Sunday 1st Service
Title/Scripture: The Church That Practices the Bethsaida Movement (Mark 8:22-26)
Speaker: Rev. Kwang-Soo Ryu
Date/Location: July 10, 2022, Immanuel Church (Seoul)
Mark 8:22-26
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” 24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”
Summary
▣ Introduction_ A Terminal and Incurable Disease That No One Can Help (The Blind Man)
1. At this time, there is a difference between the one who goes forward with the strength of God being with me, and the one who gives up
2. Those who are sick, who have problems, and who are in impossible difficulties must find the important answer.
1) At the crucial moment, worldly things are not the answer.
2) The answer that Joseph, who became a slave and went to prison, and David, who met great difficulty, arrived at – they clearly knew that there was no one to help them. This is important.
3) The fact that no one can help me is also a reason to be discouraged, but it is the best timetable. It is the time when I can discover the highest value in life.
3. Healing comes when I make a timetable to exchange, for God’s own, the things inside me that are wrong, that Satan has given, misunderstandings, wounds, experiences, worldly things, my own things, and what is filled with greed. – At this time, incompetence, the greatest disease, is healed, and I am changed into a person who evangelizes.
▣ Main
1. The Blind Man Whose Spiritual DNA Was Completely Changed by Meeting Christ
1) Verse 22, “I want the Lord to touch me.” The blind man who came and earnestly pleaded – simply put, this means throwing away all the garbage.
2) Verses 24 and 25, Jesus, who took the blind man’s hand and led him outside the village, put spit on his eyes, and laid hands on him again – the work that is overturned when God’s power is imprinted.
3) The blind man who had the conviction that if he went to Jesus he would be healed – this is called CVDIP, a picture of the answer. We must throw away the garbage of unbelief and pray while drawing a picture with the covenant.
4) Verse 26, Jesus who told him not to go into the village but to go straight home – this means not to listen to people’s words, so that the power of the throne may come upon him completely.
▷ If we experience God changing all the garbage in my body and thoughts, and working with God’s power, we will be changed.
2. The Disciples (Peter) Who, Seeing This Scene, Began to Revive the Israel Field – a Representative Example Is the Healing of the Lame Man (Acts 3:1-12)
1) Acts 3:1, Peter, who always saw the lame man while going to the appointed time of prayer
2) Acts 3:4, Peter, together with John, looked intently at him – looking at him with concentration
3) Acts 3:6, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” – This word was delivered into the lame man’s soul, body, and heart, and a work that the people of the world did not know took place.
▷ If the many words of the world and people do not enter into me, and God’s power truly enters into me, a work will happen before long.
3. This Work of Christ Is Passed On to the Church Leader (Philip) – Representatively, Samaria
1) People in Samaria with paralysis and those possessed by demons
2) Philip, who spoke to them with one mind, and the Samaritans who listened with one mind (concentrated in one place) – here a work took place.
3) We must know the gospel and prayer and go out into the world in order to conquer the world.
▣ Conclusion_ The Church That God Needs Is a Church That Practices the Bethsaida Movement
▷ We must exchange the 237 nations, the spiritually sick, and the Remnants for God’s own, for the throne’s own.
Transcript
▣ Introduction_ A Terminal and Incurable Disease That No One Can Help (The Blind Man)
1. At this time, there is a difference between the one who goes forward with the strength of God being with me, and the one who gives up
Thank you. When we get sick, doctors and family members help us a lot. But when we get a terminal illness, there is no one to help. No one at all can help. So we end up giving up. Everyone goes through it once, but going through it with the strength of God being with me is different from giving up. Also, when an incurable disease strikes, there is no one to help.
2. Those who are sick, who have problems, and who are in impossible difficulties must find the important answer.
Today Jesus arrived at Bethsaida, and a blind man appeared and is praying right now, asking to be saved. Since he is a blind man who cannot see, there is no one who can heal him.
1) At the crucial moment, worldly things are not the answer.
