The One Who Is of and Is Not of This World (John 8:21-30)

Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I hope that all the spiritual blessings of God will be upon all the individuals and families who are worshipping in their homes and in the church. The title of today’s message is, “The One Who Is of and Is Not of This World.” Every person is born on this earth; in other words, they are living with a physical body, therefore we belong to this physical world. What does this mean?

1. Jews
   The very fact that we are of this world means that, because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we are living in a state of spiritual death. As the Lord is talking to the Jews in today’s passage, He says, “You will die in your sin.” We need to commit a very grave sin in order to die, but Jesus Christ is saying we will die in our sin.

Believing in Jesus Christ is believing in God. Any God we believe in that does not have Jesus Christ is a god we imagine for ourselves. No matter how much we hold onto the Word of God, no matter how much we read the Bible, if we do not emphasize Jesus Christ as God, it is not believing in God at all; that person is of this earth.

1) One Who Is of the World
That means that they belong to their father, the devil. In John 8:44, it says that the devil is the father of lies, and that means we will not be able to escape, spiritually, ever. It means that we have no choice but to go to hell and on this earth, we have no choice but to live with the background of a hellish life. That is the fate and destiny of those who are of this world.

2) One Who Is from Below (John 8:23)
Also, for people who are born of this earth, in John 8:23, it says we are of this world. Jesus says, “You are from below, and I am from above,” so even though Jesus is in this earth, He is not of this earth. The Jewish people are holding onto the scriptures, talking about Jehovah God, but in reality, they are lost in their legalism. Through the law God gave us, we need to be able to see Jesus Christ, but they’re not able to take it to that point.

Legalism is based on judging people, based on their actions. Of course, it is true, we can judge people based on their actions, but they end it there: you did well, you did poorly; that person is living according to God’s Word, that person is not living according to God’s Word. Because they end it there, they have no choice but to judge and condemn people, but those people are living in death. Through the law, we need to go to the gospel of Jesus Christ, but they’re not able to take it to that point.

Also, those people who are from below are only looking for prosperity faith, based on physical things. Because they’re of this earth, because they’re from below, they think the physical things are everything. The people from below are also those who are centered on unhealthy mysticism where they have to experience the presence of God, physically. Even though God is invisible, they keep trying to see God physically; it means they are not able to believe in God through the Word.

Why? Because they are born of the earth, it means they are of the earth. Because they are of this earth, instead of being able to believe in God through the Word of God as God intended, they have to see God physically or see God through a dream. They want to keep experiencing God through their feelings and experiences. Those people will never be able to escape from the devil.

Also, people who are from below are people who are humanistic, in other words, centered on people. These people, even though they held onto the Bible, they failed. The Jewish people have a large percentage of all the Nobel Prizes in the world. The Nobel Prize is awarded to all those people who have helped and led human progress. Imagine how much they are trying to live according to the Word!

3) World – Suffering
The Jewish people are also the ones who are controlling a large percentage of finances in the world. Despite all those things, they still cannot escape from curses and disasters, and that’s because the problem of mankind is not physical, it is a spiritual problem; and that is why the problem of mankind can never be solved by the efforts and accomplishments of mankind. Even if we combine the abilities and intellect of the billions of people in this world, we cannot overcome the problems of mankind.

Even the problem of mankind right now cannot be solved even if we have the most excellent political leader come to power. The problem of mankind can also not be solved by any great amount of education or discipline. Even though that may be great, that cannot solve mankind’s problems. Will the personal problems of mankind be solved if an incredible president is elected? No, never. Because all these people are born of this earth and from below, they do not have the ability to solve the problems of mankind.

The only way to solve the problem of mankind is for someone to be in this world but not of this world. That is the answer to all of mankind. The reason Adam and Eve failed was not because they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Whether they eat it or not is not the real problem, but the action was simply a result of the fact that they did not obey the word that God gave them, and they listened to the words of Satan instead.

Therefore, the real problem of mankind is not the act of stealing an apple we’re not supposed to eat, but it is actually disobeying the Word of God and listening to the words of Satan instead. That’s a spiritual problem, and that’s the reason why we have family problems, and that’s why there is so much division in our family. The man blames the woman, the woman blames the snake, and the people of this earth do not take responsibility for themselves. If you look at fighting within the family, it is all about blaming one another.

Why do you think people do that? It is because it is all a spiritual problem. If they stand inside of the Word of God, they will be able to see themselves.

