July 3rd, 2016
ICA Sunday Pulpit Message
Absolute Goal for the Gospel Noble Family – Restoration of the Gospel (18)
God’s Miracle is in the Gospel System (Jos 20:1-9)
(Intro)
It’s good to see you. Greet those around you. Have you had a good week? Today’s title is, “God’s miracle is the Gospel system”. It’s the word of Jesus, not mine. Matthew 6 tells you to pray as such. Jesus gave a system of prayer to His disciples. If you do not pray without a system, you may fall into unhealthy mysticism. If you look at Matthew, you will look at Jesus giving His disciples a system of evangelism. If you happen to only evangelize without a system, then your walk of faith will be a façade. You will lose the essence of what’s vital. All successful people have a system. Who’s on the $100 bill? Benjamin Franklin. He wrote an anecdote that’s very popular. Tomorrow is what day? It’s Independence Day. It’s in the US citizenship exam. Franklin was one of the people who wrote the Declaration. He made parts of the amendment. Do you wear glasses? He invented the magnifying glass, as well as the electric rod. We have libraries at every community. At the University of Pennsylvania, he constructed a large library. He made this culture of building libraries. He’s a great figure. He also had the internal system of life to come to conclusion that he must live right, because we only live once. He followed the 13 vital deeds of life: diligence, precision, humility and frugality. His parents were faithful puritans. They were coming from England to have freedom of religion. Among the dozens of brothers he had, the family sent Franklin to become a pastor, but he quit. He was too smart, but he worked hard to earn a lot of money. He went to the church and realized that it didn’t match his own level. He stopped going to churches his entire life. in his later days, he suffered from pleurisy. His spiritual system was weak, even though his physical system was strong. He’s an idealist, write and politician. He’s also a scientist with a lot of inventions. He’s also a speaker who persuaded others. He did great works for independence. He pushed for human rights. He was very persuasive. That was his God-given gift. He didn’t go to worship. He upset God. He had a disease in his chest. I like to interpret it as Franklin hurting God’s heart, so his own heart hurt. He was the person who had a reasonable lifestyle. Paul had his own system. When he did his ministry, he did his own system. In Acts 16, “they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.” In Acts 17, “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,” People will mature and have their own system. The life system cannot be taken lightly. Even the believers these days try to see if there’s a location where they can educate their children. The system is prepared by God.
1. Prepare the vessel for the answer and the system for God’s inheritance
(1) God’s image has personal answers as well as blessings of the inheritance (Gen 1:26-28)
(2) Once you prepare the faith, your heart, and your lifestyle, you will surely receive answers from God (Jn 15:7)
(3) Once you prepare God’s purpose, direction and system, you will eventually enjoy His inheritance (Ps 106:5, Eph 1:18)
These blessings belong to God. God created mankind. Mankind was created by God. He blessed mankind and said to be fruitful and increase in numbers. He gave mankind authority to have dominion over the earth. You may be in the top because of your skill. In order to stay in the top, you need the ability to rule over the community. It’s not possible without your own system. Thanks to Jesus Christ, we restored the blessing of mankind. The image of God has been restored. The blessing of being fruitful has been given to the Gospel. God is within me. Christ is within me. Christ is the image of God. We already have this system to subdue and rule. We must know this. You need to discover and enjoy it. May you believe that you have a system within Christ. Once you have it, you will receive answers from God. You will realize that God is alive. God has sent Jesus to save me. With this faith, heart and attitude, you will receive answers to prayer. In John 15, it says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” There’s a greater thing than this answer. Last week, we talked about God’s inheritance. How do we get this? We can enjoy this inheritance of God once we conclude our life with the purpose of God. This Israelites held onto the Exodus, wilderness and Canaan conquest as the direction of God. They held onto the purpose of God to build the kingdom of God. They received and enjoyed the inheritance of God in the Canaan land. Why is God letting us know about this? He wants us to enjoy and discover His inheritance. Christ and World Evangelization is God’s direction. Saving other’s souls and glorifying God is His purpose for us. Once you hold onto this covenant and make your own system, then you will enjoy His inheritance. In Psalms 106, it says, “I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.” If you have an inheritance that produces answers, you will be thankful for it. Paul saw this. In Ephesians 1:18, he prayed, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,” You may realize the riches and inheritances of the Saints. Open your spiritual eyes to see His inheritance. Through that, you will realize how vital His system is. In the 1st half of 2016, we looked at many different answers of God. Now this is the 1st week of July. What must we do? We must start praying for answers to go further and further into His inheritance.
