True Salvation Legalistic People Can Enjoy (Matt. 11:13, 28)
With the two verses we read today, I will also share about the Utah ministry from which I returned. The ministry done in Utah was done by more than two individuals, so I couldn’t go to all their fields, but these two individuals were my field. I wanted to go to this Mormon state, I’ve only heard about them and spoken about them, and I’ve wanted to go to the headquarters of the Mormon religion. I haven’t been able to go for three years because it’s been under construction. All the pictures I uploaded were about the Mormon conferences and the buildings I went to. I received the word from the pastor and his wife, though it wasn’t conclusive, this is how I understood it and am pursuing my ministry in that state.
I went to one of the conference buildings and it had a capacity of 40,000 people, and there was an upper level, and on every level, there was an area for missionaries, they go on missions for 1.5 years, and they come here to serve. They can only go on missions between the ages of 18 and 25. For the people who are older than that, I looked at the history of Joseph Smith, and they had those people serve on the first floor of that building.
Even before I went there, there was a group of people the pastor had met. He had come from Korea and was doing missions, so there were a few people who gathered. The Mormons said there were some missing years in the lifetime of Jesus Christ, and during those years, He came to America and did His ministry here. Mormons acknowledge the Old Testament and New Testament, and Joseph Smith received the Book of Mormon by divine revelation, and this began in New York. After Joseph Smith passed away, Brigham Young, his disciple, took that to Utah. This individual is still very famous and influential in the religion, and they have a renowned university named after him.
The scripture we just read today in Matthew 11, it says, “Up until John.” It means in Matthew 11:13 that all the prophets and the laws in the Old Testament ended with John. John was the person who came to tell people that Jesus would come. That’s why they called John the Baptist the final prophet. All the prophecies of the prophets and the law ended when Jesus Christ came, because these were all given to talk about the Christ.
I’m sure this doesn’t really hit your hearts, However, if this does not hit your heart in a strong way, you’re not able to give your answer to the people who believe differently, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Muslims. Seventh Day Adventists say you have to live according to the commandments. Even though I know Jesus Christ, I can’t give the answer to those people.
When I look at the Mormon people, they live pure lives and their goal is to become angelic. The women dress like they would in the old days, they wear floor-length dresses and long hair. Because the whole state of Utah was run under the Mormon religion, their laws are such that they would punish you for things like drugs.
They look clean on the outside, but they’re corrupt on the inside. Because it’s true they are under the federal law, in actuality, they operate under Utah laws, and the Mormon law punishes public trespasses or corruption. There are 12 leaders who move the entire religion. 12 Apostles, these leaders move all the Mormons. Right after Joseph Smith, the second in command was Brigham Young whom we spoke about earlier, and he’s the head of the 12 Apostles, he played the role similar to Simon Peter.
They received this revelation, but from where? It says these people received their revelation from angels just like Joseph Smith. This angel is actually corrupt and evil, they move all the Mormons with mystical, spiritual power. The physical way of life we can see is controlled by legalism.
The Mormon organization moves as a combination of mystical power and legalism, and on top of that, they acknowledge both the Old Testament and New Testament, and the way to tell them they’re not actually acknowledging the Old and New Testament is by proclaiming the Christ. You can only give them the gospel if you know what the Old Testament is talking about. These people have the nature from a young age about the rules of the Old Testament, so if you tell them to believe in Jesus Christ, they say they already do. If you tell them about the three positions of Christ, they say, “I already believe in Jesus.” You can never give them the gospel like that.
Explain to them, with the gospel, what they actually believe in: legalism and mysticism. In the exterior way, they have gotten rid of all the corruption and crime like drugs, and if it’s revealed, they’re severely punished for it. The Mormon organization controls 27% of the economy of America. You can see the Mormon organization is almost an independent nation. They own most of the large corporations like Pepsi and United. So yes, it is true that all the states have their own sovereignty within the United States, but you can see the Mormons have their own entity, their own education, and their own system.
On the outside, they look so clean and not corrupt because they strongly emphasize the law, and just like Jesus Christ talked about the Jewish people, they are whitewashed tombs. They are clean outside but rotting on the inside. That’s why a lot of corruption takes place inside their homes because they cannot reveal it outwardly.
