The Gospel that lifts up those who are oppressed

Acts 3:1~12 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (6)

♬ Hymn for scheduled worship: Korean/English Hymnal #426 Lord Jesus, I Long to Be Perfectly Whole (#215 in previous version)

If you fall into spiritual powerlessness, you will eventually be oppressed by the forces of darkness. Many people are mentally oppressed right now and have fallen into mental problems, depression, suicidal tendencies, and crime, and they are physically oppressed and are bound by bad habits, gambling, addictions, and video games. Satan is using this opportunity to raise various healing movements such as the meditation and energychi movement. At a time like this, what must we, as individuals who have been called as evangelists and the churches with the Gospel, know and begin in the field?

1. The oppressed cannot find themselves

If a child of God loses hold of the Gospel, then he will live in the Age of Slavery like the Israelites and lose the way of blessings like the Israelites in the Age of the Philistines. If you lose the way of answers that God has prepared, then you will wander spiritually and will be unable to give worship like the Israelites in the Age of Babylon. Ultimately, you will live like the Israelites in the Age of Rome; you will lose sight of your identity as a child of God, follow after the world, and live a life of colonization.

2. They must be set free from their oppression in order to come out from the darkness

Peter relayed the Christ that he met to the crippled man that he met on his way to pray. An oppressed man who had to beg for alms his entire life was finally set free. Also, Fanny Crosby did not get oppressed by her fate of being blind. On the contrary, she discovered and enjoyed the greatest answer within her problem of not seeing the unsightly things of the world but only seeing the Holy God.

3. Those who are freed from their oppression have the strength to save the world

When you are set free from your oppression, the things that used to oppress you become a great power of God. After the crippled man was raised, he changed into a witness of the Gospel in Acts 4. Paul, who used to persecute Christians, changed into a missionary who preached the Gospel in Acts 13; and a useless man like Onesimus was restored as an evangelism disciple who was used to serve the evangelist, church, and world evangelization.

Forum Topic

Think about what you are oppressed by right now. When you pray in the name of Jesus Christ, God will give you new strength to break down the power of darkness.

Core Training Message / 2013.6.8