Vision and Church I

By Pastor Young Joon Park

March 15, 2009

Mark 2:1-12

¹ When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home.

² And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.

³ And they ^*came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men.

⁴ Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.

⁵ And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, “ Son, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,

⁷ “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, ^*said to them, “Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?

⁹ “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk’?

¹⁰ “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,

¹¹ “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”

¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “ We have never seen anything like this.”

Example #1) In Korea, at the youth camps during the rainy season, a lot of young people tried to cross the creek where the stream current was getting stronger and the water was arising. They hoped to go across, but there was no way to do it. Suddenly one girl had a revelation and the word came to her mind “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).” So she shared her faith to all others, and everyone agreed with her revelation, and they had a great conviction to cross the creek. So they started to going across the creek against the strong current and water pressure by faith by singing praising gospel songs together, however, most of them drowned because of the flood, and their bodies were found at the end of the creek after the rain.

Example #2) One pastor wanted to see to grow his church, so he researched many different ministries for the new movement that had effected and had a lot of influence and succeeded in growing.  So he attended the conferences and the training classes when he found the good example ministry.

He was so excited and he had a great conviction when he attended the conferences and training classes, also he read so many materials that are related with the ministry. So he believe that he knows how and what he has to do and he was ready for this new movement.

He was very knowledgeable in those areas, and even he taught those subject to other churches, but the reality was not effective in his church at all, and people were not following, even some prophets told him to give up his vision.

So he started looking for different model, and so on and so forth. The result was that people at his church were getting confused. Finally this pastor was confused and rejected all of the other models, and tries to do his own things, but he was struggling for the ministry constantly.

When we start for the new things in our life through the vision, but there are two visions all the time, the True vision from the Lord and the false vision from satan.

1. The False Vision

3. The True Vision

People hear the voice of the Lord (various ways) and follow the Lord by faith where      the Holy Spirit is in.

We should not move to new directions or new things until the Lord really is speaking to us no matter what kind of vision you have. We have to wait for the Lord and rest in him.

Sometimes the vision is not from the Lord. It comes from human’s idea too, which is satan’s trick to lead us away from the Lord like as many of the Pharisees’ rules.

When God releases the vision for your destiny, you will know that the vision is from the Lord with no doubt such as His Audible voice, loud and clear, to your spirit, and the vision is residing in you and burning in you.

Many people misunderstood this verse.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

It is not true that every desire is from the Lord, only certain things are from the Lord and some others are not from the Lord at all.

God will give you the desire of His when you align your will to the Lord’s will fully.

I am not talking about the desire that you have in your mind.

I am talking about the voice of the Lord with great vision and conviction.

I am going to share about the vision today and how we carry the vision that God assigned to each one of us for our destiny, and how to walk by faith with the vision that the Lord pours out to you.

And next week I will share how and where we apply the vision that God gave us.

I. The Vision

1. The vision: Jesus will heal this paralytic

The vision that God released us should be caught in our heart and we have to have the faith in Him that He is going to fulfill His Vision through our life.

We have to catch the vision what God called us for His Kingdom.

No vision and no destiny.

No destiny and no purpose

No purpose and no reason of life

Proverb 29:18

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained,  But happy is he who keeps the law.

You drive the car, but you do not know where you are going.

You took the airplane, but the captain does not know where he is headed.

You took the boat, but the captain does not know where this ship is going.

What a tragic life it is if we do not have a vision and our destiny!

You wake up in the morning, but you do not know what you are going to do.

What is your vision right now?

What is your destiny right now?

What is your purpose right now?

Our vision is to know Jesus Christ and to make Him known.

Our vision is based on the Word of God as below.

Matthew 22:37-40

³⁷ And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

³⁸ “This is the great and foremost commandment.

³⁹ “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  

⁴⁰ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “ All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

¹⁹ “ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Our vision statement:

To submit to the Great Commandments: to bring each individual into the deepest intimate relationship with the Lord, and to invest our life to fulfill the Great Commission through Jesus’ example of the disciple making in the place where the Holy Spirit is working.

We have a vision what God called us to follow for our destiny through Jesus Christ. We have a great hope in Jesus Christ.

1) John 10:10 God’s plan for our life

2) Matthew 22:37-40 The Great commandments

3) John 17:3 God’s desire for the intimate relationship with us.

