The One Who Loves the Praise from God (John 12:37-50)

The people who love the praise from God are the people that Jesus is talking about from John 12:44 onward, it is the ones who see what God does and follow after Jesus.

Speaker Pastor Dusun Park | Interpreter Tiffany Han

Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I pray that God’s amazing grace and blessings will be upon all the individuals and families worshipping in the church, on the roof, in their homes, as well as on the East Coast. Last week, I lived my life walking with God as the one who possess, enjoys, and proclaims eternal life, and it was very good. Even though I do have biblical knowledge, it is even better for me to live with the Word that God has given to me personally, holding onto that and seeing it fulfilled in my life.

Today, God is giving us the Word that is entitled, “The One Who Loves the Praise from God.” The title is called, “The One Who Loves the Praise from God,” and praise is talking about the acknowledgements and compliments from God. What a person loves determines their identity. It might seem we live a fulfilling life because of the many different choices we make, but the results of our lives are determined based on what we truly love.

I’m going to share the Word of God regarding three different things. There are nonbelievers, the believers, and even among the believers, there are two types of people. The group of believers can be divided based on what they love.

Depending on what we love, our lives will change. Even as we are sitting here in worship, depending on what you love in your heart, you will receive different answers. I hope that through today’s worship, you will be able to confirm where you are and make a resolution to which direction you have to turn.

1. The One Who Loves Human Praise

The main point of today is from John 12:43, “They loved human praise more than praise from God,” and that is the issue. Simply put, most people desire acknowledgment from people more than they desire acknowledgment from God.

1) Nonbeliever

In John 12:37, it says that Jesus performed many signs, but still, many people would not believe that He is the Messiah. These are unbelievers. Romans 3:23 says that every single human is a sinner who has fallen short of the glory of God. All people, without a single exception, no matter how young they may be, was born with original sin, and they cannot know the glory of God. That means that the sin from Adam and Eve has flowed down all the way to us.

Then in John 12:40, when they ask the question, “Why can they not believe?” He gives the answer, “He has blinded their eyes.” Jesus Christ has come to this earth as God Himself, but because people’s eyes were blinded, they could not acknowledge Him as such. It is God’s grace that He has opened your eyes to see that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, He is the True God.

If your eyes are closed, no matter how close you are to Jesus and no matter how much you talk to Him, you still cannot see this fact. There was an old man in my neighborhood who said, “If I saw the resurrected Christ directly, then I would believe.” Every time I saw him, he would be sitting around drinking, saying things like that, and I would wonder what he meant by seeing Jesus directly. Now, I still ask, “I wonder what happened to that old man,” and last I heard, he was homeless living in a certain area.

He still now says, to this day, “If I saw the resurrected Christ directly, I would believe in Him,” and I heard him say this while I was a unbeliever and I still remember. Even if he saw Him, he wouldn’t see it, just as something has value, but you cannot see its value. Then, you have no choice but to chase after incorrect things because your eyes are blinded.

That same verse says that their hearts are hardened. Because their hearts are hardened, they don’t have a heart to believe in God. That is every single unbeliever. In reality, it is every single person. Your eyes can open, your heart can be softened only when God gives you that grace.

2) Loves Themselves

If you look a little deeper into this, you realize that they actually love themselves, they love their own words rather than the Words of Jesus Christ. More so than loving the Word that God told Adam and Eve to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they loved the words that Satan told them, that if they ate the fruit, they would become wise like God.

People who don’t believe in God say to love yourself, but what does God say? God says if you love yourself more than you love God, you are going to suffer. When the people of the world say to love yourself, they’re pretty much saying, “Don’t put yourself down and criticize yourself,” but if you love yourself, you are going to move according to what benefits you.

As evidence that you love yourself, everything you decide is based on an advantage to you, and there’s no other choice. A lot of people determine whether believing in Jesus would benefit them or not, and if it doesn’t, they would choose to stay with their Jewish religion, and these people were arguing whether believing in Jesus would elevate their own name or not. That is why, even though they saw Jesus face-to-face, they could not believe Him.

