The Person who Lives Through Jesus Christ (Jn. 6:41-59)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” May the unprecedented and never-repeated answers be upon all of those who are worshiping in the church, in the field, and in the Seattle and Yakima regional churches. The land of America where we are living is physically very strong, this is a nation where people do not have a hard time eating and making a living. This is a land that guarantees even a way to survive for homeless people, and this is a nation that even supports homeless people so that they can go to the hospital. This is a nation that supports people so that they can study, even if they don’t have money. This is a nation that has a support system so that anybody can actualize themselves.
But why is it that there are so many people addicted to substances? There is not a single person who wakes up one morning and says, “I want to be addicted.” There’s not a single person who grew up from a young age, thinking, “I want to suffer from mental illness.” I’m sure there’s nobody who grew up at a young age, thinking, “I want to shoot a lot of people with a gun.” Then, why do you think there are more and more people like this compared to other nations? Why is it that even though people have a good education, they have succeeded, they are not able to leave their own room, and they are afflicted with mental illnesses? America has a lot of strong physical systems of support, so many people come into the nation, and not only do people gather into the nation, but the nation also influences the whole world; that means there is physical strength.
1. Jesus Christ
However, on her other hand, there are even greater problems that are arising. In today’s scripture from John 6, there are many people, crowds of people, following Jesus because they saw the miracle of the five loaves and two fish and they think that He will feed them. This crowd is thinking, “If we make Jesus our leader, then we will live a happy life,” but Jesus is telling us that is not the case. Jesus is telling us that you can only receive eternal life if you believe in Him, Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus is telling us in the field of America, today. Everyone is trying so hard just to make a living and survive, that’s the reason why they study or make their political votes, but Jesus is saying we must believe in Him. He is telling us that all of your decisions and all of your thoughts are for the food that will spoil and rot. But, what Jesus gives to you is the eternal food that will never go bad. This is the Word that the Lord is telling us.
It’s the same thing, we work so diligently, but do not work for the work that will spoil; instead, work for the eternal food. Do you think that Jesus just said these words because they were nonsense and He had nothing else to say? Jesus clearly said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” That means, if you go outside of the words of Jesus, that is death. Why are there more and more American churches that are closing down? Why is it that more and more of the younger generation is going towards this self-meditation movement? It’s because they think, “If I go into meditation, then the pain inside of me will be healed.” This means that even though we are growing up with a great nation, a great background, and a great education, our internal problems are still not resolved. Many people try to go into a church or a religion having expectations, but they still do not receive their answer. Now, these self-meditation organizations are promising healing and power, so the younger generations are flocking there, but that is actually the fault of the churches. It’s because the members of the church must be able to relay the words of Jesus to the other people, but they did not.
In fact, if anything, the churches are making people work for and believe in the food that will spoil, so they cause these problems. We are supposed to relay the words of Jesus and change the field, but they just let them be. That’s why there are dozens of people dying every day from drug overdoses and heart attacks. There are all too many young adults who are not able to go into society, living their lives stuck in their room. It’s not because they have a bad personality. It’s because the Word that Jesus is telling us today has not been relayed yet.
1) The bread that came down from heaven (Jn. 6:41)
(1) The crowd grumbled amongst themselves (Jn. 6:43)
(2) Jesus, the son of Joseph (Jn. 6:42)
(3) Whose father and mother we know (Jn. 6:42)How did Jesus relay these words? He saw that the crowds were following Jesus, looking for physical food to eat, so Jesus said, “I am the bread from heaven.” The people who were listening should have realized, “Oh, this is the spiritual bread from heaven, and if we listen to His Word, we can live eternally,” but instead, they thought, “His father is Joseph; how could He say that He is from heaven?” They say, “We listen to the words of the people at church and they say the same thing.” They say, “When we go out into the world, there are the words of these great elite individuals, and these are just the words of the church.” The members of the church say, “What’s so great about the pastor? He doesn’t have some great Harvard degree. If the pastor were some sort of renowned NASA engineer, then maybe I’d listen to him, but he’s just a pastor.” That’s exactly the way the disciples were grumbling about Jesus when they looked at Him speaking.
