Spiritual Healing (Gal. 2:20)
The word we are sharing today is about spiritual healing. Spiritual healing is something doctors can’t do; it is only possible by God giving His Word. This is a work that cannot be possible with whatever effort you may put in. The reason why people continue to fail is because they’re not able to overcome this. Because it’s a spiritual thing, we cannot recognize or find this out on our own. Unbeknownst to you, you keep experiencing failure. So, if anyone is unable to receive spiritual healing, they will not be able to succeed, and they will continuously fail.
1 .Continuous – Reason for Failure
Anyone can fail but there is a reason behind continuous failures
1) Complete Christ (Gal. 2:20)
It must be the complete Christ, but it is not the complete Christ for them. “Complete Christ” is defined in Gal. 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. What does it mean? I’m alive, what does it mean that I have died? I have experienced my past, my present, and I will experience my future, what does it mean that I have died? You have to know this to know the complete Christ.
World – Satan | Me
I have died in the world. That means the world has died to me and I have died to the world, so I am irrelevant to the world now. The world is controlled and being moved around by Satan, and I am dead to that, why is that? Christ has absolved my sins on the cross, and Satan is no longer relevant. I am dead to the world and the world is dead to me, we are no longer connected. The past in which I used to live for the world, chasing after physical and material things, has died on the cross. Christ, on my behalf, has died on the cross for my sins, so Satan can no longer control me.
If you properly know and hold onto this, that’s when true healing will take place. But because this doesn’t take place, that is why, even though you attend church, you keep failing. In other words, there are people who don’t know this and they claim to have success, but they keep failing, why is that?
2) Spiritual Problem
If this doesn’t take place, they will be trapped by spiritual problems. I am dead to the world and Satan, you have to acknowledge that in order for the world and Satan to not concern you anymore. But if this doesn’t happen for you, you’ll be captured by spiritual problems and you’ll be dragged around by these things.
(1) Idolatry – Me
Idols are channels for evil spirits and Satan, and there are multiple idols. If I hold onto something else other than Christ and I live for that, that is an idol and Satan controls me through the idol. Eventually, I have been crucified with Christ, but I keep trying to live for myself. It has been completely finished by Christ, but because you don’t acknowledge this, you keep trying to make something for yourself, and that’s an idol.
Money, Success,
Simply put, money is an idol because you need to live by money. Money is money but it becomes your idol. Success, it becomes your idol, it has to be success, everything for money. The world and Satan have been finished, but it hasn’t been finished so it continues to attack you.
(2) Ideological Problems – Buddhism, Politics
Some people carry around thoughts that are not Christ. The way the world and Satan moves is through ideas. There are many ideologies, there may be this or that, but I’m not saying it’s unnecessary. But there are people who claim this has the most value and stake their life on that, but that’s the method that the world and Satan use to control them, and they haven’t been able to escape from that. Also, Buddhist ideologies and political ideologies like communism or democracy. Christ must be the center of that. Democracy is not the Truth but people live by that ideology, thinking that is everything. That’s why in church, majority rules and that becomes the Truth. It is not by majority rule that we determine the Truth, but it is God’s Word that is the Truth. But they are captured by Satan and will ultimately fail.
Individualism
The individual has to be protected and the individual is important, everything is about privacy and individual rights, then it has nothing to do with God’s Word, then they won’t be able to understand anything about the church because if it’s all about the individual, the church cannot have it. This is an ideology that children born and raised in this culture live by. If they’re even a little bit uncomfortable about something, they’re avoidant. If they hear something a little uncomfortable, they avoid it and go away.
They have to listen to God’s Word, but the individual is their center, “God’s Word bothered me, I don’t want to listen to this,” or they say, “I want to listen to this,” and even though there’s Christ, because this has become an ideology, they are being moved by that. There are many people like this in America. Eventually they’re captured by Satan and fall into their spiritual problems. People who are like-minded like this will end up marrying together and they will be captured by Satan and will fall. It is only by God’s Word that you are protected.
(3) Problem of Religion
It’s a problem of religion. If you are believing in something other than Christ and your faith goes into that something, that is religion. It can be very similar to an ideology or that ideology becomes your religion, but the world doesn’t say this is bad. But unbeknownst to us, we have this, then even though we have been liberated, we cannot escape. Some people speak like this. Many come into Christianity but fall into religion. They have to experience freedom but they promote actions. The actions have to come from faith, but they promote actions like loyalty and devotion.
