To God What is God’s (Mt. 22:15-22)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” May the unprecedented and never-repeated blessings be upon you today. The title of today’s message is, “To God what is God’s.” The background of today’s main scripture is that, when Jesus Christ came to Israel, it began to shake the background and the religion of the people. So, the Jewish leaders were thinking, “If we can get rid of this one young adult, Jesus, then the people would be conned, but He is messing everything up, so in conclusion, we must kill and get rid of Him.” That is the logic of the world.
1. World
The logic of the world is, “I must kill and overcome my enemy.” Especially in today’s generation and age, only the first place winner can win, and the second place will die. That’s why wars and conflicts are endlessly arising. Because I need to kill everybody else in order to survive, the wars will never stop, and ever since the children are little, they are educated to say, “I must step on my opponents in order to survive,” and that is bound to happen if there is nothing that we can trust in.
1) Competition
(1) Laid plans to trap Jesus (Mt. 22:15)
So, the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus Christ to kill Him somehow. Mt. 22:15 says, the Pharisees laid plans to trap Him in His words.
(2) Sent their disciples and Herodians (Mt. 22:16)
The plan they devised is that they sent their group of disciples as well as a group of Herodians, who were supporters of Herod the Tetrarch.
(3) You are a man of integrity and teach the way of God (Mt. 22:16)
Then, they compliment Him saying, “We know You are a man of integrity and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” There are people who compliment and those who flatter. If you compliment somebody, it is for them, but flattery is only for your own benefit.
(4) Flattering is spreading nets for their feet (Prov. 29:5)
Prov. 29:5 says, “Whoever flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his feet,” so we need to be able to discern what is a compliment and what is flattery.
2) Question to trap
(1) Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? (Mt. 22:17)
First, they say what the other person wants to hear because they have their own ulterior motive. Their ulterior motive is to use the question of the tax to trap Jesus. The way that Satan always works is he makes us choose, “Is this right or is that right? Choose one or the other.” If you choose this being right, then the opposing side will attack you, and that’s always the trap that Satan lays. Are you on the side of Russia or Ukraine? Are you on the side of Israel or Hamas? That’s what the news is about today. There are people who are attacking Israel, and we cannot just leave them alone. On the other side, they say, “That’s okay,” but the standard of the news that we see today is, who is right?
(2) Satan’s strategy (Gen. 3:5) – Know good and evil
If you go home, people always ask the little kids, “Who do you like better, your mom or dad?” And the kids don’t know what to say, so they just worry about what they will think. When the dad is not there, they will go to Mom and say, “I like Mom the best,” and when Mom is not there, they will go to Dad and say, “I like Dad the best,” so ever since children are young, they are learning how to care about what other people think. In Gen. 3:5, Satan uses the same strategy and says, “If you eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will be like God, knowing what is good and what is evil.” Satan wants you to decide for yourselves what is right and what is wrong, and that’s why there are endless problems in this world. How can we escape from that? We need to ask, “What is God’s will, and what is right in God’s eyes?” Until that happens, we will always have conflicts, division, fighting, and war.
In Gen. 3, the reason all the people were destroyed was because they chose whatever they desired, not what God desired. If you are facing a problem and you are wondering, “Why is this problem in my life? Do I have to resolve it or not?” Then this person will have endless problems, and if you live your walk-of-faith for a long time but you’re stuck in that problem, you’ll never escape. You need to quickly escape. It’s not about whether you think this is a problem or not, but what is God’s plan? You need to see what God’s Word is saying about this problem, that is how you can escape.
(3) In favor of taxes – Herodians, Against – Pharisees
So, the same things the Pharisees were trying to do to Jesus are the same things happening today.
