Sunday 2nd Service Worship
Title/Scripture: Let Us Solve the Problem of Sin, Curse, and Disaster (John 1:19-34)
Speaker: Pastor Ryu Gwang-soo
Date/Location: September 4, 2022, Immanuel Church (Seoul)
Summary
People are trapped in disaster like this. This must be resolved. Even if you have just one unbeliever who does not know Christ at all receive the answer through Christ and become a disciple, other answers will come to you. When you want to start anew, you only need to hold on to this covenant. Whom did God use?
▣ Introduction_ John the Baptist
The answer comes through the gospel (everything comes). Wilderness, voice, baptism.
▷ A person who has completely obtained the answer through the gospel and enjoys the power of the gospel needs nothing else. At that time, everything is saved.
1. Baptism – this served the role of giving a sign that removes three things
1) original sin 2) curse 3) disaster
→ things that science and medicine cannot solve
2. The answer came to prevent three great crises.
1) Rome – saving Rome, which only causes war
2) Israel, which had become a vassal state
3) The 237 slave system – it was Rome that created this
3. The people – the moment the gospel gave the answer, the people followed one after another.
1) Are you the Messiah? 2) Are you Elijah?
3) Are you the prophet? – these questions were asked.
▷ John the Baptist said, “No, I have come to prepare his way,” and introduced Christ. The moment the answer comes, introduction points 1-2 collapse, and introduction point 3 also becomes unnecessary.
Matthew 11:11
No one greater has arisen.
He is greater than John the Baptist.
John the Baptist, who actually gave an explanation about Christ – introduction points 1 through 3 completely collapsed.
▣ Main_ Reason
1. Because he is a witness who prepares for the future, he is greater than John the Baptist.
1) AD 70 – the destruction of Israel (those who had the gospel began to save the world)
On the day of great tribulation, they will be the ones who give the answer and save people.
2) AD 79 – the eruption of Pompeii (they will be the ones who use the power of Christ to stop disaster)
3) AD 313 – the evangelization of Rome
▷ Even just thinking, “I must finish everything through Christ,” history happens.
2. People who must walk the road
1) verse 23 – John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way of the Lord – you are those who must walk the way of the world
2) verse 29 – John the Baptist, who called Jesus the Lamb of God – you are the ones who must proclaim Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords
3) John the Baptist, who gave water baptism – you are the errand-runners of fire baptism and baptism of the Holy Spirit
3. People who will change culture
1) We are a kingdom of priests to all people (John the Baptist was a priest)
2) We go to every tribe (John the Baptist proclaimed only to Israel)
3) We are the people who will change spiritual culture and evangelize the world
▣ Conclusion_ Not worthy even to untie the sandal strap of Christ
▷ Because you constantly hear about the blessings of Christ, you do not realize them. Take the biggest problem you have and pray about it in the name of Jesus Christ. Write it down and check when the answer comes. You will come to realize how important you are and how blessed you are. You must have this experience in order to also give this answer of victory over darkness to the next generation.
2022 1st, 2nd, 3rd RUTC Response 24 (36) World Evangelization Mission Association www.weea.kr
Category: Sunday 2nd Service Worship | Title/Scripture: Let Us Solve the Problem of Sin, Curse, and Disaster (John 1:19-34) | Speaker: Pastor Ryu Gwang-soo | Date/Location: September 4, 2022, Immanuel Church (Seoul)
Transcript
Solving Sin, Curse, and Disaster (John 1:19-34)
Thank you. Today there are three things you must be sure to remember. People are trapped in disaster like this. This must be solved. It is John chapter 1, verses 19 to 34.
There is something I want you to think about first today. Suppose you become someone through whom a complete unbeliever received the answer through Christ and became a disciple. Suppose an unbeliever who knew nothing at all about God comes to know Christ accurately and becomes a disciple. Then someone will need to run the errand for that, right? If even one such thing happens to you, you are bound to receive an answer without fail. This is probably rare. Most cases are people who are already attending church, discouraged people — this kind of thing happens, but if there is even one or two people among you to whom you fully bore witness of Christ to a complete unbeliever and who became a disciple because of it, that really brings a different kind of answer.