2. Jesus Christ
   After Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the solution that God gave them was in Genesis 3:15, the offspring of the woman must come, the one to crush Satan’s head. We need to escape from the authority of sin and Satan, we can never escape from that with our efforts and morals. We cannot escape that with our own theology. We cannot solve the problems of all creation with scientific advancement. No matter how much NASA progresses, it can only be solved when Jesus Christ, who is not of this earth, comes to this world and is with us.

1) One Who Is Not of the World – Answer to Life
Israel was enslaved by Egypt for 400 years. Egypt, at that time, was the superpower nation. Imagine how comfortable it was to live there, physically. There was nothing they were lacking, physically. Egypt had the greatest schools, and it was the land where there was an overabundance of jobs. Egypt was the land of opportunity where, even if you made just a little bit of effort, they would be able to succeed, but even though the Egyptians did all those things, they could not escape from the 10 curses and disasters.

One day, the Israelites are taken as captives to Babylon, but before that, God had already given them a promise, saying, “The virgin shall conceive and bear a son and his name shall be Immanuel.” The problem of mankind is that we need to be with the Lord. If the Lord is not with me, no matter how many powerful people are around me, I cannot solve my personal problems. Until the day I die, even if I have an incredible inheritance stocked up, I will not be able to solve my personal problems.

Even if I have enough wealth piled up to live for many generations, I will not be able to solve my personal problems, because the problem of mankind can only be solved by the One who is not of this earth. One day, Israel becomes colonized by Rome because of war. How is it that Israel, which is a people who worship God and read the Bible, and they are the people of God, yet they are taken as captives as a colony to Rome which is an idol worshipping nation? Why is that? It is because God has given us a solution, but we are losing hold of that solution.

Rome had a military force and Rome was a land that was very advanced in many ways. Israel became enslaved by that. If you do not have the solution to your life, you will have no choice but to be enslaved and dragged around by the money in America. Being dragged around by the money of America means that you are being dragged around by the whims of the very few people who are controlling money.

Ultimately, when you look, it turns out you have been enslaved by Satan. Whether the Israelites are being colonized by Rome, or nowadays, the Christians are being enslaved by money and Satan, it’s the same thing. Why do we become enslaved by money? We become enslaved by money because we think we need money in order to solve mankind’s problems.

That is why we have come to an age today where there are many churches, but they are closing down. The church is a place that worships God, we worship God through the name of Jesus Christ, but why are the churches disappearing? It means that the congregation members think they no longer need the church; in other words, they think they need something else. That is evidence they are becoming more and more enslaved.

Why are the churches like this? It’s because the churches are not giving them the answer. It’s because the churches are not relaying the fact that Christ is perfect and complete. Our personal problems are not being solved because we think, “We need Christ, but we need money as well.” But the Bible is telling us that all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden within Jesus Christ.

2) One Who Is from Above (John 8:23)
Jesus Christ says that He, on the other hand, is from above, and that means that He Himself is God. In John 1:1 and 1:3, it says He is the Creator. Only Jesus Christ can solve the problems of mankind. “Pastor, the church is so weird; I don’t even have any problems, but you keep telling me I have problems,” that person is one who is seized, and as time passes, that person will implode. They don’t see their problem now because it is a spiritual problem.

I proclaimed the gospel to one of my unbelieving friends, and he’s a very powerful police officer with a lot of status and he says, “I don’t have any problems.” He’s got power, he’s got status, he’s got money, and he said, “Nothing is a problem for me.” Nonbelievers may think that way, but as time progresses, they will discover. Do not be deceived.

Because we are spiritual beings, spiritual problems will arise, and that’s why we have no hope unless the Lord comes down and solves it for us personally.

John 1:17 says, “Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth.” If we could do something on our own, we wouldn’t need the word of “grace.” That’s why religion doesn’t solve our problems. Religion is talking about all the actions that are required for us to go before God. Whether you’re bowing down to mountains, the sun, or trees, either way, you approach God by your actions. The reason why everyone in this world lives so diligently is because they think, “If I work hard enough, if I live diligently enough, my problems will be solved.”

But because the problem of mankind cannot be solved by human efforts, we must receive the grace of Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is grace and the Truth. Therefore, not by our abilities, but the grace and immense power of the cross must come upon us. Also, Jesus is the Truth. In everything else, people may be living diligently, but they’re living a lie. What is the lie? The lie is, “You think you can solve your problem with this.” But actually, our problem will only be solved when we receive the Truth, that our problem can only be solved by Jesus Christ Who died on the cross for our sins.

In order to solve our spiritual problems, the spiritual light and life of Jesus Christ must come in.

