As you go through life, there are many things that make you afraid. What has been the most frightening experience for you? Some of you may have lived through war, and some may have gone through poverty. War, poverty, hardship, and unexpected accidents are all frightening. Even life itself can feel overwhelming and fearful. There is even something called panic disorder—many celebrities are known to suffer from it. The word “panic” itself means fear; it is when fear suddenly strikes a person. Someone might ask, “Can’t you just stop being afraid?” But fear is not something people can simply control by willpower. It is not only an emotion felt in the mind; it also brings physical symptoms—shortness of breath, headaches, or even numbness. Likewise, people live surrounded by many kinds of fear. There is so much that makes us afraid.

We spend seventy or eighty years of life feeling afraid, and it would be wonderful if, after all that, we could go to a good place and live in peace. But a person may actually leave this world and fall into an even more fearful state. That is truly serious. In this life, no matter how frightened we are, we can at least forget our fear when we fall asleep. Sleep can help us forget what scares us—unless we dream nightmares, and then we cannot escape even in our sleep. Now imagine that such a nightmare-like state continues forever. This is what the Bible calls hell. If hell did not exist, that would be a relief—but I believe it does. Christians know that the Bible teaches the reality of hell. Before I believed in Jesus, I thought hell was something made up just to scare people. But after I came to believe in Jesus, I came to understand the spiritual reality behind it. I realized that when a person dies, they do not simply disappear—they continue to exist.

A person continues to exist, but the real question is this: Where will that person continue to exist? Where should we go? We must go to heaven. We must go to the place where God dwells—the kingdom of God, heaven. We are believers in Jesus, and Jesus is the King of heaven. We must go to the place where He is. Two thousand years ago, Jesus came to this earth, was put to death, and rose again. He was raised from the dead. So where is He now? He is in heaven, the very place we just spoke about. That is where we must go. And the reason we live a life of faith is because we are heading there.

Then what is the opposite of heaven? It is hell. But is there anyone in hell right now? Surprisingly, there is not a single person there yet. When we think of the images of hell we heard in old stories, we may imagine that many people are already there. But according to what Jesus taught in the Scriptures, no one has entered hell yet. This is because hell was created as a place to cast someone into. God made hell to put a certain being there. Who is He intending to cast into hell? Disobedient people? Those who do not believe in Jesus? No. God knows very well that humans are full of sin, yet He does not desire to throw people into hell. Then who is hell prepared for? It is for a being none of us have ever seen with our own eyes. And who is that being? The devil.

So then, who is the devil? He was originally an angel who served God. But he rebelled against God, and because he opposed Him, he could no longer enjoy God’s glory. After being separated from God’s glory, the devil did not turn back with repentance and say, “I was wrong.” Instead, his nature is to say, “Fine, let’s see who wins!” and he refuses to yield. That is why the devil continues to oppose God in this world even now. But he is no match for God. God is the Creator, and the devil is merely a created being; he cannot stand against God. Even so, the devil still wants to do whatever he can to trouble God. And whom does he attack? He attacks the people who were created in the image of God.

Each one of you was created in the image of God. But what does the devil say? He insists that each of you is merely “a descendant of monkeys.” Are you descendants of monkeys? If you truly believed that you came from monkeys, then no matter how advanced you may be today, you would still be nothing more than an improved animal. There would be nothing dignified about you. That is exactly how the devil treats people—he treats them as creatures no different from animals. This is why people who share the devil’s way of thinking can slaughter or watch countless people die in war without blinking an eye. “They are just monkeys anyway,” they think. But God is different. When God looks at each person, He sees a precious being who bears His image. You were made according to God’s image—you reflect Him, and that is why you are truly honorable. God values not only your outward form but even your inner character. He intends to treat you with honor, as one who bears His likeness. Therefore, I bless you in the name of Jesus not to accept the treatment of a mere animal, but to receive the honor God has given you. And the same goes for your children. Do not let your children live like animals and die like beasts. You must teach and encourage them so that they may receive the honor that comes from God.