Bethsaida means “house of the fisherman, fishing village.” Even so, this means nothing to this man. I don’t know the original name, but it is said that it was named “Bethsaida” after the wife of a Roman emperor. If that is so, this is a region with a great deal of significance. Also, as you know, this is the hometown of Peter, Andrew, and Philip. And as you know, this is the place where the five loaves and two fish fed five thousand with leftovers remaining. That is Bethsaida. But for this blind man who cannot see, none of that helps him at all. At this point, this blind man’s name is not even given. How difficult it must have been for him. Though he could not see, he went and knelt down at the exact time Christ arrived at Bethsaida. What matters is that he did not give up saying, “I am a person who cannot see.” In fact, how hard must it have been for him to time it to when Christ was coming? He appeared right there. Today, for those of you who are sick, I hope that today becomes the day you find the important answer. I have another problem now too – it must become the day I find the important answer. At a truly crucial moment, worldly things are not the answer.
2) The answer that Joseph, who became a slave and went to prison, and David, who met great difficulty, arrived at – they clearly knew that there was no one to help them. This is important.
Joseph was sold as a slave, and there was no one to help him. As you know, he was falsely accused of that terrifying, dreadful crime and thrown into prison. No one at all could help Joseph. Joseph knew this well. He knew, “I have now entered prison in the midst of this great difficulty, but there is no one who can help me.” That is extremely important.
3) The fact that no one can help me is also a reason to be discouraged, but it is the best timetable. It is the time when I can discover the highest value in life.
It’s not that you have no reason to be discouraged, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can make the very best timetable. When an impossible, unsolvable difficulty comes upon you, it becomes a reason for discouragement. But you can discover the truly most valuable thing in your life. Many people do not realize this and end up dying in the midst of great difficulty at the end. This must become the time for you to find this. Isn’t it the same for David, who enjoyed the greatest answer? There was no one to help him. You must catch that quickly. It cannot help you.
There is a man in America named Alexander Loyd. This man is a pastor. But he could not do ministry. His wife suffered from depression, and whenever she felt bored she would get angry, like this. And she would shout, and sometimes she would have outbursts. Constantly. She would be fine for a while and then it would happen again. How could he do ministry like that? When this woman’s depression got worse and she had an outburst, she would always say, “It’s because of you.” And this pastor had nothing to say in response, because it was true that they were living together. This illness is serious. No matter how good a place he went to for help, it could not be solved. It would stabilize a little and then happen again, stabilize and then happen again, and it kept on going, and meanwhile they had two children. Now that the children were growing up a bit, they too became anxious because of their mother. It was beyond words. The household was hell, absolute hell. She had so many outbursts. She would even injure herself, to the point of bleeding. This pastor had tried everything there was to try. He went to psychologists and everything else… nothing worked no matter what he did.
This pastor began to truly pray to God for the first time. This is an actual event. And great grace from God came upon this man. And so he tried on his wife the very answer he had received, and an unbelievable healing took place. According to this man’s records, there was one slight outburst after that, but since then, for eight years up to now, there has been nothing at all. Because there were so many people like this, the pastor and his wife began to seek out such people together and help them, like this. When he did exactly what he had received, many people began to be healed. Aren’t there many people like this among you? As the days go by, there will be more and more of them. Such people sometimes cause accidents and even commit murder. Because of this, since there are so many such people, they set up centers, places for healing, across 50 states in America. Since there are so many such people and it kept spreading more and more, they have now established this in 90 countries. Since one pastor couple alone is not enough, they are training about 200 coaches who are able to help in this way.
So although I never met him, I looked through his book to see what this man does. If you really believe it, it is simple, and it isn’t wrong. It cannot help but heal. Because his wife’s struggle was so hard, this man kept trying and trying until he finally found this. It seems to have been developed by some group of three organizations, and it is a medical device that tells you, like this, how much stress your body currently has. Try praying a little. What happens? It goes down. Actually, try being thankful like this, like that. It goes down. It’s nothing at all, but people won’t believe it unless they see it. Watching this, ordinary people are typically healed within 50 to 60 days. And as this happens, this person keeps on praying. Right? Because they believe and pray. In fact, if you believe this, none of that equipment is even necessary.
3. Healing comes when I make a timetable to exchange, for God’s own, the things inside me that are wrong, that Satan has given, misunderstandings, wounds, experiences, worldly things, my own things, and what is filled with greed. – At this time, incompetence, the greatest disease, is healed, and I am changed into a person who evangelizes.
