በኮቪድ-19 እና በዓለም አቀፉ የመላላኪያ አገልግሎት መዛባት ምክንያት ‹ነጻ የታተመ መጽሐፍ አገልግሎታችንን› ለጊዜው አቋርጠናል፡፡
በዚህ ሁኔታ ምክንያት በዚህ ጊዜ መጽሐፎቻችንን ለእናንተ መላክ አንችልም፡፡
ይህ ወረርሽኝ በቅርቡ እንዲያበቃና የፖስታ አገልግሎት እንዲጀምር ጸልዩ፡፡
ይህ ወረርሽኝ በቅርቡ እንዲያበቃና የፖስታ አገልግሎት እንዲጀምር ጸልዩ፡፡
Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 19-2] False Faiths That Stand against Jesus (John 19:12-37)
(John 19:12-37)
“From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, ‘If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.’ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, ‘Gabbatha.’ Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’ Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’’’ Pilate answered, ‘what I have written, I have written.’ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
‘They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.’
Therefore the soldiers did these things.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced.’”
In today’s Scripture reading we see how Jesus went through terrible suffering to show us His love, and that water and blood came out from the side of Jesus when He was pierced with a spear.
Pilate sought to release the Lord Jesus first, but after hearing the yelling of the crowd he delivered Him to them to be crucified. “From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.” When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away” (John 19:12-16).
The Jews Cried Out for the Crucifixion of Jesus
On that day Pilate asked the Jews, “Shall I crucify your King?” But the Jews cried out, “We have no king but Caesar!” and bayed out ruthlessly for His crucifixion. Pilate tried to release Jesus, but the Jews kept telling him to crucify Jesus. To them Jesus was neither a King, nor their God.
Who then is this Jesus? He is none other than our King. Did Jesus become the King just because we had so desired for Him to be our King? No not at all. We need to know that Jesus created everything in the universe; He was and still is the King, the God, and the Sheppard who has saved us from all our sins. Therefore, even if the Jews did not recognize Jesus as their King, He is without a doubt our King.
Jesus is the King and the Creator of the entire human race; by being born on this earth He showed us His love, and also saved us from all our sins. After receiving His baptism for us, He died by being crucified. The Jews rose up against Jesus because of this. The Jews said that they had no other king but Caesar who was the Emperor of Rome at that time. Is this really true? Is the King of the Jews, Caesar or Jesus? The fact is Jesus was and is the King of His people - the Jews. For those people who did not believe in the righteousness of God, Caesar was their colonial king. For them what they saw tangibly was everything. Knowing that God was alive and was their God how could they dare rise up against Him like this? If they had knowledge of this fact they would never do this. Jesus told Pilate that those who delivered Him to him had the greater sin.
Jesus was born in the land of Judea in Bethlehem. He was raised in the town of Nazareth, and at the age of thirty, He received His baptism from no one else but John the Baptist. And when He turned 33 years of age, He died by being crucified, and He was resurrected in three days. How could someone like that not be the King of the Jews? Jesus is truly the spiritual King of the Jews. He is truly the King of all the descendants of Abraham. He is Abraham’s God as well as to all his descendants. The Jews rejected Jesus, but you and I believe that Jesus is our King. Not only to us, but also to all those throughout the world who believe in Him like that. Jesus is the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, and ‘the Savior God.’
Let us think once more about Jesus before God the Father. Jesus is our Savior, our Master, and also our King as well as our Shepherd. Because of His great love towards us, He suffered such terrible insults. Therefore, we must believe with all our hearts and take heed that the Lord was indeed crucified and suffered such harsh insults for us.
Nailed above the head of the crucified Jesus, Pilate wrote and put the title of His crime for all to see, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” The Jews who saw this complained bitterly and said, why wasn’t the words ‘I am the King of the Jews,’” written instead of “the King of the Jews.” But Pilate answered and said, “What I have written, I have written. So, do not discuss this any more. From my point of view, He is your King. Yet despite this you delivered your King to me.” The Jews did not fear God when they stood against Jesus. When they urged Pilate to crucify Jesus, Pilate said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” But all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:24-25).
