Sunday 2nd Service / Lay Missionary Dedication Service
Title/Scripture: The Promise of the Throne That No One Can Take Away (Matthew 13:10-16)
Speaker: Pastor Ryu Gwang-su
Date/Location: March 13, 2022, Immanuel Seoul Church
Matthew 13:10-16
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
Summary
▷ This is a day to pray for missions to the whole world. In particular, today one young adult from India is being commissioned as a lay missionary. When you go, there will be many problems. Do not think it is difficult or hard. Do not think about receiving help either. When you go, the world may seem big. Do not be envious. Those people have no power at all. However, do not take them too lightly either. They are all filled with darkness. To us now, and also to our young evangelist being commissioned, God has promised the things of the throne that no one can take away.
Only, Uniqueness, Re-creation
0th Priority
▷ This promise of the throne is 0th priority because it is about seeking only, uniqueness, and re-creation. You seek and wait for it, and when it comes, you go. Because it is 0th priority, there is no competition.
▣ Introduction
1. Background – The background of the current Scripture passage is Matthew chapter 13. The reason Jesus said “I explained it in parables so that you would understand, and also explained it in parables so that others would not understand” is because if people understand it falsely, anyone would come and try to do it.
1) Trinity – The background is that the Triune God is together with us in a way completely invisible to the eye. There is no reason to fear. Simply wait with only, uniqueness, and re-creation.
2) 9 things – The answer that shines the light of the throne that transcends time and space, and the light of 237, is within me, within my soul, within my life, so an unprecedented answer comes.
3) Era 3 – It is set up so that eras 24, 25, and eternity will be saved.
2. Secret 10 – You survive anywhere and see God’s work anywhere. The answer is on a different side, and wherever you go, people come alive. Even when you enter into a crisis, God’s work happens. The blessing of re-creation rises up so there is no need to fight. God sends us to the wilderness as slaves. Because God has an absolute plan, it cannot fail.
3. Foothold 10 – All of our sovereignty, whether things succeed or fail, is in God’s hands. God’s method is only Christ. God’s power is only the work of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of the promise God gave us is only the Bible. The foundation of every answer is God working in me and in the place where I am. Because God knows all of my life, there is nothing to fear. At some point, we must go to the kingdom of heaven. The afterlife clearly exists. Therefore, in this evangelism, not even a cup of cold water will lose its reward. These are the 10 footholds. Just keep having them.
▣ Main
1. The answer of the Word and the throne – no one can take it away.
▷ In Matthew 13:1-9, 18-33, 37-43, Jesus continues to speak the parable of the sower. Seeds that fall on rocky ground, on the path, or among thorns will naturally die. But do not worry. Because the seed that falls on good soil will bear fruit dozens and tens of thousands of times over.
1) The accurate gospel (good soil) – If you have the accurate gospel, you will bear fruit like a seed that falls on good soil. When you have the accurate gospel and share it, works happen.
2) The reason for not understanding – Verses 18-24 explain the reason for not understanding. “What fell on the path was taken by the devil, and the soul that dies because it has no root is the one that cannot endure persecution and falls, and what falls among thorns dies because it is seized by worldly worries.”
3) Weeds – Weeds appear in verses 37-43. In the church and in the field, there are weeds. Among the workers in the church, among the ministers, among the church leaders, there are also weeds. But do not worry about it. The weeds need to be there so that later, when the grain is harvested and made into rice, there is something to burn as fuel.
2. Value – how much value does it have?
1) The hidden treasure – In verse 44 it talks about value: “There is something like a hidden treasure that you survive on your whole life buried in your field.”
2) The most precious pearl – In verses 45-46: “Though it looks like a traveling merchant, he has the most precious pearl.” This is what it means to have the gospel.
3) Fish – The parable of the fish is given. When a fisherman catches fish, he throws away the ones he does not need. So later, what gets gathered into this treasure, this storehouse, is what is meant.
