The Least and the Greatest (Mt. 18:1-10)
Word – Creation
God created this world through His Word
Creation – Word (Heb. 1:3)
You are God’s creation and God created you, and even your studies are part of God’s creation. God created the world through His Word. This whole world is being moved by God’s Word.
Who is the Greatest? God moves according to His Word. Did you understand this? You must first understand this, then you won’t say, “I’m a failure,” but that’s why we discover the Word in every aspect. If a problem arises, God moves all creation with His Word, so you try to discover God’s Word in that problem, and changing the culture means God changes the culture through his Word.
World
Me – Good / Evil (Satan)
God – Good / Evil
Sin makes me controlled by Satan. Discover what God is trying to say, that’s why we give worship.
Least / Greatest (Mt.18:1-10)
Jesus tells us who will be raised up as the greatest, meaning God will use these people greatly. The world says the one who is most beneficial as the greatest, but God doesn’t see it that way. For God, a “good” person is the greatest. According to mankind, they choose who is a good or bad person, they choose themselves. But “good” is according to God.
What is “good” in God’s eyes? It is only the covenant. There’s nothing outside of Jesus Christ. No matter how good the actions of a person may be, God calls that person a sinner. But God says, “As long as they hold onto Jesus Christ, that person is righteous,” then who is righteous? Jesus says, “The greatest person is this kind of person.”
1. The Question of the Least
1) Mt. 18:1-2 Who?
2) Child – Greatest
A child is not the greatest, but one who is childlike. A child doesn’t just do whatever they want, but one who has the heart of a little child is the greatest in heaven. Heaven is not speaking about where you’ll go in the afterlife, but heaven is God’s Kingdom, whoever is greatest in God’s kingdom. What does it mean to lower oneself? Look at the little children, they trust and rely on their parents as they lower themselves. They absolutely need their parents, so as little children, they rely on them.
Mankind, according to Gen. 3, are centered on themselves, and whatever they think, if they feel bad about it, they get frustrated. If they don’t like what they see, they dislike it, but if something is for their benefit, they like it; everything is according to their standard of good and bad. They must succeed in society in order for them to have success, but in God’s kingdom, God is saying that is not so. Like a little child, meaning, as someone who entirely trusts on and relies on Jesus Christ, that is the greatest.
A little child must completely and entirely trust their parents. In faith, the greatest one entirely trusts on Jesus Christ. Do you study or work with your own strength? That’s not a little child; that’s the least. Who is the greatest? Someone who confesses, “I cannot do without Jesus Christ, I cannot do without God controlling over me.”
Listen carefully, it may seem that I’m talking about studies or your work life, but that isn’t so. Even unbelievers can speak like this. “God, may You work so that your studies may save lives.” This isn’t something you do, but God does it. You can study with your own strength, but your studies being used to save lives is not something you can do. The greatest one holds onto the covenant like a little child and prays. That is someone like David.
David was herding sheep like other shepherds, and someone doing it with their own strength would lose out to the lion, wolf, or bear. However, David relied on God and trusted in his power. This is only possible by God’s power. You are doing the same studies and same work, but from a young age, God uses you.
Joseph’s brothers were actually working harder than Joseph, but in God’s eyes, they were the least and God couldn’t use those people. You are giving worship and there’s someone used greatly by God. It seems like it’s by your own heart, but God grants you His power. What does it mean to hold to the covenant and study? Not with your own efforts, but holding to the covenant, God’s covenant will save people and God’s commandment is to love people.
That’s why you’re raised to save people. God is with me so I can do these things, and that is where God will work. Isn’t this simple? God’s kingdom is not hard, if you can’t understand, it will be difficult, but if you can, it’s simple. That is why the Early Church didn’t study much but were used by God. Even the fishermen were used greatly by God. The elite Apostle Paul understood this and was used greatly. But regardless of whether you’re good or bad at studying, it’s about whether God will use you.
Peter held onto the covenant, becoming a fisher of men, and went forward. So many other people followed Jesus at that time but God used that person. It would be great if God used every one of us, and God will, so listen very carefully. If you don’t listen carefully to God’s Word, you’ll end up following the words of the world. The one who is like a little child, think about it. A child must be fed and they rely only on their parents, those are the greatest people. Because it is the studies to save the 237 and the 5000 people groups, that can only be done by God’s power.
Religion is just made by people, religion is an imitation of obtaining God’s blessings, but if you have a different heart, you want to carry out these actions, so their outer appearance seems very good, that’s religion. This is what Satan does. But you must hold onto the fact that I cannot do anything without Christ. Jesus Christ has to enter into my life as the Master of my life and I cannot do anything without Him.
3) Look Down On X
This is impossible with only the worldly knowledge. Your inner things do not change with education. Your skills may change and become developed, you can become a technician but your heart cannot change outside of God’s covenant and grace. Religion is when the inner being doesn’t change but you try to change your outer appearance. I hope you will become the greatest, relying completely on God like a little child.
