The Prayer that Saves the Future Generation (John 21:15-18)
The Word we just read today was the message Jesus Christ gave to Simon Peter. If you receive God’s Word before God, then you will receive all answers to your life; however, if you think receiving God’s Word is optional, you don’t have to listen. If you simply think God is someone You have to keep as a reference, you’re not living your walk of faith. You need to stake your life upon living your walk of faith.
In Matthew 27:25, Jesus says, “Do not cry for Me, but cry for your children.” Because Jesus Christ’s death on the cross would be the greatest gift for the salvation of mankind, He says, “Do not cry for that, but weep for yourselves and your children.” In 2 Timothy, it says the end times are full of suffering and that children cannot escape from suffering unless it is only by the words of God.
After Jesus Christ resurrected, He asked Simon Peter three times, “Do you love me?” He asked three times, and responded, “Then feed my lambs.” The lambs refer to new believers or represent the future generations, and we must give our lives for that. Because the future generations will have an even harder time living unless they receive their answers through God’s Word. The answer is that the future generations must have faith but if you do not stand before God’s Word in faith, the future generations will continue to die off. This is the desperate heart with which Jesus Christ said these words.
“Feed my lambs.” Jesus Christ said, “I will not ask whether you’ve run away from me before the cross; instead, do you love Me?” Jesus Christ did not ask about Simon Peter’s mistakes or lackings, He didn’t ask whether we were well-educated or not, He doesn’t ask if we’ve received a lot of training or not. “Do you love Me?”
“Lord, You know.” It would have been enough to ask once, but He asks thrice, “Feed my lambs,” it means, feed them with the Word, you must feed them with the correct words, not the words of theory from Bible study, but give them the words of life. If you just study the Bible, you’ll be destroyed. You must feed them the words of life, to give the answer of life to this person’s problems. That’s the Word we need.
You need to know what the problem of the future generations of America is and give them the Word. The Bible tells us, age by age, the same answer. You are not sinners because you committed a sin, but the sin of being separated from God makes you far from God, and that’s sin. Because of the sin where you do not want to keep the Word of God’s life in your heart, you will be destroyed. Did that not begin from your parents? So, quickly restore the words of life of the gospel and feed them to your children.
The entire age is following the stream of lies. The gospel is the answer but they’re living their lives, holding onto another answer because their parents have given them the incorrect answer. So, the children have no choice but to get sick because they’re given rotten food. Even when they go to church, we feed them rotten food. You need to give this person the answer of life to their problems, but we keep giving the incorrect answer, that is why He told Simon Peter, “Feed my lambs.”
What must we feed them? Christ has finished all problems. What problem did we have that Christ has finished all of it? Jesus Christ has finished the eternal problem of Satan, curses, sin, and darkness in your family line. The problem in your family is not a lack of education or money; it is the spiritual flow. Ever since I was born, I was not born into the wrong family; it’s about God’s plan.
There were people who were born blind. Though they were born blind, what is God’s plan regarding that? If you don’t think that way, you’ll always pity your own life, “My parents are blind and lame, I was born into a rotten family and they look down on me,” then you’ll have an inferiority complex, “Why does that person treat everybody well except me?” That is a very serious disease, it is a very deep scar of your heart. It comes as a very deep scar because you’re not able to find the answer in the family line.
To avoid your scar, you must run around and find a strange person and run away with them. That is a person who must always run around, here and there. That was the case with Cain. It would be great if you could run around and find rest, but there’s no rest. That scar must be healed with the gospel. How could it be healed? You cannot change your family; God has allowed your family. Why are my parents addicted to drugs and alcohol? Why was I born into this family?” If you say you have no choice but to live like that, that is a failed life. It’s not that you have no choice but you do it without realizing it. The stream dictates that you will.
