The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt. 18:1-14)
That was a very timely praise. Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” Today, we have a special guest, the Provost of Remnant University, Rev. Churl and his wife. The title of today’s message is, “The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” The Kingdom of Heaven can be the place we go to after we die, but on this earth, the church is also the Kingdom of Heaven. In this world, there is a goal for which we study and mature, and it is to become the greatest, and everyone’s vision and dream in this world, as soon as they are born, is to become great. They have to fulfill that in order for them to have a lot of influence in the social world as well. That is the way the world without God is flowing.
1. Interest of the disciples
1) Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? (Mt. 18:1)
Today, the disciples are asking, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God,” where Jesus Christ is reigning. The disciples are following Jesus Christ by the grace of God, but their true interest is in who will be seated at Jesus’ left and right hand once Jesus re-conquers the land of Jerusalem.
(1) Do for us whatever we ask (Mk. 10:35)
In Mk. 10;35, there were two disciples who asked Jesus Christ, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
(2) Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory (Mk. 10:37)
Then Jesus asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?” They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” By the grace of God, Simon Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, but still, the goal of his walk of faith was to gain his position. On the outside, he definitely did change because instead of following the Jewish church, he was following Jesus, and regardless of the individuals, by God’s grace, they confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. However, inside of them, all of their thoughts, their mind, and their goal was the same as the people of the world. We’re not saying that’s a bad thing; we’re saying everybody goes through that when they first believe in Jesus.
(3) One with strength
They are saying, “I believe in Jesus Christ, and now I want to be more strong in the world. Now I believe in Jesus Christ, and I want the power of the name of Jesus Christ to give me more strength and success in the world.” So, all the prayers of the people back in the biblical times were the same prayers as the nonbelievers.
2) Jesus’s response
(1) Become like little children (Mt. 18:3)
(2) Enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 18:3)
(3) One who doesn’t rely on themself
Jesus Christ’s response to these questions was in Mt. 18:2-3, He brings a young child before them and says, “Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” So, this is not a matter of “Who will become the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”; you will not even be able to enter. Then, does that mean all little children go to heaven? If you knew the meaning of, “little children,” back in the biblical times, then your understanding will be different.
3) The greatest in the kingdom of heaven
(1) Whoever takes the lowly position (Mt. 18:4)
In Mt. 18:4, Jesus says, “Whoever takes the lowly position of a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” In English, it says the young child was a boy, but in the original Greek text, the child was not gendered, and the reason for that is, back in those times, little children were not even considered as humans. Nowadays, little children are the first priority, but back in the biblical times, little children were not even counted as people.
Even when I was growing up as a child in Korea, children were not considered humans, why is that? First, they cannot make money. Whether a society is agricultural or shepherding, they need to be able to support the family. In other words, they can only be regarded as a person if they can help support and feed the family. Even women were not considered or counted as people even after they were 20 years old. In society, they were regarded almost like animals, though they were still different.
It says here in the text that the little child lowers himself, but that’s just how society sees children. It means that the people who go into the Kingdom of God can only enter by the grace of God. We can never go into the Kingdom of God with our own strength or our own power, then who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God? The one who lowers himself the most.
(2) The least of the apostles (1 Cor. 15:9)
Apostle Paul, in the past, was a very great individual because of his knowledge of the scripture and his societal background. He was somebody who used to live, always exalting and boasting of himself, “Do you know who I am?” But one day, he met Jesus Christ and the gospel, and he confessed in 1 Cor. 15:9, that, “I am the least of the apostles.” Does this mean that anybody who believes in Jesus Christ should use these words and expressions? That’s not what we’re saying.
(3) I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people (Eph. 3:8)
In Eph. 3:8, Apostle Paul says, “Although I am less than the least of all of God’s people.” In the past, he used to say that he was the greatest of all, but now that he has met the gospel and the Lord, he says he is the least of the least. What does that mean? It means he is confessing, “I cannot do anything without God’s grace.” The Kingdom of God is talking about the place where God is ruling, where Christ is the Lord, and that is the church.
Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of God, then? Is the one who is asserting their own opinions and their own entity the greatest? No, that is actually the least in the Kingdom of God. In fact, if anything, if somebody is trying to actualize or reveal their own self, then they are spiritually immature and low. There is no more “me,” there is nothing more for me to say. Because I have died on the cross with Christ, there are no more of my opinions to reveal, and because I am weak, I am somebody who always needs God’s power and God’s grace. When the logic of the world comes into the church, it should be changed into the logic of God.
So, what is the church that is diseased and weak? It is the church where they use the logic of the world to try to exalt their own strength and to gain something for themselves. I hope that you and I will become the greatest of all within God’s grace.
2. How you treat the least of the people
1) Work of treating little children
Look at the little children, when things don’t go their way, they express it, these are children who always need their parents. Just like that, the one who always needs the grace of our Father God is the greatest one. When you’re a little child, you need to be watched over and breastfed by your mother, and all those little children need to do is eat and sleep. Once that child matures, they go beyond thinking of only those things and they think, “What do my parents want?” Let’s say that their parents are very wealthy or they’re very able, then if the kids do whatever the parents want, the parents will support their kids fully, that is someone who is matured.
A young child wants everything to be interested in and centered on themselves, and they want to receive all of the help. And there is a time for everyone to be like that, but if somebody lives their walk of faith for a long time and they stay in that state, that’s some kind of disease. If somebody wants everybody to be focused on them all the time, they go through that time period, yes, however, spiritual maturity means that as time passes, you turn your attention to other people now. For that individual, even if they don’t ask anything, their parents will support them.
Today, if you and I remain where God desires, then God is bound to work. That kind of spiritually mature church will save their region and the world. The reason why churches are closing and Christians are becoming less like Christians, why is that? It’s because they go to church but they have not seen the truly Greatest One. These kids are not able to become spiritually mature because all they see are people who are living exactly like they were in the world, inside of the church, trying to accomplish things by their own strength.
Apostle Paul was somebody who was very sharp and well-learned in the world, but when he came into the church, he said, “I am the least of all,” and that is the one whom God uses. So, you and I must do missions and evangelism, we must do temple construction, those are all good things, but what kind of church must we be? If we are all filled with people who are spiritually immature and young, then people will come into the church and they will leave after being tested. May you and I have the fulfillment of biblical faith and the biblical Word.
(1) Welcomes in Jesus’s name (Mt. 18:5)
You can see who are the greatest ones, who are the most spiritually mature, when you see their attitude when they deal with the weakest and the youngest ones. Today’s scripture, Mt. 18:5 says, “Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes Me.”
(2) Welcomes Jesus (Mt. 18:5)
A lot of people in the church are interested in people who have strength and power, but God says that everyone is the same. In fact, if anything, God values the people who have no strength and have no power, and in whom nobody is interested. That is like welcoming Jesus Himself.
(3) Whatever you did for one of the least of the people, you did for Jesus (Mt. 25:40)
Mt. 25:40, Jesus says, “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.”
2) What causes little children to stumble
(1) Better to die (Mt. 18:6)
Jesus says, “If anyone causes these little ones to sin, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.” That was one of the methods of execution in Roman society, to have a millstone hung around your neck and be drowned in the sea, but what does this mean? It means that the people who everyone looks down on and have nothing to show for themselves, do not cause them to sin or stumble. You should not block the perfect and complete gospel from entering into these. If the gospel does not enter into these people, and you’re disinterested in them, that is the greatest sin.
(2) Woe to the world (Mt. 18:7)
Because of the ones who cause these little ones to sin, Mt. 18:7 says, “Woe to the world.” The woe that is happening in this world is because of the churches, because people are coming into the church, but we always cause people to stumble. Then, because of those things, “Woe to the world, and woe to the person through whom they come.”
(3) Woe to the person who causes people to stumble (Mt. 18:7)
What is the standard of stumbling or sinning? It means we are not giving them the gospel, we say this or that, but cause them to stumble instead. But if we give them the gospel, they will come to life. We need to make it so that every single person inside of the church, inside of the Kingdom of God, receives this gospel, then, the world will come to life.
