The Blessed Ones for the Gospel (Mt.25:31-46)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” May you remain within the unprecedented and never-repeated answers today. God has chosen the people whom He desires and desires to receive their praise, and the Bible says, if the creation has a mouth, let it praise the Lord. And when David was singing praise, the dirty demon that was possessing King Saul fled. The songs of this world can give us feelings like loneliness or depression, but the praises to God give our spirits strength. I hope that our everyday life, our business and our studies will also be praise to God.
1. When the Son of Man comes (Mt. 25:31)
1) All the nations will be gathered and he will separate the people (Mt. 25:32)
The title of today’s message is “The Blessed Ones for the Gospel,” and we are in the last portion of Matthew 25. Jesus Christ says, “when the Son of Man comes again, He will gather all the people from all nations and separate them into two groups.” Much like how, during the day, shepherds will allow the sheep and the goats to graze together in one pasture, but at night, they separate them into two areas.
(1) Those on his right (Mt. 25:34)
In the same way, when Jesus Christ comes again in His second coming, He will divide the righteous to His right and the unrighteous to His left. To the people He has put on the right, He will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”
(2) You who are blessed (Mt. 25:34)
(3) Take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you (Mt. 25:34)
The “Kingdom prepared for you” means you will go into the eternal Kingdom of God. So on this earth, we enjoy the Kingdom of God and then we go into the eternal Kingdom of God. But what distinguishes these two groups of people? All of these people are people who have done something for the Lord.
2) Works for the Lord
(1) Gave something to eat when the Lord was hungry (Mt. 25:35)
(2) Gave something to drink when the Lord was thirsty (Mt .25:35)
(3) Invited in the Lord when he was a stranger (Mt. 25:35)
(4) Clothed him when he needed clothes (Mt. 25:36)
(5) Looked after him when he was sick (Mt. 25:36)
(6) Came to visit him when he was in prison (Mt. 25:36)
In Mt. 25:35, Jesus said, “When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. When I needed clothes, you clothed me, and when I was sick, you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
3) Response of the righteous and the King
(1) When did we? (Mt. 25:37-39)
When Jesus Christ said that, the sheep who were on His right said, “When did we do that to you?” They said, “We’ve never even seen you; when did we do these things for you?”
(2) For one of the brothers and sisters of mine (Mt. 25:40, Mt. 12:50)
Then, in Mt. 25:40, Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” When Jesus is speaking, who exactly are His brothers? In Mt. 12:50, the disciples told Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are waiting outside to speak to you,” and Jesus replied to them, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers? Whoever does the will of my Father are my mother, sister, and brother.” So, whatever we do for the brothers who do the will of the Father in Heaven, we do for Jesus, then they will go into eternal life. People who do not do that will go into eternal hell.
Then, there is something that is kind of complicated, does that mean, if we do good things, then we can go into the eternal kingdom of heaven? It’s possible to do those things without believing in Jesus. If we go downtown and give coats and food to the homeless shelters, then will we get eternal life? There are many people who are in the world who do that. The Bible tells us that whoever accepts and believes in Jesus Christ, they have been given the right to become children of God, in other words, there is no person who could ever be righteous before God. No matter how many good or nice things we do, that will never be righteous in God’s eyes. The only righteous one is Jesus Christ alone, and we cannot be like Jesus, but if we simply believe in Jesus Christ, then we will be regarded as righteous as well.
On the cross, Jesus Christ died for my sin and received all the curses and disasters that should have been on me, instead of me. That sin is not believing in God, and being separated from God. There’s no reason for it, people continue to face curses and disasters without knowing the reason why. We keep facing mental illnesses without knowing the reason why. More and more people are falling into drug addictions, shootings, and homosexuality, and we don’t know the reason; that itself is curses and disaster. It turns out that Satan is invisibly dragging people towards their fate and destiny, Satan keeps on dragging me in a direction I don’t want to go. I don’t want depression, but Satan keeps dragging me in that direction. I don’t want this mental illness, but Satan keeps dragging me in that direction. I want to be good for people, but evil keeps coming out from inside of me. That is the invisible Satan that is dragging us along with his authority. There is not a single person here who can escape from that.
