Category: Evening Altar

Praise — “The Love of God”

Confession of Faith
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
…Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,
…Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
…Born of the Virgin Mary,
…Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
…Was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
…And is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy universal Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body
And life everlasting. Amen.

Message — “Send Out Workers into the Harvest” (Matthew 9:35-38)
Transcript…Video

Prayer — 7 Bartizans · 7 Journeys · 7 Guideposts

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.

Praise — “Jesus Is the All the World to Me”

Confession of Faith
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
…Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,
…Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
…Born of the Virgin Mary,
…Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
…Was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
…And is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy universal Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body
And life everlasting. Amen.

Message — “Joy of Prayer” (Matthew 9:14-17)
Transcript…Video

Prayer — 7 Bartizans · 7 Journeys · 7 Guideposts

Sunday 2nd Service Worship
Lay Missions Dedication Worship
Pastor Ryu Kwang-su
Title / Scripture: Jesus Who Came to Call the Sick and Sinners (Matthew 9:9-13)
Date / Location: February 20, 2022 / Immanuel Church

Matthew 9:9-13

09 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do.”
13 “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Chalkboard

Matthew 28:16-20 / Mark 16:15-20 / Acts 1:1-8
Problem (Matthew 13:11-13) (3, 6, 11)
[Jesus who came to call the sick and sinners]
(Matthew 9:9-13)

Introduction
1. Tax collector (intermediary / errand-runner)
2. Christ — enthroned
3. Curse

1. Sinner — witness
1) Seeking
2) Disciple
3) Matthew [Gospel]

2. Sick — witness
1) [woman with flow of blood]
2) [paralytic]
[healing / witness]

3. Abandoned
1) [courtyard of] Gentiles
2) [courtyard of] children
3) [prayer]

Conclusion
RT / TCK
[Heavenly Power / Heavenly Talent / Heavenly Mission]
[top priority]

3. Elite
(women/men leaders)

Summary

▷ Today is the missions dedication worship. We all receive the blessing of having to do missions. Whenever you pray, just keep this always in mind.

Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-20, Acts 1:1-8
Problem (Matthew 13:11-13) (3, 6, 11)

▷ “I have all authority in heaven and on earth and will always be with you.” We must now believe and receive this. In the six days, then, you can confirm it. Through the covenant of missions, when you hold on to the covenant, “demons will be cast out, the sick will be healed,” and God seated on the throne promised He would work. At the final pulpit, you will be witnesses to the ends of the earth, and He explained the things of the kingdom of God for 40 days. You can keep enjoying this prayer. The problem is that responses keep coming, but we miss them because of our own thinking. The more you think, the more you grasp onto something; but the more you pray, the more you begin to see something. Responses come through problems — Matthew 13:11-13 shows that God is concealing things in order to give them to you. The devil mainly tempts through Genesis chapters 3, 6, and 11 — that is, the self-centered nature. When Jesus did missions, the very first thing He did was come to call the sick and sinners.

▣ Introduction

1. Tax collector — an intermediary errand-runner. At that time, the tax collector was a sinner who ran errands for Rome while the nation was a vassal state and extorted money in the process. Jesus went directly to the tax collector. If one is a truly capable evangelist, if it is truly the gospel, that is what must be done.
2. Christ — Christ is the one who, when we make our confession of faith, enthrones that place, and the moment one meets Christ, He is the one who enthrones the individual. The church is a place where kings, servants, and slaves all attend worship, where one realizes the blessing of the throne and where people are saved.
3. The Curse — Through Christ, three curses are resolved. Without removing the curse, everything else is useless.

▣ Main_ How should we do missions?

1. Sinner — Witness. Missions is calling sinners and making them into witnesses.
1) Seeking — Jesus went and found Matthew.
2) Disciple — Jesus even ate with him, which means He was making him a disciple.
3) The Gospel of Matthew — Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew. The gospel and evangelism mean making sinners into witnesses.

2. The Sick — Witness. Missions is bringing the sick to fundamental healing in the name of Christ and making them into witnesses.
1) The woman with the flow of blood — Jesus healed her.
2) The paralytic — Jesus healed the paralytic.
3) The mute — Jesus healed the mute as well.
4) The leper — He healed the leper as well.
5) The demon-possessed — He healed the demon-possessed.
▷ Jesus healed people whom hospitals could not touch. To us as well, Mark 16:15-20 says, “They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

3. The Abandoned — Witness. Calling the abandoned and establishing them as witnesses. It is not finding talented people to use them, but healing the many spiritual problems they have.
1) The courtyard of the Gentiles
2) The courtyard of the children
3) The courtyard of prayer
▷ In Scripture, these are the most important things for the building of the temple and for evangelism. This is healing. The many nations and the Remnant must be raised according to what God desires. We must not raise them according to our own will. Israel missed everything by pursuing the kibbutz movement, the chosen people movement, and the talent movement.

▣ Conclusion

1. RT, TCK — The Remnant and TCKs must hold on to Heavenly Power, Heavenly Talent, and Heavenly Mission.
2. Many nations — The many nations who are already here must become the top priority (0순위) within the gospel. The seven Remnant were the top priority, and our current evangelism movement is the top priority.
3. Elite — Truly elite people have many spiritual problems. In order to save them, we must become elite.

▷ Accepting 3, 9, 3 is prayer. This is what we call being filled with the Holy Spirit, and this is our identity, and conveying this is authority.

Transcript

Today is the missions dedication worship. We all receive the blessing of having to do missions. This is something I have always kept in mind for 40 years. You simply need to keep this always in mind as well. Whenever you pray now. And then you can confirm it.

Matthew 28:16-20
“I have all authority in heaven and on earth and will always be with you.” That is what it says. You must now believe and receive this. Then during the six days, you can confirm it.

Mark 16:15-20
Clearly, because of your covenant missions — when you hold on to the covenant — “demons will be cast out, the sick will be healed, and they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” That is clearly what it says.

Acts 1:1-8
The Lord seated on the throne promised that He would work. Jesus personally explained it. This is the final pulpit, you see. You will be witnesses to the ends of the earth. He explained the things of the kingdom of God for 40 days. If you pray this now, you can keep enjoying it continuously. The problem is this: during the six days, these responses keep coming, but we are missing them right now. We are missing them because of our own immediate thinking. That is why it is better to not need my own thinking. You just need to keep doing this prayer. There is an enormous difference between praying a lot about one particular thing and thinking a lot about it. The more you think, the more you end up grasping onto something. But the more you pray, the more you begin to see something. This is important.

Problem

Now, the reason this part has been left open is this: responses are coming, yet God may sometimes give things through a problem. So because you see the world as something great, when a problem comes you become afraid. And another reason you become even more afraid is that you yourself have been planting those kinds of thoughts, so it seems like what is coming is that. So you feel anxious. You just need to start fresh quickly. It is not a problem — the response is coming through it — but we keep thinking of it as a problem. So now, start anew. If you look carefully at what comes in the form of a problem, there are many answers inside it. We miss them, which is why things are the way they are. When I have a financial problem right now, I need to deal with it genuinely and surely at the root. That is right, isn’t it? It is an opportunity. If you look at it roughly, people keep trying to muddle through and deceive themselves. And then it ends up that way again. There is no need for that. Because you are children of God, there is no need to keep being deceived. Clearly, He is working like this.

(Matthew 13:11-13)

Because the things we call problems are usually what gets written down and comes out, in Matthew 13:11-13, God is not so much deceiving you in order to give to you — rather, He is concealing it. That is right, isn’t it? If people believe in Jesus, pray, and then automatically receive blessings — with all the con artists sitting around, that won’t work. So He conceals it just a little. That is right, isn’t it? “I just went and prayed and the response came”? That would be terrible. He arranges things so that it looks a little like a problem so that you seek out the answer. You must absolutely not miss it.

(Genesis 3, 6, 11)

Also, there is mainly this reason as well. No matter who it is, I am the center, aren’t I? In Genesis chapter 3, the devil tempted through this very thing. “If you eat this, your eyes will be opened.” And so — “Oh?” — that is what happened. Needless to say about the world, when you go to university, what do they immediately teach? “Find yourself.” Something like that. How apt-sounding is that? And people fall for it. There is nothing to find, yet they say “find yourself,” so it feels tremendously attractive. Strangely, there are some young people who went to university and fell for it. Then those who have spiritual problems come along and get sucked in. That group Shincheonji — they align everything they say front and back perfectly. And people get sucked in. Even though what they are saying makes no sense at all, people get sucked in. Why is that? Because there is a spiritual problem in that person. And then there is going abroad. At first you don’t know, but if you think about it quietly, one day drugs just seem ordinary. So people who have spiritual problems — if you come into contact with that in large amounts, you may genuinely never be able to get out. Do not be deceived.

“Jesus Who Came to Call the Sick and Sinners” (Matthew 9:9-13)

So when Jesus did missions, what did He show us first? The title first of all: Jesus who came to call the sick and sinners. These are words we know well. And yet, we may still not be fully enjoying this as a response. Today, in Matthew 9:9 through 13, Jesus spoke. This is Scripture we know very, very well. Scripture that anyone who has attended church for at least a few years would know. And yet this is not easy.

▣ Introduction

Why is this not easy? Because most people seek out the successful, not these (the sick and sinners) — so why would you seek them out? We say in words that we do it with a good heart to encourage and comfort, but there is no real reason to stake your life on it. And in today’s text, the Pharisees criticized it. It may seem ordinary to you, but it was an enormous thing. “How is it that your teacher eats with those sinners?” That is what today’s text says. Jesus said, “I came to do this (call the sick) and this (call sinners).” Think carefully about this. When people normally want to succeed, they have to run out and hustle. Does this (calling the sick and sinners) appear to be something? You have to do something. That is the kind of situation it becomes. But if you are truly successful, you can do it. That is right, isn’t it?

Tax Collector — Intermediary, Errand-runner

Who did He go to? He went to a tax collector. Jesus went to him. Others came. But Jesus directly found and called a tax collector. Today nationwide, a tax accountant is an intellectual. But it was not like that back then. Today, someone working at customs is a civil servant. But it is not a type of civil servant people particularly rejoice over. When someone from the tax office comes, you get a little scared. In that situation then — adults would know this, but the Remnant may not. Israel had been made a vassal state of Rome. The Romans used their heads. They conquered nation after nation, and when they looked around, they had no other option. They had to collect taxes, and there was only one way.