3) Jesus
(1) Knowing their evil intent (Mt. 22:18)
(2) You hypocrites, Brought him a denarius (Mt. 22:18-19)
These people are testing Jesus about this question with the tax, and Jesus, knowing their evil intent, says, “You are hypocrites!” When you go into your business field, your opponent will need to knock you down in order for them to succeed, so you need to discern what their intention is. For people who live centered on themselves, they will get caught up in words of flattery because they like hearing those words, and there are other people who hate listening to words that are actually true, and because I don’t want to hear it, I don’t like it. That kind of person will always live in problems because they are centered on themselves. They live so centered on themselves, so faithful to themselves, that when they get depression, they’re seized by it. When they face a big situation, they fall right into it because they live too faithfully to themselves, and when somebody faces a problem, they get angry, “Why am I having this problem? I go to church so diligently, why am I having this problem?” But they have only gone to church diligently, they didn’t really believe in Jesus. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? You believe Him as your Lord. The evidence of your faith is that you ask for the plan of God Who has allowed this problem.
If Jesus Christ says, “You do have to pay the taxes,” then the Pharisees will not like Him because the Romans are colonizing Israel and taking tax from them. The way the Romans did that is that they would select certain Israelites and would choose them as tax collectors. So, the tax collectors would give a certain percentage the Romans dictated, and they would keep the rest of the taxes for themselves. So the Jews thought the tax collectors were the most evil and hateful people. From the Roman perspective, they needed to collect taxes from their colonies to continue waging war, but the Pharisees did not like giving tax.
The other group of people who came to Jesus were the Herodians, who were supporting the Tetrarch Herod, as well as the Roman emperor, so whatever Jesus says, He will accept one of the two groups, and you must receive the wisdom from God to wisely navigate that situation. That wisdom is given to you by God. So yes, it is important for you to study diligently, but you must receive the wisdom from God to overcome traps. That does not come from your education, it is given to you by God. You need to know the wisdom of the future from God in order for you to open your business well. With your limited knowledge, you cannot interpret everything in the field, God must give you that wisdom. You remain in the same repetitive problem over and over again, and you need God’s wisdom to come out. You can only escape when God gives you the wisdom.
(3) Image and inscription – Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s (Mt. 22:20-21)
Then Jesus’ method is saying, “Bring me a denarius,” which is a coin. It is the same thing with today’s currency, on that coin was the image of some icon, and then, some writing on it. During the Roman Empire, they would use these coins that had the face of Caesar on it, and the writing on it said, “Caesar, son of God.” They gave that as tax to the Romans. What does the Bible say?
2. Caesar’s things and God’s things
1) Caesar – Roman emperor (Kingdom of world)
(1) Be subject to the governing authorities – Established by God (Rom. 13:1)
Romans 13:1 says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities,” because every authority is given by God, but there are some people who don’t acknowledge that, “Oh, but they are doing evil things, they are taking money from the citizens and filling their own pockets,” but you must acknowledge their authority. Why is that?
(2) God’s servants – For your good (Rom. 13:4)
Because Romans 13:4 says that they are workers for God. How is it that they are workers for God even though they are nonbelievers? The way that God maintains the physical world is, He raises up leaders of authority and makes them collect tax. If there was no authority or leader, then the world would fall into a state of anarchy, chaos, and confusion. If we did not pay the taxes, then there would be no lawmakers, there would be no police officers to enforce the law, and all the signals would be out of function, so whoever is strongest would drive first. It would be a state of utter confusion, so the way God maintains structure and order is to set up an authority, we pay taxes, and they maintain this order. So, people with authority will take people who do something wrong and put them in jail, and if we didn’t have that authority, how would this world function?
(3) Give to everyone what you owe them (Rom. 13:7)
Romans 13:7 says, “Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor,” so the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus Christ with this question of the tax, but He answered in a way they couldn’t imagine. “Because Caesar’s face is on this coin, give it to Caesar,” but then what does He say after that? “And to God what is God’s,” but the Pharisees are not giving what is God’s. The disciples are right next to Jesus, seeing how He responds to this question that was actually a trap for Jesus. In the kingdom of this world, God is maintaining order through the authorities. Whether they are in their position because they put together a coup d’etat and forcefully took it, there must be some order.
2) Satan’s kingdom
But what’s more important is that Satan is actually in the background, moving the kingdom of the world. God is also invisibly moving His Kingdom. Then, what is the system with which Satan moves the kingdom of this world?