3) Faith – One Who Is of the Heavens (John 17:16)
The Lord is One who belongs to heaven. In John 17:16, it says that those who believe in Jesus Christ are also of heaven. “They” refers to those who believe in Jesus. Again, it is not based on our actions, but those who believe in Jesus Christ and have faith are those who are of heaven. So, even though you are born onto this earth, if you want to be of heaven, you have to believe in Jesus Christ.

Since the day my daughter was born until this very day, she has never once been afraid of what I thought of her. She so boldly says that everything that belongs to her is hers, and everything that belongs to me is also hers. If anything, if I try to borrow something that belongs to her, she says no, so I’m at a loss. She says, “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine, but what’s mine is not yours.”

However, our neighbor’s kid cannot even talk to me; he can’t even ask me to borrow something. In a worldly sense, the neighbor’s kid might even be a better person than my kid. It’s only by the sheer authority she has for being my child that she’s able to utilize all of my things without any fear. She’s able to utilize all the background and strength of her father as much as she wants.

If she wants to eat something today, she’ll say, “Buy me this food, I have to go.” But our neighbor’s kid will never be able to say that to me. We are children of God, but we are living like a neighbor’s kid, but we are children of God and the Kingdom of Heaven is my kingdom, and the power and wisdom of God is all mine. If I need it, all I have to do is use it. It’s my Dad’s; I just have to use it, and if I don’t have the power, I just ask God for it. At any given point, I can pray in the name of Jesus Christ and He will give it to me.

If you don’t see your future, just ask your dad to show you. “Oh, but He doesn’t show me,” but He’ll show you when you need to see it. You just have to believe. I hope you will have faith in God’s time schedule, and I pray that you will believe in God’s absolute sovereignty.

Because we are children of God, God has given us secretaries, God has given us angels to watch over us. God has given us a bodyguard because it’s dangerous. Things are dangerous because the evil forces of darkness are all around us, and that’s why the angels are sent to us to always be with us. God also give us everything we need by sending His angels on errands, and even now, He is watching us. He knows our future and therefore He is guiding us now, and now, I even have the authority to break down and cast out the forces of Satan by the name of Jesus Christ Whom I believe.

I’m a pastor, and it’s my responsibility to evangelize to the region where I live, and it’s already been about 10-11 years. There are about three or four Muslims in my apartment complex, and when I come back from Early Morning prayer, I can hear them chanting. This person drives a taxi, but now that there’s the coronavirus pandemic, he doesn’t drive; he just plays.

Across our house, there is an idolatrous temple there, and that temple failed and closed down because no one went to pray. Next to my house, I’ve been wanting to evangelize to them because every evening, there is a group of adults who come to gamble. I kept praying for them, and one day, they disappeared.

Do you know what realistically happens, spiritually, when you pray in the name of Jesus Christ? The forces of Satan are bound, and the people who are controlled by the forces of Satan cannot remain there. Now that the family of gamblers have left, there is a new family that moved in, an African American, a white person, a family of four people.

I continued to pray for them to give them the gospel, and one day, I was able to meet with the African American who lived in that house. They said they had been doing ballet for 20 years, and they came from New York and now they are joining an LA ballet company. They told me that, for seven years, they had been meditating in front of a black Buddha they have in their home.

So, I spoke to them in a language that would be relatable to people who do meditation, and I told them, “I prayed for many years for peace and joy to come into this region,” and they themselves said, “I love this place.” That person has a little garden in front of their house, and they have been planting and gardening, and they love it so much more than New York.

I told them, “I am a Christian,” and they said, “Really?” I told them, “I pray for this region.” They said, “That’s great, I want to live here forever.” Then I said, “Okay we have a lot of time,” so I’m going to evangelize to them slowly, so we’ve exchanged names and I’ve been praying for them.

I didn’t do anything, but I simply enjoyed the background of heaven that I had, I prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, and everything was organized spiritually. I did something that the LA police could not do. Police cannot do anything against spiritual thieves and spiritual gangsters, The devil is a murderer, he is a thief, he is an attacker, and the police cannot do anything to stop the devil.

Lately, we’ve been hit with the virus pandemic, and now people can’t do anything about it. In a little bit, we’re going to have a vaccine, I’m sure; however, the spiritual virus cannot be solved by doctors. Even if we gather all the graduates of Harvard and Johns Hopkins medical schools, we cannot solve the spiritual virus. Who can? The one who knows the name of Jesus Christ. That is the vaccine for the spiritual virus.

