One Who Belongs to God and Saves the World (John 15:19-16:4)
Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I hope that the abundance of God’s love will be overflowing in all the families and individuals who are worshipping in the church, especially outside on the patio, in their homes, and out of state during the final weeks of this year.
The title of today’s message is, “The One Who Belongs to God and Saves the World.” Who am I? I am the one who saves the world and belongs to God. Because this is true, if you simply hold onto the Word of God, I believe He will work according to His Word.
If this were not true, God would fulfill the Word in a way that is not true. If you say you are a child of God who cannot save this world, this will become true for you. However, the Word God gives to us is that we are the ones who belong to God and save the world.
In this world, there are many invisible and visible things happening, however, if you just look at the visible things, you cannot understand the world correctly. There is another world, invisible to our eyes. In reality, the visible world only appears as a result of the invisible world, and we can only understand the invisible world through God’s Word.
- The One Who Is Liberated from the World
The more you understand the Word of God, the more you’re able to understand the world. The one who can see the world can overcome and conquer the world. In a battle, you have to know the enemy and yourself; if you do not know your opponent, you cannot fight. If the members of the church do not know the world, they cannot overcome the world. The world has an aspect that is visible to our eyes, but there is an invisible spiritual influence, so I hope you will have this blessing today and you will see what you must do.
However, if you don’t see that, you’ll just follow the things you see with your eyes and one day, you’ll be seized. Until last week, Jesus Christ told us to remain in His love, and His command is for us to love each other. The content of today’s message is Jesus telling us that the world will hate and persecute us. Why should I be hated and persecuted by the world if I believe in God? This is why you need to know the world.
1) One Who Belongs to the World
The world is talking about a gathering of people who live without knowing God. The world is not just the earth we live on; it is a gathering of people who do not have God, but they create their own cultures and live.
How was the invisible world formed? The world we see with our eyes is, as in Ephesians 2:1, dead in their sins. Sin means we have been separated from God as a result of living our lives without God in their hearts; they are spiritually dead. They may live diligently and earnestly, but their spirits are dead, so they live according to Ephesians 2:2, following the ways of the world. This is a way that does not have God.
But it turns out that there is also a spirit, invisible to our eyes, who has the authority over the kingdom of the air, who is controlling these people. It seems like these people live on their own, but there is an unseen entity who controls people with his authority.
What is their internal state like? In Ephesians 2:3, it says they gratify the cravings of their sinful nature, following its desires and thoughts. The cravings of the sinful nature mean they live however they want to live, as their hearts lead them. But it turns out that these people were by nature, objects of wrath, and that’s why they always meet with disasters.
Even though we work so hard, we have disasters. If we work hard, we should have benefits, but why do we face disasters? Seeing this is how you can see the world. These people are spiritually dead, they don’t have God, and they follow after the ruler of the kingdom of the air, and that is hell.
Hell is being in a place without God. Before you go to an eternal hell, you live a hellish life on earth; even if you succeed or do well, you’re in hell because you’re by nature, objects of wrath. One day, I used to live like that, but I was liberated, and now I’ve been completely liberated from curses and disasters, hell, and Satan because of Jesus Christ. Now, I do not belong to this world; I belong to the Kingdom of God.
2) One Who Is Chosen out of the World
Physically, I may be the same as yesterday and today, but now, I spiritually belong to the Kingdom of God. Maybe we used to have a lot of things in common, but after time passes, it will be different because my spirit is alive and that person’s spirit is dead. Just simply going to church doesn’t mean you’re saved; there are people who go to church without believing, and their hearts are truly aligned with the world.
“Yeah, the world is great,” but once you’ve been saved, you’ll become different. The closest friends will be different from you; because people are seized by Satan, Satan will know because the spirits are invisible. We have an invisible spirit but our spiritual state is different. The exterior form may still be alive, we may still have a lot of things in common, but we’re different.
That’s why they’ll make me an outcast. In the past, we used to live for the cravings of our sinful nature and benefit each other, but now I’ve become a child of God, so I don’t have to live by my greed anymore, and Satan knows that. That’s why we face hatred and persecution.
We’ve become children of God. Do you know how tremendous of an identity it is to become a child of God? Now, we belong to God, and now we’ve been changed so that God takes responsibility over us. Before, I had to take responsibility of my own life because my spirit was dead, but now I live within God and God takes full responsibility.
