Transcription
A person I know well told me this. After building a building, he proudly boasted to an acquaintance, "I built a building." The acquaintance replied, "Oh, congratulations. Where and what kind of building did you build?" When he answered, "Across the street, that building," the acquaintance was surprised and said, "No, someone I know said they built that building." Hearing this, the person was even more surprised and asked, "Who is that person? What do they do? What's their name?" When he explained, he realized it was the person who had designed his building. "Ah, that makes sense. It's not entirely wrong," he thought. They both laughed and parted ways, but he told his wife about it when he got home. His wife laughed and said, "Actually, I built that building. I prayed for so long and received an answer from God. So, [clears throat] He told me not to miss the opportunity and build it, so you built it. In truth, I built it." He thought, "Ah, that's how it is." He felt a bit bad but couldn't argue, so he said, "Okay, let's say you built it." And that was that. The following week, at the building's dedication ceremony, the pastor said, "This building was built by God." Everyone said "Amen," and the service ended in grace. He thought to himself, "Then what about me?" "Amen." So, he asked the pastor, "Pastor, what is the relationship between what God did and what I did? For example, this building was built, and God must have done something. The architect also did a certain amount. But I am the owner, and I did 51%, right?" [Laughter] "Pastor, what do you think?" [Snorts] "I've never been asked that question before. It was very difficult to answer." So, after praying, he replied, "Initially, it would be normal to say, 'I did it all.' However, as faith grows, the proportion of what I did becomes smaller, and what God did appears to be more. The more mature you become, the more deeply you know God, the more you see what God is doing. So, in the end, confessing that God did it all is normal. Then, did I do nothing? No, that's not true. I worked hard too. So, to others, it looks like Elder Kim did it all, but you know in your heart that God did it. Therefore, confessing that God did it all after doing my best is the confession of a believer. We had such a conversation.
Friends, last time we learned a simple principle of life: we receive what God gives and cannot receive what He doesn't. This is the war strategy of Israel, and there are two principles. Who will you fight? Will you fight the one you hate, or the one you can defeat? Or will you not fight the one who brings you the most profit, but the one God has placed before you? And do not approach or covet what God has not given you. That is the first principle. The second is, what strategy will you use to fight? It's not complicated. If you follow the method God teaches you each time, you will surely win. We learned about these two principles last time. Today is the second part of Israel's war strategy. So, why do we win when we believe God's word and obey it? That is what is being explained. In other words, Moses is teaching the young generation of Israel the invisible formula for victory. Now, Israel is fighting many wars and will fight even more in the future. There is something you must know: who fights the war? Who is the subject of war? You must understand this clearly. That is verse 22. "Do not fear them, for the Lord your God himself will fight for you." Who fights the battle? It is the Lord God himself fighting for you. You must not forget this. Therefore, the theme of today's passage is the question of who is the protagonist of life and how we should divide roles in our relationship with that person. This is an important confession of faith for Israel. As I live my life, God fights the problems I encounter for me. It is not I who fight my enemies, but God himself fights my adversaries. Isn't that amazing? It's like the relationship between sheep and a shepherd. Who takes care of the sheep? Do sheep live by their own efforts? No. The shepherd takes care of them. But what if a wolf or a lion appears? Who fights? Do the sheep go out and say, "Let's have a fight!" and fight? No. The shepherd himself goes out and fights for the sheep. Without a shepherd, wild animals must fight their enemies with their own strength, bleeding and fighting. Whether they die or win. But it's not like that for sheep. They just need to believe that the shepherd fights for them and follow. So, I am a sheep of God. God himself fights for me. You must have this clear view of life. Amen? Amen. Whatever mindset you have lived with until now, change your mindset completely from now on. The owner of my life is not me, but the owner God leads me, and God himself fights my enemies for me. Live with this faith. Amen. Because God holds the initiative in our lives, and God wants us to acknowledge that He holds the initiative in our lives. Living like this, we can live the life God has sent us to live on this earth properly.
