Seeking God’s Kingdom in Canaan (Deut. 18:9-21)
Let us receive the grace of Deuteronomy 18 today. Prior to deuteronomy 18, it was a message about the kings. We didn’t read the first few verses but it was talking about the Levite tribe of priests. The verses we’ve read from verse 15 is about raising up the Prophets. And they told them to follow the festivals. God is already preparing the setting of this plan for us to enjoy ahead of time. What can we do to overcome this land of Canaan? That is why this is the word given to the Israelites for conquering to take place. But the Israelites’ concern and interest is on what to wear and how to live. This message doesn’t go into them. The Israelites’ interests were on the earthly things however God had prepared for them and set aside a plan of conquering but their focus wasn’t on that so this message did not go into them. Even the prayer that Jesus taught, that we spoke about in the pulpit message if the people who do this prayer focuses on the earthly things, it just becomes a ritualistic prayer.
Only by the filling and working of the Holy Spirit by God’s grace can we know why we can’t focus on the earthly things but understand why we need the heavenly things. In the New Testament, the disciples asked how to pray, and their motive is what can I do to receive these blessings quicker? But the prayer that Jesus taught was nothing like that. It was to establish God’s kingdom on earth and for God’s will done in heaven to be done on earth. So this prayer doesn’t align with the prayer the disciples desired. Forgive us our sins as we have forgiven our debtors. But this seems like the wrong, incorrect type of prayer.
Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil. And there isn’t a prayer about sustaining and filling us with year’s worth of food, but giving us our daily bread. And the last verse says for the kingdom the glory and the power forever, however this isn’t the prayer the disciples desired. The prayer that disciples wanted was how to get the material possessions quicker and how to receive fame and glory to their name. But that didn’t align with Jesus at all. The ones who know and enjoy this are the ones who are able to conquer. What does it mean for God’s kingdom to be established here? The ones who know this by God’s grace don’t know of the earthly things, but the earthly things will come by prayer. The prayer that the Lord taught them at the time is to receive the heavenly things.
That’s only possible for those who have received salvation. Those who are not saved are not able to receive this, because their interests always lie on the earthly things, the things Satan gives to them.
There are those who are unable to receive grace even at church, however, they have a misconception that they already have salvation. You can see their lack of salvation as they seek for earthly things. If you truly become a child of God, you will be filled and moved by the spirit to desire heavenly things.
False prophets will arise; however, the false prophets don’t think they’re false, and that they’re telling the true things. It is likewise for the unbelievers in the church who believe they have been saved, but they have not been saved. Their interest always lies in the earthly things. Though they have received the Word, they focus their interests on the earthly things.
That is what this scripture means when it says, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires,” because Satan is controlling and ruling over the earth, so you keep praying to carry out your father’s desires. That’s what the Pharisees did. These were the Pharisees who religiously came to church, they studied up on the Bible and knew the law word for word, and they kept the practices. But these are the characteristics of those who have not received salvation. Though they prayed, they prayed before people because they did not receive salvation. Though they did fasting prayer, they did fasting prayer to receive recognition from people, that’s like people who haven’t received salvation. Even working diligently was in order to receive the earthly things, and that’s another characteristic of those who haven’t received salvation.
The characteristic of one who has beens saved is that they receive the Word and they understand by the filling of the Holy Spirit. That’s why there are sheep and goats in the church. Goats only know themselves, so that’s why if something goes against them, they go against it. However, the trait of the sheep is to follow after the words and voice of the shepherd. They can’t do their own calculations so they look like fools, but not so with goats. They’re very particular. If some people are doing things alongside them, they just take a step back because goats themselves think they have a little bit of power, they don’t boast about themselves.
The Lord said to leave them alone because they are necessary; however, the ones who are to receive and understand this word will listen well. “Our Father who art in heaven,” Our Father God who reigns over the heavens and controls all creation on heaven and on earth, for God’s Kingdom to be established on earth and to rule over me. That’s normal. But instead of asking for this, people keep praying, “Give me this, give me that,” that’s people who have not been saved. All their interests lie in this.
It should be for God’s kingdom, but because they are of a different kingdom, they live according to their kingdom. We are to be seeking God’s will; however, other people keep seeking their own will. Pastor Kim JoEun was talking to me and he was telling me, “There are two pastors who are ironic.” Pastor Kim saw a person of Korean-Chinese descent who went back and forth from the church and he was unsure of his faith, but while living in New York, he was living a good walk of faith, so he found that ironic.
