The Life of Jesus Christ: His Teachings
Today we will share the Word of God regarding the life of Jesus Christ: His Teachings. Once we believe in Jesus, we are already changed, but we ourselves aren’t aware of this so we live our lives, holding onto incorrect things.
Introduction
1. Me
So first and foremost, we are already changed, so the thing we must make sure we not allowed to do is this old previous “me” to come back to life
1) Genesis 3:4-5
The “me” that was alive in Gen 3:4-5 was the “me” that was dead in original sin, and the reason why we aren’t receiving healing is because of the “me” that is dead, and because we hold onto our old “me,” we have our own motives. We live in a state where it has no choice but to be that way, but the Lord has already finished this through Jesus Christ.
2) Galatians 2:20
Galatians 2:20 says I have been crucified on the cross, and now there is a new “me” where Jesus Christ is living within me, but because you keep living your life with the old “me,” your walk of faith isn’t changing. Whether you’re doing Bible study in the field or mentoring a new believer, you have to make sure the old “self” is changed. But I am not changed and the other person is not changing, so no one can ever change.
2. My Things
The second thing we must properly heal is regarding “my things.”
1) Genesis 6:54-5
In Genesis 6:54-5, the saved children of God thought their things were their own possessions. Because their old self had no change, they thought the material possessions were their own. You need to change them so they are God’s things, utilized for God’s purpose. But if someone doesn’t have material possesions, they will cry and commit suicide because they think these things are theirs. On the other hand, if they have a lot of material possessions, the person can become strange, thinking it’s their own things.
2) Matthew 10:40-42
In Matthew 10:40-42, it says anyone who serves a disciple will receive the blessing of a disciple, and anyone who uses the name of a prophet to serve the prophet will receive the blessing of a prophet. Anyone who serves the pastor in the name of the pastor, not that I’m telling you to serve me, but anyone who devotes like this will receive the blessing of a pastor, and only that will remain as the reward of heaven. But because we still haven’t changed the idea of “my things,” we don’t know how to devote or live our lives. We’ve been so deeply rooted in my old me and my things, then I come to worship at church, and because everyone thinks these things belong to them, they fight.
Even churches fight over material things because they think it belongs to them and they want to do whatever they want with that. You have to use it for the work that God desires. Only this is mine. Only the things I utilize for the kingdom of God will remain as my own. Everything you have, no matter how much you have, will one day disappear. It’s not that you’ll be acknowledged if you live a poor life; everything before God is nothing. It’s the same in the future. The owner of all material possessions is God. God is giving it to the ones who utilize it for God’s purpose, but it is not mine. You need to teach offering correctly to the new believers. But because they’re so self-centered, they can’t give offering, thinking that their things are their own. If you don’t heal and change this within them, even if they receive salvation and live their walk of faith, they can’t receive answers.
Think about this, because you think these things belong to you, you don’t use them for God. The representative case of this is when you give worship, part of that contains offering you give offering for world evangelization, but you don’t give offering because you think it’s yours, and because you think your material possessions are your own, you’re always suffering.
3. My work
You think the work you’re doing is your own work.
1) Genesis 11:1-8
That’s why Genesis 11:1-8, we live centered on success, which is the Tower of Babel. People fall because they believe their work is their own. I’m not telling you to not succeed, but I’m telling you that it’s not your work. For us, we do the work of God, Acts 2:1-47 holding onto the covenant.
2) Genesis 2:1-47
237
The work of missions and evangelism is what we try to do, and saving the 237 nations is my work. In other words, God’s work becomes my work. Any material possessions devoted to the work of God becomes my possessions. The “you” of the past is dead and the “you” with Christ is the new “you.” This is the case in the church but also when you do Bible studies with people. If you don’t teach this, it is useless. People know the Old Testament and New Testament so well, but the old “me” is not changed. They try to memorize all the Word of God, holding onto their old selves. Is that going to work out, then?