2) Jesus
(1) The Father who sent me – Father God (Jn. 6:44)
(2) No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them (Jn. 6:44)
Then Jesus says, in response to their grumbling, “No one can come to Me unless the Father sends them to me.” When Jesus is telling them about the heavenly bread, the crowds are saying, “What bread from heaven?” They say, “I have to wake up in the morning, I have to study and work diligently to make bread; what are you talking about, bread from heaven?” They are in a state that cannot understand the Word at all. So, Jesus Christ is saying that, “Unless God gives you the grace to understand and believe His Word, no one can come to Jesus.” If God does not give us the grace to believe in Jesus Christ, then we cannot believe. How can we possibly believe in Jesus Christ when He lived 2000 years ago and we never saw Him die and resurrect? This is a normal reaction, so in fact, believing in Jesus may be abnormal; however, for those to whom God gives grace, they will believe.
(3) I will raise them up at the last day (Jn. 6:44)
Eph. 2 says that we have believed, and that faith is not ours; it is given to us as grace from God, then that person will come to spiritual life. America is so physically strong, but spiritually, completely desolate. Everybody just thinks that they can live their lives with the great, physical things, so they are spiritually dead, and they say, “Oh, the words of Jesus, every religion talks about that.”
3) One who comes to Jesus
(1) One taught by God (Jn. 6:45, Is. 54:13)
Then Jesus quotes the prophets of the Old Testament, “They will be taught by God,” and what you have been taught in the Old Testament is about Me, Jesus.” If you had correctly taught and learned about the Old Testament, you would have realized that the Old Testament testifies of Jesus Christ. So, that means that the Jewish people who didn’t understand, they read and taught and learned the Old Testament, but they didn’t hear the accurate Word of Christ. So, going to church is not the key; going to school is not the key. If you go to a school, you need to be taught correctly and learn and study correctly.
(2) Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him (Jn. 6:45)
(3) The one who believes has eternal life (Jn. 6:47)
Is it enough to just go to a school? Similarly, it’s not enough to just go to church. People say, “I’ve gone to church for a long time,” but that’s not what it takes. When you come to church, you must receive God’s grace, and once you receive God’s grace, then you can believe in Jesus Christ. As evidence of that, your spiritual life will be revived. As further evidence of that, your scars and your trauma will go away. Even if you’re not actively trying to fix them, they will start to fade. A long time ago, you were so afflicted by your mental problems, but little by little, they go away. In fact, you get more focus and concentration power in the work you are doing, and your mind becomes so simple and clear. If your mind is so complicated, that’s not grace. Then, people might ask, “Does that mean I shouldn’t think about any knowledge?” Paul had all the knowledge, but he was still very simple. If you have a lot of thoughts, it means it’s very complicated. So, the CPU of your brain system is continually running, and that’s why it gets damaged.
You need to finish everything with just one thing, but you’re not able to do that, so it’s very complicated to think of everything. If you go into the church and it’s dark, you just turn on the light. It’s so easy and yet, you keep thinking of different ways to bring light into the church. If you just do one thing, flip the switch, then all the lights come on. Everything is connected within the name of Jesus Christ. Our spirit, our mind, and our body are all connected, and when you come to the conclusion of Christ, everything is set up so that it will all come to life. This is how simple people must be, but if we don’t have the answer of “only Christ,” then we are very complicated. We get very complicated thinking, “Is our education going well or not, is it good or bad? Is my business or career going good or bad? Is it easy or hard?” It’s so complicated, then that person may still go to church, but they may not have received God’s grace. They haven’t received the grace to realize that everything is finished with just one thing.
2. Jesus Christ
1) Bread of life (Jn. 6:48)
(1) Ate the manna, yet they died (Jn. 6:49)
In today’s scripture, the Lord is saying, “You are all the crowds, following me just to get food to eat, but that is too complicated. Finish everything with just one thing.” Jesus is saying,” I am the bread from heaven, you must eat me.” Then, the people ask, “How do I eat physical food and make a living?” Everything else will follow. Jesus is saying, “I am the bread of Life.” How can we possibly understand this? People wonder, “Am I supposed to eat Jesus’ flesh?” but the people who understood the Old Testament correctly will understand immediately.