Yes, we go out and we proclaim the gospel there, but the correct gospel must go into the people who are already here as well. Especially for the little children and the new members of our church, if someone in the church is exalting their voice too loudly, you can just see how they are spiritually immature. There’s no reason to assert our own opinions, we just follow the Word of God. There’s no reason to say what you think because we follow the Word of God, and that is correct, but that is what the new believers need to see, and that is what the future generations must see. That is the correct way, that is the correct believer. If we don’t have this but we have a lot of people, it might be good to have a lot of people, but it seems like more pollution.
3) Reason to not despise
(1) Angels always see the face of God (Mt. 18:10)
Why is it that we should never cause one of these young ones to stumble? Because Mt. 18:10 says, “Their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” This means that, whether somebody is powerful or powerless, Heb. 1:14 says that God will attach angels to those who will receive salvation. That means, from God’s perspective, we are all the same kind of soul. If you see the world and see people the way that God does, you will begin to receive answers, but there’s a difference right now from the way that I view things and from the way that God views things, and if you’re not receiving answers, you must change yourself. You change yourself so that you see from the eyes of God, what God desires.
(2) Lost lamb (Mt. 18:12)
In Mt. 18:12, Jesus says, “If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go look for the one that has wandered off?”
(3) To find is God’s will (Mt. 18:14)
Finding that one lost sheep is the will of God. If you and I really go into the grace of the gospel, we will no longer be interested in ourselves, but we will turn our interest to other people. That kind of church is a good church. I’m sure there’s no such thing as a bad church, but a church that is not biblical is one that is only interested in and wants people to be focused on themselves. We may all go through that phase, but if you continue in that way, that is not a good church.
3. The Greatest in the kingdom of heaven
1) Jesus – Made himself nothing into the nature of a servant (Phil. 2:7)
In today’s scripture, the disciples asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” and in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus Christ is the Greatest One. Phil 2 says that God Himself emptied Himself to nothing and came to earth as a servant in human likeness. God did not come to earth in some powerful or mighty form, but He came in the nature of a servant, in the form of man, to save mankind, and that is the Greatest One.
(1) Humbled himself by becoming obedient to death (Phil. 2:8)
Phil 2:8 says, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death.” If Jesus Christ did not come to earth like this, would we have received salvation? Human beings can only receive salvation when God Himself with no sin comes to earth in the form of man and dies on our behalf. How can missions and evangelism take place? How can this world come to life? Somebody must die on the cross. Somebody must die on the cross and as a sign that He is God, He must come back to life. Without going through the cross, humans cannot become mature. Everybody who goes to church hears about Jesus Christ; they hear about Jesus Christ by doctrine, by faith, in every way. However, if they keep staying in the same state as the disciples in today’s scripture, wondering, “Who can become the greatest, who can become the strongest?” they cannot save the world with that kind of faith. The disciples met a turning point, and after that turning point, they gave their entire lives towards proclaiming the gospel to the whole world.
(2) To serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk. 10:45)
(3) Cross – It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
(4) Me – Death, Jesus – Lives in me (Gal. 2:20)
No matter what you’re doing, you must stake your life on that. Whether you are in sports or academics, or business, if you do not stake your life, you cannot receive the fruits of life, and in order to stake your life for anything, you must go through the cross. I have been crucified on the cross with Christ. Who is the “me” that must be crucified on the cross? It is the “me” who is my own master, the “me” in Genesis 3 where I am enslaved by Satan and Original Sin, wanting to be like God. That “me” has died on the cross with Jesus Christ, and now Jesus Christ lives within me, and I live with the faith of Christ. So, the life of the one that is saved, the life of a Christian, is one that is living by faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and my God. You must experience this.
After the disciples experienced that, their lives changed. They were no longer trying to become great, they were no longer saying things like, “This is unfair for me, I feel so sad.” They no longer said things like, “I’m an uneducated fisherman; I cannot do this.” They completely lost the notion of, “If I believe in Jesus Christ, I’m going to have a great and high position.” The only thing that remains is the Christ Who lives within me. They are changed within the complete image of God.
What is the image of God? It means that God is revealed through this image. Why did God create mankind? It is for God Himself. Why did God create mankind in His own image, instead of as just another intelligent animal? Because God wanted to reveal Himself through humans. That is what it means to be in the image of God. He wants God’s plan to be revealed through this person. God wants His Word to be revealed through this person. That is what it means to be in the image of God. So we need nothing of our own selves, but Satan keeps saying, “You should be your own god,” and Satan wants us to live in the same spiritual state as Adam.