3) Result

The result of the lives of people like this is like in 2 Timothy 3:1, there will be terrible suffering. Where does this suffering come from? It comes from loving yourself more than loving God. Even if you marry someone, because you love yourself more, you will cause suffering in that marriage. If you’re making a decision to marry someone because they will benefit you materially or physically, then you will suffer. If you’re marrying someone because you think their success will help you elevate your own name, then your marriage will end in suffering.

The Bible in 2 Timothy 3 says that the characteristic of people who face this suffering is that they do not love, they do not even know what love is. They are without love, unforgiving. It goes like this your whole life. If somebody does them wrong once, they will remember this for the rest of their lives, and these people will talk as if they’re very strong.

“If you wrong me once, I will cut you out of my life forever,” but that is actually someone who is very weak, they are suffering and slanderous. They criticize other people to try to elevate themselves over others. Everything we see in the news nowadays is this, and even the leaders are like this. The people in the world that you see, instead of acknowledging the other side and explaining your own side, it’s more about criticizing and oppressing the other side to elevate yourself.

When you do a business, for example, you try to overwhelm the other person so you can get the benefit for yourself. That is the world, and people like this are without self-control. Because they have no self-control, they act upon their emotions without thought. Because they don’t have self-control, if they get depressed, they will be dragged around by their depression.

These people are also brutal, and I feel like these words are all describing me. Even as I was preparing this message, I thought, “How does this verse describe me so well?” Because in the past, I used to think that all these were good things, because that’s what I learned from the world. I was programmed to think that a person had to be strong, and they shouldn’t be too forgiving.

If a person is too docile, that’s not good; I didn’t like that. It turns out, I was in a state where I was completely seized. Even now, I am brutal. It says, they are not lovers of good. You give them a good thing, but they wave it away. They are treacherous, they betray. That word “treachery” comes from the devil because that angel betrayed God, and mankind, as creation, was supposed to worship God, but we had the heart of betraying God. It is because Satan has put that heart of betrayal in our hearts so we would betray God. We should have been able to overcome that with faith, but we are not able to.

This world is a society of treachery and betrayal, and that’s why we are enemies of people. Parents feel betrayed by their kids, “Do you know how much I’ve invested in you, and now you’ve gotten married and you’re going off?” They always feel so betrayed.

In Korea, there are situations where the parents would give all their inheritance to the youngest son with the agreement that the youngest son would take care of them, but the youngest son cuts off all connection with the parents so they become homeless. Now, the father has to go begging in the subway stations. The father sued the son saying, “Give me back my inheritance.” Do you think there are only one or two cases? Don’t you think it’s the same within the family and within your jobs and companies?

You have no choice but to be like this if you love yourself. People become rash and hasty, nobody makes you do this, but because you love yourself, you become hasty and rash. It’s not because anyone said anything to you, but by yourself, you’re trying to speed through. I was like that in the past, I became very hasty. When you’re hasty, it’s very difficult to make the correct decisions, and you make the people around you very anxious just by being hasty yourself.

These people are lovers of pleasure. They love money, they love themselves, they love pleasure; this is the world, and that is why even if they see Jesus Christ, they cannot believe Him.

2. Human Praise, Praise from God

But if we look back at John 12:42, there were many even among the leaders who believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees, they could not openly say it.

1) Believer (John 12:42) – Human Praise

There were leaders of the Jewish community who saw the signs of Jesus and believed that He is God, but they were not able to confess their faith because if they did, they would get kicked out of the synagogue. People who had nothing to lose would have nothing to fear in confessing their faith, but these people had a lot to lose. They had to put down their success, their position, and their own notoriety, but they’re afraid to do that.

It’s like that even today. There are groups of people who live like this even among believers and unbelievers, it means they are not able to confess the words of Jesus, because they’re afraid that if they confess Jesus Christ, people would look down on them or alienate them.

“They loved human praise more than praise from God.” In other words, they loved being acknowledged by people rather than being acknowledged by God. They were afraid of being humiliated or embarrassed because of God. They’re afraid that their own position would be jeopardized because of God.

There were many people like that among the Pharisees, so that means even among the successful people who have a lot, there are people like that.