(1) Me, my things, our strength (Gen. 3,6,11)
The very first thing he does is he makes us live centered on thoughts that are centered on “me,” that is Satan’s first strategy. Satan makes it so that we live our lives completely bound by “my thoughts” and “my emotions.” If our IQ is 150, then we have to live by that limitation, but if that person faces a problem that cannot be solved by our IQ, then they fall into that problem. When somebody faces depression but they don’t have the power to overcome that depression, then they’re seized by it, and that’s how Satan makes us live.
“Oh, I feel so bad today,” Satan makes us seized by our emotions. “Oh, that person is saying such nice words to me,” then we are seized by that. “Oh, I don’t like the words those people are saying to me,” then you’re seized by that. This is the same exact strategy Satan used in Gen. 3:5 invisibly. Because Satan is using that strategy, the wars will never end, because everybody thinks they’re right, “I’m correct,” that’s the reason wars happen. That’s why wars happen in the family as well, and that is the war in society. That is Satan moving society from the background, “I’m not God, but I think I’m right.”
And, my things, what I want, we’re so bound by that. We need to do what God desires, but I do whatever I want. Everybody’s perspective is different, there are some people who like the rain and some people who don’t, and for the people who like the rain, they like those who sell umbrellas, why? Because we need rain for umbrellas to sell. There are other people who like it because it is sunny. Who do you think the people who like the Sun will like? There are people who sell to people who like sunny days, but the umbrella salesman will hate the people who like sunny days because everybody has their own perspective and situation, and they like whatever they like, they are bound to conflict.
Then, beyond that, people say, “If we gather our strength together, not even God can stop us,” and they oppose God. That is the way that humans are going now, “If we use all of our strength together, we can travel to the moon, we can create satellites, and not even God will not be able to stop us,” but that is the system with which Satan moves, and even right now, the way children are studying is in that direction, so one day, they’ll worship an idol.
(2) Evil spirits, fortune telling, idolatry (Ac. 13,16,19)
People serve an idol for themselves, the reason they pick a religion is for themselves. They cannot leave themselves. Why do I do things today? For myself. That person can never escape from their problems, that person has no joy because they don’t have the ability to create joy for themselves; only God can give us joy. But if somebody is living centered on themselves, whatever they want, and gathering their strength together, then there is no joy.
Idol worship is a way for us to worship another god. Our greed? That is idolatry because we’re not satisfied with Christ alone, we are always greedy for more. We’re never satisfied. You are successful but you’re not satisfied; you’ve studied, but you’re not satisfied, isn’t that right? In Korea, plastic surgery is so popular. There are some people who are addicted to plastic surgery because they fix one thing and it opens up a new world for them. “Oh, if I got plastic surgery once and it opened up a new world for me, then if I get it again, it will be an even better world,” there are some people who try to show how strong they are by getting a lot of tattoos.
(3) Satan’s snare – Traps everything
I’m not talking about whether this is good or bad; you can do that, there’s no reason why you can’t. But the issue is, we don’t have confidence in our lives, we don’t have the true joy that makes us realize our life will be okay even without those things, so through these different things, we try to satisfy ourselves, so we’re eventually seized by Satan’s snare, we cannot escape. We cannot escape from addiction to drugs. Even if you don’t do drugs for 100 years, you’re still seized by that thought.
Even if I don’t personally kill this person, I’m always killing them in my thoughts because they hurt me. Kids will think that even about their parents, that is the snare of Satan. Just because you don’t physically kill someone doesn’t mean you’re not killing them because you’re always killing them and hating them in your thoughts, and one day, that will be revealed. It’s going to be revealed somehow whether it’s through your words, your actions, or your money; you’re seized by Satan’s trap.
3) God’s things
The main point of today’s message is, “Give to God what is God’s,” then to whom do you belong? To God or to something else? “My life belongs to me, why does it belong to God? I believe in God so that my life will be happy; if God is not going to make me happy, then why would I believe in Him? If God is not helping me, why would I believe in Him?” If there are any of you who think that way, your walk-of-faith might be hard because you haven’t escaped from yourself. You say, “My life belongs to me and if I believe in God, then it’s going to be good for me,” you need to completely escape from that. What does the Bible tell us?