In the early days, though it may not be so now, a third of the people sitting on the executive board are people I evangelized, people who heard the gospel I preached and came to know Christ. Several hundred shamans returned to the faith through this. Now, as you hold on to that covenant, in order for you to newly receive that many answers, you only need to hold on to this covenant of starting anew, just as the elder prayed today.
Someone once told me that a person who was a complete stranger to them shared the gospel with them. Even at the hospital I regularly go to, there is a doctor who always shows me great gratitude. It turned out that when he was an unbeliever, someone from a certain church had given him a tape of my sermon. Hearing the story of Christ from that one sermon tape, he received grace and his life was transformed. So when I show up at the hospital, this man must have many different thoughts, right? He must have wondered whether to speak of it or not. But instead of telling me, he told my secretaries. Also, there was someone lying in the hospital who had never heard the gospel at all and who developed panic disorder. A deaconess from Yaewon Church had given him the “Gospel Letter.” Though he had never believed in his life, when he reached the “Third Meeting” of the Gospel Letter, a change occurred in him. It is amazing. Those of you who have seen many such things are different. The blessing, the answer, is already different for you. For those who have become like that, even while they remain still, the answer simply comes. When it comes, all you have to do is enjoy it, right?
If the sons under a great conglomerate have much wealth, those without ability might have to use their wits a bit. But if you have gained the trust of the company and have real ability, and have gained the trust of the chairman, you wouldn’t need to use your own wits, would you? It is the same principle.
▣ Introduction_ John the Baptist
So then, whom did God use? He used John the Baptist. This is different from the John of part one. Part one was the Apostle John, but this person is John the Baptist. The message John gave in part one was as a disciple of Jesus, but this person is not a disciple of Jesus.
[The Gospel – The Answer]
This man was someone who had completely received the answer through the gospel of Christ. Today, I told you something important. If, through you, someone truly comes to know Christ, that blessing is tremendous.
As you know, in the neighborhood there was a delinquent who kept causing trouble and committed so many offenses that the whole neighborhood was greatly worried and afraid of him, right? But the fact is, that person had never once heard the gospel. The more violence he commits, the more it is because he has a spiritual problem. He himself is in torment. Do you understand? Those who do not know the gospel do not understand this. They think, “That person is really evil,” but that is not it — his mind is simply not right. He is proud and does not know what trouble he might cause next. Those of you whose minds are right do not throw stones at people’s heads just because you are angry, right? But those whose minds are disturbed will strike someone’s head with a stone without saying much, just because they are angry. This is what a gangster is like. He himself is in torment. Everyone hates him, so he has nowhere to go.
This man just wandered around aimlessly here and there. He was taking a nap in an elder’s farming bartizan. The elder saw him and recognized that he was that troubled friend with the bad reputation. This elder woke him up gently. “Get up,” he said, “let’s eat.” He should have said, “Why are you here?” but instead he said, “Let’s eat together.” So this man’s heart must have felt warmed. They ate together. The elder shared the gospel with him. He probably did not make it difficult. There was not much time either. No one else knew about this friend — there had been something great spiritually within him, and a change occurred. The man was transformed. Because the man changed, a different rumor spread throughout the whole neighborhood. “Wow, how did that man change like that?” He himself knows. He himself knows how much he had been spiritually tormented.
So this man’s faith gradually grew, he studied theology, and became a pastor who moves our nation of Korea. That person is the well-known Pastor Kim Ik-doo. It was simply that an elder shared the gospel with him. But the next important thing for you is that once you have completely received the answer through the gospel, everything else follows.
[Wilderness, Voice, Baptism]
In the wilderness, he simply cried out, telling people to fully hear the gospel, calling Christ the Lamb, and giving that baptism — this is what he did. What does that mean? A person who has completely received the answer through the gospel needs nothing else. At that time, everything is saved. Does this sound difficult? It is not. Although we are all saved because we know the gospel, the person who truly enjoys the power of this gospel needs nothing else. He can simply remain in the wilderness. It is fine even if no one recognizes him. A voice — he is simply a voice. That is why he said, “I am a voice crying in the wilderness.” And he baptized the Christ who was to come — this is what he did. He did a tremendous work.
