Jesus Christ’s Intercessory Prayer (Jn. 17:1-21)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” The title of today’s message is, “Jesus Christ’s Intercessory Prayer.” In today’s scripture, Jesus Christ is praying to God the Father, and we can see through the content of His prayer, Who Jesus is, what He desires, what we must live for, and how we must live our lives. So, I hope you will find the main purpose of your life within Jesus’ prayer today, and if you are irrelevant to Jesus’ prayer, I hope that you will align yourself to Jesus’ prayer today, and may you receive God’s grace to be able to align to Jesus’ prayer.
1. Jesus – Prays for himself
In today’s scripture, Jesus Christ is continuously telling His disciples of what will come in the future. They are meeting together and having this communion as Jesus is sharing, and then after Jesus tells His disciples everything that He needs to tell them, He finishes off with a prayer to God the Father. When we pray, we might think there is something special to it, but what true prayer is, is praying to fulfill God’s original plan.
1) The hour has come (Jn. 17:1)
Jesus Christ said, “The time has come,” and the hour that Jesus is talking about is the hour when He will die on the cross. All of God’s time schedule is centered around Jesus’ death on the cross. Even when God called Abraham first, He said, “Through your seed, all peoples on earth will be blessed,” and this is the seed being fulfilled. Now, Jesus Christ has come as the seed of Abraham to bless and to save all the peoples of the world, so this is the Word of God being fulfilled. In our time in life as well, understanding and experiencing the gospel truly is our standard; before that point, our life is just in the introduction. The new beginning of your life is that time, that hour, when you truly understand the gospel and what Christ has done for you. Now is the beginning of the true and full-forced blessings of living with the Lord. Now, testifying of this Christ is the direction of our life and the direction of God. Then, all of the time schedule and all of the goals, all of our content in life, is testifying that Jesus is the Christ.
(1) Glorify your son (Jn. 17:1,5)
(2) Death on the cross (Jn. 17:4)
(3) That your Son may glorify you (Jn. 17:1,4)
In today’s scripture, Jesus Christ says, “Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You, Father.” In other words, Jesus Christ dying on the cross is the way to glorify Jesus and the way to glorify God the Father, because the reason God sent Jesus Christ to earth was the plan of salvation, by His death on the cross and His resurrection. So, how can we glorify God? It is living for the gospel, for the cross, that is how you glorify God.
2) Father (Jn. 17:2)
(1) Gave all people to the Son (Jn. 17:2)
(2) Give eternal life (Jn. 17:2)
(3) Authority over all people – Son (Jn. 17:2)
Then, Jesus Christ says, “For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him.” In the past, God the Father ruled everything with His power; now, through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection on the cross, God the Father has given all the authority over creation to Jesus Christ. So, after He died on the cross, He resurrected, He ascended to sit at the right hand of the throne of heaven, and He is controlling everything from the throne now. In other words, Jesus Christ has the authority that makes all authority in heaven and on earth bow down. So, when Jesus Christ sends us out to testify of the gospel, He says, “I will be with you with all authority in heaven and on earth,” and Ephesians 2:6 says that we have also been seated at the right hand of the throne of heaven with Jesus. Now, Col. 1:13 says that we have been moved from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son Whom He loves. We have now been seated at the kingdom where Jesus Christ is reigning.
Philippians 3:20 says that our citizenship is now in heaven. Now, we have been given the right and the authority to use the name of Jesus Christ to cast out evil spirits. We have been given the authority to place our hands on those who are sick and to heal them. This is the name that all of creation in heaven and on earth must bow before. For evil spirits, we can cast them out. For diseases and illnesses, we can cast them out. Your powerlessness, your spiritual problems, you must conquer them in the name of Jesus Christ. The mistakes and failures you make again and again, you must bind and conquer them in the name of Jesus Christ. Evil spirits have set up a fortress inside of you and are moving you based on your scars, and you must subdue those scars in the name of Jesus Christ, because those scars will result in mental illness. Mental problems do not one day come out of nowhere. The evil spirits use scars to control you, and then one day, seize you with mental problems. This is not something medication can solve. You cannot solve evil spirits by praying with some random religion. Only in the name of Jesus Christ Who has all authority in heaven and on earth can you bind the evil spirits and cast them out. Jesus Christ is saying, God the Father has given Him all authority over the peoples, so that Jesus can give eternal life to those who have been given to Him.