So, if God fights my enemies for me, how should I build my relationship with God? That is, how should I act before God? The method is explained with an example. First, let's read verse 1 together. It's chapter 3, verse 1. "Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og king of Bashan came out to meet us, he and all his people, for battle at Edrei." King Og of Bashan came to fight us. This king was very brave. That's because of verse 2. In verse 2, it says, "The Lord said to me, 'Do not fear him, for I have handed him and all his people and his land over to you. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.'" Regarding King Og of Bashan, Israel had completely annihilated Sihon, the king of the neighboring Amorite kingdom. In other words, even after seeing a strong neighboring kingdom utterly defeated by Israel, King Og of Bashan bravely came out to fight Israel without being intimidated at all. However, because God handed them over to us, we fought King Og of Bashan and achieved a great victory, and took all his cities. How many cities were there? It's in verse 4. "And we captured all his cities at that time. There were sixty cities, all the cities of the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan." We captured all sixty cities. What was the characteristic of those cities? It's in verse 5. "All these were cities with strong walls, with gates and bars, and besides these there were very many unwalled towns." And that king was also a giant. It's in verse 11. "For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Is it not in Rabbath of the Ammonites? It is nine cubits long and four cubits wide, by the measure of a common cubit." One cubit is 50 cm. So, King Og of Bashan's bed was 4.5 meters long and 2 meters wide. He was a tremendous giant. He was brave and had impregnable fortresses, and he challenged us to a fight. But because God handed them over to us, we captured all those cities. Why is this emphasized? It was an opponent that was utterly impossible for us to defeat with our own strength. Therefore, God handed them over to us, meaning God himself fought with us, and we were able to conquer these cities. So, how large a territory did we occupy? The area of the land is in verses 11 and 12. "And we took possession of his land at that time. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites. The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. All the region of Argob, all Bashan, is called the land of the Rephaim." We took possession of this land and already distributed it to two and a half tribes: the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. You see, the Israelites had not yet arrived in Canaan. They were on the east side of Canaan. While fighting for a year, they secured a considerable amount of land. The area of this land is about 20% of the total land God intended to give them in Canaan. They gave it to two and a half tribes. This was actually impossible, but it was emphasized that it was possible because God himself fought with us. Therefore, in the future, when you cross into the land of Canaan and fight numerous nations and numerous wars, what is most important? Because God will fight with your enemies for you, you don't need to be strong. This is a very important point. Also, it's not that your strategy is excellent. Why? Because ultimately, God will fight for you. The question is, what kind of relationship do you build with the God who fights like that, and how do you, for example, read God's mind, please Him, and align with God? Moses explains that this is a truly important factor. So, I don't know if this is a good example, but think of it this way. A husband goes out and works hard to earn money. You all know that the world is not easy these days. From morning till night, he works hard [sighs] to support his family. The wife is at home. So, what should the wife at home do? Housewives here, if your husband works hard in the world and earns money to support the family, what should the wife do? She should please her hardworking husband, acknowledge his efforts, trust him, be grateful, and give glory to her husband. Why are you looking at each other with such strange expressions? You should do that, right? Then what will happen to the husband? Without complaining about the hardships, he will fight and win against any storm with joy, happiness, and victory, and take care of his family. That kind of relationship, like the relationship between husband and wife, is what you are asked to do for God who fights for you. The Israelites might think, "God fights for us, so what about us?" "How can an invisible God fight for us? What am I?" Verse 21 is the answer. Verse 21. "At that time I commanded Joshua, saying, 'You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. You shall not go over there.'" That is, "You have seen with your own eyes." In other words, you are spectators. God is the player, the athlete. I am living my life, and I am a spectator. The one who truly fights for me is God, who is fighting on the field. So, if I am a spectator, am I just a spectator who does nothing and just watches, unrelated to the athlete? Not exactly. Let's try to imagine something. A son is watching his father fight an enemy. The son is too young to do anything. So, what should the son do? He just has to watch. Why? There's nothing else to do. Unfortunately, he can only watch. Right? So, in Exodus, God fights with Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He fights with ten plagues, leads them through the Red Sea, and fights. What did the Israelites do? Nothing. Because at the time of the Exodus, the Israelites were infants in faith, children, so they had nothing to do. They just watched. So, Exodus 14:14 says, "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." Just be silent. You only need to be amazed. But this child has grown a bit. If he can move his body and has even a little strength in his fist, what should he do when his father fights an enemy? He should do something, right? He should pick up a stone or a stick, or shout something. So, the Israelites who left Egypt, in the 39th year of their journey after 38 years in the wilderness, fought. They had grown for about 38 years. So, when they encountered enemies, the Israelites themselves began to fight. And they fought in the war to the best of their ability. But they didn't win with that strength. They won because God himself fought for them, and you did a little of what you were supposed to do. Therefore, after winning, what should Israel confess? "We did it." [Clears throat] No. The normal confession is, "God did it." Today's message is a truly happy message and a precious message of faith, but it is a message that we do not understand well. But if we understand this and apply it to our lives, our perspective on life will change, and we will live a life of victory by faith every day. So, we also fought hard with King Og of Bashan, and even though we fought until we were exhausted and tired, to the point where we didn't have the strength to lift a finger, we confessed, "God did it all." Let's put this in our terms. After working hard at the company for a week, handling projects, and doing our best, and finishing our work, we return home, exhausted. Can we say, "God, thanks to Your grace, I managed well this week. Thank you. God did it all."? Why can't we confess like this? Because we don't have the concept that God himself fights for me. But from now on, based on today's message, if we acknowledge and confess that God is the one who fights for me, our eyes will be opened, and we will gradually realize that God is fighting for me. And eventually, we will be able to confess that God did it all. But more importantly, this formula is not just a war formula for the ancient Israelites fighting enemies, but a law that applies to all areas of our lives today. So, at the end of verse 21, it says, "The Lord will do the same to all the nations to which you go." This is about the future. No matter who you meet, no matter what event you encounter, no matter what happens in the future, it will be like this. That is, whatever you encounter or whatever you fight for the rest of your life, God himself will fight for you. Isn't that good? In my ministry, there are countless such things. There are many situations that I simply cannot handle. For example, let's just take preaching as an example. Preaching goes well sometimes, but when it doesn't, it's really difficult. So, I often stay up all night. My wife comes and worries, saying, "Oh, how can you exhaust yourself like that?" Then I say, "Ah, God will do it." Even though I say that to reassure her, it's frustrating. "Ah, God, give me the word to preach." God says, "Are you doing it? I am doing it." And then He gives me the words to say, and I write them down here. But there were many times when He gave me the words in the early morning, and I couldn't even write them down, so I memorized them in my head and preached them. And that's how I've come this far. What I've realized through this is that it's not me who is preaching, but God is supplying what He wants to give to His children. I realized that I am not doing it. And because I did my best, I can confess what? That God truly did it. If I hadn't tried, I would think, "I can do it if I try." But after I confess that I can't do it no matter how hard I try, He gives it to me, so it becomes that God did it all. So, to you, it looks like Pastor Hwang is preaching, but to me, I can only confess that God did it all. I believe this is true for all of life.
