2025.11.23 Sunday 1st Service
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-18
▣ Introduction
1. Restore prayer – Reviving the soul, body, and brain
Jesus taught prayer together with the gospel before He left. Because your soul is collapsing, your body is collapsing, and our brain is collapsing, He taught the prayer that revives that. You must absolutely restore this.
1) Bartizan (the beginning of answers to prayer) – Thoughts and prayers are imprinted in the soul and the throne and become a bartizan inside me.
When this prayer takes place, a bartizan is formed inside me. That is the beginning of answers to prayer. The reason I keep telling you not to fall into unbelief is that unbelief becomes my bartizan. So what becomes imprinted in the brain never disappears. There is someone I know who was arrested for doing drugs and stayed in prison for a long time. After he came out, the drugs were out of his body, but because they were imprinted in his brain, he could not overcome it. Right now your thoughts and prayers are imprinted in your soul. They are also imprinted in the throne. This becomes a bartizan.
2) Journey – From that time, the path becomes visible.
When it becomes a bartizan, from that time the path becomes visible. That is what we call the journey.
3) Guidepost – The answers Jesus promised come. Evangelism and missions become visible.
Then even such difficult evangelism becomes visible. From that time, the answers Jesus promised begin to come. World missions becomes visible. That is what we call the guidepost.
2. This answer came upon Mark’s upper room – Because they were about to walk a difficult path, they needed this power.
This answer came upon Mark’s upper room. Why is that? Because they were about to walk a difficult path, they needed this power.
1) To overcome the world, a different power is needed – Jesus’ forty days of request
Nothing else is needed. Your children must go into a difficult world. That is why they need this strength. No matter how much you study and strive, to overcome the world a different power is needed. Jesus earnestly asked for this for forty days. That covenant has been fulfilled in today’s passage.
2) The early church facing its greatest crisis – Condemned as heresy, evangelism forbidden, cut off from society, imprisonment, execution
Now, what is it that you must know at this time? The early church is now facing its greatest crisis. The state condemned the early church as a heresy. At that time, it was an era of a totalitarian dictatorship state, so once the state made a law, no one could stop it. And they banned evangelism. Even that might be tolerable, but then they cut them off from society altogether. What would you do if you were in that situation? If you share the gospel, if you evangelize, they imprison you by law. And if you keep doing it, they execute you. What would happen then? It is a crisis.
3) A world where what is wrong is rampant – Do not be deceived.
It is a world where what is wrong runs rampant.
(1) Rome – Conquering the world, making nations into colonies, buying and selling people as slaves
Rome conquered the world, made nations into colonies, and bought and sold people as slaves. That is wrong. That is the world where such things run rampant. First of all. That is why people are deceived. We can easily all be deceived. While that is what is rampant.
(2) The theories of the Jews – The idea that you receive salvation by keeping the law, their messiah concept, their chosen-people concept
The theories of the Jews are wrong, but they dominate. “You do not receive salvation by faith; you receive salvation only if you keep all the laws.” That is the theory of the Jews. It may sound good, but it is impossible. “The Lord is not the God of other nations; He is the God of our nation.” That is wrong. “Christ is not the Messiah who will save the world; He is the Messiah who will deliver our nation. Therefore, we are the chosen people, and you are Gentiles.” That is wrong. But that is what is prevailing. People now begin to hold on to what is wrong.
(3) Giving up and running away
And it does not end there. They give up and run away. Jesus healed people with incurable diseases, but when Jesus was executed on the cross, should not at least one person have appeared? They all ran away. He performed miracles and even saved those who were about to starve to death. Yet everyone ran away. About one hundred twenty people remained, right? He had saved tens of thousands, but they all ran away.
3. He gave an unimaginable promise on Mt Olive, and that word has been fulfilled (Acts 1:8).
But God gave them an unimaginable promise. That is what you must hold on to today. Especially, He promised what kind of blessing the church leaders and remnants must receive. The promise Jesus gave on Mt Olive has been fulfilled. Three things. The word that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses to the ends of the earth” has been fulfilled.
▣ Main Message_ The fulfillment of Acts 1:8
When you face a great crisis, what must you do? You will face it. You must work in this crisis-filled world, so what must you do? You ought to lead the world, but instead you are being dragged along by it. What must you do? It is three things. Jesus Himself promised them. “If you receive only the filling of the Holy Spirit, you will receive power. You will be My witnesses to the ends of the earth.” He clearly said so. That has been fulfilled.