(4) The Problem of Church Authority (Catholic Pope)
The problem of the church authority. Not only the church’s authority, but the denominations have set these rules to oppress people. That’s the Catholics, the words of the Pope are the truth, and that’s the authority of the church. Christians have come out of that with God’s Word. We say, “God’s Word has to be the center,” but it’s still the same in the church. They try to oppress other people with their position in the church. It’s not about God’s word; instead, they oppress with their position in the church. So, there was a lot of fights between the high people in the church and the kings, and it was a matter of who’s stronger, but that leads to destruction.
The church is a place to serve the world, but because the church tries to do something, it’s not happening. They say, “Who do you think I am? Do you know my position in the church? How could you say this? Can the church move without my permission?” That’s being captured by evil spirits. Instead of the Word or the gospel or to save being the center, they themselves are the center. If it’s not their will, it doesn’t take place, and that means it’s being captured by evil spirits. Church authority. What’s important? If it’s about the church and saving, I should be inside of that, so there’s a reason behind every failure, but they don’t know why they fail and continue to fail; be careful about the church authority.
(5) Humanism
So, they try to use the methods of unbelievers. I was speaking to the Deaconess running Mission Homes, they ask, “What do I do first? How do I do it?” It’s not my place to tell how to run it, I don’t have a secret method. The pastor is the one who guides to God, but the deaconess asks, “What do I do in this circumstance?” But if they receive grace and answers to prayer from God’s Word, that’s when they are guided. Some people misunderstand, they can’t evangelize without the method of evangelism, but that’s humanism. Humanism is relentless. All people are like this, pastors keep looking for methods to serve and preach better, but they don’t stand before God. They struggle against Satan.
(6) Fear, Worry
1 Peter 5:7-8 says Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Such people are always in fear and are worried, scared of the world. I have died on the cross with Christ and Christ is my Master, but I continue to be afraid. They have the correct facts but without being with God, they are afraid. Satan will continue to hold onto that person.
(7) Jealousy
Some people are jealous, they are jealous of other people’s homes. They keep being jealous that pastors favor one household over another, but can a pastor just go to every household? The pastor is just raising up that person and that household at that time. But because of the jealousy, people mistake, “The pastor favors one household over another.” Because she’s here, I made her translate. If she weren’t here, she couldn’t interpret.
During corona, no one was here in the church. Please raise your hand if you came to church during COVID. One person, the only person who came to church was me and Tiffany. We couldn’t meet since we were man and woman, so Esther came to interpret, too. You can’t say, “He’s only favoring this household,” you don’t think about your own circumstance and you say, “You favor this household,” but they staked their lives to come here. Do you know when you came? You all came when the COVID scare came down, you went one by one.
Then I caught COVID and the interpreter got it from me, but they didn’t say one word. Many people would be afraid, but they got it. I asked, “Are you okay?” they said they were fine, but that’s by God’s grace. They’re being raised up because I see them. If they’re not here, then I would be speaking Korean but don’t misunderstand. It’s not whose daughter it is, but God raises up the person who is available. Some people are shaken, “Pastor, how can you make me do this?” That’s just training.
How can you succeed in the world if you don’t like this? That’s what it’s like in the world, it’s really harsh. They would be tremendously shaken. Because I was an unbeliever, I know how the world is, so if you had been raised up in church, you may have been sheltered but I have no standard of that. But we know the world is not simple. Our focus is on how the children will face this and overcome. That’s what we call success. If it’s not that, it’s not success. That’s just being oppressed by the world, living a pitiful life.
You have to hold hands with the world and close your eyes to succeed, but if it’s like that, unbelievers call you a fool going to church. I know this because I said those words. I would call the churchgoers, “Fools,” because there’s nothing they do in church. At a bar, they continue to refuse to drink, but they drink at the last minute, but all unbelievers see them as fools. I saw that during the work lunches once a month, they would go off into their own religious factions. There was a Christian group, a Catholic group, and they didn’t claim to know Jesus but they could tell this was the Christian group and that was the Catholic group, but there were also Christians who went into these groups even though they didn’t go to church.
After meeting Christ, I went back to my old workplace to hang out, and these old coworkers said, “Do you believe in Jesus? I believe in Jesus!” But I wondered, “Do you really believe in Jesus?” It’s like they said, “I used to be part of a famous singing competition.” Do you understand what I’m saying? I’m saying that Christians have been given the authority to overcome the world in the Bible, but unbelievers look at these Christians as fools.
2. Only Thing to Do
The only thing you must do, the only thing? The Word.
1) Word, Covenant (Faith, Heb. 4:12)
Also the covenant and faith in the covenant. Heb. 4:12 states the Word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, and leads to healing. Within Christ, you recognize what the gospel is, you recognize what shakes you up, and you hold onto the Word. The trait of a successful person with a successful walk of faith is the Word, they move according to God’s Word. Success without God’s Word is not true success.
