Sunday Message - Holistic Healing 10

26/08/07
<John 15:1-17>
MINISTERIAL-SERVING HEALING, LIFE OF DRIVEN BY GOD
• The ministries done by Christians are not religious activities or a routine of the church. God’s glory
and power would be displayed when we serve our ministries correctly. And it will have an impact
on all nations as well as the generations to come
• This world is all about power structures. It applies to both the spiritual and physical world. E.g.
those with power will influence those without. The majority will affect the minority. Money has
power to manipulate things, etc.
• Politicians have the power to control a country. The ideology of a person will affect him / her
• Power structure exists among angels too
• We must influences all nations and countries just like Joseph and Daniel
• We always proclaim that we are the main characters of this era. However, we must have power
before we can influence the world
• Who then has the power to overcome everything, including monetary power, and the ideologies of
this world? In fact, only God Himself can do it
• Therefore, Christians do not carry out their ministries on their own. They must do it through God’s
hands
• No matter how hard we serve, our ministries will not be fruitful if we cannot move God’s hand by
our ministries or prayers
• A lot of important people, like Pastors or Preachers who were greatly used by God, had appeared
throughout mankind’s history, including those recorded in the Bible. Some of their ministries have
an impact on their churches; some will cause an influence that lasts about 10 to 30years. There
are some that will affect an era or even from generations to generations. The influence of some
are magnified only after they had left this world
• They serve the same God and read the same Bible. Why, then is there a difference in the result?
It is because the extent of the work by the Holy Spirit is different on each individual
• Men are just like dew that appears in the morning and disappears after a short while. Therefore,
no matter how great a person’s ministry is, if God didn’t sustain it, it will be gone quickly
• No matter how many people we have shared the Gospel with; unless God works and the Holy
Spirit sustains our works, no results will be achieved
• There is another group of people in the Bible who served greatly for the Lord. E.g. Abraham,
David, Paul and even Jesus Christ
• Among them, the extent of work completed by Jesus Christ seems to be the least. Throughout His
lifetime, He seems to have only influenced 12 people truly. His ministry is centered mainly on
Jerusalem only. Moreover, His crucifixion seemed to be only a localized event
• However, that seemingly small event had shaken the whole Jerusalem, the Roman Empire and
the whole world just after a few decades
• Paul had only served the Lord for about 30 years. He had only built a few churches and really
influenced around 20 people. What he left behind were only some letters to the churches
• However, the letters that he left behind had an impact on Rome and the lives of many people from
generations to generations
• What sort of god is God? He is one with insights. He will do whatever He wants to do. He will
write history in the way He wants. If God wants to do something, no conditions can limit His work
• God works in proportion to a person’s perspective, responsiveness and love for Him. In other
words, God works according to a person’s heart and mind
• God is able to see through a person’s heart and mind, motives, desires and purpose
• When we say that we want to do work for “World Gospelization”, God will ask us, in return,
whether we really love Him? If we pass the test, God will fulfill that ministry for us no matter what
• God will finish all our works if we are able to move His heart
• Thus, if we really want to serve God, we need not ask Him, why we cannot see any evidences.
What we should be asking is, how is the condition of our hearts and minds
• Though we don’t seem to have any conditions now, God will build us up and use us if we have the
right hearts and minds

Read <John 15:1-17>

• v7 This is the foundation of those who serve God. How much do we love a person? Do we
love in God’s love?
• v11 When will our joy be made complete? We will only be joyful when we truly love God
• v15 Are we friends of the Lord? Friends stand alongside. God will tell us both big and small
things

• What is Gospel? Gospel is about God coming to find us, call us and direct us personally
• Our motivation and desire to serve God comes from Him

1. God’s Command (命定): Four Gospelizations (4G)

<Gen 12:1-3, 15:1-8, 17:1-22; Mat 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-20; Lk 22:44-48; Jn 21:15-19; Acts 1:8>
• When God first called Abraham, God kept telling Abraham, “you…”, “you…”, “you…”
• We do not love God because of our conscience as men’s conscience had already fallen
• We do not love God by being a good person. Being a good person has no link with God
• Even our love for God is also determined by Him
• If a person really wants to serve God, he must enter into 4G
• When we ask God for a partner, a family or a career, God will ask us, “Why must it be given?”
• We must really understand what is “Four Gospelizations”