But if you truly experience this gospel, then even a problem will not be a problem, because the Lord inside of me is my Lord, why would this be a problem for me? Because now my Lord is guiding me from above. You lose all opinions of whether you like someone or dislike someone. In the past, I used to be really into politics, but now it seems like little kids at a tea party. Before I realized anything, I was so invested in who was right or who was wrong, but now it looks like little kids at a tea party, because regardless of whatever side you’re on, the standard is whether God’s will of missions and evangelism is being fulfilled or not.
“I hate this person,” that doesn’t exist anymore. “I like people like that”? That doesn’t exist anymore. If it is necessary for the gospel, I need them. “Oh, I’m so old,” or, “My body is so weak,” this “me” has disappeared. But everybody just talks about, “me, me, me,” “I’m so old, I’m so sick, I have no money,” that is somebody who has not experienced the cross yet. It is no longer “me,” but it is the “me” who believes in the Christ Who lives within me, that’s the new “me,” and if Christ needs this, I adjust myself to align with that; that is faith. May you restore that blessing.
Instead of continuously being lost in yourself, seized by Satan, “I’m having such a hard time because of my depression,” stop being lost in yourself. It may be a fact that you’re having a hard time, but the moment you hold onto the fact that Jesus is the Christ and He is within me as my Lord, you will be set free for your problems. I hope you will not believe in the ideology of democracy, and also, the ideology of communism; both sides are the same, but you and I are so entrenched in the idea of democracy, and our future generations are completely rooted deeply in the ideology of individualism in America. If I’m at a loss, then I don’t need the church, I don’t need anything. If somebody is telling me to do something I don’t want to do, I don’t need the pastor, I don’t need anybody. Yes, that may be freedom, but that person has not died on the cross, yet.
What does it mean that we have died on the cross? It means that we go forward in the faith that, if God needs something, then God will do it. One person who has truly experienced and believes in this gospel, that one person, that weak individual, will become 10,000. May you have this true experience and faith in the gospel. It doesn’t matter what anybody says; that’s irrelevant to me. If I were alive, then that would be relevant to me, but there is no more “me”, the Lord lives within me.
“Jesus Christ has finished everything on the cross, but what exactly did He finish? My problems are still in my life; you said it’s finished, but why do I have more problems? I still have problems with money, I still have problems with people, I still have problems with physical disease or mental illness, and when I go to church, they tell me everything is finished. I don’t know what to believe anymore. What exactly is finished?” The most fundamental problem of mankind, the source of all problems, the invisible problem, people don’t know that’s the real problem, and they cling onto the visible problems. The Original Sin is the problem, where we are born without believing in God, that is the invisible problem. The nature of Original Sin means that, “I want to be my own God, I want to be my main figure,” and that is seized by Satan. So, curses and disasters continue to flood our lives, but we don’t realize the real reason why. That’s the problem we need to solve, that has all been finished at once on the cross.
The Bible says, that’s what it means, everything is finished, and you have to believe that. How do you believe that? By God’s grace. Whenever you come to church, this grace of God is upon you. There’s no reason to think of anything other than this. He has finished my most fundamental problem, and He is with me as the foundation of life. The Lord is with me forever and always, with all authority in heaven and on earth. If the One Who has all authority in heaven and on earth is with me forever, what could be a problem? It’s not a problem because He is with me. He promises to do the work Himself; what could be a problem?
God says, “It is okay, I am with you,” then everything is finished. Though I am hard-pressed on all sides, I will never be crushed. Though I may be turned upside down, I may not be perplexed. What kind of fascinating word-play is that? Right now, I’m so afflicted by financial problems, my health problems, and the world’s problems. What does it mean that things are okay? These things need to go away, but from the moment you really understand what these words mean, you’ll be the greatest one.
The first thing you and I must pray for is for God to give us the grace to believe and understand what it means for it to be finished. Once you believe and understand and experience this gospel, everything is finished. Then, you will put into practice, Gal. 2:20.