As they swore and took this oath, their descendants have been cursed severely since then. When we look at this curse the people of Israel received after having delivered Jesus to be crucified. Not only did they lose their country for a very long period of time, they were also dispersed all over the world, and what is more, they even suffered the cruelest holocaust in human history. Therefore we should take heed that anyone who does not believe in Jesus as the King will receive such curses. This bears witness to the fact that terrible punishments await those who do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior who has saved them from all their sins.
Jesus Did Not Get Crucified Because He Was Powerless
Did Jesus die by being crucified because He was powerless? No, He did not. To save us from the sin of this world, Jesus took away all our sins by receiving His baptism from John the Baptist, and to receive the full judgment for them, He died by shedding His blood on the Cross. We must surely realize and accept this.
We should also know that this punishment by being crucified is something truly horrible. When we talk about Jesus being crucified we should not say it as if it was meaningless words that just fall off our lips, but rather think about it seriously like as if a thorn was stuck deep in at the end of our finger. It will really unbearably sore and painful. Just imagine someone driving nails into your feet and wrists, cutting off and through vital arteries. The unbearable pain and blood flowing down freely and skin tearing apart would be unimaginably horrible. Medical doctors had once proved that this kind of death is the most terrible and painful that a person could suffer.
When a person is hung on a cross with crude nails are driven into through the wrists and feet, the body will first become limp, and then the skin will begin tearing, spilling much blood. When that happens, the blood inside the heart will circulate and then spill out from the body, and any remaining blood will circulate once more and then spill out. It is said that the ensuing shakes and pain cannot even be expressed into words. The pain of crucifixion cannot possibly be imaginable.
Thus, we cannot but express it into words like this. This is because we are unable to express our emotions so intimately; we can only elaborate this by saying, “They crucified Him.” Could you imagine being nailed to the Cross like this? How horrific would this be? But when expressed into words - in a single sentence, “He suffered death by being hung onto a crude execution device,” would suffice. Whatever the case, that Jesus was crucified instead of us should be engrave deep within our hearts and just how much the Lord loves us and just how much suffering He had to go through for us.
Talking about this, a certain famous movie director created a film to reproduce such gruesome pain suffered by Jesus. We see this movie drawing great popularity these days. It is also said that many people began believing in Jesus just by watching this single film, and that those who had distanced themselves from the Lord had returned. I think the gruesome pain of Jesus must have been well depicted in this movie.
Jesus Suffered the Horrific Pain of the Cross for Us
When see this movie, we see Jesus suffering great pain while hanging on the Cross. The nails that were driven into and through Jesus’ wrists and feet were large thick crude nails like those used on old wooden electric poles. And it is said that once such crude nails are driven into a human body, it goes through horrific suffering for a long period of time and does not die immediately.
When someone gets shot by a gun or gets stabbed with a knife, their limbs convulse and they die soon thereafter. But unable to die immediately, Jesus hung on the Cross for six hours; from 9am through to 3pm. (Mark 15:25-34); could you really imagine experiencing such great pain? It truly must have been gruesome to the uttermost. But we should know that Jesus suffered such pain for us. He having received His baptism from John the Baptist and then having suffered such unbearable pain by being nailed to the Cross, was all because He loved us so much and because He had taken onto Himself all our sins.
Because the Lord loved you and me, He was born into this world with a lowly appearance. Jesus was born with such an unattractive appearance to save you and me who were also lowly from all our sins. Jesus did not come to this world to save the rich, but rather He came to save you and me who were poor in spirit. For this reason Jesus has become our Savior, and He is the true Shepherd who feeds, clothes and raises us up with His great love. Jesus is the King of Love. We must deeply recognize this and believe that only Jesus Christ and only God the Father loved us like this, and that He had gladly suffered this terrible pain for us.
The Lord said, “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors” (John 4:38). We therefore praise Jesus by saying, “My Shepherd is the King of love, and He is my Shield in tribulation.” Because Jesus suffered such great pain and hardship to save us, we are now able to receive our salvation by faith, and also reap the spiritual harvest by faith. Furthermore, we have come to receive much grace and blessing. Could you serve another god by setting aside a Lord like this? No, we cannot. By coming down to this earth, Jesus showed us His love and also suffered much hardship in order to save us. If we truly believe this, how can we have any other god? There can never be another god. No such one can ever exist.