3) Eternal life (Jn. 17:3)
(1) Only true God – Creator, plan to save (Jn. 17:3)
John 17:3 says, “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent,” the One True God is the Creator God. Many people talk about many different gods, but they are not the Creator God, and that One True God has the plan of salvation to save mankind.
(2) Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (Jn. 17:3)
Also, Jesus Christ Whom this God has sent, knowing Him is eternal life. In other words, knowing and believing in this God is eternal life. Eternal life doesn’t mean you’re focused on living forever. It means that we exist forever within a relationship with the eternal God. Even while we are on this earth, we are living in a relationship with the eternal God through worship and prayer, then after our physical body dies, we live forever with God in heaven, so even right now, you must enjoy eternal life. You must enjoy that within your relationship with the Lord.
(3) Know (Jn. 17:3)
Because He is the One True God and He is the Creator, He knows all things. There is no such thing as a mystery in this world, because when God the Creator’s spirit reveals it to you, then you will understand the mystery.
2. Prays for His disciples
1) Those whom you gave me – Receive glory (Jn. 17:6,10)
(1) Revealed the Father’s name – God (Jn. 17:6)
(2) Gave the Father’s things to me (Jn. 17:6)
(3) Obeyed the Father’s word (Jn. 17:6)
So, this is Jesus Christ’s prayer for Himself, in other words, Jesus Christ is asking God, “Give Me Your glory so that I may glorify You by dying on the cross.” In other words, this is the prayer of enjoying the gospel through Jesus Christ. Testifying the gospel? That’s prayer, that was the content of Jesus’ prayer. The second thing Jesus prays for is for His eleven disciples. The twelfth one died, but eleven are with Him. Why are these eleven disciples so important? Because these are the only people who have believed in God through Jesus Christ. Because these eleven disciples are the only ones who have accepted the gospel, these are the only ones who can glorify Jesus, and because they have believed that the words of Jesus are the words of God. The eleven disciples knew and believed that the power Jesus Christ demonstrated by healing the sick and casting out evil spirits was really the power of God the Father in Him. So, the disciples followed the words of Jesus and obeyed them.
2) Protect them (Jn. 17:11)
In Jn. 17:11, the way Jesus prays for His disciples is by praying to protect them. Jesus prays for God the Father to protect the eleven disciples because they are the only ones who can proclaim this gospel on earth. Back in these biblical times, there were many people on this planet, but the only people God considers important are the ones who can proclaim and spread the gospel. After Jesus Christ ascends into heaven, who will proclaim the gospel on earth? It is these eleven people who will proclaim the gospel, therefore, “Protect them,” so what does that word, “protect’ really mean?
(1) Not be destroyed – Not fall into evil (Jn. 17:12,14)
John 17:12, “So that they may not be doomed to destruction,” how will they not be lost to evil? By becoming sanctified. We become sanctified by the Word of Truth. When I say things like this, you lose interest, don’t you? You’re only interested in hearing about how to make money, but that’s a person who will fail. Because their main focus is not on the words of Spirit that God is giving them and their focus is on the physical things that should follow after, then they will have no answers. But depending on what eyes you see with, that determines your answers. We are sanctified through God’s Word. Because Satan makes and tempts people to fall into evil, we must be protected and sanctified through the Word of Truth. In other words, the Word of God heals us, saves us, and protects us from going into the evil of Satan. You have no ability to overcome the devil. “Oh, but what if I cast out the evil spirit in the name of Jesus Christ?” It will come back. Are you just going to chant, “Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,” 24/7? Yes, if you use the name of Jesus Christ, evil spirits are cast out. But are you going to do that all the time? There is nobody who can, because the devil comes back.
What does he do? The devil tempts you to fall into evil, then how can we not be tempted by Satan? You can only prevent being tempted by the words of Truth. In Matthew 4, Satan goes to Jesus Christ Himself to tempt Him, and Jesus overcomes his words with the words of Truth, the Word of God. Without the Word of God, you cannot overcome the devil. Ephesians 6 talks about our battle with the devil, and there is only one weapon we can use against the devil. It says, “The sword of the Spirit,” which is the Word of God. If you don’t have the Word of God, of course you’ll be tempted. If you don’t know the laws of the world, then of course, you cannot keep the laws, and if you cannot keep the laws, you have to suffer the consequences of that.