Now, I belong to God and I’ve been changed into a source of blessings to bless many people. In the past, even breathing was a curse; working hard was a curse; living kindly was a curse, because my spirit was dead. Until that changes, the world will never change. “Oh, I didn’t know that person would be like this,” But you didn’t know them because you didn’t know the inner state of their spirit.
However, we have changed into the ones who save the world, and our thoughts must be as the ones who will save the world. Because God lives within you now, you will be changed into the ones who save the world.
3) World – Everyone Who Does Evil (John 3:20)
Everyone who does what is evil will hate the light. Evil is talking about living apart from God, not believing in God. Even the people who do not believe in God and Jesus Christ will do nice and good works, but God considers them evil because they do not believe in Him. The more good works they do, the more they will hate God. But people make judgments based on external actions, “if you do good, you are good.” But this kindness is one that rejects God.
In John 3:20, it talks about how their deeds will be exposed, because if they go into the light, their darkness will be disposed, and all their motives will be revealed. That’s why it’s hard for them to be nice, and that’s religion. You do something for God for your own benefit, you have to receive something from God, and that’s so difficult. Slaves work hard for food, and if we go to our jobs like that, how difficult of a life would that be? That’s a slave.
In John 15:20, people will persecute you. In Matthew 10:34-36, it says that even your family members will become your enemies. Even though Jesus Christ came to bring peace, it was not just peace, but a sword. Jesus Christ, who is the prince of peace, and the Kingdom of God is all about peace, why did Jesus Christ come to not give peace, but a sword? It means if you believe in Jesus Christ, then one day, the members of your family will hate you.
In the past, you were so aligned, but one day, when you come out and say you believe in Jesus Christ, you become enemies. If you say, “My family did not become my enemy,” it’s possible you haven’t been saved and you’re spiritually similar to them. Immediately, my dad began to hate me; where did that hatred come from?
“My son used to be mine but now he’s been stolen away. This is my son, but as he talks, it seems he belongs to something else,” and he got mad. He didn’t express it, but he was mad. My entire family was giving ancestral worship, but when I said I wouldn’t’ do it, the entire environment changed. In the past, being gripped by Satan, I had to worship my ancestors, but now I didn’t have to do that anymore.
In the past, I had to crawl and beg in front of people to be successful in my job, but now I don’t. I’m now bold, I don’t care about what people think; I’m no longer a slave. In the past, they used to threaten me with punishments, but I’ve become internally bold because I’m no longer following after money and success, so I’ve become an outcast. This is normal for Christians, so you’ll become hated and persecuted by the world.
- One Who Is Deceived by the World
When I’m deceived by the world, I suffer. There are times you face crises, incidents, and problems. You do not suffer because of the problems themselves; you suffer because you’re deceived by the world. 2 Timothy 3:2 says, if you believe in Jesus Christ, Jesus should become the center of your life, but here, people love themselves more than they love Jesus. The problem isn’t what makes me suffer, but because you love yourself, it causes suffering.
1) Me
Because you love money more than you love Jesus Christ, when you face financial problems, your love of money causes suffering. You live to boast of your name and presence and power, but when you face a problem, you suffer because you won’t be exalted. In conclusion, if you really had Jesus Christ in the center of your heart, you wouldn’t see problems as problems, but when you’re centered on yourself, you see problems in problems. That’s why 2 Timothy 3:1 says there will be times of suffering as you believe in Jesus Christ but you follow yourself. This is how you are deceived by the world.
2) Israel, Church
The Old Testament Israelites were like this as well. In Jeremiah 25:11, there was a prophecy that they would become a desolate wasteland, serving the king of Babylon. Why did this happen? They loved idols and the world more than they loved God. That’s why they were taken captive to serve the King of Babylon for 70 years.
This suffering comes because we do not hold onto the blessings we’ve been given. One day, Israel was colonized by Rome, which is all about the laws and order and war. The laws from Rome continue today. The laws of the organization and structure of Rome are still here today, and they control the world today. Who was the Emperor and what kind of land was Rome? Rome was an idol-worshipping nation that served gods like the Sun. Why did the Israelites become colonized by Rome? Because they had something else within them. They needed to be centered on God, but being centered on the world, they became colonized by the world.
Because they were colonized by Rome, imagine how much they suffered. Perhaps they had great physical and material benefits, but they were suffering spiritually inside. As we live in America, the land of America is the world. If there is no Christ, then there is the kingdom of Satan. The things you see with your eyes may flow a physical way, but without Jesus Christ, they are controlled by darkness.