What is the Word we must feed them regarding this? Is it enough to just study the Bible? Is it enough to just give them some clear content? Christ is the answer but you need to know the real problem, you need to know what your real problem is right now. You need to know the problem of your family. It’s not the problem of your mom or dad; it’s the fundamental problem that has flowed down your family line and that family problem has flowed in the way of drugs and gangs. Know this correctly and tell them this; it is darkness, being seized by Satan.
“Do you want to escape from this or keep going?” “I don’t know,” then you have to keep going. Tell them surely. The kids don’t know this so they keep flowing, they think it’s the culture so they’re pulled into the stream, but someone must tell them this, someone has to give them the answer and problem from the Bible. Otherwise, even if they go to church for a long time, they’ll say there was nothing to it. That becomes another tool to block God’s grace and glory. We must not do that; we must teach them correctly. You need to know your family problems correctly and teach them to your kids.
Thankfully in my family, when I act very severely towards my kid, my wife will explain it well to her. She knows the spiritual problems of her husband and she’ll teach our kid, “This is the spiritual problem in his family line. Know this and pray, everyone has this, but that becomes an opportunity to continuously hold onto the gospel.” If you don’t, the scar or spiritual stream gets relayed exactly that way to the kids.
The family is actually the perfect field to completely understand the gospel but if you try to hide that from them, you’re blocking the light of the gospel from shining. What does that mean? You need to cover it with the blood of the sacrificed animal, Jesus Christ, but instead, you block it with fig leaves because you’re so ashamed. If you smoke cigarettes and you don’t want others to smell it, you can hide it, but you can only do that once or twice. If you drink alcohol, you can only cover up the smell once or twice.
Maybe you can cover for other people, but at the very least, you need to tell your family where your spiritual problem began. This is the spiritual problem my family line could not overcome. The reason why God has allowed you to have it and see it is so you can relay this answer to others and their families. Your kids will not think of this regarding their parents, but they will be thankful, “Through my parents, I was able to see the answer,” but if you try to hide it from them, do you think your kids won’t have the same problem? Even if you don’t teach them, they will.
That’s why you’re important because you will make your own family and have your own future generations. When these families get together, it is a society. The societies become a nation. If your family is revived, the society and nation will also be saved. However, I see some students who went to church diligently ever since they were young, they work and study diligently, and we think they don’t have any problems, but that’s even more frightening because they hide their spiritual problems with their diligence.
It’s going to explode one day when they face their breaking point, at that point they will not be controllable because their parents were unaware of this. They didn’t look at the spiritual things or the gospel but they looked at how kind or earnest they are, and they thought they were okay because they covered it with their kindness or diligence, they covered their spiritual problem. One day, their spiritual problem will explode in the time schedule.
Whose fault is that? It is the fault of the church and the parents because they were not able to see this. Instead of looking at the child’s spiritual problems through the gospel, they saw kindness or gentleness and thought they were okay. But they will explode when they’re older, even when they succeed. They hide their internal problems with an external shell.
The family is a blessed interaction. Whether there was a child made within or without the family, the biological parents give their spiritual influence to the child, do you think this is not the case just because kids are born out of wedlock? They still have biological parents and the spiritual problems are revealed exactly.
Why do we have to know the spiritual state so well? We need to know the spiritual problem accurately while they’re young and to give the accurate answer. Not just repeating the pulpit message but give the accurate answer to the field. You are getting the Word, it is melting into you as the answer and you give it to others. Just as it melts into you, see the other person’s spiritual state, otherwise you can’t give them the answer and you’ll throw whatever at them. That’s not right.
The doctor has to give the accurate diagnosis. If a person comes because of pain in their stomach and the doctor just gives foot medicine, that’s not right; give them the answer to their problem, but you blindly throw things, then you’ll continuously confuse the answer to them. You don’t know the problem and you give them the answer, the kid gets confused. You said the same thing yesterday, today, and tomorrow, so they don’t want to hear it.
If there’s no problem, there’s no answer. Don’t talk about the vague or generic problem; tell them what problem they have now. But if you just talk about some general problem, that’s just Bible study. Just like that, when you see the problems of the family become an answer for you, you’ll see the answer for others. This isn’t something you can do by learning. All problems begin as we mature in the family. This is not something you can learn to do well with skill.