Inside the homes, there is much sexual immorality. In LA, there’s a culture where you can partake in sexual immorality publicly, but in Utah, you have to conceal it in the home. They have the second highest number of pornography studios outside of San Francisco. Simply put, just as today’s Bible verse, Matthew 11:28, the weary and burdened must come to Jesus to receive rest, but they are burdened by legalism.
One grandmother is still alive now, and she’s a direct descendant of Brigham Young, and she’s a historical scholar and she’s writing a book on where Mormonism went wrong. She was there, and her ancestor or great-grandfather was the leader of Mormonism. The Mormon organization cannot do anything to her because she’s the direct descendant of the second leader of Mormonism. There’s a community of a few hundred people who were born into Mormonism, received Mormon education while young, but they heard of the gospel and are now ex-mormons. There’s a pastor in charge of them, and he shouts loudly in lectures about the wrongdoings of Mormonism every week.
I gave my Wednesday night worship there, and I thought, in the Roman nation, there was the Israel colony, and there, there were 120 disciples. In the same way, in the superpower nation of America today, they live legalistically but there is a minority of Christians within that space. I gave the message there with Acts 1:1, 3, 8, 14. I told them, “This is how you must do it. You need to take the legalism and mysticism of Utah and tell them why it must be only Christ. It must be by the working of the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God to overcome their transcendental, mystical power. You can only be a witness if you receive power from above. You must gather together and devote your prayers together.” That’s how the working of the holy spirit took place to evangelize from Judea all the way to Rome. The same thing will happen to them.
This is absolutely impossible with your diligence. I told them, “God has hidden 7000 disciples who haven’t bowed down to Baal for you to find, but this will only take place when you are within the movement of the filling of the Holy Spirit.” They told me they never did this before, so I told them to give early morning worship with the prayer journal messages or headquarters messages. “You must receive strength in the early morning.” I told the pastor’s wife, “Stop criticizing whether he’s good or not at giving messages. Listen to the good parts of the message. And even if both of you don’t show up, then just one of you give worship. That’s how the ministry of Mark’s Upper Room began.”
This isn’t just talking to the pastor but it’s more necessary for all of you. Everything you’ve learned is about the law, “How can I live today? What can I give to God?” This is irrelevant. You’re supposed to live for the Kingdom of God but instead you live for your own things. What do you think your kingdom is? It’s whatever you dream for your life, you use your efforts and life to get that. That’s why you start every day with only Christ, God’s Kingdom, and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Then you receive the answers of God about the 70 disciples in the 70 nations to save the 70 regions and 70 tribes. Without this, the person is completely irrelevant to God, and the result for their lives is they carry their own heavy burdens and fall by themselves.
When I look at the Mormon organization, there is an apartment where the Apostles live. This person from Hawaii was an ex-mormon and is now a pastor, and we wouldn’t have known this, but the council board lives in this apartment building.
Your early morning must be happy and joyful. If your early morning is not joyful, you will have to wander to find joy. In the early morning, you are alone, but if you’re unhappy while alone, what will you do? Will you be happy while making money? You’ll collapse. If God has given you the gospel, enjoy the gospel joyfully. The person who is happy must do that work for the work to be the work that saves people. That’s why Jesus Christ told the Jews, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
The Jews are burdened by legalism. The Law is the Word of God, but they try to keep the Word externally. They’re angry on the inside but they want to murder on the outside, but they don’t realize the anger is murder. They’re in a state that cannot fundamentally save them, so they try to upkeep external appearances. Imagine how hard that is. They get a little relief if they make a little money because they rely on the physical things they see, and their spiritual state is continuously depleting but they don’t recognize that. One day, when they face an incident, their internal state will be revealed externally, maybe in the form of cancer. That’s how we get the physical results of our lives we can see; but you cannot deceive the internal spiritual things.
A person’s life is determined by their spiritual state. Legalism is about deceiving the other person, “if I act like this or follow the law like that, I will get people’s acknowledgment,” but that’s not how it works and Satan attacks that person’s spiritual state. That’s what it means to not know Satan. If you don’t know how to protect yourself from being destroyed, then you don’t know Satan. What would you do if you really knew Satan? You would know that you have no hope by yourself so you have no choice but to go into the power of the gospel of God.