2) Believer – Praise from God

Then, who are the people who love the glory and praise from God more? The people who love the praise from God are the people that Jesus is talking about from John 12:44 onward, it is the ones who see what God does and follow after Jesus. In John 12:44, Jesus Christ said, “Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me only, but in the One Who sent Me.” The Jewish people are crying and shouting, “Jehovah God, Jehovah God,” but Jesus Christ is saying here, “If you believe in Me, that is believing in God.”

There are people who believe like that, and in John 12:45, Jesus Christ says, “The one who looks at Me is seeing the One Who sent Me.” He is telling the Pharisees, “If you are seeing Me, you are seeing God because God and I are One.” Simply put, the one who loves the praise of God is the one who has seen and believes in the fact that Jesus Christ is God.

In John 12:46, Jesus Christ says, “I have come into the world as light, so no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.” If you’re in the dark, you cannot see, just like unbelievers who can see Jesus but they were not able to see because their eyes were blind. Even if you can see something, it’s possible that you can’t determine the value. It’s possible that we are living our walk of faith like that. Our eyes see differently based on our value systems of what we love.

Jesus Christ is the light of the world. If you come to this church at night and we turn off all the lights, it becomes very dark and you’ll bump into everything. No matter how smart I am, if I’m in pitch darkness, my intelligence cannot be revealed. In the darkness, you need light, not your intelligence. Only when the light is shone will the darkness disappear and the confusion will be gone.

But the people Jesus Christ wants and talks about are those who want the praise from God. Hebrews 11:24 talks about how Moses used to live. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter, even though he’s a prince. He rejected being acknowledged by people. In verse Hebrews 11:26, he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward. It means that his eyes were opened to what is truly of value.

I’m not telling you to give up all the success and your accomplishments to follow Jesus Christ right now. I’m asking you to open your eyes to see what you truly value, what you truly love.

3) Those Who Believe – Praise from God

In John 12:44, we see the content that Jesus Christ was sent by God, then if those who believe God sent Jesus Christ, they would also believe that Jesus Christ sent them as in John 12:44-45. “God has sent me to this earth,” that’s what we call a sojourner, that’s what we call the one who remains. If you do not have this, then you have to think that the world has everything and you have to follow the world, but God has sent us into the world as the ones who remain, as sojourners.

This life is not our main life; when God sent us to this earth, there is a purpose for which He sent us, and we have to love that. If you don’t have that, then you have to struggle and wander in life to succeed, and you have no choice but to continuously face suffering.

There’s a very big difference between suffering for Christ and having useless, unnecessary suffering. Moses faced difficulty and suffering from God. However, people who don’t have God and love themselves and their position, they will face unnecessary suffering. That suffering comes in through their spirit. Because their spirit is suffering, they cannot even solve this through medication. If maybe you have a mental problem, you might be able to treat it with medication, but because the spiritual problems are entering into you, it results in mental suffering as well.

You don’t know why these things are happening to you, but it’s because you’re loving incorrect things. When God created us, He created us to only love God. Because we couldn’t understand this, He even wrote this down on tablets, creating the Ten Commandments that tell us to love only God.

Only God is for us; only the Triune God is the answer to our lives. The words of people might sound correct, but they’re only speaking out of their own benefit, goal, and purpose in mind. The reason you only accept their words with 100% faith is that your words align with them, on their self-centered motive. The only one who is for us is God.

We believe in only the Word of God. It is because the Word of God is sufficient for us. People who love their success and positions more than they love God will want to listen to the words of people rather than God’s Word. “If you make an investment here, you will make a lot of money.” You should keep that in mind but you shouldn’t 100% believe that; it will lead to your suffering. We are the ones who believe in and follow the Words of God.

People who love their success and positions more than they love God will want to listen to the words of people rather than God’s Word.

John 20:21 says that God sent us into the world. After Jesus Christ resurrected, He told His disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” There are people who love to do this, but why does this feel so difficult? It feels difficult to make disciples because they love something else, so they say the walk of faith is hard. That means they love something else that they don’t want to let go of. All you have to do is let go of everything, but you don’t want to, because you don’t have faith.

