What You Have Learned and Become Convinced Of (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
The students and remnants have to continue in what they have learned and become convinced of. What do you have to learn? You have to learn about God, that’s why through worship and the Word movement and trainings and conferences, God teaches us His Word. Once you’ve learned it, the next thing you have to do is to continue in what you’ve been convinced of.
If you say you know something, you know because you learned it, and it simply means you know it with your brain because it’s just knowledge, but unless you’ve learned it first, you can never be convinced of something. Once you have learned it, it’s important for you to become certain and convinced of it as your own. This conviction means you believe and are sure of it. That’s what the remnants must do.
If you don’t know this, you’ll say, “I already know this, why do you keep telling me?” But once you’re convinced of it, every time you hear it, it will sound new to you. This is the work that Timothy did, who learned from Apostle Paul while he was young, because it says in 2 Tim 3:15, “from infancy, you have learned the holy scriptures,” so he learned this as an infant.
John 5:39 says the scriptures tell of Jesus Christ. Ever since you’re young, you knew the Bible, meaning you knew what was said about Jesus. In Luke 24:27, it’s similar, so you’ve learned about how the Old Testament is about Jesus Christ, so you must be convinced. There’s a difference between being certain and convinced of something compared to being unsure. What you’ve become convinced of belongs to you.
If you’re convinced, the devil cannot budge against you. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the Creator God and even now, He is controlling all things with His Word. These are the things you must be firmly bound to. If you’re not convinced of this, you won’t see God’s work in all things. Because you don’t see God’s work in all things, all you see is yourself with all things. In your brain, you know God’s Word, but in reality, all you see is yourself and what you’re doing.
God is moving everything with His Word for sure, but because you’re not convinced and certain of this, you don’t see it in the world. The only problem here is that you’re not convinced in God’s Word. That’s why God gave the Word in Deut. 4:6-7, you have to repeat something a thousand times for you to get it. There’s a reason why kids repeat the same things to their kids, why? So it becomes your own.
The kids get so annoyed, “Why do you keep saying the same thing?” We keep saying the same things because these words haven’t become your own yet. When that happens, the parents won’t have anything to say, but the kids don’t know this and think it’s bothersome nagging. If you truly knew, you wouldn’t act like that; it hasn’t been applied to your life. Some kids run away from home because of the annoying nagging, but because the Word hasn’t gone into these kids, they will go into the world and suffer even more greatly.
You have to take this most basic word of God and tell it to the kids in various ways so they don’t realize you’re saying the same thing, over and over again. As you talk about the movie you just watched, you talk about the Word of God, so from that perspective, you see God’s Word in all things. If you don’t see God’s Word in the movies you watch, it means you haven’t been rooted in God’s Word yet. When you see what’s happening in Afghanistan and all the events in America and you don’t understand, it means you haven’t been rooted yet.
You have to remain until you’re rooted, otherwise you’ll look at all your circumstances through your experiences. You see it from your own perspective so it’s a problem, then from now on, what habits must you have? You have to remain in finding the answer of God’s Word in all the movies and books you’ve seen and read. Especially if you don’t find the answer in God’s Word that took place in the problem of your family, you’ll drift away and struggle until you find the answer, you’ll try to find some other answer, but all the other answers are lies.
God is working in all people, events, incidents, and things through God’s Word. You have to be able to see your future with the Word as well. Many people say their future is uncertain because they do not look with God’s Word. Your schools don’t teach you this, so you come to church and learn this Word until you’re convinced. When you look at Afghanistan, you have to see the answer through the Word, it doesn’t matter what you say about it, that’s what news anchors do, but the remnants must know what Satan is doing so they aren’t swayed.
Satan will try to get you to look for another answer, “The answer isn’t with God, the answer is within you,” and that’s how the world deceives you. “Leave the house if you have so many problems, why is it your problem? Find your own answer,” but until you find the Answer, the problems will repeat.
“Pastor, how can you speak with such assurance?” The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun, it’s the same things happening over and over again. Only God is eternal and new every day. If you don’t find the answer to your family problems and the problems of your past, present, and future in God’s Word, you’ll have to find something else.
You have scars from the past, right? If you don’t find the answer, Satan will always manipulate you. You have to find the answer, that’s how you can be liberated from your scars. Inside of a lot of things happening today, you must find the answer from God’s Word, and that’s why you come to worship because God is giving you such an accurate answer through His Word. You have to reflect on this to get the answer.
You need to ask the question to get the answer. Most people just eat and drink and don’t think about the questions, but elites think of questions. What happens if you don’t have the answer to those questions? You’ll go crazy and your mind is complicated, then you’ll have abilities to keep working but your mind is so complex, and if you keep going 10, 20 years, you’ll be mentally oppressed. I hope you will always take these questions and look for the answer.
