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Subject 24 : Sermons for Those Who Have Become Our COWORKERS
[24-1] Blessed Are Those Who Share the Bread of Life In This Last Age (Matthew 24:32-51)
(Matthew 24:32-51)
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Let’s read the Word from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24 verses 6 to 8: “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” The Lord said that, when the end times come, we will hear of wars and rumors of wars and nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes. And this is really true.
These Days, We Only Hear the News of Calamities
As I often hear the news of calamities around the world these days, I think the time of the Lord’s coming is at hand. In today’s Scripture passage we have read, the Lord said, “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!” (Matthew 24:32-33). Leaves of fig trees dry up and fall; and the branches are left barren during winter. However, in spring, new buds sprout forth from the branches first and the small figs sprout afterwards. Each fig has its own blossom inside the fruit. We just cannot see its blossom because it blooms like that. We can assume that a fruit from a fig tree is ripe when it becomes reddish. Such is a fig tree the Lord says that we should know that summer is near when its branches become tender and leaves sprout forth from its branches.
Like this, the Lord warns us that He is at the door when famines, earthquakes, and calamities start happening throughout the world. The Lord is showing such signs to us we who are still living in our flesh and who grow very weary living in such an era. Some time ago, we saw many people crushed to death in Sichuan Province of China due to a devastating earthquake; and the prime minister of China wept and requested aid for the people of his country. Many students died due to this earthquake because many school buildings collapsed. The government of China vowed to investigate the constructors who had built these schools and punish anyone responsible for shoddy workmanship in the building of these schools. But do you think they really would have known that these school buildings would collapse if such an earthquake erupted? It has been about 10 years since the last time I had visited Yeonbyun in China, and at that time I saw that they were doing shoddy construction work. Anyhow, a strong earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale rocked Sichuan Province, and it was reported that nearly 100 thousand people died in this single calamity.
The Lord said that we should know that the Son of Man is at the door during the days of calamities and it means that the time is near for the Advent of our Lord. The Lord said that every Word He spoke will definitely be fulfilled, saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). Today’s Scripture passage can be interpreted in various ways, but the main point is that the time of our Lord’s return is at hand. The first world God had created in the beginning was through Adam and Eve, but all the creatures died during the flood except for Noah’s family and the living things that were inside the ark. The Lord then made us humans be fruitful and multiply after Noah’s family had came out of the ark. And we were born of Noah’s descendants. Hence, this new mankind was produced, but we, the second humankind, are doomed to perish away.
Like the first humankind that disappeared, the second humankind is about to be destroyed and the third humankind is now preparing to appear on the stage of the new world. And the third world is the Millennial Kingdom and it is the beginning of the eternal Kingdom of God. Thus, the Lord said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). We must understand that the Lord’s Word will definitely be fulfilled. We must therefore live by faith in the Word of the Lord. Otherwise, people who do not know what this era entails and do not live by faith will be destroyed with this world while only being concerned with worthless things.
No One Knows the Day and the Hour of the Lord’s Coming; But He Will Come Like Noah’s Flood Came
The Lord said that the people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the moment Noah’s flood came down. He said that they did not know of the imminent destruction even until the moment God destroyed them all. The Scripture states that everything, except Noah’s family, was destroyed in the flood. At that time, no one among all the people knew that the destruction was drawing near until the moment they themselves were put to death.
Who does not know this fact? All Christians these days know this fact. But despite this they don’t care about the fact that the time of our Lord’s return is at hand just like the people of Noah’s days did not care about the imminent destruction that Noah had warned them of. We must know that the Advent of the Lord has drawn near. It is also true that the time of the destruction of this world has come, but it also means that the time has drawn near for our Lord to come to us as the Lord of Advent.
What will our Lord do when He comes to this world for the second time? The Lord will make all the people who have received salvation from their sins live in the new world together with Him. And the Lord will come to judge sinners who do not believe in His righteousness. We must know that the time has drawn near for our Lord to come and be awakened.
Our Lord taught us the preachers and the saints about His second coming. The Lord said, “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into” (Matthew 24:40-43). The time of the Lord’s coming has clearly drawn near. Therefore, those who say that they do not know when the Lord will come must be awakened and believe in this Word of the Lord. The Lord will come to this world and take one with Him but leave the other behind.