Many things in this world often tempt us; and there will be times when we cannot escape them due to our own weaknesses. But one thing that never changes and that is, there is no one else more loving than God. Therefore we praise Him by singing, “♩I’d rather have Jesus than anything. ♬This world affords today♪” This is true. There is no one else besides our Lord. There can never be anyone else. Right now, we are neither professing some religion nor following some fanatical religious leader, but instead believe in the genuine God who saved us completely. By receiving our salvation from this loving God, what we only desire is to know only this God, go on living through Him, realizing only He is our King, and lead our lives believing this and serving Him.
The Crucifixion of Jesus Is the Perfection of Love
By Jesus being nailed to the Cross means the perfection of God’s love. This is Jesus, the King of all kings; He who set aside His glory and sacrificed Himself for His people. Because of this, His people should never betray the King.
Just before Jesus died on the Cross, He cried out, “It is finished!” It is written, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19:28-30). By Him saying “I thirst” means that He had spilled all His blood. And this also means that He had given us the water of everlasting life. Because Jesus gave us this new life, we must refresh His heart by living out our faith without betraying Him. Also, we should love and follow the Lord and lead a life in Him.
The Bible says when the Lord died on the Cross, a certain soldier thrust his spear up into His side, blood and water immediately came out. By water and blood coming out from His side means that Jesus had indeed died whilst still hanging onto the Cross. From a medical perspective when someone dies blood and water will flow separately out of the body and not mixed together. And so, when a dead person is pierced by a spear like this, blood and water will flow out separately.
There are unfortunately people who doubt Jesus dying on the Cross and being resurrected in three days by saying, “How can a person die in three hours? Could He have not died before? He could have fainted and then woke up?” But the fact that water and blood came out separately proves without a shadow of doubt that Jesus indeed died as recorded. Even a living person would die once pierced like this, and so the piercing of a dead person is like performing a confirmation that such a person has indeed died. Because Jesus had showed the power of raising the dead previously, the soldier did so wondering if He would come back to life again. As was the custom to confirm their death, the soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs; instead one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear to confirm His death. Like this, being nailed to the Cross, Jesus died in six hours.
Jesus had suffered such terrible hardship for us. Because of this shouldn’t you and I believe in Jesus like this and live out our lives to the end with that faith? Things are not what they used to be, but we must never forget the Lord’s love. If there is faith inside our hearts, Jesus’ love will reside in it. Furthermore, because the Lord has given us this great love and salvation, it is only proper for us to carry out the work that will satisfy and bring delight to our Lord’s heart. That is to go on living united with the Lord with our hearts and to follow Him. This is what refreshes the Lord’s heart.
Even though Jesus was not the King to those who were opposing Him, but to the faithful, He was the absolute King. To those who do not believe in Him, Jesus comes as the King that passes judgment, but to those who believe in Him, He comes as the King that bestows blessings. Pilate wrote the words, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” on the Cross because Jesus was the true King of the Jews. As the King who sacrificed Himself for His people, He did not resent the people at all. Can we find such a king in this world? There can never be one. Of course, one can die for one’s own country or for one’s friend. But in reality, such a death is really for one’s own self, for one’s own fame or conviction. But, Jesus indeed died for you and me, and He was resurrected for you and me. And some day soon our Lord will come back to this earth for you and me.
When we look at the death of Jesus, the question arises “Who in fact killed Jesus? Did the Jews kill Him? Or did the Roman soldiers kill Him?” This question is said to have become a hot issue. As the Jews re-examine Jesus, they will no doubt discuss this very question. This seems to be something good happening because many Jews have now become believers in Jesus.
But dear fellow believers the ones who actually killed Jesus are to be found elsewhere. They are those who do not believe in Jesus. People who do not believe in Jesus as their God and as their Savior are likened to the opponents of Jesus who had cried out for His crucifixion. They are the fleshly Jews and not ‘the spiritual Jews.’
Can We Go on Living without Jesus?
No, we cannot go on living without Jesus. Could all living creatures including human beings go on living without God? No, they cannot. They are able to live because God grants them sunlight. Likewise, we can go on living because of God and because of Jesus Christ, and not anything else.