If you don’t have a question, you’re a dead person. The dead person doesn’t need such things. When I come to church, I’m alive. But some people make a mistake, “I need to find the solution and fix this,” but this is God’s opportunity to find God’s answer. So it’s not just the Word but it must be the answer to all aspects of your life.
Anything that isn’t an actual answer is just a theory in my life. A theory cannot give the answer because I need the actual answer to the actual problem, not some useless theoretical concept. Jesus Christ is the One answer, and the Bible tells us all the different ways that Christ is the answer. You have questions like, “What is my talent?” but I’ve already delivered so many messages regarding your talents, and you are deceived because it’s not the answer you want to hear.
You cannot be your answer; only Jesus is the answer and that’s why God gives His Word during worship. People who cannot enjoy this answer cannot give this message to others because it’s theoretical, because you don’t remain in what you’ve been convinced of. My personality is that I ask a lot of questions. When I went to school, I was so shy and didn’t want to make the teacher nervous, I didn’t ask any questions, thinking it would interrupt the lecture.
Because I had all these questions, my life wasn’t secure, but now that I have Jesus Christ, all my questions are being answered one by one according to God’s time schedule. “Why doesn’t my family have peace?” I concluded other families are better than mine, and because I didn’t want my own family, I wanted to marry late so I could avoid pain as much as possible. Starting from then, I thought, “Why is my professional life so hard? Why are human relationships so difficult? What is the thing I’m best at?” I had all these questions, “Why do powerful people live like that, and why was I born into a family of poverty?”
I had these endless questions and because I wanted equality, I would protest. I had no other answer so I felt I had to strike. If I knew Jesus and the Word of God when I had those questions, I would have found my answer; instead, I went crazy without God’s Word, so my life was never stable. So, whenever I see people studying diligently without this answer, I don’t know if it’s because God called me a pastor, but I couldn’t do that.
When my parents fought, I would stay there until they became quiet. That’s my personality. My older and younger brothers would leave, and it’s better that I didn’t fight, and because of that, my personality is a bit more picky and afflicted compared to others. I believe in Jesus Christ but after that, I had questions like, “Why is the church like this?” Then when I first believed in Jesus Christ and went to church, I realized when pastors were speaking from personal experience or not.
Pastors speaking theoretically don’t impact me, because the pastor doesn’t even wrestle with his own questions in life, and it doesn’t seem real, so I stopped. It meant his lecture wasn’t an answer to my life. When I believed in Jesus Christ first, I had that level of arrogance. In reality, it doesn’t matter what anyone says, I just have to receive the answer God has for me, but I would be deterred by others.
When I went into the church, I asked myself, “Why do people ask for more work outside the church but avoid work in the church?” I thought, “Maybe they haven’t received grace,” but that’s not it. They have a different sense of “work.” Worldly work gives money, but work in the church costs your own time and money, and that’s why people don’t like working in the church.
At first, I didn’t know that, I thought, “Maybe they all lack motivation and are powerless living in Korea Town, and they don’t work because they lack strength,” and because of that, I lost strength. I used to think that, “Maybe instead of powerless people, I could have some strong people to help the Pastor,” and that could be right but it’s not the fundamental answer. Fundamentally, people misunderstand work, it is not God-given work, and it is not according to God’s Word. They listen to messages but the Word isn’t deeply imprinted, rooted, and applied to every aspect of their lives.
Then, do you know what I did? I didn’t give them any tasks at all because, with their personality, I couldn’t stand to look at their scrunched up faces, and I can’t endure to tell someone to do something they don’t want to do. Some people even talk back, “Why do I have to do that?” I’m a pastor, why do I have to hear that as I do the Lord’s work? I don’t have to fight, so I let them do whatever. Those who want to do the work will do it. If I tell them to do something, I’ll get something else instead, why? It’s not that people are bad, but the Word hasn’t gone into them; something else went into them and that’s where their answers come from.
I thought this time was a bit difficult, so I just let them go so they don’t disturb things, because if I pressure this person, they will gossip around the entire neighborhood, “This pastor pressured me and I didn’t like it,” and they’ll form some group. That’s not right so I made a resolution to put this anew into the remnants. That’s why, to the remnants, I give the Word of God about how they must properly give offering. Adults don’t have a choice because they will react based on what’s within them, then.
Why is your professional life so hard? Why is studying so hard? You have to find the answer and it’s not just the word, you can’t overcome with the word and staying in the church. You have to go deal with people in your professional life, then how will you find the answer to that? What’s the friendship or relationship you must have in relation to the Word? What solution through God’s Word will you use to control your money? What is the spiritual principle by which I will live my entire life? Start thinking about such things, one by one; there are many. These are the things you have to learn while young, and while you’re older, have this imprinted, rooted, and be your nature with certainty.