When those things of America come into our hearts, we become enslaved by America. We need to be centered on Christ and the words of Christ. Matthew 5:13 says we are the salt and light of the world, but if salt loses its saltiness, it is useless and thrown out and trampled by men. We have received Jesus Christ, so we must be centered on Jesus, and that’s the reason why we have to make money.
Simply making money for the sake of money means you will suffer because of money. When you study, you have to study because you’re centered on Christ. If you begin your studies centered on something other than Jesus Christ, then you have to endure even if you don’t want to.
Living itself becomes suffering, and that’s what it means for salt to lose its saltiness, and you become captives to Babylon. You have to be enslaved by nonbelievers and that’s why we’re cast out by the world. What, then, shall we do?
3) Covenant
2 Timothy 3:14 say to continue in what you’ve been convinced of. What have you learned? You learned the spiritual world from the Word of God, then just learning about it, you become convinced. If you’re spiritually shaken, it means you’re not convinced. If you’re convinced of God’s Word, you will have assurance throughout the week. Why do you shake? Because you know with your brain but remain unconvinced.
“Therefore, continue in what you have learned,” continue in your training. “I know all of this,” but if you’re not convinced, you’ll be taken in by the world. It’s not saying to memorize everything in the Bible.
What happens if you continue in what you’ve been convinced of? What must you be convinced of? Be convinced that God is with you. Galatians 2:20, I have died on the cross and Christ lives within me, and you have to be sure of this. Then what happens when you face a problem? What does it mean for God to be with me?
Don’t pray to God to solve your problems; what is it that God needs? You keep turning back to your self-centeredness, “Why does this happen to me?” and you’ll suffer until your “self” disappears. Why did God allow this problem, and what is it that God needs? That’s what it means to enjoy God being with me. If that doesn’t take place, you’ll lose your saltiness and be enslaved by your problems.
Immanuel means “God is with us,” so God isn’t just with me, but God is with us together. Some people do not understand “us,” and have difficulty mingling with others. That’s normal. It’s weird if people enjoy comingling with others, but God is with us. Not only is God with me, but God is with the other people as well. If I don’t like someone else, it means I love my standards and people who are like me.
When I enjoy Immanuel, I know why God allowed me to meet that person. “I hate this,” why? “Because nobody understands me,” then you’ll have nobody who will get along with you in heaven or hell because nobody aligns with you. “Why did God send me to this church?” that’s how you receive answers and enjoy Immanuel.
Romans 8:28, in all things, God works for the good, so whether you fail or succeed, “if only I did a little bit better back then,” no, God works in all things for His good, even using your failures in the best way possible. Enjoy this. But if you don’t enjoy this, your life just becomes full of regret.
Quickly let go of your scars because the core of your scars is your self. … You need to change that, “Why did God allow this?” God is with you, but you don’t enjoy that and you say, “me, me,” and your life collapses. This is the method for us to enjoy the blessing of being a child of God, then God answers you through His Word.
What’s our nature like? Our nature is centered on things we see with our eyes, “Why is this person saying this to me?” That’s a person who doesn’t believe in God. “God, why did you allow this person to say this to me?” Then God will give you His answer, telling you to snap out of it. But if you don’t listen to God’s Word, you’ll point your fingers at other people, you’ll be trapped by yourself and be trampled by the world. No matter how much you succeed, it doesn’t matter; success is just externally getting something, but inside, you don’t have Jesus Christ.
Me, my pride. “He touched my pride.” “God, why did you allow this person to touch my pride this way?” Then you can receive answers as you believe in God. “Now that I believe in God, I have to endure so much!” Do not endure, you’re just believing in God. “This person just doesn’t fit my liking,” but it’s not about your style. People assert their own styles and preferences, but I hope you will open your vessel to accept everybody. That’s your vessel, you have to accept everybody, then you will be able to change to have God’s width.
Even those who are falsely accusing you should cause you to ask God, “Why is this person cursing me?” Even if someone says the opposite of what you’re saying, just pray, “God, why are you allowing me to listen to these words?” and God will tell you the reason why you’re listening to this. You must believe in this sure thing.
- One Who Saves the World
Finally, the world will hate and persecute you, but Jesus tells us the way to save the world, John 15:7, by remaining in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ must become your center.
1) In Christ (John 15:7)
You need to live a life where God is with you, and you have to go into the life where God is with us, and you need to have the faith in knowing God in all things. In other words, there’s no self, there’s no me, but all my words are changed to include God. You face a problem and ask, “What does God need?” You suffer but you talk about “me, me.”