All week long, all you have to do is follow the One Who has eternal life and believe in Him, but you don’t believe. That’s why you listen to the Word of God every chance you get, but you don’t have anything you realistically believe. It’s kind of like you’re walking into a rainstorm thinking, “Maybe if I get hit by a drop of rain, something will happen.”

What is faith? It is simply believing in the promised Word that God gave us, and following that, but why do you not hold onto His Word? Because your present circumstances seem bigger. It is evidence that you don’t have faith, it is evidence that your love is elsewhere.

There’s no such thing as a benefit or disadvantage to the Word of God; you just do whatever He tells you, but people say that’s difficult. If you ask that person, “What is easy for you?” They say, “Worrying.” It is easy for that person to worry about the world.

What do you love? It is not about a method; it is about believing in Jesus. You believe in and hold onto the words that Jesus Christ gives you, and you follow, but because you’re not able to do that, you have all these strategies and methods. You think you can do it if you memorize a large amount of the Word of God, but all you have to do is believe in the Word that God gives you.

You hold onto this word or that word, you’re in a flood, but there’s no water to drink. All you have to do is hold onto and eat the Word of God that He gives you every Sunday. Hold onto and eat it 24 hours a day, but you say it’s difficult, and it’s because we don’t believe in God.

You don’t believe that God is making a personal covenant with you, so you look to people or think about other things. There’s no need for you to do that. Try going through an entire week, 24 hours a day holding onto the Word that God gives you through this worship. Stop trying to look for other things, stop relying on other things. Just believe in the Word that God has given you so perfectly and go forward with that.

Stop trying to gain an advantage, stop trying to imagine whatever you’re imagining. Holding onto the Word of God exactly as He gave it to you today, hold onto it 24 hours a day for the rest of this week. You don’t need a lot of knowledge because all the knowledge is within the Lord.

Do you have the faith to love Him? David says, “I am sufficient with Him.” David didn’t have all the scriptures and roles dragged to the temple with him, but he believed in the covenant that he received from Samuel and followed that.

Because God is the greatest one, if you hold onto the Word that God gave you, then the greatest things will happen. But because you don’t think that God is the greatest, you have to create a lot of great works. You think that, just as the world lives, “If I do a lot of great things, then things will work out.” All it takes is one Word from the Lord. If you live the rest of your week holding onto the one Word of the covenant that God gives you on Sunday, then you will definitely be victorious.

All it takes is one Word from the Lord. If you live the rest of your week holding onto the one Word of the covenant that God gives you on Sunday, you will definitely be victorious.

God didn’t say too many words to Moses; He just said, “Bring my people out.” Moses didn’t have the 66 books of the Bible; God just said, “Go,” and he just believed that with 24 hours, and he just went. There’s no calculation in that; he just went. If God told him to bring His people out, he just held onto that Word and went.

Because we’re not able to do that, we have a posture of saying, “I wonder what else God is saying. I want a special or new Word that God will say to me,” but that’s a unbeliever, and your life will be difficult. There’s water all around you, but there’s nothing you can drink.

If it’s just one word that Jesus Christ says to you, then it is finished. I’m sure you can assume I know more Biblical knowledge than you do. Do you think I’m holding onto a lot of different words of God throughout the week? No, if God gives me the Word of, “The one who possesses, enjoys, and proclaims eternal life,” then I just hold onto that as I drag it throughout the week. But because you’re trying to use your logic, you hold onto something else that’s special. If it is the Word that God has given to you, it is plenty. That is why, every single week, through this worship, God is giving you His Word.

The Lord says, “I will be with you with all authority on heaven and on earth,” and all you have to do is believe that. Stop wandering around thinking that you need to get strength from the world, but the One Who has all authority in heaven and on earth is with you now, but you don’t see the Lord, you don’t see His authority either, but you have to believe it.

Believe it and hold onto it as a promise to you, believe that God has sent you to the world. Don’t study it, but believe it. If you study it, then you’re going to go into the field and suffer, but if you believe it, you will see the glory of God.