Another case was where he saw one person who used to come to every Early Morning prayer and not miss a single one; however, that person got dementia and asked, “Who is Jesus Christ?” He thought that was very ironic. This was someone who didn’t miss a single Early Morning service and was always part of the church since its founding, and always volunteered, and you may think that, “This is possible because this person got dementia.”
He would recount his own personal story where his mother had dementia also, but when he was ordained as a pastor in America, his mother would just go around telling people, “My son has become a pastor,” but how is that possible when his mother had dementia? The pastor said, “Even though it’s dementia, because it’s a spiritual thing, this dementia cannot overcome the spiritual thing,” so he saw many people and found them to be ironic.
Have you all received salvation? What are you so confident in? Is your prayer about seeking and yearning for God’s Kingdom, or is it for earthly things? You can tell if this person has received salvation or not, depending on this. As evidence of receiving salvation, the Holy Spirit works so you can continue to carry out these things.
You may think you have salvation but try having dementia. Try facing a crisis. What kind of confession will you have? Normally you wouldn’t be able to tell whether you’re a sheep or goat, because goats can actually be smarter and they can put more effort into doing church work.
Why am I saying this? It’s because God had already prepared the land of Canaan, and He already expressed to us His message that He has already prepared everything in the land of Canaan for it to be conquered. He was talking about the three feasts, the festivals, the Passover, Pentecost, and the Festival of Ingathering, and he proclaimed Jesus Christ as the priest, king, and prophet. God did not provide the Israelites with means to eat and to conquer the land of Canaan, but he expressed that, the channel in order to conquer the land of Canaan, you must have the King, Priest, and Prophet, Jesus Christ. He said it was through the Anointed One that he would conquer Canaan, and that’s how God worked through the person anointed as King.
So, holding onto the Ark of the covenant in war, although King David stepped forward to fight the war, it was God who was fighting that war. It was through this priest that God would forgive our sins and allow us to give worship. God raised up the prophet saying, “I will deliver my word to you through this person.” That is how He set up everything in order to conquer the land of Canaan.
Deut. 18:9 says, “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.” And he continues on to say in Deut. 18:10, that the people who practice divination or sorcery are with evil spirits so do not follow it for those are detestable. All these occult practices are because of evil spirits speaking to them, so that’s why these are the evil amd wrong things, so you shouldn’t listen to the evil and wrong ways of Canaan.
Deut. 18:11, “or casts spells or who is a medium or spiritist who consults the dead.” These are the methods the people of the world follow after. But nowadays it’s more about politics. In Eph. 6, it’s talking about the authorities that are moving the world right now. People move and are being dragged around by successful people, the words of the great individual, and nowadays, it’s about meditation, they receive power and strength from it, so they ignore the Word of God, and is what the people of the world follow after.
More importantly, the people of the world follow their own thoughts, and because Satan’s words grab hold of these people, they follow their own thoughts and own words. Then they become losers 100 out of 100 times.
How will you succeed in the world? How will we have victory in the world? If we live diligently? Or if we live piously? If we put in so much more effort than others, will we have victory in the world? Don’t listen to such words, that’s what the Bible says. Listen to the word God gives you through the priest, and that’s what the Bible is saying. God has already prepared everything and has set up everything so just go forward into the world. If this was not set up, then the prophet would not have been raised up and God wouldn’t have been able to give His Word, and the people would have to follow after the ways of the world.
Regional and world evangelism cannot be done by ourselves; it is the fight God carries out, and the setting, however, and preparation have already been given to us. These three positions have been fulfilled by Jesus. It is the incident of the cross that solved all problems. Jesus Christ solved the problems of the past, present, and future. He, who is the True Prophet, Priest, and King, is with me as the Holy Spirit. That has been prepared and set up inside of us.
The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of God’s Word, carrying it out the word in our lives. We have been given the authority to cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ. All curses and disasters are broken down and destroyed in the name of Jesus Christ. No matter what failures you have, you have to hold onto the covenant of Jesus Christ. You must have this setting in place and go out into the world.
That’s what God talked about in the conquest of Canaan in the Old Testament. You can’t do it with your own strength. God didn’t say do your research about Canaan and then go conquer, the more you research the more you’ll be trapped in it. This battle is not of the earthly things but it is a heavenly battle and you will win according to the heavenly things, so those who have not received salvation cannot understand these words. They listen but they can’t understand because they continue to follow after what it is their father desires. They only listen to the words of Genesis 3:5, that they are their own god, and they follow after Genesis 6, what benefits them or does not benefit them, and they are led to disasters. All their interest lies in Genesis 11, what makes them successful, and that’s the message their father, Satan, gives to them, and they follow after their father’s desires.