Before we go into the eternal suffering of hell, we live a life of suffering on earth. Only Jesus Christ, the One Who has no sin, must die on the cross to take all of the curses, disasters, and sins, and resolve that problem. There’s no good action that humans can do that will satisfy God, but the ones who believe in the work that only Jesus Christ has done will become righteous.
(3) You did for the Lord (Mt. 25:40, Mt. 10:40-42)
Then, why does it say in this Bible verse, “If you do this for Jesus, or the people of Jesus”? What this means is that Jesus Christ entrusted the gospel to apostles and disciples. In Matthew 10, Jesus sent them out to evangelize and said, “Don’t take any money with you,” and He says, “Don’t even take more than the pair of shoes on your feet.” Then the people who have received the gospel from Jesus are now relaying it to others, and the ones who have received the gospel will accept that evangelist. But that evangelist is hungry and thirsty; then, the ones who received the gospel will give back to the evangelist. When the evangelist is in prison for proclaiming the gospel, those who received the gospel will take care of them in prison, that’s what this means. “And whatever you’ve done for these apostles and the brothers of Jesus, you’ve actually done for the Lord.”
So, the main point in today’s scripture is not the good actions that they’ve done, but because they’ve accepted the gospel from the evangelist, they’ve done these actions naturally for them. If we do not receive the gospel, then no matter how many good things we do, we will never satisfy God, but the ones who accept it are blessed. When you go out into the world to proclaim the gospel, there are people who will receive that gospel and walk anew, then imagine how thankful they will be to the one who relayed the gospel to them? And these people will be so thankful; they won’t just stay still, because receiving the gospel is the difference between heaven and hell. Especially for me, personally, when I received the gospel, the difference was between heaven and hell. I was living in darkness, but when the life of Christ came into me, I began to change. There is a difference between heaven and hell, between those who have received the life of Christ and those who haven’t. If you live by the life of Christ, it means you live by that life of Christ, but if you don’t have that life, you have to live with your own strength.
When God created humans, He created us in the image of God, and the image of God means we were created so that God comes into us and lives within us. If you think about it in terms of cars, it’s like an infinitely powerful engine is inside of us. But one day, we thought we could live on our own, with our own engine, and from that day, we were separated from God. I was created to only function when I have this infinite engine inside of me, but I think I can live on my own with my own engine.
At first, the car may move, but at the very least, in 10, 20 years, that car will start breaking down here and there, and when you get married, it will break even more, and when you have children, it will become even more severe. When you go into your business or job, you will face your limitations more and more. So, in terms of that car, we were supposed to live with the infinite engine of God, but because we try to live with our own engine, no matter what area of our life, it is suffering.
Jesus Christ is inside of us as life, and we must enjoy that. But most people do not enjoy the power of the infinite engine of God and try to live with their own engine, so it’s not a matter of whether you go to church or not; you need to believe in and enjoy the life of Christ. If you don’t believe in the life of Christ but you just go back and forth to church, then you will face your limitation. This is irrelevant of your position in the church; you must enjoy the things of Christ, you must enjoy the fact that the LORD is my Shepherd. When I live with nothing, I must enjoy the fact that the LORD is my Shepherd.
When the enemies are attacking me, I must enjoy the fact that the LORD is my Shield. If you try to hold your ground using your own experiences, you will face your limitations. The LORD is my banner of victory. If you have the gospel, you should believe it and enjoy it. Even right this moment, as you listen to this Word, you must enjoy the gospel. The infinite engine is inside of me, but instead of relying on that, we keep on living with our own thoughts. Human beings are created to only live with the infinite power and the life of God.
