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 23 : The Epistle to the HEBREWS
[Chapter 1-4] We Must Believe in the Recorded Word of God, Not Words Spoken by Humans (Hebrews 1:1-14)
(Hebrews 1:1-14)
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son’? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’ And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.’ But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’ And: ‘You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.’ But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
The Book of Hebrews is the Epistle written specifically to the dispersed Jews who believed in Jesus as their Savior. This is the reason for the title of the Epistle, namely, “The Book of Hebrews.” Why did God make His servant send the Epistle and say such things to them? The reason was to show them the greatness of Jesus Christ and lead them to Him since Jews by and large worshipped the angels. God said such things to them because the Hebrew’s were people who essentially and greatly sought after wonders and miracles. Although they did in a way believe in the Jehovah God, they were people who believed in this God as a God who divided the Red Sea, when Manna fell from the sky as they crossed the desert, and when Moses hit the rock with his staff and water came out.
Each group of people in the world has special characteristics of believing. For example, people from a Western society will by and large seek scientific knowledge to ratify a matter. If this is true for the Western peoples, then fundamentally what are the people in the east special characteristics of believing? The Eastern peoples by and large seek after human morality and mystical superstition. And as such, the Jews especially desired to see many wonders and miracles. Therefore, as the Apostle Paul wrote to the dispersed Jews, this servant of God addressed this question whether Jesus or an angel had greater authority or position. He had to write the Epistle in such a way that showed the superiority of Jesus Christ in order to lead them to Christ because their interest and focus was in the angels. Just like this, you must come to understand that the things the people of each nation seek are very different.
God Spoke in Various Times and Various Ways
For this very reason, in the introduction of the Book of Hebrews, this servant of God talks about this God who spoke in the past to the fathers through the prophets at various times and in various ways. He says that in the last days, God spoke to us through His Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through who also He made the worlds. This servant of God wrote to the Jews who believed in Jesus Christ and said that God spoke to our ancestors in various times and in various ways through the prophets during the Old Testament times. He pointed out that in these New Testament times and in these last days, God has spoken to us through the Son.
God spoke to the Jews through His appointed prophets in the Old Testament period. God showed many wonders and miracles through His Word which was spoken through the prophets. They were spoken to like this because they were the kind of people who would not believe without witnessing wonders and miracles. When we read the Scriptures starting from the Book of Genesis, we read about angels who informed Lot that Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed. Then later we read about an angel, Michael, who appeared to Daniel. Therefore we can come to the understanding how the prophets of God and the angels had made a great impression in their hearts along with the incredible miracles of God.
God spoke to the people of Israel in various times and various ways through various prophets and angels during the Old Testament period; and in these last days God has spoken through His Son Jesus Christ who was appointed as the heir of all things. This Word is saying that the One who will destroy the world and make the new world come about is Jesus Christ. The Scriptures say that the universe was made once by Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God, and that His Kingdom that will be made once again would be continued on for eternity. This is why it says, this Son is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.
Who is Jesus Christ to us? We can understand easily that He is God, when we look at the work Jesus Christ had done when He came to this world. That is the reason why the Scriptures say, “The Son is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.” Furthermore, it also says, “He upholds all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” This means, He upholds all things by the Word of His power and sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Jesus Christ upholds all things by the Word of His power.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” and the verse 6 and 7 says, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.” God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12).
The Scriptures say that God created all things on the first day, through to the second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, and the sixth day through the Word of His power. This means that Jesus Christ personally made all things in the universe through the Word of His power. And He upholds all things by the Word of His power. Because our God has power in His Word, we can see this power of the Word sustained even now, and spread the seed of the gospel that makes people born again and makes them sustained continuously.
Jesus Christ Made Purification of Sins by His Word
We must know that Jesus did not blot out our sins by wonders and miracles. Rather, God said that He blotted out our sins at once by His recorded Word that contains the righteousness of God. And it says that Jesus sits at the right hand of the majestic throne of God the Father in heaven and awaits the Judgment Day as the Judge.
The Book of Hebrews speaks to us about who Jesus Christ really is. Hebrews 1:1-4 tells us that, “Jesus Christ is such a person. God will give the remission of sins to us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit through Jesus Christ in this period. He will save us from all the sins of the world at once. And the new world will come through Jesus Christ in the future. Therefore, not only this world, but the new world that will come in the future will come through Jesus Christ.” The thing we must think about here is the fact that Jesus Christ will not only uphold all things by the Word, but also let the new world come about so that we will receive the cleansing of all our sins by His Word. It is saying that Jesus Christ who came to blot out our sins sits on the throne of the Majesty on high and He will come again as the Lord of the Advent to take us to be with Him in the Kingdom.