4) John 15:16 God ordained us

5) Matthew 28:18-20 The Great Commission

The vision that God gave me is to fulfill the Great Commission.

Let’s meditate about the vision through Joseph

2. Joseph’s life

  A. Joseph’s dreams and visions

    1) His first dream  Genesis 37:5-8

⁵ Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

⁶ He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had;

⁷ for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ Then his brothers said to him, “ Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

    2) His second dream Genesis 37:9-11

⁹ Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

¹⁰ He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”

¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

When you receive the prophetic word from the Lord, in many cases it is very odd than what we expected. Very unusual word, it feels like that it is too good to be true, but we live in hope because of the prophetic word.

When I received the prophetic word from the Lord directly in 1971, my question was, “Lord, You meant me for the nations. You have to be kidding! I do not have any capacity to reach out to world.”

Now I see that He was not kidding, and He really meant it to me.

When God released the prophetic vision and dreams, Joseph did not know what he was doing, but he shared his dream to his brothers and his father, and at the same time he did not know what he was doing, but he continually did what he was doing even there were tremendous of jealousy and hatred. He continually pursued the dream that God gave him.

His prophetic visions and dreams were his brothers bowing down to him, even his parents.

We cannot understand why Joseph’s brothers and Jacob were upset because of his dreams with today’s concept, but during Joseph’s time (almost 4000 years ago) was unthinkable matter. The ancient society rules were very strict, and there was very distinguishable level.

Even when I was young in Korea 50 years ago, I had to obey adult men and women even they are not my family. In school, I had to obey to other students who are my seniors whoever they were.

Not to against adults or senior students was unthinkable.

If I did not obey them, I would be in big trouble.

Also this society culture has a great value of the family too. We treat each other like as your own family. We help each other out when and if someone in trouble.

But today we do not have this kind of close relationships with each other.

We are so separated each other, and almost there is no relationship.

That is why Joseph was in trouble among his brothers.

  B. the Hindrances of his life

    1) 1^st hindrance and success

His dream was broken when he was pushed out from his family that was his safe comfort zone and his nest by his brothers, and finally being sold to the Midianite traders by his brothers. It seemed like that there was no way the vision will come to pass because of the total disconnection from his family. There was no way, it seemed, to fulfill his dream and vision without his family.

When you have the prophetic word and destiny, satan hates you with jealousy and anger. You need to praise the Lord and worship Him when you are being attack by this kind of jealousy and anger, because you are in the right place and right on the track in the Lord.

Sometimes this kind of attack comes from your family, friends or your leaders who are immature too.

Your way is being fully aligned with the Lord, and your prophetic future is very true. So do not be discouraged, but pursue Him by faith every step of the way.

Even his brothers mocked his dream, and wanted to see how it comes to pass when they sold him to the Midianite traders.

Yes, there are some people who are purposely trying to block the prophetic word for other’s life.

His life was totally disconnected from his family and by himself alone.

There is no one to concern him and take care of him, but himself alone with the Lord.

But he did continually pursue the dream no matter what the circumstances were, and he had a conviction that God gave him the prophetic vision and it would come to pass. He believed that he will see his family again and pursue the Lord.

That is why he did not give up his life and was pursuing the Lord with the prophetic dreams even when he became a slave of Potiphar.

He did his best to serve Potiphar, and God rewarded him with His favor in Potiphar’s house, and he actually became a head of overseer in Potiphar’s house.

There was no other authority over him except Potiphar.

He was very successful, and he ruled the house.

And yet, this success was not fulfillment of his dream at all, so he pursued the Lord continually.

Lots of time people calculate and analyze the situation and try to make it happen by his way.

I could not find any motivation of calculation or analysis in Joseph’s heart to escape from Potiphar’s house to see his family at all. He did his best to serve where he was.

You need to serve the Lord with best where you are right now instead of your own calculation. Where you are right now is the best place for the next step. God is going to move you to the higher place if you are faithful in the place where God assigned you.

God wants us to breakthrough, but not avoid it.  

Jesus prayer for His Disciples in John 17:15

I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

So Jesus wants us to breakthrough and rule over it.