3. Hidden things
1) Mustard seed – Like a mustard seed, it looks like just a dot, but it has life and grows large.
2) Yeast – Jesus explains: “Though yeast cannot be seen, it gets into the flour and spreads throughout the whole thing. The gospel is like that.”
3) Grain – Weeds. “Do not pull out the weeds now. If you pull them, the grain could get pulled out too. Just leave them.” That is it. When you harvest later, the grain goes to the storehouse and the weeds go to be burned as fuel. Jesus gave an incredibly powerful message.
▷ By the grace of God, we receive blessings, share the gospel, and live.
▣ Conclusion – Prayer
1. Set-time prayer – At least once a day, enter into a very deep set-time prayer.
2. 24 prayer – For the rest, pray with 24. Do this prayer for every field.
3. 25 – Then 25 will surely come. This is the blessing of the throne.
Eternity → Then the work we have done becomes eternal. Starting from now, as you begin to enjoy it through prayer, if we are able to pray for God’s kingdom and the power of the throne to come upon our work, works will surely happen and world evangelism will take place.
Transcript
This is a day for all of us to do missions, to pray. In particular, today one of our young adults from India is being commissioned as a lay missionary as well. When you go, there will be many problems like this. Do not think it is difficult. Do not think things like “this is hard” either. If there is no one to help you, do not think “I need to receive help” either.
When I see people who have worked very hard, I do not really say “you have worked hard.” People with less discernment can get offended by that too. Why? Because why did you work hard? You received grace. Right? The fact that we are doing this kind of work — this is receiving grace.
When you go out and see the world, it may seem big. Do not be envious. Those people have no power at all. But also do not take them too lightly. Because they are all filled with darkness, you must not take them lightly.
The Promise of the Throne
To you now, and also to our young evangelist being commissioned, God has made this promise. He has promised the things of the throne that no one can take away. So always keep that in mind.
[Only, Uniqueness, Re-creation]
[0th Priority]
This promise of the throne is 0th priority because it is about seeking this (only, uniqueness, re-creation).
A certain Remnant sent me a message saying, “Hmm… what should I do?” I told that Remnant, “Do nothing.” We keep thinking of the methods of worldly people — the people of the world who keep failing to do the Lord’s work. That will end up not working out in the end.
So those of you being commissioned, those of you doing world missions, keep this in mind. There is nothing to worry about. You seek and wait for this (only, uniqueness, re-creation, 0th priority). When it comes, then you go. Why? Because there is no competition in this, everyone. All over the world, this is 0th priority, right?
▣ Introduction
1. Background
Why is that? The background of the current Scripture passage is Matthew chapter 13, you know? Look carefully. Jesus said this: “I explained it in parables so that you would understand. And I also explained it in parables so that others would not understand.” That is an extremely important statement. “Hmm… because I am doing the Lord’s work, blessings keep coming.” If people understand it falsely like that, then anyone would come and try to do it, right?
1) Trinity
Look at this background. The Triune God is together with us in a way completely invisible to the eye. This is the background. There is no reason to fear. If the answer does not come, just wait. And how do you wait? Wait very gracefully with only, uniqueness, and re-creation.
So when we Koreans go out, we are too low-level and so we cannot evangelize developed nations. Look right now, those people who came from Japan, people from Spain — look at those kinds of people. Those people are from developed nations. There is none of this business of just chasing after profit like that. So they are already different.
So the reason Korea cannot do world evangelism is that we have everything and yet cannot do it — our level is too low. And we are in too much of a hurry. The more developed a nation is, the slower they go. We need to realize that going slowly is actually going faster. No matter how frustrating it is, this Triune God is working in ways invisible to the eye.
2) 9 things
And what else? The answer that shines the light of the throne that transcends time and space, and 237, is within us. This is within me, within my soul, within my life. So an unprecedented answer comes to me.
3) Era 3
And then, it is set up so that eras 24, 25, and eternity will surely be saved.