(2) Disciples who will spread the Gospel
So, because Jesus Christ knows that the eleven disciples are the precious ones who will proclaim the gospel, He is praying for them to be sanctified by the Word of God so that they will not be attacked by Satan.
(3) Be one (Jn. 17:11)
Then, the second thing Jesus Christ prays for is for them to become one. There are many people who gather in groups for the sake of making money, or there are people who like to golf together, so they gather for the sake of playing golf. There are sometimes events where people gather together for their nation. There are a lot of situations where families are divided, but the one thing that unites the family is having the same blood. However, with those kinds of unity, they have no choice but to fight. Even inside of organizations, let’s say you’re in two different organizations, you might be fine inside of them, but they’re always fighting amongst each other. So, how can we really become one? Jesus Christ prays, “Just as I am One with You and You are One with Me, may they be one with us.” It means, we become one with each other with the Word of God and the work of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ that is within me must align me to His Word, that’s how we become one. If I am not aligned with God’s Word, it means I am not one with God. If I am not one with God, it means I cannot go into His work where He is blessing and reigning over everything.
3) Be one – Method, reason
(1) Teach, remember the word (Jn. 14:26)
So how can the disciples inside of the church all become one? With the Word of Jesus Christ, we become one. More specifically speaking, how exactly do we become one with the Word of God? John 14:26 says that the Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of the words of Jesus Christ, so that we become one. In the Kingdom of God, it doesn’t matter whether somebody has a lot of money or no money, whether they are successful or not, because inside of the Kingdom of God, we are all one within the Word. The reason why communism came about is because they misinterpreted the words of the Bible; they thought that everybody should be equal, materialistically. Yes, there is a section in the Old Testament that talks about giving to the less fortunate and freeing the slaves, but right now, what’s more important is that we become one through the Word. We can only become one with the Word with the working of the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit reveals and changes us with the Word.
(2) Have the full measure of Jesus’ joy within them (Jn. 17:13)
Then, just like in John 17:13, Jesus Christ says, “They will have the full measure of my joy with them.” There is nothing that can give us this joy. If you get what you want in this world, you’ll have temporary, worldly joy. But, what the Word of God is telling us about is, when the Word of Jesus Christ comes into me and we are aligned, then I have joy in Jesus. So, when you meditate on the words of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit reveals what He means, it is imprinted and rooted, and we are filled with joy. So, for the people who are very excited and joyful to come to worship, their future is guaranteed. But if there is somebody who needs to be forced to go to church, I’m sorry to tell you this, but there is not going to be the work of God in your life. Why? It is because you are not in a spiritual state that finds joy in God’s Word. Because that person’s real goal in life is to experience joy in the world, they are just forcing themselves to go to church.
So, before you come to worship, you must come, preparing your heart to be a fertile field. Sometimes, even when the Word of God is given to you, if your heart is like a thorny path or a rocky path, then the Word cannot be rooted in. However, it’s important that we come to worship early, in advance, so we can pray on our own and prepare our spiritual state to receive God’s Word. Then, when the Word God gives me hits my heart by the work of the Holy Spirit, we will see it being fulfilled. Do you think your life will end up according to your thoughts or according to God’s Word? Answer this question, and I’m sure there is a certain percentage of you who are sitting here, holding onto your own plans and asking God to give you what you want. Even if your plan is not aligned with God’s desire, if you pray like that, He’ll pretend to give you what you want, once or twice. Imagine with kids, if your child is throwing a temper tantrum, sometimes the parent will pretend to give in, just to quell them, but after that, the parent doesn’t give the child any more because then, the child would get spoiled in the wrong direction. But the commonality is that, if you desire what your parent desires, you’ll get it.
