Prayer Journal: September 22, 2025
18. Jun. 2024 237 Tuesday Disciple Training
From Caesarea Philippi To ROME
Lecture 1: From Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 6:33; 16:13-20)
The Path to Block Disasters (Matthew 6:33)
Changing Your Destiny (Matthew 16:16)
Possessing the Best (Matthew 16:20)
Introduction: (Premise theme of (1–3 lessons))– “At Caesarea Philippi”
Today, I will look at the whole outline from “Caesarea Philippi to Rome.” What is the important thing that began here (Caesarea Philippi)? That the Christ came as King—that is important. That is Matthew. Conversely, that He came as a servant—that is Mark. That the Christ is God—that is John. That the Christ put on human flesh and came as the Son of Man—that is Luke. Seen this way, we must regard it as the appearance of the King of kings. Everything is decided here.
① Lesson 1:
Lesson 1 is the message prior to Caesarea Philippi. It presented the way to block the world’s disasters completely. From then on, globalization begins. The appearance of the Christ becomes an enormous message. This part (Lesson 1) is “before.” These parts are very important—the things prior to Caesarea Philippi.
② Lesson 2: Changing destiny—Evangelism (Matthew 16:16) → “What to find”
And what answer was given at Caesarea Philippi? It is to change destiny completely. So the most important message before that is Matthew 6:33. The greatest message at Caesarea Philippi was Matthew 16:16: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God…”
③ Lesson 3: Possessing the highest thing—No other things (Matthew 16:20) → “What is urgent”
There is what comes after that. What comes after is that He made us possess the highest thing. That is Matthew 16:20: “Do not tell anyone yet,” because something tremendous still remains.
Here your church, your members, everything is decided. Therefore those who did not give an answer here were not invited to Mt Olive. They all fell away. We will look at the Mt Olive message in the second session. Seen this way, this is beyond “important.” Here (before) He spoke of what must be changed. At Caesarea Philippi He spoke of what must absolutely be found. And in fact here (after), “Do not tell” does not mean we must not proclaim; it is to attempt what is urgent.
Therefore, regarding these three, the Christ alone must be seen; if anything else is seen, disasters cannot be blocked. This is where problems come. Only when the Christ is seen can destiny change. Otherwise it will never change. Evangelism becomes easy like this. And the life of faith becomes easy. If my destiny has not changed, the life of faith is not easy. The life of faith itself is hard. And evangelism will be the hardest thing. When this destiny is overturned, evangelism becomes the easiest of all—does it not? Then you must let your members, who pray with their lives, know this. At this level, other things are not needed. The problem is that other things are needed. Now you are the remaining ones, truly evangelists, so you must truly begin. Formerly He taught the crowds; now He speaks to disciples. Crowds need festivals. You are not at that stage now. Crowds need food. So He performed the miracle of the five loaves and two fish. The crowds need urgent healings. But none of those people were there when Jesus bore the cross. So after the Christ bore the cross, the disciples who survived gathered at Mt Olive. That, in fact, is the main message.
Though this is the introduction, it is extremely important. So whether your church will do world evangelization or not cannot be if you do not know what to change, what to find, and what is urgent. In a sense, in the early days when we said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” that phrase exploded, but in one respect, though it is a strong message, there is too much to do. Many were shocked and came, then quit—because they did not change, and since they did not change, the disaster did not depart. As evidence, the church does not go well. What can we do? The individual suffers. You must truly hold to a certain, sure covenant for this (disaster) to collapse. When this collapses, the world opens. Because this disaster is a global system. This (destiny) must change for evangelism to take place. And when I possess the highest thing, I do not need other things.
♠ Lesson 1: The way to block disaster—The world (Matthew 6:33) → “What to change” ♠
Here you must tell them a few things that need to be changed.
Introduction—You know these well.
1) True blessing
What is true blessing? “You will be comforted,” and many such things come out. But the most important is “the kingdom of heaven is your inheritance”—that is chapter 5.
2) True prayer
In chapter 6, what is true prayer? You must make your members truly know this. Are we saying you must not pray for other things? No. Other things also exist in general religions. For example, if having much seems like blessing, then one would not need to come to church to have much.