3. Those Who Love the Praise from God

After this passage, Jesus Christ confessed in John 19:30, “I have finished it,” but just with that one sentence, it should be enough for you. Sure, it’s important to know a lot of the Word of God, but once you become over 90 years old, you lose your memory, so for people like that, God has summarized everything He is saying into once sentence, “I have finished everything.” All the problems of your past, present, and future have been crucified on the cross.

If you don’t believe, you keep wandering, flustered, looking for more, and you’re going to fail. When Jesus Christ said, “It is finished,” you have to believe in that and realize that it is finished. In John 20:31, it says, “The scriptures are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may know that you have life in His name.”

1) Received the Word of Jesus (John 12:49)

I’m going to be speaking through today’s passage, John 12:49-50, that when Jesus Christ speaks, it is not of His own accord. The Words of Jesus Christ are the Words of God, then what is Jesus saying? In John 12:50, Jesus says, “I know that His command leads to eternal life.” King James version says, “His commandment,” but the NIV says, “Command,” but it’s the same, it’s about commands and commandments. The Word God is speaking through the mouth of Jesus Christ is given to us so that we may gain eternal life.

That’s why Jesus says, “Whatever I say is just what My Father wants me to say,” and we’re the same. The Triune God is with us, and we have to hold onto the Word that the Lord has given to us and not speak our own words, but to relay His Word so that these words may be the Words to save that person’s soul.

It may seem like you’re working at your job, but actually you’re speaking the Words of God and saving those around you. This is something that only the people who love the praise and acknowledgment from God can do. Someone who loves the praise and adoration of man can never be able to do that, because if I say the Words of God, my business may be destroyed. If I speak the Words of God, I may lose my relationship. People like that will hide, being unable to speak, and ultimately what they have is suffering. I hope that you and I through the Word of God today will have our eyes opened to see the world and people.

Jesus Christ resurrected and He is giving us the Word again. For 40 days, He told us to establish the Kingdom of God. There is the Kingdom of God in heaven with the Throne, but on this earth, through the believers, He is also reigning with His Word and establishing His Kingdom on the earth. He has given us the mission of removing people from the kingdom of Satan who are dying into the Kingdom of God on earth. It’s these who are holding onto that mission in faith who go forward.

There’s no benefit or disadvantage there. People are always trying to calculate, “Will this be helpful to me? Will this help me get adoration and praise from people?” That’s why they lose hold of the Word of God.

On top of that, God is promising to give us the working and filling of the Holy Spirit because this is not something we can do with our own power. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and become witnesses until the ends of the earth. Even when Jesus Christ died and resurrected, He was only able to resurrect due to the working of the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, it says that the Holy Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove. Even Jesus Christ Himself needed the working of the Holy Spirit, then if you’re following the Words of Jesus Christ, it means you need the filling of the Holy Spirit. That’s why, as soon as you wake up in the morning, you pray to God, and ultimately the working of the Holy Spirit comes upon us.

We’re human beings, just like Jesus. Even though He was a sinless God, He was also a human being, and He was afraid to die on the cross because He is human, but He prayed in the morning. The night before He was crucified on the cross, he was praying so hard that he was sweating blood. If we don’t have that kind of strength, then we have to be afraid.

The world is the people who live their lives, turning their back to the cross, but we are people who live our lives heading towards the cross. It’s the same strength that Jesus Christ needed from the filling of the Holy Spirit. In the morning and in the evening, people like that, without a doubt, will fulfill God’s Word.

When you wake up in the morning, you must first restore thanksgiving for salvation. If you have salvation but you’re not thankful for it, it means you only have salvation by knowledge. Once that salvation truly becomes yours, you have no choice but to be thankful because you have given all the curses and disasters you should have received onto the Lord. “I should have died on the cross, but instead, the Lord has died for me, and the Lord has overcome the authority of death and hell, and has resurrected to heaven and is with me in the Holy Spirit.” Every time I wake up in the morning, I should restore thanksgiving for this.