God fulfills according to His Word. Adults are very focused on their jobs and kids are very focused on their studies, but we try to do a good job, regardless of God’s Word, but you trying to do well without God’s Word is limited by your abilities. Then, let’s say for example, there’s a downturn in the economy? You don’t have the ability to overcome that, so you’ll be swept down too. However, for somebody who follows God’s Word, God will fulfill that business through His Word. In order to receive that Word, you must stake your life on worship, which is where we receive His Word. Because we must enjoy our eternal life, and the way we do that is by being in a relationship with God.
We cannot have eternal life on our own, we can only live eternally with Him. So, right here, through worship, through prayer, make your relationship with God, and we live forever with this spiritual state. What does “death” mean for us? It means that our physical body might be rotting in the ground, but eternally, we are with God, in a relationship through worship. If you have an IQ of just 100, then you know what you have to do now. You know you can’t live your life with your own calculations, you cannot live well with your own calculations and methods. You’re not even that smart and you try to calculate your own life, but it’s not going to work. The more you stick to your stubborn ways, the more you’ll come to your conclusion that it doesn’t work. You need to come to the conclusion that “My life has to receive God’s Word and God must fulfill His Word through my life.” Only through the Word of God can I become one with God, and through the Word of God, the members of the church can become one, too.
(3) Hated for they are not of the world (Jn. 17:14)
The reason we have to receive God’s Word and be sanctified by His Word is because the world hates us, we are not of this world. This world is being controlled by Satan, the devil that rules with the law of sin and death. But we are seated in heaven with Christ. We have the citizenship of the Kingdom of Christ and that is our background now, then what is the physical life we are living on this earth? You are living on this earth with a mission from the Lord to establish God’s Kingdom here. If you keep setting your focus on earth to the physical things, you will not be aligned with God; that is a religious life. That’s the characteristic of people who have lived their walk of faith for a long time without knowing the gospel. Everything they live for on earth is for the goal of gaining more things on earth. In other words, they’re in a state where they have no choice but for their walk of faith to fail.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, my old self died with Him. The old “me” that lived without God, centered on myself, has died with Christ. When Jesus resurrected, I was united with Him in the resurrection, and now, Jesus lives within me as the Lord of my life. The moment you find this believable, you will be set free from your scars. You’ll be set free from the repetitive problems of your family line, liberated from your addictions, set free from your mental problems, why? Because I’m dead, and now, my new life is the Lord Jesus Christ living within me, so my old self is irrelevant to me. Not only that, but the Lord ascended and is seated at the right hand of the throne of heaven and I am seated with Him. That is our background, that is the Kingdom of God where we belong. If we don’t know and believe this, then we keep trying to live on this earth to gain the things of earth. That’s a religious life. Yes, doing well is good, but that’s not the goal. We do not belong to the kingdom of earth, the kingdom of darkness and Satan, we belong to the Kingdom of God, and our background and our citizenship is the throne of heaven. Of course, we will be hated by the world.
The devil knows where we belong and persecutes us. So, in order to not be enslaved by the temptations of the devil and evil, we must be sanctified by the words of Truth. The word “sanctify” does not mean you act more holy; there’s no way to “act more holy,” there is no such thing as sanctified words. People think that if you speak with a more modest tone, you are more holy, but the only way for you to be sanctified is by the Word of Truth. If you go to a seminary, there are a lot of pastors in training there, and they try to act very holy and sanctified. They carry their Bible and lift their chin up, but that’s not sanctification. What people call “holy” or “sanctified” is not right. There’s a Buddhist college in Korea, it’s a college made by the Buddhist organizations. I went to that school to evangelize, and I saw all these monks had their hair shaved and they moved and acted like they were the masters of that school. When you look at their posture, they walk around as if they were the masters, and that’s actually how pastors in seminary act as well, that’s not sanctification. We can only become holy by the Word of Truth. Don’t misunderstand, we can only become sanctified by the Word of God, and that’s the only thing that stops us from falling into Satan’s evil. No matter how hard you try to live your walk of faith, the devil will never leave you alone in the world.
If the Word of God is not inside of you, you will be taken up immediately. If the Word of God is not in your business, then God is not working there; you will be seized by the economy of darkness. The fundamental inside must change, I must become a person of light. “Through the Word of God, how should I run my business? According to the Word of God, how should I study?” The one who has become sanctified by the Word of God is the one who should work. But if you look at most people, they have no interest in the Word of God; they just want to do well, no matter what it takes. But doing well like that is actually being seized by darkness, and they will be swept up by the economy of darkness. Instead of using their economy for the Lord as the economy of light, they are using their money for themselves, which becomes the economy of darkness.