3) True church
Here, the answer for the true church is found within this. In the end, Jesus said there will be churches that collapse and churches that do not. Later, when the wind blows and the rain falls, the church built on sand will all collapse, but the church built on the rock will not collapse—Jesus spoke such meaningful words, and it turned out exactly like that. In the end, those who understood this word did world evangelization. This message is the proclamation of the King.
Main—World disaster
The world’s disaster collapses before the covenant you hold. What covenant? Here all of Scripture is restored.
1. Genesis 37:1–11, Joseph
Joseph. Others did not hold the covenant being handed down, but Joseph did. In fact, because of Joseph, world disaster began to collapse. The gospel is this great. The gospel is enormous, yet there are too many who live a life of faith without even tasting it.
Have we not all come this far? In my case, doing the evangelism movement, there was nothing visible to my eyes, and I did not even know what had been done. Those associate pastors who were with me—Pastor Lee Sung-Hoon and Pastor Kim—they know it all, right? Nothing was visible—only the gospel was spoken—yet such disciples arose among us. Where is the key? World disaster is now collapsing because of you. Do you not sense it? This year is the beginning, and next year it will be more. Disciples in completely different nations have begun to arise. What blessing could be greater than this? You likely just did what was naturally to be done here and there. But world disaster collapsed.
2. Exodus 2:1–10, Moses
With this one covenant, what is in Scripture has been restored as is. When one person, Moses of the tribe of Levi—who knew the blood sacrifice—appears, the whole world is changed. This is absolutely not our strength. This must not be far from you; it must be near. This must not be merely a story of the past; it must be a present story. By the covenant of you, one person, all collapses. This (disaster) must collapse for this (destiny change) to happen. The destinies of the saints must be overturned. You must do this. Because this is not changed, they remain stuck.
3. 1 Samuel 7:1–15, Samuel
When one person arose—though fourteen judges had appeared—they could not truly overcome the Philistines. It says that while Samuel lived, the Philistines could not invade. What is this? He bound the Philistine disaster. This is covenant, gospel, and prayer.
Perhaps you do not yet feel it, but because of you, one person, disaster is bound in every place you go. You must believe this. Your members must have this much pride as evangelists and disciples. Yes—this must be assured. Why? Because Satan keeps prodding while alive; Satan has nothing to do to you but to confuse you—right? He knows he cannot overcome you, so he confuses you, makes you not know this standard. Therefore you must have assurance. How assured was Paul? “Whether I live or die, it does not matter.” Once it reaches this point, darkness cannot but be broken.
4. 1 Chronicles 29:10–14, David
This speaks of what was before. Around you a thousand bartizans will be set up, and the sanctuary will be completed. You must receive this blessing also. All our Darakbang churches overseas must receive the blessing of sanctuary construction. David is the one who accomplished this.
Here is something important. When you begin a pioneering work or missions, a lifelong prayer must begin. Did I not tell this previously? Elder Kim Kwang-Il called me to take some books, and when I went to his house, there were many theological books. Those are in the library (RTS) now. Among the books I submitted to the library, when you open the cover, there are cut marks—that’s all Elder Kim Kwang-Il’s. Suddenly, when President Chun Doo-Hwan began, they arrested Kim Kwang-Il. He was in his office, and soldiers came and took him. Back then, who was the head of the security command? That person. He is from Hapcheon. Kim Kwang-Il is also from Hapcheon. Not only that, the head of the security command and Kim Kwang-Il were friends. Since they were friends, he got out well, but he had been taken. His wife burned all the materials, and I had this feeling they might come to my house. So I removed all the tags marked “Kim Kwang-Il.” Mainly big dictionaries, good ones. As he handed them to me, he said: “I am so disgusted with the world that I decided to quit it all and do evangelism, to go to seminary.” But now he realized, “No, it’s right for me to go this path now.” So he gave me all the books. And when I went to receive the books, there was a black notebook. Showing it to me, he asked whether there were any who were doing church planting. I said there were many. “Then, reverend, please take care of it.” He handed me an envelope, to deliver it. There were many places to give—there were many pioneers. Then I suddenly thought, “Ah!” I looked at the notebook. Though there was no sanctuary construction going on, he had recorded offerings for sanctuary construction. Helping pioneering churches and missionaries—that goes without saying—but he was accumulating offerings for pioneering church construction. “What is this?” He must have put it in a bank. He recorded it all. I asked, “Which church’s construction is this?” He answered, “Our church’s construction, of course.” I said, “Our church isn’t building right now,” though everything looked fine. Then he said, “We must build someday. When that time comes, will it work to say we have money or we don’t? I’m collecting now.” I learned much from that man—much about how to live. David prayed for a lifetime. That is the sanctuary. You must make your members know what truly blocks disaster. Here Jesus gave the answer: “What you are thinking of as blessing—that is not blessing. That is not prayer. Prayer is like this.” The answer was given clearly. It must strike the members’ hearts: “Yes, I am holding nonsense and suffering!”