We must study a little more to understand the nobility of Jesus Christ. There is Scripture that compares angels and Jesus Christ. Here in Hebrews 1:5 it says, “For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son’?” Let’s look at Psalms Chapter 2 to understand this Word correctly. The reason we must come to understand this genuine Truth, without having any misunderstanding of it, is because of the followers of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other similar heretics that cover the earth who totally misunderstand this Word and put forth the argument, “Doesn’t it say here that Jesus is one of the angels?” If we understand the Word of God correctly we can know why these heretics twist Scripture and say, “Doesn’t it say that God has made You born among many angels at a certain time?” Is this what the Lord really says when we again look carefully at the Word we have just read? When looking at it again it says the complete opposite. Let us together read what it says in the Book of Psalms 2:7. It says clearly, “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’” Here, “My Son” refers to the Lord, not so? The entire Chapter 2 of the Book of Psalms is saying that Jesus Christ is God, the Savior, and the Judge.
This is the reason why it says,
“Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.’
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
‘Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.’
‘I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
All these Words are speaking about Jesus Christ and His ministry. Here in Psalms 2:7 we read, “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me”- is God speaking to Jesus. “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”- is God the Father speaking to Jesus Christ and not to one or any of the angels. We must now understand this passage of Scripture, that is, “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. I will be the Father to Him again and He will be the Son to Me’” - was not spoken to any angel. God the Father said this to His Son Jesus Christ. It says that no matter how high the position of an angel may be, God the Father has not made any one of the angels His Son. It is saying clearly that there is none among the angels who has become the Son of God. Instead Hebrews 1:6 says, “But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’” Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Firstborn Son among God’s sons, and the younger brothers are the people who have received salvation from their sins by believing in the righteousness of God.
If this be so then who are the other sons besides the Firstborn Son? It is speaking about you and me who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You and I are the people who have received salvation from all our sins by believing in Jesus Christ and His gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have now become the second son, the third son, fourth son, and so on, to God the Father. We who have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have become God’s sons.
The Bible therefore says that all the angels of God will bow down to us when Jesus Christ returns to the world again. So we can now see and understand that the angels are servants who serve the children of God and they are not the sons of God in the line of Jesus Christ like us. They are not beings who can be the masters in the Kingdom of God. Rather, they are angels who will serve as the servants in the Kingdom of Heaven. The author wrote this because the Hebrews or the people of Israel thought very highly of angels. The servant of God in this Epistle is saying that angels are not the sons of God because the Hebrews had the tendency to think very highly of the angels; thinking more highly of the angels than the servants of God, and even went a step further to think of angels more highly than Jesus Christ.
Even in our country, there are people who believe in a superstitious deity called ‘the three gods governing childbirth.’ Some say, “The three gods governing childbirth helped me” when they were in a danger. Likewise, the Israeli people also thought of angels more highly than Jesus Christ. This is the reason why such Words were written as an introduction in the Book of Hebrews. I would also like to speak about what relationship this Word has with us. I will speak about such things after I have addressed this topic more thoroughly.
The Angels Exist for the Sons of God
Hebrews 1:7 says, “And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.’” It says here that God did not make the angels and His servants as His sons, but instead made them become the servants of all the people. And in verses 8-9 we read, “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions,’” Here God is speaking about Jesus Christ and the people who have received the remission of sins by believing in Him, and that God has made them participate in His pleasure, and He has lit the flame of fire of joyfulness in them and made them receive truly great blessing since they indeed have loved righteousness and hated unrighteousness.
Jesus is really like that. Jesus really loved righteousness and the righteous works and hated unrighteousness and unlawfulness. Jesus came to this world and offered His body to be baptized by John the Baptist and then gave up His body to the Cross in order to save you and me from our sins and destruction. He would not have cared if we went to hell or not if He did not think of the righteous works and did not think about our salvation and only sought His own profit instead of loving you and me. If He did the former then you and I would have gone to hell. If Jesus only thought of His well-being, He would not have taken all the sins upon Himself and He possibly might not have died on the Cross.
However, the Lord sacrificed everything because He loved righteousness and hated the unlawfulness. The unlawfulness is referring to sin and it means that the Lord hated the evil, unlawfulness, and sin. Jesus sacrificed everything because He loved the work of saving us and therefore, God placed the Lord in joyfulness and brought angels and all things that are submissive before the presence of God to be in submission to His Son. God has given such joyfulness in His Son.