He told us to be a witness. You receive the evidence and stand as a witness of your personal and family problems, so you need to pray for your kids. If you’re not able to pray, you cannot see the problem yet. You think just because your kid is able to make money, but you’re completely blind to spiritual problems. There are some times a pastor sees this field, and out of a heart of frustration, they speak very boldly. They ask, “Why is my pastor acting so crazy today?” I don’t know either, it’s the time schedule.
Because these fields continuously arise, I’m able to see the future, so I speak out of a heart of frustration. When you look at their face, you can see they have faith, then they’re okay and will go to heaven because they believe in Jesus, but they will suffer. You don’t see the problem so you continuously hold onto the incorrect answer. Jesus says, “Do not weep for me, daughters of Jerusalem, but weep for yourselves and your children.”
It’s impossible except through prayer, you cannot heal a spiritual problem without prayer; it is because it is spiritual. I’m sorry but you’re not in a state where you can sleep restfully. How can a parent stay so restfully still when they see their child being destroyed? They are dying together; you must not have peace. This is a spiritual thing so you must fight and finish it. Then because you’re fighting a battle that is already won, it is God’s time schedule.
Some parents still don’t understand, then go with them, pray with them and help them. You need to attach yourself to the weakest people in the church. There is no need for the healthy people in the church to gather together; God is not interested in that. You need to let the fire of prayer come upon the weakest family. If someone is okay, why are you going to their house? You need to go to the weakest person’s house and raise them up spiritually.
The weakest area, the weakest remnants, the weakest families, that is where you must go, and you give them spiritual strength and save them. Come here in the early morning and pray for them. You shouldn’t be able to sleep well. If your kids get admitted to the hospital tonight, you wouldn’t be able to sleep. If you know your kids are on the brink of death, you wouldn’t be able to sleep; then why are you sleeping so easily? You don’t know when God will call them to heaven, so why are you sleeping so easily?
When I look at our future generations one by one, I realize there’s no way other than prayer. Just because you speak to them doesn’t mean they listen. The forces of darkness must be broken down. That is why we need the prayers of the church officers. The church officer is nothing else. Not praying alone but gathering together, we pray. The watchtower of prayer must gather, region by region, and shine the light of prayer. That is how the future generations will barely arise.
Because the parents and children are both blind, we become handicapped, we say, “We heard this so much but it’s still not an answer.” If I say words like this, you must be able to hear it well. I’m not putting the standard on the laypeople, I’m speaking from the standard of a pastor. We receive so much Word and training but we still cannot hear. We keep saying other things. This is not saying whether we do right or wrong, but from the perspective of the churchgoers and believers, where do they go? We’re in a state where we have no choice but to say other things.
Come to church on Fridays; this is the time for us to pray together. I look at the field of the remnants in the church and realize this is the time to pray. If the kids listened to the words so much but they say they don’t believe in God, how much do the parents pray? “I don’t want to believe in the God my parents believe in; I don’t know if Jesus Christ is in my heart,” then what do you think the parents or senior pastor feel? Pray for the future generations.
You have no choice but to pray for your kids. They go to church so much, and later on, they say, “I don’t know, I don’t like the God my parents believe in.” I went to the PK retreat and one kid came with a bright face, even though they used to come very dark and oppressed. I started to wonder, “Why did they end up like this?” The child says, “I won’t believe the God my father talks about; I will find the God of the Bible,” and this contains a lot of meaning.
“I don’t want the God my dad used to oppress me and legalistically torture me; I will find the God of the Bible.” The nature the father wants to relay to the child is legalistic, so they oppress their kids with legalism. Every time I used to see this child, they were oppressed but this time, they looked so bright, then I realized, “The father needs to leave for this to work out.” The father sees the children and is so frustrated, and because of the father’s nature, he shoves the gospel into the kids, but that oppresses them. It’s like when a child doesn’t want to eat, then the father opens the mouth and shoves food into their mouth. The father knows they have to eat this food, so they shove it into their mouth, but the child doesn’t know why they have to eat this food, and they’re being forced, they say, “Maybe this is an answer to you, dad, but it’s not for me; don’t talk to me about your God. I’m going to find the God in the Bible.”