We need to receive healing regarding these things to be able to heal the field. Then, you receive leisure. But because you think your life is yours, you have to live according to your thoughts, motives, and ambitions; how difficult is that? The Lord lives within you, why do you assert yourself? All you have to do is follow the Word of the Lord, then there’s no reason for you to be in anguish regarding material possessions, because they’re not yours. But because you don’t have it, you suffer, so you use your own methods, with your own motives and ambitions.
But these people keep confessing that Jesus is the Christ, and they talk about world evangelization, but I’ve told you on Wednesday that it’s purely theoretical for them. In reality, I’m still stuck in these things. Then, if you don’t hear about world evangelization, you feel sad, because you want to be satisfied as you think it is yours. You start feeling very excited when they say, “This is the business and economy of light for world evangelization and mission” but in reality, you’re still stuck in the idea of your things because it’s all theoretical to you. If you look at new believers, they’re used to the idea of exalting their own name as their own god.
Today we are learning about the life of Jesus Christ and His teachings, so we need to look at this. In the past, before Jesus Christ came to earth, there was only a shadow of Christ to come. Then Jesus Christ came to the earth to do the work of dying on the cross and resurrecting. From that point on, the filling of the holy spirit came upon Mark’s Upper Room and the work of saving the 237 nations started to take place, then during Jesus’ life, what did He teach? In other words, what does the work that Jesus Christ did have to do with my life?
1. Salvation
What is salvation?
(1) John 3:1-8
In John 3:1-8, it says we cannot receive salvation through diligence and hard work. We cannot receive salvation through the law or good works. You have to know this very well. If you don’t know this, you’ll be under the misconception that God will look kindly on you based on your effort. Because you’re uncertain about salvation, you live a religious life. God doesn’t move because of your diligence; you’re dead on the cross, so you don’t need your diligence. We need to have the diligence that when the Lord inside of us tells us to run then we run, and when the Lord tells us to stop, we need to stop. But because we have our old state, centered on ourselves, and we have a religious centered life, and we think we can move people just like we move God.
(2) John 10:10-11
In John 10:10-11, it says that the purpose Jesus Christ came to this earth is to give us life. We need to receive life. But if your focus is not on receiving life, it’s only religious living and legalism and diligence, you cannot enjoy the blessings of salvation. Jesus Christ Himself is life and Jesus Christ is living within me, and we need to enjoy His life. Why is it possible that this may be difficult? It’s because you keep putting the focus on yourself. The more you focus on yourself, you realize you’re heading towards disasters. The devil is a liar who deceives, so he lies and tells you about life.
(3) John 11:25-26
It says here that by believing in Jesus Christ who is the resurrection and the life, we can enjoy eternal life. In other words, it’s faith, it is invisible but people misunderstand because Jesus Christ is invisible, so they imagine whatever Jesus they want, and they imagine that he is within them but that’s not Jesus. Even when they pray, they imagine Jesus and the Holy Spirit, or they recognize the Holy Spirit based on their emotions. That’s not God and Jesus, but you think you receive grace when you’re emotionally moved, but that’s not grace.
You can see the same result when you see a good movie, if you listen to a song that really hits your heart, you’ll start crying. You don’t know God very well and you don’t even know how God is working on you. Because you don’t know God, you imagine whatever god you desire for yourself. If you just imagine Jesus Christ on the cross, is that really Jesus Christ? Especially those with Catholic backgrounds, they imagine some kind of image. Because Jesus Christ is invisible, they think, “This baby needs a crown of thorns to be Jesus,” but that’s not Jesus.
Jesus is the Word, Jesus is life. When you believe in those words, you react and enjoy this. This happens a lot, when people are leading praise, there is a rhythm when you’re singing songs, and especially as we get into the rhythm of a song, it may touch our emotions and make us happy, but it’s not jesus christ. Should you take that directly to your field? If your circumstances become difficult, it’s not Jesus, but your circumstances are difficult. But if your circumstances become better, that’s not Jesus either. Jesus is living within you as the Word and Life.
But because we don’t know God and Jesus Christ, we go into the field with the old image of Jesus Christ we had when we were deceived by everything. You need to hold onto the correct Word because God Himself is the Word. You need to be able to recognize, enjoy and believe the correct Word. That is how you will not waver back and forth based on the circumstances in your field. It is ultimately evidence that you’re not certain of the Triune God.