They say, “That’s not right, I follow the Old Testament, I give my tithe and follow the festivals,” but they themselves do not know. They say they have this faith because of their actions but they do not know themselves and they do not understand the gospel. They understand the term, “Gospel,” but they don’t understand the content and meaning of the gospel, but because it is what God allows you to understand, you’re bound to understand. It was likewise in the Old Testament, the people who received salvation received God’s grace to relay and carry out this message.
That’s why in the New Testament, it sasys, “But when the Holy Spirit comes on you,” that’s Jesus’ spirit and they will go forward to all nations, but there were only 120 who were able to understand this. No matter how much Jesus spoke and proclaimed this word, no matter how much influence he may have exerted, though He proclaimed to 5000 people, only 120 understood Him; however, the rest of them were following Jesus in the interest of worldly things, and such people hate world evangelization the most.
They think they have to succeed in the world, they have to say and live so they think, “Why must I do these things?” They were unable to understand. This is the way and method to conquer, but they couldn’t understand these words. Only 120 were able to understand this. The numbers don’t have to be large, they were only 120, but God worked through them, and those 120 were great instruments. They were in a terrible situation, being persecuted by the Roman Empire and the Jewish Community, so there was a law that if they proclaimed the name of Jesus twice, they would be imprisoned.
But how was the gospel proclaimed? How could they continue the work they were doing? The earthly things did not concern them. Everything was lacking, the situation was like this, and those were correct words, but you cannot enter into Mark’s Upper Room in that state. It’s only rightful for such people to enter the Jerusalem temple as it is the largest way you can enter. So, “Only when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,” you must understand these words. Only through this will evil spirits depart and God’s Kingdom be established. Only when the Holy Spirit comes upon you will Satan, the forces of darkness, judgment, and curses will crumble down.
But first, seek His Kingdom and His righteousness. But first, establish God’s Kingdom to break down Satan’s Kingdom. Before you enter your field, pray to break down the forces of darkness and establish the kingdom of God first. Recently there’s been a war between Russia and Ukraine, so three of Ukraine’s territories have been taken by Russia. The flags being put into the ground means Russia has successfully invaded and conquered those areas of Ukraine, meaning the Ukrainian army fled. What remains is now Russia’s.
If you enter into the world without knowing what these words mean, it’s like a Ukrainian going single-handedly before the Russian army, they’ll die. Are you able to understand? You have to be able to understand even if you don’t enter the army. Think about a nation that is the sole enemy of America. If you’re to enter into that nation as an American citizen, you would die. How would you enter that nation as an American? Only when you’re able to place that flag and conquer that land for America, you’ll be able to enter that land.
Do you know how you enter into the world right now? You think you have to work hard, you’ll meet important people, so you enter with worldly things. You still don’t understand what it means to first seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. That’s why you’re just entering into the world to die with niceness and trying to do your best, but you have to know what kind of land it is. It is a land Satan has placed his strongholds and flags on, but you think that with your niceness and hard work, you can enter in.
But first seek His Kingdom, but first mobilize the heavenly armies there. So you must first conquer the spiritual territory. If this doesn’t happen first, you’ll be subdued spiritually because that’s Satan’s territory. You work very hard and think you have everything, but one day, everything will be taken away by Satan. In other words, you’ll think it’s for yourself, but Satan is actually using all that you’ve studied and accumulated over time for his own kingdom.
So, in the name of Jesus Christ who is the True Prophet, True Priest, and True King, establish God’s Kingdom every day so that the filling of the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and whatever field you go to, the filling of the Holy Spirit comes upon that field. First do this, but you bravely go forward without knowing the world. Matthew 12:29 says to first bind the strong man in the house. You’re going into the world, but you must first establish God’s Kingdom there for your studies and work to be used for God’s Kingdom. But you just end up working as part of Egypt, looking to raise up the pyramids, but that’s all part of Satan’s territory. That’s the land of the Pharaoh, that Satan rules over. So, the work you’re doing is for what? For Satan. Eventually, only suffering comes. That’s why people want to die, and that’s when God allows them to know the gospel.