This world is under the devil’s rule, and from God’s perspective, human beings cannot escape this situation on their own. That is why God sent His Son—who, in another sense, can also be understood as God Himself, the very heart of God. God sent His own Son. He was originally God, and this God came into the world as a human being. That person is Jesus Christ. What we believe today is faith in Jesus. We believe that “God sent this man called Jesus,” and we also believe that “He possesses the glory of God Himself.” People who do not believe in Jesus see Him only as “that young Jewish man from the town of Nazareth who died on a cross.” But we see Him as “the One equal with God, the One who reveals God’s glory, the One whom God loves above all, the Son of God.” And the phrase “the Son of God” means that the Son is God. The son of a monkey is a monkey; likewise, the Son of God is God. This is why we regard Jesus as God. And this God is immeasurably great, all-powerful, lacking nothing, and knowing everything. We see Jesus as that very God—and He truly is exactly that.

One of the works Jesus did when He came was to expose demons. Before that time, demons were not openly revealed through people. But when Jesus went to a town called Capernaum and preached, the results were completely different from those of others who preached. As He was speaking, suddenly someone among the listeners cried out with a loud, disturbing scream. Many of you have seen someone having an epileptic seizure—it is frightening and painful, especially because you never know when the next convulsion will strike. This demon-possessed man shook with violent convulsions like that, and you can imagine how tormented he must have been. In the middle of that moment, the demon inside him spoke. What did it say? “I know who You are! You are the Holy One of God!” The demon recognized Jesus. Then Jesus spoke to the demon, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” Immediately the demon came out, and the man collapsed to the ground. But when he regained consciousness, the sickness he had carried for so long was completely gone. This is the kind of thing that happened.

When Jesus appeared, these things began to take place, and He said that those who believe in Him would have the very same authority. And amazingly, even after two thousand years, the same works are still happening today. This is why believers cast out demons in the name of Jesus, and when they lay hands on the sick and pray, the sick are healed even now. Before I personally experienced this spiritual reality, my faith was mostly theoretical. But after believing in Jesus, I prayed for someone, and a demon manifested—and through that moment I clearly realized that believing in Jesus and the authority of His name is not a theory at all, but a real and active power.

Demons certainly exist. They enter people’s bodies and torment them. But when their time is up, they must go somewhere. And where is that? They go to the bottomless pit. Many demons are already there. Demons can exist on earth and enter human bodies, but their time of activity is limited. They have a lifespan—a set period during which they can torment people. According to Scripture, the natural lifespan of a human being is about 120 years, and even the longest-living person does not go beyond that limit. Now imagine someone who dies at the age of ten without receiving forgiveness for their sins. That person becomes a demon and can wander and enter people for up to 120 years minus their age at death—so in this case, 110 years. Think about it: suppose this demon enters the person’s younger sibling and stays there until the sibling is about sixty years old. When the sibling dies, the demon still has fifty years left. So it enters someone else, perhaps the sibling’s child, and remains until that person dies. Even then, perhaps thirty years remain, and it could enter that person’s child. In this way, demons usually torment people for three or four generations. Because a span of 120 years can stretch across nearly four generations, they can afflict up to the third or fourth generation. So when we cast out demons, sometimes a “father’s demon” may appear, or a “grandfather’s demon,” or even one from a generation above that. But you will never encounter a demon claiming to be from the eleventh generation—it is impossible for a demon to remain on earth that long. And sometimes a demon will claim, “I am Admiral Yi Sun-sin,” or something similar. That is a lie. Demons lie. In reality, they can exist and wander only within the approximate limit of 120 years.

When a person becomes sick because they were caught under a demon’s influence, how can that be resolved? The purpose of a demon is always the same: to destroy. So when a demon enters someone, it brings physical sickness and also weakens the person mentally and emotionally. When we cast out demon

s and ask, “Why did you come in?” they all give the same answer: “I came to kill.” Why is that? It is because they themselves died in such a state, and they simply reveal their own nature. There are countless demons like this in the world. With so many demons attacking with the intention to destroy, how could anyone live peacefully in this world?