To put it simply, they gathered the troublemakers from the neighborhood. Simple enough then — the method. “If you don’t listen, I’ll kill you.” Just like that, and “Do as you’re told.” And then: “Collect taxes. When you collect, send up to a certain amount to Rome. For the remaining amount, inflate the number a little and live off the difference. How much you inflate or deflate is up to you.” Remarkable, right? That is what the tax system was like back then. So if this person found out you had earned money: “You must pay this much in taxes.” If Rome’s portion was ten million won, “Pay twenty million won.” And if you didn’t pay, he would report you. That worked. You had no choice but to pay. If someone was on really close terms with him or really pleaded, he might knock it down a bit. Someone who truly got on his nerves? He would hike it up a lot. It was completely at his discretion.

Now, who on earth would like this person? Jesus called this tax collector. And when He called him, the Pharisees immediately saw and criticized it. Just imagine this person’s position. A vassal of Rome, running errands while, simply put, extorting money from people. Someone in the middle doing various kinds of errand work. If you are truly an intellectual, truly an evangelist, you would have to go to these people.

For Jesus, healing the sick and going to people was done from the beginning. He went to Peter, and He called Matthew. Just as you heard in today’s message, if you are truly an evangelist doing missions, you can go to this person. If you truly have ability, you will go to this person. That is right, isn’t it? When I personally feel I must succeed, that I must not fail or something terrible will happen — people in that state cannot go to them. If I were successful, there would be no reason I could not go.

Among my university classmates, there is someone I am not particularly close to but who is a decent enough person. He came to see me once and told me something. What did he do? He said he goes into the mountains, gathers people of a certain level, and does ministry. I visited him once in the Gimpo area. Whether it is going well or not I cannot tell, but naturally, it would not be going well. There is another person, from Yeongdo. He said he gathers only elites and does a community church. That is the only thing with hope, he says. It has been a long time, and of course it is not doing well.

That is not what Jesus wants. Jesus did not want to lure in elites and benefit the church. We have already received everything. We need to go to those people and save them. That is right, isn’t it? Historically, not a single church that did it that way has ever done well. And yet there are many who insist on Genesis chapter 3 — the self-promotion. Many theological students and juniors are coming up, and you need to think carefully. To become a proper minister, you must have no sense of “I will do this.” That is right, isn’t it? “I go where God sends me. I do what the church wants. No other reason.” That is how it must be. Why go all the way up to some mountain peak, into a secluded place — if God tells you to go in, then go in. But if He is not telling you to go in, you must not keep misusing the church that way. That is right, isn’t it? The church is not a place for Pastor Ryu Kwang-su or any leader to settle personal grudges. It is the place where God’s plan is fulfilled. That is right, isn’t it? You must do missions properly. Jesus went to the tax collector, I tell you. At that time, plainly speaking, it was a sinner. Very problem-ridden sinners — He went to them. Why did He do that? Because if it is truly the gospel, that is what you must do. That is right, isn’t it? If it were a religion where I am trying to accomplish something, you should not go — the math does not work out. Right? When you calculate it, it does not add up — so why go? But if you are a truly genuine leader, you must go. This is the very one who has problems on both sides.

2. Christ — Enthronement

We need to know who Christ is. That is right, isn’t it? It came out in the first service today: the one who enthrones that place when you make your confession of faith — that is Christ. The moment you meet that covenant, Christ is the one who enthrones your individual self. You must remember this. Even if you find it hard to believe, there is nothing to be done about it. It is the truth. If you do not believe it, you will die with spiritual problems. There is nothing that can be done about that. What more is needed — that is what I mean. That pastor, he is someone from this neighborhood. I have not met him personally. I just heard about him from classmates. “So-and-so is doing such and such.” I see. So I said, “What a pity. He is a decent enough person, why is he doing that?” The church just needs to preach the gospel accurately. That is right, isn’t it? Whether it is a beggar or an elite, God is the one who does it. That is right, isn’t it? Both beggars and elites must come to church. The church is a place where kings attend worship, where servants and slaves attend as well. That is right, isn’t it? When you go to church, it is a place where you realize the blessing of the throne and where people are saved.

3. The Curse

Not only did Christ give the blessing of the throne, but through Him, three things are finally resolved. No matter how much money you make, if you do not remove this (the curse), it is all useless. You go through all that hardship earning money, and the hope of earning is there. That is all there is. There is the hope of earning, the hope of “I will earn,” but there is no happiness. Because you are in this (the curse). Truly happy people — like the couple Priscilla and Aquila — even after earning money and helping every single evangelist, they had more than enough. That is right, isn’t it? And someone like Gaius — even after helping Paul and every single evangelist, there was more than enough, I tell you. If you cannot get out of here, it will not work. That is why you must absolutely pray.

▣ Main

How should we do missions?

1. Sinner — Witness

For you, calling sinners and making them into witnesses — this is missions. No, when you look at a completely different kind of person — the perishing, the broken — you call them, help them come to know Christ, and make them into witnesses.

1) Seeking

There is something more important. It was not Matthew who came looking for Jesus. Jesus went looking for Matthew. That is right, isn’t it? We must do this too.

2) Disciple

And what happened next? Matthew was so happy that they even had a meal together at the house. Not just an ordinary meal — they threw a feast. Seeing that is what they criticized. Religious people who have not grasped the gospel always see that and criticize it. “How is it that your teacher eats with those sinners like that?” In our Gyeongsang dialect, something like, “Have you lost your mind, what are you doing right now?” Something like that. It is absolutely mind-boggling. At that house, the fact that Jesus ate a meal means He joined in — He was making him a disciple.

3) The Gospel of Matthew

There is no time. I will say it briefly. Do you know what this tax collector Matthew went on to do later? He produced something greater than ten thousand Romans and Israelite intellectuals combined — this person wrote the Gospel of Matthew. That is remarkable. What is the gospel and what is evangelism? Making sinners into witnesses.

2. The Sick — Witness

What is evangelism? Missions is calling the sick, bringing them to fundamental healing in the name of Christ, and making the sick into witnesses. Why is that?

1) The woman with the flow of blood
Jesus healed the woman with the flow of blood. She appeared earlier.

2) The paralytic
Jesus healed the paralytic this morning as well, saying, “Rise, take up your bed and go home.”

3) The mute
Jesus healed the mute as well,

4) The leper
And the leper as well.

5) The demon-possessed
And more than that — He healed the demon-possessed.

What is the characteristic of all these? People who came in conditions that hospitals could not touch. Jesus healed these people. What does this mean? Clearly in Mark chapter 16, He said to us as well, “Cast out demons in my name, and lay hands on the sick and they will recover.”

As for what I do during the six days — I look at this message, pray through it, and then simply confirm what responses have come. That is sufficient. These days — even during the COVID period — we are gathering in double the numbers. We see even more works. When I meet someone I do not know, I feel embarrassed. They greet me and say, “Pastor, it must be difficult because of COVID,” and yet it is not difficult at all for us — we are growing even more. But I cannot very well say “Yes, we are doing even better.” So I just say, “Well, yes, um…” like that. The churches doing this gospel movement right now — how remarkable. During COVID, when people cannot gather because they are blocked from gathering, all budgets for evangelism activities and the economy have gone up. Only our denomination is like this. What a remarkable thing.

You must know what evangelism and missions are. You call sinners, help them understand, establish them as witnesses, and establish the sick as witnesses.

3. The Abandoned — Witness

Calling the abandoned and establishing them as witnesses. It is not finding talented people and exploiting them — even talented people have many spiritual problems. You go and heal them.

1) The courtyard of the Gentiles
That is why in Scripture, the most important thing for building the temple and for evangelism — the courtyard of the Gentiles.

2) The courtyard of the children
The courtyard of the children. This is extremely important, this.

3) The courtyard of prayer
The courtyard of prayer. This is healing, I tell you.

These three always existed. But even though you know the words, an actual work will only happen when it becomes truly yours.

Right now our church also has many people from many nations. You really need to look upon these people with great care. It is not about unconditionally drawing them in — you must look carefully. You need to see what it is they need. That is all. Do you think you can go to all 237 nations? Honestly, you cannot go, and you do not need to go. Why would you go? With all this communications media available, why go? That is why God is teaching us the age of non-face-to-face contact through COVID right now. In that case, what must we do with the people who are already here? We must do well at our church. You cannot be indifferent, and you cannot pull people in too forcibly either. You need to know what God wants for each person. You understand, right? That is all there is to it.

How ridiculous some churches are. A North Korean person came to me in tears and told me. “Pastor, I come to Yewon Church and whenever I hear the core messages, I receive the most grace, but I have a concern.” “What is it?” I asked. Some church is telling them to come to their church, buying them a desk, chairs, all of that — and they feel so sorry because they do not want to go. I said, “Then go there.” “What will I do about worship?” “Go to the place where you receive the most grace and worship there.” Our churches must not do this kind of thing. Is the church some kind of fraud organization? You must not do things like this — dragging people in by doing strange things, or otherwise just abandoning them.

Still, as I see it, the place that best understands the message is Immanuel Busan Church. Please understand it. You need to do this. “What is it that God wants for the many nations who are already here?” What does this mean? You must raise the Remnant according to what God wants for them, not according to your own will. That is right, isn’t it? This is fundamental. It is the basic principle of education. If you raise these young people to Pastor Ryu Kwang-su’s standard, you are raising them to a 1950s standard, I tell you. You must raise them to the standard of saving the era that God desires.

That is why I am not worried about gaming. Go ahead and game — you cannot not do it. You are not a grandfather, so why would you not? Do it, but do it properly. Study properly and pray at the same time. That is right, isn’t it? If you just tell them unconditionally “don’t do it,” what are the young people supposed to do? They must. Then they will figure it out themselves. If you say don’t do it, they will do it in hiding. And when they do it in hiding, they receive grace. They lock the door and keep going. You must not try to raise children to your own standard. Raise them to God’s standard. It is a pity. If this (Main point 3) is done at Immanuel, it will be truly what God desires. Not what I want — what God wants.

A child came and kept touching the piano organ, and everyone scolded him — but there was someone who took note of him. That is right, isn’t it? They taught the child. That child grew up to be Handel, who changed the world of music. You must not look at children according to your own mood.