These two men in this Word denote two kinds of preachers. All the preachers think they are doing the work of God in this world. All the preachers are preaching the gospel Word to people, and when the Lord actually returns to this world, one will be taken and the other left. Whether or not one will be taken by God will be decided on whether or not that person believes in the righteousness of God. They all do the work of the Lord, but it will be decided on the basis of whether or not they are approved in the eyes of the Lord. A person will either be taken by the Lord or left by the Lord on a certain basis. Even among the preachers, some will be taken by the Lord while others will be left behind. It means that our Lord decides the end result of our faith. Whether or not we are taken by the Lord depends on the Lord’s standard, not ours. The Lord will come to this world and take those who deserve to be taken and cast away those that should be cast away. The Lord will take us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and are faithful to Him to the Kingdom of the Lord and make us live eternally there.
In the Scripture passage we have read today, the Lord said, “Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left” (Matthew 24:41). To whom is the Lord speaking to here? The Lord is speaking this Word to the preachers living in this world. The Lord is speaking to us here. The Lord is speaking to you and me. The Lord is telling us to stay awake. The Lord is saying that we must stay awake because the time of the Lord’s coming has drawn near. Put differently, the Lord is telling us to prepare for His Second Advent.
The Lord is also telling us to preach this gospel faithfully. The Lord is telling us to preach this gospel faithfully to all the people of this world. It means that we will enter the Kingdom of the Lord in due time while preaching the gospel like this. The Lord said, “Wake up and preach this gospel. When I return to this world and see the people living like this, I will bless such people. However, if there is anyone who drinks and mingles with the people of the world, I will bring down harsh punishment upon him.” The Lord said that He will even separate the wicked from the righteous (Matthew 13:49). The most frightening punishment is to be cast away by God. The Lord said that He will do such things when the time fully matures.
We Are Now Preaching the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit throughout the Entire World
Now, the Lord is telling us beforehand of the things our Lord will come and do in the future. The Lord tells us to know that the Son of Man is at the door when calamities occur everywhere in this world. However, the Lord says, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36). The Lord repeats these two things continually here. The Lord alludes to us the time of His coming. But, no one among the peoples of this world knows the time of the Lord’s coming. Moreover, the people of the world must not know the time of the Lord’s coming. This is why the Lord said that no one knows that the coming of the Lord is near.
There is a person named Julian Chaderton in Belgium. He is about 50 years old now. He said that he received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit after reading our books and that his wife and daughters have also accepted the gospel so eagerly when he shared the gospel with them. We are planning to appoint him as one of the Appointed Evangelists of our Mission and entrust him with the work of preaching the gospel to the people in his homeland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, West Indies.
The brothers and sisters in Korea and our coworkers overseas are preaching this gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the entire world as the gospel preachers before the presence of God. Here, in Matthew chapter 24 verses 45 to 46, the Lord said, “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.” It means that the people who take care of the people of God and give them spiritual food in due season are blessed. But, then, who are the people that will give spiritual food in due season to the people who have the image of the likeness of God? They are those who preach the Word of the Truth of the Lord until the time of the Lord’s coming. Those who preach God’s bread of life throughout the entire world are the blessed people. Our coworkers, brothers, and sisters are working as ornamental knobs of the golden lampstand for sharing the gospel, the spiritual food of God.
We do the work of God continuously, but some people accept this gospel while others do not accept it. Those who accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit in their hearts will be taken before the presence of God but unbelievers in this gospel who do not accept it will be left behind. We are preaching the gospel now when the coming of the Lord is imminent and these things will surely occur when the Lord comes. So, I really want us to become the people who distribute spiritual food in due season. So many people throughout the entire world are receiving the remission of sins through us now. However, there are many people who are against us as well. Nevertheless, one thing is clear, and this is, the Advent of the Lord is imminent.