5. 2 Kings 6:8–23, Elisha
Look at this—what else is this? The work of blocking all disasters occurred. If you block Aram alone, you block all. At each time, all the answers that came forth were given.
6. Isaiah 62:6–12
At last, it is not Babylon. It is to block the world’s disaster. Right? “Raise a banner for all peoples; build up the highway; I have set watchmen over you; give the LORD no rest”—such covenants. It is tremendous. We must restore completely.
7. Luke 23:28, John 21:15–18
“Weep for your children for the future”—it is a word containing an immense future. This Christ—Jesus—came to Peter and, without saying anything else, told him to feed the lambs, asking, “Do you love Me?” When he said yes, He said, “Feed My lambs.”
Conclusion: The world church’s disaster♠
So what conclusion do we now come to? I think this is your final commission—you must block the world church’s disaster. Churches are closing. It is shameful. Without the gospel and with no spiritual power, they just divide and fight. They are in conflict. You must have no time for conflict. What are you conflicting about? Why divide over people’s words in the church? You must be assured that you are the protagonists who block the church’s disaster and the world’s disaster.
Regarding this, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and William Barclay looked at these three (the introduction) and called Matthew 5–7—the Sermon on the Mount—what? Do you know how they expressed it? “The proclamation of the King.” When I saw that phrase, I thought, “Yes—this is the tremendous message of the proclamation by the King of the world.” It is the work of blocking all disasters that have been in history until now by the gospel alone. Some may think otherwise, but that must be left to God. The future will speak. There were those who thought otherwise—the Jews. Right? They said no. When Jesus spoke these words, they said, “What is He saying?” History repeats the same way.
♠ Lesson 2: Changing destiny—Evangelism (Matthew 16:16) → “What to find” ♠
Now, we must tell what is important. Finally, when the time came, Jesus asked at Caesarea Philippi. He spoke of what must be found—of great importance.
Introduction—A few things appear here.
1) Philanthropy—They say He is like Jeremiah. Philanthropy is not bad—but it is not the essence of the gospel, right?
2) Legalism—They say He is like the prophets. Legalism is not bad—but it is not the gospel. The Law is the Word of God, but legalism is not the essence.
3) Mysticism—They say He is like Elijah. Mysticism—God’s grace is mysterious, but it is not mysticism. Mysticism is not the essence of the gospel. It is to express and emphasize the spiritual in the flesh.
4) Ascetic poverty—John the Baptist. Ascetic poverty is not bad—but it is not the essence of the gospel.
Because they keep teaching what is not the essence of the gospel and keep doing what is not the essence, the destiny of the entire world does not get overturned. If you hold to something else, destiny does not change. This is an enormous message. In the place named after Caesar and now Philip—Caesarea Philippi—Jesus asked.
Main—So now, if we look at our main points here: we must remember these.
1. Those who could not change destiny
If not the Christ, destiny does not change. Those who could not change destiny…
1) Great powers
The great powers, who have been the main agents of disaster until now—the Bible records this remarkably. World disasters all began from the great powers. These nations all fell, unable to change destiny. The only thing they did was war.
2) Backward nations
The 5,000 tribes—the backward nations—enslaved to this—were miserable. From the past until now, ceaselessly—some larger, some smaller—but ceaselessly they took the people of backward nations away.