Right now, people from 237 nations are going to pour in. Into Korea. You need to keep your eyes wide open. You absolutely must. This (the text) is all there is. Israel got into their own mood and missed all of this (Main point 3). They built up their strength and missed it all. They pursued the kibbutz movement and missed it. That is right, isn’t it? They pursued the chosen people movement and missed it. All of that was wrong. They pursued the talent movement and missed it. That does not mean talent is bad. Talent needs the gospel too. That is right, isn’t it? You must absolutely remember the dedication worship. When you correctly understand the covenant, God’s work is bound to come.

▣ Conclusion

This is the final conclusion.

1. RT, TCK

The very first thing you need to do right now is this: “For our Remnant and TCKs, what kind of missions must we do for God to be pleased?” The university sermon, the university retreat message — you must keep this in mind. This is not my message or story. What is the message God gave from Mt. Olive? He explained the power that is in heaven. That is right, isn’t it? Every Remnant has a heavenly genius that came down from heaven. Heavenly Talent, Heavenly Power, Heavenly Mission — you must hold on to all three. You understand, right? Even if you are not good at all your studies, there is no need to worry. What God has sent down from above is separate. The Remnant all need to refer to this university message.

2. Many nations (Top priority)

Second, there are many nations here. The TCKs are also from many nations, but they came from other countries. What do these people need to understand within the gospel before they go? This will mainly come out in the university retreat message. They must become the top priority. Remnant must become the top priority — you must not compete. That is old talk. The seven Remnant were the top priority.

People don’t really know it right now, but at our upper room, the pastors who have come to understand and are doing evangelism — what they are doing. It is not at the level of competition — it is top priority. Anyone cannot just copy it. If someone who has not grasped the gospel tries it, it is too hard and they cannot do it. If someone who has not grasped the gospel tries the movement that is in Scripture — the upper room movement — and tries it, they find it too dull to do. It is dull, too dull. If someone who has not grasped the gospel tries doing exactly what the early church did, they find it too uninteresting to continue. They keep wanting to do something else. But a person who truly has the gospel — life springs up in them. True life is at once simple and powerful.

Remnant — top priority.

3. Elite (Spiritual problems)

There is no need for you to become elite — you already are. Truly elite people have many spiritual problems. You must go to save them. In order to do that, you must become elite. Because you are trying to save people who are good at studying, you need to study reasonably well. That is all there is to it. If you yourself are very poor at studying and you try to help someone who is good at studying in spiritual matters, they will not want to receive your help — so you need to help them.

Let me conclude. This blessing (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-20, Acts 1:1-8) goes here (Introduction). This (Main) blessing comes as responses during the six days. This (Main) is missions. That is right, isn’t it? This is evangelism.

[3.9.3]

Starting now, receiving this (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-20, Acts 1:1-8) — this is prayer — the 3.9.3 of it.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit (Identity) (Authority)

Looking at this is what we call being filled with the Holy Spirit, and it is your identity. Conveying this is also authority. Please pray this very, very much. It is extremely important.

I bless you this week, that one by one you will experience the blessing, in the name of Jesus Christ. Let us pray.

Prayer. Thank You, God. Please establish us as sure witnesses who do not miss the covenant and who save the world. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Praise — “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling”

Confession of Faith
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
…Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,
…Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
…Born of the Virgin Mary,
…Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
…Was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
…And is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy universal Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body
And life everlasting. Amen.

Message — “Jesus Who Came to Call the Sick and Sinners” (Matthew 9:9-13)
Transcript…Video

Prayer — 7 Bartizans · 7 Journeys · 7 Guideposts

Sunday 1st Service
Title/Scripture: The Church That Saves the Field (Matthew 9:1-8)
Speaker: Pastor Ryu Gwang-su
Date/Location: February 20, 2022, Immanuel Church

Matthew 9:1-8

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ² Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

³ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

⁴ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ Then the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

Summary

▣ Introduction

1. You must not miss God’s opportunity because of people.
1) The people of the world, shell-of-a-success types, and religious people who attend church but have no gospel — because they do not believe in God and are of no help, they look down on and dislike the weak and the sick.
2) Today, a paralytic who could not even move — four men made a stretcher and carried him in.
3) Jesus, seeing their faith, said: “Son, your sins are forgiven you. Take up your bed and go home.”
4) This is what caused the scribes to criticize so fiercely.

2. People who hindered the sick and the weak
1) The scribes who hindered Jesus — who said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven you” — by crying out, “This is blasphemy. How dare you use such holy words on someone so worthless?”
2) The Pharisee who called Jesus immoral for eating with tax collectors
3) Those who followed Jesus around criticizing him for lacking piety, when Jesus had said there was no need to fast and asked whether this was a time for fasting
4) The Pharisee who, when Jesus cast out demons, asked whether he was the king of demons

▷ These are people who attend church.

3. Things to be careful of
1) The people of the region of Gerasa (Matthew 8:34) — when Jesus healed the demon-possessed man, they told him to leave their town. So Jesus went to Capernaum, and after that there is no record of Jesus ever going to the region of Gerasa. There is no record of the gospel being proclaimed and people being saved in that region.
2) The people of the region of Capernaum (Matthew 9:2) — they carried the paralytic to Jesus, begging him to save him. Jesus did not give up to the end. He who holds with faith to the covenant of Christ — Jesus takes responsibility for that person to the very end. There is no reason to despair.

▣ Main

1. “Seeing their faith, he had compassion on him and said, Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (verse 2)
Four men carried a paralytic who had no strength, no money, and no connections — in order to save him. This man could not come to meet Jesus without people helping him.
1) The blessing of the throne came upon him — the moment you hold to the covenant of Christ, all darkness, curses, and the background of hell are removed, and the blessing and power of the throne come upon you. That is why healing suddenly took place. If there is someone who can transmit the power of the throne, anyone can do it. If you can move the power of the throne, you will move the world. You too can receive this answer, so do not give up.
2) The function of the throne also came upon him.
3) The mission of the throne was given — “Arise, take up your bed, and go home.” (verse 6)

▷ Romans 8:31(39) Neither height nor depth, nor any other power can separate you from the love of Christ. No one can snatch you out of the hand of Christ. Do not give up because of what people say or what Satan says. There is no reason to despair. The moment you meet Christ, it is finished.

2. “Take up your bed and go.” (verse 6, latter half) — He healed him completely. Christ takes responsibility for you as an individual until you become enthroned.
1) Go with that authority.
2) He healed the root cause (something greater than healing). — He healed what it means to not know Christ and to be held captive by people’s voices, by darkness, and by Satan.

3. “Go home.” (verse 6, latter half) — The moment you truly believe this covenant, Christ will enthrone your home and your field of life.

▷ Those who look down on the poor, the struggling, the sick, and the tax collectors cannot know the blessing of the throne, have no reason to know it, and cannot go there. That is why the Jews were destroyed down to their descendants.

▷ Christ takes responsibility for you to the very end. He takes responsibility until you are freed from all darkness and become the blessing of the throne. It was not enough that the paralytic’s friends believed — Christ blessed the paralytic himself to have faith. He did not merely give identity and authority — he said, “Go as a witness.” Do not despair at the voices of Satan and those without the gospel. If you are deceived by them, your descendants will be destroyed. Hold firmly to this covenant.

▣ Conclusion — Do not give up until these five things come to pass.
1. Do not give up until you experience Christ.
2. Do not give up until your future is clearly the gospel.
3. Do not give up until 24, 25, eternity is held in your hands.
4. Do not give up until the blessing of the throne is visible.
5. Do not give up until world evangelization truly comes to pass.
– Before that point, you have no right to give up. When Jesus first called you, he called you to world evangelization. Absolutely.

▷ Blind Bartimaeus cried out: “Have mercy on me.” That is the best prayer. There, Christ stopped in his tracks. It was finished. The experience of Christ is that important.

Transcript

▣ Introduction

Our families across the nation and around the world are going through hardship because of COVID, or because of various other difficulties. You do not need to worry. Because the many things of this world are not the answer for you. There were three heroes in Japan. As you know, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa — these three are Japan’s heroes. All three were from Nagoya. Perhaps that is why God sent good people like Missionary Jong-woo Lee and Elder So to our Nagoya. They are in Nagoya now.

It was a time of intense warfare. There was a famous saying that came out of that era. The cuckoo — why won’t the cuckoo sing? Put simply, why can’t the people understand? So Nobunaga, that hero, said this: “Get rid of it. Kill the cuckoo that won’t sing.” Hideyoshi said this: “Make it sing. If it won’t sing, make it.” And Tokugawa Ieyasu said this: “If it won’t sing, wait.” And that man ultimately unified Japan and even influenced world peace.

1. You must not miss God’s opportunity because of people.

You must not miss God’s opportunity because of people.

Mainly there are people of the world, and many shell-of-a-success types. And there are many religious people who attend church but have no gospel. These people look down on the weak. Isn’t that right? Because they are of no use. They prefer the impressive, the great — they do not like people like you. Especially today, we see a paralytic — a paralytic who cannot even move came. These people do not like such a person. The scribes and Pharisees do not like them. They say they believe in God, but they do not really believe. Why don’t they like them? Well, if someone gets sick but they are wealthy, from a rich family with power — they have no reason to come seeking help. They can just call a doctor, they can do whatever they need — why would they go searching around like that?

This one paralytic, because he could not move, was carried by four men. They must have made a stretcher. And they came like this. Jesus said he saw their faith. And seeing that faith, what he said was: “Your sins are forgiven you. And take up your bed and go home.” Jesus said that. And so the scribes criticized him fiercely. Among you and among the many people living on this earth, there are many sick people, many weak people — many such people. The church dislikes these people. That is how it has always been. The scribes and Pharisees disliked them.

2. People who hindered the sick and the weak

As will come out in the second service — they disliked people like tax collectors. It was not just dislike — they actively hindered. Let us look at how they hindered. Today, when Jesus said, “Sick one, your sins are forgiven you,” they fiercely criticized Jesus, saying, “This is blasphemy.” What does that mean? “How dare you use that sacred, holy word on someone so worthless? How dare you say such a thing?” That is what they were saying. And as will come out in the second service — because he ate with tax collectors, they criticized Jesus, saying he was quite immoral. And then it comes after. About fasting, Jesus said, “Do you even need to do that?” Jesus said, “Is this the time for fasting?” And then these people kept following him around criticizing him. They said to Jesus, “You lack piety.” And then when he cast out demons: “Is that person demon-possessed? Is he the king of demons?” That is what they said. These people are church-going people. They dislike the very difficult, the incapable, the worthless. Why? Because it seems like they won’t succeed.