(1) Cross – It is finished (Jn. 19:30)
John 19:30, Jesus says, “I have finished all the problems of your life on the cross,” in other words, “I have bought your life. I have received all of the curses and disasters of your life on your behalf, I have overcome the authority of Satan and hell, and I am with you as your Lord now, I have bought you.”
(2) Master of life (Gal. 2:20)
Gal. 2:20 says that the life I now live is now the Lord living within me as my Lord. If Christ is my Lord, then there’s no reason for me to do anything with my life now. My life no longer belongs to me; it belongs to God. If anybody agrees with this in their hearts, then they will have freedom. But even if somebody lives their walk of faith for a long time, if their heart does not agree with this, they will have many problems.
The gospel of the Lord says, “I have bought your life with the price of my blood, now your life is no longer yours; it belongs to Me.” I have a cat at home, and if that cat tries to live its own animalistic life, it’s going to be hard for the cat. Even today, that cat needs to struggle to find something to eat, and if that cat gets bitten by a bug out in the world, they’re not going to live long, but there is one way for that cat to live a happy life. All that cat has to do is to entrust his life to me.
What happens if the cat entrusts its life to me? We take him to regular hospital visits, so his life becomes longer and I have to worry and prepare everything he eats. Before he ever worries about it, I prepare for it in advance. There was one weekend this summer when my entire family went to Korea for a mission camp, so no one would be home, and I had to worry about the cat; the cat doesn’t even know I’m not there, so I prepared five meals for five days for this cat and I made two containers of water. I made two litter boxes for him because I have to take care of him, because that cat belongs to me, so the owner takes care.
To whom does your life belong? Answer in your heart right now and confess that every day. “Lord, You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” means, “You are my Lord. If You are my Lord, why do I have to worry about my life? The Lord will take care of that in advance.” But there are people who go to church but don’t believe in this. Their thoughts are so deep, and their IQ isn’t even 200, but they think so deeply, and because they are the lord of their own life, they have to think, but if you entrust that to the Lord, then the Lord will take care of that on His own.
(3) Gave themselves first of all to the Lord (2 Cor. 8:5)
So, the things of God, I myself have become a thing of God. 2 Cor. 8:5 says, “They gave themselves first to the Lord.” Today, we will talk about tithe and offering, but why does it feel like giving offering is a waste of money? It’s because you think the money is yours. But if you know that the money belongs to God, then you will give it to Him because the Lord will give it to you again.
(4) Offer every part of yourself to God as an instrument of righteousness (Rom. 6:13)
(5) Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1)
(6) Tithe and offering (Mal. 3:8)
Mal. 3:8 says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me.” but you ask, “How do we rob you? With tithes and offering.” God directly said this, then does that mean, just if I give tithe and offering, I’ve given everything to God? No. Yes, you can give offering, because that’s just part of you, but what God is asking is to give all of you to God. That’s why 2 Cor. 8:5 says, even before you give your offering, give your whole self to God, and then after that, following God’s will, give the offering to the church. Everything is fulfilled for God.
Romans 12:2 says, “Give your bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord,” and Romans 6:13 says to use your body as an instrument of righteousness because Christ has bought us on the cross, so we give our entire lives to God. To give our life to God means to live for His glory.
3. For the glory of God
1) All works – For the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31)
1 Cor. 10:31 says, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Should I eat this or should I not eat this? Whether you eat or starve, do it for the glory of God. “Should I do this or should I do that?” Do everything for God’s glory. “Should I move here or move there?” Do it for God’s glory.
Then what does it mean to live for God’s glory? Do you think that it glorifies God if you get a gold medal? Do you think that you need to succeed so much and then say to all the people that you’re doing this for God’s glory? Then, how many people do you think can actually glorify God? If only the gold medalist can give glory to God, there’s not a lot of people in this world who can give glory to God. If you think that being first place is the only way to glorify God, how many people do you think can do that?