I told this to you last week, but there was a pastor who went to a mental hospital for a month. The reason he was admitted to the mental institution was, before he realized it, he would hang himself by a noose. I asked him, “Why do you think that happened?” He says he was reporting to the IRS and was overcome with guilt, it means he was charging people a lot unnecessarily. I don’t know if he actually received more than is the standard in the industry, but he felt, “I’ve received too much money.
Most people without a conscience will receive the money and spend it however they want, but the devil oppressed this person with guilt, “I shouldn’t be alive.” What must be done for this person? He was someone who used to protest public companies for their fraudulent practices, and because these were public companies, he would try to report them and knock them down however he could, and that’s how they lived. He’s someone who is extremely legalistic and completely rooted in his own righteousness and cleanness. I told him, “That’s why President Noh or Congressman Noh committed sucide because these are all people who emphasize their righteousness.” Even though people cannot be righteous, they brag about their own righteousness, and when they find a corrupt way to make money, the devil oppresses them with that.
The same thing happens everywhere. All these people live very clean, pure lives, even if someone is able to live a clean and ethical life without Jesus Christ, if they have a hint of corruption inside of them, even if it’s someone like a secretary, they can’t handle that guilt trip. I was like that too, I thought I was righteous, but you’ll die like that. Later on, if your actions go a little bit astray, the devil will play with that. He pushes you into suicide liek that. The pastor wasn’t even aware of hanging himself, it just happened to him, and inside the mental institution, his ego broke.
He said this himself and he was liberated from that. Your ego, your righteousness is the core with which Satan moves you. That’s what happens if you live as a legalistic person. Those are all the faiths based on the Old Testament which is basically the law, including the Jewish people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, these are all groups that try to live according to their own righteousness, and then you won’t know that you’re a sinner. They think they’re living according to the Word of God well, and they do not know the gospel of the cross, but if you talk about the cross with them, they say they know Jesus Christ, even though they don’t know the gospel.
“Yes, Jesus Christ died on the cross and resurrected,” that’s how they know Him. But Col. 2:16 says, “Do not associate with people who judge others based on the food they eat or the festivals they keep because Jesus Christ has fulfilled all the law.” There’s no reason for us to do that a second time. God gave us the feasts to show us the Christ Who is to come, and now that Jesu s CHrist has come, we don’t have to talk about the feasts. The Bible says to not keep talking about the Sabbath, because Christ finished it, every single day is the Lord’s day. The government determined Sunday to be the Lord’s day, because every day is the Lord’s day, and He gives us rest.
Instead of living your whole week centered on yourself, whether you’re able to keep the Word of God or not, begin each day with the true rest that comes from Christ, the Kingdom of God, and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, the kids wake up every day and are oppressed by their studies. The kids who have completely given up will not be oppressed, but those who try a little will be oppressed by their studies. First and foremost, when people wake up in the morning, their mood will be ruined by the people they don’t want to see at their jobs. If someone feels a little sick, they’ll be upset that they have to go to work; that’s the person’s present reality.
That is who we are, but the Lord has come into us as our Lord and King, He is establishing His Kingdom within us, and we must establish that spiritual state every morning. You need to begin your day with the prayer for the filling of the holy spirit, the filling of the power of God from the throne of heaven, first within you, then to be relayed to the rest of your fields. That is how perfectly God has prepared everything as the Lord resurrected and gave us the Holy Spirit.
However, in the name of our diligence and hard work, we toss that aside and live by our own hard work. It’s fine if you have some diligence remaining within you, but the moment you burn out, you’re going to face a downturn and it will continue to repeat, going up and down. But if you look at this and realize you have no hope for yourself, you must receive God’s grace. If you still have some kind of hope or ignorance about who you are, you must experience this more, because this is a person who has not experienced the cross.
They are in a state like Simon Peter was when he ran away from the cross. WIth that kind of state, the most you can do is catch fish as you did before. It is impossible for you to go into the blessing of world evangelization. If you’ve experienced the cross, it means you’ve experienced what it means for Christ’s death to be your death, and for Christ’s life to be living within you. For such people, the Kingdom of God is bound to be established within them, and instead of praying unnecessary prayers, they will pray for the Holy Spirit to come within them.
This is the work in Acts 1:14 where they were together in one heart and did their prayers this way. It’s impossible with your hard work and your incorrect gospel. Yes, you may reveal something, but the more you, who are so tiny, go into the great structure and organization, you’ll face discouragement, “I can’t do it,” and that’s normal for you to feel that you cannot do anything in this tremendous world. Yes, you really cannot do it, but if you put your hope in your mentality and ego, you still haven’t come to your senses; you’re someone who is far from the cross.