1. When the Holy Spirit comes on you (the filling of the Holy Spirit) – Spiritual summit (spiritual king)
“When you receive only the filling of the Holy Spirit.” He said, “When the Holy Spirit comes on you,” but to be exact, He was saying, “Just as John baptized with water, immersing people in water, you also will receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” What is the very first blessing you must receive to live in this world? It is the spiritual summit. God has called you as spiritual kings. Summit means king. The Bible says He has called you as spiritual kings. You must believe this.
1) A royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) – Because we must proclaim the light (churches closing, spiritual problems, mental illness)
Peter said, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.” Why? Because you must proclaim this light. You must believe this. Otherwise, you will never be able to lead the world. The door of evangelism and world missions will never open before you. The churches of the world are closing their doors right now. It is urgent. At least our church must do the evangelism movement. Spiritual problems and mental illnesses have doubled. It is a big problem. Almost forty-four percent of school children are now taking medication for mental illness. The problem is that the church has absolutely no interest in this. What are they interested in? What do they care about? That is the important question. How will you overcome this crisis? Do not be shaken; become the spiritual summit. Receive the filling of the Holy Spirit.
2) A work that no person can stop – A wind-like and fire-like work (Acts 2:1–4)
Then today, a wind-like and fire-like work took place. What does that mean? It means that a wind-like and fire-like work took place that no person could stop. When a typhoon warning is issued, you must be careful. You cannot defeat a typhoon. Right?
3) The power by which God changes us – “They have had too much new wine” (Acts 2:13)
Others saw this and misunderstood. “They must be drunk on new wine.” I cannot do it, and you cannot do it, but God has revealed the power that changes us. That is the spiritual king. You must believe this word. This is what Jesus said. He completely changed me. God changed me, who was so powerless and poor, into an evangelist. You do not need to wait for some experience. You must believe. The seven remnants received exactly this blessing. They stood before kings and testified. They were spiritual kings above the kings. How great is God’s blessing? He has called you as spiritual kings, so go as the spiritual summit.
2. Go to the ends of the earth – Function summit (king of the field) – Preparing myself, the field, and the future (300%)
The second is what? You must believe. “Go to the ends of the earth.” What does that mean? He has called you as kings in the field. That is what we call the function summit. This is how you win. That is why we speak of 300%, preparing yourself, your field, and your future.
1) People from fifteen nations who would evangelize the world – He called them as summits and made their work into summits (Acts 2:9–11).
In today’s passage we read that there were people from about fifteen nations. These are the people who would evangelize the world. God has called them as summits. From this time on, God has made your work, your work field, and your studies into summits. Carry out world evangelization.
※ When you believe, a bartizan is formed.
Because almost no one believes. When you believe, a bartizan is formed. God has called you as spiritual kings. God has called you as kings who save the field. That is the summit. You must believe this.
As I said before, in the past the most difficult thing for me was evangelism. It was difficult because of my personality and my nature. I was someone who could not and did not know how to evangelize at all. The churches had no power. They did not know what they were living for, and our churches were so poor and powerless. One day I realized, “God is the Creator. Then why must we be so poor that we cannot do anything? God is the Almighty. And we have received the right to call that God ‘Father.’ Then why can we not evangelize?” From that time on, I prepared. I became prepared 300%.
※ The filling of the Holy Spirit is 300%
What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? It is preparing 300%. Whatever crisis you face, you must absolutely hold on to this covenant.
2) The power to see the future – Children (prophecy), young people (visions), old people (dreams) (Acts 2:17–18)
And what else does He say? “Your sons and daughters will prophesy.” When you hold this covenant today, “your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” What is that? He grants the power to see the future. This is the function summit. God has first called you as spiritual summits. You must not lose this. Even a young Remnant, although young in age, can be a king spiritually. They must serve their parents, but even in the family they can become kings of prayer. They all received that answer. Then the function summit has no choice but to follow.
3) The word God gave to Joel is now being fulfilled (Acts 2:14–21)
At this time, Peter said this: “We are not drunk on new wine. What you see is what God spoke to the prophet Joel being fulfilled now.” That is right. If you have just these two things, there is nothing to fear.
