Pastor Cho's Sermon Outline - Yoido Full
Gospel Church - Seoul, KoreaYour Kingdom Come Matthew 6:9 ~ 6:10 2002-11-03
The Garden of Eden was the perfect kingdom of God. He was the King with absolute sovereignty, and Adam and Eve were His people. There was nothing harmful in Eden; it was filled with righteousness, peace, and joy. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the Garden. If they had observed the divine command, they could have lived there forever. But when the devil tempted them to rebel against the sovereign God, they ate the forbidden fruit and proclaimed the sovereignty of human beings. They were driven out of Eden.
The whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19). When Adam and Eve sinned, the devil became the king and god of this world (Luke 4:5,6). He attacks the minds of people through atheistic philosophy (1 Timothy 6:4), shamanism, or other religions (2 Corinthians 11:14). He blinds the minds of unbelievers psychologically and morally so they can't see the light of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). He uses the weapons of sin (1 John 3:8) and ungodly secularity (Romans 2:9), attacking people through newspapers, television, the Internet, etc. Satan brings sorrow, distress, despair, and fear, causing mental and physical illness. More than 60% of illness is caused from stress. He also tries to destroy people through the love of money and pleasure (Philippians 3:19), and through the fear of death (Hebrews 9:27; 2:15).
People away from God are in despair. Mankind has been robbed, killed, and destroyed by the devil (Jeremiah 2:13), having mental distress because of a sense of guilt and being abandoned. People have no meaning in life (Ecclesiastes 2:23), and are powerless over death and the fear of returning to non-existence. They try to forget about their despair through their work, worldly pleasure, and through philosophical thinking. But they cannot escape from dying in their sin unless they believe in Jesus (John 8:24).
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Jesus showed us heaven through His public life. He forgave sinners, healed the sick, and brought joyful news (John 1:14; Mark 1:15). Through His redemption on the Cross, Jesus became a perfect sacrifice unto God on our behalf (1 John 2:2; Hebrews 10:10). He disarmed the devil and drove him off the throne (John 12:31-33; Colossians 2:15). Jesus destroyed the weapon of sin (Ephesians 1:7), ungodly secularity (Titus 3:6,7), and mental and physical disease (1 Peter 2:24; Acts 10:38). He destroyed the idolatry of money and pleasure (Philippians 3:20,21), and the fear of death (Revelation 21:3,4). If we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we have the kingdom of heaven within us through the Holy Spirit because of Christ's work on the Cross (Luke 10:18,19; 17:21; 1 John 4:13; 1 Peter 2:9).
Heavenly Father, thank You for Christ¡¯s sacrifice on the Cross; You destroyed Satan¡¯s plan. We have a new identity; the kingdom of heaven is within us.