During the time of the flood of Noah, people were only interested in marrying, being given in marriage, and the other fleshly things of the world until the flood devastated the world. At that time, the pouring deluge lasted for 40 days, but even until the very moment of the beginning of the flood, they just ate and drank and never thought that they would be destroyed. Only Noah and his family obeyed the Word of God about the imminent destruction of the world and prepared the ark. Besides Noah’s family, no one else thought like that. People thought, “No matter how much it rains, how could it flood the entire earth which is so spacious? No matter how much it rains, I don’t think all the people will die. We will just have to make sure the drainage system is working properly. And if the water floods over the sewage system, then, we just have to go up onto the roofs. And if the water comes up to the roofs, we just have to go up onto the mountain tops. And if the water comes up to the mountaintop, then, we just have to go up on a higher mountain.” They thought, “No matter how much it rains, I doubt that the entire world will be flooded.”
During the days of Noah, there probably wasn’t a mountain as high as Mt. Everest of the Himalaya Mountain range. The high mountains of this world have been formed by the diastrophic changes of the earth. Anyway, I don’t know if there were high mountains during the time of Noah, but the fact that the entire world was flooded is true. However, the people at that time doubted that such a thing could ever possibly happen. They thought, “Such things could not possibly happen. And even if it did happen, all the people would die, not just me.” They thought vaguely like this but it actually happened.
How is the thinking of the people living in this era compared to that of the people of Noah’s days? They are all the same. Destruction will suddenly come to this world just like the flood during the time of Noah. This destruction will actually come suddenly. When? Has that time drawn so near? We don’t have to argue and discuss whether that time has drawn near or not. In the similar vein, there is no need to even make distinctions about denominations within Christianity. Why is it necessary to hold fast onto sectarianism? Regardless of which denomination you belong to, you will be destroyed if you have sins in your hearts, and, therefore, the only thing you have to do is to prepare your heart for the genuine faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit when you encounter it and receive the remission of your sins. And you only have to be brought up as a person of faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and keep that precious faith in your hearts and greet the Lord when He returns. Therefore, we will have achieved our purpose if we are taken by the Lord. Then, why do we have to make denominational distinctions now when we only have to do this? Why do we have to fight against each other with sectarianism within Christian communities in these end times?
People prepare things only for their flesh as if they are going to live in this world for thousands of years because they do not know the will of God, but they will be destroyed if they live like that. Not only for the people of the world, but for all Christian believers also, there is no time to contemplate this and that among worldly affairs. One must readily believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit now when one hears someone preaching it or reads about it through one of our books. All sinners must now prepare to meet the Second Coming Lord. They must prepare to meet the Lord and enter the Kingdom of the Lord. This is why we the born-again must now preach this gospel of the water and the Spirit to all the people throughout the entire world. We must distribute this bread of life that gives true life to everyone.
What then is this spiritual food for everyone’s soul? It is the Word of God. True life is in the Word of God. This Word is the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. God’s Word is the Word of life and the Word of the Truth. God’s Word renews our souls and makes us be blessed.
The destruction of the world is imminent now and sinners therefore do not have time to contemplate leisurely whether or not they should accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We are now sending our sermon books in bulk to our distributing coworkers and also in small parcels to individual requesters. Besides sending one or two books at a time to individuals, we are also sending our books in a large quantity like about 3,000 to tens of thousands volumes at a time. Anyway, we are sending out many books. When we send these books to people in each and every country like this, some people read the books and accept this gospel while others do not accept it; some people put it aside after reading it a little and some people give it to others; and some people see that it is different from what they have learned and thus close the book and deem it to be heretical.
But, can they afford to be like this in their dire situation? They cannot afford to be like this because they are in a desperate situation. They cannot afford to reject the gospel of God when they are sinners ready to be destroyed right now due to their sins. They are sinners that should be most assuredly destroyed. Then, how can they receive salvation from this imminent destruction if they are unduly stubborn like that? They must be thankful and quickly accept this gospel of the water and the Spirit. You also must be thankful if God wants to save you from all your sins.