(4) To eternal life (Mt.25:46)
After we enjoy eternal life on earth, then we go to the eternal heaven. If you just go back and forth to church, you’ll fail. Yes, it is better than not going to church at all, but you must have the life of Christ and enjoy it on your own. If you’re not that smart, you must enjoy the wisdom of the infinite God. If you have a physical limitation, then you need to enjoy the power of the infinite Christ, even right now. That’s what it means to believe in Jesus. Going to church doesn’t mean, “believing in Jesus,” but believing in this means you believe in Jesus. When you face a problem, you shouldn’t try to face it on your own, but you need to enjoy the fact that “Christ is with me,” so you shouldn’t just try to live your walk of faith.
2. When the Son of Man comes
1) Those on his left (Mt. 25:41)
(1) You who are cursed (Mt. 25:41)
Then what did Jesus say to the goats who were on His left? He said, “You are cursed,” He said very specifically,” Those who are sitting on my left are cursed.”
(2) Depart from the Lord (Mt. 25:41)
He said, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The ones who are cursed will go into the eternal hell that has no God and is full of suffering. When the Lord comes back for the second time, we will change into our resurrected bodies. It is not our current body; we will transform into a body that can transcend time and space Both believers and nonbelievers will have this kind of body.
(3) Into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41)
For the believers, they will go with the resurrected body into the eternal kingdom of heaven, and for the nonbelievers, they will bring their resurrected body into the eternal suffering of hell, and the eternal fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. Hell was created to trap the devil and all the evil spirits he commands. Then, that means that the goats who are on the left side are the ones who followed the devil and ran the errands of his angels, and then went to hell with them.
2) Works not for the Lord
(1) When he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger (Mt. 25:42-43)
(2) When he was needing clothes, sick, in prison (Mt. 25:43)
So, God sent His disciples and apostles to proclaim the gospel on His behalf, but these people did not accept him, and instead of accepting the gospel of the Kingdom of God, they cast these people out. When the people who are proclaiming the gospel are hungry, or thirsty, or sick, or in prison, of course they didn’t look after them because they casted them out.
(3) When did we not help you? (Mt.25:44)
Then when Jesus told them that, they said, “When did we not help you?”
3) Response of the King
(1) Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these (Mt. 25:45)
(2) You did not do for the Lord (Mt. 25:45)
(3) Go away to eternal punishment (Mt. 25:46)
In Mt. 25:45, Jesus said, “As you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” If you believe in Jesus, it means you believe in God. If you believe in the cross, it means that you love the gospel of God’s love for us. You can summarize all 10 commandments into two commandments: loving God and loving people. So, our love does not only go to God, but if you truly love God, it will naturally go towards people as well. If you look at the people around you all the time and there’s no change, then perhaps, they have not received salvation. Or perhaps, I’ve not received salvation because if I’ve received the gospel and the Holy Spirit lives inside of me, how could I not change? If I have not changed, it means I have not received salvation. Of course, I’m bound to change, even among us, there may be those who have not received salvation because the evidence is that they have not changed. Your insides must change because everything is bound to change, isn’t that right? Imagine if you’re driving a car that’s 40 years old and one day, you replace it with a brand new engine, even if the outside is the same, the inside will be different. I was changed, how was I changed? Completely, and the people around me know, that’s what it was like for me, and don’t you think that would be normal? Because the life of Christ is inside of me. In the past, I used to live relying on myself, but now I rely on the Lord, so of course I’ve changed.
Now the Lord has entrusted the gospel to the church, and the Lord says that we and the church are one. Christ is the head of the church and the body is the people of the church. That is why when Saul was persecuting the Christians, Jesus went to him and said, “Why are you persecuting me?” Saul said, “When was I persecuting you, Lord?” “You persecuting those who are testifying of Jesus and believing in Jesus is persecuting me.” So if you correctly believe in Jesus Christ, then the way you treat other people will change. Then the nonbelievers will be able to tell. Nonbelievers don’t have this life, so they recognize it immediately. If you go to a shaman or a fortune-teller and you have this life, they will recognize it immediately because they know spiritually that the life of Christ is inside of you, but if you enjoy this just a little bit, nonbelievers will recognize it immediately.