Even though you know that the Triune God exists, but because you don’t know how the Triune God is working within you, you use your circumstances, and emotions to alter the image of the Triune God. If you go into the field with this kind of imagination, you’ll be deceived by everything: your emotions, circumstances, and people’s words because you’re not sure of the Triune God. Even though you may know the God recorded in the Bible, you have no idea how He is relevant to you. God is alive, but you have collapsed. God is working in your field and yet you have collapsed in your field. You must be sure of this.
You cannot be deceived because you’re smart without knowing this. You must be certain of this. Why? Because the Triune God is moving your life. You need to know that in order to receive His guidance in your life and field, but many believers are being destroyed at this point. Especially Koreans, they fight with their emotions, they say, “if I don’t feel some emotion, I didn’t receive grace,” because their standard is their emotions. If you listen to the praises they sing, it’s always sad songs that touch their emotions, but they think that’s grace. That’s that person’s personal state. What is so sad? Christ is victorious, so we should be joyful, but our lives are sad because we are not able to enjoy Christ, so our lives are sad and we look around for sad things, then when we go out into the field, nothing aligns.
We enjoy it with faith, what kind of faith? The faith regarding the correct words of the correct Jesus Christ, and this is what we must hold onto. We receive the Word on Sunday, so if you look at the pastor, people who assert themselves very strongly may fall into trials at times because there are times that people don’t like my tone or the way I speak. It’s possible they don’t like the way I give my sermons and they would do it a different way, or it’s possible that the kind of vocabulary I use doesn’t align with them, so it’s possible for people to fall into trials because they don’t align with this, but these people are lost in their own wickedness and create their own things. That person doesn’t know what God is doing during worship, because they’ve moved according to their self-centeredness, they think everything must align with them. These people go out into the world and nothing aligns with them, so they shake.
What’s important is that in the midst of all these things, we must hear the correct Word and voice of God. Therefore, when I say we’re failing in worship, it doesn’t mean that we’re not attending worship. If we’re talking about a perfect attendance award, the Israelites worshiped every day and yet still failed. That isn’t what I’m talking about. What we’re talking about is that the correct Word of God has never come into you, and that’s failure in worship.
Why do I fail? It’s because of myself. Because we don’t know how God is working through us in worship, we go out into the world and collapse, therefore, victory in worship means you go out into the world and have victory. Worship is so good for you, you hear the voice of God, and when you hear that, you must take it with you, and we follow God’s most accurate Word and voice in the field.
2. Method for Evangelization
There isn’t really a method for evangelism because it’s something God is doing through us.
(1) Serve
But in our perspective in John 13:1-15 we must have the attitude of the servant, which means we are serving. Why do we try to succeed? Because we want to have people under us, don’t we? That’s why people who are centered on success will fail. Because God is working through us and His work is revealed as we serve, but your walk of faith isn’t taking place because you want to be the king. Because you want to do things the way you want to do them, your walk of faith isn’t taking place. Because you do what you want to do, you think that’s your authority and position, but that is Genesis 3 and that’s why your walk of faith isn’t taking place.
It’s the same when you go out into the field, it’s not about trying to get promoted to step on others, but you go to work to save people. If you don’t know this, what will happen? If you do know this, you will change the flow, but if everyone is trying to climb atop of each other, there will be fighting. But you keep holding onto the fact that Jesus is the Christ, and you’ve held onto the covenant of world evangelization, but you’ve broken the field, why? Because that is not God’s method.
This is very important. The remnants must learn this in the church while they are young, but instead if we’re trying to reveal ourselves in the church, then that person without a doubt will fail, they will only make enemies. Who is there that will listen to your words? You only say that you have money and authority so people will listen to you, but that’s just building the tower of Babel. We need to serve.
If you’ve received a position in the church, you must save the church. You’re not doing that work to reveal yourself. God doesn’t give you this position so you can reveal what kind of person you are. God makes you serve to save other people, and this is very important. Then, ultimately when you try to save people through healing, you need to go to them with this attitude.
