Sunday 1st Service Worship
Pastor Ryu Kwang-su
Title / Scripture: Joy of Prayer (Matthew 9:14-16)
Date / Location: February 27, 2022 / Immanuel Church
Matthew 9:14-17
14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Summary
People do not know what real prayer is. So students keep asking difficult and unrelated questions. Even pastors, when a problem arises, do not return to compassion but return to hatred. Because most people cannot pray, they go out and lose. Taking advantage of this gap, the three organizations are now actively teaching counterfeit prayer (meditation).
▣ Introduction
1. What Jesus spoke about from the very beginning, continuously, was prayer.
1) He took them up to a mountain and taught them what true blessing is (Matthew 5).
2) Right there on that mountain, He taught about prayer and even said there is no need to pray for this thing or that thing (Matthew 6).
3) John the Baptist’s disciples and the Pharisees asking why Jesus’ disciples do not fast, and Jesus’ answer (Matthew 9) – “Should you fast at a wedding banquet? Do it after the bridegroom is taken away. Would you sew new cloth onto old clothing? Would you put new wine into old wineskins? If you do, both the cloth and the wineskin will be torn.”
(1) If you do not know prayer, you will just do it as a program, like a Jewish ceremony.
(2) Prayer is something directed to God, and God is the one who answers – but people practice asceticism and self-mortification on their own.
(3) That is why the descendants of Israel went into slavery, were captured in war and taken as prisoners of war, and became a wandering people.
2. Why the power and happiness of prayer must be restored
▷ You must be able to explain to the Remnant, to others, and to the sick what correct prayer is.
1) If you do not know prayer and the spiritual world, you have no choice but to talk a lot.
2) If you truly do not know the power and background of prayer, you will become anxious and frustrated.
3) If you do not know prayer, everything becomes a worry.
3. Real prayer must begin.
1) Knowing prayer is the same as knowing the gospel.
2) Try it as an experiment – when a child of God prays, answers come. You can even save your family. We have no strength of our own, but we can change the world.
3) How do we actually pray?
(1) Prayer spoken aloud (corporate prayer, mountain prayer, early morning prayer, all-night prayer) – these become deeply imprinted on the brain and soul, and answers come accordingly.
(2) David’s prayer – he prayed while praising alone. World-changing things happened.
▷ You must find real prayer. You must be able to tell the Remnant and disciples, “Let us pray this way.”
(3) The evangelist’s prayer – breathing slowly in order to do 24, turning all your thoughts, all that you hear, and all that you see into prayer.
▣ Main_ Three things Jesus taught about prayer
1. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
1) His kingdom – the power of the throne
(1) Genesis 1:27 – that this would enter into my very soul
Genesis 2:7 – that this would enter into my very life
(2) The blessing of the throne – that the wondrous blessing of the throne that saves the world would enter into me
(3) The power to save the three ages – pray that this would enter into me
▷ When breathing in this prayer, and when breathing out, deliver the power of God to those who come to mind.
2) His righteousness – since God has given us righteousness, when you see someone who has gone wrong, pray for them with compassion. Pray with a heart of forgiveness. Pray that the power of God’s throne would come upon them.
▷ Pray that this power would come upon your work. You are saved children of God. “Do not pray any other prayers. That is what the Gentiles do. God already knows. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
2. Like being at a wedding banquet – the experience of one who is with Christ, one who has met Christ
1) Christ himself came carrying the power of the triune God, the blessing of the throne, and the power to save the age.
2) Enjoying this power of Christ is prayer – Christ is the channel of this immense blessing of the throne. The name that tears down darkness and binds the power of Satan is Jesus Christ.
▷ Do not miss it. Actually try it. Do not doubt it. Really try it.
3. The prayer taught at Mt Olive
1) Through His resurrection, He proved without words that Jesus is the Christ.
2) He taught prayer. For 40 days He explained the things of the kingdom of God.
3) Nothing else can save the world. You will only receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That is prayer. – When the power of the throne fully comes upon me, that is the fullness of the Holy Spirit. To save the world, the power of the throne is needed.
▷ Fast later. Do it after the bridegroom is taken away. The tremendous event of Christ being executed on the cross will occur – do it then. Israel will be destroyed from keep praying wrong prayers without the gospel. Do it then. The descendants were scattered to more than twenty countries and were massacred. Do it then.