Even though we believe in Jesus as our Savior, there are many who stubbornly refuse to believe in Him. We have mentioned incessantly that “Jesus came down to this earth to save us, and died on the Cross after having received His baptism. He then was resurrected from the dead; through this He has saved us perfectly.” People who do not believe in this great love of God must realize that they have a grave punishment waiting over their heads. After having lived well on this earth, they will one day be taken away, just as a plump pig goes to a butchery. People who do not believe in Jesus will share the same fate as that of the pig ending its life at a slaughterhouse. Perhaps the pig may be better off. It’s because once an animal dies, it’s the end; but for people the next life starts from the moment they die. The everlasting life starts at a crossroad between eternal happiness and eternal punishment.
Furthermore, people who do not believe in Jesus’ love are just like the Jews. Because the Jews had bayed for the blood of Jesus, they were attacked by other nations and had wondered around for almost two thousand years without their own country. They also have been dispersed all over the world, they have received so much persecution that there is no other nation who had received more curses than the nation of Israel. Just like this, if anyone were to rise up against God and His gospel of the water and the Spirit, that person will suffer severe judgment while still living on this earth. And should they die in this situation they will be thrown in to the eternal fire that never dies and receive the punishment of never dying. This is the justice of God.
But in this world we find persistent and stubborn people who refuse to believe no matter how hard we try to convey this Word to them. They tend to think that as long as they can live well in this world, all will be well. I just cannot understand them. These kinds of people will receive pain later on due to their refusal to believe; therefore we do not need to have any mercy on them. Jesus had suffered such bitter pain to save His people from their sins; knowing this if you were to suffer pain due to your own refusal to believe, then that is your share you must suffer before God.
If this be the case then what type of work is required from the Lord, who saved you and me by suffering such a woeful passion on the Cross, for all the people of this world? It is the work of spreading His gospel to the whole world.
Not too long ago Pastor Andrew Jung the director of our distribution center visited me and told that people all over the world were ordering so many books these days. With small individual orders set aside, there are many larger orders in box units. The total amount of books that we are distributing now in one two month is larger than that we used to distribute in six months. The pastor also reported that postage has increased markedly. As I reviewed our Monthly Financial Report, I saw much money that has been spent and or needs to be spent that the thought arose in my mind that we should be earning more money. It would be good if we were in an abundant situation; if we had enough funds to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to many more nations, many more people will be receiving the remission of their sins.
Not too long ago I tried decreasing our expense that went into homepage advertising, but soon I found out that the number of visitors decreased in proportion to the amount of expense that was spent. I just tested it to make sure that the funds would be spent on something wasteful, but it was apparent that our advertisement expenses were not wasteful. Even these days, we have book orders amounting to 500 books per day, and I came to think that this was because of the effect of the advertisement which had been made all this time. Therefore, when I meet the board ministers this time, I want to discuss the issue of increasing advertisement expenses so that we can increase our book distribution to the level we used to maintain before.
A few days ago, a newspaper correspondent in Vietnam read one of our books and contacted us. According to him many pastors in Vietnam, especially those who have a false ministry, do not want people to read our books. It is because our books refer to Jesus’ baptism and are too biblical, and because they differ from their faith. However, even though these pastors might say things like this, he told us that he thinks the content of our books fits perfectly with the Bible. Also he did not forget to give us a blessed counsel, saying that the book repeats a single topic so often that the teaching therein could not but be engraved in his heart. And so I had sent him a message of gratitude.
In spite of this I think that many people in this world are still unaware of the secret of the baptism even though they believe Jesus died hanging on the Cross. The reporter in Vietnam told me that he at last had found out just why Jesus was hung upon the Cross by reading our books. He had found the Truth and confessed, “Jesus had suffered through the sacrifice of crucifixion for He had taken on the sins of this world through the baptism.” Not only that reporter but also many people of this world will find out the Truth through our books. Having experienced things like this, I have come to know that this work that we are doing is so very worthwhile and precious; and I have come to possess the conviction that we must ceaselessly carry out this work despite much distractions, disturbances and hardships.
Therefore, as a part of our method in spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we are producing books that will preach the truth. Once a book gets published in English, it then gets translated to almost all the languages of the world. Can you now imagine how just how many versions and titles there are? The book that is getting published now will be our fifteenth volume. Currently, we are translating ‘sermon books on Galatians’, but because one of our translators quit, leaving us with only one translator, I think it will take at least a month to publish it.