3) Israel
The problem is Israel in relation to this. They could not change it. Unable to change destiny, they continually suffered.
2. Only
We change destiny by only one thing. What is it?
1) Genesis 3:15
“The seed of the woman will crush the serpent’s head”—this has been fulfilled. “You are the Christ”—this means, “You are the One who crushes the authority of Satan, the Son of the living God!”
2) Genesis 6:14
If you come into the ark, you live. There is no condition; coming in is the condition. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”—that covenant has been fulfilled.
3) Exodus 3:18
“On the day you give the blood sacrifice, you will be set free.” “You are precisely that protagonist, the Son of the living God!”
4) Isaiah 7:14
Again they became captives: “A virgin will conceive and bear a son, and His name will be called Immanuel.” “You are precisely that One, the Son of the living God!”—enormous.
5) Matthew 16:16
Peter made that confession. Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood”—how could flesh and blood reveal it?—“but by My Father in heaven. You are Peter, and upon this rock I Myself will build My church”—it is stated thus in the original—“I Myself will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome you. I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Enormous message.
3. Paul (Romans 1:16–17)
Paul held to this. So in Romans 1:16–17 he said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel”—though all persecute me, I am not ashamed; though they slander and try to kill me, I am not ashamed—“for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then also to the Greek. The righteous will live by faith…”
1) Galatians 2:20
To what stage must we come? If it becomes like this, you win. Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ… and Christ lives in me…”
2) 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore I have become a new creation—indeed.
3) Philippians 3:1–21
And in Philippians 3 he throws an enormous message. Until now I had so many good conditions, but I regard them shamefully—as refuse; more importantly, I regard them as harmful. The knowledge of Christ is so immense, but I did not know because of this. Therefore he spoke a message completely different from ours. We say we did much, but we did nothing; we go to grasp only what is in Christ’s hand; we need nothing of the earth; the prize of the upward call; our citizenship is in heaven; the Name who subjects all things—Paul went this far.
Conclusion: The destiny of me, my house, and the church♠
Thus the destiny of me, the church, and my work has been overturned. It will surely be so. My destiny is overturned. It truly happened for me—it changed. As for our household of former idols, God overturned it completely. After meeting you, though it impacts the world church, churches will be entirely changed. This is the blessing you must surely have. Do not remain stuck in the past; change destiny.
♠ Lesson 3: Possessing the highest thing—No other things (Matthew 16:20) → “What is urgent” ♠
Introduction—Matthew 17:1–9; Matthew 18:1–10; John 21:15–18
We must possess the highest thing—and now, “Tell no one.” Why? We must go up the Mount of Transfiguration. Only the Christ remains—not Moses, not Elijah—only the Christ. Why? Moses also believed the Christ and was saved. Elijah also believed the Christ and was saved. And He took a child into His arms and blessed him. It is highly meaningful. He even spoke these words: He said there are angels assigned to the children. Jesus said there are angels assigned to your children, to the remnants. And as mentioned earlier—what is it? “Feed My lambs.” Of course, new believers are included. “Tend My lambs”—He gave such a message.
Main—Me, what is mine, and my field
And now, very importantly, three things come out here. While we possess the highest thing that changes us completely, it comes out like this: me whom God made; what is mine; my field.
1. Matthew 28:1–20 → Authority + Always with us
What is the first? A tremendous event took place—Matthew 28:1–20. Nobody believed. Remarkably, all ran away, and when they ascended the mountain, there were only women. This is exactly the situation. Ironically, though they believed, somehow the soldiers were guarding. Here, the work took place. What must we restore here? Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me… and surely I am with you always.” We must enjoy this. He spoke it.
2. Mark 16:15–20 → The Name + the throne together
Here the most important thing—another step further—“In My Name cast out demons; lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” It is also expressed thus: “The Lord who is seated at the throne worked with them.”
3. Luke 24:13–35 → The secret of ‘with’
More important is the third—Luke 24:13–35. What is it? The disciples going to Emmaus. He explained the way the Lord is with us. He explained the secret of “with” now. Right? He had resurrected and was with them, yet the disciples did not know. They were discouraged. Even as Jesus spoke, they were discouraged—though Jesus was with them, they did not know and were discouraged. Then Jesus spoke the Word, and through the Word they realized. This is our present image. This is our current situation. We do not know the Lord who has resurrected and is exactly with us in spirit.