(1) Not seeking my own good (1 Cor. 10:33)
(2) Seek the good of many (1 Cor. 10:33)
(3) Evangelism – So that they may be saved (1 Cor. 10:33)
1 Cor. 10:33 says, “I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, so that many may be saved,” to do what? So that they may be saved. In other words, the way to reveal God’s glory is to give them the gospel so they may receive salvation. For that purpose, I am living my life for the other person. The way to live for God’s glory is that, no matter what I do, I’m doing it for missions and evangelism. But there are some people who get really angry when they hear the words, “missions and evangelism.” Why do you think they get so angry? Because, “I have to live for myself, why would I live for other people? I’m busy enjoying my own life, why do I have to live for other people?” That person’s characteristic is they cannot solve their problem, that person is centered on themselves, and whether they go to church or not, it doesn’t matter, because they cannot escape from their own strength, and one day, when they face a problem they are not able to overcome, they are going to tremble and shake.
As I was doing my ministry, I saw that if somebody’s parents were very rich, well-educated, and well-off, then they physically don’t have a lot of problems, and they don’t know what kind of problems they have inside, so where does God work? God uses their kids. The parents themselves think they don’t have problems, but the kids have problems, and those become their problems. So, if somebody lives a life centered on themselves, they cannot overcome, but we live centered on the gospel, we live centered on God, we live centered on other people, and living like that is actually for me.
During the age of Noah, Noah didn’t build the ark because he went crazy. Everyone else was so busy living their lives, getting married, studying, going to funerals, and having fun with their friends, but Noah did one thing. Do you think Noah did not have friends or family? Noah built an ark for their salvation. Who is a friend? Noah is a friend, and that is for God’s glory. Ultimately, his family and children survived, so whatever is for God’s glory is actually for you. If you live for yourself, you will lose your life.
Why do we keep on coming to church, devoting and sacrificing for other people, and praying for the world? Because that’s for me. God tells you to live for God’s glory, but He has already prepared all the blessings of His glory for you. It may seem as if you’re living for the benefit of others first, but honestly, that is for me. That is God’s system. The principle of money is the same: if you use your money for missions and evangelism for helping people, then God will give you more because His Word does not change. Nothing belongs to me; we live for God, that is for “me.” But the world tells you the opposite, “You are important, your freedom is important. If you’re doing something and you don’t like it, get rid of it; you’re important. If your boss at your job is making your life miserable, then quit your job because your life is more important,” that’s how parents teach, and that parent teaches their kid like that. There is no God there, and if the entire world is living for themselves, that is war.
If the police officers are only living for themselves, they would give endless tickets so that they can make more money. They would make up crimes that don’t exist for themselves, or they won’t do their job at all, and there would be a lot of accidents. Whatever you do for other people is actually a benefit for you and your kids. You entrust your kids to the school but the teachers at the school need to be good in order for my kids to be raised well. If I’m running a business then I need to give good service and good products in order for them to come back to me with their business. If you are using very poor quality things and you are charging so much money, then the other person will come back to me with their business, then ultimately that’s going to damage me.
Think about it in the opposite way, let’s say you bless them and you pray for them, and you devote for their benefit. God said that whatever you do for missions and evangelism is for God’s glory, then that person will do that for me as well, so ultimately, it’s of benefit to me. The world does not work that way, it goes in the opposite way. Everybody works so hard but that’s not the issue because you’re working so diligently in a way that’s not going to work. The church is the last safeguard of the world, but if the church is doing that as well, then there’s no future for the world. The only hope of the world is the church putting their everything into missions and evangelism and saving the world. That’s what we call an elite. If you’re only taking care of yourself and your success, that’s not an elite; that is somebody who is living for their own opportunities, that is not an elite.
People in the families, the churches, the world, and the nation live because of people like this, we do intercessory prayer for others, we pray for their children. “Why would I pray for their kids? I have my own kids,” but that is for God’s glory, and in order for you to do this, God has prepared all the physical blessings.
2) God’s strength
(1) Filling and works of the Holy Spirit
The way that God works is through the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Creation, because the Word of God’s glory will never change. Missions and evangelism will never change. God has already prepared all of our blessings to do that work. If you’re lacking wisdom, then God will give you wisdom to fulfill His work because God’s glory will never be taken away. If I am lacking money to fulfill this work, then God will give me money. If I am lacking the manpower to live for God’s glory, then God will bring people to me, why? Because we are God’s image. The “image of God” means we are not God Himself. The image. The “image” means that God is revealed through us. It means that God’s Word must be revealed through me, and that only takes place when the Word of God becomes my standard.