If I lose hold of this, there’s nothing I should be thankful for. The Bible tells us to be thankful, but I must have something to be thankful about. He has given you salvation and eternal life, but if you don’t have thanksgiving in regards to that, what exactly are you expecting? He has given you an eternal life so that even if you die, you don’t die. Even if you fail, it’s not failure; that is eternal life. You have the eternal life where, even if you face a problem, it’s not a problem; you see the answer through that.

The ones who are able to understand these words are those who are able to see something that is different. “It’s a problem; how can you say that it’s not a problem?” It’s a problem, but you can see the answer. Those who see their problems as problems are seeing something else. Because they love themselves, they’re afraid of their problems and want them to go away, and it’s so difficult for them, but the one who loves the Word that God gave them, they see the problem for sure, but instead of just seeing the problem, they see the answer.

That is how Joseph and Moses were able to live their lives seeing a different world. If you’re reading the Bible without acknowledging a separate world, you just see the physical things through the Bible. For people like that, when they face a crisis, instead of going straight into the crisis, they will run away from the crisis because nobody tries to choose the crisis. Because everyone is trying to avoid the crisis, there is a lot of competition where you go.

If there’s a crisis facing the church, you have to go into the crisis. If there is a crisis in your life, you have to go into your crisis. Why don’t you? Because you don’t think that the Lord is with you, you don’t want to go in. Even if you know with your brain, you don’t believe it, so you don’t want to go into the crisis.

Daniel and his three friends chose to go into the crisis. It’s not really a crisis, but it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. There is a different reality, a different world, and if you’re living in America without seeing that different world, then all you’ve faced is suffering.

2) Church

Therefore, those who love the praise of God understand the church properly. Jesus Christ came to this earth so He could be with us as Immanuel. He is not just with me, but He is with us, together with the congregation of the church. You keep saying, “God is with me, God is with me,” but you don’t think God is with the other members of the church, so you keep fighting. You think you’re the only one who has God so you look down on other people because you don’t think God is with them.

These people cannot do anything big, they don’t have the characteristic to be able to unify many people and to go out together. Those people have to be alone because they don’t like to meet other people. They draw the curtains because they don’t even like the light; it’s all about you, and that’s why you can’t get along with other people.

But the church is a place of oneness where God is with us. In Ephesians 1:23, it says the church is the body of Christ. Even unbelievers who understand this concept very well will be a good leader because you can only be a good leader if you have the level of influence that is able to unify a lot of people to go together.

The reason why people who are really good at studying are sometimes failures in society is because all they can think about is themselves. People who are not very good at studying but they are successful in society have that strong sense of oneness.

In Acts 1:14, it says the church is the place where they gathered together with one heart, constantly in prayer. Church is not like a badminton club. In front of my house, there is a park and every time I go home from Early Morning Prayer, I see a group of 50-60 year olds playing badminton. Why are they able to gather? It’s because they have one heart for badminton. They love it so much, they are laughing, and it’s a very great sight to see, but the church is not a place for club activities like that. The church is not about aligning our personalities to get along. The church is a place where we become one, holding onto the Word God has given us, but because we’re not able to become one with the Word of God, we must assert ourselves, but the more we assert ourselves, we lose power.

The Early Church was able to have one heart, holding onto the Word that Jesus Christ gave to them. It’s the same with us, if we want to have spiritual strength, we have to have one heart with the Word of God. Is it easier for one person to fight alone, or for five people to team up to fight together? You have to be able to do that well. You hold onto the Word that Jesus Christ gave to our church and you become one with that. That’s the reason why they held onto the Word that Jesus Christ gave them, and they constantly devoted in prayer.

That’s why the church has to become your first priority. Most people probably think, “I have to succeed in the world, so of course, the world is my first priority,” but the things that I see in the Bible and the grace I received through the Bible say otherwise. “Maybe you’re just thinking that because you’re a pastor. Pastor, you’re a pastor; you don’t have a business in the world, your business is the church so of course it’s your priority.”

The pastor is the one who gives you the Word of God. I’m not talking about whether this is advantageous to me or not; I’m relaying the Word of God, because without a doubt, you will be taken captive by success, money, and people. I’m not telling you not to do that, but I’m asking you, “What are you doing it for?” You do everything for the church.