3. Prayer for those who will receive the Gospel through disciples
The third thing Jesus Christ prayed for are the people who will receive the gospel through the eleven disciples, meaning, people like you and me. How did you receive the gospel? Think about it, did you receive the gospel by standing still?
1) Sent to the world (Jn. 17:18)
In Jn. 17:18, Jesus Christ says, “I have sent the disciples into the world.” Just as God the Father sent Jesus into the world. Do you send something for no reason? No, you send them with a mission. God the Father sent Jesus Christ with a mission to die on the cross and resurrect. Jesus Christ also sends His disciples into the world with their mission. Through Jesus Christ, we have been saved from the world into the Kingdom of God, and now the reason we go back into the world is to spread God’s Kingdom as our mission. That is the mission to testify of the gospel, that is how the people who belong to the kingdom of Satan will come into the Kingdom of God, and that’s why in Jesus’ eyes, the eleven disciples who will proclaim the gospel are the most important, because during Jesus’ ministry, He was not interested in the elites, the kings, and the powerful leaders of the nation; He was interested in the people who would proclaim the gospel.
(1) Disciple – Sanctify them by the truth (Jn. 17:17)
After Jesus Christ ascends into heaven, how will the gospel be spread? Through His disciples, that’s why Jesus prays to protect the disciples, and that’s why Jesus prays for the disciples to become One with the Triune God. That, though the disciples may be persecuted by the world, may the joy of Christ be complete in them. All of our lives are contained in this; everything else, we don’t need. Everything else follows naturally. God prepares everything in order to fulfill this mission and then sends us forward. Even when God sent Jesus Christ to this earth, He prepared everything for Jesus to fulfill His mission on earth. If I’m an ambassador for the Kingdom of Christ, then God has prepared everything I need and all of my blessings to fulfill this work. That’s who you and I are.
Do you have a mission? Is your mission to just eat and make a living, or is your mission to testify the gospel? The devil is telling you that you have to eat and make a living. But Jesus is telling you that the reason He sent you into the world is to testify of the gospel to the world. Am I somebody like that? Is my job for that purpose? If your answer is no, you’re bound to suffer. Because we do not belong to the world, the devil will never leave us alone. But because the Lord has overcome this world, we also have the mystery to overcome. If we receive the guidance of Christ inside of Christ, then we will overcome, and the Word with which He guides is His mission. Salvation means we have been saved from the world, we have been saved from sin, death, and Satan, and now, we belong to the Kingdom of God. Now, the Lord has sent me into the world with a mission to save people with the Kingdom of God.
Why am I living in America? I may just have come here, or may have been born here, but that’s not true; the Lord has sent us here with a mission, to testify the gospel and establish God’s Kingdom. To what point? To all peoples, to all nations, to the ends of the earth. God has prepared all for the blessings to do this work, and He tells us we’re not the ones doing it; God is. That’s why He promised to be with us with all authority in heaven and on earth forever. Evangelism is not something I do; I am simply seeing what God is doing. If your life doesn’t work out like this, your life will be so hard. If you try to do something, you cannot. I am simply observing the things God is doing inside of the plan and the promise God has prepared. If we don’t know what evangelism is, then living in this world is so hard. Evangelism is God’s plan. That’s the reason why He sent us out into the world with a mission.
Then, how can we do that? All we have to do is wait and see how God works with the things God has prepared. I am looking to see how God is working while I pray for the Hollywood region camp. The only thing I do is go into the field and pray and proclaim in faith, because first, we need to have the platform of a church temple there, and I’m waiting to see how God does it. That’s how we receive guidance. If you don’t run your business like that, too, then it will be hard. You can work really hard and try all the methods of the world, and the only result will be cancer. The reason you have no choice but to get cancer is because of all the stress. Why are you so stressed? Because you’re trying to do it with your own strength, then even if you accomplish everything you want, your physical body and your spirit will be destroyed. This is the world, isn’t it? But what is God doing? Receiving God’s guidance, then your joy will be complete and the Word will be fulfilled.