2. Develop the Gospel culture system of Christ
(1) The system of the city of refuge started from the age of Moses (Ex 21:13, Num 35:6, De 19:3)
(2) It is the system to prevent the flow of the darkness coming from Moses’ murder, Exodus, and the war between the land of Canaan
(3) Joshua developed the system of city of refuge within God’s will and settled it (Jos 20:1-9)
What is the Gospel culture system of Christ? In today’s scripture, all the wars were finished. Then, they made a system of the city of refuge. What is it? After the distributed the land of Canaan, God told Joshua about this city of refuge. To prevent any needless bloodshed, the city of refuge was made. There are cases of accidental murder and this city saves the people who didn’t mean to murder someone. It is a system designed to forgive people of sin. This was also permitted to the Gentiles. This is what it is. Why did God make this system? I asked earlier why God made this city of refuge. The Israelites were able to leave Egypt because of Moses. Moses had a scar. Why did he have to be in the wilderness for 40 years after running away. He tried to save another Israelite and accidentally killed an Egyptian. Moses had this trauma for his entire life. That event will be in his heart for a while. As they left Egypt, how many people of Egypt would’ve died? On the Passover, all the oldest son of Egypt was killed off. It’s the event when they crossed the Red Sea. However, the soldiers of Egypt were killed off. They entered inside the Canaan land. What did they do when they conquered it? They utterly destroyed them. They did this for decades. Killing others has become a culture. If a person accidentally kills another, then what happens? They would try to kill the murderer and it would be an endless cycle of revenge and death. They were supposed to be chosen by God, but they’re in a cycle of murder designed by Satan. They made a system to prevent this culture of Satan. You will realize why we make a system. God commands Joshua to make a system. He developed carefully and made it a system. It was commanded to Moses, so Joshua obeyed. Centered on the Jordan, he built 6 cities. Suppose that the city of refuge is over 100 miles, we would probably be captured on the way. They made a city of refuge so that all tribes can enter. It’s not for just anyone. They must report to the elders and they would give the ok. They made a culture of the Gospel system and cut down the culture of Satan. Why am I telling you this? He wants us to make a system on our own. May you make one in your family and church. A lot of people are swaying. People could become discouraged and get scars. They cannot hear not see the entire picture. They only make judgments for the entire picture. If so, you can see the entire picture and see that it’s God’s plan. This is the voice of God. If you realize this, then you will realize that all the problems are blessings and doors. They don’t have a system to see the problems, they would perish. You must make a system. There are problems in the family. My parents used to fight a lot so my sister and I used to cry about it. My sister never really speaks. I think that it’s because when we were young, the parents were supposed to share the love, but we never experienced it. In America, we see families show affection for each other a lot. Kids will realize it and see that they’re sharing love. If you have disharmony and quarrels, then the kids will realize scars. It’ll hinder the development of the kids. Therefore, it is beneficial to have their own system. As you live your life, you will mature. You will grow up. It is when you realize that all of mankind has a duality. It has a good side and bad. You will be able to accept and embrace that person. Men look strong but could be weak on the inside. Women look weak on the outside, but could be strong on the inside. Men could have their soft side and the females have the embrace it. The duality of a female is that they’re weak and the men protect it. Then the strong aspect of a female is revealed. Males should embrace their females so that the females won’t show their strong aspect. You might ask why is someone like that, then you’re already at a loss. You will always be in the wilderness. The church must have a system. We need a worship, training and evangelism system. We must have workers. We are doing this intensive training. We are trying to select ministers. May you look back on this year and see if you have your own system. We must live in society. We must have a system of time management, finance management and interpersonal management. There are people who play games all night, sleep late and wake up in the afternoon. I understand that, but you must find a way to manage your time. You must be able to do everything at the right time. And, you must have a system of finance. Even if the amount you earn is small, you must separate it. If you succeed in that, God will increase the quantity of finance. You will see that mankind has duality. You must discern whether people are disciples, neighbors or friends. You must have this discernment. If not, you will have issues. It’s not a bad thing, but God will make problems to realize that. You must succeed in the church to have the flow of the word. You must have a system for everything. Be rooted in the Gospel. The church members must have oneness in prayer. If not, then you cannot surpass the levels on your church officers. You must have a system to do acceptance movement to live non-believers. You must nurture them with the word movement. There are many people who live with their own will. You must baptize them. You must make disciples in the church. I want to raise ministers among the church officers. I will raise pastors because we need a pastoral system to be able to meet the figures of Roman Chapter 16. You must have a person who can provide a blank check that could be utilized for missions. At the same time, we need a system for remnants. You will discover God’s inheritance. Even the remnants must realize that in the church, there’s a mystery of the kingdom of God.
3. The real essence of the city of refuge is Jesus Christ who takes life preciously and saves
(1) Noah’s ark was the city of refuge of the age of Nephilim (Gen 6:19)
(2) The church of this age is the city of refuge of this world (Eph 1:23)
(3) The man of God is the city of refuge of the field (Mt 5:9, 11:28, 1 Pe 2:9, 3:15)
The real essence of the city of refuge is Christ and values life. Why is the Bible talking about this? All things were made through Him. He made this city of refuge so we can know who Christ is. There was a city of refuge in every age. The first was Noah’s ark. It was to be saved from the age of Nephilim. In Gen 6:19, “You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.” Noah made a system of salvation. Starting from Noah, the new mankind started. In the New Testament, the church was to save people from the world. The church is the body of Christ. So Paul confessed in Eph 1:22-23. “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” The church is the place where we can fully enjoy everything in the world. The church has the Holy Spirit of God. What do you see from other Christians? They look nice, but the more you know them, you will see their other side. They like to abuse and misuse things. However, through the church, God will pour blessings. What happens to the people who are saved through Christ? The man of God is the city of refuge for people who need salvation. We have the background of heaven before going to heaven. He calls us as the sons of God, even though we never have been to heaven. That is the miracle of the city of refuge. Those who make peace will be the sons of God. In 1 Pe 2:9, “you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” In 1 Pe 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” That is why we think about evangelism and pray for it. Everyone who receive and hold onto this covenant will be blessed from God. It’s the vital promise. Jesus gave this word before He ascended. “Go and make disciples of all nations, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation, Feed my lambs.” May you hold onto this.
(Conc)
Start praying for establishing a system of myself, family and church, and God will lead you. Your problems will be solved. One you have evidence from God, the doors of ministry will open. It’s the system of the Gospel noble family where people will be surprised.
(Prayer)
I confess that God’s miracle is in the system of the Gospel. May we have the answer of the city of refuge. May we cut down the flow of Satan. May we be rooted down the culture of Gospel. May we be able to see Your miracle. May we find and enjoy Your inheritance. May all the remnants see and enjoy that process. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.