Let’s read Hebrews 1:10-12 together. It says, “You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” And verses 13-14 says, “But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
The Word as recorded in Hebrews 1:10-14 is like this. As we have read these verses together, our Lord who has saved you and me from our sins has made a foundation in the land and created the heavens by the Lord’s hands as well. This means that the Lord is God who created all things in the universe. It says that such things will be destroyed, but the Lord will exist eternally. It is saying the Lord will exist eternally. We read, “They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” Here the word ‘years’ mean the span of life. That is, God is saying that there will not be an end to this lifespan.
Who is the Lord? The Lord is the High and noble God who lives eternally like this. God emphasizes this again through His servant who wrote the Book of Hebrews speaking to the Hebrews. Hebrews 2:13 says, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Did God the Father make an angel sit at His side and say, “Till I make Your enemies Your footstool?” In other words, did God say to an angel, “Angel, you will sit at my right hand until your enemy is completely under submission”? No, He didn’t. Such words were spoken to Jesus Christ the Son of God who came to this world, took our sins upon Himself by receiving baptism, and giving up His body of sacrifice, receiving judgment by shedding His lifeblood, having His body pierced with nails on the Cross, and saved us by being resurrected from death. God has never said such things to any angel.
An angel is just a servant who serves. An angel is neither a majestic being like God nor a high and noble being like Jesus Christ the Son of God. You understand what I am saying, don’t you? It would probably be easier for you to understand if I illustrated this through the story of a lumberjack and a fairy that you and I know well. In the story, there is the Great Jade Emperor. In Confucianism and other eastern religions, the Great Jade Emperor is the very god. He had many daughters and one of his daughters wanted to go down to the world. The Great Jade Emperor forbade her from doing this, but she did not listen and went down.
This is the story about her coming down to the world in human flesh and going back to heaven after being tricked by a lumberjack and living with him for a while. I do not remember the story precisely. I am confused even while I am telling you the story. I cannot tell such a story properly. I can talk about the Word of God somewhat, but it always ends up being jumbled up whenever I tell such a stupid story. Such stories are handed down through oral tradition, aren’t they? Maybe this is the reason why it is confusing and the story has changed to various forms, but, anyway, many fairies appear in the story I heard.
The fairy in the story is like an angel we are talking about. Angels in our country are all female, not male. The angels that appear in the Scriptures seem like men although the distinction of gender is not specified. Angels of war and other angels seem like men if we were to make the distinction of their gender. Therefore, the phrase the, “Son of God”, appears many times in our sermons when we talk about such things and some women especially become upset and say things like, “What? Is it really the Son? Then, is it a Man?” I do not know about the gender. I am just saying this because it is written like that, but I am not speaking about the superiority of males now. Men have many shortcomings too.
Actually, in our country, there is a tradition of boasting of having a son, but one would not have to be envious of ten sons if he raised one daughter properly. The only thing is, in Confucianism, a family absolutely needed a son because males had the authority as the priest of ancestor worship when a person died. They thought a person became a ghost and ate food after death. However, does one become a ghost and eat food after dying? It’s not like that, but they think ghosts eat food. I think they are crazy.
If a soul of an ancestor came and ate food, and if he died without eating much food before dying, then one just has to take the ghost to a buffet and have worship service there. Then, the ghost could come and eat everything, right? Who can say anything if a ghost comes and eats food? What would be the problem if the children matured later in life and finally wanted to serve much food to the deceased?
However, there would be many who wouldn’t even set up the meal if the ghost really wanted to come and eat. The priest is just preparing the worship food for themselves who are alive. Confucianism is like that. They prepare food for themselves and bow down to appease their consciences.
Angels are Spirits that Serve the Servants of the Righteous
As we read about The Truth the Book of Hebrews we must come to know it and believe in it. Anyway, I want to draw to a conclusion as we read the Book of Hebrews 1:14 and as we listen to the Word the Lord wants to speak to us. When we read Hebrews 1:14, it says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Here we see that God has sent forth the angels to serve you and me who shall receive salvation, and to serve the people who have received salvation. All the angels are spirits that serve as God has commanded, that is, they are workers who do chores as they are commanded. Angels are spirits that were sent forth to serve the children of God and the people who would become the children of God.
The Book of Hebrews Chapter 1 summarizes this truth in this fashion. The thing we must understand through this Word is that the Lord has made the universe by His spoken Word, forgiven our sins by His Word, and judged us by His Word. Our Lord has indeed made the universe by His Word. God has made the heavens and the earth and all the worlds by the Word He has spoken. Hence, the Lord, Jesus Christ, is the Almighty God. God is really powerful. God said, let there be vegetables and fruit trees, the fruit trees that bear fruit with seeds, and so it was. The trees, grasses, vegetables, and flowers with seeds, rose out of the land. It became exactly like that when Jesus said let there be such things like that. God did all these works.