(2) John 12:24
A kernel of wheat must die on the ground to bear fruit. Me dying? I’ve already died on the cross. Therefore, it’s not about you trying to reveal anything, but it is revealing the gospel, only the Word of God. Remnants and new believers will get confused, “I keep listening to these words and it seems like you’re telling me to not succeed,” but I’m not telling you to not succeed; I’m saying that success is not the goal of life. Money is not your own; you’re already incorrect and misaligned with God because you think it’s your own. We need to continuously relay this to the new believers in the church so they will be rooted in the Word through forum.
3. Mission
THere is a mission in the church, what’s the church? A gathering of believers is the church, in other words, this is our mission. In John 2:1-11, it says we proclaim the fact that Jesus is our Lord. Because ever since Genesis 3:5 all the way to revelation, all mankind believes they are their own god, and that’s why they do whatever they want, and that’s original sin. We need to proclaim changing that into Christ our Lord. If that hasn’t changed, we need to make this rooted and natured within us. Therefore, material possessions aren’t my own but they are to be used by God.
Why do I have to make a lot of money? We make a lot of money so we can do the work of God, it’s so simple. But because you’re not doing this, God keeps breaking you down. But you yourselves don’t understand, “I understand the Word of God so well, but why does this keep happening?” You only understand with your brain but you haven’t changed, but you’re under the misconception that you have changed, why? Because you think you understand the message but your inner self hasn’t changed, so that’s all it means and it’s still a theory.
That’s why it’s through the church that you’re rooted in the word and you’re changed, but you look down on the Word and so you’re continuously not changing, God is continually waiting, until when? Until you change. If you don’t change, He will spend you around for 40 years and call you. You have to be aligned with God’s direction.
4. Walking with God (John 15:1-7)
You know what it means to walk with, right? How do you do that? John 15:1-7 says that, just as the branches are attached to the vine, what does it mean to be attached? It means the main and sub-branches must be connected correctly. If, for example, you’re attached to the main vine, but the branch thinks it’s the main thing, then that is the way to go back to destruction. The great vine is moving and I’m just a branch that is attached to that all I have to do is remain attached to that through the word of God, worship and prayer.
The Lord is already doing the world evangelization movement of 237 nations, we just need to attach ourselves to that.
Some people give up saying that evangelism isn’t taking place. That means they have switched their role between them and Christ, they say that that is not the case. But they think they are the main figure of world evangelization. They make the confession with their mouth of course Jesus is the Christ but when we talk about world evangelization they are their own Lord, the main thing. There are some people who just naturally have this vicious diligence within them. There are these style of people who want to wake up early in the morning and do more and work hard then everyone else. And they do world evangelization with their own diligence. I’m not saying that world evangelization itself is bad but the thing is who is the subject.
Some people who are tenacious may be able to persist longer, but everyone has their limitations. Just look at Elijah, you’ll say “evangelism isn’t taking place.” In their heart, they say, “World evangelization is just a phrase people throw around, it doesn’t take place.” Many people are like that, and I’m sorry to say this, but you still haven’t let yourself go, but God is waiting until the moment you do let yourself go. Because you haven’t let yourself go, that state is being relayed to the next generation and your family, so then generation after generation, you’ll say world evangelization isn’t taking place.
In other words, from the Old testament to the book of Revelation, It is flowing with the mainstream of Jesus Christ, and that is world evangelization and missions. If you deny that world evangelization is taking place, you reject the Bible. What is the content of the Bible they know? They have the content of legalism within them, where they keep things with their own diligence, and they’re filled with the things they see with their eyes, like actions and behaviors, so they’re not aligned with God. It’s very important to walk with God.
5. Discipleship Training
The church is discipleship training because Jesus did that. “Gee, is worship all we have to do?” For the normal, average believer, yes, worship is all you have to do, but for the disciples God will use for world evangelization, Jesus gave them separate training, why do you think Jesus trained His disciples? So that when they create the church, they can do this. For those who just worship once a week, let them do that, but for people who have the mission of world evangelization then continue to train them.
i. Being with them
ii. Preaching the gospel
iii. Giving them the authority to cast out demons.