Conclusion: The Lord of the resurrection (the Name)♠
Thus this conclusion comes: Enjoy the Lord of the resurrection now. How do we enjoy Him? He spoke even that: “Ask in My Name; use the authority in My Name,” right? “Drive out darkness in My Name. Until now you have not asked in My Name; from now on, ask in My Name. Until now you offered beasts; here, ask in My Name, and you will receive.” It is an enormous proof. When you pray toward the darkness in the Name of Jesus Christ, it is broken. When is it broken? Check it. It must be broken. May all unbelief that shakes your church be bound in the Name of Jesus—it is to be so. See when the healing comes. This does not happen by our righteousness—by the Name of Christ—therefore you will be completely victorious.
In every age, misunderstanding arises. In the early church age, the Jews holding the Bible were mistaken. Where is the key? They do not say it, but what becomes the key is that the gospel does not please the heart. But because the gospel is prophesied in the Scripture, they cannot reject it; since the Christ was promised to come, they cannot reject that covenant. They rejected Jesus. In their minds all the commandments, all the promises, all the statutes must be kept—that is the Jew. Where did that thought go? Into the medieval church. The medieval church was the same: “Salvation depends on how much good you do”—is that not the doctrine of the medieval church? Is that right? “You are saved according to how many merits you accumulate.” It helps to catch people—to catch rats—but that does not save, nor does it remove disaster. It is the medieval church that spread disaster throughout the world. Especially Roman Catholicism—they need to realize this, yet even now\… Why do they exalt Mary? I still do not understand. “Mary is higher.” Even now—I cannot understand. What happened to their IQ? I do not understand. It is like bowing to the bus while not greeting the mother who gets off the bus. What is important—the bus? It is enough that the mother has gotten off. I cannot understand. Therefore, as I went around the world doing the evangelism movement with us, I saw the same everywhere, and personally I see that the gospel has never been testified—right? Commonly, I went to the Russian Museum, the Louvre—everywhere. Now I do not go because there is nothing to see, but at first I went everywhere. How can it be so the same? It was not arranged. How great is the power of Satan’s authority? They did not confer, yet everywhere they crush the Christ and exalt Mary. In every museum—so are the works. At this level, the gospel has never been testified. Therefore world disaster cannot but come. Especially in places mainly entered by Catholicism—Latin America—they have all collapsed. Strangely, people’s mental state is not alert. It has become strange. Disaster and darkness are this fearful. It is extremely important.
The members must have this (lecture content) confirmed. If this (lecture content) does not happen, in the end it is not so; later you will see it is not so. The disaster does not leave; my life does not change; destiny does not change. Though He gave us this immense authority and promised to be with us by this, it has nothing to do with me. You must have assurance to save those who are dying. Satan knows whether you have assurance or not. Right? Satan knows and flees when you appear. If you have no assurance and are shaken, why would he flee? Right? If—though this would not happen—a policeman has taken much bribe money from a thief, the thief does not fear the policeman. Right? He has something to give—he never fears him. Though the identity is a policeman, he is not scary. Back in our village long ago, when an inspection was coming, the police would inform beforehand: “An inspection will come, so prepare,” gathering those who did illegal things and having them bribe the police. That happened in the old days—now it does not, but long ago. Such a policeman, having eaten much money, cannot correct people’s evil. More importantly, the boss does not fear the police at all. Satan knows whether you have assurance or not. Therefore when healing patients, you must tell them clearly: If you have a terminal disease, will Satan leave you alone? Right? But God also will not leave you—therefore we pray; therefore we attach ourselves and wage spiritual battle. Those demon-possessed know plainly. Therefore you will later come to know that the authority you possess is immense. But even now it is certain.
In Lessons 2–3 we will look at the important things. From today, I bless you in the Name of Jesus Christ to have authoritative prayer all day long. I will pray.
Prayer. We thank You, God. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let all darkness be bound today as well. Let all disasters be bound. Let the authority of hell be bound. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.