Once people read these sermon books on Galatians, there will be an epoch progress in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is because instead of just spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it will clearly manifest the truth that all those who had been offering prayers of repentance by just believing in the blood of the Cross are all wrong. Even during the days when the Apostle Paul was preaching the gospel, the people of Israel believed that people who had received physical circumcision would become people of God.
At the beginning of the Epistle, the Apostle Paul introduces himself by saying, “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead)” (Galatians 1:1). And he goes on to speak about how wrongful the circumcisionists are. He also speaks about the fact that God’s Church that previously had faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit had been disturbed because of these circumcisionists claiming physical circumcision. Right now, the entire Christian community believes that if one were to offer prayers of repentance, that person will receive the remission of sins; these claims are exactly the same as those who were advocating physical circumcision during the days of the Apostle Paul.
Some people say, “Even though the gospel of the water and the Spirit is right, what is wrong with offering prayers of repentance?” and they go on regardless asserting that one must believe in Jesus and offer prayers of repentance as well. To compound matters many people think there is nothing wrong believing like this. But we should know without a shadow of doubt that prayer of repentance is gravely mistaken. And that is what is mentioned in the Book of Galatians.
The Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Is True, but the Gospel That Believes Only in the Blood of the Cross Is False
Through these sermon books on Galatians, all peoples of this world will come to realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the real truth and that, like now, prayers of repentance and having faith only in the blood on the Cross is entirely false and stands in opposition of God. Just by reading the first volume of this series, many people say, “Now I know what heresy is.” Also many confess what they had believed in was in fact heresy and they testify the past fallacies of their faith.
Just like a tsunami, the inside of Christianity will completely be wiped away and be overturned through the sermon books on the Book of Galatians. It is because people will begin realizing that what they had previously believed in until then was something completely in opposition to God. I sincerely hope these Christians will realize this soon that their faith in something completely wrong, not just a little bit wrong. And through this teaching, I hope that they will come to cleanse away all their sins by believing in Jesus and His gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Dear fellow believers, offering prayers of repentance just by believing in the blood of the Cross is to stand directly against the love of God. Do you really think your sins disappear by offering your many prayers of repentance? The Jews cried out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” and they said that they had no king but Caesar. But is Jesus really less than Caesar? Is the gospel of the water and the Spirit really less than the faith of believing only in the blood of the Cross and the many prayers of repentance? If one could cleanse away one’s own sins by offering prayers of repentance, then the accomplishments of Jesus would have become unnecessary. That would tantamount be rising up against Jesus? This false faith is to challenge the love of Jesus publicly.
Many people still believe only in the crucified Jesus, and they claim in loud voices that by offering prayers of repentance, they can cleanse away all the many sins they commit after believing in Jesus. This is a 100% wrongful faith, and it is a belief and man made doctrine that deteriorates God’s love and your salvation. These sermon books will explain step by step why that is so wrong. And so I am thinking about sending these books all over the world. By reading this single volume many will come to the realization that what they had believed in until now was neither God’s love nor God’s Truth, and that they have all this time been challenging God standing and bandying together in palatial churches they built. From God’s point of view, building high church-bell towers implies challenging God. In front of the Congress building in the United States, there is an obelisk named the Washington Monument. This obelisk looks like a sword, and that clearly shows people challenging God. In like fashion, when people try to add on their own efforts by offering prayers of repentance, are they not just simply making foolish claims that they will add onto their own strengths since the Lord was not able to do so completely? So the reality is many Christian sinners today are really challenging God.
Believe in the God-given Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
In today’s Scripture reading we read when Jesus died on the Cross and said, “I thirst,” and “It is finished!” Jesus indeed finished it all, so why is there a need to add on with our merits and strengths? We just have to believe in the work that He has done for us; so the question is asked, what lacking can we find in His salvation that requires a need for weeping and offers of prayers of repentance? Did God by saving us by coming down to this earth do an imperfect job? Before the dawn of the end of days, all peoples of this world will come to realize their erroneous faith.
But still many people have a wrongfully belief, “Could we not receive our salvation by believing only in the blood of the Cross or just by living a devoted lifestyle?” But just as those who had advocated circumcision did not receive the remission of their sins, people who carry one asserting prayers of repentance are those who have as yet not received the remission of sins. People who believe only in the blood of the Cross do not know Jesus’ baptism, and thus they cannot but offer prayers of repentance for they still have sins intact in their heart. This is because they cannot pass on their sins over onto Jesus for they do not have the faith of believing in Jesus’ baptism. For those who do not believe in the true gospel, that must be their best way. But we should know that these people cannot go to Heaven, not even one. You may question this by saying, “Can you really say this to all these people?” I can say this with the utmost certainty. Numerous people read our books and tell us, “These teachings are correct.”