God is the Almighty like that. God who saved you and me is the Almighty like that too, and He even blotted out our sins by the Word. That is why the Bible is the Word of God. When we read the Word and confirm it deep in our hearts, hold onto it, and believe in it, our sins actually disappear, and we become the children of God. We can also go to the Kingdom of Heaven, and receive answers to our many prayers. Everything is fulfilled when we hold onto the Word and believe and pray. Do you understand what I am saying? It’s because the Word is God’s Word. That is why God’s Word has the power. All things in the heavens and earth exist even now because God’s Word has power.
Now, we can understand how the Hebrews, or the Israeli people, regarded the angels very highly. I want you to remember that the servant of God wrote such letters to the Hebrews in order to teach us about such evil practices and make us have the righteous faith because many Hebrews thought angels were greater than Jesus even after believing in Him. We who live in this last period must confirm this truth in our hearts and also learn this lesson through the Word.
There are certain pastors in our country, and no doubt around the world, who conclusively claim that, “Speaking in tongues is the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. They say, we can know that people have received the Holy Spirit when we see them speaking in tongues. Therefore, the people who speak in tongues have received the Holy Spirit and the people who cannot speak in tongues have not received the Holy Spirit.” The problem with this notion is that people just receive this teaching as the supposedly truth even though such things are not written about in the Scriptures. This teaching is so very wrong. Naïve and ignorant people believe these pastors who teach such wrong things because they supposedly speaks in tongues well and cast out demons from people by praying.
These days people are wary in testifying this teaching in public, but such error is not even worthy to be acknowledged when we compare their words and God’s Word. Although they might probably not believe in all their pastors words more than God’s Word, they acknowledge their words with almost a similar authority. They claim, “The pastor said it like this.” Therefore, they believe in his words. Such things are wrong in this period or era. We must put all authority back in the Word, that is, God’s Word, as we believe.
Christians who have not been truly born again in this period have a tendency to consider the word of pastors equal to that of the Word of God, just as the Hebrews had lifted up the angels higher than Jesus Christ. Both have the wrong faith.
The Lord said in the Hebrews 1:2, “Has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds,” and also in verse 3, “Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” These words mean that our lord has forgiven our sins by His Word. They mean that our Lord blotted out all our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord not only made all things by His Word, but blotted out our sins, that is, the sins inside our hearts, by His Word. What is the Word mentioned here? It is the very Word about the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must believe and receive the remission of sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit which is His Word since the Lord has blotted out our sins by this Word.
But what about those who believe in the words of their ministers blindly, rather than believing in God’s Word? This is the problem. For example, when a minister says that the Lord has cleansed our sins by only the shed blood of Christ on the Cross, then they believe in that untruth more than the gospel of the water and the Spirit which is God’s Word. The people’s sins can never be blotted out no matter how much they believe in the words of so-called pastors who say that one can be cleanses from sin by faith only in the blood of the Cross, but sadly, people hear and believe the words of pastors without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
When certain pastors, also religious reformers in the likes of Calvin, Martin Luther, or John Knox say that they have received the remission of sins by believing only in the blood of the Cross, then they just believe in something that has not been verified and thereby receive their destruction. They say anyone can receive the cleansing of sins if they just understand Jesus Christ as the Savior and believe in His shed blood of the Cross. There is wrong faith these days and the source of this wrong faith is in the very people who teach the wrong doctrine of Christianity because they do not know or believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
However, the people of this period look to us who are pointing out the wrong faith and say, “If so, then, are you better than them?” We must know what they are actually saying. They are really saying to us, “Such great clergymen have said this. Are you greater than them?” Looking at this error, what is the difference between them and the Jews who worshipped the angels? It is shameful to lift up angels higher than Jesus Christ or to lift up the words of a certain pastors higher than the Word of God. Such error filled teachings and behavior came about because of wrong leaders. They are all sinners. We must respect a pastor if he believes in the Word exactly as recorded in God’s Word and knows the Word exactly and preaches it exactly as it is written. But, even if one is a pastor, it is wrong if such a pastor just speaks whatever pleases him which differs from God’s Word, and does not teach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But unfortunately there are many such pastors and Christians in this period.
After hearing these truths people say to me, “Are you saying that you are better than the famous English Anglican Church minister John Stott or the famous American pastor Billy Graham, Moody, or John Wesley?” They compare such people with me on a scale and then denigrate and disrespect me by retorting, “You preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit and we cannot believe in that. Are you better than the Pastor Billy Graham? Are you better than Pastor Wesley? Are you better than John Knox? Are you better than Martin Luther? Are you better than Calvin? Don’t make us laugh. You don’t even make sense at all. These aforementioned individuals are so great. How can people like you say they are so wrong? And why do you say that we can receive the remission of sins only when we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit when even such great people say that they have received the remission of sins by believing only in the blood on the Cross? When we compare you to them it just doesn’t seem right.”