If you believe and pray today, this time of worship can become an amazing time. Simply put, we are full of all sorts of wrong things, garbage, and things Satan has given us. We are filled with all kinds of misunderstandings, wounds, and experiences. No one is even responsible for it. What we learned in school, what we heard in books, much of our knowledge – there is a lot that is wrong in it. All of it is inside us. What is more of a problem is that we don’t even know about the forces of darkness that Satan gives us, right? This is what fills us up. So to put it simply, this is what that pastor showed. Those who saw it were amazed. “Oh, so that’s it.” Once he realized that and prayed for several dozen days, the Holy Spirit must have truly worked. Actually, it’s a simple story.
I have experienced this myself. I have studied this continuously for about 40 years. Why? Because when I go out to the mission field, there are so many sick people. How am I supposed to help these people? Looking at the Bible, it shows healing happening like this. I have never personally been sick. But when I asked what the greatest sickness I had was, it was that I had no power. This isn’t an ordinary sickness. I have to save unbelievers, but I have less power than the unbeliever. No, I have to save my neighbor, but I have less power than my neighbor, that’s how it was for me. I went to church and tried to work, but it didn’t work. One day I realized it simply. It was realized so simply. I realized that what belongs to God was not inside me. What belongs to God was supposed to come upon me through the power of the gospel, but I realized it wasn’t there.
Actually, though I never told people this, I was full of other things – wrong things, worldly things, greed, my own things. Of course it wasn’t going to work. I served as an evangelist for a while at the beginning. I did it in a strange way, that evangelist work. My thinking was, “If I do this well, won’t it be very beneficial?” That’s how my mind worked. What’s beneficial about it? So I had no real plan, no real answer. So all my standards were about people. “If I do it this way, won’t the people above like it? If I do it this way, won’t the elders like it? If I do it this way, won’t people like it?” That was my level. I was ashamed. “Can a fellow like you really change the children by teaching them?” I realized that I had nothing of God in me. It’s true. That is the only thing I realized.
God’s people come to church – would my own things or worldly things be of any help to them? I need to give them what belongs to God, but I don’t have it. Really. It isn’t difficult at all. Once I realized that, I began to pray. I only prayed before God. Once I realized that. That was about 35 years ago. Since no one could stop me in the early morning hours, I would finish my dawn prayer alone and pray by myself. “God, give me the power of the gospel. Give me the power of God.” Only with that could I serve the members and serve the church – how else could I serve the church with anything else? My surroundings and environment could not help me at all. Not at all. I prayed honestly. “God, please send me to a church where I can really do this work well.” After about 40 days, an answer came, and what was the answer? “Your thinking is completely wrong.” That’s right. I realized it. “God, not to a good place, but what is it that You want from me right here?” At that time, an answer came that I could enjoy for my entire life. “This darkness that is happening within the church must be stopped, but though there are ministers, the church has ended up like this because no prayer movement or evangelism movement has been raised up.” Even those with long-standing faith collapse completely before the wind of darkness within the church.
At that time, I made a proposal to my senior pastor. “Pastor, because the church is where God’s people gather, there are many good people. I will truly pray and carry out an evangelism movement. If you advertise it in the church and set up an evangelism school and allow those who want to do evangelism work to come, I will do it.” I was sincere about it. That very thing is, up until now, the beginning of the evangelism school that has come to preach the gospel to the whole world.
God changed incompetent me. I was truly incompetent. Everyone who knew me back then knows this. What is evangelism – even what I had didn’t work. God is the one who changed me. It wasn’t something I did. I had nothing of God in me at all, and I was completely full of wrong things, filled with worldly things. It’s simple.
▣ Main
1. The Blind Man Whose Spiritual DNA Was Completely Changed by Meeting Christ
This is the first point today. This blind man who met Christ had his spiritual DNA completely transformed. That is the first point. It is possible.
1) Verse 22, “I want the Lord to touch me.” The blind man who came and earnestly pleaded
Looking at verse 22 to see how this blind man came, he came earnestly and pleaded, saying, “I want the Lord to touch me.” Simply put, is there anything he had not already tried up until now? He had thrown away all the garbage. As you know, it is a difficult thing for a blind man to come and seek out Jesus.