3. Things to be careful of

Jesus, seeing the faith of those people, had healed such sick people not just once or twice. There is one thing to be careful of in this passage. You must not just pass by today as you read this passage. There are times when you need to look carefully at the Word. Only then can your life be changed.

1) The people of the region of Gerasa (Matthew 8:34)

Today we read from chapter 9 verse 1, but there was an important Word in chapter 8 verse 34 just before. Last week we saw the event of healing the demon-possessed man. To save that man, that person who had lost his mind, Jesus sent the demons into pigs and saved him. And then what did the people of that town say to Jesus? “Leave our town.” That is what they said. “Why did you come here?” That is what they said. The name of that region was Gadara. We read it last week. Today, Jesus departed from there and came to Capernaum. There is an important truth here. After that, Jesus never went to the Gadara region again. There is no record of the gospel being proclaimed and people being saved in that region.

2) The people of the region of Capernaum (Matthew 9:2)

In contrast to that — to this Capernaum, begging Jesus to save him, they carried this sick man — not even their own sickness but a paralytic — they carried him. Jesus did not give up to the very end. You must keep this in mind.

He who holds with faith to the covenant of Christ — Jesus takes responsibility for that person to the very end. This passage explains that. There is no reason to despair. People can look down on you. The uneducated, church members — they can look down on you. The incapable — many religious people, many Christians may dislike you. But in today’s passage, Jesus took responsibility for them to the very end.

▣ Main

1. “Seeing their faith, he had compassion on him, and said, Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (verse 2)

This is the first point. How did it happen? It says in verse 8. It says in verse 2: “Seeing their faith, he had compassion on him. Son, your sins are forgiven you.” Would you have done that? Even for a paralytic who cannot even move, who has no strength, no money, no connections — four men carried him in to save him. What do you make of that? This man cannot come unless someone helps him. Because he cannot walk, without these people he cannot even come to meet Jesus. Because he has no money, no one can go and treat him.

1) The blessing of the throne came upon him

Look at these four men — these friends. They brought him. Jesus was so startled, he praised him so much. “Your sins are forgiven you. Seeing their faith.” What is this saying? “Seeing their faith, your sins are forgiven you.” This means: the blessing of the throne has come upon you. You must remember this. Today, the moment you hold to the covenant of Christ — put simply, “Your sins are forgiven you” — this means all darkness, curses, the background of hell are removed, and the blessing of the throne has come. This is the moment that power comes upon you. That is why healing suddenly took place. If there is someone who can transmit the power of the throne, anyone can do it, right? If you could move the power of the throne, you would move the world, wouldn’t you? This is what Jesus did. And so, that person who believed in Jesus was saved. You can also receive this answer. Do not give up. People will tell you to give up. Jesus says do not give up. People say you have no ability, so go away. Jesus says come. Right? People criticize you. In today’s passage, Jesus had compassion on him. Which is right? Which is the gospel? Which is life?

Even an unbeliever like Tokugawa saved Japan, they say. Even an unbeliever. He was a person of ability. A person of true ability can wait. A person like Nobunaga ahead of him said, “Kill it. Why keep a cuckoo that can’t even sing? Kill it. Replace it.” That person cannot save Japan. A person like Hideyoshi said, “Beat it until it sings. If you beat it, it will sing. Make it that way.” That person invaded our country. That happened, didn’t it. Tokugawa said, “Wait. When the time comes to sing, it will sing.” That person saved Japan. It is a matter of ability.

2) The function of the throne also came upon him

One who truly knows Christ does not give up. What does that mean? That moment — this is no ordinary word. The moment you meet Christ, out of compassion, “Son, your sins are forgiven you” — this word does not just bring the power of the throne. At that moment, the second — the function of the throne also came upon him. He rose up.

3) The mission of the throne was given — “Arise, take up your bed, and go home.” (verse 6)

And then what did he say? The mission of the throne was given. He was told to go. “Arise and carry it and go.” This is Christ.

It says throughout Romans chapter 8, but in verse 31 it says: “Neither height nor depth, nor any other power can separate you from the love of Christ.” It cannot be cut off. “No one can snatch you out of the hand of Christ.” Do not give up. Do not listen to what people say and give up. This is not a call to muster up false courage. Do not listen to what Satan says and give up. Right? This is not a call to hold on to the bitter end. There is no reason to despair — at the moment you meet Christ. That is what this means. For me, this is not just a sermon. The true moment you meet Christ, it is finished. Right? That is the Word. I pray you experience that today.

2. “Take up your bed and go.” (verse 6, latter half) — He healed him completely. Christ takes responsibility for you as an individual until you become enthroned.

This is the second point. It was not just a healing. What kind of second point? It did not end with “Your sins are forgiven.” What else did he say? “Take up your bed and go.” That is what he said. He told him to take the bed with him. Not to leave it and go — what does this mean? “He healed him completely.” That is what this means. He healed him completely. What does this mean? The moment you meet Christ, Christ takes responsibility for you as an individual until you become enthroned.

1) Go with that authority.

It is not just that he revealed that authority — he gave it. And he said to go with that authority. For ordinary illness, you go to the hospital. This is not talking about that — it is talking about a person for whom there is utterly no possibility, for whom hope itself has disappeared.

2) He healed the root cause (something greater than healing).

What is more important is that this person had even more spiritual problems. Do you know what is greater than healing? He healed the root cause. Right? He healed this person’s being held captive by people’s voices, by darkness, and by Satan, without knowing Christ. You must remember this. Do not give up.

3. “Go home.” (verse 6, latter half) — The moment you truly believe this covenant, Christ will enthrone your home and your field of life.

This is the third point. What did he say? In verse 6, latter half. “Go home.” That is what he said. Taking up the bed is good — but what does “go home” mean? Until now, he had been a burden at home. “Now go home in health.” Christ will enthrone even your home. This is not just a story. The moment you truly believe this covenant, God will enthrone even your field of life.

Those who look down on the poor, the struggling, the sick, those who look down on tax collectors — they cannot know the blessing of the throne, have no reason to know it, and cannot go there. That is why these Jews destroyed their descendants. It is a sad thing. This is not a trivial matter. The Pharisees and scribes were enormous. The Jewish spirit, the kibbutz spirit — enormous. Clinging to that, they were destroyed down to their descendants. And it was not just that. The nation disappeared. What are you going to do? The nation disappeared. That much might still be tolerable. But your sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters — all of them, wandering like beggars across every street in every nation of the world.

This is not just a word. “Son, your faith has saved you. Your sins are forgiven.” That is what he said. This is not just words. This is not just healing — that is what this means. For ordinary healing, you go to the hospital. “Take up your bed and go home.” These are the words Jesus said. There, a remarkable thing took place. The people were so startled: “What kind of authority does this person have that such a thing happened?”

Christ takes responsibility for you to the very end. He takes responsibility until the blessing of the throne comes upon you from all your darkness. And it does not stop there. It is no longer the faith of the friends — Christ blessed the paralytic himself to have faith. And it goes beyond that. “Go home and testify.” Is that not remarkable? He did not merely give identity and authority — he said, “Go as a witness.” Do not despair at the voice of Satan. Do not despair at the voice of people. Do not despair at the voice of those without the gospel. It is a lie. If you are deceived by it, your descendants will be destroyed. The evidence is clear. Hold firmly to this covenant.

Strangely, when we were young, it was like that back then. Because we believed in Jesus, our family persecuted us. Isn’t that funny? Our country has developed a great deal. These days that would be a big problem. But back then, the family would come together and persecute. We showed them evidence. Right? God, through Christ, blessed us to the very end. We did not even know what blessing was, but he blessed us in their very words. They said later, “You were blessed.” Those people didn’t understand. People who think that eating well, living comfortably, getting around, riding in a car — that’s being blessed. And in our village, people persecuted us for believing in Jesus. Isn’t that funny? That’s how it was in the old days. It is remarkable. Almost all those village people failed. We are evangelizing the world. Right? Do not be deceived. And there was also in the village someone who was not quite all there — not fully there but not not-there — going around telling fortunes. Fortune-tellers get paid to tell fortunes, right? But this person, whenever bored, would do it for free without even being paid. They came to our house. I remember what that person said at the time. They looked at me, said something to us — do you know what they said? That people who believe in Jesus all become poor when they believe. “Oh, is that so?” Because an adult was speaking, I said nothing, but inside I thought, “That’s ridiculous.” That’s what I thought. “Countries that believe in Jesus do better, don’t they?” I wanted to educate them but held back. That person failed. They fled in the night. We are still evangelizing the world. Do not be deceived.

▣ Conclusion — Do not give up until these five things come to pass.

1. Do not give up until you experience Christ.

This is the first point — until you experience Christ. Do not bring things from the world into the church and try to have an experience there — hold on until you experience Christ. Right? It is finished. This paralytic had no hope whatsoever, but he experienced Christ.

2. Do not give up until your future is clearly the gospel.

What does this mean? Do not give up until your future is clearly the gospel. That belongs to you.

3. Do not give up until 24, 25, eternity is held in your hands.

Do not give up until 24, 25, eternity is firmly held in your hands. The people of the world will tell you to give up. Church members without the gospel will tell you to give up. Leaders without the gospel will tell you to give up. They will look down on you and tell you to give up. God says do not give up. Hold to the covenant. These Pharisees followed him around and hindered, you know. Isn’t that ridiculous — these people who kill people, following after Jesus every step of the way, hindering. There, Jesus showed them evidence. Because the paralytic, the one who had been carried in, rose up and took his bed and walked away.

4. Do not give up until the blessing of the throne is visible.

Do not give up until the blessing of the throne is visible. Because that belongs to you.

5. Do not give up until world evangelization truly comes to pass.

What is the last, fifth point? Do not give up until world evangelization truly comes to pass. Before that point, you have no right to give up. Why? Because when Jesus first called you, he called you to world evangelization. Absolutely. Hold firmly to this covenant and go forward.

Today Jesus spoke one word. What word? God only needs to say one word toward your work. Right? Jesus looked at the Jerusalem temple and spoke one word. What did he say? It is a fearful word. “Not one stone will be left upon another.” It collapsed. And they still cannot rebuild it. They cannot rebuild it even now. God must permit it for it to be built — how much money do Jewish people have? They still cannot build it. Blind Bartimaeus, because he could not see, cried out. Not just “Heal me.” “Have mercy on me.” That is the best prayer. “Have mercy on me.” There, Christ stopped in his tracks. It was finished. The experience of Christ is this important.