1) Personal Gospelization
→ Saints (圣徒) are the same as Jesus Christ. We are all “word come flesh”!
• A Saint can glorify God the most when he has become like the Lord (i.e. word become
flesh)
(1) Saints are loved by God, just like Jesus Christ → the evidence and foundation of my life
• We are beloved by God, just like Jesus Christ. We are God’s beloved children
• The fulfillment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion is for us. We have the same Father and
Lord

(2) The examples given by Jesus Christ are the standard that Saints must learn everyday. →
my daily target
• In our lifetime, we must learn to become like Jesus Christ
• When we really love a person, we will want to learn to be like him / her
• We must learn from Jesus Christ in loving, teaching and touching lives
• A person will become most joyful and be freed when he learns to be like Jesus Christ
• We will love our children dearly if we see that they wanted to learn to be like us
 (3) All Saints should inherit Jesus Christ’s purpose (i.e. glorify God, bless others, build God’s
kingdom) → my lifelong goal
• My lifelong goal is to be like Jesus Christ: glorify God, bless others, build God’s
kingdom
• Satan isn’t afraid of ministries. He is afraid of the one who serve, the one who is word
becomes flesh
• More important than any ministries, is our lives must be gospelized

• When we are more joyful, our loved ones will also be more joyful and more at ease
• When we know God’s perfect will, our wives’ character will have depth and our children will
also behave better
• A person who knows God’s perfect will is a wise person. Therefore, the first to receive grace
is a wise person’s family

2) Family Gospelization
→ A Saint who has received grace will never cease praying for his/her family
• The more grace we’d received, the more beautiful and blessed will our partners be also
• Our parents should receive comfort from us when we are with them
• A barbarian will become a gentleman after being with us
(1) Family makes a covenant with God (covenant-centred)
• A blessed believer will be praying continuously for Family Gospelization all his life
• This is the principle and method that God had fixed for us

(2) Family taking the path of serving (focus on glorifying God, blessing others and building
God’s kingdom)
• A person will know how to serve the Lord after he had made a covenant with God
• The path to heaven is narrow and there is only one. All other roads, which are wide,
will only lead to destruction

(3) Enjoy the most blissful family living in covenant and ministries (the family that God has
designed, used and glorified)
• A believer can only enjoy a blissful family in Jesus Christ after he has established a
covenant with God

3) Regional Gospelization
• The place that I am in and the place that I stay are blessed because of my presence
• My company is blessed because of my presence. God uses our companies to give us the
skill we need
• There are also people whom we can reach out to, in our companies
• There will be important blessings in the place a Saint is in, and also in the places he goes
to, the situation he meets, the people he meets, his studies or work, etc! It is because the
Saint is the source of all blessings. Therefore, do not forget:
(1) I am the main character! God’s concern is on me
• It is not about us doing anything first. It is about us having our spiritual eyes changed
• It is very easy for God to do a miracle. Thus, we shouldn’t ask God, whether He is
capable to do it or not. Instead, God is asking us, why we want Him to do it?
 • Since we are the most blessed ones, no matter where we are, we are the main
characters

(2) Everything is beneficial to the Gospel. Thus, I need to learn, acquire and conquer
• It doesn’t matter where we are, who or what we meet. We need not complain about
people or the situation because God is leading us in all these
• We often say “what if…” There isn’t “what if” in God’s dictionary. Whatever God says,
it will be done
• God is with us in every situations

(3) The success of regional gospelization comes from a church- and altar-centered living
• No matter how weak we are, we must have church, altar and congregation-centered
living
• A believer will also be beaten no matter where he goes if he does not live with a
perspective of Four Gospelizations because Satan will not be afraid of him
• We must become someone whom Satan is most frightened of

4) World Gospelization
→ The era where blessed Saints gathered is an important era because God’s marvelous work is
there
(1) Be like Joseph and Daniel. In all things, grab hold of the vision that comes from the
Gospel and have an impact on the world and in an era
• We are the main characters of this era

(2) The perspective of our ministerial-serving must be placed continuously in finding and
raising up disciples
• When we serve, our focus must only be upon the Lord’s disciples. We don’t need to
look at figures
• When disciples gather, the Disciple Church will be opened
• The world is changed by “a few good men”. Jesus Christ gathered 12 such people in
His lifetime on earth
• We must also gathered a few good men in our lifetime

(3) Established the Localized Churches where disciples gathered, thus making sure that the
Lord’s ministries are raised up with a solid foundation
• We can only start having ministries after disciples are raised (e.g. hospital ministry,
school ministry, field ministry)
• Thereafter, church after churches will be set up