He’s a pastor, what do they do? They keep going, so later on, they’ll leave the church, that’s someone like Lenin, one of the people who started Communism, they’re all people like this and go out with something else. I’m sure God has a plan but are we giving them the complete gospel? Confirm this. Of course, I can understand your heart, but if you mix the gospel with something like legalism, your child will be oppressed. Then what will happen? There’s nothing to change them, no hope other than God. Then we pray, there’s no way to change other than through prayer. Already, they are beyond my grasp and don’t listen to your words. The chance was when they were within your grasp but they’re already out of control. That is why if anything, God will make them leave your side quickly because if they stay next to you, they will not be a masterpiece. If anything, detaching them from you may result in a masterpiece but there’s God’s plan.
If they remain next to you, they will not be a masterpiece. By the time the parents are completely changed, it’s already too late; you must separate from them so I hope you will pray. That is they way they will not receive your influence but receive God’s influence directly. It’s not about who’s at fault. We are also victims who lived without the gospel; not because we wanted to, but that’s how we ended up, and God has no choice but to work. So we can’t do anything, you need to pray for the ministers for them to do their ministry well.
I place my hope in the remnant ministers and nowhere else, because from my perspective, I don’t think many ministers actually know the problem of America and the true answer. Even pastors from Korea don’t know America, and the people here don’t know America’s problems. So they’re up in the air. Even if they’re a pastor, they may not know. That is why my hope is for the remnants who are born in America to arise, who know the true problem of America and the answer.
Then, is it not the church officers? Of course it’s the church officers, that’s obvious, and the rightful result is the future generations to arise. That is the desire of my heart. I received a call today, there was a person who went through so much, they were admitted to a mental institution and their child is in jail. I know the remnant and their parents, so why do they have mental illness? Why do they have to go to jail? What have we been doing at this time? I was going crazy with frustration.
I thought they went to a church with the gospel, then what did they do there? What did we do such that they were pushed to mental illness and then go to jail and are being judged? They’re remnants. Nobody gave them the answer. Everyone else was a little good to begin with, so they endured. But do you think the remnant didn’t study the Bible? I’m sure they gave the form of the answer of Christ and three positions, but what is the problem of this child? What is the problem of their parents? We’re not able to communicate with the child.
The first generation is not able to communicate with the children in English so there are limitations in language and in spirit, but the first generation has the answer. The first generation can save others in the first generation, but the second generation with English must arise; otherwise it is a disaster. If you cannot give the answer, it is a disaster. Even if they go to a church with the answer, it doesn’t matter; they will go to a mental institution and jail.
I heard this and didn’t even know how to react. Because I keep hearing about things like this taking place, there’s nothing else to do but to pray together. I have nothing else to say, but, “Aren’t you losing sleep? Let us pray together,” there’s no answer other than kneeling. You must know the reason in order to kneel. If you think your kids are okay, there’s no reason to kneel but at some time, they will burst. But you think the pastor’s words are a joke and you live with your own assurance. That’s not right. If you know the answer, it becomes a complete blessing, but if you don’t, a problem has come.
Even in Korea, pastors achieve complete church revival but spiritual problems are destroying the church, and these spiritual problems explode that the pastors incorrectly see; all around, the churches are being broken and the remnants are scarred. I understand that, but people cannot know. Even pastors are like this, how do you think you’ll be able to save? Even the pastors who have successful churches are like this, not a new church, but the pastors who are doing well, the spiritual problems one day burst forward.