Regardless of How People React, We the Preachers Must Share the Spiritual Food with Them in Due Season
We must give out the bread of life diligently. When we distribute this food, we the preachers must not be partial; we should not give the food only to the people we like and not to the people we do not like. This is the reason why we are doing the literature ministry. We are producing and distributing many books containing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We run into difficulties and face problems at times while distributing these mission books like this, but people read them and receive salvation. Readers who deserve to believe will believe in the genuine gospel, but other readers will not believe in it. Perhaps, some people will throw away this book or give it away to some other friends. They might say, “Are you interested in this book? You attend a church, don’t you? Go ahead and read this book. I just can’t understand it although I have read it.” Anyway, the books are read by people like this. The Lord blesses us who give this spiritual food to all the people throughout the entire world. The Lord has promised that He will entrust the Millennial Kingdom and all His Kingdom of Heaven to us who distribute this spiritual food. The Lord entrusts us with the Kingdom to live in there for eternity. This is the blessing the Lord gives to us the righteous.
In the end times, we must do the work of distributing spiritual food. Our coworkers must also do the same work. We have made a website named “nlmbookcafe.com” for the coworkers overseas and it is good that that they are sharing fellowship with each other through this website and working together now. And they are becoming stronger spiritually while communicating with each other like this. They gain strength from one another.
Actually, we can find many good things to do if we just make up our mind to do this righteous work of God. We can distribute our sermon books or we can preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit personally, and there are so many places that we can distribute this spiritual food because there are so many sinners in this world. There are many people in this world now who have received the remission of sins by hearing this genuine gospel and believing in it with heart.
Before, we used to distribute our books in Korea also, and in one occasion, an elder of a certain church read one of our books and received salvation. One of our saints had put a book inside through the opened gate of his house and the elder read it and came to our Church and heard the gospel Word and joyfully received the remission of sins. This person was an elder of a small church of a rural village and he does not attend our Church now because he does not want to be ostracized by the people of his village. Anyway, that elder believes in this gospel personally. Whether or not this person keeps this gospel in the future, we should leave that matter to the Lord. We just have to distribute our gospel books and many people will receive the remission of their sins through these books. In any case, we must know that there are many things we have to do in this era. We went out and preached this gospel to the people in hospitals, on the streets, at schools, and many other places and many people actually received the remission of sins. Many people receive the remission of sins when we distribute our books and preach this genuine gospel. The Lord is pleased with all of us who do such works.
How should we live in these end times? The coming of our Lord has drawn near and we must do the work of distributing spiritual food even more. We must be glad to do this. There is nothing else to rejoice about. We must keep our faith, pray, and do the work of giving this spiritual food out to other people. Distributing spiritual food is very important. There would be limitations in distributing this spiritual food if we just preached the gospel only through verbal communication. However, if we distribute this spiritual food of the gospel through literature ministry, we can save so many people in many countries in a very short time, for even more people beyond our reach can read our books and receive the remission of sins. Then, many people can be brought up and become the servants of God like us and also do the work of distributing the same spiritual food and please God.
In this period of calamities when the Advent of the Lord has drawn near, we must do the work of distributing such spiritual food now. Our coworkers overseas must do such good works also. Our coworkers in Korea must do this works as well. I am saying that this is not the time to be caught up with the thought of how you should live in this world in comfort and prosperity. You must preach this gospel so outlandishly much.
It seems that our coworker Julian Chaderton of Belgium has preached this genuine gospel to his wife and asked her to return to his homeland, Nevis Island, to preach this gospel. I heard that his wife works at an embassy. I will read one of the letters this couple has written to each other. Julian Chaderton is now in his hometown Nevis and this is the letter his wife wrote to him. Julian Chaderton has suggested that she would return to Nevis and work together for the gospel, and the following is his wife’s reply to his letter.
She wrote, “Julian, thank you for the words of encouragement and enlightenment. Your words are very encouraging. I believe you. All that I should do is to believe in the Lord and the Lord will surely guide my footsteps. Leanna and Carida are doing well. They have tests in school at the end of this month and they are both doing their best in school.” This coworker wrote a letter to his wife asking her to return to his hometown with their two daughters and preach the gospel and work for the gospel together, and his wife replied like that. I think his wife is a fine woman. How nice it would be if a wife responded so positively with the same heart like this when a husband preached the gospel to his wife. The wife thanked her husband Julian for his words of encouragement and enlightenment. This is so wonderful, isn’t it?