(Everything)
If you truly receive the answer through the gospel, everything comes. Let’s see to what extent.
1. Baptism
What does the baptism that John the Baptist gives symbolize?
1) Original sin
Sin — the original sin that absolutely cannot be resolved.
2) Curse
3) Disaster
This served the tremendous role of giving a sign that removes curse and disaster. This is John the Baptist.
If even one of you truly and fully grasps the gospel, everything comes. Our church must become that kind of church. It must become the model. Everything comes, and it is for the purpose of saving people — but that is not why it happens. It simply comes. Now, to what extent did it happen?
2. The Three Great Crises
Once this answer through the gospel (the answer of everything) comes, this is now something that science and medicine cannot solve. It is something that science, medicine, or economics cannot solve. The answer that solves this has come. An answer that blocks three great crises has come. Let us pray about this from now on. Today’s first service was also important — once the true answer that fully resolves everything through Christ comes out, things begin to come. What are the three great crises?
1) Rome
Rome, which only starts wars, is on the verge of destruction. This is about saving it. No one knows when Rome will fall. Because it has been seizing the whole world through war, collecting taxes, and taking people away as slaves and living that way. No one knows when a riot will break out.
2) Vassal state
The second crisis here is Israel, which has now become a vassal state. This is a crisis.
3) The 237 slave system
What is more terrifying is that Rome created a system that enslaves 237 nations, including Israel, throughout the whole world, and now this crisis has come. At this time, one who cries out in the wilderness has appeared. This is John the Baptist. As you know, to what extent did this have influence — to the extent that it had a great influence on the whole of Israel.
3. The People
A history unfolds in which the people follow one after another. Originally, this man belonged to the priestly tribe. So now people have sent someone to him at the Sanhedrin council.
1) Messiah
You read today’s text at length — what did the people ask? “Are you the Messiah?” — they asked this. What great history was unfolding for them to ask, “Are you the Messiah?” Yet the answer had only just come through the gospel, and already such a response came.
2) Elijah
So what did they ask next? “Are you Elijah? Has Elijah come back to life?”
3) The prophet
They asked yet again today. “Are you the prophet?” — this is what they asked.
Then John the Baptist said, “I am neither the Messiah nor Elijah nor the prophet. I have come to prepare his way,” and he introduced Jesus. Now, receiving the answer through Christ and bearing witness to Christ — this cannot be expressed in words. Before you live and die, during your lifetime, you must see this blessing at least once, right? The work and the answer that come from having fully received the answer through Christ have begun to come anew. Why is this? Because the moment your answer comes, this — original sin, curse, disaster — this curse collapses. The moment the answer comes, this — Rome, vassal state, the 237 slave system — this part collapses. In fact, even this — Messiah, Elijah, prophet — becomes unnecessary. This is how it happened.
Now, here is something important — we must find the answer.
[Matthew 11:11]
Jesus already spoke about John the Baptist in Matthew 11:11.
[No One Greater Has Arisen]
What did he say? Looking at John the Baptist, he said, “Truly I say to you.” He said, “Among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” “Among those born of women, no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared.” Do you understand this? One who knows Christ.
[Greater Than John the Baptist]
But an important word came after that. “Yet, in the kingdom of heaven, even the least is greater than he.” Do you understand this? Among those born of women up until now, no one greater than John the Baptist has been born — this means that even what Moses only vaguely grasped, John the Baptist spoke plainly. Right?
Even David only spoke of it poetically, but the one who actually came and spoke of it is John the Baptist. “Behold, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.” He gave an explanation about Christ. So this part (the introduction) has completely collapsed. This is the answer you will receive. It is certain. Your church, the churches of the whole nation and the whole world, our Immanuel Church — there is nothing to worry about. There is a separate answer for you to receive. “Greater than John the Baptist” — what does that phrase mean? It is the answer that is about to happen. You must hold on to this as your covenant.