▣ Conclusion_ Pray until you rise to the spiritual summit.
▷ If you enjoy the power of the throne actually coming upon you and being delivered to you, this is an incomparable happiness. The spiritual summit – once you reach the very top, you can see everything. Pray until then. If the work of our descendants does not rise to the summit, world evangelization cannot happen. Pray.
1. If you pray just 5 minutes a day, a rhythm will develop later.
2. It becomes 24. This is what it means to truly enjoy the blessing of prayer.
3. This answer will certainly turn into 25. This is the kingdom of God. From that point on, you become a summit.
Transcript
When your children graduate from elementary school, they will go to middle school, right? If they do not know how to pray, what should that middle schooler do? It will certainly be difficult. But people do not actually know what prayer is. When I have held retreats, even university students ask questions, and you can see they have absolutely no understanding of prayer at all. So they keep asking other questions. These questions are not even important, but they keep asking them.
Even pastors – when a problem suddenly arises, they do not return to compassion but return to hatred. No matter how much someone has done wrong, you must look at them with compassion and mercy, but they look at them through eyes of hatred. What is wrong is not something to view through the law. It must be repented of. It must be realized. So because most people cannot pray, what happens? They go out and lose. Taking advantage of this gap, the three organizations are actively teaching counterfeit prayer. They have established meditation universities. What are you going to do about it? And finally, general universities are now offering meditation departments and awarding credits for them. Right now.
▣ Introduction
1. What Jesus spoke about from the very beginning, continuously, was prayer.
What Jesus kept talking about from the very beginning was prayer.
1) He took them up to a mountain and taught them what true blessing is (Matthew 5).
He took them up to the mountain and taught them what true blessing is.
2) Right there on that mountain, He taught about prayer and even said there is no need to pray for this thing or that thing (Matthew 6).
Right there on that mountain He taught about prayer. John’s disciples also asked how to pray, like that. Jesus even said there is no need for this kind of prayer or that kind of prayer.
3) John the Baptist’s disciples and the Pharisees asking why Jesus’ disciples do not fast, and Jesus’ answer (Matthew 9)
And in today’s text He already comes and speaks. “Why do you and your disciples not fast right now?” It seems it may have been a fasting week. John the Baptist’s disciples also come and ask. Why do you not fast? Looking at the record in Mark, the Pharisees also come and say – why don’t you fast? Like that. For the Pharisees, charity events, prayer events, and fasting events are programs. They don’t really understand prayer. But Jesus answered like this. “A feast has been set – would you fast at the house of the feast? Do whatever after the bridegroom leaves. You should do it after the bridegroom is taken away, so why are you doing it now, at the feast? Would you sew new cloth onto old clothing? Would you put new wine into old wineskins? Then wouldn’t that cloth be torn? Wouldn’t that wineskin be torn?” This is what Jesus is saying now.
If you don’t know prayer, do you know what happens to your children? If they don’t know prayer, they just do it as a program, like a Jewish ceremony. Because they don’t know prayer, they don’t know what prayer is. So they go and practice all kinds of asceticism and self-mortification. Thinking that is prayer. Religious organizations do that, right? They go and practice and mortify themselves, and to them that is prayer. Prayer is something directed to God, and God is the one who answers – but they practice asceticism and self-mortification on their own, like this. That is why the people of Israel, their descendants, went into slavery. They were captured in war and taken as prisoners, and in the end they became a wandering people.
2. Why the power and happiness of prayer must be restored
Today you must truly recover the power of prayer, the happiness of prayer. You must know what prayer is and actually recover it. Then you will be able to explain to the Remnant, to other people, to the sick when you meet them, what prayer is. You must explain what correct prayer is. Then when that prayer comes out, answers will start coming quickly.
Because they don’t know prayer, if they don’t know the true happiness of prayer, there’s nothing to be done. They have to keep having word feasts. And how nice is that for a church? Because you gather, it’s easy to talk. They keep having word feasts. Someone asked, “Why do so many church people catch COVID?” They asked like this. “Because they gather, many catch it.” That’s what I said. Other places – temples and such – don’t gather. If you don’t gather, you don’t catch it. The church has to gather and worship, so you catch it sometimes, and it goes like that.