I pray you receive this blessing this week. Experience Christ. Do not give up. Only when this happens will your future truly be seen. Only when this happens will 24 and 25 come to pass. Only when this happens will the blessing of the throne come. Only when this happens will world evangelization happen. Until then, do not give up.

Jesus takes responsibility to the very end. To that Gadara region, Jesus never went again. There is no record in the Scripture. This week will be a week of new grace. Let us pray.

Prayer. We give thanks to God. We give thanks to God who saved us. Let us testify of this grace to all nations. Let us testify to those who are struggling. Let us testify in places where the people of the world do not go. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Praise — “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken”

Confession of Faith
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
…Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,
…Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
…Born of the Virgin Mary,
…Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
…Was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
…And is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy universal Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body
And life everlasting. Amen.

Message — “The Church That Saves the Field” (Matthew 9:1-8)
Transcript…Video

Prayer — 7 Bartizans · 7 Journeys · 7 Guideposts

Sunday 2nd Service
Title / Scripture: The Deepening Problems of the Age (Matthew 8:28-34)
Speaker: Pastor Ryu Kwang-su
Date / Location: February 13, 2022 / Immanuel Seoul Church

Matthew 8:28-34

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.
29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them.
31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”
32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.
33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.
34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

[The Problems of the Age]

Demons – Big Problem | Culture + Economy | Various Problems, Etc.
3 Organizations | Demonic Culture | Drug addiction, Mental illness, Addiction

Introduction
1. Two things (Identity – Authority)
1) Acts 13:1-2 – Focused for a few days, and a work of God occurred.
2) Acts 16:16-18 – 1 time (concentrated), 3 days
3) Acts 19:8-20 – 2 years, a work occurred

2. Refusal (Matthew 8:34)
1) Help
2) Healing
3) 4 Instinct (unwilling)

Main
1. DNA change
2. Time schedule
3. Real authority

1 Acts 16:16-20 (3 worldly blessings)
Galatians 2:20
2 Corinthians 5:17

2. 2-person forum (29)
3. Personal forum (>30)

Summary

▷ In the Bible, a few people appear who received special answers from God. God gave special answers to Moses and Elijah. Among pastors as well, people such as Pastor Joo Gi-cheol and Pastor Son Yang-won received answers. There is a reason for that.

Demons – Big Problem | Culture + Economy
Drug addiction, Mental illness, Addiction
3 Organizations | Nephilim Culture

▷ Now there are more and more people who are possessed by demons and causing great problems. And this has fully penetrated by bringing demon culture with it, and has penetrated into the economic realm. The 3 organizations have been completely captured by demons, and Genesis chapters 3, 6, and 11 are moving the world. This culture is the Nephilim culture. Among those who have fallen into it, drug addiction, mental illness, and addiction are the most prevalent.

▷ In today’s passage, a demon-possessed man is living among the tombs. The demons recognized who Jesus was and asked Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs. Then the scene appears where the demons entered the pigs and drowned in the water. Seeing this, the people of that region, rather than believing in Jesus, were afraid and told him to leave the town. These kinds of problems keep increasing — what shall we do?

▣ Introduction

1. Two things (Identity – Authority) – There are two kinds of prayer. Prayer in which one enjoys the identity of being a child of God, and prayer in which one exercises authority — both are extraordinary.
1) Acts 13:1-12 — Concentrated for a few days, and a work of God occurred.
2) Acts 16:16-18 — Concentrated for 3 days, and a work of God occurred. When one prays using authority in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, it may seem like no answer is coming because it is not visible, but the answer comes precisely.
3) Acts 19:8-20 — Prayed for 2 years, and a work of God occurred.

2. Refusal – People almost entirely refuse this (Matthew 8:34).
1) Help – If they had seen the power of Jesus, they should have requested his help.
2) Healing – They should have asked Jesus to heal this town.
3) Instinct – Looking at Jesus, they ask him to leave. Those seized by an evil spirit instinctively dislike it.

3. Church – The problem is that the church is currently not prepared.
1) Pharisees – The place that took issue with Jesus casting out demons was the Pharisee church.
2) Dispute (Law) – They kept disputing using the Word and the Law. The church has not discerned this.
3) Matthew 12:1-48 — They call Jesus the king of demons and pick a dispute with him.

▣ Main

1. Change your spiritual DNA – Pray until the fundamental power that God gives appears, so that your spiritual DNA is changed. Even if physical DNA cannot be changed, spiritual DNA can be changed.

3, 9, 3
Use

– Pray two things! Setting within oneself the Triune God by whom spiritual DNA is changed, the 9 secrets of the throne, and the 3 things by which the age is changed — this is identity. Using this is authority. If you do this, an answer will certainly come, or something even better will come.

2. Enjoy the time schedule. – Do not be discouraged; enjoy the time schedule.
1) Beginning (Genesis chapters 3, 6, 11) – This serious spiritual problem began in Genesis chapters 3, 6, and 11.
2) End – When does it end? It is always present, everywhere, for eternity.
3) Presence – When Christ is present, a work of God occurs.

▷ Now it has become a demonic culture, and the 3 organizations have made this into a culture and seized the economy. BTS has enormous influence, and they have officially stated that they studied at a meditation school. If we keep on praying, the time schedule will come. There is absolutely no need to be discouraged and no need to be in a hurry. Because Christ has commanded it, it is already finished.

3. Exercise real authority. – Do not try to receive help from others; exercise real authority.

1) Fixed time – Begin this prayer at a fixed time.
2) Deep prayer – Without waiting for answers and without being discouraged, go deep into prayer and exercise it.
3) Conviction – Later, conviction comes — a conviction that you no longer need to pray this prayer, or a conviction concerning the result. Paul prayed and was not healed, but the conviction came: “This is grace!” That Paul changed the world.

▣ Conclusion – Three greater things remain.

1. Matthew 16:16-20 (Three blessings) – My church upon this rock; the gates of Hades shall not overcome it. The keys of the kingdom of heaven.
Galatians 2:20 — The being called “I” is already finished, and it is Christ appearing within me.
2 Corinthians 5:17 — Becoming a new creation, so that even DNA and destiny are changed. “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

2. That time (power, answer) – One must realize how great a power and answer the very time of worship and prayer is. The very resolution to fight against the powers of darkness is already power. Satan, these demons, know well whether one has given up or not (verse 29).

3. Personal forum – Complete works of God occur in the personal forum. New members must not simply be sent away after worship; we must wait until their hearts are fully opened, until they can take hold of the Word for their own lives, until they receive their personal answer.

Transcript

“The Problems of the Age”

Thank you. Let us look at the deepening problems of the age. In the Bible, a few people appear who received special answers from God. God gave Moses a special answer. There are also many prophets, but he gave Elijah a special answer. And in our country, before we came through the Joseon era, among pastors, people like Pastor Joo Gi-cheol, people like Pastor Son Yang-won — he answered them. There is a reason for that.

[Demons – Big Problem] [3 Organizations]

In fact, I myself began praying after I came to know this. Because before that, I could not find a particular reason to pray specially. I thought, if I am in the Word, God will answer me — so why do I need to pray at all? I was at that level of thinking. Now, more and more people are becoming demon-possessed and causing great problems. Some families ask, “Our family member keeps getting possessed by a demon and we are always suffering — what should we do?” Many people ask this.

[Culture + Economy] [Nephilim Culture]

But this is no longer just a problem — it has fully penetrated by bringing demon culture with it. And it has penetrated into the economic realm.

Especially here [Demons – Big Problem], these 3 organizations have been completely seizing this. I used to only attend church and did not know. Then I came to know: “Wow, Genesis chapters 3, 6, and 11 are moving the world right now.” From that point, the penetration into this realm [Culture + Economy] — it is completely, right now — this is not the time to speak sad words about demonology and such things. It has fully penetrated the cultural realm. Is this not now the Nephilim culture? Those who know are bound to receive answers. That is why God used Elijah.

[Drug addiction, Mental illness, Addiction]

It does not end there. In the end, those who have fallen into this [3 organizations, Nephilim culture] — nearly all of them: drug addiction, mental illness, those are the most numerous, addiction, cancer comes a bit after that — those are the most numerous.

Looking at today’s passage: “The demon-possessed man was living among the tombs, between the tombs. He was screaming so frightfully and making things so difficult that almost no one would pass by.” So it is written. Then when Jesus appeared, he began screaming, saying “What do you have to do with us, O Son of God?” He recognized who Jesus was. “What do you have to do with me?” Then seeing the herd of pigs far off, “Send us into the herd of pigs” — that is what he said. So the demons entered the pigs and the pigs drowned in the water — that scene appears. Seeing this, the people of that region, rather than believing in Jesus, were afraid and said “Leave our village.” That is the content.

What shall we do? These kinds of problems [3 organizations, Nephilim culture, drug addiction, mental illness, addiction] keep increasing more and more — what shall we do?

I had not thought about this in the old days. When I went to evangelism fields, nearly everyone had fallen into this. I went to America thinking it was an advanced country, but America is even worse. Oh, and all sorts of incidents keep erupting. They still haven’t caught the perpetrator for that case in Daegu where five children went to catch frogs and died. All kinds of speculation — whether a teacher did it or what — those are demon-possessed people. The law can’t do anything about it either, because you can’t catch a demon, so they don’t even know that’s what it is. And before that, there was the case of a newlywed couple going on their honeymoon and someone shot and killed them. Well, the police can’t do anything about that either. They investigate everything — whether there was a grudge or not, what happened in the past. That case, the perpetrator was caught. It wasn’t a grudge — they were driving along and some young people were cutting each other off and had a nerve-wracking confrontation and got into a fight. Because of that. They got into a fight over that, pulled over, and a man who had been out hunting shot and killed them with his gun. The couple. Folks, these days if you’re walking around and someone does something crazy, don’t get angry — just say okay, sorry, and let it go. There are all kinds of people out there now. People with these problems come to church to get better, and some people come to church just to cause trouble — they even come to church, I tell you.