We are here to win all wars against satan, to destroy satan’s kingdom, and bring down the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

So our job has to be done where we are right now, because God assigned you the place here. If you are not in the right place, then you have to find the right place where God assigned you.

    2) 2^nd hindrance and success

He became a slave of Potiphar from the free man.

He did his best to serve Potiphar, because his destiny was very clear from the Lord.

He knew that the prophetic word will come to pass by God, which is why he was not concern about himself too much on his current environment or circumstances, but only serving the Lord.

Ephesians 6:5-8

⁵ Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;

⁶ not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

⁷ With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,

⁸ knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

He did serve the Lord with true heart in Potiphar’s house. God’s favor over him, and he became 2^nd person in Potiphar’s house, and Potiphar did not care however he handled on whatever because of trust in him. He was the 2^nd person in his house, but actually he was the 1^st person to rule this house.

Again his dream was shattered because of the lustful Potiphar’s wife false accusation. When he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, he left his garment in her hands. And he never tried to retrieve it back at all and ran out from her.

satan tries to destroy our destiny by trying to make all different kinds of traps to trap us in.

What were young Joseph’s weak points? satan knew that it was his flesh things.

Please remember that satan always capitalizes on our weaknesses, so we have to know what our weaknesses are.

That is why satan kept sending Potiphar’s wife to him to trap him.

Let’s see how he overcame from the beginning of this situation.

Genesis 39:8-10

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.

⁹ “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”

¹⁰ As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.

He was able to overcome from this trap, because he knew that his divine destiny from the Lord very clearly and saw the vision of the future of the Glory of God. He kept the prophetic visions and dreams in his heart fully and firmly, and pursued them.

He did not hang around her at all, and likewise, we should not hang around any tempting situations.

the pornography – do not go close – internet, magazine….

Alcohol or drug – do not hang around people who are doing it…

Any other temptation – do not try to taste at all

Here is a clear understanding in this area what God wants us to do like Joseph.

Psalm 119:9-11

⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.

¹⁰ With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

¹¹ Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

He was in a dangerous trap of sin situation.

Genesis 39:11-12

¹¹ Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.

¹² She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.

It is time you have to let it go from whatever hindrance of your Christian life. Joseph’s garment was not related with the sin, but it could’ve been used against Joseph. Joseph did not care about it nor tried to protect it, but he did let it go from him.

So many times we try to keep things in our hand, but we have to leave it behind and do not be concerned at all. We do not want to let it go, and that becomes traps in our life.

He was thrown into the prison because of his garment was left in her hand. He could have been killed, but God protected him.

He continually pursued the Lord even he did not know what he was doing, because his dream was not to come to pass yet

    3) 3^rd hindrance and success

He continually pursued the Lord in the prison even he did not know what he was doing.  He might be frustrated about the false accusation with anger or blaming. But I could not find any of his violations or wrong doings in the prison at all.

He continually saw the prophetic dreams from the Lord and pursued it continually, so he did his best to serve in the prison even if he was locked in small space without the freedom. But he saw his brothers and parents come and bow down to him, and he also knew that this was not the right place, and believed that he would be freed from this prison, because his prophetic dreams should not be realized in this prison cell, but in a place that’s a lot better.

He was in prison, but his vision and faith were not limited in prison at all.  Again, he received the reward of favor from the Lord in the prison.

He became in charge of the prison by the keeper of the prison. And he became the second person in the prison, and even the keeper of the prison did not bother him at all, but trusted him totally. No one bothered him at all in the prison.

And yet, this success was not fulfillment of his dream at all, and he still kept pursuing on his dream.

    4) 4^th hindrance and success

One day, two prisoners who were important to king Pharaoh were put into his prison. The chief cupbearer and the chief baker each had a dream, and Joseph interpreted their dreams, and the dreams came to pass as his interpretation.  Even he did not know what he was doing.

At this point his hope was to released from this prison as a free man, because this place was not a place for his vision to be fulfilled. He knew that he will be freed, but did not know when. That is why he asked the king’s cupbearer to remember to tell the king about his innocence, so he could be freed from this prison.

Sometimes you feel that you are trapped in and there is no way out, so you cannot get out the place at all and no hope. But the Lord allows it happen to you for His own purpose.

He was waiting for any news from the chief cupbearer, but he did not have any news from him for 2 years, because the cupbearer forgot about Joseph completely.