Those who have agreement in their heart about this, every single one of them will have answers. “The church is just a place where I receive some grace, I give some offering; what do you want from me?” That is someone who does not know the Bible, the Word of God. Everything that you have must be for the church.

The people who really are able to see this will see and receive the answers, because it is through the church that you save the world. “I gave my offering but the church is spending it frivolously.” If it is true that the church you are attending is a church that is proclaiming the gospel, then go all in, invest everything without holding back from the church.

The people who really are able to see this will see and receive the answers, because it is through the church that you save the world.

Depending on how the parents spend their money, it will determine how the children will grow up. The church is the body of Christ, and the Lord has allowed you to exist on this earth for the sake of the church, because what is the role of the church? It is the save the world by shining the light of Christ. If you don’t have roles and responsibilities organized in your heart, you will be colonized by the world. If in your heart you desire to gain some kind of advantage from the church, then you will be captive and your children will be enslaved as well.

3) World – Working of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1)

God blesses you in the world so that you can save the church, God is working so that your devotion to this church will be used to save the world. That is how you and God become one. That is how I become one with the Word God gives me on Sunday, and I become one with the work I do in the field.

If I do not become one with God, then the work I am doing in the field cannot be one with God. That’s why you work so hard, but you’re slaving away just for the world. It is irrelevant to the church. However, the people who love praise from God will see differently. I would love it if the correct next generation will arise like this: If the Word says it, you go according to the Word.

If you’re working at your job just to eat and survive, that’s just your level, and no matter how much you earn in the world, your standard is that low. What standard is that? It’s the standard of the unbeliever. The standard of the unbeliever has nothing but suffering. If the work you’re doing is not so that you can eat and survive, but you make it of the greatest value so that you can save everyone with it, then you will have the level of God.

Whatever studies you are doing, make it valuable. If you’re doing anything haphazardly, that’s wrong because God has given it to you. Make it the most valuable and use it to save lives. “What happens if I retire?” Retire with great value. Don’t just walk around with shabby clothes, but walk around in miniskirts. But you keep dressing up in shabby clothes, and that’s how valueless you make your life.

I’m a representative that God has commissioned into this world, so make yourself valuable. Take your clothes to get dry cleaned, dye your hair, unless that white hair looks good for men, I’m not sure about women, but make yourself valuable. Don’t let your good shoes collect dust in the closet, but bring them out, brush them off, and wear them. Make yourself valuable, why? Because who are you? You are the source of blessings who is with God.

You’re not living in this world to survive, but God has sent you to save this world. You’re crumbling because of your studies, but why would you do that? What is the business that makes you collapse? Why should I be dragged around by it? I see a lot of you guys did dye your hair; I have still not dyed my hair, but make your lives valuable. Even your clothes, don’t just put them in the closet to collect dust, but wear them. Be cool, because you only live one life. It’s not for yourself, but it’s the fact that you’re a missionary, a representative of God sent to this earth to save it for Jesus Christ. Clothes aren’t much, right?

It’s not that they’re important, but while I was in the military, there was a Pastor Kim who said, “If you wear a uniform, people respect you and admire you.” One Pastor was my superior in the upper class, I think he’s at a very high level, but even if this person doesn’t have much, he dresses very sharply, so the way people see you is very different. He doesn’t act however he wants, because if you’re wearing a cool uniform, you can’t just act however you want. The attire and uniform you wear will control how you act in addition to how people perceive you.

The uniform of a retired person is sweatpants, doing whatever you want. The older you are, I hope you will raise your value all the more because it’s just my age that is old; I’m not old. You do this so you can save nonbelievers. The world looks at the outer appearance, so you can’t cut corners. How would I walk this path without strength?

Conclusion

1. Those Who Follow the Word of Jesus Christ
   The LORD is with me forever with all authority in heaven and on earth.
   
2. Those Who Save the Church
   He is giving me new strength every day.
   
3. Those Who Save the Lives of the World
   Every single place I go, let me speak the words of God that will save lives.

Prayer

May you have this blessing. Let us pray together at this time holding onto the Word God gave us today.