Onesimus Movement (Philemon 1:4-7)
Prayer
God, we thank You. We pray You will bless the remnants. May you raise them up as the remnants who will save the age as You desire. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Onesimus was a slave who belonged to Philemon and was a thief.
Intro
1. Gospel – Re-Creation (2 Cor. 5:17)
People don’t change on their own, but the power of Jesus Christ within them re-creates them daily. Then, what exactly is this gospel? If you know and believe this, you change. But the world keeps telling you, you have to change, and its’ just an external change, not an internal one. If you study worldly education, you’ll graduate from school and become lawyers or judges, but the software internally must change for your life to change.
Me
I am born with self-centeredness. I have no choice but to live centered on myself, but I was created to see things the way God sees it, and that’s what we call, “The image of God,” fulfilling God’s work within me. In order to fulfill God’s work, God gives me grace to see the way God desires. That’s the life we were created to live. Because of Adam and Eve’s Original Sin, I was born in self-centeredness.
Self-Centered
Things I Want
Ask the question, is this what God desires? Then you will receive answers. Now, you’ve received salvation and you can pray in the name of Jesus Christ; is this something God desires? Because Christ now lives inside of me, He gives me the answer from inside.
Success
To pray and hold onto the covenant means, because I aim for what God desires, I pray for that today, and you must be trained to do this while you study. It’s very simple, isn’t it? It’s not about me studying, but through these studies, God’s righteousness and plan will be fulfilled and God will be glorified, so that is what we pray for. All you have to do is pray, “God, may my studies be used for world evangelization,” then God will begin to work.
It’s easy, isn’t it? If you don’t know this, you’ll always ask, “God, help me study well so I can succeed,” that’s a religion. If you pray to get the things you want from God, that’s not prayer; that’s religion. Such a person cannot be used in a great way. We need to receive guidance, so we pray for our studies to be used for God’s plan and God’s desire. Even when you’re studying, your spiritual state will discern, “Will I do this for God’s glory with God’s power, or for myself with my power?” If you are working, then it’s not about you doing your work for what you desire, but through this, “May God’s plan of Christ be revealed.”
Religion
What is legalism? It’s the law, and we have to keep the law, I’m not talking about the law of the world; anybody can keep those laws, but we cannot keep God’s laws on our own. Even if you do keep the law with your own actions, it is not righteous before God. Yes, you can study and work and eat food, all with your own strength, but we are the ones who are living for God’s glory, which is impossible with our own strength. I can give messages and she can translate with our own strength, but we are only relaying our own righteousness, but the work of God must be fulfilled through me. In order for that to happen, God must work because God’s Word must be revealed.
Through this message, it’s not about giving a good message, but it is relaying the things of God. This is the difference between religion and the gospel. Some understand and some do not, and the ones who don’t, they are so deep into religion.
Idol
There’s no reason for us to worship idols.
Evil Spirit
I’m not talking about people using Yoga to stretch, but yoga can just be a form of exercise or stretching, but some people may be deeply meditating, and that’s a big problem. Evil spirits begin to work and they have power because they receive another spiritual power unseen to the eyes. That’s how fortune-tellers are able to see the future and to tell others what will happen in their lives. They are able to accurately tell what happened in the past. This is invisible, but evil spirits can come into the church as well. God may come in but demons come as well.
If you keep coming while being self-centered, then demons will work upon you, so don’t focus on yourself but on others, to proclaim the gospel. Being centered on others isn’t meaningful unless it is to give them the gospel. People who have good interpersonal relationships prioritize others above themselves. But if someone is only focused on benefiting themselves, nobody attaches themselves to that person. This is very important. If you don’t know this, you cannot be a leader in America, and you won’t get to a high position.
Today’s Bible scripture said, “if you want to become great, you must humble yourself. You get scarred when you try to elevate yourself. Even today, listen to this message while you pray. If you don’t understand these words, you’ll understand later; otherwise it’s a big problem because you’re not just listening to the voice of people, but also, the voice of God. Remnants who can do this will have success and influence others.
Pray as you are here. If possible, listen while doing deep breathing, don’t just sit there, but gain physical and spiritual strength.
Concentration
You know, a magnifying glass? When the sunlight is focused, it can even burn things like leaves. When you concentrate on God, a problem won’t be a problem because you receive the power and the answer. You listen to so many messages but you’re unable to concentrate?
Division, Obsession, Addiction
There are so many drugs in America, so it’s not a problems of drugs, but it’s a problem of addiction. You keep thinking about a video game? That’s an obsession. If you only think of “can or can’t”, then that’s an illness. Your spiritual state is separated from God.