▣ Introduction

1. Two things (Identity – Authority)

There are two kinds of prayer. There is the prayer you offer to God based on your identity. Because you have become a child of God, prayer that enjoys that identity is an extraordinary prayer. It is something you receive, in this manner. This authority is prayer that exercises power, so it is extraordinary. Try it for just about a year.

1) Acts 13:1-12
Looking at the Bible, Acts chapter 13, verses 1 through 12 — concentrated for a few days, and a work of God occurred.

2) Acts 16:16-18
Acts chapter 16, verses 16 through 18 — three days, and a work of God occurred. When you pray using authority in the powerful name of Jesus of Nazareth, because the answer is not visible, you think it is not coming — but it comes precisely. To a degree that would frighten you if you knew. Keep at it. Amazing things will happen.

I personally don’t think it necessarily works like this, but I had been continuously praying for a certain person. God called that person home. I don’t think it was because of my prayer. It was their time to be called, but it happened to be while I was praying. The person was too wicked. I kept praying. I prayed night and day, truly. The person was too wicked. I prayed with eyes open, kept praying as thoughts came to me. God called them home. Of course it wasn’t because of my prayer.

3) Acts 19:8-20
Acts chapter 19, verses 8 through 20 — prayed for about 2 years, and a work of God occurred. You must hold on to this covenant.

2. Refusal

Looking at verse 34 today, people almost entirely refuse this.

1) Help
If they saw the power of Jesus casting out demons, they should have asked for help — shouldn’t they?

2) Healing
And furthermore, they should have said, “Please heal this village and this community; there are so many” — “Please do this.” Why did they look at Jesus and tell him to leave? Why do they say that?

3) Instinct
Those seized by this evil spirit instinctively dislike it. When the topic of Christ comes up, there are people who begin foaming at the mouth. It is astonishing. While doing evangelism, I have experienced much while sharing the gospel of Christ. Indeed, during a meeting, someone was having a seizure — called up front, they followed along with everything else. Only “Christ” they could not follow — they had a seizure when saying it. There are things they cannot say, you see.

3. Church

The problem is, the church right now is not prepared. You must hold on to this covenant.

1) Pharisees
When we look at who took issue with Jesus for casting out demons, it was the Pharisee church. It was the Pharisees who picked the fight. It keeps appearing going forward.

2) Dispute (Law)
They kept disputing every single action of Jesus. And not just plain disputing — they disputed using the Word. Like, “He helped a sick person — he broke the Sabbath.” Something like that. Using the Law constantly for dispute — the church failed to discern this.

3) Matthew 12:1-48
Later it appears. Looking at Matthew chapter 12, verses 1 through 48, it appears. They pick a dispute with Jesus. They call Jesus the king of demons and pick a dispute in this way.

How can this be resolved? Please do not take this lightly, and be sure to recover this (two kinds of) prayer. Amazing works of God are set to occur for you.

Now, do not rely on people — do this individually.

▣ Main

1. Change your spiritual DNA

First. Pray until the fundamental power that God gives appears, so that your spiritual DNA is changed. Even if physical DNA cannot be changed, spiritual DNA can be changed. Since no one can help you, do not rely on others — pray. Be sure to pray.

Let me say it again. Pray two things.

[3, 9, 3]
Set within yourself the Triune God by whom your spiritual DNA is changed, the 9 secrets of the throne, and the 3 things by which the age is changed. This is identity.

Use
What is authority? It is using this. Authority was given to be used — this is using it. Try it. An answer will certainly come, or something even better will come.

You keep praying for a certain person and no answer comes? Something better comes. It comes clearly. Now is the time schedule for you to experience this. If there is someone in your family with a spiritual problem, there is no one to help. Only you. That’s right. And even your family may not be able to help you. It is something you yourself do. Hold on to the covenant and do this (Main 1).

I have said this before. For a person with a spiritual problem, how difficult it is — they cannot distinguish night from day. They have no shame. They just come looking for me. I said to the person: “There is no one who can help you. Only Christ can help you.” And truly, at that time it was God’s leading — I pulled out scripture passages, just the passages. I found only the passages where Christ exercised authority. A work of God occurred.

I pray this prayer much among the 24 prayers. Whenever I see an important problem clearly, or whenever something important arises, I continue.

2. Enjoy the time schedule

Second. Jesus appeared and it was resolved — what does this mean? It means: through Christ, you gain spiritual strength and change your spiritual DNA.

Second. Do not be discouraged. Enjoy the time schedule. You must do this in order to be healed, in order to find resolution. Pray until your spiritual DNA is changed. If the other person does not change and does not change, the work of God will occur differently. If you are praying for your church members, for church leaders, and that person does not change — the answer comes differently.

1) Beginning (Genesis chapters 3, 6, 11)
When it comes to demons now, when did this serious spiritual problem begin? You need to know this. It began in Genesis chapters 3, 6, and 11. That’s right. You must not easily become discouraged or easily give up.

2) End
How long does it go on? When does it end? There is no end. Always, everywhere, for eternity.

3) Presence
Look carefully at the time schedule. When Christ is present, a work of God occurs. Those fierce evil spirits, which people cannot handle — when Christ appears, they tremble and say, “Why have you come to me? Don’t you have nothing to do with me?” That is what they are saying.

Right now, many pastors from other Korean church denominations are listening to my sermons. When the topic of demons comes up, we must not say childish things like whether this is Berea theology or not. It has already become a demonic culture right now. These 3 organizations have completely made this into a culture and seized the economy. You know, the people who are making smartphones right now — they are all people of these 3 organizations. It is enormous. BTS’s influence is enormous, isn’t it. Are those people not the ones who were trained by these 3 organizations. Those friends officially said this: “I graduated from a meditation school.” They said it officially. And you know what they did with that? They seized the economy.

So, among our members there is someone who works with the BTS team. After hearing my message, that person sent me a text message, saying they are praying. I told them to pray. You don’t need to force anything. If you keep doing this (Main 1, 2) prayer, the time schedule will come right on time.

All of your problems are the same. There is no need to be discouraged, and no need to be in a hurry to receive an answer. Keep praying and the time schedule will come. The pigs died? That is not a problem. Because Christ commanded it, it is finished. You must absolutely not be discouraged.

3. Exercise real authority

The more important thing is the third. No matter how much you talk about things in church, it is no use. From now on, exercise real authority. Do not try to receive help from others — exercise real authority.

At the time I was planting a church, there is someone who worked with me — you may know who. At first, what happened was that there were so many sick people and so many spiritual problems. When we held Friday all-night prayer, people packed the room. Whether it was God’s doing, I don’t know why exactly, but people just packed in seeking God’s grace. That was the message I gave at that time. What I did was this: “You are God’s children, saved by God’s grace. From now on, every day, lay your hands on the place of pain and pray for yourselves in the name of Jesus.” Our church — at that time we were a small church plant — but right away the wind blew with several thousand people. The wind-blowing work of God occurred.

1) Fixed time
Pray, everyone. When is a good time to exercise this authority? Whether it is in the morning or at midday, it does not matter. Begin this prayer at a fixed time.

2) Deep prayer
Without waiting for answers and without becoming discouraged, go deep into prayer and exercise it.

3) Conviction
As you keep doing this, later this comes. Conviction comes right on time. And how does the conviction come? The conviction comes: “Now I no longer need to pray this prayer.” Or else the conviction concerning the result — concerning that — comes right on time.

Up to this point, actually do it. Do not listen to what people say, do not be discouraged, do not listen to lies, hold firmly to the Word of God and be victorious. This (conviction) is tremendously important. Paul was praying, kept at it but was not healed — what conviction came? “Ah, this is grace.” It is different for each person. It came to him just like that. So what could Paul not do? He changed the world. And at other times, what kind of conviction comes? The conviction: “Ah, for this I have no need of an answer” — that conviction also comes. Then you don’t need to do it anymore. So, therefore I decided to hold on to this blessing and just pray 24. Even doing 24, 24 is never enough.

▣ Conclusion

Conclusion. Three greater things remain.

1. Matthew 16:16-20

In Matthew chapter 16, verses 16 through 20, when confessing Christ, what did Jesus say? He truly said this: “You are Peter. Upon this rock I will build my church. The gates of Hades shall not overcome you. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” He spoke of three blessings. The statement that keys are given to you is an extraordinary thing. “I started praying because of my child, but one day God gave me the keys.” “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” It does not end there.

Galatians 2:20
Later I came to understand — it is not about whether I am healed or not, the being called “I” is now finished, and God — Christ — is appearing within me.

2 Corinthians 5:17
And finally, what is it? You become a new creation entirely. Seeing this, DNA is also changed and destiny is changed. “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This kind of thing comes.

2. That time (power, answer) (verse 29)

The tremendously important thing is this: you must realize how great a power and answer the very time of worship and prayer is. Well, something coming is a result. That is not important. The moment you, right now, hold on to the covenant and say “I must pray for my child” — power has already begun. “Both the answer and everything else is important, but I will fight against the powers of darkness” — the very moment of that resolution, power has already begun.

Why is that, do you know? This Satan, this demon — it knows well. Look at verse 29. “What do we have to do with you? Why have you come to us?” — that is what it says. It knows well. It also knows that you will absolutely not give up. It knows even if you give up.

3. Personal forum (verse 30)

The very important thing is the third. Looking again at verse 29: “Crying out, they said, ‘What do we, the Son of God, have to do with you?'” — that is what was said. Looking at verse 30: “Send us into the herd of pigs” — that is what was said. The demon is speaking right now.

Now, look here. Going to church, having meetings, receiving grace, and so on — these build up power. But complete works of God occur in the personal forum. This (personal forum) is tremendously important. I made a brief request today, but: you must not gather new members, hold worship, and then send them away. New members must be cared for until their hearts are fully opened, until they speak of their own lives, until they take hold of the Word. Do you understand? Well, a person of some standing does not easily open up. Then you must wait for them. It is about waiting until the time they receive their own personal answer. We don’t do that for them. For a person with spiritual problems, we do all kinds of telling them this and that. No. Until that individual person says, “Ah, this is how I need to live” — God will work. Usually, even sick people — when you look at those who heal quickly — they are people who say, “Ah, I am no longer afraid of living or dying. Now I will hold on to God’s power and pray, and if God keeps me alive I will be a witness, and if he calls me home I will go.” Works of God occur for such people. In reality, as the days go on, this scene and this message are more and more important. You must hold on firmly here and receive your answer.