These days, as science and medicine advance, people said three things. “People who talk a lot die early.” They cited medical evidence for this. And, “People who are hasty and anxious, with short breathing, die early.” Someone said, “But I know someone who doesn’t talk much and is quiet, but they died early too.” “People who have a lot of inner worries and thoughts die early.” This has been medically proven as well.
1) If you do not know prayer and the spiritual world, you have no choice but to talk a lot.
But people who know the spiritual world don’t speak that way. If you don’t know prayer, if you don’t know the spiritual world, you have no choice but to talk a lot. Isn’t that right?
2) If you truly do not know the power and background of prayer, you will become anxious and frustrated.
If I truly don’t know the power and background of prayer, I have no choice but to become anxious and frustrated.
3) If you do not know prayer, everything becomes a worry.
If you don’t know prayer, everything becomes a worry. Every thought becomes a worry. That is unavoidable.
3. Real prayer must begin.
1) Knowing prayer is the same as knowing the gospel.
Knowing prayer is the same as knowing the gospel. From today, you must begin real prayer. Try it. How should real prayer be done? We will talk about that in the Main section.
2) Try it as an experiment.
Try the experiment. You are children of God. There must be evidence. When you pray, you receive answers. When you pray, you can save your family. When you pray, we have no power of our own, but we can change the world. Hasn’t the evidence come out?
3) How do we actually pray?
Because of that, you who are praying must know that content today – how should you actually pray?
(1) Prayer spoken aloud (corporate prayer, mountain prayer, early morning prayer, all-night prayer)
You can actually pray out loud. That is a very good prayer. Pray out loud. Corporate prayer is very important. So when you cry out on a mountain, or cry out in prayer at church in the early morning or at night, this becomes deeply imprinted on your brain and soul. The answers come accordingly. What you do wrongly comes back wrongly, and what you do rightly comes back rightly. We’ll look at what needs to be done in the Main section.
You must actually find prayer for yourselves. Also, some people can pray while taking a walk. Some people will put on music, put on worship songs, and enter into prayer. There are various ways, right? You have to find it. Someone like Immanuel Kant would pray while hiking a mountain at exactly 4 in the morning, without missing a single day. It’s possible.
(2) David’s prayer
In David’s case, when he was alone, he would pray while praising. So world-changing things happened. So the point is, you must actually find your own way of prayer. And you must be able to tell the Remnant. There are parents here, right? You must be able to tell your children. Right? You must be able to tell your disciples, “Let us pray this way.” Just blurting out “Let’s fast” without even knowing prayer – that makes it into a program.
(3) The evangelist’s prayer
In my case, among the many methods of prayer, I chose the method that fits me best. When I began this prayer, I became very happy. I can pray aloud with my voice, but it’s hard to do that all day long. I can pray while taking a walk, but I can only pray a little that way, and it’s impossible to do 24. Having worship music playing all day long is even more impossible. So I chose: “Turn all my thoughts into prayer.” That’s possible, isn’t it? Everything I hear is a lot. Turn it into prayer. Turn everything I see into prayer. While doing that, there is something else I do. I now pray slowly while breathing. There are very many answers –
even before that, I can enjoy the true happiness of prayer together with God.
▣ Main_ Three things Jesus taught about prayer
Now then, what should we pray for? Actually try this prayer. Among the many prayers Jesus taught, He taught three major ones. So you need to know, right? What did He say?
1. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
Don’t pray this prayer or that prayer! God already knows all of that. Those are prayers done by people who haven’t understood the gospel. Right? “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.”
At that time, what were the Jewish people thinking? How can I get ahead? How can I push that person aside and climb up? How can I take what’s theirs? That’s all they were thinking about. How can I get into Herod’s good graces and secure a position? They thought that was success. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and I will give you everything,” He said.
1) His kingdom – the power of the throne
What is the kingdom? You know what that word “kingdom” means, right? This is the power of the throne. Pray for this, He says.
(1) Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:7
This – actually, Genesis 1:27, that it would enter into my soul. Genesis 2:7, that it would enter into my life.
(2) The blessing of the throne
And that the wondrous blessing of God’s throne that saves the world would enter into me. Try it.