We need this gospel. We have to first come out of sin, Satan, and curses of hell. So, we have been actually liberated from all this but our thoughts and heart are still within this, so we need to be in the wilderness for 40 years because we’re not able to understand. Among the people who are able to understand, there is the setting of the three positions in place. Also, be reminded of the Three Feasts and to enjoy them. The remaining four feasts, enjoy them in their respective regions, but enjoy the Three Feasts in the temple of Jerusalem. It is God’s method, so we can know, experience, and enjoy Him.
That’s why our battle is not just a battle of words between humans, but it’s a spiritual battle between spiritual forces that Satan has planted in that person, so it’s a battle to save the other person. God has already prepared everything to save and conquer His Kingdom, but if we’re not able to enjoy this answer, then we can’t receive salvation. However, if we have received salvation, but we’re still part of Satan’s kingdom. We’re stuck in Satan’s trap, unable to understand God’s Word at all, so God leaves me alone because I’m unable to understand.
Physically you’re dragged around and captured by Satan, you receive salvation in the end. Are you happy being trapped by Satan? That’s not happiness. Who is Satan? Satan is a being who leads us to destruction, he is our enemy, but if you think that’s good, that’s a mental problem. If you’re happy about that, that’s a mental problem. So you must first receive grace and the power and authority and blessing that comes with grace of Jesus Christ. Pray for God’s Kingdom to be established wherever you go, and wherever you enter into, you will see the evidence of God having worked upon that place. That’s why you do the work you do and you study, it is for the Lord, for the salvation of souls.
Have you heard of the national gun shooting incident that happened during Halloween? There are gun shootings in every state but we don’t have any sensitivity to these things, why? Because it’s only about the earthly things and what’s mine. So, we say it’s very unfortunate that so many people died, but we don’t see the spiritual things.
We heard that 150 people died in Seoul, but we don’t see the spiritual things. We received the word but we don’t know about the spiritual things; we only know the physical things. There’s nothing that occurs without God’s permission. It is through this event that people listen to evil spirits and destruction follows. It is the working of the evil spirits through one person of the evil spirit. Through one person, if that one person perishes, everyone falls. That one person was possessed by an evil spirit. That one person pushes and everyone falls. It doesn’t matter what happened, but one person is needed to initiate everything, and these things cannot be investigated, why not? That’s saying something about the Korean churches. It’s a warning, saying that halloween day is going into churches, they don’t have the spiritual understanding of what has occurred.
But what happens if even children of God don’t seek after the Kingdom of God, but after worldly things? Disaster is bound to follow. Such people can just go to and from church; it’s better for them to become Buddhist, because it’s the same thing. It’s the same errands and chores you’re doing for Satan.
What is the church? It is to establish God’s Kingdom, that’s how you break down the forces of darkness. That’s why you must first do this. What happens afterwards is a story for later. That is when God’s Kingdom and righteousness is established there as well, and everything will follow.
Honestly, I was concerned about the Wednesday service today. It was the first time I experienced anything like this, but I was sitting here and moved by God’s spirit to talk about the spiritual setting. Why is it that I’ve never talked about whether we’ve received salvation or not? It is today the first time that it’s being proclaimed. I don’t know myself. Why is it that these words are being spoken today and not before? There are bound to be people here who are concerned whether they have received salvation or not; I think God gave this message to them in particular so they can properly hold onto the message. He is saying that today, you will also stubbornly chase after earthly things, and He is giving the message like this today.
How can we know who is the True Prophet? We can tell the True Prophet according to whether what the prophet speaks is fulfilled. I appreciate everyone’s prayers, but what always sticks out to me is when you pray, “May the Pastor speak the words of the gospel.” I always speak the gospel, and you can just listen to Youtube videos about it. Another person prays that I only speak the words of God, but I only speak God’s Word; that’s my prayer topic. There is no other prayer you must do, but ask for God’s Holy Spirit to come upon you so you can properly receive God’s Word.
You pray for me to just spout the words of God, so I’ll keep saying the gospel, and I’ll keep speaking about God’s Word, but how should you pray? So that you can hear God’s voice through the pulpit message. You’ll be able to hear God’s voice, that is, God’s Word, through the speaker. So, you can receive the Word He has prepared for the speaker and properly receive it, but the speaker only speaks the words of God, so that means they themselves are God, so that according to God’s will, the Word is relayed and the Spirit works upon all of us, then that’s it.
Then, can I not speak 50 minutes about the world and 10 minutes about the gospel? Are you going to complain that I’m only speaking about the world and you don’t have the qualifications for that? What you just have to do is receive and listen for God’s voice. That’s the same for me, too. While I’m giving out this sermon, I must receive God’s Word. So, some pastors pray on the stage to only speak the words of the gospel; then, are they not allowed to say other things? I understand the meaning, but giving the sermon itself is the gospel. But give me the Word God has prepared and given to me, and to follow that.