2) Verses 24 and 25, Jesus, who took the blind man’s hand and led him outside the village, put spit on his eyes, and laid hands on him again
Looking at verse 24 today, Jesus takes his hand and leads him outside separately. And what does He do? It says He put spit on his eyes and laid hands on him. When He asked, “Do you see anything?” the man said he saw something, even trees. Looking at verse 25, it says, “Once more, Jesus laid hands on him.” It is the same principle. When the power of God is imprinted upon us, it completely overturns everything.
3) The blind man who had the conviction that if he went to Jesus he would be healed
Although this man could not see with his eyes, he had the conviction, “If I go to Jesus, my eyes will be opened.” “If Jesus touches me, I will be healed.” He held that conviction. This is called CVDIP. You must have it. Simply put, this is called a picture of the answer. Try it starting today. Truly throw away your unbelief, your garbage. We keep putting garbage into ourselves. Throw it away, and pray while drawing a clear picture with the covenant God has given you – that is what I am saying.
4) Verse 26, Jesus who told him not to go into the village but to go straight home
Looking fully at verse 26, once his eyes were opened, it says, “Do not go into the village, but go straight home.” What does that mean? It means, do not listen to what people say, so that the power of the throne may come upon you completely.
You must have this experience. Right? When God changes all the garbage in my body and in my thoughts, and I experience Him working with His power, I am changed. Many people find this difficult, but right now, it is possible through prayer, for all of you. If you truly believe it. What that pastor did – this person with depression, whom no one could heal – when he believed that and did it, she was changed. This does not end here.
2. The Disciples (Peter) Who, Seeing This Scene, Began to Revive the Israel Field – a Representative Example Is the Healing of the Lame Man (Acts 3:1-12)
What is the second point? The disciples, having seen this, now begin to completely revive the Israel field.
1) Acts 3:1, Peter, who always saw the lame man while going to the appointed time of prayer
A representative example is Acts chapter 3. Peter was not the kind of person to do this before. He saw the lame man sitting at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. It says, “at the ninth hour of prayer.” Peter always went at the appointed time of prayer, and he saw this lame man. You must understand this well. He always saw this lame man while going at the fixed ninth-hour time of prayer that he had set for himself. And then a definite timetable came. This is what Peter said.
2) Acts 3:4, Peter, together with John, looked intently at him – looking at him with concentration
It says, “Peter, together with John.” It also says, “looked intently at the lame man.” In Greek, the word is atenisas (ἀτενίσας), which means he looked with extreme concentration.
3) Acts 3:6, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
And this is what he said: “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” This word was completely delivered into the soul, body, and heart of this lame man. As you know, it was overturned by a work that the people of the world do not understand.
Looking at some material someone sent recently – you may have seen it – there is a certain person who looks at Tokyo just once and then goes and draws the entire scene from memory exactly as it is. It’s amazing – even the signs. Not a single mistake. Isn’t that a genius? Right? Even down to the cars passing by, all of it. Even the license plates match. He only looked once. How can that be possible? Also, there’s someone who heard the piano once as a child, and by around age twelve was playing the piano to a level that astonished the entire world. There’s another person I introduced – who started, by chance, at age nine, and creates world-class works.
But looking at that material, what is the characteristic of these people? Something like Asperger’s. They are autistic children, autistic. I think that is correct. Do you know why? It is because they became completely cut off from all people and all of society. So they focused on only one thing. This is when the enormous abilities God has given began to change and manifest. This is something that actually happened.
Try changing that statement a little. This does not mean that we are to ignore many things in the world, or many people. If those (people, world) words do not enter into me, and I truly concentrate on the power of God, a work will happen before long. It is science. Spiritual science. What Pastor Alexander Loyd did is scientific. It is correct. He said, “Rise up and walk in the name of Jesus of Nazareth,” and that is scientific. Does this mean we will absolutely never die and live long here? That is not what I mean. But it means that whether we live or die, we must do so holding on to this blessing of God’s power being with us.
3. This Work of Christ Is Passed On to the Church Leader (Philip) – Representatively, Samaria
It does not end there. Seeing this work of God, which is Christ, it was passed on to the church leader. Simply put, it is passed on to our elders. These elders are the ones present in the field. Right?
1) People in Samaria with paralysis and those possessed by demons
Here, an amazing thing happened. What is it? Samaria. A church leader named Philip went to Samaria, and there were those who had paralysis, and those possessed by demons who could not even control their own bodies.