Like this, these people are those who consider these clergy’s words higher than the Word of God and they are like the people who commit the sin of considering the angels higher than Jesus Christ. They are people who make others commit a huge sin before the presence of God. This is a terrible wrong. It is terrible a sin. We must therefore understand correctly. Who is higher between Jesus Christ and the angels? Jesus Christ is incomparably higher than the angels. How much higher? Christ is the Creator and the angels are just creatures created by the Creator. Jesus Christ is that much greater and more glorious than the angels. And angels are just servants who should serve you and me, the people who have received the remission of sins.
However, it is wrong when people lift them up like Jesus Christ. And how wrong is it when they consider the position of the angels higher than you and me who have received salvation by believing in Jesus Christ who manifested the gospel of the water and the Spirit in the world? How wrong is it when they think and pray like that to the angels? It’s behavior like this that is serving the demons and worshipping the idols.
We Must all Return to the Faith of Believing the Righteousness of God
The Lord recorded the work He had done of blotting out our sins at once. The Lord spoke in the Old Testament about blotting out our sins and also spoke in the New Testament by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And the Lord fulfilled it exactly as He said. The Lord said in the Gospel of Matthew 1:23, “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” The Lord promised to come through a virgin’s body to be with us. Therefore, God came to us clothed in human flesh to be with us. He came via the body of the Virgin Mary as the Word of God had promised.
And it says that the Lord fulfilled all righteousness by receiving baptism from John the Baptist when He turned thirty years of age. This is why God the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” when Jesus came up out of the water after receiving baptism from John the Baptist. God the Father testified clearly here that Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist to fulfill the righteousness of God, and then died on the Cross, and was resurrected from death, in order to save us at once. God said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” God was really saying, “My Son is the One in whom I am well pleased. And He took all your sins upon Himself by the baptism like this according to My will, and He is the One who will be nailed to death on the Cross in place of your sins, and He is the One who will be resurrected from death and become your perfect Savior and bestow salvation to the people who believe like this.” The Lord took our sins away by the baptism He received like this and received judgment on the Cross for these sins.
But people still misunderstand this perfect salvation that Jesus has achieved and think “He just shed blood on the Cross. Therefore, I just have to believe in the blood of Jesus to receive the remission of sins.” Such notions are so very wrong. If God said the Lord has blotted out our sins by the Word, then, we just have to believe it exactly as it is recorded in the Word of God in order to receive salvation. If we do this then we are lifted out from all sins. There would be something wrong with the work God has done if sins were not blotted out even if we believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. However, it is God’s Word if sins really were blotted when we believed according to the recorded Word of the water and the Spirit. We become the people without sins eternally because God’s Word is the eternal Truth of salvation by believing in the righteousness of God by faith.
All the sins in my heart were cleansed away at once when I really met the gospel of the water and the Spirit as recorded in God’s Word while seeking the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I did not receive the cleansing of all my sins by saying my prayers of repentance. I did not receive the forgiveness of the sins by fasting and much prayer. I did not receive the cleansing of sins by praying all night either. Instead, I received the cleansing of my sins only when I believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There was nothing I could do or work for to receive this gift of salvation. If the sins of the people were transferred over to their sacrificial animals by the laying on of hands in the Old Testament, then surely Jesus our sacrificial Lamb had to take the sins of the world upon Himself by receiving the baptism of laying on of hands from the last high priest of the Old Testament by the same method in the New Testament.
Likewise, Christians still have to, by faith, transfer their sins to Jesus by putting them onto Him by the laying on of hands, by understanding and believing in the righteousness of God. Because they do not believe in this truth as recorded in the Word is why I am so frustrated. While searching for this truth, the true understanding came into my heart one day while I was reading the Word from the Gospel of Matthew 3:13-17. This scène came before me by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ coming to the Jordan River to receive baptism from John the Baptist, and then receiving baptism from John the Baptist. The Scriptures say, “But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”
As I was reading these Words, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,’” I realized by the Holy Spirit that Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by receiving the baptism John gave. I then at last realized, “Ah, hah! This is it!”
What is the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist? This baptism has the same meaning as the transferring over of the sins of the people by the high priest laying hands on the sacrificial animal in the Old Testament. Hence, Jesus receiving the baptism from John the Baptist means that Jesus took the sins of the world spiritually and covered His body of sacrifice with those sins. The baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist has this meaning spiritually. Jesus receiving baptism signifies, ‘Taking the sins upon Himself. Taking over the sins upon Himself. Carrying the sins to the Cross, and suffering death on the Cross because He took the sins upon Himself.’