Is there anyone who has succeeded without God’s Word? They die pitifully, research this. Look at how people without God’s Word die, they die in spiritual problems pathetically because Satan traps them. Satan is the enemy, what does it mean to be the enemy of Christ? He leads people to destruction. Success without Christ is wrong, but you believe the lie that you can be successful without Christ.
However, out in the world, you see many successful people without Christ so you’re deceived. You don’t believe in God’s Word but rather you look at the things of the world, the truth, which is not actually the Truth, and you discard the Word of God. If the people without the Word look at successful people, they tremble. However, when Joseph came before Pharaoh, he recognized Pharaoh was under idolatry, so he saw the problem and gave the solution. It was also like Daniel, God works through those who hold onto the Word and the covenant. That’s what this means. I’m saying you’re shaken by people of the world who do not hold onto God’s Word. That’s how Satan grabs onto you with lies, John 8:44, he is the father of lies.
There are so many churchgoers like this. I saw this a lot while doing ministry in Korea, I saw the family background of this family that the father passed away and the mother was a factory worker so she got remarried as she had many children, and the first child was first place nationally so he was able to bravely and courageously go to Seoul National University. His mother was in the church choir, and because I was doing college ministry at that time, his mother came to me and told me about his family background, and so I started praying for him even though it was a short time he was going to church.
The student didn’t have much interest in this [the Word]. Whenever I met with him to talk about God’s Word, his schedule seemed to be booked six months in advance, he had already planned everything in advance for six months so even in his free time, he had made other plans so I had no way to do ministry with him. I told his mother, “I want to meet with him and do the Upper Room Ministry but it looks like he doesn’t have time.”
His mother said, “It’s fine,” meaning, “He has his skill and intellect so he should be fine,” so I wasn’t able to have a conversation with her. “It’s fine” may refer to her faith, but at that time, I don’t think it was her faith. What does being good at studies have to do with Satan? If you’re not able to overcome the world, you cannot overcome it, but the people of the world believe this, that if you’re good at studying, you’ll be fine. But eventually one day, God might bring you back and prepare a way, but that mother had such a firm resolution that I took it negatively.
It might have been because she didn’t have any more time with her son once she was remarried, but anyway, once I got to America, 90% of the people are like this, they say they hold onto God’s Word but they lose hold of it. It looks like they hold onto it with their hands, but in the fields, they lose hold of it. As evidence of that, when they look at people in the world, they say are impressed by their success and think of themselves lowly.
It is only half of them who held onto the covenant, but they haven’t held onto it so they’re being captured by Satan. That’s why it hasn’t come deeply into their hearts. God’s word only entered into their heads, so they’re envious and jealous. Satan knows and drags them around, so I’m not saying success is bad, I’m talking about the covenant. But they have this negative response, they keep making excuses. I say this is everything, but they question, “Does that mean I cannot have success?” Success arises inside of this, isn’t that right? But if success doesn’t arise from this, if there is a person higher than them, they will be sad.
2) Only Christ (Forces of Darkness are Broken Mt. 17:1-8) Master
When Jesus Christ becomes the Master, the forces of darkness are broken down. Christ being the Master means you’ve died. You know that but in front of money, money becomes your master. If you stand in front of successful people, these successful people become your standard. The forces of darkness have been broken down but they still hold onto you.
3) Only Holy Spirit (Power – Witness) Direction
You need only the Holy Spirit and receive power. But you don’t have the direction. It has to be the direction of 237 and world evangelization to have power, then God pours His power and you become a witness. That’s a successful person.
4) Only Prayer (Restoration) – Acts 1:13-14
Asking for something out of necessity is not a prayer, per the Bible. You pray regarding something you need, you pray when children go to college, you pray before meals. The Bible says these are not proper prayers. Prayer is about restoring everything. Without prayer like this, you misunderstand prayer. You misunderstand that you can live even without prayer, meaning you’re captured. Because you’ve been captured, these are the words of Satan. “Christ is the Master, how can I do anything?” That is the only prayer you can say, you must pray regarding everything, that’s Acts 1:13-14.
5) Only Evangelism – Time Schedule (Acts 2:1-47)
We’re not saying to try evangelism, but it’s only evangelism. Evangelism is revealing Christ. The world has to move according to Christ. Only evangelism, my life is centered on only proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ, and it’s all in the time schedule. God moves His entire time schedule to reveal evangelism, Acts 2:1-47. It can also affect business people.
3. Point to Not Be Deceived
Satan continuously deceives.
1) Satan (John 8:44) – Standard
We don’t know if we’re deceived or not if we don’t have a standard. People at the age of my daughter are at the age where they learn the standards of the world. But if they don’t adhere to the standards of the world, “I have the gospel so I can do anything,” they hold to a legalistic gospel. You have to know the law to know sin, and you have to know sin to know the gospel. Gen. 2:17 states you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You have to have the standard of sin, but you don’t know this, so you learn the standards of the world.