So, before you relay this gospel, you need to know and enjoy this gospel yourself. You shouldn’t just go to church; that’s just you going back and forth from a building, that’s not you really believing. Just because you listen to a message doesn’t mean you believe, just because a student goes to school doesn’t mean they’re studying, they may be daydreaming all day. That student doesn’t even want to study, they just have to go because of their age. “I don’t even want to go to church, but in order for me to meet people, I’m an immigrant here and because of my age, I need to go to church,” and when you go to church, everybody else looks like they’re listening to the Word, so you pretend to listen too. But if you think that’s what it means to believe in Jesus, that’s a misunderstanding.
3. What Jesus asks of us
1) Cross – It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
Our insides must change because now, God is living inside of us, and “believing” means you live your life believing in that fact, and the basis of that is that Jesus Christ has finished everything on the cross, and now when you believe in Jesus Christ, the Triune God is with me, that is what you must enjoy, and we must always rely on that. In the past, I used to rely on myself, my education, people, my money, my background, but now, I began to rely on God. That’s what we call, “Faith,” if you don’t have that faith and you just go back and forth to church, you’re still a nonbeliever. To what extent did David enjoy this gospel? He had nothing, but David confessed, “The LORD is my Shepherd; therefore, I lack nothing.” People think, “If I don’t have money, I’m going to die,” but God is with you. People think, “If my business fails, my life is over,” but God is with you. So, they don’t enjoy this gospel.
Why did David become the greatest king? It wasn’t because he did the actions of a great king, but it was because he believed in God that he became the greatest king. He went into thousands of battlefields and his strength was limited but he said, “The LORD is my Refuge,” because he could not block the enemies with his own strength. “The LORD is my Refuge, the LORD is my Shield, the LORD is my victory, the LORD is my healer.” Your life will change depending on how much you enjoy and believe this. If you really believe in the infinite God inside of you, then whatever situation you’re facing, it’s not even a situation because that problem or situation can never overcome the God inside of you. That is what it means to believe. It’s not just saying, “I know who Jesus is,” that’s not what I’m talking about.
How will you go through the many situations in America? It’s not with your education. Yes, you do need to study but you cannot break through with that. You can’t overcome those things with your great personal skills. The God Who can move all of those circumstances is with me, so I will follow His guidance. Because He is with me, none of this matters. Then, one day, your depression will begin to go away; one day, your spiritual loneliness will go away; one day, your worries, anxieties, concerns, will begin to go away; and one day, because you’re receiving this strength, your diseases will be healed, and one day, you will have this active taste for life, why is that? Because the Lord is with me. Not only is He just with me, but we are living on this earth with the background of the throne of heaven. We do not live with the background of the money we have on earth; the Kingdom of Heaven is our background, because that’s where we belong. That is where all of our answers come from.
So it’s okay for Joseph even though he goes in as a slave, and for David, it was okay even though King Saul was chasing him half to death. Why? Because the throne of heaven is my background. It’s invisible to the eye, but we must actually believe in it. But people don’t believe in that, they just talk with whatever knowledge they know, and that’s why this world is failing. We cannot overcome America with your Ivy League education. We can only overcome by God. That strength must actually be inside of me. God’s thoughts must actually be within my thoughts with power. My emotions are always wavering back and forth, and that’s not gonna be enough; God’s power must be upon my emotions. Our emotions fluctuate back and forth, and it’s just doing its own things on its own; when you wake up in the morning, sometimes you’re depressed, sometimes you’re hyper. You can’t control it; it moves on its own. That is why we must ask God to be upon our thoughts, emotions, and heart with power. How could God come upon me in power?
John 14:26-27 says, “When the Holy Spirit, the advocate, comes upon me, He will protect my thoughts and heart.” From the point when this strength comes upon me, it is no longer my strength. I might still be me, but I’ve changed into a new “me” where the power of God works upon me, so even though I face a problem, it’s not a problem for me at all, and that becomes evidence to other people to the point of making disciples of all nations, because the Lord told us, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” The Lord doesn’t just tell us to go and make disciples of all nations and then leave us alone; the Lord has prepared all the disciples and the power we need to do that. But if somebody is not able to enjoy the gospel, they will say, “How can we do that?” The God inside of me is with me with all authority and power over heaven and earth, and He said He will do it. All I have to do is enjoy that by faith. “God, work upon my business so that I can be at the point where I can make disciples of all nations, because God promised it.