I did speak about a certain AP newspaper correspondent in Vietnam. He told me that there were people who did not want to read our books because our books pointed out all too clearly that their faith was wrong. Like this, if people were to read the entire first three volumes of our books, they will be able to realize the superstitious faith exists in the churches of this world, and they will also realize just how wrongful their faith is.
Do you know just how many Christians are opposing God even as I speak? The Jews, although professing to believe in God, gave up Jesus to the cruel Roman soldiers to be nailed to the Cross. These Jews and the Christians of today are all the same. The many legalists and Presbyterians who offer prayers of repentance by believing only in the blood of Cross all profess to believe in God, but the reality is that they are all the opponents of God’s love. Even though they say they believe in Jesus and do what they do, because they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they rise up against Jesus and for this will indeed go to hell in the end.
I like preaching this gospel of the water and the Spirit. Of course a lot of effort goes into it, but because I know all too well that there are still many people who need to hear the gospel throughout the world, I try to gather up my strength. I admonish you also to gather up strength. And doing this we must unite with the Church. We must unite our hearts in the work of spreading God’s gospel. We must also serve the Lord by our faith. If our hearts are elsewhere and just pretending to do so is really not being united. True uniting lies in the heart as well as in the body going forth together before the Lord. The Lord has allowed us to carry out this task thus far by bestowing you and me with such faith and strength.
The World Is Becoming Extremely Difficult
Recently the United States made an announcement that anyone regardless of nationality, will have to have their fingerprints and pictures taken before they can enter the States. What does this all mean? Also seven countries among the past subsidiary countries of the now dissolved USSR have now jointed the NATO military alliance. What do you think all these means? It means the United States; by making an alliance with each country will consider any country that is not a part of this alliance as an enemy. The marking of the sign on the end of the days is being carried out silently and steadfastly. The day of receiving the mark on one’s forehead or right hand is upon us this is when terrorism becomes rampant throughout the world, and the world becoming chaotic. Until that time arrives we need to be vigilant. Eventually a terrible dictator will make his appearance and we will face the days of terrible tribulation which we fear all so much.
Even now, isn’t a president of a certain powerful country trying to implement a policy to put the entire world under his grasp? From a human perspective, he is a true policy maker and a person worthy of being the president and a leader of the entire world. It is because he has a broad and grand view of things. But he incurs resistance from the entire world because he thinks of wars all too easily and wages them recklessly. However, the sad fact is that world figures like this will continue to appear in the future.
Someone who is a true leader must know how to implement policies. A leader must look ahead into the future and present a direction for a life of faith by implementing a proper workable policy. And as for the rest of us who are to follow this leader, we must move forth together with the leader by complementing him whilst under his leadership. If a leader does not know how to establish policies, everything he does becomes useless. No matter how talented they may be, if a person does not know how to establish policies, then he is not worthy of becoming a leader. It is the same for anyone who is leading the world as well as the president of any country. A leader must establish policies well. If the leader establishes policies on how to run a country and if that leader carries out these policies while reinforcing it one by one, that country will become wealthy and powerful. However, if a president cannot establish policies and goes back and forth recklessly, then that country cannot but be ruined in the end.
Knowing this we must pray for our nation’s economy, political stability and our leader. It is because we can serve the gospel well only when the country is in stable condition. If a country becomes unstable, its citizens become withdrawn and refrain from spending money. If this should happen, that domestic economy will dwindle away and will become an obstruction to our serving of the gospel there. Therefore, we must pray for the economic stability and prosperity of our country and others where we are spreading His gospel.