What you’re saying is that, you will not receive the words you do not want to receive, you’re saying you have set up a box of what you’re going to receive, and they’re not going to listen to something they did not expect. That’s when their spiritual states are revealed. But God proclaims the Word that You desire to proclaim, and what’s important is to follow after those words. What happens if I proclaim it and you don’t follow it? You guys are so good at praying to proclaim it, but what happens if you don’t follow?
Pray, “Lord, I will follow the Word given to me,” because this Word is so great and grand, but you do not follow it,” and I think this is just our state. I hope you have this setting to rule over and conquer the world through Christ, God’s Kingdom, and the Holy Spirit. Then the answer of establishing God’s Kingdom and saving the world will come to you.
Prayer
Let us at this time hold onto the Word and pray. Let us pray with the words God has given to us.
Our second prayer will be for the region so that the region we’re gathered in, when we pray, the forces of darkness are broken down and it’s about raising the disciples and saving lives.
Our third prayer will be for Remnant University. Next week, there will be an additional special program and it will be evangelism disciple training, taking place on Monday and Tuesday from 1-8:30pm, and it will be in this space. So, let us pray for RU as well as Thanksgiving, as our church will be used for this.
Let us also pray for Temple Construction, I believe God will work according to His time schedule, granting us the answer of the heavenly things. But I’ve seen people who have received this prayer topic seriously, while others take it as a joke, but this is only understood by God’s grace. Only when we are moved by the Holy Spirit do we receive God’s grace, so I pray that you will pray for it to be the covenant. That is your evangelism. We are talking about the evangelism that continues to take place after you ascend to heaven. So, we evangelize on this earth but we have a continuous evangelism movement. Let us pray for Temple Construction.
Finally let us pray for our missions fields. We had Holy Wind on Monday, and this time around, I was able to see that the multiethnic people were especially gathered here and received the Word of God at that time. This time, I was able to see people just going up to others and proclaiming the gospel. So, it showed me the workers have already been prepared. Because there were English pamphlets with English speakers, we were able to see this evangelism take place, as well as Stephanie who joined and helped out with evangelism. We trained her a bit in the Way of salvation and she ended up doing that as well. It’s such a thankful incident. They were by themselves so they were opening up, someone told me they were depressed and taking medication for it, so they asked me to pray. It was just a tip for me to pray for that person. Stephanie had come all the way from Long Beach to do camp with her husband. Looking at her, I was able to see how much she had developed, she could participate but she was also proclaiming the gospel.
Dec. 24, there is a musical camp, and I hope you will extend your invitation to people. Let’s pray for the Holy Wind camp that the people who came may continue their training here.
Also, let us pray for our missions fields.
Haykrey and Naysay rented a studio apartment near their workplace, and with Deaconess Jini Kwon, they have blankets, and maybe our church can buy bunk beds because in a few months, the Kenyan Missionary’s son will come here to receive training. I hope you will be thinking about Mission Home because many people have to come here to do world evangelization, so think about it. So, don’t think about receiving money, but it is the prayer topic of the mission home that you may have enough income to support the mission home, and the remnants can be properly trained.
I said I would not be going to Mexico this time around because instead of coming back and forth, disciples must be truly raised up there. That’s why, we don’t just tell one person to come, but bring many people here to the church to be trained. People aren’t able to understand these words. It’s not that I’m arrogant, but God has given this talent to me, but people cannot understand this. It is Navajo people to save the Navajo people; no matter how much I try, it’s Navajo people like Joel. Also look at the Karen nation, they came to America but no one remains. Why is it that there are none who still remain even though we invest the time and money? We must do the work God desires and that’s the work of raising up the disciples, that’s the church that must arise. That’s the blessing of uniqueness God has given to us. I’m saying that’s the way the church will be used by God.
I’m just explaining the details that many remnants come to this church, so we must have the prayer topic of the mission home. There was a plan for the Native American children to come here to receive training in the winter, and I’m not sure about that. Many disciples should come here, but we shouldn’t be in a position like that, so we should pray for that.
Let us pray at this time for our church, the multiethnic and the remnants, and the mission homes.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, may the setting of only Christ, the Kingdom of God, and the Holy spirit be upon all the heads of all the multiethnic remnants who will save the world, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.