When I say that I cannot do it, it means no matter what I try, the only result from me is Genesis, 3, 6, and 11. At the very best, I will live my life as Satan’s play thing. If you knew that, you wouldn’t live like that. That’s why it’s only Christ. Without only Christ, there’s no way for you to change yourself or save yourself. If you think you’re okay or your personality is better than others or you live more ethically better than others, you’re far from the cross.
Isaiah says our good deeds are like dirty rags. Yes, from the perspective of people, we can compare whose actions are better than others, but in the eyes of God, all people are sinners. The reason is because the gospel hasn’t gone into you yet. In Gen. 3, we became like God, determining what is right or wrong, who is better or worse. But if the gospel goes into you, you stop comparing yourself to others. You look at others by God’s standards, not by their actions. You look at what God has given to them and how God is using them; that is the eyes with which those who have the gospel can see.
But if you’re centered on yourself with you as your own center, you look at people based on your own actions. Already, you’re in the position of God, judging other people. That’s not the gospel. We’ve heard the gospel a lot but in reality, we don’t have the gospel; we’re legalistic. The law kills people, it cannot save people, but evangelism is about saving people. It doesn’t matter how much you talk about Jesus Christ; if you’re filled with the law inside of you, then even when you talk about Jesus, you’re killing people.
I told these two individuals, “It’s normal for you to not get along with your spouse. For me as well, I live my life so centered on mseyefl, but God allowed me to realize this later.” The pastor’s wife is trying to change her husband with her standards, and she thinks it’s good but its’ killing him. That pastor’s wife thinks she’s helping him to become better, but she’s taking the position of God. Acknowledge the other person’s weakness, but why do you try to make them perfect with your correct words and actions? Don’t you think God made you this person’s spouse to help the places in which they’re lacking?
That is how you come to the conclusion, “I have to help the other person.” if you’re trying to correct or change them, that is when Satan works. But God says, “The more you try to help that person, they will receive God’s grace, and in God’s time schedule, they will realize and change.” But some people constantly criticize their husband or wife. That is not the gospel. They’re extremely centered on themselves and they keep emphasizing this. The other person does the same exact thing to them. The only thing that remains is war, and when time passes, even living is so hard. That’s why they have to live, separated from each other so they don’t see each other, and when time passes, they just have to part ways.
Changing someone with the efforts of mankind is foolishness; you need to acknowledge them exactly as they are because you yourself are not perfect. When that person sees me, there’s more than one or two things that’s frustrating, but there are also frustrating things about me, but God sent me that person to help that person with the areas that are frustrating. Both people say words that are correct, “These are your areas that are lacking,” so that’s why people fight, but as long as you are gospelized in the family, it will work. If you don’t have the gospel and yo have the law, how can you save anyone in the field? At first you can talk about the gospel, but boht sides won’t work out because they always talk about the law. The law reveals sin and drags you to death.
God is using the Mormon religion to show us the gospel, but it must start with the family and early morning worship. Restore this first. We all live the life in the same way, that is why we need the gospel every day and to acknowledge other people because God is the One changing us, but if you are the master, trying to change other people, they won’t change because this is by the Spirit of God. If you’re doing your ministry, trying to change this person, they will not change. You need to entrust it to God so that, by the movement of the Holy Spirit, the law may be fulfilled in them. Whatever they are lacking, you must help them.
God put you into their life as their best friend to help them, not to make them perfect. If you receive the gospel within your family, you can save everybody because everybody is part of a family. But are there any of you guys who hear this and you talk about the gospel and your life is not the gospel? That is someone who is unable to apply the gospel. They are talking about the gospel but they’re actually talking with the law. We need to actually talk about the gospel and play the role to help them receive God’s guidance. But instead, if we have our own standards of life and we’re trying to shove them into a mold, there’s no happiness there.