Does believing in Jesus mean that such attacks will not come? No, they still come. Even believers are attacked. Do not misunderstand this. If you think, “Those who believe in Jesus cannot be attacked by demons,” that is a mistake. Even believers are attacked. Believers can still fall sick, they can still encounter accidents, and they can still become targets of attack by demons.

However, we have something different. Someone might ask, “If we can still be attacked like that, then why believe in Jesus at all?” But there is something clearly different. What is it? We have the authority to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. Before believing in Jesus, we had no such authority. But Jesus promised the very first sign that would follow those who believe in Him: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved,” and immediately after that He said, “These signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons.” So we do not simply suffer under attacks by demons—we drive demons out. And who is stronger: the one who casts out, or the one who is cast out? The one who casts out, of course. This means that believers are stronger than demons. So who should fear whom? Should I fear demons, or should demons fear me? Demons fear us. Before I believed in Jesus, I used to be afraid of demons. When I was young, if I watched a TV program with ghosts or monsters, I couldn’t even go into the house afterward. I once saw a special episode about the gumiho—a fox spirit—that suddenly popped out from behind a wall, and I was terrified. Since our house had many walls, I was scared something might jump out from behind one of them. When my mother was not home during the day, I couldn’t go inside; I stayed outside in the yard until she returned. Even when I grew older, I felt the same. When I had to walk alone on a dark mountain path, my hair would stand on end. But now, none of that frightens me anymore. I do not get chills, and I am not afraid even when I walk alone in the mountains at night to exercise. People may frighten me, but demons do not. In fact, demons fear me. Demons fear those who believe in Jesus. They tremble before believers and manifest themselves, crying out about why they are being tormented. They shout, “I won’t come out! I’ll kill you! Why are you tormenting me?” For someone who has no experience, such words may be alarming: “What if the demon really kills me? What if it comes out of that person and enters me?” But that is a misunderstanding. Demons only make empty threats. That is why I raise my voice against them instead. I say, “You kill me? Don’t be ridiculous! You threaten me? Who do you think you are to speak like that here?” Then the demon lowers its head, trembles, and backs down. You rebuke it and drive it out—you do not need to strike it. Just rebuke it. Rebuke it in the name of Jesus, and the demon will leave. And when it leaves, it also takes with it the sickness it brought.