If the chief cupbearer remembered Joseph right away when his position was restored, Joseph might have been freed soon, but it was not the right timing for him to be freed. He had to wait for 2 more years when the Lord had a perfect plan for him.

Some times you thought that the thing will be going well soon, but it took more time than what you thought. It seemed that there was no hope.

We need to remember that God is going to lead us in His timing, but if we move faster or slower than His time, then we will lose the chance to fulfill the destiny from the Lord.

God wants us lay down everything and face the rock bottom situation, because God is going to start His great things when you are down the lowest place.

  C. Joseph’s new position   

After 2 years, finally he gets a chance to interpret king Pharaoh’s dream even he did not know what he was doing, but he focused to be free from the unfair treatment from the people.

But the Lord put him in the position of 2^nd person of Egypt, and became a ruler of Egypt next to the king. He did not know what he was doing at that point too, but the amazing thing happened to him. He was prisoner, and yet he became a ruler in a day.

I will release one thing what God is doing to do among us especially in this year for the next year.

God is going to change our level quickly, so keep focusing on the Lord no matter what is going to be changed, and you need to realign your heart with Father’s will, and do not get confused at all.

And yet, this success was not fulfillment of his dream and vision at all, and he pursued.

  D. The fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams and visions

After 7 years,

His dream started to be fulfilled when the world was hit with the worst famine. He started to see his dream and vision when he met his brothers. And he was excited to see his dream and vision was at the door.

And he pursued his dream and vision with careful heart to make sure that this was the fulfillment of his dream and vision. So he tested his brothers’ hearts as well carefully.

His dream was fulfilled when his father and his brothers came to Joseph with all his family.

  E. Way beyond of the Dreams and Visions

But this dream and vision did not stop there.

This dream and vision is to connect to Jesus’ redemption and His Kingdom until the end. We are in the very middle of this dream and vision.

This dream is not just the matter with his brothers and parents, but with God’s redemption plan. What you have a vision from the Lord may look  very small and nothing, but it is way beyond of your vision that God gave it to you. His plan is humongous in size, a matter that you cannot handle at all from the moment you received the prophetic word until it comes to pass, but the Lord will handle it for His Kingdom. 

Even Joseph did not know the meaning of his dreams at the beginning. He did not know what the purpose of his dreams was at all.

We have dreams and visions, but most of the time we are not able to understand the real meaning. Do not analyze it in your way, but give it to the Lord and let Him fulfill it. Our part is just to follow the Lord without any doubt, step by step, moment by moment, by faith.

Joseph was around 17 years old when he was sold to Midianite Traders. He was 30 years old when he became the ruler’s of Egypt. Almost 13 years.

3. My life

God gave me a vision to reach out the world in 1971, so I dedicated and committed my life to follow the Lord at the same time. Almost 40 years ago.

I had many questions to the Lord what the real meaning of the vision that God gave to me, and wondered, struggled and wrestled with God so many times. It seemed impossible to me.

So I gave it up pursuing sometimes, but right away my heart was burning from this vision from deep inside of me. I could not get rid of it. And I started to jump in this vision again.

So my whole life has involved this discipleship ministry since 1971.

I had always a small group meeting for the discipleship at my home and at work place. I never felt that the vision is still close in coming to pass, but still far away. I never, however, withdraw myself from this vision from my heart deep inside, and always it was burning inside of me.

So here were my questions:

Why can’t I see the fruit?

When does it come to pass?

In December 2000, one person came to me and released the word of the Lord.

The word was “God gave you the vision before, and that vision was shattered.” And that’s all he said.

The word itself did not giving me any encouragement, but God spoke to me continually from inside of me right after he released the word to me.

The Lord spoke to me that He is going to restore the vision that God gave me in 1971 completely, and He will fulfill this vision with the new things in my life coming years.

At that moment, I felt the strength coming back into the deep inside of me. I had a joy inside of me with great conviction.

We saw the miracles and wonders in our life; we also saw the multiplication that was started from the ministry as He promised through Isaiah 49, which was released to me from the Lord around 1981. Whenever we led cell group, we ran out of room, even the neighborhood street was full of cars of small group members.

God did not stop us in that situation.

He raised us as Pastors and started a new church.