Once God gives you grace, you will understand immediately, too. Jesus Christ told the Israelites, “Your forefathers grumbled in the wilderness because of food to eat. They ate the manna and still died.” Even if you come to America and you eat all the food the government provides you, you will still have mental illnesses. Even if you eat the physical food, you will still suffer from addiction; that is why you must eat Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven; you must eat Me, then you will never die.” He keeps using the words about eating and drinking, “You must eat the flesh of the Son of Man, you must drink His blood,” because all of the people who are following Jesus are only interested in eating and making a living.
(2) The bread that comes down from heaven – Eternal life (Jn. 6:50-51)
(3) My flesh (Jn. 6:51)
What about you and me? You say, “Well, I have to be able to eat and drink.” God did not create us so that we would have to worry about what to eat or drink. These are problems that only occur after we are separated from God. If a baby is in their mother’s arms, then they can only eat breastmilk. But once that baby is separated from the mother, that’s when the problems begin.
2) Life
(1) Flesh of the Son of Man, Drink his blood – Life (53, Mt. 26:26-28, Ex.12:7-8)
Then, what does it mean to eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood? Mt. 26:26, Jesus Christ, during the Last Supper, said to His disciples, “Take this and eat of it, this is My body.” Then, He gives them a glass of wine and says, “This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The spilling of Jesus Christ’s blood and His death on the cross is the covenant. You must eat this and drink this. It’s not about eating and drinking His physical flesh and blood, because that has rotted away thousands of years ago. But in Exodus 12, the Israelites were living in Egypt and they had 10 disasters there. All of the 10 disasters represented idols the Egyptians worshiped.
This means that, instead of relying on God, if you try to rely on and believe in the creation of God, then it will turn into a disaster. If you put your trust in people, then you will be betrayed by them. If you put your faith in money, then you will be discouraged because of money. If you put your faith in yourself and then you get a disease, then you will be in despair. If you put your hope and faith into your children, then you will be disappointed by your children. If you put your faith and hope in your brain, then you will have mental problems. You must put your faith in one thing, but instead, you’ve placed it in unnecessary things. That’s what the disasters in Egypt were telling us, that what they put their faith into turned into a disaster.
There was one final disaster, it was the disaster of death, and when God brings about the disaster of death, the Pharaoh surrenders and lets the Israelites go. No matter how diligently you try to live, you can never overcome death. Death is our first death; the second death is going to hell. Because we separated from God, we have our first death, the physical death, and Heb. 2:14-15 says that Satan has the authority over death. How can we overcome the disaster of death? God told the Israelites, “I will save you and your entire family; all you have to do is take a flawless, perfect lamb, only one year old, put its blood on the doorposts, and eat its meat inside your house.” Then the Lord said, “I will see the blood of the lamb over your doorposts and pass over your house with the disaster.” That is exactly what the Lord is telling us, that you cannot live unless you drink the blood of Christ and eat His flesh.
(2) Raised at the last day (Jn. 6:54)
(3) My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink (Jn. 6:55)
Why did the Israelites have to eat the meat of the young lamb they slaughtered? It’s talking about unity, our walk of faith is talking about being united with our Lord. So, to eat and drink of Jesus Christ means to believe in Him. This is talking about our faith.
3) One who believes – Lives in Jesus (Jn. 6:57)
Then, those who believe in Jesus Christ will remain in Him and He will remain in me. Finally, through Jesus Christ, the image of Christ in which we were created in Gen. 1:27, is restored. God created us in His image, which means we were created to live with the Triune God within us, controlling our spirit, our mind, and our body, and through us, He will reveal His blessings and power, through conquering the world. This is what it means that God created us in His image, but why did we lose all of these blessings? Satan told us that we can be like God if you eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Lord never told us to “do” something, but the devil always gives us this condition, just like a conman. “If you do this, then you’ll get this much return,” but we are so easily deceived by that. But the Lord said that nothing can happen with your input, so just believe, and even your faith comes from God’s grace, first.