Matthew 18:14
4) Little Ones
Tiffany was teasing a fellow coworker, but instead of evangelizing to the coworker, teasing is the way of the world. That’s just the culture of evil spirits and Satan, but God says, raising up the little ones is opening up the doors of evangelism. Do you know Cambodia? There was a Cambodian Massacre, and there’s a god of destruction going around, murdering people. When an authoritative figure rose up, they killed all the people wearing glasses because they studied. He knew the elites were the ones to change the government.
We went to Long Beach to evangelize to the Cambodians, and when they immigrate, they do not send their children to college. I only met one person of Cambodian descent at UCLA or USC, because the parents have that scar, that if they’re smart, they’ll all die. Despite immigrating to America, they cannot let go of that scar. So, that person actually put in their effort to attend a good college, and that’s why you cannot look down on your fellow coworkers.
You must know the field to know how to open the doors of evangelism to take place in that field. You can’t just tease them. Let’s say Tiffany knew the person was Cambodian and knew the history and culture. Then instead of teasing, she can give the gospel, and that person could be the one to change the culture of the workplace because God is holding onto that workplace with the Word.
So you must know this, don’t live as a person without God. God is moving all things with His Word, so hold onto the Word and be guided. You must be raised up. No matter how little they may seem to be, don’t look down on them, this is God’s Word and is bound to work in this way.
2. Wrong Person
1) Exhortation
In Israel, they would condemn people by the entire community. They ignore and ostracize, and the person can feel it. But the Bible says if this person has committed a wrong, go before this person with two or three people and exhort them. If just one person is not enough, bring two or three more people and ask that person to repent, but there’s no one who can resist at this point. But if someone is very arrogant and thinks of themselves very highly, let them go.
The reason you have this intervention is to show them that they’re doing wrong things. That’s why it says, whatever you forgive on earth will be forgiven in heaven. The church decides, and it’s to save, not to condemn. No matter how much they stray, as long as they turn back, they can be saved. The law is not to condemn. When two or three people gather to pray, God is with them. No matter how evil the person may be, if two or three people gather to pray for that person, God will work.
I’m saying there’s no one God cannot change. In the past, there was someone’s son who lived with someone else even though they weren’t married, so the Assistant Pastor said, “Isn’t this a sin?” “Let them go,” I said. He replied, “It’s against the Bible,” and he confronted the person, his son. The assistant pastor wasn’t wrong, it’s in the Bible and it would set a bad example for the future generation. So in the end, I said, “When you marry, you become one flesh, you cannot separate from one another, so you go the middle ground of staying together.”
Outwardly it may appear to be ambiguous, so I said, “Get married or separate.” The Assistant Pastor’s son received the answer to separate. The Assistant Pastor left the church, “This goes against my belief.” You can see the household was very legalistic. The law is meant to help us love and save people; if the law is used to condemn, hate, and to create division, it’s not God’s plan.
The prosecutor should listen carefully. Don’t just strike down with the sword of justice, that’s not aligned with God’s Word. In order to look good before people, you must understand the circumstances and environment before either side. Then you will look good before both sides, but let’s say you just use the law to bring out the sins and wrongs one person has committed. Then just one side will be very unbalanced, then wherever the prosecutor goes, they will strike down with the law of justice.
Not so for us, we go forward to save. If this is not in you, you will face a lot of resentment. If this is within you, you’ll save wherever you go. I went to a workplace for 14 years near Gangnam, and the corporate office told me to move. There was a corporate memo that some people had to move, and they told me to move since I was single. Think about it, a single person in their 20s should be partying on the weekends, but I followed others. The VP overseeing this, everyone told me to go, and I went, and the VP said, “Out of everyone, he volunteered to go,” and the manager’s perspective of me changed.
What am I trying to say? All people have a mission, but you have to see if the person’s inner being is meant to save people or not. I also did military service and it seems to be the same thing. Wherever people are, you are meant to save. You have this mission. Everyone has this mission in the workplace or in your studies, you have to have this mission of saving people, but that is opening the doors of evangelism. But if you do not have the heart to save people and try to evangelize, you can’t see it. If you have the heart to evangelize and you evangelize, you won’t be able to see it. Confess in your heart that you’re here to save people, then you’ll see it.
God gave Joseph this blessing. Joseph saved Potiphar and even Potiphar’s wife. He saved the generals in prison and then went before Pharaoh and saved the Pharaoh. He saved the entirety of Egypt and the world. If you have the eye to save people, God will give the answer of saving people, but if you go about without these eyes, you’ll go about as an unbeliever. There’s a great difference.
Look at Daniel. If you are to bow down before the idol of Babylon, you’d be the same as any unbeliever, but that’s the way of destruction for that region. But Daniel chose the way to save. He held to the covenant and prayed three times a day towards Jerusalem. The unbeliever king knew this, but God did this to reveal it. Your inner and outer appearances cannot be different. You talk about evangelism and missions and do not have the heart to evangelize? That’s not right.
Use your work and studies as tools to save, and such blessed ones are the greatest ones.