Why does this happen? It is because the words of Jesus are always fulfilled. I believe that anything done in the name of Jesus must surely come to pass, and because of that faith, God and the Lord Jesus work together with me. He works with those who have faith. And what is faith? It is believing that whatever God has spoken—whatever Jesus has spoken—will certainly be fulfilled. So if Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven,” then your sins are forgiven. There is no need to stay crushed under guilt. If you are sick and Jesus says, “You are healed,” then you are healed. You might say, “But my leg still hurts.” Yet if Jesus says, “You have already been healed,” then whose word should you honor more—Jesus’ declaration or the message coming from your nerves that say your leg still hurts? You must honor Jesus’ word. If you choose to honor the pain in your nerves more than Jesus’ word, then His word cannot take effect in you. But if you acknowledge His word, that word is fulfilled in you. I myself once suffered from severe knee pain. I usually work sitting down. My work as a pastor is somewhat unique—I often sit at my desk for more than twelve hours a day. So I assumed that my knees hurt because I did not use them much. I thought, “I never had this problem when I was young, but now that I’m older, my knees are getting weak.” The pain grew worse to the point that I could no longer walk straight up or down stairs; I had to turn sideways like many elderly people do. Strangely enough, I simply accepted it. I did not think it was unusual—I thought, “Well, this is what happens as you age. I haven’t exercised enough.” But on the way home, the stairs at my subway station were so painful to climb. There was no escalator, and the steps seemed endless. I was struggling up sideways when suddenly a thought came: “What am I doing? I preach at church that Jesus is almighty. I declare that He is the God who heals. Then why am I living like this regarding myself? I have prayed for those with back pain and their backs were healed; I have prayed for those with headaches, and they were healed; I have prayed for the mute, and they spoke. Then why am I living like this?” That’s when I realized that all sorts of common ideas had shaped my thinking—“Your knees weaken as you age,” “If you don’t exercise, your knees deteriorate,” “Your cartilage wears down,” and so on. These ideas made me think, “It’s natural that it hurts.” But then suddenly the words of Jesus came to my heart: “Your sickness has been healed. I have healed you.” Jesus really speaks to me that way. And then the thought struck me: “This did not come from God—this came from the devil, from a demon.” I felt frustrated with myself. “You are not even fifty years old—what are you doing, climbing stairs like this? You still have many years ahead of you—how long are you going to live this way?” So I suddenly shouted, “Demon! You filthy demon! You knee-pain demon!” Which demon? The knee-pain demon. I thought, “My knee is not hurting—the demon’s knee is hurting.” So I shouted, “You knee-pain demon! My knee does not hurt! You filthy demon, leave me!” After that, facing the long, steep staircase, I knew I had to act on what I believed. So what did I do? I ran up. I cried, “Demon, leave!” and ran up the stairs despite the pain. At first my knees felt like they were going to snap. If it hurt even when I walked sideways carefully, imagine how it felt running. But I did not stop—I ran all the way up. When I reached the top and stood still—what do you think happened? Oh! The pain was gone. Completely gone—so much so that I could jump up and down. Even if God is alive, what good is it if I don’t believe Him? When we believe that the words of God are surely fulfilled, that is when we witness such miracles.

All of you can experience the living God in this way. But for that to happen, you must listen to what Jesus has said. And you must receive His words as your own. When you do, those very words will be fulfilled in your life.

This is exactly the kind of situation we find in today’s passage. Jesus was crossing a large lake with His disciples. When waves rose on this lake, they were extremely strong—so strong that people even called the lake a “sea.” Jesus and His disciples set out to cross to the other side, and several other boats followed them. But when they reached the middle, a fierce windstorm arose and the waves began to pound the boat. The waves crashed over the sides and filled the boat with water until it was about to sink. The disciples were trying to bail the water out, but it kept pouring in, and their situation grew more and more dangerous. And what was Jesus doing at that moment? He was sleeping. He was lying in the stern, using a cushion for His head, sleeping peacefully. Perhaps the rocking of the boat felt like a mother rocking a cradle, because even in that chaotic moment He slept soundly. He must have been tired. I’ve even seen pastors fall asleep while talking, simply because they had not slept for several days during revival meetings. So if you think about it, Jesus’ situation is understandable—He was sleeping in the boat. But then the disciples said, “We can’t let this happen! We’re going to die!” and they woke Him up. When Jesus woke up, He saw the wind raging and the waves crashing. How did He respond? He rebuked them. He rebuked the sea: “Hey! What are you doing?” Then He rebuked the wind: “Be still!” He spoke to the wind and the waves as if speaking to a living being. “Quiet! Be still!” And the wind and the waves immediately became calm. Then He said to His disciples, “Why did you doubt, you of little faith?” The disciples were astonished. “Who is this? How can the wind and the sea obey His words? Who is He?” Who is He? He is God. That is who Jesus is.

Jesus rebuked the disciples. Why did He rebuke them? He said they lacked faith—why did they lack faith? What should they have done to avoid being rebuked? Let me give you two choices: First, they should have woken Him earlier. Second, they should not have woken Him at all. Which one is it—number one or number two? If it were number one, then Jesus would be saying, “You fools, why didn’t you wake Me earlier?” But I see it differently. Did Jesus really not know what was happening? Was He in such a deep sleep that He was unaware? I think He knew. Then why did He rebuke them? I believe they could have simply stayed calm. Of course, this is my interpretation, and others may see it differently. But I believe they didn’t need to wake Him. Why? Because what had Jesus said before they boarded the boat? He said, “Let us go over to the other side.” That was His word—His will. He had already decided. So they all followed Him. And whatever Jesus says always comes to pass. No matter what happens, His word is fulfilled. If they truly had faith, they could have lain down next to Him and slept through the storm—whether the waves crashed, whether the wind howled, even if the boat filled with water. And if the boat sank completely, they would have crossed over like a submarine if necessary. One way or another, they would have arrived. They may not have known how, but they would have been there. Because Jesus’ word always comes to pass.