Just now, I talked about negative things, but don’t think that all adults are like that. Some adults do 100x more than what I ask, but if the word of God doesn’t go into you, you will mature incorrectly and everything will be difficult in life, at home, and in your job. Why? It’s because you don’t have the answer to your questions. You must know the answer and have it rooted in every aspect of your life.
Even though I believe in Jesus Christ, I’m oppressed when I listen to people. I thought about that a lot, I’m a child of God, I haven’t coordinated God’s Word regarding success and failure yet, but as I received the gospel, I wondered about the posture of the successful people. They look down on the pastors, and I wondered why. You shouldn’t look down on anyone; do they trust in their own knowledge? Why does such a person act like that? I’m afflicted by it and I have questions.
If I can’t find the answer to these questions, I’m afflicted, but finding the answer with God’s Word, I can overcome and can give the answer. These are the different ways that I find the answers in God’s Word and I relay this to the remnants. Yes, it is important to read a lot of the Bible, but this isn’t something you can gain by Bible studies and knowledge.
I could emphasize 200% all the answers God gave me through the Word. God never tells us to teach but we must be a witness. There will be even more in the future. So, you shouldn’t think, “I know the word.” Instead you say, “I don’t know.” Because if you ever say you know the Word of God, then if you face something you don’t know, you’ll say, “Oh, maybe God doesn’t exist.” Just like in today’s Bible passage, unless you know this while young, you can’t do anything when you’re older.
It doesn’t matter how much you want to try to do good things, you can’t. In fact, the more you succeed, the more you’ll go in a direction apart from God, and that’s why your life becomes so sad. Success is a good word but the person’s individual life is sad because when they succeed, God’s Word is absent. People suffer because they don’t have money, right? Actually it’s because God’s Word isn’t there, and they learned this while they were young. People commit suicide when they lose a lot of money because they don’t have God’s Word regarding that situation.
When you become adults, keep looking at the questions in your family, school, and life, and find the answer in God’s Word. Why does America have so many drug abusers? Why are there so many shootings? Why is America so rich? Do you have an answer to that? You have to have the answer, otherwise you’ll be swept up by American words and you’ll be swept up by Satan, the devil. If, during times like this, you’re able to find the answer to your questions by praying, holding onto God’s Word, God will save you.
You’re powerless in some aspects, why? If you don’t find the answer to that, you’ll continue to fall into your powerlessness. Where did this powerlessness come from? Did it come from me or my parents? You start here and find the answer fundamentally in God’s Word. What’s God’s answer regarding this? You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you’ll be witnesses, do you understand?
The more questions you have, the better. There are questions but if you say you don’t have any, then you won’t ask God anything. Write down the things that happened that you didn’t understand and pray to find the answer. It’s the same with your studies, you write down what you didn’t understand while studying, then you pray about it and try to learn it. The reason you don’t pray about your studies is because you don’t believe the principle of what you’re studying came from God, in other words, you don’t understand how God is moving the entire universe.
Do you think humans created the laws of the universe? God moves the universe with His Word, then the fastest way is to find the answer through God, then when you study, how you study becomes important. If there are any of you who are working, you will have many questions there. Try asking God all those questions. You must first ask questions to overcome your problems. May you stand as a witness to give this answer to others, that’s your actual, realistic walk of faith.
If you don’t do any of this, but you blindly throw the word at them, there’s an answer without questions. “You have problems, right?” That’s a question. “Do you have any questions?” “No.” You need the questions to have answers. Remnants have to start gaining this habit of finding the answers to questions, then as time passes, you’ll be more certain. A person must have this level of certainty.
You have to have this confidence to become like Joseph who had this confidence, he went into a completely new environment, but ever since he was young, he sought and found answers in God’s word, and 24 hours, God gives the answers to God’s Word. Why does God not give me the answer right now? It’s not God’s time schedule so we wait. Once we receive it, we’re revived and can teach others about it.
“I’m going to learn a lot of the Bible so I can teach it,” okay, but in order for you to do that, you have to have the answer from the Bible yourself and teach that. That’s the blessing God promised to give you while you were young.
I didn’t like it when my mom came to my school, because she’s short and ugly and didn’t have good skin, so I was too embarrassed for her to come to school and my mom realized that, “Are you embarrassed of me?” It hurt my heart, I should be proud of my mom, but it seemed like every other mom was beautiful and only my mom was ugly. I should have been able to say, “That’s my mom,” but I couldn’t. She only came for my graduation.