3. Forgiveness
There was an incident, a tremendous debt that could not be repaid even if the person worked their entire life. The king forgave their debt. But that person went to their debtor, grabbed him by the neck and said, “Give me my money.” We were supposed to face curses, hell, and death, but Jesus Christ forgave us. But if someone wrongs us slightly, we’ll grab onto their neck and ask them to pay us back. That’s not right.
Where is the evidence that I have to be able to forgive? Jesus Christ eternally. There are relationships in which guys and girls date, and the girl seemed to like the guy and was thinking of marriage, so it was a relationship where the guy either pushed her away or went to date another person. This girl was from the Philippines, and she attended Hope Church in Seoul, and the pastor at that church said, “This person definitely faced many problems with men,” and the pastor counseled that person. It turns out that person had a lot of bad relationships with men, so that’s why she was sent as a missionary there, to escape her problems.
She ended up as a nun in the Philippines. They can go two ways: the world, or religion, as they are not able to forgive in their hearts, they cannot forgive the man who hurt them and they go into religion. They say they’re only married to Jesus. It must be forgiven by grace, however, they are not able to forgive with their own strength so they disregard all men. It’s also the same for men. They received scars from their parents, they can’t forgive and threaten to kill their fathers. They say, “If I muster up the strength, I’ll kill my parents.
Anger
They are scarred from their parents, pressuring them and never being acknowledged. They explode with anger, do you know people who have experienced such violence in schools? I have experienced it once. In school, I used to be a thug, and I used to pick fights with people at school, and they fought with me, and so, the thugs called me over and started to beat me up, asking why I messed with one of their juniors. The teacher, knowing it was a dangerous place, came and punished me. I wasn’t able to study well after that, I was filled with rage about unfairly punished.
At this crucial time of studying, I was put into this situation and I wasn’t able to control my rage. This rage continued until the day I met Jesus Christ. Because I was an unbeliever, I was captured by an evil spirit and I kept thinking about this thought and was enraged all the time. Why would I bother a junior? Because of my rage, I had no choice but to bother my junior. It’s not that I specifically chose to be angry.
Think about Joseph. He was a tattletale about his brother’s actions, so the brothers wanted to kill Joseph. That’s why Joseph was almost killed and thrown into a well, so he must have harbored a great scar, but what was his confession? Because of his brothers, he was able to glorify God, and this mouth that used to be wide open and tattling, became closed.
The second thing is God’s covenant. Do you have a scar? Think carefully. This is the scar that you yourselves have, there are some instances where the child is so oppressed by their parents, and there are some instances where some children are so scarred by their parents that they resort to violence, and the child is constantly oppressed and scarred, “Why was I born into this country?” Let’s say at that time, the child believes in Jesus Christ, then that child will ask, “God, what is Your plan?” The child will come to realize that this environment, being born into this family, becomes the greatest blessing and opportunity to grab onto Jesus Christ.
If it were not due to this incident in middle school, I would become arrogant and haughty. I was good at studying and fighting, what’s better than that? But God put me off there through this incident. He made me completely mentally bewildered because through this scar, there was this negative influence in my life. But through this incident, I was able to go into Jesus Christ and now, through Jesus Christ, the scar has become a platform so I can save people with this same scar.
Outside of this, there is no other way to heal the scar. You must raise this scar up to become a platform of blessings. That is when God will open up your eyes so you will be able to see the scars of people. Think carefully. Today, at this time, what scar do you have? You must confirm that this starts from you. If this scar isn’t from you but genuinely formed, it’s because you’re able to find God’s plan in the moment you were scarred.
For unbelievers, this scar is an incident so you can find God’s covenant. However, if you’re attending church and you were listening to God’s word at that time, it means you lost hold of God’s word and were unable to believe in God at that time. That’s how you can overcome that scar.
How can you do counseling? Nothing other than the gospel can help that person overcome. That is how they will be able to come out of their scar and be liberated, that’s how they can come out of depression that leads to murder. Protecting yourself without the gospel means you don’t need the gospel, and then you fall into individualism. If it’s outside their thoughts, they think, “I don’t think so.” If their thoughts are not aligned with God’s thoughts, they think, “I don’t think so,” and change into self-centeredness. The safety net of individuals is used by Satan for mental problems, physical problems, future generational problems, and you must know this. If you look at this without suspicion, you’ll be targeted by it. You need to think about this. “Pastor, I don’t think like that,” but you cannot stray from God’s Word. You’re either in it or not. That’s the way to stand before God. The more you’re able to do this, the more you’ll be revived and see the field.
The more you go into the world, due to your education and knowledge of the world, the more you’ll be controlled by the ideology of the world and despite the fact that you’ve received so much knowledge, it’s not enough just for education. It’s education through the gospel. You must be able to understand the individuals with Christ being your Master.
If you’re without thought or emotion, then what about forgiveness? You’ll forego that and fall into ignorance and anger.
The least and the greatest.
The one who relies only on the Triune God like a little child is the greatest. The one who relies on their own strength is the least. This is the very first message we received from the Remnant Day message. Understand this well, and I hope you will enjoy this blessing.