That is why every day, before God, then, if anything, not having revival is a blessing because when you have revival, you think you did it with your own skills so the spiritual problems break out. After seeing this, there’s nothing I can say other than, “Let us pray together,” because I see the future in advance, there’s no answer, other than, “Let us pray and hold onto only Christ.” The pastors I revere so much get destroyed and I wonder if that’s my future. I look to the future generations as well.
There’s nothing we can do but pray, but continuation is a blessing. Let us pray, there’s no other answer. We must give them the correct answer and tell them the correct problem. If you don’t know, then seek counseling. If you don’t have the confidence to do this, ask me and ask for translation. It’s not because I’m better but God has shown and taught me. It’s the same for my child, so I think it is a very important time schedule and opportunity.
This is not something we simply need to pass by, but know correctly and pass by in prayer. That’s what I’ve been going through lately, so I hope you will understand. The pastor gives this message with this kind of background. If you don’t know this, you’ll say the pastor is crazy, just doing this all of a sudden, why? That’s not true. If many good things were happening, I would smile but this is the time schedule to weep for our children so we should not be smiling. We must pray together and raise up the children.
When God asks you, ”What have you done with your life? I raised you as a church officer of Antioch Mission Church,” what will you say in response? “I didn’t know”? That makes no sense. God would say, “I told you already through the word. If you didn’t know, you should have prayed, then I would have worked.” In the past, the adults used to pray overnight, all night long. We were ignorant of the Word but we prayed and God worked. Though we are ignorant, God works.
In Busan, there were senior deaconesses and deacons who wrote prayer topics on smelly paper as they sold fish all day, but we prayed for them all night long. From a worldly sense, they were nothing, they were uneducated and poor, they would sell all day and come to the church and sleep here and pray, then do early morning prayer and go home.
Who saw that? The future generations saw that, and that was relayed. The church is not just the church, even right now, the pastors who saw that tell me. If you have not seen this, you don’t know how the churches are raised. Those people who prayed may have left the earth, but their answers continue to take place in the evangelism movement, and it is a great fire to continue for world evangelization.
When Pastor Ryu said, “Now that my mother has passed away, no one will pray for me 24 hours like a parent,” he didn’t say anything else, but, “Who will pray for me?” Because he knew the very strong background of prayer, who was left to pray for him? That’s the only thing he said about her death. He didn’t even cry, but maybe he cried on the inside. That’s what prayer is.
Do you not have money? Do you not have strength in your body? You can still pray. That is the question. What did you do, what did you come here for, and how much did you pray? You’re always praying, “Give me blessings and money and a house,” but you don’t pray for the future generations. God will ask, “How much do you cry for the future generations?” God answers those tears.
Let us become a church like that. We have no money, we have no educated people, everyone graduates from college, but everyone can pray. When we hold onto the covenant and pray, God works. We must pray for the future generations.
Prayer
Let us pray together at this time, for the future generations and the Remnants. God, may the Holy Spirit … may they not be stolen away by the devil, but according to God’s plan be raised up to do world evangelization.
Our 2nd prayer topic. Let us pray for the church officers to arise as the teams for prayer. So that the church officers who stake their lives for praying for the future generations may arise. There are only 2 options, will you remain in your laziness…. God will raise up the prayer region by region. Stop praying to ask for things but for the future generations to arise….
Our third prayer topic, we need to raise the 3 multiethnic remnants who are at the church with prayer. The church officers are not able to teach them with the word so we need to do it through prayer. We need to raise the evangelist through prayer. In order to do that, you don’t need money… you can be weak. If you are older, you have so much time. Use that time in the prayer that delights God. So pray for the 3 multiethnic remnants who are receiving training. Why did God call them all the way here? It is to do this. Let us pray for our mission fields, especially Africa, where we have Charles and Yonas. We must raise them through prayer. And we also have Missionary Kim in Africa. And also the mission fields of Utah, El Salvador, Mongolia, Karen, because whenever you hold onto the covenant and pray …
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all of the people who want to hold onto God’s covenant to feed my lambs and desire to pray and weep for the children, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.