2) Whoever wants to be first – Must be slave of all (Mk. 10:44)
Mk. 10:44 says, “Whoever wants to be first must be the slave to all.” In the past, Apostle Paul used to live, saying, “I’m such a great person, I’m blameless in regards to the law, I am the greatest student of the greatest teacher, Gamaliel, I’m from a tribe of Pharisees,” he lived so boldly like that. But that is actually a weak person. Gangsters will cover themselves in tattoos in order to express what kind of person they are, but they are actually very weak. If someone truly has something great inside of them, they don’t express that externally very much.
There was one time where there was someone who had a doctorate of theology, and their pastor was talking with them, back and forth, and I just watched them conversing because I was in the same room, but the person who had a doctorate in theology kept saying, “This teacher said this and that teacher said that,” because they had nothing to say for themselves. They had nothing of themselves. They said, “This person said this and that person said that,” but they have nothing of themselves. But the pastor was not a doctorate of theology; he was just a pastor who went to seminary school, but he spoke what was his, and the doctorate had to kneel in the end.
If you talk to someone with true content that is yours, it’s not something that is just learned knowledge, because it must actually be yours. The gospel must become mine. “Oh, I‘ve received this much training, I’ve done this and that,” and that’s great, but is the cross truly yours? If somebody has truly experienced the cross, if somebody has truly experienced the gospel, they have power, even though they don’t say anything. Look at Joseph, he was 17 years old, so age doesn’t matter, your education level doesn’t matter, one person went into Egypt and changed all the land. There are so many elites and academics surrounding the Pharaoh, but they could not solve one problem. They could not solve the problem of Pharaoh’s nightmares, but Joseph solved it. It wasn’t Joseph’s own ability, he simply relayed what God had given to him. Joseph said, “Not I, but the God Who is with me,” the one who believes that that is mine, we are living like that. If you say, “I don’t have money,” that’s weird. Of course I don’t have money but the Lord has everything, what’s important is, do you really believe that? When you believe, God begins to work.
If we live by the ways of the world, we have the lowest IQ, you need to live like you’re crazy in faith. If this is God’s plan, you go by faith. That is the Kingdom of God, that is the Kingdom of Heaven. If the Temple Construction to save the 237 nations, to heal people and to raise them to the summit, is God’s will, then you go; you do it by faith. God will pour upon you the economy of light that He has hidden. The standard of everything is not me, it is Christ. The standard is neither me nor my environment, it is God’s plan. Is it truly God’s plan to save all 237 nations and I’m lacking? It doesn’t matter, you challenge in faith. For us, our goal is not success in the world; it is missions, evangelism, saving people’s lives, that is God’s plan and our goal. Those are the thoughts of Gal. 2:20, where, “I no longer live, but Christ Who is the gospel lives within me.”
In the future, they say we’ll lose millions of jobs because of the robot-age, it doesn’t matter because the Word of God is fulfilled exactly and God will do great works for those who are fulfilling His Word. There’s no reason to be afraid of Revelation or the future, there’s no reason to be afraid of people, because whoever harms me God will harm, and God will bless those who bless me. Why? Because of that one thing, the faith of Christ that lives in me, that through you, all nations on earth will be blessed. Because, Jesus Christ lives within me with that plan.
(1) For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake (2 Cor. 4:5)
In 2 Cor. 4:5, Paul confesses, “We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” I am testifying of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all Lords, and the King of all Kings, and He lives within me, and I make myself your servant to proclaim this to you. Ino order to proclaim this gospel to others, you become their servant, you serve them. For people who cannot do this, and they want to be their own servant, they say, “That’s gross, I don’t want to proclaim the gospel. There’s no way I’m going to do that. It hurts my pride.” That person is still in the vicinity of the cross, but they have not gone past the cross yet. They’ve come to church and they’ve heard the doctrine, but it has not been established as theirs, yet. Look at parents, they will endure things for their children, that is the greater person. The reason they have patience is because they want to save their kids.