I’m going into this from Mormonism, but you need to save yourself and your family before you save anybody else. Moreso than talking about a specific order, I’m saying how important it is for you to receive the gospel first. That is how specifically you’ll be able to save those who are stuck in religions of the Old Testament. Unbelievers don’t take this at all because they’re people who live however they want; if you talk about the laws of the Old Testament, they won’t accept it. There are some people who talk about the True Prophet, True Priest, and True King to unbelievers, but those words mean nothing to unbelievers, then that is someone who just takes this template of the gospel and shoves it into a field they know nothing about. The unbelievers have never even heard of the Garden of Eden, tey don’t care if the fruit is an apple or a peach; these are only things that believers are interested in; unbelievers have no interest in that.
You have to give the answer to the problems the unbelievers are stuck in right now. That’s what it means for you to know the field; for the Mormons, you need to know the field of the Mormons and give your answer within that. So I’m reporting back to you the things I saw in the mormon field. Especially the people who talk about the Old Testament, all the people who emphasizes the words of the Old Testament and live according to it are heretics. That’s why they emphasize the Old Testament with their lifestyle and the feasts, but if you don’t know any of them, you cannot save any of them.
You just shouting “Christ,” isn’t’ the gospel; you need know the relationship between the gospel and the law very surely. You need to receive the power of God that transcends the mystical powers the 12 Apostles receive from angels in order for you to overcome.
Prayer
I’d like for you to pray at this time. The area I went to in Utah is Salt Lake city, and that’s where the headquarters is. Even though we pray for them every morning, let us pray for Pastor Kim and his wife, for them to become gospelized, that is how they will save the Mormon legalism. Let us pray together.
I did not stay at a hotel there, but I stayed at their home for two days, so for two days, I had team ministry with them where I was able to talk about the deep aspects of life. There were not a lot of fields there to see from begin with, but I thought, “There aren’t many fields to see; these two individuals are the field.” They live a very difficult life, so I even gave the offering I took to Utah to them. I said, “It’s not that much,” but honestly, I should’ve just given them everything I had, but my vessel isn’t that large. For the Navajo people, I gave everything I had; I just gave a portion to these people.
Because of the extent to which these people have been raised up, they’re not seeing the field of Utah either, but I see it differently. People think they’re not doing much there, but just the fact that they exist there is the beginning of the spiritual battle. They’re very thankful that I went. I even treated them out to a meal because I thought my mission was to give them as much strength, physically and spiritually, as I could. Because I’ve seen the field, I want to share this with you.
Our Nigerian friend is going to Tanzania to receive training for at most one year. There, there’s Pastor Lee who does the largest ministry there. He used to go to the same church I did while in Korea, so I sent Charles there. I’m sending him there because the missionary said, “Let him come, we have a mission home.” It’s important for him to see that field because he will do his pastoral ministry in the future. The plane ticket is expensive, it’s $1000, because they don’t go straight across Africa, they go through Dubai.
I asked if he’s receiving financial support from somewhere else, but he said not at all, it’s only from our church. So I’d like it if our missions offering can help this young adult receive training by funding his plane ticket. I think in the future, we will also have to go to Africa as well. Because we’re so far apart, it’s hard for me to get a sense of what’s going on there, so I have to interrogate, “What kind of support is he getting, what kind of person is he?” It takes a long time to analyze. I think if God gives us the grace, it will be better for me to go into the field and to see the field to see it properly.
The plan I have to guide this young adult is for him to receive training at most one year in Tanzania, but to stay connected in Remnant University so he can continue to do his ministry there. Because he’s in a situation where he cannot receive mentorship or training from anywhere else, he’s getting intense training now. If we don’t help him receive this training where he’s completely standing before God with his finances and raising a church there, we cannot help him. He will not be able to save the field that way. In terms of the finances and offering we send him, talk to Tim, but it’s been approved by the missions department. Let us pray for Africa missions, and world missions of Ethiopia and Kenya.
It’s a great blessing for the Karin young adults and Camron to receive training here. They’re at the proper age to do missions, and all the pastors I did training with, God just guides us through the ages and leads us in the life saving movement. These young adults are trying to find an apartment to live, but they aren’t able to yet. They need an income six times greater for them to pay rent. You need to buy a house for mission home or they have no choice but to come into the church.
I’m giving you a prayer topic now for a mission home for the remnants and the church workers. God has to be the One Who answers and fills your needs, and these are the needs before us now. Let us pray for the remnants here with us today and especially pray for El Salvador and Mongolia.
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and communion of the Holy Spirit, be upon all the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to save themselves, the church, and the field through only the complete gospel of Jesus Christ, be with us from now until forevermore always, amen.