With that in mind, from tomorrow, the time of holding on to the covenant and praying becomes an extraordinary time. I enjoy this blessing and so praying makes me very happy. Isn’t that right? How about you? Praying gives me such strength. Because, during that time, spiritually enormous things are occurring. Especially our church leaders who are now getting on in age — since you must be healthy, you need to go even deeper into prayer, breathe long and deep as you do it. You must receive strength. What kind of strength? Because Christ is working, the powers of darkness are being broken — that is what I am saying. That is what is important.

I have come until now experiencing many things through this covenant. Even now I am continuously praying in 24 prayer. I wait, wondering how God will answer. I keep praying. I bless you in the name of Jesus that this week will be a week in which you recover spiritual strength, health, and many things. Let us pray.

Prayer. God, grant that this would be a new beginning in which we believe in your power. Though relying on people is also important, grant that we would recover the spiritual authority of holding on to your covenant. May we keep on praying until our greatest problem becomes our greatest testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Praise — “Crown Him with Many Crowns”

Confession of Faith
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
…Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,
…Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
…Born of the Virgin Mary,
…Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
…Was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
…And is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty;
From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy universal Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body
And life everlasting. Amen.

Message — “The Deepening Problem of the Age” (Matthew 8:28-34) Transcript…Video

Prayer — 7 Bartizans · 7 Journeys · 7 Guideposts

Sunday 1st Service
Title/Scripture: Who on earth is he? (Matthew 8:23-27)
Speaker: Pastor Ryu Kwang-soo
Date/Location: February 13, 2022, Immanuel Seoul Church

Matthew 8:23-27
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.
24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.
25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”
26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Summary
The person who put the words “Who on earth is Christ?” into my head is Dr. Kim Joon-gon. “How did the Lord do evangelism?” — this was written by a man named Robert Coleman. I saw, for once, pastors who were truly pastors.

▣ Introduction
1. When we only look to Christ, know him, believe in him, speak of him
1) Crosby, in an extreme situation, looked only to Christ, and the world was changed.
2) Just by knowing “Who is Christ?” an extraordinary door of answers was opened, and he led you to meet one another.
3) Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior have their destiny completely reversed.
4) People who suffer so greatly are dying, deceived and unknowing. He merely spoke of Christ, and history was made.

2. The background of the text and our situation
1) Background of the text – Jesus was with his disciples on the Sea of Galilee when a sudden wind arose. Jesus was sleeping, and the disciples were so anxious they woke Jesus and caused a commotion. Jesus said, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” and calmed the wind and sea. The people marveled, asking, “Who on earth is this man?”
2) Our situation – We have Christ with us, yet we are anxious. The disciples had been with Christ and seen him all along, yet they were still anxious. Even as we live our life of faith, even knowing who Christ is, we are anxious.

3. “Who on earth is Jesus Christ?” This is a question about life that must be answered decisively. An answer must be given to it.

▣ Main_ Who on earth is Jesus Christ?
1. He is the one who was prophesied.
1) Prophecy
(1) The birth of Jesus, the place, and that he would be born in a manger for animals — all were prophesied.
(2) That he would be executed on a cross and rise again was prophesied.
(3) It is certain that the prophetic writings were written before Jesus — the book of Isaiah, written 700 years before Jesus was born.
2) Three problems that humanity absolutely cannot solve
(1) Calamity that keeps pressing in, the more one acquires and the more one studies
(2) The mentally ill will keep multiplying. Satan’s organization — it cannot be overcome.
(3) People’s lives improve and their standards rise — so why is it harder? They cannot escape the hell background.
3) The word that resolves these three things is Christ. One must know what Christ means. He is the gift given by God. When you truly experience this part, amazing works of history occur. Even just knowing brings answers. I experienced it several times, and I became such a different person I could hardly believe it was me.

2. He is the Triune God.
1) Philippians 2:6 “who, though he was in the form of God” — he was originally in the form of God, but came to this earth as Christ in order to save.
2) John 8:58 “before Abraham was, I am.”
3) John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
4) Matthew 28:19-20 “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
5) The last pulpit, Mt Olive — Christ, the Kingdom of God, only the Holy Spirit.

▷ If you have God in your home, it becomes a throne. Because we cannot go to God, he sent Jesus Christ so that by believing in him we would be resolved. The sin of departing from God, the sin of running errands for Satan, the sin that causes all people to fall into calamity, the sin that causes one to be caught in the hell background and perish for eternity — that is resolved only through Christ.

3. He is the one who made it possible for us to actually enjoy that power.
1) Luke 10:19 “I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.”
2) Mark 3:15 “I called you so that I might give you authority to cast out demons.”
3) Matthew 16:18-19 When Peter made his confession of faith: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. The gates of hell shall not prevail against you.”

▷ Try it. The authority of the name of Christ — it is tremendous. It may look as though you are simply praying in the name of Jesus Christ, but the answers will surely come with perfect precision.

▣ Conclusion_ Two Prayers
1. The prayer of enjoying one’s identity
1) May the power of the Triune God come upon me.
2) May the nine blessings of the heavenly throne come upon me within.
3) Give me the power to save the whole world.

2. The prayer of authority — it is to use it and to transmit it.
May all the forces of darkness be bound in the name of Jesus Christ.

▷ Try it. How long? Just keep doing it. Remarkable things are bound to happen.

￭ How blessed is the time of worship and prayer? (Revelation 8:3-5)
All our prayers and worship ascend and are collected in the bowl of incense before God.
1) In the time of praying and enjoying power in the name of Christ, one becomes spiritually healthy.
2) When, without worldly worry, one spiritually enjoys the authority of Christ’s name, the body is also healed.
3) More importantly, the backgrounds of the throne come pressing toward us.
4) Watch your future unfold.

▷ Pray this prayer today.

Transcript
When I was a young adult, I heard a sermon. “Who on earth is Christ?” It was a sermon by Pastor Kim Joon-gon. For the first time, I felt, “This is a pastor who has the gospel.”

I recognized that. Dr. Kim Joon-gon, the era-defining evangelist from Honam — listening to his sermons, I understood that “he bears witness to Christ with purity.”

Around 1997, Dr. Kim Joon-gon contacted me. He said he wanted to meet at the CCC (Korea Campus Crusade for Christ) building. I went to greet him, and he asked me this: “I listened to Pastor Ryu’s sermons on tape.” That is what he said. Then what he said at that time was: “Ten million disciples must arise before we can once proclaim the gospel to the world.” And then he quietly asked me something — “Where did this material, this source, come from?” I said, “There is no source — I just talked about what I felt from the Word of God while doing evangelism in the field.” What he said — I’m not sure exactly what he meant — was, “This is the message to raise ten million disciples and evangelize North Korea.” After that, he continued to care about us and pray for us. He even came in person to Deokpyeong and kept telling us, “Just do evangelism.” That is the kind of person he was.

When I was in university, I read a book — “The Master Plan of Evangelism.” The author is the renowned American theologian Dr. Robert E. Coleman. Reading his book, I felt, “Ah, this is a man who has grasped a great covenant!” He was the dean of the missions department at Trinity College in Chicago.

Around 2000, I was invited to give a lecture at that school. Trinity is a remarkable institution. When I did so, a fight broke out inside. “Oh, they say there are problems in Korea — let’s not listen.” Someone else said, “Let’s hear him.” A fight broke out. The head of that department was Dr. Robert Coleman. He was not at the school at that time but had gone abroad. The report would have gone up to him, wouldn’t it? So where did Dr. Robert Coleman call? He called the person he trusted most in Korea — Dr. Kim Joon-gon. He asked, “What kind of person is this young pastor named Pastor Ryu Kwang-soo?” Dr. Kim Joon-gon must have answered well. He said, “Complete gospel among gospels, an evangelist through and through.” So what did Dr. Robert Coleman instruct? He said, “Don’t do it in the classroom — gather everyone at the pulpit and have them all listen.” That is what happened. I gave the lectures and came back.

Then on September 18, 2005, when there was the Seocho branch church, Dr. Robert Coleman came to preach at our church. At that time I contacted Dr. Kim Joon-gon and asked him to come and give the benediction since Dr. Robert Coleman was coming, and he came. Oh, I was so surprised at that time — the two of them had never met before that day, and they greeted each other and so on. I received such grace, and to this day, even if there are no other people’s photos in my room, the photo of those two men with me is still up on the wall.

“Who on earth is Christ?” — the person who put that word into my head is Dr. Kim Joon-gon. That phrase belongs to him, you know? “Who on earth is Christ?” “How did the Lord do evangelism?” — that was written by a man named Robert Coleman. Indeed, for once I saw pastors who were truly pastors.

▣ Introduction
If you were placed in an extreme situation, what would you need to do?

1. When we only look to Christ, know him, believe in him, speak of him
1) Crosby, in an extreme situation, looked only to Christ, and the world was changed.
As you know, a person named Crosby encountered an extreme situation. Suddenly, through an accident — through some medication — she lost her sight, lost her eyes. At that time, Crosby did one thing. She looked only to Christ. She did not even know it herself. Just how much we fail to look to Christ — this blind woman looked only to Christ, and the world was changed.

2) Just by knowing “Who is Christ?” an extraordinary door of answers was opened, and he led you to meet one another.
When I was studying, I struggled greatly for ten years, but just by knowing who Christ is, an extraordinary door of answers was opened, and I was led to meet all of you. It was far more than that.

3) Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior have their destiny completely reversed.
Who on earth is Jesus Christ — when I knew this and explained it just a few times, history was made. The moment I entered Yeongdo — a young man there was running a store called Yeongdong Sanghoe. A fortune-teller had told his fortune, and the prediction was definite — he would die in September. I shared the clear gospel with him. Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior have their destiny completely reversed. He is still alive today.

4) People who suffer so greatly are dying, deceived and unknowing. He merely spoke of Christ, and history was made.
I was going upstairs for a Bible study, and at the bottom of the staircase was a woman, crying. As I walked in, I had one of our church deacons bring her in. She still comes to our church in Busan today. I won’t mention her name. She attended the upper room there. Her mother-in-law had her fortune told, and the fortune-teller said that if her son lived with this daughter-in-law, the husband would die. So the mother-in-law was telling her to leave, to pack her bags and go. This woman was now explaining, through tears, at the Bible study, why she was crying. She could understand her mother-in-law saying that, but when her husband heard the same and also told her to go — that is what broke her. I spoke simply. I demonstrated that Jesus is the Christ. I prayed a prayer of reception. The destiny was finished. The moment you receive Jesus Christ as Savior, all destiny is reversed. She is still alive. This has happened not once or twice. People who suffer so greatly are dying, deceived and unknowing — yet he merely spoke of Christ, and history was made.