This is the background. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. You just enjoy this through prayer while studying. Of course the answer comes.
As for what mistake I made — when I was starting out at the evangelism field, a lot of works were going to happen, and I should have been a bit more humble, but I did not think of that. What that means is that around the churches in Busan too, there were many people, and other churches would feel bad about it. I should have known that. I did not know. Because works would clearly happen, when the works happened, other people were going to be envious and jealous. That is something you need to already know ahead of time, right?
2. Secret 10
The 10 secrets — you would know them even without me telling you all of them now. Survive anywhere. Right? You see God’s work anywhere. The answer is on a different side. So wherever you go, people come alive. What are they going to say? Everywhere you go, you entered into a crisis, but God’s work happens, the blessing of re-creation happens. So there is no need to fight. That is how it turns out. Those are the 10 secrets. God sends us to the wilderness, sends us as slaves, I mean. God has an absolute plan. 10 things. So it cannot fail.
3. Foothold 10
The 10 footholds. Whether all of our things succeed or fail, sovereignty is in God’s hands. That is the first one. God’s method is only one — it is Christ. God’s power is also only one — it is the work of the Holy Spirit. The evidence of the promise God gave us is also only one — it is the Bible. The foundation of every answer is God working in me. He works in the place where I am. Right? And because God knows all of my life, there is nothing to fear. At some point, we will all have to go to the kingdom of heaven. Right? The afterlife clearly exists. If so, then this evangelism will not lose its reward, not even for a cup of cold water. The 10 footholds. You just take these and go. Keep having them at all times. Whatever anyone says, whatever problem comes up, just find the answer to the problem and wait.
▣ Main
1. The answer of the Word and the throne
Matthew 13:1-9, 13:18-33, 13:37-43
Now, Jesus today — we have not all read it, but in verses 1 through 9 he spoke the parable of the sower. And then in verses 18 through 33 he explains it again. If you look at all of chapter 13 of the Bible — it does not end there. In verses 37 through 43 he explains it again. What does that mean?
1) The accurate gospel (good soil)
Seeds that fall on rocky ground, seeds that fall on the path — of course they will die, because birds come and carry them away. Seeds that fall among thorns — they will die too. Seeds that fall on rocky ground cannot take root even if they stay alive. So what does that mean?
“Don’t worry.” That is what it means. Seeds that fall on good soil will bear fruit dozens and tens of thousands of times over. That is what it means. Those of you doing world missions and lay missions have a lot of work to do — but that is not it. When you have the accurate gospel and share it, works happen.
Did I not tell you before? A Korean missionary went to the Philippines and did enormous, great work. He handed it over to a successor, a Filipino person. At that time, the Filipino pastor who took it over gave a speech like this: “Our missionary who is now retiring and going back to Korea is an amazing person. How amazing a person he is to have built so many buildings and created so much property.” At that moment this missionary thought, “Oh, I have failed.” With the accurate gospel, living seeds falling on the ground will come up. Only one seed was planted, but how many come up? If you plant one pumpkin or watermelon, how many come up? How many pumpkins does it bear? That is what it means.
2) The reason for not understanding
And then I will say it again. In verses 18 through 23. Even without my saying so you probably know, but I will say the reason for not understanding again. “What fell on the path — that was taken by the devil, taken away. And the soul that dies because it has no root — that is the one that cannot endure persecution and falls. What falls among thorns dies, right? That is the one seized by worldly worries.”
3) Weeds
Verses 37 through 43 explain again. This time what comes up? Weeds. “Don’t worry about it.” That is the message. The church also has weeds. And when you go to the field, there is fruit but there are also weeds. Well yes, within the workers of the church, among the ministers, among the church leaders, there are weeds too. Right? “Don’t worry about it.” That is the message. Those need to be there so that later when you cook rice with the grain, there is something to burn as fuel. Right? “Don’t worry about it.”
2. Value
How much value does it have?