* Lead the Lord’s Gospelized ministries with the absolute vision, sequence and timetable of 4G
• When a person doesn’t have any personal motives or purpose, he will then carry out the
Lord’s ministries relying on His determined vision, sequence and timetable of 4G. This is the
work that God had pushed Paul to do
• Sequence is very important. How can a person who doesn’t wish to discover God’s perfect
will be able to do the ministry of World Gospelization? It is only his willful desire
• Everything we do is futile if we are able to influence the world but not our family
• There are people who are very successful outside. However, they are a failure if their own
children dislike them. They have blind spots in their lives
 • Therefore, we must examine ourselves in this area

2. The serving of our living that is connected to 4G = life in response to God (driven by God)
* Therefore, the beauty of a Saint’s ministry depends on how clear his prayers are
• A Saint can connect with God only when he knows how to respond to God
• In order words, how clear are we in our prayers?
1) The ministry that starts with establishing a covenant with God <Gen 15:1-8, 17:1-22>
→ Before a believer can start a ministry which is driven by God, he must first have a 4G
perspective, a 4G judgment and a 4G living
• Before we do anything, we must establish a covenant with God
• Before Abraham and Moses did anything, they had established a covenant with God
• It is only after we’d established a covenant, will we dare to say that we are the Abraham &
Moses of this era
• 4G is the thing a person will perceive after having established the covenant
• When we talk to a person, we can know what sort of person he is from his eyes
• God has never changed, but we are unable to see the reality of 4G. This is because we
have yet to establish a covenant with God

2) The ministry by testing God’s perfect will <Romans 7:6, 12:1-2>

→ Know the perfect will and give thanks, know the perfect will and re-examine, know the perfect
will to decide…
• A person will only test God’s perfect will after he has established a covenant. A person will
really give thanks after knowing the perfect will. Otherwise, his thanksgiving is fake
• We must know God’s perfect will to give thanks and re-examine ourselves
• We must know what God likes. Do not be like a bull
• A child should do only after knowing what his father likes
• If we do not know God’s perfect will when we talk to a person, we will feel like we are
talking to a tree
• We must be a wise person. A wise person will be able to see both the big picture (vision)
and the smallest details
• If we only look at the “big picture”, we will not be able to bring comfort to anyone. And if
we are looking only at the small things, we will not be able to strengthen anyone

3) The ministry by asking in accordance to the perfect will <John 15:7; 16:24>
→ A Saint who knows how to pray will be able to move God’s hand and receive answered
prayers
• A person who knows God’s perfect will know how to pray / ask
• It doesn’t mean a person who always asks from God will automatically receive the things
he asks for. Only those who ask in accordance to God’s perfect will, will receive the
answers
• When we don’t talk to God, our spirit will “die”
• When we notice that somebody is weak, we know that the chance for us to intercede for
others is here
• We will receive beautiful answers only when we ask beautifully. A person who does not
ask correctly will always struggle with his belief
• If a servant knows what the King dislikes and still asks the King for it; not only will the
King not give him the thing he asked for, he will also be angry with the servant
 • Those who ask correctly will have his “joy complete”

4) After that, he will surely receive power to love God and men <Mk 12:28-34; James 2:18-20>
→ E.g. How can we guard our hearts and minds? What timetable must we have? How to serve
others? How to take care of my family? How to advance in my career? How to glorify God and
bless others by managing our finance? How to have a breakthrough in my ministry…?
→ The more we submit in this area, the more evidences we will receive
• We can only “walk with God” if we live with love being displayed in our lives. And this is
known as “submitting to God”
• Live out a blessed schedule. This is the display of loving God and men
• Jesus Christ lived it out after knowing God’s perfect will
• We must live it out after knowing how to be financially healed: really be generous
• After listening to message, we must really bless our family members
• It is what <James> had mentioned: the changing of our actions
• Of course, we do not do “good deeds” just because we want to become a good person or
to make our conscience feel good
• We watch over our actions because of our love for God and men
• Watching over our actions does not mean doing things perfectly. We just need to do the
necessary
• It is not difficult, for those who know God’s perfect will, to do the necessary
• Paul always teaches others. Therefore, he must control his own actions. He did so by
relying on God

5) Enjoy doors of evangelism with the evidences you had <Acts 1:8; 2Ti 3:10-11; Mat 10:1>
→ If you have walked with God evidently, you will surely receive authority, message and
evidences to evangelize
→ Therefore, one cannot imitate evangelism, which is to open up the spiritual eyes of a person.
The more strength you have, the more practical will your sharing be
• Our wives will change when we love her in accordance to God’s perfect will
• Many a times, we are not able to evangelize because we are being accused
• How can a person who dislikes himself be able to tell others, “God loves you”?
• When we evangelize, we should have a matching expression and tone
• We should not come & leave the church with the same tired expression
• Our lives should be more amenable and lively
• We will do it naturally after our lives have been gospelized
• Our family members will be delighted if we can tap them on the shoulders when we talk to
them sometimes