I, myself, did not have any desire to start church, but step by step God trained me and gave me a conviction to step forward.

We stepped forward to start church as a congregation of HRC on September 9, 2006.

We had been under HRC until June, 2008.

And then God started another new way to as our own church, independent from HRC, on June 22, 2008, but we were still under HIM.

God led us another new way to be separate from HIM, and led us to start the new way. So we started to prepare for this new movement from January, 2009.

God led us to officially start our own ministry on February 1, 2009.

Pastor Juanita was part of this ceremony for the new movement.

God reconfirmed me Isaiah 49 for this new movement.

Every prophetic word that has been released to me and my wife since 1999 is for One Glory Church. I wondered about all the prophetic words that were released to us from the Lord, but God gave me the picture in putting all the prophetic puzzle pieces together. All the prophetic words were released for One Glory Church for His Special mission through us.

The vision did not come to pass yet, however, the fulfillment will be way beyond of what you dream or imagine for.

Our ministry is not just disciple making only, but God has a huge plan for His Kingdom. This discipleship will be the open door for His special plans through One Glory Church. I could see many different ministries will be birthed with new wind and new wineskin in coming years.

The Isaiah 49 was released to me about 30 years ago, and God released this prophetic word for One Glory Church almost 30 years ago.

The ministries that I was involved were for the preparation to launch One Glory Church ministry for His Kingdom for the rest of my life.

We are not there yet, however, God promised it and He will fulfill it completely.

God is going to fulfill the vision through His Church.

Conclusion

The vision that God released you is not really alive or come to pass yet, you can see the vision that is alive for the future, but it looks like paralyzed right now.

Right at this point the vision looks like just a delusion or a fancy. Someone may laugh at you or ridicule you about the vision you have from the Lord, because the vision is just a delusion like as paralytic situation like as impossible things.

So you need to see your future by faith and walk for your future by faith no matter what your situation is right now because the vision is your true destiny and your true future.

I heard Graham Cooke’s testimony.

He prophesied one man about the future of 10 years after, but this person became upset at him, because there was only 4 months left in his life due to his incurable disease. Graham Cooke could not have known about his disease even if he is a prophet, but he saw him as a healthy person in serving the Lord 10 years ahead of current time. That is why Graham Cooke could not see him at present with the incurable disease. God had already healed him, according to the prophetic word. This man was totally healed and he is in the ministry with healthy physical body right now.

The vision what you have right now may look impossible, but the vision will be come to pass and will be resurrected in His right timing, that is why we have to walk with the vision by faith.

One of the good examples in the bible:

His name is Manoah, but his wife was a barren woman.

They did have an encounter with the angel of the Lord and confirmed that they would have a baby Samson and were given the instruction on how to raise him.

He offered to the Lord a young goat with grain offering, and then this person ascended to heaven in the flame of the alter.

Manoah was so frightened when he found that the person was an angel of the Lord. The word “the angel of the Lord” many scholars believe that He was Jesus on earth before the cross. And also this angle of the Lord, the name was Wonderful. The name Wonderful represents the name of Jesus.

Judge 13:22

So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”

He was so afraid, because he thought that he was going to die because of seeing God’s face even when he received the prophetic word.

But his wife had a great insight about the prophetic word and the vision of their destiny, and she corrected her husband’s ignorance.

Let’s see how she corrected her husband with the great discernment and deep insight of the prophetic word and vision. She did not see the present situation of her bareness and her husband crazy mind.

Judge 13:23

But his wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

The prophetic vision and word are our future appointed destiny, so we have to see our real future and walk through today faithfully.

We do need to walk faithfully, and breakthrough instead of avoiding the hindrance. If we do faithful today specially during the difficult times, you will be faithful for the future as well.

Today, we have very practical exercise for the salvation.

Ginny invited us for the special luncheon after the service, and we have to clean our place quickly and go to her special place for lunch together.

It is not just only lunch together, but we are going to meet the people who do not  know and Jesus Christ as well.

It is our outreach ministry.

Four friends brought their total paralyzed friend to Jesus by faith.

Same way, we need to have a vision for the salvation for the people who are paralyzed in spirit and bring them to the Lord together by faith.

Please join together with one heart to carry them to the Lord during this luncheon time.