Do you think that after Jesus Christ resurrected from the cross, He just said nonsense to give us a miserable time? “Hey, now go and make disciples of all nations.” The Word of God doesn’t change even 0.1% and God is keeping HIs Word even now, and when that comes into my thoughts and my heart, then we begin to change. You must go according to God’s Word, not according to your thoughts. We need to go to all nations, but I don’t have that strength, that’s why God promises us to give us wisdom. This is not wisdom that comes from studying on earth, it must come from heaven.
My business must be used to save all 237 nations of the world, so God pours His wisdom upon me. My studies must be used to make disciples of all 237 nations of the world, then of course, God has to pour wisdom on my studies. We need to have physical health and strength to do that, too. If we’re always diseased, we cannot go. Even getting a disease can be the grace of God, but not everybody can be sick, God must give His strength. Let’s say, for example, you go out for missions but then you get a disease, then you have to come back. We have to do world evangelization but if I’m so sick that I cannot run my business, then I can’t do world evangelization, so God must give us strength. And God says He will provide the financial power to make disciples of all nations, and this blessing is with us. You cannot do this on your own so God will attach these blessed people to you.
(1) Triune God – With (Gal. 2:20)
All of these blessings are contained within the Triune God that is inside of us. When is this revealed to me? When I’m aligned with His Word, and there’s a time schedule for that.
(2) Blessing of the throne – God’s kingdom (Ac. 1:3)
(3) Filling of the Holy Spirit – Me (Ac. 1:8)
Then, the God Who has the power of Creation, will begin to work according to His time schedule with the five powers. Then He said, “Proclaim the gospel to all peoples and heal them.” Why should we heal, isn’t that what doctors are for?
2) Temple for all nations
(1) Disciples (Mt. 28:19)
(2) Gospel, Healing (Mk. 16:17-18)
We must heal their spiritual, fundamental things, in other words, you must change their engine. Everyone has an engine that is limited in its lifespan, so change their engine to this infinite engine. The doctors can treat and fix the physical ailments, but we are the spiritual doctors who change the inside, spiritual, fundamental thing. That is the blessing we have been given. Then, Jesus said, “Teach this to the next generation.” If the next generations don’t know this, then they are going to live with their own strength and face their own fate. How can you and I enjoy this today? Through meditation.
Meditation is filling myself with the things and the Word of God. In this world, there’s transcendental meditation, which empties you, and you try to fill yourself with something else. But humans are spiritual beings, so we must be filled with the Holiness of God. That is how we can have holy answers. Because whatever you have in a jar, that’s what comes out of it. If you go to McDonald’s and get a cup of coke, then that’s what you’re gonna get out of the cup; you can’t drink Sprite out of a cup in which you poured coke. The righteousness and the power of God must be poured into me for it to be revealed in my life. But instead of putting the things of God with you, then you’re holding onto your own thoughts, then your own thoughts are going to be the results you have. And your own thoughts are not the thoughts of God, so they’re bound to have their limitations.
We must fill ourselves with the holy power of God. Psalm 1:2 says, “Blessed are you who meditate on the Word, day and night.” But everybody lives centered on themselves so they try to live with their own thoughts, that’s why we die. In America, it’s so centered on “me” and the individual, that’s why the nation is dying. Physically, America seems so big and great and strong, but on the inside, it is continuously wearing away, with the software that is bound to fail; that’s why people fall into mental problems, addictions, and shootings because they can’t handle being inside. In America, on the outside, it seems so bloated almost with how great and big and strong it is. Our military weapons, our skills, all of these things are so advanced, so it seems we’re giants, but on the inside, it has such a weak engine, it’s only about “me” and “individualism.” Then, one day, it falls, and the evidence of it falling is what is happening in America now. We must change that inside. It cannot be with the things of me; it must be with the things of God, and it’s such a simple thing. All you have to do is believe. But we don’t see it with our eyes. But if you believe in that, then the power of God will be revealed.