Some people say, “In my opinion, I disagree.” That person will be trapped in their own thoughts. “I wonder why God is allowing me to hear these words,” then the omnipotent God will give you the answer and you’ll be liberated from yourself. That’s the Kingdom of Heaven, that’s peace, joy. But remaining within yourself is hell.
Even if you had an infinite IQ, you’d still live in hell. Does anyone have an IQ over 200 here? Your IQ isn’t even 1000; why do you assert yourself. Becoming centered on God who has an infinite IQ, your life will become one of freedom, liberty, peace, and joy. Then, instead of being afraid of the world, “How will I study and work today?” but you will become excited.
When you begin your day, you wonder, “How will I survive today?” You suffer, but if you ask God, “What do you want today?” The characteristic of the world is suffering, but the characteristic of heaven is joy and peace. We must be convinced of this.
Then the Holy Spirit comes within us and protects us and teaches us and guides us. He lives inside of me. You need to have a time where you’re concentrated upon Him. Stop concentrating on songs, but concentrate on the Holy Spirit who lives within you. John 14:26, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, He will testify of Jesus Christ. These aren’t ordinary words.
“I can’t do this, I hate this person, why is the world so difficult?” Instead of saying words like that, the Holy Spirit will testify of Jesus Christ. If you say words that testify Christ, those are no ordinary words. If in our entire lives, we testify of Christ, that is no ordinary feat. Most people say, “It’s so difficult,” or “we succeeded today,” they don’t talk about Christ, so everyone has failed, then. Testifying of Jesus Christ means that the Holy Spirit controls you. It means you’ve already overcome yourself, your problems, and your circumstances
2) Field of the World
When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will testify of Jesus Christ. John 16:1, the world wants you to fall away, but you won’t because of the Holy Spirit. The Bible talks about “going astray,” not going the correct path, but going awry. God is leading us down a path to conquer the world and be victorious, but the world is taking us away from that. The world talks about being centered on yourself, and you will collapse yourself; however, if the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will overcome all of that.
John 16:2, the world will try to kill you and kick you out of the synagogue. One day, they used to be Jews, but now they’re Christians, so the Jews excommunicated them from their society. If you look in Jewish cultures or other religions, saying that you’re a Christian could be your death sentence. You may not be able to fathom that because we’re in a democratic religion, but in other countries with other religions, they will either kill you or make it so that you cannot function in society. To go to college or get a job, you have to be a certain religion.
That’s excommunication, making it so that you can receive no benefits of the world; even if you’re good at studying, you can’t go to college. If you go to the bank to get a loan, they say you must be Jewish to get a loan. Then either you have to lie about your religion, or you must be persecuted and face a loss. They even went as far as killing people, and this is happening even now in the world. They’re not doing this because of you; they’re doing this because of Jesus Christ.
“Just as they killed Me,” if you believe in Him, they will persecute you as well. “I don’t want to die, I should stop going to church,” then you’ll die and be afflicted in another way. In this democratic nation, there isn’t much murder, but you might as well live a life that’s already dead.
They let you get into all the colleges and get loans from banks, but you live a life where you might as well be dead. John 16:4, “I have told you this so that you will remember that, when times come.” Remember the Sunday pulpit message words when you go out into the world, or you’ll be deceived. Our nature is centered on money and ourselves, and my nature is to kill others for my own benefit. If someone says something against me, I feel bad; then how can I overcome without God? That’s why you need to remember Jesus’ words.
3) Time of Prayer
Therefore, every day, you must receive the strength of the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Do you know what the filling of the Holy Spirit is? If you believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within you, but you still have your own thoughts, so you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit, but you’re filled with yourself and you suffer. If the Holy Spirit is within you, you’re still filled with money and success; then even though the Holy Spirit lives within you, you’re not filled with the Holy Spirit.
The filling of the Holy Spirit means that your heart and thoughts are completely filled with God; it means you don’t need your thoughts anymore, and because of that, when I go into the world, I’ll surely win because God has promised to give me authority. You’ve overcome yourself, the “you” centered on yourself, money, and success, why? Because the Holy Spirit completely controls me, and when these people go to church, people are saved.
Otherwise, you’ll be filled with your own thoughts and opinions, relaying that. You’ll always be worried about money and people; you’ll be worried about the world as you watch the news. It’s not because you’re a bad person; you’re normal, but you need to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. How?