(3) The power to save the three ages
That the power to save the three ages would enter into me. Pray for this, He says. I do this when I breathe in, and when I breathe out, I deliver the power of God in prayer to each of you who come to mind. Pray for this, He says. Try it. If you truly recover this prayer, the Remnant will be completely changed. They will study well and gain great spiritual strength. Perhaps some of you feel that your child is spiritually off? If so, try to help them. “You are a child of God. During your prayer time, you must believe that the triune God is invisibly working in you by the Spirit. The power of the throne, which the world cannot know, is coming upon you. The power to save the three ages is coming upon you. Receive this by faith through prayer.” Especially for a sick child, “Receive it while breathing slowly.” Actually teach them this. And slowly when breathing out, “Pray that it comes upon every difficult area of your studies, upon every part of your life.”
You must believe this. I am not just saying this casually.
2) His righteousness – since God has given us righteousness, when you see someone who has gone wrong, pray for them with compassion. Pray with a heart of forgiveness. Pray that the power of God’s throne would come upon them.
And what else? “Seek his righteousness.” What is righteousness? Faith, the gospel, salvation – doesn’t it include all of that? Since God has given us that righteousness, “This does not mean to overlook the wrongs of those around you – pray for them with compassion.” “It does not mean to stay silent when you see someone doing wrong – pray for them with a heart of forgiveness.” “Pray that God’s power, the power of the throne, would come upon them.” Someone asked me to pray for a person with a mental illness, so I kept doing this prayer for that person. Try the experiment and see what happens. You all know, don’t you? Among your family members, you know who is spiritually weak, who has depression. So start praying, I tell you, without losing heart. Some people have someone severely demonized, right? Actually try praying. For those who have cancer it is essential. Those who have experienced cancer absolutely must do this. Do this prayer in reality, I tell you.
Because this is not being taught, shamans are taking everything. Because this is not being taught, the three organizations are coming in and the meditation movement is infiltrating the schools, and the children are in an uproar right now. You don’t need to worry about anything else. While all the congregants and our descendants in the field are being stolen away through useless worrying, what other worries are there? We must pray that the power of the throne would come upon them. You keep worrying about other things. Pray that this power would come upon your work, truly. You are saved children of God, I tell you. This isn’t my word. This is Jesus’ word. “Do not pray any other prayers” – Jesus said directly. “For that is what the Gentiles do,” He said. “Before you ask for anything, God already knows.” “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.” That’s it. Because we ignore Jesus’ words like that, we are not people who believe in Jesus, if that’s the case. Isn’t that right? Try it, I tell you. Where do you need to go and bring someone to do this? You don’t need to. Aren’t you yourselves direct children of God? Try this prayer, I tell you. I am not saying prayer centers are wrong. I think I don’t need to go. There isn’t time. And you need to help your children correctly – they don’t even know this. How could you do something so dangerous? Some people, out of frustration, leave their church and wander all over. Because they’re frustrated. It only gets worse for you when you do that. This is an opportunity for our Remnant. Our Remnant are children of God. Teach them the secret of the blessing of the throne coming upon and being delivered through the Remnant – that’s what it is.
2. Like being at a wedding banquet – the experience of one who is with Christ, one who has met Christ
He taught a second prayer. That is today’s text. What does it say? Being like one at a wedding banquet – that is the secret of prayer. Fasting is not the important thing – that is what He is saying. The wedding banquet – an Israeli wedding banquet, we may not know but those people know. They feast for a week. At that time the groom wears royal robes and the bride wears a queen’s garment. Friends come and feast and eat and rejoice like this. So if a newly married man had to go to the army, they would give him a one-year deferment. So it was an enormously joyful event, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. The experience of one who is with Christ, one who has met Christ – is like that, He says.
1) Christ who came himself carrying the power of the triune God, the blessing of the throne, and the power to save the age
This immense power of the triune God, and the blessing of the throne, and the power to save the age – He brought all of it himself, right now.
2) Enjoying this power of Christ is prayer
Enjoying this power of Christ – that is prayer. Simply put, Christ is the channel of this immense blessing of the throne. There has to be a path, doesn’t there? That is why the elder just prayed, “I pray in the name of Jesus.” The name that tears down darkness and binds the power of Satan is Jesus Christ, I tell you. Don’t miss it. Actually try it. Try it, I tell you. Without doubting. Really.
3. The prayer taught at Mt Olive
Jesus also taught prayer at the end. What was that? He called them to Mt Olive.