That’s evangelism and missions. If you don’t understand missions and evangelism according to the Bible, living in this world will be hard. The easiest thing in the world is evangelism, because if I had to do something, I would have to try really hard, but all I have to do is look at what God is doing. When you understand what these words mean, you will be set free. We’ve received salvation, we’ve been set free from the devil, sin, and hell, but we’re still living in this world. We cannot be set free from this world unless we know the mission God has given us. Am I wrong? You have salvation and you’re struggling hard to run your business. You’re crying and fighting with your stress, why? You have no choice but to live like that because you don’t have a mission from God. Once you discover your mission given from God, then you pray to see how God will fulfill that mission in your job. That’s why the Lord prayed today and said, “I am sending them out into the world,” therefore, become sanctified with the Word of Truth, so that you will not fall into the temptation of Satan’s evil.
(2) Those who will receive the Gospel through disciples (Jn. 17:20)
(3) All of them may be one in the Father (Jn. 17:21)
The Lord has prepared the people who will receive the gospel through His disciples. There is a separate soul the Lord has prepared. God does not have a plan to save every single individual, but there is a separate group of people that He is saving. How can we know who is who? We don’t, that’s why we pray for everyone. If you are studying and working with the normal Word of God as it is, then you will pray for everyone around you to receive the gospel, because the mission of your job is to testify of the gospel. Then, your job? God will work on it because God’s wisdom and power will follow whoever proclaims the gospel. We might be the ones who are saying the words, but the Holy Spirit is the One Who gives us wisdom and power. If you don’t have a mission from God, then of course, the Holy Spirit will not work, then instead, you’ll always be tempted by evil spirits, then the work of Satan will go into your job through people and through conmen, and the devil will begin to tempt you and ensnare you through your coworkers and other people’s words. No matter how much you try to block it, you can’t.
However, when you hold onto the mission God gives you, then God begins to do your work. We cannot discern who is who; God has to move us. We cannot preserve our own strength; God has to protect our strength, honestly. We are living on this earth, but we cannot do that unless God makes the earth for us. We can only breathe if God gives us the oxygen. We can only eat vegetables and food if God gives us sunlight. But we think that all we have to do is work hard? God has to give us everything to do that, and if you have at least that much knowledge you’ll realize that God has to do your work too. But the reason most people don’t have this knowledge is because Satan is using the education of the world to tempt people into thinking that they live on their own. People are not the center; God is the center so the Word of God is the center.
2) With
(1) Jesus – In them (Jn. 17:23)
(2) Father in Jesus (Jn. 17:23)
(3) Brought to complete unity, then the world will know (Jn. 17:23)
So, in this world, in my life, the Word of God and the Kingdom of God is my center. Your job is not the center, but it’s the mission getting accomplished through your job, then God will begin to work. Same thing for you, your life does not revolve around your thoughts, it revolves around God’s Word, and when you’re centered on the Word of God, then you’re restored and healed. Otherwise, you can never solve your addiction, no matter how hard you try and struggle, the reason you’re addicted is because you don’t have strength. If you had the strength to begin with, why would you be addicted? Only the Word of God can heal me and set me free from that. Do you really want to help that other person? Then your mission and your way to help them is to help them focus on God’s Word, but if you can’t help that other person focus on God’s Word, you’re killing them.
How can you solve your children’s spiritual problems, and addiction problems? You can’t educate it out of them. You have to guide your children to come before God’s Word. But most parents will neglect that and try to take their child who is being destroyed and force them to succeed. May your business and job be used to heal people. May your job not be used to use other people, but may it be used to save people. Why would we try to use and manipulate people? We live by the work and the answers of God, but if you’re using people to try to get what you need, it means your life is irrelevant to God’s mission. If you want to fulfill God’s mission, it has to be done by God’s works, and God has to work upon my job. If you really do have God’s mission, then He will do that.