Joseph, David
Joseph and David concentrated well. Everybody thought Goliath was a big problems, but God’s power was on David and it wasn’t a big deal to him. If you’re not able to concentrate on God, it will be difficult to live in the world, but it shouldn’t be. You think if you get good grades, the world won’t be difficult? No, but if God’s power comes upon you, it won’t be difficult. If someone studies really diligently, they’re happy to get tested. But if somebody hasn’t studied, it’s hard and they’ll get every question wrong. If someone does study and their test is postponed, they get angry. If God is the One doing it, not you, you’ll have confidence.
Daniel
David wasn’t smart and didn’t go to a good school; he was the youngest of his brothers. Daniel focused on God in prayer three times a day, and you need to have that know-how. If you have that know-how, it’s not going to be a problem no matter where you go because God’s power and wisdom comes upon you. This isn’t a theory, but I’m a witness who experienced this. If you face a problem, you shouldn’t be trembling in fear, but you must have confidence that God is with you, and that’s how you’ll be in the future. You may not know right now, but God will make you like that in the future. If you don’t know what will happen, you’re wandering.
“Oh, God will do this for me,” but for people who know the end result in advance, it’s easy. If there’s a big game or match, and you already know the end result, it’s not as exciting because you already know the final score. But if you don’t know the end result, you’ll be so excited or discouraged over every goal, and that’s your life, but these remnants knew in advance. Joseph knew all of Egypt would be transformed. David knew he would be king. Daniel was an elite who knew what would happen in the future because Israel worshiped the world instead of God.
Early Church
They already knew the end result, that without the gospel, the result is curses and disasters, they were in a state where they could see the spiritual state of the people who have success and do not have God. They have no reason to be shaken by the world; you’re shaken because of physical things, of people’s words, because they seem so strong, but you don’t know whether this person is pretending to be strong. Those who concentrate on God are happy. If you pray, God takes care of it. How are you going to go?
Snares
When you’re ensnared by mental illness and panic attacks, you cannot escape. You’re obsessed by money and can’t escape? You’re focused on yourself and get ensnared. What is the gospel? Not me, but Christ within me as my Lord. On the cross, He received death and our curses for us. The reason we are cursed is because we are living separated from God.
It is no longer me, but God lives in me as my Lord and God, and the works of re-creation take place. But if you don’t, then you may go to church but they don’t have the blessings. People study the Bible so well, but you must believe in Christ. It doesn’t matter how many problems you point out; change your eyes. If you wear dark sunglasses, the world will appear to be dark. Change to yellow sunglasses, then the problems may be exactly the same except you don’t see it as the same problem. If you want to change your eyes, change the state of your heart. If the software within you isn’t changed, nothing will work until you’ve changed. If Christ, Who is with you, truly God? Then, is whatever you’re facing right now even is it really a problem?
Me
Instead of thinking of changing yourself, you only point out the flaws of the other person, then it won’t matter. It’s not about me, but what does the Lord desire to show us? If you face a very complicated situation, stop worrying about it but entrust it to the Lord Who finished it. It doesn’t matter whether something is wrong or wrong; God,. Trust in the Lord, He knows, He is the Lord of my life. Not believing is the problem; that’s what we call ”Sin,” that’s the problem that needs to be solved first. You need to wait for the Lord to work. Everyone thinks of themselves as “right,” but what about from Satan’s perspective? All you have to do is wait because God is right, but there must a time through which you wait. Without a doubt, God answers in God’s time schedule. Our nature keeps changing to align with God’s time schedule.
Philemon was a thief. A relative of a new believer changed. Some people try to have fun. The Spirit of God moves me so I can have true freedom, not the freedom America talks about. It is a freedom where I can be free even as a slave. You may be stuck in a very difficult situation, but within, you’re free. If you face a difficult situation and you’re influenced by that, then you actually don’t have free freedom. You need freedom within Christ to be set free from the devil, from drugs, then you won’t complain about life being difficult because whether the world is fair.
Some people study in the midst of a warzone, develop true freedom and recognize spiritual problems. The majority of people pray for things because we lack things; if we pray for Him to completely fill me, pray momentarily, “Give me faith so that Christ is my Lord.” Pray that fundamental prayer, then that person doesn’t have questions because I entrust my life to my Lord. When am I going to married? Who can? I have the uniqueness God desires for me. But God gave you a special internal strength method. What’s the real issue? You’re only comparing yourself with others because you don’t know why God has called you and what he will use you for. If I grew up in a better neighborhood, No matter the situation, God prepared, but just do what you can where.
May that blessing be upon you.