But the devil is the one to put in our own input and our own actions; then our eyes change to see that the fruit was good for food, desirable for gaining wisdom, and pleasing to the eye. Now, we want to make our own decisions and judge what is good and what is bad; we want to be God. From that point on, all the headaches in life happened. We have fear and shame, and there are conflicts inside the family. The reason there is no choice but for the husband and wife to fight against each other is because everyone has their own standard of what is right and wrong. It’s because Adam and Eve did not stay where they were supposed to be. They are supposed to be with God, within God, but instead, they thought, “I want to make my own decisions and think my own thoughts.” As a result of that, we always have to worry and toil to eat and make a living. If you’re simply living with God, you don’t have to toil to make a living anymore, and God will continuously give you the blessing of being fruitful, abundant, and ruling over the world.
Because you were trying to raise your children with your own standards, how difficult is that? You must raise your children with the Word of God; but instead, you are putting in your own strange ideologies so the masterpiece is not turning out the way you wanted. Because this happened, Cain killed his younger brother, Abel. Then we become murderers. Why did this happen? It’s because we were in the wrong place. I have put myself in the seat of God. Spiritually, I have made my own God, deciding and choosing what is good and what is bad. To restore the image of God means that the spirit of Christ lives within us and reigns over us.
(1) One who believes will live because of Jesus (Jn. 6:57)
Then in Jn. 6:57, Christ said that you will live by Christ. In the past, I lived with my own standards, then I had no choice but to walk around, holding onto people who are more people than me. We have to elect a powerful president in order for us to eat and survive. There is no “Jesus,” there, we keep holding onto unnecessary things. So, what does it mean that we live because of Jesus? It means that He is everything.
(2) In Jesus Christ – Wisdom, Knowledge, Treasures (Col. 2:3)
Col. 2:3 says that in Jesus Christ are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge, but we are not able to see. We come to church, and we must be able to see this by God’s grace, but many people cannot. And because we cannot see that everything is hidden within Jesus Christ, we have to find the answers somewhere else, which results in addiction. Because you keep trying to look for things outside of Christ, one day, you’re faced with depression and one day, you have these suicidal thoughts, unbeknownst to you. And you have all this anger coming up that you want to kill people. Other people may judge, “Oh it’s because they weren’t educated properly.” There’s no education that trains us to be like that. That is what Satan teaches us. If we do not live with Christ alone, then this is the education of Satan. Everybody wants their life to be happy; no one wants to be miserable. It’s because they are under a misconception that they can make happiness themselves.
(3) Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss – Idol (Phil. 3:8)
Happiness comes from God. A baby cannot make itself happy, it can only be happy when it’s next to its mother. We are created in the image of God, meaning we were created to live with the Triune God, and now the New Testament says you will live because of Jesus Christ. In his past, Paul lived very diligently with the law; he lived a very righteous life, and he has tried so hard to keep every single word of God’s law with his own diligence. But that is a life that is completely misaligned with God. God is giving us the law so that we will quickly surrender and turn to Christ, but instead, Paul said, “I can do this myself.” My family line also had a big tendency to be very centered on justice. So, my father prided himself on living a very upright life, and he said, “Call and bring in any Christian who lives a more upright life than me.” But there’s no justice there. Paul lived in the same way, he said, “I kept all of God’s law, so I am righteous.”
My father said this, “I’ve never sinned in my life, but every time I go to church, they say that I’m a sinner.” Then one day, he went to church and saw on the pamphlet, the Ten Commandments written down, and he left immediately saying that, “If this is what it takes to be a Christian, I can’t do that,” so he has a very high sense of consciousness, but you cannot believe in Jesus with your conscience. If you have a high sense of conscience, you cannot stay here. Just like a child, they cannot speak loudly with their own strength, but they talk loudly when they know their father has their back. We are able to be loud and confident because we believe in the backing of Jesus Christ’s blood. My father said, “If there’s a Christian who can keep the Ten Commandments, bring them to me,” and then my father said, “As soon as I challenge them with the Ten Commandments, every pastor and missionary turns around.” My father said, “I have lived a very upright and righteous life, but when I look at the Ten Commandments, I cannot keep all of them, so if you’re trying to evangelize to me, first, you keep the Ten Commandments.” So not a single pastor could evangelize to my father. They just had to say one thing. “Nobody can keep the Ten Commandments,” that’s why we need to believe in Jesus Christ.” That’s all they had to say, but not one of them could.
