayer, but the issue is, do the evil spirits work on that prayer or the Holy Spirit? For a person who has finished everything on the cross, when they pray, they pray for the Holy Spirit to fill them. But if someone has not finished everything on the cross, they pray, “Give me this, give me that,” they keep asking God to do things for them, or, “Solve this problem.” Even though everything is finished on the cross and now the Lord is inside of me, you must understand these words. I have died on the cross with Christ, and now Christ lives within me as Lord, living with that faith. There is no more “me,” who am I? The Lord being my LORD, that is the new “me,” there is nothing that is a loss to me, because if it’s right for the Lord, then it’s right. Then, even if something is a loss for me, if it is for the benefit of the gospel, I’d choose that. The standard of everything is not me, but it is the gospel of God; it is not for my benefit.
For what purpose? It says in 1 Cor. 10:44, to save other people, to reveal God’s glory, that’s what happens when the gospel goes into you, but if someone continues to speak of evangelism without the gospel it becomes another form of legalism, and then if somebody tells them to do missions, then they are completely oppressed, and if someone tells them to come to the church and serve, they die even more. They say, “Why should I work in the church? I came here for rest, I already work in the world.”
But what do you think will happen when your children live in America like that? That will be a 3rd class citizen, not even a 2nd class citizen; a 3rd class. Who are the citizens America wants? America wants people who live for America, and that is why they are successful. But if you try to use the nation to gain a benefit for yourself, that is not recognized. But if you don’t know the gospel, you live a third-rate or third-class life. It doesn’t matter how well-educated that person is, internally, they are third rate. Everything is for themselves, the more they learn, they try to push other people out of the way and try to gain benefits for themselves. If the gospel goes into the person, there is no more “me,” there is no pride, and you are already dead on the cross.
The “me” that, before I died on the cross, was seized and dragged around by Satan, disasters, and curses–I shouldn’t hold onto that. Now you need to have the prayer that concentrates on the gospel and gains strength from it. Stop praying so religiously, but instead, I hope you will begin with the gospel. Everything has been finished on the cross, and now He is within me as the Holy Spirit, so receive His power and HIs guidance, then without a doubt, the power of the throne of heaven will be upon you. Then, even if you don’t talk about money, God will give you the answers enough for the gospel. For our children, we don’t have to talk to them about, “Study, study, study,” but God will reveal their talent and use it for their specialization. The kids who are naturally very good at studying don’t talk about this much, the kids who talk about studying endlessly, have their hard work, but they have their limitation. People need to discover the talent God has given to them. Do you know what a “talent” is? It’s something that God has given to that person that only they can do. If somebody’s talent is not being a pastor, but they become a pastor, then they will be beaten half to death. If someone’s talent is not being a public official but they take that role, they will be beaten half to death. If you keep living a life that is not aligned with your talent, then you’ll say, “My job is hard and people are hard.” People who are naturally athletic, you should allow them to go in that direction to be aligned. There are some people who are really bad at studying but are really good at human relationships, they should go in that direction, and in order to raise their talent to a specialization, people go to college and grad school. To do what? To elevate God’s glory and to save people.
2) Those who humble themselves (Mt. 23:12)
What about for you? Then finally today, it says, the one who humbles themselves will be raised. There are some people who seem very humble from a human perspective, and they are acknowledged by people for that. But that’s not the humility that the Bible talks about. First, you must have the humility where Christ is your Lord. If somebody is very humble, but Christ is not their Lord, they’re actually very arrogant. Because they make all of their own judgments and decisions, and they are the Lord of their own lives, they act humble in front of others, but they are actually quite arrogant. He is with me, that means I am no longer necessary. If God is with me it means I no longer need my thoughts. If He is with me, it means I no longer need my power because I may need my power to just make a living, but God’s power is to save lives and to do the work of God. The one who acknowledges that is the one who humbles themself.
(1) Christ is the Lord of life- With (Gal. 2:20)
(2) Triune God – Background, power
(3) Communicate with God 24 hours
He is my background, then I’m no longer relying on myself; I trust in God. That kind of person will communicate with God, 24 hours. When you wake up in the morning, the one who humbles themselves the most is the one who prays to God. Not praying to give this or to do that, but through this situation, may God’s righteousness be revealed and God’s plan be fulfilled. May I be filled not with my own power today, but may the power of the Lord fill me. There’s even a difference in prayers. If you pray the prayer of a Pharisee, that will be a big problem. You must pray the prayer of the gospel. His power will be upon you, and when God’s power comes upon you, you will be dragged by God. If you get hit by a very, very big wave, then your body is dragged by the current. If God’s power comes upon you, then you will overcome the problem. But if you are not receiving God’s power and you try doing it with your own power, you’ll be swept up by the problem. The money is not the problem; the person is the problem. The human relationship is not the problem; whatever is inside the person is the problem. The church is not the problem, but whatever is inside of this person is the problem, and we must change these things inside of us with the gospel, not with me, but with Christ. Not just saying the word, “Christ,” but for the spirit of Christ to actually come upon me.