3. You will be My witnesses – Culture summit (king who overcomes darkness and saves the world)
Finally, what did He say? “You will be My witnesses.” What does that mean? You will be kings who change the world, simply put, kings who overcome darkness. That is the culture summit. He has called you in that way. Today, you must not lose hold of this. It is true that this word seems too great and impossible to bear, but He has called you as kings. Does that feel real to you? God has called you as spiritual kings who can overcome and save the world. That is the spiritual summit.
※ Joseph, who went as the spiritual summit and held the covenant of “world evangelization,” and Elisha, who asked for a double portion of the spirit – When even one person receives the answer, no matter how deep the darkness, they will win.
The seven remnants realized this quickly. Even though Joseph’s brothers were very smart, what they knew had nothing to do with this. That is why they complained, “Why are you treating Joseph so well? We feel offended.” That is the state of ninety-nine percent of church members. Right? “Why are you showing favoritism?” That is how they always lived. The brothers lived that way. Joseph went as the spiritual summit and held on to the covenant of world evangelization. He went out after already having obtained the answer.
Pastors must remember this. Ninety-nine percent are interested in Gilgal, interested in Jericho, and interested in Bethel. Elisha was not like that. “Let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” Simply put, “Let me first become the spiritual summit.” Then life is revived. Even if there is thick darkness, if just one of you receives the answer, you will win. You must believe this now.
1) Three thousand disciples (Acts 2:41)
So “You will be My witnesses” means “You will become the culture summit.” What happened? Three thousand disciples arose, even though they tried to stop them.
2) The Word came alive and worked, the preciousness of the church members, the importance of the servants of the Lord and of prayer (Acts 2:42)
And what else? The Word came alive and began to work. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship.” What does that mean? They realized how important the church members are. “To fellowship.” Only those who have truly received salvation can do this. Then they will never speak carelessly about church members. Right? Because they are the people God has called, how can I speak carelessly about them? They laugh at people with spiritual problems. Why do they laugh at them when that person is God’s person? We carelessly condemn others. Those who have received salvation cannot do that. “To fellowship,” it says. “This person is so precious.” Right? A pastor who has truly received salvation regards every church leader, church member, and Remnant as extremely precious. Right? They are people who have received salvation. “They broke bread.” That means they had the Lord’s Supper. “They broke bread.” Those who have truly received salvation know that the important thing is not the pastor himself, but the pastors and the servants of the Lord who preach the Word. That is what it means. “Prayer is important.” “They devoted themselves to prayer.” Today, the kind of prayer that works as a living power must arise among you.
Take these three with you. Truly receive the blessing of being like spiritual kings, become the spiritual summit, and save people. They will live. Become the king of the field, the function summit that saves the field. You must save those who are trapped in darkness. Then become the culture summit. This is what Jesus said.
3) The economy of light – Offerings (Acts 2:43–45)
From that time on, they began to give offerings, and although we did not read the rest of chapter 2, this is the economy of light. The offerings you give are the economy of light. You must remember this. Only those who know how to give offerings with importance can receive the blessing of economy. It is always so.
When I was an assistant pastor, I went around, ate out, and even went on outings. Since I was an assistant pastor with no money, I thought, “Well, I’m an assistant pastor and I don’t have money, so I don’t really need to give many offerings.” One day I realized, “No. My praising God, my prayer to God, and my offerings to God are extremely important.” From the day I realized that, what began to happen? Everywhere our teams went, the blessing of economy began to come. Just from realizing that one thing. In Mark’s upper room in Acts chapter 2 verses 43–45, it says that they gave offerings. Some people even gave all their possessions. That became the economy of light. The offerings you give are the economy of light. You must bear this in mind. It is extremely precious.
4) The power to save the world – Every day in the temple and in their homes (Acts 2:46–47)
Finally, what happens? They gain the power to save the world. “Every day in the temple and every day in their homes.” Today you must firmly hold on to this answer.
▣ Conclusion_ Ambassador of Christ
He said that you will be witnesses. Witnesses of what? Ambassadors of Christ. You testify of that.
1. Because they did not know the value of the gospel, the Jews, Macedonia, and Rome looked down on them, but the testimony arose all the way to Rome (the platform for world evangelization).
