The Masterpiece of the Multiethnic Bartizan (Isaiah 62:10-12) 9/17/2023
The Masterpiece of the Multiethnic Bartizan (Isaiah 62:10-12) 9/17/2023
In the scriptures it says, build up the highway, remove the stones, and raise a banner for the nations (verse 10). What kind of a path is the highway? It is a path all nations can come through. Removing the stones means to discard all obstacles (cultural, ethnical prejudice) so that they can come. Then, we can raise a banner for 237 nations. That is the beginning of multiethnic ministry. That is when you will live and all blessings rewards will be given (verse 11), and that is when you will be called the Holy People, a city and a nation restored from all things lost and deserted (12). What does this mean? It means that raising the banner to save the 237 nations is the beginning of multiethnic ministry, and if we can correctly realize and enjoy this, everything will be restored. Let us look at this in more detail.
- Why is multiethnic ministry so important?
1) This is the reason the Israelites who were chosen first lost hold of all blessings and became captives to other nations. In other words, they lost hold of God’s absolute plan, and absolute mission.
① Why did God call on Abraham and send him to Canaan to make him the source of blessings (Genesis 12:1-3)? Canaan was the covenant of Christ. They were to go into the land where Christ will come and thus, into the covenant of Christ. They would be the source of blessings. That is what it means when we say that the moment we reside within Christ, we become free from all curses and become able to enjoy heavenly blessings (Ephesians 1:3-5). No enemies will be able to harm you. The last covenant God gave was that “all nations will be blessed through you.” This is God’s conclusion, and the conclusion of the gospel. The first Israelites lost hold of this. They received salvation and enjoyed tremendous blessings before anyone else, and they only cared about themselves (individual egoism, national egoism). That is how they fell.
② This is why Jesus went into the temple and lashed out with a whip (John 2:13-17). The place that the Jewish people began selling flawless animals for sacrifice was the courtyard for the gentiles. This is why we must restore the three courtyards within our church. They thought they were trying to give flawless sacrifice to God, but they lost hold of that God truly wanted. They lost hold of true worship that God desired.
③ This is why the 3 ages are coming. As the church crumbled, their fields and their posterity crumbled because they lost hold of two things. They lost hold of Christ, who became the absolute answer for all life’s problems, as well as the absolute conclusion of evangelism and missions. The Israelites lost hold of grace, and fell into spiritual arrogance. They had contempt towards the gentiles, let alone multiethnic missions (Jonah).
2) On the other hand, if we restore true evangelism and missions and our multiethnic ministry within that, what kind of things will happen?
① God raised up all remnants in the Bible to stand before multiethnics and gentile kings. The 1st generation lost hold of the gospel so they went as slaves, captives, and colonies, but God raised up the next generations as remnants and summits that stood before kings (Joseph and Moses who stood before king of Egypt, David in Psalm 57, Daniel and his three friends, and Esther). God molded them into TCKs and globalized them to save the various nations gathered in the superpower nation. This is why we, who live in America in this age, are important.
② Why did God bless the Antioch Church that was established despite persecution? They did two things. They proclaimed of only Christ and proclaimed the gospel to the Greeks beyond the Jews (Acts 11:19-21). “the Lord’s hand was with them and a great number turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21). They enjoyed financial blessings enough to help the Jerusalem church. Our church has held onto this covenant of the Antioch Church to this point.
③ If we can stand as the church to shine the light towards all nations, economy of light is something God has promised (Isaiah 60:5). The economy of light means restoring the finances that the darkness has seized. With this blessing, we can develop the economy of missions that will allow us to focus on missions that will save the world. This economy of light includes the financial strength to save the posterity that will continue that work.
- Now, how must we do our multiethnic ministry?
1) We must continue to globalize ourselves and our church. Globalization for multiethnic ministry is different from the globalization of the world. We have to prepare ourselves in thought, culture, and skill (language) to be able to save many ethnicities and nations.
2) We must now focus on saving other nations (multiethnicities). Even if we save one person, that one person will become a thousand. The multiethnic ministry of our church began like this. Now we must go into the main theme (30 nations into 237).
① You must shift your focus from people who speak your language and seek out evangelism subjects that do not speak your language and receive evidence in that. The gospel allows us to overcome language barriers. Most of the multiethnic believers in our church were evangelized through the 1st generation adults who were lacking in English. Even in your businesses, workplaces, and studies, pray for multiethnic evangelism and receive answers. Focus on making our medical missions, military missions, and college missions centralized on diverse ethnicities.
② All our church’s departments should be centered on multiethnicities to share hearts together and serve and devote tougher. That is one mind, one spirit, one team, and one church.
3) Form a team with them to share the accurate gospel, pray, and evangelize together.
① Even if our languages, race, nationalities, and countries are difference, the foundation of all life’s problems are the same (Genesis 3). That is why the solution is also the same. It is God Himself who came in the form of His son, as the Christ (only Christ).
② Even if everything is different, Holy Spirit is the one who allows us to connect as one under his governance (only God’s kingdom). We live on this earth, but we belong to God’s kingdom. We have the citizenship of heaven, and our background if heaven. Therefore, in Christ, we are no longer foreigners nor gentiles, but citizens of heaven and God’s family (Ephesians 2:19). When we can truly enjoy this mystery, we call that God’s kingdom. A Korean couple who shares the same language and food can get married and end up a life that is like hell. On the other hand, international couple that is different in every way can live a life that is like heaven. God’s kingdom is the mystery that can make this possible. In whatever circumstance, all we need is to break the forces of darkness and have the kingdom of God where God governs come upon that place.
③ Even if everything is different and we lack the language skills, if it is by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do all things (only the power of the Holy Spirit). When these people formed a team of 5, they changed the world (Acts 13:1-3).
Conclusion – Multiethnic ministry is God’s absolute plan, and for us who live in the superpower nation where diverse ethnicities reside, it is God’s absolute reason. Our church has built the foundation of this multiethnic ministry up until now. We must now go deeper into it and create complete oneness. May we stand as the masterpiece of absolute bartizan for the multiethnic ministry that will never crumble and receive all answers and blessings.