How difficult it would be if a husband preached the gospel Word to his wife but his spouse accused him of falling into a cult and said that she would leave him because of it? It is wonderful to have such a polite wife like this. When the husband asked his wife to return to their hometown and live together preaching this gospel, she replied, “Your words are very encouraging. You are correct. All that I should do is to believe in the Lord and the Lord will guide my footsteps.” Her husband had just preached the gospel only moments ago and she said that the things her husband said were all encouraging. She is saying that his words are really correct and that the things he does and things he says are all correct. I think Julian’s wife will be blessed abundantly. I think his wife will unite firmly with her husband and serve the gospel faithfully.
I was told that their two daughters are studying hard for the test and plan to go to a college in Canada. Thus, I think the children are high school students. Brother Julian went to his homeland a few months ago and saw that there were so many people in need of spiritual food. Therefore, I asked our distribution center to send even more books to Brother Julian. I have given directions to the Head Office of our Mission in order to appoint him as one of our Appointed Evangelists. We also asked him how many of our books he could receive and distribute, and we will send him 3,000 books. There is so much work for him to do. I think Brother Julian’s wife is fluent in various languages because she has worked in an embassy. I think she can be doing a great job in God’s work.
There are so many people in the world who are in desperate need of this spiritual food, aren’t there? There are people, who refuse this food and persecute our preachers, but they are small in number; but there are so many people who really long for God’s Word of life as they look at this world which is headed for destruction. I am sure there really are so many truth-seekers. There probably are so many people who seek this spiritual food although we have not met them yet. If a preacher is awakened to sanity, then, he will see that there are so many places that he could preach this gospel of the water and the Spirit. I sometimes also want to stop devoting myself to this literature ministry now and go to each country with a few of our ministers and preach the gospel and distribute books together with our coworkers. However, I cannot do that because the work of correcting my manuscripts is still unfinished, but there is so much work we must do together. We will receive blessing from God for this work we are doing and we will be taken away by Him for this devotion. We will be taken by the Lord to the new Kingdom the Lord has prepared for us.
This Is the Era That the Lord Is at the Door and His Advent Is Imminent
We must know what kind of era this is and be awake. Hence, we must know properly that now is the time to distribute spiritual food unsparingly. We must discern the reality of this era and realize that the time of the Lord is nearer now. We have heard about people crying and weeping in China because of the devastating earthquake that struck them. Myanmar was another country that had lost almost one hundred thousand people by Cyclone Nargis. But, do you think there won’t be such weeping in Korea also? It is true that God is protecting Korea by special providence. It is true that God is protecting our country because we the righteous in Korea are doing the work of distributing spiritual food throughout the entire world. However, there is no guarantee that the same scale of calamities that occurred in China and Myanmar won’t happen in Korea. Such calamities will occur also in Korea when we finish preaching this gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the entire world.
What is the use of crying over the death of tens of thousands victims? They have all passed away underneath the ruin. Instead of crying over their tragic deaths, we must have prepared for salvation beforehand. We must prepare for the salvation of our families. What good will weeping do after our family members have died. We should rather prepare their salvation beforehand, and we then wipe away the tears when they actually pass away. Of course, we will weep because we are sad, but we must know beforehand that we all are going to die some day. A person must know that if he has sins in his heart, he will be destroyed by God and be judged for those sins. A person who has sins in his heart is like the beast that perishes (Psalm 49:20). Such people must know that they will receive the judgment from God and also go to hell because of their sins. How can a person not be imprisoned, not receive the judgment and curse for their sins from God when they have sins in their hearts? It is appropriate for sinners to receive the judgment and curse for their sins from God. You must know such truth as you live in this world. All the people throughout the entire world must also think about such things while living in this world.
It is ridiculous for someone to dream of living prosperously or happily for a short while when they are doomed to go to hell because they still have sins intact in their hearts. Such people must know their basic nature well, lament over their sins, and seek mercy from God to receive the remission of their sins. And they must accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit with thanksgiving and thereby be saved absolutely. And even after they have received salvation from their sins, they must know that other souls will go to hell if they have sins and therefore they must also do the work of preaching this gospel to these souls. It will be of no use if they do not do this work and the destruction strikes them. I think a person that wants to do the works of spreading the gospel only after the great tribulation occurs is the most foolish person.