This child of God enjoys that God is with them in the field. No matter what field they are in, the Lord is with them. Today’s choir song said that, “The Lord is with you every day,” He is with you, invisible to your eyes. That is your background; you do not live by your ability, you live by the spiritual ability of God. Then, God will make us meet people. We don’t choose the people we meet, you shouldn’t choose whom to have as a parent or child by your ability. You didn’t choose your country of birth; it was all fulfilled by God’s absolute sovereignty, because in that meeting, there is a plan of God.

“Why was I born in America?” There is a plan of God. “Why did I have to meet this person?” There is a plan of God, and the work that you’re doing, you just work diligently, don’t you? But there’s a plan of God there, and you need to find that plan. That’s a child of God. As a child of God, the Kingdom of Heaven is my background. If my physical body dies, I go to the eternal kingdom of heaven, and even as I live on this earth, I establish the Kingdom of God on this earth, why? Because I am of heaven. Even though it looks like I’m working for the physical things of this world, I am working for the Kingdom of God.

3. One Who Is of the Heavens – Work that Pleases God (John 8:29)
   The one who belongs to heaven, and it says in John 8:29, Jesus says, “I do what pleases my Father.” What does it mean to please God? What does it mean to not please God? The Bible tells us that the thoughts of our physical body do not please God.

1) Spiritual Thoughts
However, on the other hand, in Romans 8:6, it says that the thoughts of the Spirit are life and peace. When you think of th words of God spiritually, we will receive life and peace, but if you think deeply without the Word of God, you will not receive peace; but you will receive death. No matter how renowned and classy your thoughts may be, if they do not have the Word of God, they are dead.

On the other hand, whenever you think about the words of Jesus Christ, you receive life and peace, and that results in healing. Nowadays, there are so many mental illnesses starting from depression, panic disorders, and on. They cannot solve these problems no matter what. People try to solve it with medication, but there’s another problem awaiting them, why? Because there’s a spiritual problem.

You’ve experienced it yourself, haven’t you? You try to solve one addiction or problem, but it manifests in something else, and unless the spiritual problem is solved, the problem will keep showing up in another way. Whenever you think quietly to yourself about the words of Jesus Christ, you will receive healing because of peace. That is why the thoughts of the spirit are life and peace, and that is what pleases God. Even Jesus Christ Himself went away from His ministry to have quiet times by Himself.

Who is the one who thinks of the spirit the most? That is the one who has power. Romans 12:1 says that offering your body as a living sacrifice pleases God. This worship is pleasing to God, we are giving our entire lives as a living sacrifice to God. You need to live a life where you are dead on the cross and Christ lives within you. Therefore, the Christ becoming my Lord is what makes God happy.

If you have a problem, that’s not your problem. What does that mean? It means that the Lord and Master will take care of it on His own, so it doesn’t matter what comes my way, it doesn’t matter what problems come my way, because my life has already been sacrificed. The Lord is now living within me and He is making a way towards God to make my problems into a blessing. That is why the thoughts of the spirit means that we sacrifice our life as a living sacrifice.

If you have a problem, the Lord and Master will take care of it on His own, so it doesn’t matter what problems come your way.

2) Work that Pleases God – Faith (Hebrews 11:6)
Hebrews 11:6 says that we cannot please God unless it is by faith. In other words, with faith, we can please God. Hebrews 11:5 talks about Enoch as someone who walked with God because of his faith in God. What does it mean that you walk with God? It means that the covenant of God is always with me in faith. Noah was like that, Noah was one who walked with God. That is why he staked his life on following the Word of God that was given to him while making the Ark. People like that are constantly thinking of the covenant of God, and that’s why they are constantly refilled with life and peace.

Hebrews 11:7-31 talks about a list of believers of faith. Being with God is spiritual strength for us. Because God Himself is strength, all I have to do is be with Him. For a young child, if they are with their dad, that power of the dad comes upon the baby. The only thing the baby should be worried about is holding onto her Father’s hand. Then, no matter how weak the baby may be, they at least have the protection of their Father’s strength. It’s not that they have to try very hard, but they just have to believe in the Holy Spirit.

God is with us always. Within happy things, bad things, crises, hardships, danger, God is with us within all these incidences, and we keep having to enjoy that. That’s what pleases God. If you don’t see Him, you have to believe Him; that’s why God gave us His Word.

Other people who had this spiritual strength are Noah and Abraham. Joseph was like that. He went into Egypt as a slave, but that was irrelevant to him because God’s strength was with him. What kind of place was Egypt? It was such an established land. How would Joseph be able to withstand Egypt with his own mental strength? He was simply enjoying the blessing of being with God because he was holding onto the vision of Egypt evangelization and world evangelization. What kind of leadership or ability did Moses have, to bring all the Israelites out of Egypt? It was actually God who did that through Moses.