Right now, at this moment, I hope you will pray for the power of God inside of you to fill you. When you face a crisis, I hope you will not try to break through that crisis on your own, but enjoy being with God and look at that opportunity God is giving you. In the past on Mondays, I used to go to the beach and exercise and swim, and then sometimes, when I got hit by a particularly strong wave, it would throw me into a spiral underwater. So you shouldn’t fight against the power of the wave; you have to ride the power of the wave. You shouldn’t try to fight against and break through the many problems in the world, but with God, you are riding the stream and the power of the wave. Those are the blessings we’ve received, and the one who enjoys that and believes in it is truly a believer.
Even right now, I hope you will not rely on yourself, but instead, believe in and rely on the God Who has the power of Creation inside of you. Then, nothing will be a problem for you at all. Eve your weakness will not be a problem, because yes, I am weak, but the God inside of me is not. I might have no skill of my own, but the Lord that is inside of me, does not lack skill. In order to raise people like that, God has given us and entrusted the gospel to us. So now, we must be able to devote ourselves to those who relay the gospel, because that is what we do for the LORD. We do not devote ourselves to this person because of the person themselves, but because the gospel is relayed and revealed through them. We devote ourselves to multiethnic missions, we are doing that for the Lord, because inside of that, the gospel is revealed to all nations, and we must devote to raise up the next generation so they can come to church and receive the same biblical answers.
(3) Future generation (Jn. 21:15-18)
We need to raise the future generation, we need to heal those who are diseased, and do these multiethnic missions, and now we need this beautiful temple that can do that work. Devoting to that church construction is what we do for the Lord, it is not mine, it is the Lord’s. Then, what is mine is the Lord’s and what is the Lord’s is mine. That is the wise one. If you look at your children, there are some children you can ask, “Hey, can I have $10?”, and some kids will give it to you, and some will not. The kids who give the $10 to their father, they do that because they know the money they get is from their dad anyways. But kids who are a little mentally slower, they don’t want to give that money to their dad even though the money they had was from their father to begin with.
3) Meditation – Healing
(1) Centered on my, physical things, success
(2) Transcendental meditation, Superpower, Idolatry religions
(3) Mental problems, Addiction, Homosexuality, Gun shootings
Do you know where everything you have comes from? It comes from God, then whatever you devote is not your money or your things. It is from God and God will give you more. Because you’re doing it for the Lord. If you receive God’s grace, then this is how your thinking will change. Not me but God. Not my power, but the power of God inside of me, So, we pour everything into proclaiming this gospel.
Conclusion
1. Devotion to evangelists
2. Devotion to multiethnic missions
3. Devotion to future generation
4. Devotion to temple construction
May you enjoy and testify of these blessings throughout the week.
Message Prayer
Let us hold onto the Word we have received and pray together.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We thank You for saving us by Your grace and faith. Allow us to give our lives for this gospel You have given us. You have told us that what we do for the least of these, You have done for the Lord. Allow us to devote to the evangelist, the missionaries, the ones who are healing, and the ones who are raising the next generations to do Your work, and we pray that You may work upon us to devote to the temple construction to continue that work. We pray that You will work upon the offering we have given so that it will be used to glorify the Lord and that You will bless the hands that have given this offering with the answer of the economy of light. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. We pray that You will bless the three newcomers today and that they may enjoy the life of the gospel that You have given to them through Christ completely. We pray that You will bless all of their life and all of their ministries for the sake of proclaiming the gospel. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Mon.-Fri. 5:30, Sat. 6AM) – Raise the bartizan of prayer
2. Leader’s Winter Retreat, 12/17 (Sun.), 7PM.
3. 12/24 (Sun.) Evening, Christmas event
4. 12/25 (Mon.) 10:30am, Christmas worship
5. Winter Retreat, 12/26 (Tues.) – 28 (Thurs.)
6. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of the people of God, the future generations, and the multiethnic people who desire to enjoy, believe, and testify of the gospel of Jesus Christ, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.