Why is Paul the greatest? Because he was a servant to many people to give them the gospel, that is the greatest. But God gave all of his power to Paul. God attached the businesswoman, Priscilla, to him because world evangelization can only take place when God blesses you. With our own thoughts, we cannot do anything. Our thoughts are at the level of eating and surviving. The level of our everything is studying really hard and trying to be a little bit better than everyone else, and then we try a little bit harder to buy our own house, and we spend the rest of our lives paying our debts. That isn’t mine to begin with, but we have to live like that, because that’s what everyone is doing. But if God blocks something, that thing cannot be opened. Missions and evangelism is God’s plan but there are people who misunderstand evangelism. They think that evangelism is going out and trying to persuade and convince people; that’s a salesman, that’s not evangelism.
The people who have truly experienced Jesus Christ are filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives them evidence, so these people stand as witnesses to other people. The people who have seen the resurrected Lord received the evidence that this person is truly God Who is the Messiah, only then do they receive the mission to go and make disciples of all nations. At that point, they do not say, “I can’t do this,” because they have already died on the cross, and at that point, the disciples change, to say, ‘Of course, that’s right. The Lord inside me will do the work, that’s faith.” How is American evangelism possible? There’s no method to make it possible. But God is bound to do that work through those who have faith that God will do the work. Will it work if you do this or that? There’s no method within the Kingdom of God because God Himself is the method. To whom does He reveal this to? 1 Cor 2 says the Holy Spirit reveals the deepest things of God to us, and Mark 16 tells us to proclaim the gospel to all peoples. “I’m busy running my business, when can I proclaim the gospel? I’m busy enough going to work every day and taking care of my kids; this makes no sense,” that is somebody who is just circling the vicinity of the cross a few times still. There is no such thing as “me,” there is no such thing as “my circumstances,” and we confess that in faith.
Then, later on, something very important Jesus says, “To those who believe, these signs will accompany them. They will cast our demons and they will place their hands on the sick and they will be healed.” How does this happen? For those who believe in the gospel, the ones who believe in the fact that Jesus Christ has finished all problems, without that, there is nothing else that will work. There are things that are deeply rooted inside of us, the bartizans that Satan has placed in the world without the words of Jesus Christ that can only be broken down with the answer of Jesus Christ. With the ideology of democracy, you can never save people. Democracy was created by people; it is not the Word of God.
You must be centered on God; in other words, you must have a theocracy, but we’ve been so brainwashed by the ideology of democracy, just like people who are born in a Communist country will be brainwashed by the ideology of communism. People who live in those kinds of countries don’t criticize communism, they like it, just like we who are born in democracy. But we must be centered on the Word of God. Then, the things that Satan planted inside of us, will be broken down; demons will be cast out. Freedom is not being able to do whatever I want; true freedom is being set free from Satan, sin, and the forces of hell. It’s not about individualism where, “I just live my life as long as I’m not hurting or inconveniencing anyone else,” they just keep to themselves. If it’s right for the gospel, that’s what I need to focus on. It is not about, “I cannot do this,” but if it is God’s will, you challenge towards it in faith. If somebody is sick, they’ll say, “Oh, I am sick, so I cannot do this,” but you are not the standard and your disease is not the standard. The ones who believe in this gospel will place their hands on the sick and they shall be healed.
Isaiah 53:5 says that Jesus Christ has received all the burdens and diseases of our sins and transgressions. So, God has given us doctors and we should receive their help, but you yourself can lay your hands on yourself with faith and receive healing. Jesus Christ received all of our pains and the ones who pray with the faith in that gospel. Why should we get better? Because we have to proclaim the gospel. If your leg hurts so much that you can’t even walk, then you can’t proclaim the gospel, so you need to have the faith that God will make you better to proclaim the gospel. Anybody in the name of Jesus Christ. There’s no way to heal anybody other than this, but because this is not being revealed, people just remain in hospitals.
(2) Raise disciples in all nations (Mt. 28:19)
(3) Preach the gospel to all creation – Healing (Mk. 16:15-18)
(4) Feed my lambs (Jn. 21:15-18)
Jesus also said, “feed my lambs,” All of our interest must be on the youngest, the weakest, the new believers who have no help for themselves; that is what the Lord desires. When does all of this change?