▣ Main_ Reason
The reason has three parts. You must hold firmly to this because it is the answer you will receive.
1. Preparing for the future
John the Baptist came and said that Jesus is the Christ, the living God’s Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, and with this his role ended. But because the rest of the people are witnesses who prepare for the future, they are greater.
1) AD 70
In AD 70, Israel is finally destroyed. At that time there was great turmoil, and from that point on, those who had the gospel began to save the world. It may seem like nothing at all, and your faith may seem like nothing at all, but on the day of great tribulation, you will become the main actors who give the answer and save people. You are greater than John the Baptist.
2) AD 79
In AD 79, Pompeii, a region of Rome, finally erupts. There is chaos. At this time, many scattered people, no matter how small they may be, will become ones who use the power of Christ to stop disaster and become greater than John the Baptist.
3) AD 313
Finally, in AD 313, Rome is evangelized and the door for world evangelization opens and begins. Is there a comparison? John the Baptist is the greatest figure who has existed up to now, but you are even greater than he is. So this week, pray about just these three things. Even just thinking, “Ah, I really must finish everything through Christ in order to receive this answer,” history happens. Why? Because it is for the future.
2. People who must walk the road
This is the second point. Why is this so? Today’s text says John the Baptist is one who prepares the way. You are not one who prepares the way, but one who must walk the road. This is different.
1) verse 23 – the way of the world
It is clearly recorded in verse 23 that John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord. That is why he is a great man. But the rest of the disciples and you must walk the way of the whole world.
2) verse 29 – King of kings, Lord of lords
And in verse 29 it says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” You have seen well. He is the lamb of the blood sacrifice, but we are not merely at that level. You are those who must proclaim Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. It is completely different. In today’s text, John gave water baptism. You are the errand-runners of fire baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You are far greater. If you just think about this carefully today, many answers will come out. Many answers will come. To an unbeliever, this may seem like an unnecessary story, but to you it is absolutely necessary. To those who live like animals it is an unnecessary story, but when you are truly trying to solve spiritual problems and receive answers, it is an essential message. Just saying it is enough. If you simply say, “I will finish everything through Christ and start anew,” the forces of darkness will flee. Just saying it is enough. Isn’t that prayer? And what is it? Your task is greater than John the Baptist. Why? Because you are one who prepares the way for the future.
3. People who will change culture
What is the third point? You are the people who will change the culture that has completely died because of sin and curse. If you look closely at today’s text, you do not need to study John the Baptist too much. You must study Christ well. Right?
1) A kingdom of priests
John the Baptist belonged to the priestly tribe. But you will become the most important kingdom of priests in Scripture. It is different.
2) All peoples
John the Baptist spoke only to the people of Israel. But you speak to all peoples. There is no comparison.
3) Spiritual culture
And he taught many Jews about sacrifice and baptism, but the rest of you are people who will change the spiritual culture of the whole world and evangelize the world.
Simply hold firmly to this covenant.
▣ Conclusion
With what conclusion should we hold to this covenant?
Today you have this word that John the Baptist spoke. “Are you the Messiah?” they asked. “Are you the Christ?” “No,” he said.
Not worthy to untie the sandal strap
He could have simply said no, but instead he said, “I am not worthy even to untie the sandal strap of Christ. Not even this.” This is extremely self-lowering, but actually it is not humility — it is simply seeing accurately. Do you know this? The word “sandal strap” refers to the strap on the sandal-like shoes worn in Israel. In Israel, at a proper household, a wealthy household or a proper household, there was a servant at the front door whose job was to remove people’s sandals and wash their feet, so that they could enter the room. You would have to remove your sandals before washing your feet, right? But to wash the feet, the sandal strap had to be untied. He said he was not even qualified for that. “How could I possibly be worthy even to untie the sandal strap of Jesus.” That is right. You can tell by whom a person exalts. It is certain that John the Baptist was truly a great figure.