Later on, I received the answer. God put me in my mother’s womb so we could do certain things that only we could do, and before this, I was shy and timid. If you reject your parents, it means you reject yourself and you have no confidence, so you have to hide things and cover things up. My father never came to my school, maybe once for a ceremony, but I liked it when my dad came to school because he’s handsome, but my mom kept coming. These are the thoughts I had while young.
If you can’t find a solution, your thoughts will continue, but when I found the solution through the Word, I was liberated and I revere my mom the most. I don’t revere President Lincoln or General Lee, I respect my parents. I don’t revere President Biden, they’re not even comparable to my parents because they gave birth to me and devoted themselves to me, so they’re most worthy of reverence. This thought was restored in me when the word of God came in.
I judged myself as ugly while young because everyone told me I had a bad expression, and I was seized by that. I saw I had a bad expression when I saw myself, and because my heart was always in competition, I always had to fight people, I was used to living like this ever since I was an unbeliever, and my daughter has this stance. Everything is a competition, and I knew my past, so I told her, “Your future is going to be very hard.”
Some people came to the Young Adult Evangelism School yesterday and said, “You’re so young and handsome,” and another pastor said the same. It’s because when someone receives God’s grace in their heart, their expressions and faces will change. Because God gave me the grace to exercise at my age so I feel brighter as well, and I also look younger because I have the genetics where my hair remains black, but what’s most important is that God made me this way.
Have you ever seen God make a mistake with His masterpiece? God looks at me and says, “You’re perfect.” I hope you have confidence, I’m a child of God and God is my dad but inside if you say this because you’re a pastor, you’ll die. If someone’s a little different, you’ll be oppressed. You’re oppressed yourself, but you’re a child of God and God puts His spotlight on you, and you have to carry out your God-given work.
Then you don’t need to ask about what’s your advantages and what you must do to succeed; nonbelievers do that. But when you receive answers to your questions, you’ll be liberated. Because you’re constantly liberated from the things in your heart, it will show up in your face, so scientifically, I’m getting younger and more handsome, because the things that bound my heart to make me sad are being broken down, and because God made me very unique, this is God’s answer. Other people are also receiving God’s answer.
At one point, I was very sensitive about my nose. In middle school, the kids would be so conscious about appearance, and you had to be sensitive about your weight. I’m a little taller, and my wife said, “You’ve lost weight,” and I was concerned. Some people are overweight but why was I worried? They look at me and say, “I wish I were skinny like you,” but in my mind, I say, “I’m so lanky and skinny.”
May you receive all the answers in God’s Word. I’m not telling you to not get plastic surgery, it doesn’t matter if you do or don’t. That’s how plastic surgeons eat and survive, too. I don’t like my eyes, I want to bring the eyelids down, but I don’t want to do that. I could get a nose-job but I don’t want to; I want to live boldly for what God gave me, and don’t you think I could glorify God through this? When I was young, I didn’t have the answer so I was down on myself. Believe in God, when you’re certain about this, you will be confident in yourself.
It doesn’t matter at all what kind of family you’re born into, what nation you’re born into, but God did all that, so don’t compare yourself with anyone. I went to a wedding and someone was completely covered in tattoos, and I wondered why they needed tattoos. The Bible says that demon-possessed individuals tattoo their body. Ever since the Old Testament, they would brand their body with images of whatever they worshiped, but today, it is a form of self-expression and art. Before that point, they would tattoo things like tigers and dragons to exert their strength.
In Korea, there’s public bathhouses and people go in naked, and occasionally you’ll find a person with a tattoo of a tiger on their back and a dragon on their front. Depending on the size of the tattoo, it would symbolize them. Some would show off how strong they are by putting a cigarette butt. They have these outward expressions because they’re not confident. If you have enough skills, then you know, if someone messes with you, you’ll kill them, then you wouldn’t need a tattoo.
There’s two types of tattoos, like a permanent one and temporary ones, but why would you want to have permanent tattoos? Some people put tattoos of a cross on their neck. The devil won’t run away from that, even if you have a cross necklace, the devil won’t run from that. If you don’t have any confidence in Christ, you don’t have to do things like that. You’re already sure of your identity as a Christian. If you want to give a sign to others, you can wear the cross, but you don’t need it for yourself.
What I’m trying to relay to you is to question everything. Even things that cause you to give up or feel discouraged should cause you to question. Especially with everything that’s happened in your family, ask questions with God’s Word to change those things into blessings, and these are the things you’ve learned and have become convinced of, and God uses all those things to fulfill His good purpose.
Prayer
God we thank You. Bless the remnants. May You work upon them so they can continue to learn and become convinced of all of these things. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.