3) Only Holy Spirit – Power (Ac. 1:8)
Only when the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon me. We do not receive the filling of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues. The filling of the Holy Spirit means there’s no more “me,” but instead, I’m filled with God’s Word, filled with the power of the Spirit, and filled with the gospel, and anybody can receive that. If you’re weak, that’s why you pray for the power of God to be upon you. “Oh, my thoughts are so complicated because of my mental illness,” that’s why you pray for the power of the gospel to fill your thoughts and mind, that’s the filling of the Holy Spirit. Even right at this moment, you can receive that power, how? By faith. You don’t have to go and do some crazy spiritual ritual; you just believe.
(1) Witness of Christ (Ac. 1:8)
I no longer exist, but Christ is within me, the filling of Christ is the filling of the Holy Spirit. For students, when you are studying, filling of the Holy Spirit. For the people who are working, stop trying to work with all your greatness, but may the Word of God be fulfilled in your business, and you stand as a witness of God. Our choir is a choir of the generation and the age; it is a multiethnic choir. Of all ethnicities. When are demons cast out? When are illnesses healed? When the choir receives the filling of the Holy Spirit. Through their praise, the power of God is revealed so they are a tremendous instrument to evangelism. When David sang his praises, the demons that were afflicting King Saul fled. When you receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, you receive the power and evidence to be Jesus’ witness.
(2) Temple construction – For God’s kingdom (Hag. 2:7-8)
(3) 237 nations, Healing, Summit – Church
How will you save the future generations and the 237 nations of the world? You must experience the gospel. For the people who have experienced the gospel, they’re able to pray the prayer to completely lower themselves and be filled with Christ and the Spirit of God. Then, of course, you are bound to receive evidence, and when you stand as a witness of that, you will save. Now, we live for the Kingdom of God; we are not believing in Jesus to get whatever we designed or planned for our own life. “I’m living for the Kingdom of God, for what God desires,” for that purpose, we do the temple construction to save the 237 nations, heal people and raise them to the summit. It says in Haggai 2:7-8 that this is impossible by our own ability or power. God must work and shake all the nations for this to happen, and I hope you will become people of that faith. Stop thinking your thoughts; what is God’s plan? When do we act? When it is God’s plan, then we act. If someone keeps saying, “I can’t do this,” they haven’t gone through the cross yet.
Conclusion
1. The one who knows and enjoys the Gospel
2. Courtyard of the Gentiles, Children, Prayer – Platform
3. Economy of light
You need to truly know this gospel and truly enjoy it and relay it to others. Only from that point on will you become the system to save the 237 nations, you need to have the faith in the gospel to be the one who can save and heal others. You need to know what this prayer to ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit is, in order to raise others to the summit. God has prepared the economy of light in order to raise up this kind of temple and do the works of missions and evangelism. I hope you will all be the greatest ones in that Kingdom of God.
Message Prayer
Let us pray individually holding onto the Word God has given to us.
Offering prayer
God, we thank You. We thank You for giving us the gospel and for giving us the grace to understand, enjoy, and relay that gospel. We have returned Your materials as offering as those who have received the gospel as a mission to save others. We pray that this offering will be used for the material of the temple construction to save the 237 nations, and to do the healing and the summit movement. We believe You will work on us with the economy of light for the work of evangelism, missions, and world evangelization. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
We pray that You will bless these individuals that they may be the greatest in the Kingdom of God. We pray that you will bless them and work upon them to have the faith for world evangelization. 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. WRC 8/2-4 in Korea.
3. WRC broadcasting at ICSC on 8/5 (Sat.).
4. 8/11(Fri.) Youth 2 Days, 1 Night: Church sanctuary
5. 8/17-19 LA College Retreat
6. 9/5-6 North America Business conference, college retreat
7. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
We thank You, Father God, Who is alive, for Your incredible love. We thank you for raising Sungmoon Antioch Mission Church and for giving us the dream that will never die, for fulfilling world evangelization. We pray that You will give your amazing answers to Pastor Park, his wife, his ministers, and his prayers, that he will deliver the Word to the pulpit that will be fulfilled and will be spiritual food for us. We pray that You will give your amazing and overflowing grace and blessing upon the assistant pastors, church officers and members of the church who are devoting with one heart for this mission as well. We pray that You will give this church the answer, to save the multiethnic people, the LA region, the 237 nations, and the 5000 unreached tribes.
Now may the amazing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the ministers and church officers and the members of the church, upon all their families and the ministers who are serving the church, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.