Paul kept all the law, and Paul himself confessed that, pertaining to the law, he was blameless, but one day, He received God’s grace and confessed that “I am the sinner of all sinners.” Then he said, “Anything I once thought was gain, I now consider it as rubbish.” He said, “Everything I held onto instead of Jesus Christ, I consider it as rubbish.” Every single one of them has something like that. Men put their faith in their abs, saying, “As long as I have these muscles, women will follow me,” and women trust in their face, saying, “If I have this pretty face, men will come to me,” and if there is a guy who doesn’t have abs, he uses his money, saying, “Oh, if I have money, women will follow me,” or, “If I have authority and power, people will follow me.” But Paul considered all of that rubbish.
(4) Through him who gives me strength – I can do all this (Phil. 4:13)
Because I was trying to hold onto all those things, I lost hold of Christ; because I only went to church to get these other things, I didn’t begin with “only Christ,” and that was the grace that Paul received. Then, he confessed that everything is hidden within Christ, that I can do all things within Him Who gives me strength. You must become like that, too, to correctly save America. If you don’t become like this, even if you go to church for 100 years, it’ll be hard. That’s why people have mental problems even though they go to church. Because they don’t truly believe that all power and all things are within the Triune God, they have to try to gain their own power.
3. The Person who lives through Jesus Christ
1) Cross – It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
(1) United with Jesus – Death, Resurrection (Rom. 6:5)
There’s more hope to do this when you are young because you have some battery. But then, once you have children, it keeps on depleting. Then one day, when you face a shock in your life or your business, then your battery is drained, and let’s say, after that, you face a pandemic, like the coronavirus, then you will be completely drained. If you live with your own strength, then your battery will die. But Christ is the eternal, unlimited battery. He fills us to 100 continuously. That is what you must live with. That is what we must study with and work with and live our walk of faith with. That’s why Jesus Christ said, “I have finished everything on the cross.” You haven’t been able to live with your own strength; I did everything. We must believe that Jesus’ death is my death. You must believe that when Jesus Christ resurrected, then He lives within me and I am united with His life. Yes, of course, and I must remain in Him, to be within the Lord means that I confess He is my Lord and I am reigned over by Him. That must happen in order for your mental illness to go away, little by little.
(2) Guidance of Holy Spirit: 24 Prayer (Jn. 14:26-27, 16:13-15)
For people who are very stubborn, they try to live their lives with their own grit. There’s a lot you’ve accomplished with your own grit, so even though you are completely rotting and dying on the inside, people only see your success on the outside and think that there’s nothing wrong. Do you know what the characteristic of these people is: if things go wrong, they cannot handle that. Because they succeeded with their own strength, they don’t need the Word of Jesus Christ. “If things don’t go the way I want, then I want to die,” and they never really listened to the words of other people, because “My words have always been right.” That is a very serious spiritual problem. Then, that person can never really be united with others because they think that they’re the best. That person is very diseased but they don’t know it themselves. So, even though their life is miserable, they think that’s just how life is. That’s the spiritual background that elites and successful people have. Their anger never goes away, there is anger inside of their family because “They don’t do what I tell them to do.” Because they live their entire lives thinking, “My words are the truth, and I succeeded with my own thoughts, but nobody is listening to me,” so they’re filled with anger, and if things don’t go the way they want, they will explode. Even as they go to church they’re like this, it’s because Jesus Christ is not everything to them. When you come to church, you must receive the grace of God to believe that Jesus Christ is everything. You must receive the grace of God to realize that I’m living for Christ, because of Christ. That is the normal Christian, and that is how your past scars will no longer be a problem.