I recall the account in Acts of the lame man who was healed — I have preached on this before. I never had that kind of faith develop in me — that a lame person would get up. There was a deaconess in our church, in a wheelchair, who, from the early days when I was holding revival meetings, would follow me everywhere in her wheelchair, you see. And I remember being surprised once — there was a united meeting somewhere that called me, and, like last time, it was pouring rain like a storm. Still, I could not avoid going since I was the speaker, so I went. It was pouring down rain. And this deaconess came in her wheelchair too. And I said, at that moment, “Rise and walk in the name of Jesus of Nazareth” — I should have said this, but I did not have that faith, so I said instead, “Deaconess, you will get up someday.” That is what I said. But a few years later, she really did get up. She got up and came to my room. I said, “Oh my.” But I got my answer about that then. Even now, if I pass by a lame person, I don’t think I could run up and say, “Rise and walk in the name of Jesus of Nazareth” — not even now.
One day I received certainty about this. I went to Russia for a fourteen-day campaign, right when Russia’s doors had just opened. I did not go on my own — a certain denomination invited me as the speaker for a missionary evangelism trip. I went along as the speaker. A few of our members went along with me.
Something amusing happened there. Unbelievers were packed in, and after I finished preaching, our members who had come with me led hundreds of people in a prayer to receive Jesus. What was also funny was that the pastors of the denomination that had invited me had never seen this kind of evangelism before. They just stood there watching, like this. How embarrassing it must have been for them. There were so many people there, and those pastors were crowded together in a corner. While they stood there, our members were sharing the gospel, leading people to receive Christ, and praying — it was quite a scene, this.
At that time, the head of the organization that had invited me was there. He was a really good person. He called me over. He asked me to train his pastors in evangelism. “I understand,” I said. So, starting with that first church, an evangelism school opened, and evangelism schools continued to be started in that church.
Here is what happened there. The pastor beside me was a disciple who had come along with us — it was not I who raised him up. This man received Jesus and was praying when the lame man simply got up. Truly. He himself was startled, I was startled, and even the man who got up was startled. Truly. This man had come in a wheelchair, but while receiving Christ and praying, he got up. Fortunately, it was not because I did it, but because the person beside me did it, that he got up. This man was excited. Because the lame man got up. He kept talking about going to Russia for months afterward, he was so excited.
At that moment, I realized something. That was a place where Christ was being proclaimed there for the first time since the creation of the earth. It caused an uproar. There are many such regions today. When Christ is proclaimed in China, it causes an uproar. So you have received so much of the gospel that you do not realize its value. When the gospel is preached in China, it causes an uproar. And because some people are so moved by the uproar, they end up leaving their cell groups, as you know. Why? Because they want to do it themselves. If it goes well, that is fortunate, but many end up shutting their doors instead. It happens a lot.
What that means is that in places like South America, they just spoke about Christ and it caused an uproar. You all now drink so much clean water that you don’t even know what water tastes like, right now. This is a serious problem. You don’t know to be grateful. You don’t know to be grateful for water. Right now, in Africa, people barely drink water at all — it’s not even comparable. Even in the Philippines, if you go to the outskirts, people bathe, wash clothes, cook rice, and drink from the very same water. So we never realize how grateful we should be for a single bottle of clean water, because we have so much. Those people tremble over a single bottle of water. They have nothing. So because we constantly hear about this tremendous blessing of Christ, we do not realize it. Try experiencing it just once this week.
Take the biggest problem you have, and for one week, whatever comes to mind, try saying, “I command this in the name of Jesus Christ.” Write it down. And check when the answer comes. You will come to realize how important you are and how greatly you have been blessed. You must have this experience. Only then can you pass on this kind of answer of victory over darkness to the next generation as well. This week it is not difficult. May this week become a week of experiencing this through prayer, in the name of the Lord Jesus, I bless you. Let us pray.
Prayer
We thank you, God. This week, let us see evidence of the power of Christ appearing in the place that is the biggest problem for us. Please add the grace of starting anew. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.