But if that’s not taking place and you only live with your own thoughts, then you’re not revealing God’s Word, you’re revealing your own thoughts. Being the “image of God” means that the plan that God has placed into me is revealed. God is invisible to our eyes, but God’s plan of missions and evangelism must take place through me. God’s power must be revealed through me. It doesn’t matter if I lack the strength because God goes through me with His power to fulfill His plan.
(2) Authority – Witness to the ends of the earth (Ac. 1:8)
That’s why it says, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, when the power of the Creator of the Universe is upon me, when the power that overcame all of hell and death and Satan comes upon me, when the power of God that overcomes all failures comes upon me, you will receive power and be a witness until the ends of the earth.” So it doesn’t matter what you have or don’t have or how old you are, because God promised the world His power to fulfill His plan.
(3) Prayer – Concentration (Ac. 1:14)
The one who concentrates on that. If you don’t concentrate on this, you’ll concentrate on your problems, but the person who concentrates on God’s covenant, a problem will not be a problem for them, so stop worrying. It doesn’t matter how much you think about the things you don’t like; it would be fine if you were God, but you’re not. We cannot escape from our own experiences and thoughts; we’re trapped by those, some people read a lot of books so they can go beyond their own experiences and learn from the experiences of others, but that’s not enough. So, people try to listen to the stories of successful people so they can go beyond themselves. But we need to live our whole lives; it’s better to just give your lives to God, then God will take care of your entire life. It’s better for us to entrust our children completely to God so that God takes care. If you give your entire life to God, then God will move, specifically, that is the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you want to be filled with God, then you’ve got to let go of your own things.
If the cat in my house wants to receive the benefit of the master, then he has to entrust his whole life to me. But if that cat, who is not very bright and has only lived a few years, becomes very stubborn and doesn’t listen, he’s going to get hit. If the cat gets fleas and is suffering because of the scratches, and I need him to stay still so I can give him medication and he doesn’t, he is going to suffer. All you need to do is entrust your body for the Lord to take care of, then even beyond what you can imagine, the Lord will take care of it.
Are you suffering mentally? Or are you worried because of problems? I hope you will entrust yourself to God. The specific way to give your life to God is asking, “Lord, completely fill me with the Holy Spirit,” and let go of your life to Him. You can do that right now, not tomorrow, right now because if you do this right now, the Lord will work right now. You don’t know if you’ll die tomorrow; why would you wait until then? Do it now. We don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, so we do it right now. The way for us to entrust our life to the Lord right now is to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit and to give your life to Him.
So, why do we let go of everything in our lives and concentrate on worship on Sunday? So we can entrust our lives to Him. It’s not about worshiping so diligently, but you need to let go of everything and concentrate on Him for Him to give you His Word. If you’re firmly holding onto your own thoughts, then even if God gives you His Word, you cannot hold onto it; you hold onto your own thoughts. You need to let go of your thoughts, you must let go of your plans, you need to let go of all of your doubts and lack of strength, because when the Triune God becomes my background and works upon me. I will be a witness of Him until the ends of the earth, and that’s my favorite thing after believing in Jesus. I have no plan in life, and there’s no reason for me to be afflicted by problems because I can just give it to God, and sometimes when I am afflicted, it’s because I’m the master of my own life. My affliction doesn’t last for more than a day, because at night I pray, “I am not the master of my own life, and I need to entrust this to the Lord,” then my problems are over. Then, you will be able to see that God has already prepared all the blessings and works to live for His glory.
3) Field of world – Wisdom
(1) Holy Spirit gives you the words to speak (Mk. 13:11, Lk. 12:11)
When you go out into the world, there will be enemies who try to trap you or ensnare you with financial competition, and we cannot overcome that, but Mark 13:11 says, Jesus Christ will give us the words to say, “I will give you the words to say.” How will I run my business if I don’t know the future? “Just trust Me and listen to My Word,” that is the way for us to live.