What happens if you leave your scars alone? It turns into mental problems, it’s a problem that cannot be even solved with medication. That is the mental illness of being seized and dragged around by Satan. That’s why people fall into addiction and they go into suicide. Because we are living in America, a land that is so focused on what you wear, what you eat, and what you see with your eyes, we have lost this spiritual secret completely. “The Lord has truly finished everything on the cross and He is living inside of me, wow!” That is the beginning of believing in Jesus, that is how you must begin. Then, how must you live after that? You need to keep entrusting everything to Him so that He can guide your life. That’s what it means to receive His guidance. You don’t receive guidance if you just stay still. You are the lord of your own thoughts and your own emotions right now, and that continues to happen.
(3) God’s kingdom – Mission (Ac. 1:3, Mt. 28:18-19)
That is why, through prayer, you must actively entrust everything to the Lord in order for Him to reign over you. The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ who dwells within us must control our spirit, our mind, and our body, but if that’s not taking place, everything becomes complicated. Because that’s not taking place, your emoticons fluctuate up and down. Because the Holy Spirit is not controlling you, your emotions explode out of you. Because the Holy Spirit does not control your thoughts, you do whatever you want; even as people go to church. What must we do? You must entrust all of your thoughts, your emotions, your heart to Jesus Christ Who is living with you now, so that He may reign over you, and when you entrust it to Jesus, it’s very peaceful; that’s why you have peace.
What happens if you continuously have peace? Your depression and your addiction naturally goes away. Isn’t that right? Peace will overcome your addiction. The churches are not able to teach this to people, and that’s why there are so many mental illnesses in America. I hope you will be praying even right now. You must use what you have. If the Lord is within me, then I have to change everything inside of me through prayer so that Jesus becomes my Lord and controls it, then God begins to work upon my thoughts and God begins to work upon my heart. God works upon my consciousness. That is how you must study and work. That is what it means for God to reign over and to conquer me. Restoring this is healing. If you cannot heal something from going to the hospital, why would you go? We must conclude everything in Christ.
2) Holy Spirit
(1) Filling – Power, Ends of the earth – Witness (Ac. 1:8)
Second, there’s also a problem inside of your field, of your family, your workplace, your school, and the place where you live. If you keep running away from your problems, you’ll have to run away your whole life. You must conclude that problem in the name of Jesus Christ and the power of God. The Lord promised us, “Only when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,” the Jerusalem where you’re living now, the workplace where you are in right now, the region where you’re living, the Church where you are attending. You will be a witness of Jesus Christ, in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. What does that mean? It means that by the power of the Holy Spirit within you, then God will give you the evidence to change the problem, the situation, or that strange person. So, first, you must have the happiness of praying the prayer where God is with you, reigning over you.
(2) Concentration Prayer: Field – Problem, Incident, People
Then second, there are the problems and the strange people within the region you live, where you work, your church as well, and in your family, but 99% of people will say, “Pastor this is so hard, the problems in my life are so difficult.” I said, “I’ll pray for you,” but what am I thinking inside? Of course it’s hard, you’re living centered on the physical things, of course it’s hard for you. God purposely said He will send us into the field with problems so that we can heal with Jesus Christ; why are you surprised that there are problems? There are some people who say, “I hate where I live; I have to move.” The entire world is like that, where are you going to move? Because the insides of people are the same no matter where you go. Where are you going to go? Everywhere is the same. Yes, physically some neighborhoods might be cleaner or dirtier, but spiritually, they’re the same. In the field, where you are, change it by the name of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Stop running away like a coward; stay there. Do you know what spiritual cowardice is? It’s Christians running away from problems. If Christians run away, then Satan conquers that region. What happens if the general of an army runs away from a territory? The enemies overtake it. And because there are more and more Christians who lack this faith, there are more and more disasters in the world. If you go into your company, of course, there are problems. Are you always just going to drink and complain about your company because of the problems? That’s not what the Bible says, and you must not raise your children in that way, either.