Then one day, my mental illness begins to go away, and one day, I was facing a problem at work, and it changes to no longer being a problem. The problem itself might go away or it might stay, but it becomes irrelevant to me; that is how you save the world. That is concentrating on only Christ and letting everything else go. It is talking about that limited concentration. We must firmly limit everything else in our lives. When we concentrate only Jesus Christ, only the Kingdom of God, and only the filling of the Holy Spirit. But the entire world is difficult, but this person will stand as a witness in this world. The one who fully prays for God to fill them and lowers themselves will actually be exalted. Joseph went in as a slave, but God exalted him. The people of the world see that as success and live for that. There are people who live their walk of faith, they pray for that, they give offering for that, they study the Bible for that success. Then, they are so bound, they have no freedom. That’s not the success the Bible tells us about. God must make that person’s position in order for God to fulfill His plan through that person. God told Abram, “I will make your name great.” God must make your name great to give great influence. Yes, we can proclaim the gospel even when we have failed, but God will make this seat and influence to proclaim the gospel. The one who humbles oneself, that means, may the Lord fill me completely. In order for God to fill or control me completely, I must let go of my own things.
If you want to train a horse to follow the owner’s command and not make any noise during war, the horse must completely lay itself down to the control of its master. I must let go of myself completely to let the Lord inside of me. Buddhists try so many different prayers to let go of themselves, but we cannot, because our inner nature, centered on ourselves, we cannot let go of that. You only let go of it with faith, so without faith, we cannot do anything. “I have died on the cross with Christ,” Did we die? I’m still alive. So it’s hard to understand. But one day, when God’s grace goes into you, you’ll realize, “That’s right, I can’t do anything on my own,” and that’s what it means to deny yourself to follow the Lord. If this takes place for someone, their walk of faith will be easy, but if that does not take place, that person will always be afflicted and lost in conflicts. Now, the one who uses this gospel to save other people is exalted. In the world, you need to have physical power and knowledge to have success, but that’s not God’s way. How much of the influence of the gospel can you give to how many people?
3) Will be exalted (Mt. 23:12)
(1) One who saves lives with the Gospel
(2) One who saves the church with the Gospel and prayer
(3) One who saves the world with the Gospel and power
How much can you save this church through the gospel and prayer? “To save the church” means you save the other members in the church through the gospel and prayer, and it may seem irrelevant to you, but it is connected to you. I prayed for the other people inside of the church, but the answer came to me. But the people who don’t know the gospel will say, “Why should I pray for other people? I’m too busy praying for myself.” Now, we save the world through the gospel and the power of God. In order to save other people, you must let go of your own things. If you emphasize or assert your own beliefs, how can you save? You can save the other person only through the Word and the power of God.
Conclusion
1. With only the Gospel, not the law or religion
2. Through the power of prayer
3. Within evangelism, missions that saves the world
In conclusion, not religion or the law, but only the gospel. If you have the gospel, then you will save the church and the world. Throughout the week, may you be the truly successful one who stands in the gospel, not religion or the law, and saves the world.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together, holding onto the Word we have received today.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We thank You for giving us the gospel, not religion. We thank You for allowing us to be the ones who have come out of religion and legalism and to truly believe and enjoy the gospel. We have returned Your material blessings as offering. We pray that You will give the answer of the economy of light to save the 237 nations, the future generations, and do the work of healing upon the hands that have given the offering for temple construction, missions, tithes, and future generations. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. We pray that You will raise up Deacon Shin as one who has the true gospel to save the world with power. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Mon.-Fri. 5:30, Sat. 6AM) – Raise the bartizan of prayer
2. Fall Synod – Location: Antioch Mission Church, 11/13 (Mon.).
3. RCA 3rd week of November.
4. Communion, baptism – 11/26 (Sunday). For those getting Baptized, please give your name and date of birth to the Worship Department.
5. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissonchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to hold onto not religion or legalism, but the gospel of Jesus Christ Who finished everything on the cross and to relay that, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.