2. The background of the text and our situation
1) Background of the text
Today, Jesus and his disciples were at the Sea of Galilee when suddenly a strong, violent wind arose. Jesus was sleeping, and the disciples were so anxious they woke Jesus and caused a great commotion. Today Jesus said, “Why are you afraid?” He said, “Why are you afraid? O you of little faith!” and calmed the wind and sea. Then the people saw it and marveled: “Who on earth is this man?”

The Sea of Galilee is about 21 km long and about 13 km wide, and apparently it is hollowed out like a pit 200 meters deep. So strong winds can blow across it, they say. According to accounts from people who experienced it, sometimes winds blow for about three days straight and everything gets tossed around.

2) Our situation
We have Christ with us, yet we are anxious. The disciples had always been with Christ. Yet they were anxious. Jesus said, “O you of little faith” — even as we live our life of faith, we are anxious. Even knowing who Christ is, we are anxious. It is exactly the same situation.

3. “Who on earth is Jesus Christ?” This is a question about life that must be answered decisively. An answer must be given to it.
Who on earth is Jesus Christ? You must answer this question about your life decisively. Don’t you know? There was a man who began writing to oppose belief in Jesus Christ and to reject the Word of God. And then something happened — he fell completely on his knees before Christ. He changed his mind and wrote a new book. That book also became a film. The work is called “Ben-Hur.” The person who wrote that work is a man named Lewis Wallace.

Who on earth is Christ? He never wrote a single word, yet he is the Christ who left behind more books than anyone — who is he? He never once fought, yet he is the Christ who conquered the world — who is he, I ask? In 2022, before and after — is it not by the standard of Jesus? Who is that protagonist, I ask? Many heroes have arisen, but they cannot compare with him. Jesus Christ, who never once attacked another and yet conquered the entire world — that is who I am asking about.

▣ Main_ Who on earth is Jesus Christ?
You must give an answer to this.

1. He is the one who was prophesied.
This is the first point. He is the one who was prophesied.
1) Prophecy
There is nothing to say. Scientists have nothing to say. The birth of Jesus — prophesied. Even the place — prophesied. Even that he would be born in a manger for animals — prophesied. Even more remarkably, that he would be executed on a cross and rise again — that was prophesied. And the remarkable thing is that now that science has advanced, isn’t that a good thing? Because science advanced, it has become certain that these prophetic writings were written before Jesus. Most of it appears in the book of Isaiah, and the book of Isaiah was written 700 years before Jesus was born — yet it was prophesied with such precision.

2) Three problems that humanity absolutely cannot solve
Humanity absolutely cannot solve three problems. The more one acquires and the more one studies, calamity keeps pressing in — it cannot be resolved. The mentally ill will keep multiplying. Satan’s organization — it cannot be overcome. And yet as people’s lives improve and their standards rise, why is it harder? They cannot escape the hell background. The word that resolves these three things is Christ. It is a remarkable thing. There has been no more important thing in all of history. I respect monks who practice in the mountains. But these three things cannot be resolved for you. You must know what Christ means. He is the gift given by God. You must absolutely remember this. When you truly experience this part, remarkable works of history occur.

Even just knowing brought answers, I found. I experienced this several times, and even I myself could not believe it — I became an entirely different person. To the point where you cannot believe it yourself, answers come — this is something that is hard to put into words. I feel like I am not even myself anymore.

In the old days, I was someone for whom nothing ever worked out. So much illness in my family — just a family full of sick people. So thoroughly steeped in idol worship, I tell you — a family completely reeking of idol worship. I simply came to know Christ. When I was young and did not know Christ, I was someone who worried about how I would eat and survive. Unable to feed myself — how would I survive? Incapable of sustaining even one household — how would I live? That was the kind of person I was, I tell you.

Now the family of 300,000 exceeds even 300,000. This family is praying for me. There is evidence that it exceeds 300,000. Because in any given week, after I preach a sermon, over 200,000 connections come in. Who on earth is this Jesus Christ, I ask.

2. He is the Triune God.
This is the second point. He is the Triune God.
1) Philippians 2:6
In Philippians 2:6 it says, “who, though he was in the form of God.” So he was originally in the form of God, but came as Christ to this earth, in order to save. I absolutely could not believe this in the old days. Now I absolutely believe it. Why? Because without this, the spiritual problems of the human world cannot be resolved.

2) John 8:58
In John 8:58, Jesus said this: “Before Abraham was, I am.”

3) John 10:30
In John 10:30, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” Because they could not understand this, the Jews attacked Jesus on charges of blasphemy.

4) Matthew 28:19-20
In Matthew 28:19-20, he said this: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

5) The last pulpit, Mt Olive
Even from Mt Olive, the last pulpit, it came forth. Christ, the Kingdom of God, only the Holy Spirit.

Now, if you have the president in your home, it becomes the Blue House, right? If you have a king in your home, it becomes a palace. If you have God in your home, it becomes a throne. Right?

Therefore, because we cannot go to God, he sent Jesus Christ and made it so that by believing in him we would be resolved. The Jews probably found this hard to understand. Because they only know the physical. They probably found it hard to understand. Jews think that not lying, doing good deeds — that is virtue, and doing the opposite is sin. The sin of departing from God, the sin of running errands for Satan, the sin that causes all people to fall into calamity, the sin that catches one in the disease of hell and causes one to perish for eternity — that is resolved only through Christ. That is why it is a word of tremendous importance.

3. He is the one who made it possible for us to actually enjoy that power.
This is the final, third point. He is the one who made it possible for us to actually enjoy that power.

This is what is important. What good is it to have all the theory in the world? What good is it to practice all religion in the world? He is the one who made it so that we can actually enjoy the blessing.

1) Luke 10:19
In Luke 10:19 it says: “I give you authority.” What kind? “Authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and to restrain all the power of the enemy.” Jesus said it.

2) Mark 3:15
In Mark 3:15, what did he say? “I called you so that I might give you authority to cast out demons.”

3) Matthew 16:18-19
When Peter made his confession of faith, he said a remarkable thing. “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” And then what did he say? “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus said it. “Whatever you open on earth shall be opened in heaven, and whatever you close on earth shall be closed in heaven. The gates of hell shall absolutely not prevail against you.” This is it. Try it for yourself. History is bound to occur.

I will continue in the second service today, but Jesus did not merely come and go as Messiah and Christ. He is the one who made it so that we can actually enjoy it — that is the point. That is what is important. Back when I was an assistant pastor, I was doing a lot of evangelism, and there was a shaman’s house next to ours. They had moved in. Try it for yourself. I grabbed that gate and prayed — went to early morning prayer every day and prayed. They shut down completely. I’m telling you, try it.

I told you before. We went to Miryang with the choir, and we were sitting down to eat — we had finished worship and were about to eat — when someone came up and kept begging us. “Not here — can’t you move around to the back?” they said. “Why?” I asked. “Is this your land?” they said. “No,” they replied. “Then we are gathered here right now — why are you telling us to leave?” “Ah, we are asking, please, can’t you just go around to the back?” “What is the reason?” I asked. “Why?” “Ha — this is a place where a gut ritual is being performed, and because you are here, the spirits are not coming.” There was a gut ritual happening right next door. “Ah!” I understood what they meant. I quietly said to the congregation on purpose — “Do not leave. Stay right here.” They couldn’t do it. The authority of the name of Christ is tremendous. To you, it may look as though you are simply praying in the name of Jesus Christ, but the answers will surely come with perfect precision. Please believe it. Try it.

▣ Conclusion_ Two Prayers

I will speak about this in the second service. The prayers are two.

1. The prayer of enjoying one’s identity
This is the prayer of enjoying one’s identity. Right? What identity?
1) May the power of the Triune God come upon me.
“May the power of the Triune God come upon me.” This is identity.
2) May the nine blessings of the heavenly throne come upon me within.
“May the nine blessings of the heavenly throne come upon me within.”
3) Give me the power to save the whole world.
“Give me the power to save the whole world.” Right? This is the identity prayer.

2. The prayer of authority — it is to use it and to transmit it.
May all the forces of darkness be bound in the name of Jesus Christ.

What is the prayer of authority? It is to use it and to transmit it. “May all the forces of darkness be bound in the name of Jesus Christ.” Try it. History is bound to occur. I’m telling you, try it. How long? Just keep doing it. Remarkable things are bound to happen.

When I was young, my mother always prayed this prayer, and she said something important to me. It has stayed in my head to this day. What she said was, “I have no time to worry.” That is what she said. She said people who do worry, fret, and fight at church must be comfortable enough to afford it. “Not a single day — if I am to keep you all alive, I must work.” That was it. “And I must pray.” That was it. No time to worry. Her words still echo in my head. Oh, how fervently she must have prayed — she said she had no time to worry.

During my time as an assistant pastor, I came to understand this covenant. Who on earth is Christ — and I simply prayed to enjoy this and to use the authority, and God is bound to work.

￭ How blessed is the time of worship and prayer? (Revelation 8:3-5)
How blessed is the time of worship and prayer? Revelation 8:3-5 unfolds. What is it? All your prayers and your worship ascend fully and are collected in the bowl of incense before God.
1) In the time of praying and enjoying power in the name of Christ, one becomes spiritually healthy.
When you pray this and spend time enjoying power in the name of Christ, your spirit becomes healthy — in this very time.
2) When, without worldly worry, one spiritually enjoys the authority of Christ’s name, the body is also healed.
Not constantly worrying about the world, but in this time spiritually enjoying the authority of Christ’s name — your body is also healed. Right?
3) More importantly, the backgrounds of the throne come pressing toward us.
More importantly, the backgrounds of the throne come pressing toward us. Just wait and see.
4) Watch your future unfold.
Watch your future unfold. Pray this prayer today. “Who on earth is he?” The people asked the question. I bless you in the name of the Lord Jesus, that this may become an important schedule for you. Let us pray.

Prayer. We give thanks to God. We thank you for making us know a covenant like a miracle. Excellent people, those who possess much, do not know and are in the midst of calamity — give us the schedule to transmit it to them. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.