We laid thick and wide plate glass panes on the rooftop of the church building of the Inje Discipleship Training Center and put up a greenhouse over the glass-roof, but the wind was so strong that it tore the vinyl into pieces. We had laid H-beams underneath the poles of the greenhouse and stabilized it on the ground with anchor bolts, but they were partly uprooted. The wind was so strong that some anchor bolts were uprooted. When we put up the greenhouse, we did not think or calculate what would happen when a strong wind blows. Therefore, the greenhouse was torn to pieces. Now, we will calculate what would happen if a strong wind should blow and do the work properly so that it will not be torn to pieces by the wind in the future. The people in China should have known that these buildings would collapse when an earthquake erupted. Likewise, we should prepare before something tragic happens. What can we do after such a tragic disaster had already happened? We must prepare for disasters before they really happen and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit beforehand.
What was the name of the ex-husband of the deaconess Soonok Park in Japan? His name was Sakamoto, and once, while he was in Korea, he went over the Misiryung Hills in Mt. Sorak. While going over these Hills, he saw there were so many rocks on the hillside by the road. They seemed to roll towards him in his eyes. Sakamoto was therefore scared to death of those rocks. He was very frightened because there are so many earthquakes in Japan and the people in Japan could never afford to leave rocks hanging so precariously like that. So he thought that the rocks would roll down and crush him if they were left like that. On the contrary, how are the people of Korea? Koreans do not even blink their eyes even though rocks are hanging precariously at the edges of a mountain over their heads. They think, “Let it roll down. It doesn’t bother me.” However, those rocks would be frightening if an earthquake erupted.
We must inform the people, even the preachers of this world as well, that they will go to hell if they still have sins in their hearts. We must inform them of this truth and distribute life-giving food to them beforehand. If we do not know this truth and the destruction actually occurs, it will be useless no matter how much we weep and cry over them afterwards. It will already be too late. The coming of the Lord is near now, and the thing we must do is to stay awake and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the people who are heading for hell. Now is the time of action. We must know this and stay awake. We are preparing to do this work and we are doing this work very well now. Moreover, we must continue to do this work. We must not sit back and be satisfied with the work we have done so far.
The gospel and the Word of God that we the righteous are preaching now is the very bread of life. I become frustrated whenever I listen to any Christian broadcast these days. I think to myself, “Is that really the Word of God you are preaching now? And do you think the words you utter bring life to sinners? Are you preaching your words and thoughts or are you boasting of your proficiency in delivering a speech? Have you really understood the Scripture passage you are preaching from?” I become frustrated when I look at such preachers. They do not know anything and they are not the sort of people who would listen even if I told them the truth.
Not everything that is preached from the Word of God is undoubtedly of the Word of God. The Word of God must be genuine spiritual food to the people. The Word of God must be the bread of life to the listeners. We must preach the Word of God that teaches them of the signs of the times, guide them to receive salvation, help them to do the upright work, and make them receive blessing from God. We must preach to them such Words that make them receive salvation from destruction. This is the very Word of life. This is the bread of life. What is God’s bread of life? This gospel of the water and the Spirit we are preaching is the very bread of life. We must continue to preach this gospel. We are delivering this bread of life right now.
I have preached the Word from the Gospel of Matthew chapters 24 to 25 many times. However, it is always fresh to me whenever I preach the Word from these passages. Is it always refreshing whenever you listen to it also? It is because this is the bread of life. God’s Word is the bread of life. It is the Word we need to ruminate over in due season. We are preaching this now and people are receiving salvation through the bread of life we are preaching. They are being nurtured very well. People in every country are not only receiving salvation, but also receiving blessings as well.
On the contrary, those who are to receive judgment will definitely be judged through this Word also. They have no excuse before the presence of the Lord because they did not believe it even after hearing and knowing the Truth. Like this, we are doing these two kinds of ministries. This Word we are preaching becomes the Word that gives life to certain people while, on the other hand, the same Word we preach brand certain people definitively as the people destined for hell. It’s because they do not believe in the Truth although they know and hear it.