You must become completely satisfied with the Lord being with you, and that must become your everything in order for you to not be dragged into and enslaved by the world. Otherwise, every aspect of your life has no choice but to be dragged and enslaved by Satan and the world.

Rahab was able to see the blessing of being with God even with her lying. There’s no limitation; she didn’t do anything, she just lied, she hid the spies and lied to the soldiers who were looking for him. Her entire family was so blessed to the point that David and Jesus were born to her family line.

Even if you stake the covenant on a small thing you’re doing, your entire family will be changed into a blessing, but we keep looking only at ourselves. You shouldn’t just look at yourself because those are physical thoughts. Through the work I am doing, if God’s work and plans are fulfilled, then God’s incredible power and working will be upon me. That was the Early Church.

The Early Church was full of very weak and powerless people like fishermen. How could those people conquer Rome? It was impossible but it was possible: all they needed was God to be with them. There is nothing impossible for God, so the Early Church was the people who held onto that covenant and walked with God. Unless you do that, you will be enslaved and colonized by Rome. Even if you escape from Rome, you will still be enslaved.

3) Business, Studies That Please God – Work That Saves Lives (Luke 15:7)
Then, whatever work we are doing must be a work that pleases God. Luke 15:7 says that the heaven will rejoice more over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who do not need to repent. So, your studies and job must be related to saving people’s spirits. That is what it means to be of heaven and that is the method for us to escape from this earth.

Matthew 28:19 says, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” so our remnants, all of your studies must be related to saving the 237 nations of the world, and the business of all our church officers must be related to saving the 237 nations of the world. That is what pleases God, and that is the method of being with God.

If I say, “God is with me but He is not with the work I’m doing,” it means you’re holding onto the Word in the opposite way. “The Lord is with me, but not with my work,” why is that? It means that your life has nothing to do with saving lives or pleasing God. Mark 16:17-18 says to heal all people. The Lord told us this 2000 years ago, healing the people who are demon-possessed and mentally ill, the physical diseases. These kinds of things will exponentially increase in the future.

All our businesses and studies must be used for that. So remnants, you need to study and prepare your skills to heal those diseases. Let’s say I studied and got a job, but the people around me are mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually diseased, and I can’t help them? That is not success at all. The Lord desires to heal people through our studies and our job.

In John 21, to save the future generations. Your work and job must be related to saving the next generations, because only if the next generation is saved can the generation after them be saved. You are all studying and doing a lot of different things, but in the future, you can’t just do whatever you want. You have to do things that nobody else does. What does that mean? If everyone is running the same restaurant, you have to do something that nobody else is doing. I don’t mean you have to change all of the menu.

Where does all the money go now? When Samsung moved from 4G to 5G, all the money went into that direction. By just competing at the same 4G level, they cannot compete. So we need to do the thing that other people are going to do in advance, and go into 5G in order for the money to come towards you. In other words, you have to do things ahead of everyone else.

Nonbelievers do that, they receive the power of demons and do that. Steve Jobs received his inspiration through meditation. People who make hit cultural movies are making their movies through the inspiration of evil spirits. Even though you’re doing the same exact studies as everyone else, you need to remain a step ahead, and that is how the finances will gather towards you.

If you hold onto the desire to save lives, then God will allow you to know. In the future, a lot of jobs will go away, and you need to know the future in advance and study now so that your job will not go away. For God, saving lives is what pleases God and enables God to be with you, and if you pray, God will give it to you.

Even demons can do that kind of inspiration and work, and nonbelievers are able to receive inspiration from evil spirits through transcendental meditation and drag all the money in the world. May all your studies and job and money be used in raising the temple construction to save, because we have to gather to worship, and if we want to gather, we need a location. You need to gather to schools; even if you just make a hospital, patients will gather there. If you want the covenant of the living water of Christ to continue to flow, you need a location where you can gather.

May your business and education be related to the life-saving movement of temple construction, and I hope you will believe that that is the work that pleases God.

Conclusion

1. Through Jesus Christ, We Are of the Heavens
   Because of Jesus Christ, we belong to heaven.
2. One Who Has the Strength of Being with God
   Because we are of heaven, we enjoy the strength of being with God.
3. Business, Studies Are Used in the Works of Saving Lives and Temple Construction
   I hope that all of your business and studies will be used in the work of saving people and for temple construction.

Prayer

Now, let us pray, holding onto the Word that God has given us today.