1) The hidden treasure
Verse 44. “Something like a hidden treasure that you survive on your whole life is buried in your field.” It spoke of value.
2) The most precious pearl
Verses 45 and 46: “Though it looks like a traveling merchant, he has the most precious pearl. This is what it means to have the gospel.” That is what it means.
3) Fish
The parable of the fish was given. When a fisherman catches fish, he throws away the ones he does not need. That is it. So later, what gets gathered into this treasure, this storehouse — that is what is meant.
3. Hidden things
Things of value that no one can take away, and things that are hidden. What does it say?
1) Mustard seed
“Like a mustard seed — though it looks like just a dot — there is life in it, and it grows large.”
2) Yeast
Jesus explains now. “Though yeast cannot be seen, it gets into the flour and spreads throughout the whole thing. The gospel is like that.”
3) Grain – Weeds
The grain and weeds parable — let’s go over it one more time. “Do not pull out the weeds now. If you pull them, even the grain could get pulled out. Just leave them.” That is it. When you harvest later, the grain goes to the storehouse and the weeds go to be burned as fuel. Jesus gave an incredibly powerful message.
So I — you all have so many problems but I do not. People say they worked very hard but I have done nothing. When I see people like that I find it a bit strange, why did they work so hard? We did not. God blessed us. If God did not bless us and instead took everything away, could we do it? If God gave us sickness, could we live our lives? We cannot. By God’s grace we receive blessings, share the gospel, and live.
▣ Conclusion – Prayer
So how do you enjoy this blessing? How do you go to 0th priority? Pray. If you truly want to study, you would go up the mountain to pray and go out to the fields to pray — and you cannot do that.
1. Set-time prayer
At least once a day, enter into a very deep set-time prayer. Think about the Word once through, going like this.
2. 24 prayer
For the rest, pray with 24. For the rest — just every field, prayer.
3. 25
Then this (25) will surely come. This (25) comes. This (25) is the blessing of the throne.
[Eternity]
Then the work we have done becomes eternal. No doubt about it. Starting from now, as you begin to enjoy it through prayer. If you are able to pray for God’s kingdom and the power of the throne to come upon your work, works will surely happen. World evangelism will take place. Just look at this (the conclusion) and do it this way. When you go straight to the field, right away there may be difficulties, but it is alright.
There is one very peculiar church somewhere, in Busan. I was put in charge of the middle and high school students there. There was nothing difficult about it. To give you a sense of the situation — there was an apartment in front of that church where a senior judge lived. His son was the president of our high school group. When I went to visit, the judge was a deacon, and he said this to me: “Hmm… Evangelist, please have our child not be the president.” That is what he said. “Ah, I understand what you mean,” I said. “When the kids come to church, they all get ruined.” That is what I said. As an evangelist. So this senior judge deacon was startled and said, “Evangelist, how did you know that?” “That is right. I will take responsibility for it,” I said. “I see,” he said.
From that point on, I went to the school every day, to see the kids. What else did I have to do — that is what I had to do. Back then there were no phones, you had to go in person. I did that — giving the kids encouragement, checking how much studying they knew how to do, and if they were lacking in something, getting someone to help them — that is what I was doing, just that. So the elders were really praising me, saying all kinds of things — what is there to praise about that, it was just the natural thing to do, as an evangelist.
Works started happening among the kids. Of course they did. Even if I had done something special — I did nothing. What amazing method or skill did I have? None. I have no particular specialty at all. Even so, all you need is to connect with the kids. Then if you go somewhere else, it will be the same — what am I going to do there? Only, uniqueness, re-creation.
Those of you doing missions, and our young missionary going to India — hold tightly to the covenant and I bless you to enjoy the highest answers, in the name of the Lord Jesus. Let us pray.
Prayer. Thank you, God. Through the covenant that we naturally receive, let me live and let the field live. Please bless our congregation’s finances sufficiently to do world evangelism. When we dedicate ourselves for the church, please open the door of the throne. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.