If you don’t have this, then you have to be a coward in the world, you’ll have to be manipulative and deceptive, and you cannot show your cards so you have to hide how manipulative you’re from others, but the devil knows; so even if that person is a Christian, the devil works upon that person. Then, what happens when the devil works? If that person’s thoughts do not change, then the devil will build his house on those thoughts. Until your thoughts change and according to God’s Word, the devil will never leave you. The devil uses your thoughts to destroy you, but you don’t even know why you’re being destroyed. “I’m really good to people; why am I being destroyed?” It’s because you try so hard to please people, instead of pleasing God. I don’t know why I’m talking so much about business today; during the first service, it was very short, but I’m imagining there are people who need to hear the Word about business and jobs.
3) Holy Spirit
(1) Filling – Power (Ac. 1:8)
(2) Ends of the earth
(3) Witness
How can we do God’s work? We don’t have the strength, but through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ must completely take over and control my thoughts, my emotions, and my words, so that everything I say is from Jesus’ words. When Jesus Christ was living on earth, He didn’t speak his own words, He only spoke the words of the Father God that were given to Him by the Holy Spirit. That’s why Jesus Christ says, “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all one.” Then, how can we live in this world? We have to be one with the Lord, we have to be filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning the words He desires are testified through us, and His power is revealed through us. The Holy Spirit of Christ is already inside of me, and being filled with the Holy Spirit means I completely align with Him, then the power of the Lord will be revealed through me, then through your faith, you’ll reveal the power of Jesus, to heal those who are diseased and cast out evil spirits. This is impossible by our strength, that’s why we must pray to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. That is the core message. Whatever you’re trying so hard to accomplish, you can’t. Even if you accomplish it, it’s not going to be worth it. But instead, if I become one with God, then God does his work through me. Otherwise, your mental illness will not go away, your scars will not get better. But if you are one with God, if you’re filled with God, they will go away. That’s how you will be a witness until the ends of the earth.
Conclusion
1. Prayer – 3 concentrations (Ac. 1:14)
Stop getting so stressed out, the reason you’re stressed is because you’re trying with your own effort, but instead, use the power of God to reveal God and to receive this strength in the morning. If you live with your mental strength during the day, then you’re going to die; later on, you’re bound to receive mental problems. What mental strength are you trying to live with? We belong to heaven, so we must live with the power of the Holy Spirit, that’s the only way we can overcome Satan. Then, you don’t have to be a coward in front of people, because you will live by God Who overcomes, and you will move according to prayer, according to God’s Word. We cannot persuade anybody, we must change them by the work of God through the Holy Spirit. That’s what I’m talking about.
2. Job – Specialization, for the field, for the future (Ac. 18:1-4)
Then, you will receive the answer of specialization in your job from God. The reason you have to have the answer of specialization from God, is because in order for people to gather to you, you must be better than others and God will give you the answer of specialization. God promised Abraham, “I will make your name great,” your name has to be elevated for people to even notice you, and God says, “Everyone on earth will know your name.”
3. Evangelism, missions – Prepared location, people, work (Ac. 13:1-4)
God will bring you success so that all peoples on earth can receive the gospel through you. So first, God has to elevate your job, in order for people to gather to you. Then, when they gather to you, what are you going to do? Save them, so we have to continue this for the rest of our lives, so we must be led. So I hope you will pray for your business fields and the region where you live for the filling and the working of the Holy Spirit to save the people who have been prepared to receive the gospel. Try just doing what I’m recommending instead of holding onto your own stubbornness, but the adults are so stubborn, and that will only result in slavery to Satan. Because of everything that’s been their nature and ingrained in them for so long, but if that changes, then you’ll receive all of the answers. I hope you will pray for all the people prepared in your job and region to receive the gospel of salvation. In order to do this work, remain within the Word of God and prayer; then, you will come to see how God works in your job and your region. May you enjoy this blessing throughout the week.
Message Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word that we have received..
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We have returned Your materials as offering. Everywhere it is used, we pray lives and churches will be saved, and we pray that the people who are suffering from spiritual problems will be healed and receive new life. We pray that this offering will be used to do temple construction and raise the next generation and do missions, and may you bless the hands of all of the people who have given this offering so that their business will be used to save the church, the next generation, and to do missions. We believe You will work and bless us according to Your Word. 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. Hollywood camp – Temple
3. 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, guidance, fellowship, and filling of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit and live for the Kingdom of God, upon all of their businesses, studies, ministries, churches, and fields, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.