6) After acquiring doors of evangelism, one must be able to distinguish who are the disciples
and nurture them
<Mat 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-20; Lk 24:44-48; Jn 21:15-19>
→ The ultimate purpose of our ministerial serving is to raise up disciples. Ministries that do not
raise up any disciples are driven by men
• We are not simply saving people, we want to find and raise up disciples among them
• Ministries that do not rise up disciples are done by men. The focus would only be on the
revival and success of men
 • Our lifelong efforts should be placed in raising up disciples who can be more blessed and
stronger than us
• The relationships among disciples are even closer than that with their loved ones

* Do not be deceived by the current problems or difficulties. Problems will become blessings
when a person is able to know God’s will and timetable
• We must live in it (i.e. 4G) and not bother about other things, after knowing God’s command
• Problems will not be resolved unless God works
• Do not focus upon or touch problems. Problems will be resolved when we live in accordance
to God’s command, for which God will do the work
• If we always bother others, they will feel restrained and thus, refuse to change
• We may feel disheartened at times, when we serve. If that happens, quiet down and ask God
for an answer. God may ask us, “What else you need? Haven’t I given you everything?”
• Everything we do is sinning if we don’t do it in accordance to God’s command of the 4G
• God wants us to learn discover His perfect will in the current situation and give thanks. God
will provide the things we need timely

3. The prayer topics of all those who serve <Romans 7:6>

1) Must learn to hear God’s voice all our lives <Ro 12:1-2>
• It is the start of all failures if we cannot hear
• We must discover God’s perfect will in 4G, which God has commanded. Therefore, we
need to hear everyday, in everything, at anytime, anywhere and more so in difficult times
• Some believers are not able to receive grace no matter how successful they are. This is
because they do not even have the foundation for God’s blessings. Thus, the grace they
receive is limited
• God will use those, like David, who know His perfect will. Not all the Kings received the
same grace
• The difference lies in the focus of our hearts. Did we hear God’s voice and perfect will?

2) God’s voice always seems to be in conflict with the flesh. Therefore, those who serve must
overcome themselves <1Cor 9:24-27>
• Those who serve must overcome themselves by gaining the gates of the enemies
• After we have known God’s perfect will, we will realize that things that God wants to give
us are usually contradicting to our dreams
• God wants us to overcome ourselves and Satan is fearful of those who can do it
• Only those who have overcome themselves are able to have a real ministry of loving God
and men
• Those who have overcome themselves are able to see God in any situation. Thus, they
are able to do a ministry of loving God and men
• How can a person who is always troubled be able to serve God?
• A lot of Believers serve God because of their conscience. They will receive accusation
when they do not serve God, remembering “woe to me if I do not preach the gospel”
• Those who serve must learn to overcome themselves daily (I die, let the Lord lives)
• This is the battle as well as the crown for those who serve
• Some believers may ask, “I want to overcome myself badly but I just can’t do it. How?”
• We can’t do it because we have not listened clearly to God’s love and perfect will
• We will overcome ourselves if we are able to see clearly that God’s love is displayed
through our wives
 3) Those who found favor in God’s eyes would be able to receive evidences of an era
* Jesus Christ told His disciples, “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have
done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour” <John 4:38>
• Our ministerial-serving is driven by God
• <Jn 4:38> doesn’t mean we need not do anything. We need to get equipped. We will
need to be equipped if we want to have the best skill
• This verse means that we aren’t able to do anything by ourselves. With our conditions, gift
of the gab, the strength of our congregation, we can’t do it. We need to let God do it after
convicting God
• Jesus Christ’s disciples can’t do it by themselves. Thus, the Lord gave them authority to
do it.
• We must learn how to move God’s hand and get Him to do for us. This is the principle for
ministerial-serving of the Saints

Sharing and Prayer Topics

1. Make a covenant with God: Change our names! In all situations, explain, judge and live in
accordance to the Four Gospelizations
2. How can I enter the most God-driven systematic ministerial-serving after making a
covenant: test, pray, submit, evangelize, raise up disciples?
3. Revise, this week: Receive the answer for my life and living after hearing all the healing
messages!