What does the Bible say? When the Holy Spirit comes upon me with power, I will change my field. “You will be a witness”; that’s what the Bible tells us. “Oh it’s so hard,” of course, that’s why you must change it with the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, it’s hard to believe in your family because people just don’t get along. Do you think that when you got married to somebody, you thought it would be a perfect utopia where you’d always get along? Are the things inside of you happy? The person who is really happy must meet another person who is internally happy for them to be happy. And that happiness is the happiness of heaven through Christ. Of course, there are problems in your family. But you always accuse, “My husband is the problem,” or, “My wife is the problem,” of course we have problems. God gave us those problems to change them, God sent me into this field to change it by praying in the name of Jesus Christ for the power of the Holy Spirit to work. But you always complain, “My dad makes my life so hard,” how can I get the answer? You just have to grin and bear it? One day, a better day will come? We keep giving our children the wrong answers. We say, “If it’s really that hard, leave. There are more jobs than that.”
Is your wife making your life hard? Then leave her; there are more wives out there, right? They say, “Oh, if your man is giving you a hard time, leave him.” The world is littered with men. That’s not what Jesus said. He says, “Change it in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.” That was Joseph and David. David faced Goliath and didn’t run away. Everybody else did run away, but we fight. “I come at you in the name of the Lord God Almighty,” You fight in the name of Jesus Christ, and for how long will you do this? Until it is resolved, so wherever you are right now, that is your mission field, and if you’re not able to see God’s evidence here, you will not be able to see it anywhere else. No matter how much you change people, no matter how much you change companies, you’ll always have to run away. People say, “It’s so hard to live in America,” so they move to another country, but it’s the same there. “Oh, the taxes are too high in California, so I’ll move to Texas.” The taxes are still there. If you don’t have the power to win here, you can’t win anywhere.
(3) Prayer that transcends time and space: 237 nations, 5000 tribes
Is God alive? He promised to give us the evidence that He is, only when the Holy Spirit comes upon you in power. Wherever you live, that is Jerusalem. All the way to Samaria, where you’ve never been to. Even if you don’t want to go, you will, because God will give you evidence there. That is how the field of the world will change, until where? Until the ends of the earth. I cannot travel to the ends of the world, so God promises the power of the Holy Spirit, transcending time and space. That’s what it means to live with Jesus Christ; it’s the simplest thing, while you are praying. It’s because you learned incorrectly what prayer is, prayer is not laborious. You think that prayer is so difficult because you have to force yourself to pray in order to get what you want; but prayer is not about getting what you want.
3) Spiritual priority
(1) Spiritual summit – Studies, Business in prayer
(2) Skill summit – Specialty
(3) Cultural summit – Field, System
Praying means praying that the will of God be established inside of you, it’s not about exerting your own will, but the will of the Lord. Why are you praying for your will upon your children, praying for this or that? You should pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon your child for the will of God. If you’re not able to pray, you’ll be a spiritual beggar. It doesn’t matter how much you have to eat or drink physically, you will be a spiritual beggar. Then you will always be trampled on by Goliath. But if you’re able to become the spiritual summit, meaning, if you’re able to pray in the name of Jesus Christ, just like David did, then you will change the field of your studies and your work, that is the spiritual summit. Even right now, don’t just sit here blankly; pray. Pray for God to work upon whatever you’re worried about. Not at your level, but at the level of heaven, for God to reign over you. That is what it means to live for Jesus Christ. May you have victory throughout the week.
Conclusion
1. Jesus Christ – Master of life
2. Holy Spirit – Guidance, Power
3. Person who saves the world, church – Church construction
Message Prayer
Let us pray together holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We have returned Your materials as offering. We pray that this offering may be used as the economy of light. We believe You will work with answers upon the faith of the offering that we have given for the church, temple construction, missions, and future generations, as the economy of light upon our business. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. Lord, I believe You will work your Holy Spirit upon Sue, our newcomer, so that she will live according to the Word You have given to her, and that only Christ and faith will be her beginning, middle and end. We pray that You will give her the evidence in every field that she goes as a witness. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Mon.-Fri. 5:30, Sat. 6AM) – Raise the bartizan of prayer
2. Middle School Evangelism School, Sat., 1-3PM.
3. North America Businessperson’s Evangelism Conference, 9/11 (Wed.)-12(Thurs.), ICSC
4. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, guidance, and working, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to live for only Jesus Christ and change the field with the evidence of Christ, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.