I have looked up the meaning of the word ‘baptism’ in English, Chinese, Hebrews, and Greek. They all meant this and it was accurate. The Lord said, “For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” How? Through this method, He received baptism in ‘the most appropriate method, the method that was absolutely necessary.’
Jesus received baptism from John the Baptist in such a method, and took over the sins of humankind at once, and carried these sins and died on the Cross and became the Savior who saved us perfectly by being resurrected from death. It means all my sins were blotted out the moment I understood and believed in the Word about the righteousness of God. I would not have become the evangelist preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit like this if I had such a heart that prayed, ‘Lord, blot out my sins’ during the time of receiving the remission of sins. However, I received salvation and all my sins were blotted out when I came to know Jesus Christ who manifested the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You can also receive salvation by faith, when you hear the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and believe in it from the heart.
Hear the Word in the Gospel of Matthew 3:13-17 and then read the Word of God in the gospel of John 1:29, then the gospel of John chapter 19, and then Hebrews chapter 10. Then, you will come to believe in this truth when you hear that our Lord took our sins at once by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, carried the sins of the world, and died on the Cross and was resurrected from death. Hebrews 10:18 states, “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin,” and how did you feel when you heard these Words?
Did you believe when you read God’s Word and heard it with your ears? Were your sins blotted out when you believed? Sins were indeed blotted out. What more could we say about salvation when the Scriptures say that our Lord took our sins upon Himself by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist and walked to the Cross and blotted out our sins by being nailed to the Cross and shedding His lifeblood. Our Lord blotted out our sins by the baptism of taking our sins upon Himself at once and the blood He shed on the Cross and in doing this wanted to separate the people who shall go to Heaven and the people who shall go to hell. This is why the Word of God is so important and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit becomes even more important evidence. However, all such things like seeing a vision while praying to God and having a dream are meaningless. Do you understand?
All Christians living in the entire world must now return to the faith that believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit which is the Word of God. Only destruction awaits them if they do not return to the way of becoming born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit according to the Word of God. Christianity throughout the entire world has taken the wrong path by rejecting Jesus Christ like the Israeli people. Some among them think of angels as being more highly regarded than Jesus and have fallen into wrong belief. Jews fell into wrong faith and betrayed Jesus Christ and as a result were consequently destroyed. Likewise, Christianity, in this period, has also gone wrong like this. It is wrong for people to just think of the words spoken by their pastors and put aside the Word of the water and the Spirit which contains the righteousness of God. This is why many people today live a life of faith that believes in the true Jesus as the Savior in the wrong way because they believe without knowing the righteousness of God. Instead of believing in the true God in the correct way they interfere with the people who want to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and make them go to hell. The Israeli people must also return to Jesus Christ, including all the people in the entire world. All of mankind must return to the recorded gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit if we want to meet Him personally since God is not visible to eyes. Only when we do this by faith can we meet the living God. We can never meet the God of the Truth if we just say our prayers of repentance everyday and reject the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Jesus is God of this Word. Our Lord created the universe by His Word and also manifests to us through His Word the truth and fulfills His will in us by His Word. Therefore, we must return to the Word of God. We must return back to the Word of God. We must return inside the Word of God which makes up the 66 books of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Even aside from this Word, we cannot receive salvation from sins without Jesus Christ. The 66 books of the Old Testament and the New Testament are enough for us to receive the remission of all our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it’s enough for us to live a spiritual life, and its enough for us to understand who Jesus Christ really is.
Our Lord speaks to us with and through His Word even now, and meets us with His gospel of the water and the Spirit and provides the true criteria of judging the right and wrong by God’s Word. And God forgives our sins by us believing in the Word of God by faith and makes us His children and teaches us how the righteous should live by believing in the Word. The Lord shows us Heaven and hell by His Word. Therefore, God tells us to receive the cleansing of sins and enter Heaven by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Do you truly believe?
All Christians Must Return to the Word of God in These End Times
All Christians throughout the entire world must now return to the Word of God. I really want to tell you that. I want to tell you this because the predicted calamity in Gods Word will occur in the world in a short while. You and I who live in these times must live by thinking how we who have received the remission of sins, and live our lives before the presence of God. It is written clearly in the Word of God. Doesn’t it say in the Scriptures, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be added unto you”?
The Lord shows us the way of righteousness with His Word. The Lord lightens up the way of the righteous brightly. We must not say, ‘Oh, Lord, I do not know how You are leading me’ when His Word clearly states, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be added unto you.” Why wouldn’t you know how to live when the Lord tells us how we must live? All things will be resolved when we return back to the Word of God and live our lives by the faith of believing since God always teaches us the way as it’s recorded in His Word.