All you have to do is ask God for the filling of the Holy Spirit with faith, because He promised to give it to you. If you don’t understand what this means, do you know what happens when you’re drunk? You’re not in your right mind. Even if someone slaps me in the face, it won’t hurt because I’m filled with alcohol. Even if someone beats me, I’m not hurt; even if it’s winter, I can take off my clothes and not be cold because of the alcohol.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit, you’re not in control, and you become very normal because you overcome yourself. In the past, you were seized by money, but you overcome that. Instead of being seized by people’s words, you overcome that and become a witness to go to the ends of the earth. This means, until the rest of your life, you’re a witness that God and the Holy Spirit are with you.
I pray you will absolutely have this time to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Just as a phone needs its battery charged, if you go out into the world without charging it, it won’t work. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit to go into the field and communicate with God, but you’re stuck with your own thoughts like a phone without a battery.
If you want to do something great, you have to have this time, otherwise you’ll collapse. Even if works take place, you’ll collapse because you cannot overcome the world. The world is completely controlled by Satan who is the ruler of the kingdom of the air, and Satan knows exactly what to do to bring me towards collapse. That’s why I need a time for the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Especially remnants, when you’re young, you must have the time of the filling of the Holy Spirit to overcome Goliath like David did. You can’t overcome Goliath simply by throwing stones well. Every shepherd in that age knew how to throw stones; the problem is that when people stand before Goliath, they pee their pants. It’s because you lack spiritual strength, “If I die, it’s over,” then you can’t go out.
However, young David who enjoyed the filling of the Holy Spirit every day while as a shepherd enjoyed this every day. There wasn’t a single person who could fight, even though they had the skills. No matter how much elite training they received, they couldn’t go forward. Only the one with the filling of the Holy Spirit and skill could overcome. But then you can be victorious without any competition.
Because of the incident of Goliath, the entire nation exalted David as the future king, and that kind of success will follow you. Otherwise, what happens? You succeed so you can survive, so you can’t go against Goliath because you have to survive. That’s the average person. When you go out into the world, you have no strength; … that’s normal, and you have no strength, so you live like that. Even if you have skills and live a nice life, you’ll live like that.
4) Work of the Holy Spirit – Field of the World
But if you receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, you’ll have the works of the Holy Spirit like wind and fire. You see wildfires that can’t be put out; the Holy Spirit isn’t fire, but it’s like fire. It’s like wind, like the great winds causing huge tsunamis in Japan. If you have the time of prayer for the filling of the Holy Spirit, then the works of the Holy Spirit that are like wind and fire will come upon you, then you will be attached to businesspeople of 15 different nations like in Acts 2.
There’s a huge difference with someone who does their business for their own benefit and those who have the filling of the Holy Spirit. Those who have meetings for the sake of money won’t have long meetings, but people who run their businesses with the filling of the Holy Spirit and the working of the Holy Spirit, God will bless all their meetings. If you’re trying to maintain a relationship with someone by creating good circumstances, one day, that relationship will end. But if the working of the Holy Spirit takes place, even if you don’t do anything for them, that relationship will continue. That’s God’s blessing.
Young adults, it’s the same with your marriage and meetings and everything; it all depends on your center, on what moves you. That’s why in Acts 2:41-42, the works of saving lives take place. Everywhere you go, the people around you should be spiritually revived. The working of the Holy Spirit is used to save people’s lives.
The working of Satan will cause you to spend your money on the world, irrelevant to God, to saving souls. In Acts 2:44-45, the finances to save souls will come to life. You were just standing on this line, but your finances come to life. Even though there is an age of famine, the Antioch Church received finances so they could even help the Jerusalem Church.
These are the finances for the works of God. Everyone says the world is difficult, but remaining within the covenant of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, God will restore these finances that nobody can see with their eyes. Remaining within the work of the Holy Spirit, you will have the finances to save others’ lives. It is not a finance used to spend on the things of the world, but you can save lives.
- One Who Belongs to Christ
In conclusion, we belong to God through Jesus Christ. - Hate and Persecution of the World
Of course, the spirit of the world is different so we face persecution and hatred. - Save the World through the Power of the Holy Spirit
If you love yourself and the world, you’ll be trampled by the world; however, if you receive the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit, then you’ll receive the blessing of saving souls. I hope this year will end like this for you. The one who belongs to God and saves the world. Because this is the Word of God, God will fulfill it exactly. May you enjoy this blessing.
Let us pray together in one heart with the Word we’ve received today. “God, allow the works of the filling of the Holy Spirit to save lives. May you break down all the forces of darkness in the field, and may all the finances belong to you, God.”