(2) Be prepared to give an answer (1 Pet. 3:15)
1 Pet. 3:15 says, “But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” The one who has Christ as their Lord. Always be prepared so that when a nonbeliever comes and asks you, “What do you hope in?” then you can give them the answer. In other words, always be prepared with the Word to give to nonbelievers. In order to do that, Christ must be your Lord because the Lord gives you HIs Word. How can we evangelize well? You must have Christ be your Lord. What can I say to move other people? You have to give them the Word that the Lord gives you. If you’re running a business and you wonder, “What do I say to the person I’m meeting today?” you just pray for God to give you the words. “If I’m having a business meeting, how can I relay the words of God?” That person is living their life, separating the church and the world.
The owner of your job is God and He has entrusted you with this job. Do you think God doesn’t know? But you think God is the master of your job, so you think, “Why would God work in my job, He only works in the church?” because you think your job is your own. It belongs to God; God just momentarily entrusted it to you, so God gives you the wisdom, so ask Him. Stop worrying, thinking that it is yours. You have problems because you think it’s yours, but it’s not. You have problems because you think your kids are yours, you are facing problems because you think your life is yours. If you acknowledge Christ as your Lord, then God will give you the words to say. That is what you call a disciple. A disciple may keep the words of people as reference, but they do not follow them because the Lord is giving you His Word. The Lord gives you His Word through worship.
(3) 300% – Specialty, System, sense of the field
Now, we need to have something 300%. First, it is your specialization. If you don’t have a specialty, there’s no reason for people to go to you. Let’s essay, for example, there is a company that makes microphones, and there’s so much competition. The way we choose which microphone to buy is through the reviews; we don’t go through anywhere else, but it is because they are good and they need specialization. This specialization does not mean you’re good at studying. It means that God has given you a talent and God will take it to your specialization for His work. God has given each person their specialization that they can do, and that specialization must be aligned with the field in which they are living and working.
Because the markets in Russia and America are different, the things that work in Russia will not work in America. The things that work on the East Coast will not work on the West Coast because the market and the people are different. It must be aligned with the field, and you must prepare the system of people like you to save lives.
Conclusion
1 For the kingdom of God (Mt. 6:33)
2. Use everything given to you (Mt. 6:33)
Let’s say there is a doctor who worked so hard to get their medical degree, but they don’t join a hospital; they just wander around, diagnosing people every day. That person might find fulfillment in their life somehow, but it’s better if they make a general hospital, because I have my own specialization but I also need a neurologist, a surgeon, a pediatrician, and all these other medical fields, and if you make that, then the patients will come. Same thing with your business. If you don’t make a system where people can come to you, then you just work hard for no reason. If you don’t make a system for people to come to you for evangelism, and you’re just working hard, you will face a limitation.
3. 237, Healing, Future Generation – Temple construction
The church must make a system for people of all ethnicities to come. This church must make a system of healing so that those who are mentally afflicted can come and receive healing. The church must be prepared so that the future generations can come and be okay, and I play my role in that. Everything you do is for missions and evangelism, that is for God’s glory. So, no matter what you eat and no matter what you do, do it for God’s glory.
Same thing for the choir today. When the choir sings with such spirituality, the demons flee, and the doors of our hearts open wide, and when the words go into our hearts, we relay it out in the world. They are doing it for God’s glory, then God will pour all of the blessings on them for God’s glory because God must receive His glory. Your voices are getting really good, too. May you be the ones who have, relay, and enjoy this blessing throughout the week.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. Thank You for giving us the strength to return Your materials as offering for the Temple Construction, tithe, future generations, and missions. We thank You for giving us the grace to be able to give for Your glory. We believe You will bless us and work upon us so we may live a life that glorifies God by enjoying and giving all of the things that You have given to us for Your glory. 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. 10/14 (Sat.) LA Young Adult Retreat.
3. 10/16-19 Lecture for Mexico evangelism disciple class: Invited Elvia (El Salvador) for training.
4. Holy Wind on 10/31 (Tues.).
5. 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, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to live for God’s glory, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.