It is hard for us to predict how Jesus will work. Jesus said, “If you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, I will take responsibility for everything you need.” But we do not know the method He will use. About ten years ago, there was a time when our family was going through real hardship. It was right after I had begun serving as a junior pastor, and one day we completely ran out of rice. My wife told me there was nothing left to eat at home—no rice at all. So what were we supposed to do? We had no money. And I am not the kind of person who goes to someone and says, “Could you give us some rice?” If rice had not come, we probably would have just gone hungry. But my wife and I were not afraid. Why? Because the Lord was with us. So we simply said, “Oh, we’re out. Something will come tomorrow,” and left it at that. The next morning, when I opened the door to leave for early morning prayer, the door would not open. I pushed hard, and what do you think was outside? A full sack of rice. Who could have known? Who could have imagined that the problem would be solved in that way? When Jesus says He will take care of something, He will take care of it—one way or another. The method is beyond anything we could imagine.

There was another interesting example. When my wife was five months pregnant with our first child, she said she really wanted to eat some tangerines. This was right after we had come back from China. I wasn’t even serving as a pastor yet, and of course I wasn’t earning any income—my whole life was just church work. She said she wanted tangerines, but we had no money. Not a single bill in my wallet. Tangerines aren’t expensive—maybe you could buy five for about one dollar. So I looked into the jar where we kept our coins. But even the coins were gone. There was not even fifty cents in the entire house. And we had nothing in the bank account either. Usually, in a situation like that, a couple might hold each other and cry, or my wife might have shouted, “How can I trust a man like you?” and stormed out of the house. But instead, both of us were overflowing with joy. It was strange—an unbelievable peace and joy. We thought, “If our joy doesn’t disappear even in a situation like this, then our joy must not come from money or food. Our joy comes from heaven!” We were so grateful, and we worshiped together that night before going to sleep.

The next morning, when we tried to leave the house, the door wouldn’t open—again. We pushed it open, and what do you think we found? There was a box sitting outside. We brought it in. What was it? Not pears, not apples, not bananas—an entire box of tangerines. Can you believe it? Even as I tell this story, it sounds like something made up. That’s why we can never imagine the method God will use. How He hears, and how He answers—it is beyond anything we could predict.

Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the things you need—what you will eat, what you will wear—do not worry about any of them. They will all be added to you. And even if you are not rich, if you have food and clothing, be content.” We believe that the words of Jesus are always fulfilled. Therefore, when storms arise, we are not to fix our eyes on the storm. We follow and rely on the word of Jesus. Since Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side,” we can be absolutely certain that no matter what happens in the middle, we will surely arrive there. Jesus has already determined to bring us into heaven, and He has said, “I have given you eternal life, and I will lead you into My kingdom.” Because He has spoken this, no matter what may happen along the way, we will one day find ourselves in heaven. In this way, hold firmly to the words of Jesus. Our Lord is the One who always does what He says and fulfills everything He speaks. So do not rely on the empty gods of this world or on lying spirits, but rely on the God who surely accomplishes everything He has spoken. I bless you in the name of Jesus to entrust your soul to Him.

Let us pray.

God our Father, we thank You for loving us in this way and for sending Your Son so that we would not be deceived. Though the world tries to deceive us, destroy us, and fill us with fear, Jesus has promised to give us peace and to lead us all the way to heaven. Help us to know that every word the Lord speaks will surely be fulfilled, so that we may entrust our souls to Him. Help every person here to experience the words of the Lord Jesus in their own lives. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.