So, what must I do to have God continuously fight for me? First, as I said, it is to acknowledge it. Second, what is it? It is not to fear. So, what does verse 22 say? "Do not fear them." What must we do to have God himself fight for us? What must we do? It is not to fear in the face of problems, in the face of the world. But the word "fear" appears many times in the Bible, and we must understand the meaning of "fear" accurately. Does "do not fear" here mean to charge towards the enemy even when your life is in danger? That's not what it means. Or is it not a determination to achieve this goal to the end, no matter what? "Do not fear" here is not a psychological term. It is a thoroughly theological term. "Do not fear" means, in a word, do not look at the enemy, do not look at the problem, but look at God. Let's think about it. If there is a problem, and I start looking at the problem, it means I am placing my heart in that problem. Right? Because I place my heart in the problem, the problem appears bigger, and I become afraid of it. Right? So, to fear something means not looking at God. It means placing my heart in the problem. What does that mean? It means I have abandoned God in my heart. Because I have abandoned God and am looking at the problem, the problem appears big and I become afraid. Conversely, if I look at God, the problem remains as it is, but I have placed my heart in God. Right? If I look at God and place my heart in God, what is the relationship between God and me? There is an important concept here. In verse 22, "for the Lord your God himself will fight for you." What should the relationship between God and me be? It should be "my God," right? Because He is "my God," God fights my problems for me. But if I don't place my heart in God and instead place it in the problem, God cannot become my God. Therefore, He cannot fight for me. If I place my heart in God and God becomes my God, does the problem that I have let go of, that I have ignored, disappear? No. The problem remains, but because my God himself fights with that problem, the problem is resolved in God. That's why it says, "Do not fear." To put it simply, do not live a life that looks at problems, [snorts] but live a life that looks at God. Friends, there are always two facts before us. First, there are visible facts. The problems I encounter. For example, if I get sick, there is a health problem before me, and that is a fact. It is frightening, painful, and difficult. Or if there is a money problem, there is clearly an economic problem, and that is also a fact. There are visible facts that I encounter. However, there is also an invisible fact, and that is that God is alive, that God loves me, that God himself will fight for me, and that God is the one who governs history. These are also facts. Between these two facts, which fact will you place your heart in and hold onto as reality? That is what is being asked. Why can't you feel that God himself is fighting? You have made it impossible for God to fight. By looking at the problem, abandoning God, and making it impossible for God to be your God, the problem has become God. Now, turn your head, give your heart to God, acknowledge God as reality, and let God become your God. Then, live as someone who lets God himself fight and win the problems that you have left behind. You know, in a way, faith life is a very happy life. Think about people who don't believe. I have to do everything myself. But we have God, the good shepherd, who says, "I will fight for you." Do not look at the problems of the world, but look at me, be grateful, rejoice, and when God does something, say, "God, you did well," give glory to God. Then your life will turn into victory. Isn't that how you should live? You can live like this even when you go home. Do not fear. Do not forget that God himself will fight for you. Always look to God and advance, and the great land of Canaan will also be yours. Amen. Live with this faith, and may your life be a victory, and may you give glory to God every time you experience victory. Amen. Amen. Let us pray. Let us come before the Lord in prayer, reflecting on the word we have heard. Prayer requests: "Lord, let our lives and the lives of our children be lives where God himself fights for us. Let us not fear the world, nor be crushed by problems, but give our hearts to God, acknowledge God as reality, and experience the amazing mystery of God fighting for us. Let us pray together." Let us pray aloud so that our voices can be heard in our church. "Heavenly Father, we do not know how beautiful and how happy our faith life is. However, we live a difficult, hard, and weary life, thinking that we must take responsibility for our own lives. Today, the Lord has revealed in His word that He is the One who fights for us, your God. Lord, open our eyes to this truth now. God is my shepherd, and He is the One who fights for me. Therefore, let my life be a life of victory and a life that gives glory to God. [Music] From now on, let our lives be lives of peace, unlike the past. [Music] Let us live a life that looks to God and gives Him glory. [Music] Bless us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. M."