2) Philip, who spoke to them with one mind, and the Samaritans who listened with one mind (concentrated in one place) – here a work took place.
An important word appears here. It says, “Philip spoke to them with one mind, and they listened with one mind.” This is where the work happened. “Peter looked intently at the lame man” – this is where the work happened. People dismissed him as an autistic child, even his teacher dismissed him. He was dismissed as an autistic child, but this young man concentrated on one thing. That is where the work happened. You must know that the abilities God has given us are stored up in tremendous amounts.
3) We must know the gospel and prayer and go out into the world in order to conquer the world.
You must know what prayer is. If our Remnants do not know the gospel and do not know prayer, how can they win when they go out into the world? You must know what the gospel is and what prayer is in order to conquer them. If our young adults go out into the world to do business without this power? You can do it to some extent by your own strength. But there will inevitably come a day when you reach a limit. Then you will not be able to save them, will you? Today, all of you must hold firmly to this covenant. Meeting Jesus Christ is not unconditional. It has been transformed into an extremely important condition of God.
Today, through your faith and prayer, your spiritual DNA can be changed. Today, through your prayer, all the garbage in your body, your thoughts, and your soul can be changed into what belongs to God. Only when it is changed will a work take place.
▣ Conclusion_ The Church That God Needs Is a Church That Practices the Bethsaida Movement
Let me bring this to a conclusion. What kind of church would God need? It is a church that practices the Bethsaida movement. Then answers come automatically. Honestly speaking, that church is blessed simply because people attend it, if that’s true. Right? If you help a murderer or a robber, you are cursed for having helped them. Right? If you give a cup of water to someone who saves lives, someone who saves people in the midst of crisis? That too becomes a blessing, doesn’t it? How much more should people from 237 nations come to our church and receive healing? With what? We must exchange it for what belongs to God. Otherwise, it absolutely will not work. We must exchange it for what belongs to God.
Even though no one in our church recognized her, a certain woman deaconess went out every single day to evangelize to foreigners. No one told her to do it, but she followed the message exactly as it was, going every day to the upper room. She even died in a traffic accident on her way back from evangelizing. Our church doesn’t particularly recognize her either. She wasn’t someone of any special status. But a foreigner who heard her message, who heard the gospel from her, was completely transformed. It’s like a miracle. He was from a family of leaders in a completely Muslim region, but after hearing about Christ, he was transformed. This man quit his job, studied theology, and became a pastor. This is the Pastor Salam I mentioned before.
Underneath him is Rony, who is an evangelist. These people are the real thing. Death came, but they were not afraid at all. Aren’t those Muslims vicious? They framed him and were about to kill him, but instead a letter of comfort came from that side. “Pastor, don’t worry. We are doing well. I am in prison, but I am fine. Because our country needs Christ, I am fine.” In my entire life, this was the first time I heard someone in the midst of difficulty say such a thing so sincerely. Don’t people leave the church even over hurt feelings? Right? Aren’t there people who change their faith just because they feel offended? I have seen far too many such people. This man, they were about to kill him in prison on false charges, and the government told him, “If you don’t believe in Jesus, we will spare your life.” “Pastor, don’t worry. I am not what matters. Our country absolutely needs Christ.” A work is bound to happen without fail. Don’t worry.
What kind of church is needed? The spiritually sick have nowhere to go. A church that heals, that transforms. That system must exist. The Remnants must not simply go out into the world as they are. They must be transformed before going out. With what? With what belongs to God, with what belongs to the throne. That is what our Remnants need. We must be transformed with that before going out – that’s what I’m saying.
I ask that you pray this today. You who are sick, there is no need to worry. Lay your hands on yourselves. You can be changed. You must truly pray. “God, change all my worldly things, all my wrong things.” It’s simple. “Let the Spirit of the Triune God truly come upon me. Let the blessing of the throne come upon me. Only then can I save my family, my field, and the many people in difficulty.” Pray that prayer for real. A work will happen. To all our members across the nation and around the world, do not be discouraged, and let this become the timetable for you to find and be transformed by this answer. Let us pray.
Prayer
God, we thank You. Let this be a time when all the wrong things that tear me down and tear others down are changed. Let this be a time when all the bad things that cause sickness are changed. Let this be a time of being imprinted with what belongs to You. Through this prayer, let us become witnesses who save the world. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.