1) Through His resurrection, He proved without words that Jesus is the Christ.
Through His resurrection, He proved without words that Jesus is the Christ. Right? This is important. True evidence needs no words. The moment the disciples saw Jesus, He proved He was the Christ.
2) He taught prayer. For 40 days He explained the things of the kingdom of God.
He taught prayer. For 40 days, the same content. “He explained the things of the kingdom of God.”
3) Nothing else can save the world. You will only receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That is prayer.
“Nothing else can save the world. You will only receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.” That is prayer. Now when the power of the throne comes fully upon me, isn’t that the fullness of the Holy Spirit? If all you want is to barely eat and get by, you don’t need it – but if you want to save the world, you need the power of the throne. If my work is to survive fierce competition and struggle, I can barely eat. If my work must truly save the world, the blessing of the throne must come. Do not believe lies. You must believe the word of God. I am certain. I am someone who has experienced this prayer. I am certain.
When you today hold onto this covenant, we don’t test God, do we? We can experiment to see if actual answers come or not. You must try it. Jesus said this: “Fast later. Do it after the bridegroom is taken away.” The tremendous event of Christ being executed on the cross will occur. Do it then. Israel will be destroyed from keep praying wrong prayers without the gospel. Do it then. That is history. They fell in 70 AD. That is when they needed to fast. The descendants were scattered to more than twenty countries and were massacred. Do it then, not now. Because they don’t know what the true happiness of prayer is. You understand prayer as “something tremendously painful.” That is what Buddhism does. Because they don’t believe in God, what Buddhism does. “Prayer is about practicing asceticism and mortifying yourself.” That is done without God.
You must first understand prayer correctly. This prayer is tremendous. Even while you are worshipping now, you must recover this. This prayer must be enjoyed always. Always. It’s fine even in your thoughts. It’s fine even in words. If you have a quiet moment, “God, triune God, come upon me.” That is good. “Work upon me with the power of the throne so that I can save this world, and let me save the world.” Prayer – you can even do it in words, I tell you. In my case, because I need to do a lot of 24, I can’t go around talking out loud like that for 24, so I do it with my breathing, like this. By the prayer I enjoy, by God’s grace, I am healthy through this prayer I enjoy. I am grateful.
The whole nation and world are in an uproar. Because right now, my upper eyelid keeps poking at me. So I had this and this done. The whole nation and world are in an uproar. I can’t do this, because there isn’t time. So I took exactly one week off and did it, and even then the doctor said this to me. “Wow, you’re really recovering quickly,” he said. And I thought inside, “I can’t not recover. It would be a disaster. Immanuel Church.” If I’m not seen for a few months – if it’s a few weeks it would be a disaster. The common opinion of everyone was “You’ve gotten younger,” like that.
▣ Conclusion_ Pray until you rise to the spiritual summit.
Even for many things concerning the flesh, we are happy when we get a little help, aren’t we? Right? Even when you move into a nice house, you are happy. And when you’ve been living with difficulty and you buy a nice car, riding in it makes you happy. If you enjoy the power of the throne actually coming upon you and being delivered to you, this is an incomparable happiness. Until when? Until you rise to the summit. That is the standard. When you reach the very top of a mountain, you can see the whole village. When you rise to the spiritual summit, you can see everything. Pray until you reach there, I tell you. Tell the Remnant, “Pray until you reach this (spiritual summit). Enjoy prayer until the work you do rises to the summit for the glory of God.” Absolutely, if the work of our descendants does not rise to the summit, world evangelization cannot happen. Pray.
Jesus said it. He said He will give everything. Right? “If you seek his kingdom and his righteousness, I will give you everything,” He said.
1. If you pray just 5 minutes a day, a rhythm will develop later.
Starting now, if you just do 5 minutes a day, a rhythm will suddenly develop later. Do you understand? Or at least you have to sleep. Before you sleep, try just 5 minutes.
2. It becomes 24.
This suddenly becomes 24. Later. This is what it means to properly enjoy the blessing of prayer.
3. This answer will certainly turn into 25 (the kingdom of God). From that point on, you become a summit.
Then this answer will certainly turn into 25. Right? This is the kingdom of God. From that point on, you become a summit. Let us pray.
Prayer. God, your children have gathered before your Word. Surely make them recover this power. Let it be delivered to the Remnant. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.