As I mentioned before, I feel so great serving this gospel of the water and the Spirit with you. Also just as our Lord was sacrificed for us, I always think that we must refresh the Lord’s heart by living for the Lord by faith. I actually conduct myself like that everyday. Until the day when the Lord will come, we should refresh God’s heart by spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
When I visit a house of mourning to offer my condolences, I come to realize anew that life is nothing. In the end when a person dies, everything in this world become totally irrelevant and that person will now face the afterlife by departing from this material world. Therefore I think that I must prepare well lest at that time I would receive the judgment and pain for my sins. So for us the believers there are many preparations of faith before one can go to the next life; but sadly there are just too many people who go on living without having prepared their faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When I see these people, I truly feel pity on them. And so I become increasingly aware how fortunate it is for me and you to have been entrusted with the mission of spreading this gospel of the water and the Spirit. As I continue preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit like this, I gain strength spiritually. Therefore whenever I visit a house of mourning to give my condolences, I deliver the gospel of the water and the Spirit as if it is a revival meeting. I tell them to prepare for the next world because no one knows when a person’s life will end. I hope you will also be prepared for the day you die.
Dear fellow believers, I am always thankful for all the works of God. Although we experience many disappointments, such things must exist, but despite this I will continue to live by faith until the end by bracing up my heart. The work of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit has not come to an end yet. Perhaps this is only the beginning.
More than anything else, Jesus is our King and our God. And I believe Jesus has blotted out all our sins by receiving His baptism and shedding His blood for our sins. Let us now engrave the sacrifice of Jesus deep inside our hearts by faith. The Lord has given to us His great love so that we could be saved from all our sins. When sit down and ponder about the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I become so amazed. Also I am always thankful for having been able to know and believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit.
But you must know this I was never able to find out about this gospel of the water and the Spirit just by chance. I studied it until my head hurt, and I begged to God for it without sleep asking, “Why did Jesus receive His baptism from John the Baptist?” When everyone else was asleep, I prayed by knocking my head on the floor, and when everyone else was memorizing English vocabulary, I read the Bible. The Lord instilled curiosity in my heart and eventually met me through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Furthermore, He allowed me to know, believe in and also preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to everyone.
It is none other than God who has established His Church like this. Is this true, or is it not? Yes, it is true. God’s Church does not get realized through the will of any human being. As we the righteous become united with each other through the gospel of the water and the Spirit by being obedient to God, we will naturally come to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the entire world. So you must know this that this was not something that came about just by chance, but rather, it came direct from God’s wisdom and revelation. It is something for which we should thank God for.
From now on, the entire world will change at a great speed. With the expansion of the Internet it will become an age when most people of the world will be able to read the gospel of the water and the Spirit in an electronic book form. Then as we translate our books into various languages, and then upload them as electronic books and also publish and send them as paperback books, there will come a time when we will be able to spread the gospel throughout the world while sitting down. God has given us that wisdom.
When we first started spreading this gospel of the water and the Spirit, it was rather feeble. Of course we know that there is not anyone in the world who is spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In the beginning we started the work of making books by purchasing a PC, the function of which was limited to that of a typewriter. Also you don’t know just how much hard time we had by not knowing how to use a computer. But things have improved. Isn’t it the Pentium and wireless age? It is so fast that just by web surfing, we can weave around every corner of this world. Like this we are spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit by utilizing the benefit of this information-oriented society. Currently the number of people visiting to our homepage has surpassed five thousand a day, and the gospel is being spread at a rapid rate. The work that God does is like this.
Despite this when we consider the works being done now; we do neither celebrate too much nor feel content, but rather we feel our lacking. We reflect upon ourselves to see whether we are working with devotion and by faith or not, or whether we regard the outcomes of our ministry as ‘booty’ trapped in self-absorption. God is the One who has done all these works. For God has entrusted us to do these wondrous works through these wonderful electronic instruments; so I wish to administer it until the day when the Lord will return and to hear Him say to me, “Dear good and loyal servant, you have been loyal in small works, so I entrust you with many things.” Until that day arrives when the Lord will entrust us with many things and bestow us with many blessings, we must ceaselessly carry out the works of the Lord.
I hear many people these days suffering with colds and flu. I therefore admonish you all too please take care of your bodies well so that you can serve the gospel energetically. Just as it is said that ground hardens after the rain, once the trials in body and spirit pass, your faith will have grown even more. I will again be going to the revival meetings that is held by one of our branch Churches. I will have a good trip and come back soon. I hope you will all carry out the works which was entrusted to you. And please be mindful of your health.
With the desire to always serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit until the day when the Lord returns, I hope for us to live out our faith by loving the Lord, just as God has loved us.
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