What I want to say to you and our coworkers overseas is that the Lord’s second coming has drawn near now. This is the time when He is at the door. As the Lord said, just like the flood of Noah occurred suddenly when the people of his days were drinking and eating, marrying and giving in marriage, the Lord will come suddenly: There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere and natural calamities will take place and then nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and such time will be the beginning of the tribulation of the Lord and the Advent of the Lord will be imminent at that time, and the Lord will come soon after that. The Lord spoke to us about this. Therefore, we can know when this time comes. By this Word, we can know that it is the time when the coming of the Lord is imminent.
Do we, even the righteous, not know when this time will be? Of course, the Lord said that even the angels of Heaven do not know when the Lord is coming. But does that mean we also do not know when He will come? No! The Lord has taught us beforehand of the things that will happen to us in the future and is working with us confidentially. God taught us all about His plan beforehand but said that even the Son and the angels do not know, and that only God the Father knows this secret. However, He has taught all about His plan to us.
The Lord taught us beforehand of the time of His Second Advent because He and we are one family, but He has not taught this to the people of this world. The Lord said that no one knows the time of His Second Advent, but does Jesus really not know of this? The Lord said, “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near” (Matthew 24:32). The Lord is saying that He will come at such a time. The Lord will come when earthquakes will erupt, when natural calamities will take place, when there will be famines everywhere, when we will hear of wars and rumors of wars, and when nation will rise up against nation and kingdom will rise against kingdom. The Lord told all about the signs of that time like this to us. The Advent of the Lord is now at hand. This world has come close to the point of harvest.
Therefore, the Lord blesses us while we publish these sermon books of the gospel and distribute them to the people as food for their souls. The Lord will come when we have almost finished with this work. The Lord will take the qualified but leave those who deserve to be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill and working hard to make a living and one will be taken before the presence of the Lord but the Lord will not even glance at the other woman that is to be left behind. There must not be anyone among us who shall be forsaken like that. There must not be anyone among us who shall be cast away from the Lord. You will never be forsaken if you believe in this gospel of the Truth. And although you are lacking, you merely have to unite together with the Church and serve the Lord. You just have to serve the Lord in the area you are most capable. Then, the Lord approves you. However, the Lord said that God will bring down punishment upon the evil ones who do not serve the Lord even though they know very well about what they have to do.
This is the reason why you and I are also serving the gospel like this. When I first met the Lord through this genuine gospel Word, I realized that this gospel could not be found anywhere in the entire world at that time. Therefore, when I met people that claimed to really know this gospel and preached it, I tried to work with them, even some of the so-called Evangelicals. But, in the end, I found that they did not believe in this genuine gospel at all. Therefore, I left them and I am working with you now. When we first navigated the internet to find out if there are believers of this gospel of the water and the Spirit, we reached a conclusion that there was no one throughout the entire world that believed in this genuine gospel. Has there been anyone who believes in this true gospel independently until now? Did I make this up? Besides the people whom we have preached this gospel of the water and the Spirit to, is there any news from overseas about anyone that believes and preaches this same gospel that we now believe and preach? No, there has not been anyone like that. If there is none among the theologians, then there isn’t any. The ministers are the underlings and the theologians are the chiefs. The ministers learn and preach what the theologians are teaching them.
Our coworkers overseas must know that the coming of the Lord is imminent and therefore work diligently to distribute even more spiritual food. They must work diligently to distribute our gospel books. And whether the bud sprouts forth or not and whether one will receive salvation or not, I want you to entrust that to the Lord. The end result is up to the Lord and we cannot do anything about that. There are people who actually do not believe in this gospel although they profess to believe. On the other hand, there are many people who do believe but do not have much knowledge of this genuine gospel. Such people are reluctant to profess their testimonies of salvation. There are some other people who believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit, but do not know whether they believe in this gospel or not because of much confusion from so many things that they had heard before.
We are the people who plant the seed and give water, but the One who makes the plant fruitful is the Lord. The Lord makes people receive salvation, makes them grow, and it is the Lord who harvests them into His barn. We are not the ones who harvest. We are preachers. We are the sowers. Sowers have to sow the good seed diligently. The Master will take care of the rest and harvest from it. We only have to distribute spiritual food to the people, preach the gospel, and pray for God’s work so that the Lord can harvest as much as He pleases.
Let’s work diligently as the servants of God for the preaching of the gospel.
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