What did Jesus teach His disciples? In Mark 3:13-15, it says “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”
But you don’t know this if you just go back and forth from church. People say “I received grace today,” and go back home, they have nothing to do with this verse. Jesus Christ gave us the core message of His discipleship training, and He tells us to relay this to the other disciples, that Jesus will be with them, to send them out to peach and to have authority to drive out demons. In that age, thousands of people followed Jesus, but Jesus only called 12 to His side, and among the laypeople, there were 70 that He called aside, because Jesus has to do the main thing with them.
THe introduction was just the physical things, the five loaves of bread and two fish, and then if there’s a church gathering of 10,000 people but they’re centered on materialism and prosperity, that’s just the introduction. If a thousand people gather and feel the moving of the Holy Spirit, that’s just the INtroduction.
Jesus called 12 disciples and 70 workers. Do you think it’s because He didn’t have the ability? He could have called thousands from the beginning. I’m not saying the number or quantity is what’s important, but I’m saying the content of the discipleship training that Jesus wants to give is important.
(2) What Jesus asked of His disciples:
There’s something Jesus requested of His disciples. Don’t think so deeply, just follow the Word; otherwise, you’ll think deeply about your concerns. Some people naturally think deeply, but there’s nothing but worries and concerns there. Because we’re from Genesis 3, because of our original sin, no matter how deeply we think, there’s nothing right among us, so that’s why it’s not about not listening to the word people, “but how will I live my life without listening to the words of people?” what we’re saying is to listen to Jesus, but people don’t understand what the pastor is saying, “My pastor said I shouldn’t listen to people so I’m not going to listen to my parents,” they misunderstand, and they say “oh they told me not to listen to people’s words” so they come to church and talk to anyone else that’s not what this means. If you take it literally, you should go to school and not listen to your teachers. You shouldn’t be silent to the word at just an elementary level. I’m saying that’s not the main reason.
If they say, “Test this or that,” that’s just the introduction. “You should just do your business this way or that way,” that’s the introduction, that’s physical. The physical things may take place in accordance with that, but the main things don’t take place like that; only the Words of Jesus, follow that. If You want to follow that, you must believe entirely and follow Him.
Some people say, “I can follow the Words of Jesus but I can’t follow the sermon.” There’s a group of people who say, “I don’t like the way the pastor speaks, his level is beneath me, so I can believe in the words of Jesus Christ, but the pastor says so many useless things in the sermon” that’s because they haven’t learned correctly from the beginning. Those people were always living their lives like that, and one day, they started listening to sermons, and this is the direction they take it. Then when they run into another group of people just like them, they enter into that stream. That is the people for whom the Word of God is hardest to penetrate.
I went downtown to evangelize, but I went to an apparel store and there were logos and things like that, but the Word of God wasn’t going into them. “I’m not going to listen to the words of a pastor, I’m going to listen to God’s Word, I’m nito going to follow the words of man.” then speaking another way, how do you believe in the BIble? God wrote the Bible through people, but this person is saying they want to listen to the Word of God directly themselves. Many people are such a headache. If you go out into the field to evangelize, there are all sorts of people, then for someone like me, I’m going to leave that person to live how they want, but such people are so stuck in their faith like that, not listening to anyone’s words.
i. Matthew 9:9
“Pastor, don’t joke with me, I’ll do this directly and I’ll communicate with God personally.” then why do you think God set up the church and raised up disciples, apostles, pastors, and the church? This is why Jesus Christ used the word, “obedience.” I’m sorry to tell you this, but if you’re not the pastor’s disciple, then you are not Jesus’ disciples. You will never be able to go out into the world and devote.
ii. Matthew 11:29
Because you’re so full of your arrogance, you cannot bow down. This is the discipleship training Jesus gave to His disciples.
iii. Matthew 19:21
Jesus emphasized giving up everything to follow Him. This doesn’t mean to sell and throw away everything you have, but throw away those things that prevent you from following the Lord. Because of your business, you can’t give worship; you can’t worship because you have to study, right? I’m not saying that material possessions and studying are bad, but if they are preventing you from worshiping, just let those things go. That’s discipleship training. Then first and foremost, one distinctive training is to be able to consistently come to worship. Many things are contained within that. Imagine how many circumstances prevent you from coming, but the fact that you still go to worship is not because you’re worried about what other people think. it means you’re letting yourself go so you can receive God’s Word and follow the Lord.