Because they don’t know this, they also have to learn about the laws. You can’t say, “I’m innocent because I don’t know the laws.” Adults don’t do anything because they know the laws. They know all about the laws but things still don’t work out. That’s what we call a spiritual problem. It’s very different from children. If you don’t teach these things to children, they don’t know the standards. Because they don’t know what’s going to happen, they follow their friend’s words. Satan enjoys this a lot because they just follow according to what they feel or enjoy. Teach them the standards. Without standards, how can you know how Satan works? If Satan deceives you with what you think is correct, how can you know even more?
My Thoughts
Satan deceives you with your thoughts, what is advantageous or beneficial to you. You do what is beneficial to you so that’s how you’re deceived. “If this thing protects my pride, I go towards that thing,” and Satan deceives you even though you’ve been liberated so you must know this well.
2) My Self (Gal. 6:6-8) – Minister, Flesh, Holy Spirit
You’re deceived by your “self.” You are being deceived by your own selves. Galatians 6:6-8. The minister must relay the Word, but the minister moves according to the flesh, “Don’t you know who I am?” They invest their time and health and everything into something that will rot away. It says they will reap what they sow. So, how is it that the spirit of today comes out? It appears as it was sowed and reaped.
Why does your child turn out this way? Was it because they don’t have good friends? No, but something else was planted and it will bear fruit the way it was planted. You must know this well and correct this well. If you keep making excuses, the child will falter. You have this pretense of the gospel but you plant something else, “You have to repent.” No matter how high of a position the minister is, if the children don’t have the gospel planted, it doesn’t matter. So, because they are from a minister’s household, we cannot see what was planted inside of them.
In the Bible, it says these people were teaching the ministers but it will bear fruit according to what is planted. You are praying and editing and organizing the Word you received? That will bear fruit. If you plant that with an earnest heart, then your children will also plant, reap, and bear fruit. But if you have a lighthearted, religious lifestyle, something else will be planted, and as time passes, inevitably, problems will arise. That is why the proper minister is important because they cannot relay incorrect things. There’s this façade about God’s Word, but they relay things about money and success.
3) Circumstances
Do not be deceived by your circumstances. Your situation is not your standard. There was the environment of COVID where everyone was supposed to die, but you have the promise of world evangelization, so why are you deceived by your environment? From what I know, our church was uniquely the only church that continued to have the pastor preach during COVID. When I caught COVID, I couldn’t preach for three weeks, and I had something else in addition that blocked me for another three weeks.
It’s irrelevant to other churches, I’m me and they are they. How did I come to receive this gospel? I have to relay this gospel, whatever the circumstances may be, even in war. No one was allowed to go to Mark’s Upper Room in the Early Church, if it were up to you, would you go? Because of COVID, most of you did not come. Then the covenant of Acts is not fulfilled. You have to hold onto the gospel to live, but you don’t come to church. That is why it seems like Christians are worse than unbelievers. Even unbelievers say, “To live is to die, to die is to live.”
An administrator from RU said, “Your church is going well during COVID, you’re worshiping,” implying other churches weren’t. Of course we adhere to the law, but in order to adhere to the law, people were not able to go to Mark’s Upper Room. You forsake the law for the gospel. In the Jewish culture, it was against the law to believe in Jesus Christ, and if you went to Mark’s Upper Room, you would die. But if you die, you live. Success would follow you, but the gospel is something like this. See how it will turn out. You can’t just hold onto the gospel; you have to come here and hold onto the gospel to know how it will turn out.
People may say, “According to many people,” but Revelation says that most people won’t believe in the gospel. You stake your life on saving lives. We are not saying we are perfect but the gospel is perfect. We fail and make many mistakes, We stake our lives on the gospel that can change our lives. That’s when spiritual healing will take place. If not, your family background will not be healed. “I’ve listened to the Word for 30 years,” that’s your thing. Even if you’ve listened for 30-40 years, if it won’t happen, it won’t happen. Just because you hold onto God’s Word, you can’t expect something. That’s God’s time schedule for things to take place, so the spiritual and most fundamental things must be healed.
This has to take place for the answer of 25 to come to you. If there is a hole in these spiritual things, then it will constantly be taken away by Satan. Do you understand what I’m saying? Even in the Early Morning, stake your life on worship. Even in Friday night worship or regional church, stake your life and run towards it, then it is finished. If you run away, trying to live, it won’t work out.
Prayer
Father God, thank You. Let us receive this fundamental spiritual healing, and give us the evidence to save the world. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.