The testimony arose all the way to Rome. Everyone looked down on those in Mark’s upper room. The Jews looked down on them. The people of Macedonia looked down on them. Rome looked down on them. They could not help it, because their eyes could not see anything else. Not knowing the value of the gospel, they indiscriminately oppressed them. They killed and oppressed Christians to the point of misery. Ten emperors did that for two hundred fifty years. Why did God allow that? By that, He made all the platforms for world evangelization. No one can stop it. God has called you as spiritual summits so that you can shine the light in a place of darkness. He has called you as kings in the spiritual, functional, and cultural realms.
2. Not knowing that He has called us as a royal priesthood to proclaim the light in the darkness is the greatest sin.
If a king keeps doing shameful things, there is no worse king than that. He has called you as kings. God has called you as kings who save kings. A royal priesthood. Not knowing this is the greatest sin. You must repent of that. Right? If a child constantly doubts the parents and says, “Is that really my father? Maybe that is not my mother,” that child must be sent to a mental hospital. Right? That is a terrible illness. God clearly spoke to you. Because you must proclaim this light, He has called you as a royal priesthood. Right? He has called you as a royal priesthood, a chosen people, a holy nation. Why? Because you must proclaim the light in the darkness. You have never seen true darkness.
Right now, Remnants must be cautious when they go abroad. The recent incidents of that kind are nothing special there. People are being arrested and there is chaos everywhere. It is happening in so many places. How deep is the darkness? The police in those countries do not do anything. They do not. If your children get caught in the wrong place just once, do you know what some people do? They capture kids and lock them up. For what? If someone captured and locked up your child, what would happen? Why do they lock them up? To sell their organs. It is shocking. The church has been made worthless. Europe, America, everywhere. It is darkness. To shine the light there, because He needs only the light, He has called you as a royal priesthood. If you lose hold of this, you have lost everything. You must find it again.
3. Suffering – God’s special timetable (Joseph’s life as a slave, Moses’ years in Midian, Elijah’s fleeing)
What appears to be great suffering was actually God’s special timetable. The time Joseph suffered in Egypt was God’s special time. The forty years Moses waited in Midian with no visible answer was the most important time. The time Elijah fled, exhausted and in hiding, was the most important time.
※ Completion of worship – Hold on to the Word and imprint it through prayer, confirm what you will put into practice, confirm to whom you will relay this Word.
So today, whenever you hold on to the Word, you must imprint the answer you must receive. Then today, as you deeply pray, you must confirm what actual things you must do in order to enjoy this answer. And you must confirm who needs this Word and the answer you received today. When it goes that far, you have completed today’s worship. Just coming to the sanctuary, sitting, killing time, and dozing off before going home — that is something else. In worship, God’s Word must come to you. And you must pray. Imprint. Then even if you forget everything else, it is fine — imprint. You must at least pray briefly. “What actual, realistic answer will I seek out? Then what must I put into practice?” You must confirm that today. “To whom will I relay this Word?”
When I received this grace, one day I really called my friend. He did not believe. Then I remembered. “He and I were so close. We got along with everything, but he does not believe in Jesus.” That was a shocking realization. I had that thought, and then I was startled. I went to Daegu for a conference. It turned out that a very close friend of mine was living in Daegu. Because he did not believe, we had parted ways. An elder came and asked, “Pastor, do you know so-and-so?” I said, “Of course. He was my closest friend.” The elder said, “He is now living there after serving as the labor union leader at a factory in Ulsan. But he is ill right now. When I mentioned you, he said he knew you very well.” So after the Daegu conference ended, on Saturday, I went to visit him. Strangely, the day before that I had been thinking, “To whom shall I relay this gospel?” Our young adults listened to this message and called one of their relatives. When the relative answered the phone, he asked, “Why did you call?” He said that his relative then began to weep over the phone and pour out his story. We are missing some very important lines, important paths.
※ He has called you as spiritual summits, function summits, and culture summits who block the crisis. Do not be deceived. Prayer can heal your body, soul, thoughts, heart, and brain.
God has called you as spiritual summits, function summits, and culture summits who block the crisis. Do not be deceived. Prayer can heal your body. Prayer can heal your soul. It is certain. Prayer can heal the most fundamental part — your thoughts, your heart, and your brain. Today, I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ that you will absolutely enjoy this blessing. I will pray.
Prayer. God, let us receive a new grace today. Let us enjoy the living work of the Word being fulfilled. Let us receive the true strength that You give so that we can save the world. Our Remnants must study diligently. But grant them the strength to overcome the world. All our church leaders are doing important work. Grant them the strength to save the world. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.