During the reformation period, there were purists who started movements that yearned to return back to the Word of God, and to follow Gods leading, and stop when He says stop. But sadly, today, many Christians have gone far away from the Word of God. And they live a life as fleshly believers, not spiritual believers. Therefore, they are turning Christians into materialistic believers. They keep saying, “You will be blessed if you tithe faithfully. And, speaking in tongues are the evidence of receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit.”
How far have they gone away from the Word of God? Most of them claim, “You are born again if you just believe in the blood of the Cross.” They claim a superstitious kind of faith that a person is saved just by conforming to that church, and by believing in the blood of the Cross, even though they do not know the Truth of being born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
How far have such people gone away from the righteousness of God? They already live in a state far away from Gods Word. They have become materialistic and worldly Christians as they have gone so far away from God. They have gone so far away from the Word of God that they do not even know where everything started going wrong. We have the responsibility today to teach the true way of the Truth by evangelizing the gospel of the water and the Spirit to these modern Christian believers who have such a wrong faith. You and I have such a responsibility. We, the servants of God who have received the true remission of sins, have indeed a big responsibility. The responsibility is so large that I cannot sleep, and I cannot take my hands off the work, and I do not even have time to do something for my own flesh because much work needs to be done.
We would have time to spare if there were more people who were doing the work of evangelizing the gospel of the water and the Spirit ahead of us. If we had that kind of time, we would even be able to travel to many fantastic places like islands that we do not even know the names of. However, I cannot do that because I am so busy.
We have read the Word of God today. Although you and I do not have many abilities, I want us to hear, by Gods Spirit, what He is speaking to us about and also to reconnect our heart of faith. Beloved saints, I sincerely want you who follow God faithfully to live a true spiritual life set firmly by faith, and leave people alone who cannot and will not believe or follow the righteousness of the Lord faithfully. If they do not believe and follow the righteousness of the Lord faithfully, then, it’s their loss. There is nothing more we can do for them if they do not follow the righteousness of the Lord.
When the children of Israel came out of slavery in Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and went towards the land of Canaan, what happened to all those straddles that followed behind and complained bitterly? The soldiers of other countries in the area chased after them and killed them off. Here we see all these complainers who followed lazily behind the main group had died. They were all caught by the enemy and became the slaves of the enemy. The line must go forward no matter how the soldiers of other countries take the complaining and difficult people at the rear. It does not damage the line.
Those who do not follow the guidance of God’s Church, and do not believe in the Lord’s Word, and those who do not follow the people of faith, who complain all the time, and who think there is a way to survive apart from the Lord, are the foolish ones. Instead, when we the people of faith have a problem, we experience resolving the problem quickly when we bring the problem to the servants of God and discuss it with them and pray with them. But many people do not know this fact. You may think it is a big problem, but it can be resolved in God when you bring such things to the servant of God and discuss it openly with them.
I cannot give you gold and silver because I do not have money, but I can give you wisdom to resolve the problem and suggest a way to solve that problem. Then of course, it can be resolved quickly. However, people keep to themselves and give up when it does not seem possible, or they tell us to not care for their problem. Who wants to deal with those problems? I do not want to care for it. I want to pretend I do not know even if I knew about it. Why? It’s because it can be bothersome. Is that true or not? I should not be like that, but I would rather pretend I do not know about it even if I knew because it would be too bothersome. If they really feel like dying because of no way out, they could come and discuss the problem with the servant of God and receive guidance and direction on how to resolve that problem.
Those who have fallen into a test would eventually receive the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and be united with God’s Church and follow it diligently, and those who have not believed would become envious. You and I must leave such unbelieving people and rather stretch our hands by faith towards those who have not received the remission of sins yet and witness the salvation to them. Just leave the immature people alone to follow at the rear. Let them do whatever they want and go through much hardships and maybe in time they will ask the Church to accept them after they have found out that things don’t happen as they wish. There is nothing we can do about such people who do not even have courage to do these things. They will think it’s their fate and meet the Almighty Lord after living like that.
The Lord will judge them appropriately in due time. The Lord will bring down the appropriate penalty upon them. I do not even want to talk about that. I do not want to talk about that because I have spoken about it more than a thousand times and it is not easy to talk about an unfortunate thing when people become tired of even good things when we tell them all the time. We must just leave that situation alone when we have done all that we can. The people who are out in front must not be held back because of such wicked people. They should not try to hold the ankles of those who are advancing.