Rev. Ryu does the same thing, he does discipleship training with people and tests them. Because these aren’t the things that just take place because you speak well, if you look at Chinese movies, some people have elevated and natural skill; however, their attitude is very bad and they use things for their own benefit. The more you try to teach such people, the more they will use their things for evil.
When the masters of the martial artists find and teach students, they look for the students who will use their abilities to help others or not. They only teach the martial arts to the people they should teach it to. If someone has a bad character, they won’t teach that person, or else they’ll use martial arts to harm other people, but these things happen often. “I received this amount of training so you need to come below me,” that’s a bad thing. It is true that they might be in the process of being polished, but I think such people just have that natural characteristic. That’s what it means that the Lord has prepared disciples, some are prepared to be like this, so it takes place for them.
You need to give the Word of God into these people for things to take place correctly. It is true that God can change someone who is a complete mess, and turn them around for good, but that takes a long time. If they’re at rock bottom, and they have nothing good about them and God wants to build them up, it takes too much time. Look at people like Judas Iscariot who was always saying, “Rabbi, Rabbi,” but on the inside, he was always calculating money.
Look at the 12 disciples, immediately they threw away everything and followed the Lord. Later on, it turned out they still had their motives, but those things passed by later on. But fundamentally, when these people moved, they threw away their own thoughts and everything of themselves to follow Jesus. Look at Elisha. He threw away his farming equipment and get it on fire to follow Elijah. You can teach worldly techniques like that, but if the fundamental things haven’t changed within them, they might not even change if they died and came back to life.
This is why the Lord asked the question, “Do you want to throw away everything that belongs to you and follow Me? I know you’re so busy with so many things, will you let go of everything and receive training and worship and follow Me?” This is why we make people pay to receive training, because in the world, money is everything. If you’re paying money to receive these trainings, it’s the same as saying, “I will give a portion of my money that i worked for ith my sweat, blood, and tears, to follow the Word of God,” and this is why, on purpose, they make people pay for trainings so that people who don’t want to give that kind of offering won’t come. They also rotate. Right now, we’re receiving all these trainings for free, but there are certain things you must pay for.
For discipleship training, they make you pay because a lot of people can’t go to those trainings because they think it’s a waste of money and they don’t want to give it up. I’m not telling you to go to all those trainings, but I’m telling you that this is why. There are also trainings given early in the morning so that the true businesspeople and church officers who want to listen to the Word of God and follow will come. Because of that, you have to wake up early in the morning, because in Korea, they do it right after the Early Morning service, do to what? To listen to God’s Word, but if you think that’s not important in your heart, then you wouldn’t go, right? Within this kind of stream, discipleship training takes place.
iv. Mark 8:38
It says to follow Him without shame.
v. Luke 9:23
It says to take up your cross to follow Jesus, so discipleship training is continually denying yourself. The reason why we’re not able to have continuation is because our pride and arrogance get in the way, and you say, “Why do I have to do something like this?” then you bounce.
Even if you remain in one church for a very, very long time, that’s not an ordinary feat. Either you’re super stupid and have no thoughts at all, or you’re a very polished disciple, because there are so many things that happen within a chruch. There’s more than one occasion where you’ll say, “Oh my goodness, this is so gross, why do I have to put up with this?” But this is the method the Lord guides us through. Then if you say, “I don’t have to take this anymore,” they don’t come back, and even when they go into the world, they say, “I don’t have to take this,” then they leave. Then when they go to another church, they say, “I don’t want to take this, either,” so they leave that. Therefore, having continuation is a great blessing.
May you enjoy this kind of blessing and realize that the Lord is training you as a disciple and wants you to raise other disciples as well. May you enjoy and relay this blessing.
Prayer
God, we thank You. We pray that through the words of this evangelism healing school that we ourselves will be restored and save the field through healing and summit. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.