Are we the people who would have our ankles caught by someone just because he wants to? We just need to swing our feet and kick them off and go forth. We must go forth continuously for the evangelization of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When do we have time to have our ankles ensnared by such people while there are so many people dying and so many people crying out for our help, and we have to evangelize the gospel of the water and the Spirit to these people and to nurture those who have already received the remission of sins and make them able to live the spiritual life?
These kinds of people are the immature. There is a saying in our country that says ‘A good tree is apparent from a little sprout.” We can see if it’s going to be a good tree by just looking at the tiny leaf when a sprout starts coming up. A sprout that becomes a healthy tree grows properly even when it is young, and the one that does not become a healthy tree has yellowish leaves from the outset. This yellowish color shows up from its youth and no doubt turns out to be a bad tree. Of course, there are some that grow up properly when we give them much nutrition and raise them properly. However, it would need much more effort on our part.
All the people of the world, more than 6.5 billion people, are stretching out their hands towards us who have received the remission of sins. They are asking us to save them from their sins and asking us to evangelize the Word that gives them the remission of sins. Even today, I have received a phone call from someone who is in charge of foreign missions, a certain pastor from Kenya in Africa. He said that he is doing ministry, but that he had never preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit even though he has preached many sermons. He said that there wasn’t anybody who preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit in that country. He said that they thought they received the remission of sins only by the blood of the Cross until now. However, after reading the Word of the Truth, he said he realized that they have really misunderstood it and that he now believed in the Truth.
He said that he did not know such Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit in God’s Word and, since he had read it, he said he wanted to help in this work too because it is so wonderful. He blessed us as he shared this news. He told me that he wanted God to bless me and all the people who were doing such work. However, I am not doing such work of evangelizing the gospel of the water and the Spirit by myself. We ministers are all doing this work. I believe the prayer of blessing they are offering up to God will manifest in all of us. And it actually manifests like that. And we must believe like that and go forth by faith and become more mature.
Our thinking must grow much. We must make this faith grow among the next generation although we go through much hardship to evangelize the gospel now. We must work even from when we are young. You must understand what hardship the parents had to go through. The young adults who do not know whether their parents are living or dying and just ask for money all the time and are only concerned with their own comfort are like that because they have not experienced any hardship when they were young. People who have gone through hardships when they were young take good care of their parents. Sending your children to college is a good thing, but making your children go through hardships when they are young could also be a beneficial education. Then, they will definitely become sons and daughters who care for their parents. 100%. This is 100% true.
Some of you may think, “Oh, pastor Jung is talking as if he knows something about education although he did not major in any education. Who in the discipline of education says that?” Here I am. I am saying that now. It is same for older people as well. People who have experienced hardship can realize that other people live with difficulties too and they come to know that they live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit and they sacrifice and work hard as they serve the gospel.
We know this by our own experiences, not because we want to know this. We can understand all these things because we live like that now too. The people who have lived like that come to know that God gives them a way of escape and helps them and also gives them new strength as well when they are about to face a test, when they are about to collapse because it is so difficult. We are not alone. The Lord is with us. He is always with us. The Lord is our helper and our God who is always at our right hand. He is always with us like this.
Beloved, turn your eyes towards all the people of the world. Do not just look at your family. People who do not listen will not listen no matter what you say or do. Luke 12:47-48 says, “The servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.” We know that more than 6.5 billion people of the world do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I realize this fact. There is no way for us to escape doing this work.
I knew this fact from the moment I understood and believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When I read the Word of God and when I looked at Christianity through the entire world, I realized that the 2000 years of Christian history was invalid. I cried, “Lord, what should I do? What can I do about this? What can I do when John Knox did not know, Martin Luther did not know, Calvin did not know, and only the Apostles and the people who had learned from the Apostles knew the gospel of the water and the Spirit? What can I do when there was a religious reformation after that and such people did not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit? What can I do when such people who led the religious reformation and called for Christians to return to the Word of God and established the Christianity today did not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit either?”
Therefore, there is no way for us to not preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them. We must do this work even if we died doing this work. Why? It’s because we are the only ones who understand the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That is why we are evangelizing the gospel throughout the entire world through out print media missions. Among the 45 million people in our country, they say about 12 million believe in Jesus. Look to the entire world. More than 6.5 billion people live in the world. Most people do not believe in the righteousness of God. There are many people who do not know about the gospel of the water and the Spirit even though they say they believe in God. People in our country are not the only people living in the world. Our family is not the only family. All the people of the world are lost sheep. We must evangelize the true gospel of the water and the Spirit to them.
People who receive the remission of sins by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit are continuously rising up. This is the time of the great harvest. I want you and me to become the people who entrust all our problems and concerns to the presence of the LORD and evangelize of the gospel of the water and the Spirit only.
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