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Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 22 : The Gospel According to LUKE
[Chapter 2-14] What Does It Mean to Walk with God? (Luke 2:40-52)
(Luke 2:40-52)
“And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.’ And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Where Can We Meet Jesus?
Where can we meet Jesus Christ? It is in His righteousness that we can meet Jesus, who is God Himself. The saints encounter God nowhere else but in His righteousness. The righteousness of God here implies that our Lord took upon Himself our sins once and for all by being baptized, and that those who believe this are made sinless and find God. This means that God has completely blotted out our sins all at once with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We had always been sinners, but to make us sinless, our Lord God took away all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist and blotted them all out with His righteousness. It is when we realize this and believe it that we are able to meet the Lord.
As we carry on with our busy lives in this world, we often forget that we have received the remission of sins thanks to the righteousness of God. In many aspects of our lives, we also forget that the Lord is walking with us. My fellow believers, what do you think is the way for us to truly walk with our Lord? Where can we meet the Lord, dwell with Him, and live with Him? It is none other than the Church where we are now abiding. By fulfilling the righteousness of God, our Lord took away all our sins, and because of this righteousness, each of us has become a sinless member of the Church by faith. We can find God and walk with Him by faith in this salvation, whereby our Lord took away all our mistaken thoughts and our smallest sins once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, thus remitting them all away.
My fellow believers, do you have the conviction that our Lord took away all your sins and mine, including the smallest ones, through the baptism He received from John the Baptist? Leviticus 2:4-6 states, “And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.” This implies that the Lord took away all our detailed sins. When we know and believe in the righteousness of God, we are able to meet our Lord and also walk with Him.
It is extremely important for us to realize and believe that our Lord has at once blotted out all the sins we commit in our lives by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood. How has our Lord eradicated all the sins of mankind once and for all? Jesus, God Himself, completed this by coming to this earth to save us from the sins of the world, accepting all our sins through the baptism He received from John the Baptist at the age of 30, and shedding His own blood. That is how He has made us sinless once and for all. The Lord has saved us once and for all by shouldering the sins of this world through His baptism and shedding His blood on the Cross to bear the condemnation of these sins of the world. Rising from the dead again in three days, He has become the Lord of everlasting life to us.
If you don’t believe in this, and believe instead that the Lord took away only your original sin, then how could you ever be washed from all the sins that you mistakenly commit out of your insufficiencies? If one believes that the Lord took away only original sin, then such people cannot walk with the Lord. Even worse, they will remain as the Lord’s enemies because they do not know that He is the Savior who has brought the righteousness of God to them. With the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Lord has at once blotted out all our sins, even the minutest of all, and all the iniquities ever committed with our hearts and acts alike. It is when you realize this that you are able to receive the everlasting washing of sins. It is then that you are able to meet the Lord, share an even closer fellowship with Him, and walk with Him.
Jesus in the Temple
Here in today’s Scripture passage, we can see that Jesus’ parents of the flesh went up to the Temple of Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover. Jesus also participated in the Feast of the Passover when He was twelve. After finishing all the rituals of the Passover, Joseph and Mary retuned home in a large crowd. Thinking that the Boy Jesus was following them, they were on their way home talking with their neighbors about the many things that had happened while in Jerusalem. After traveling like this for a while, they looked back but did not see the Child. The parents had thought that since the Boy Jesus was twelve years old, He would have no trouble to find and follow them, and so they had been talking with their neighbors without any concern, but now they discovered that the Child was not in the company.
Taken aback, Joseph and Mary looked for the Child and went back to the Temple of Jerusalem to find Him. When they went into the Temple, they saw the Boy Jesus, only twelve years old, sitting face to face with the scholars of the Law and conversing with them. It was in the Temple that Mary and Joseph found Jesus.
This passage speaks to our saints and servants of God who have met Jesus Christ by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We are prone to assume that since we have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Lord is naturally walking with us. However, while carrying on with our lives of faith after being born again, for some reason we sometimes feel as though the Lord is not with us; that we are all alone. In other words, in our everyday affairs, there are times when we feel that we are all by ourselves, reaching our own judgment, making our own decisions, and acting on our own.
Why is this so? It’s because we don’t do the work of God together with the other members of God’s Church. It’s because even though in our hearts we clearly believe that the Lord is our Savior, we drift away from God’s Church that draws and provides the water of this salvation to us. When we drift away from God’s Church or the Word flowing from it, it’s then that we realize we are alone. So rather than really walking with the Lord, each of us ends up trying to do God’s work all by oneself. How, in such a case, could we ever minister united with Jesus Christ? It’s impossible!
In times like these, we must recognize once again that our Lord took away all our sins once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and we must unite ourselves with the people of God. We must once again admit the fact that Lord shouldered all our sins, whether they are grave or minute, whether they are committed in our thoughts, hearts, or acts, whether they are known to others or not, whether we ourselves realize them or not, and whether we recognize them or just gloss over them. We should turn our hearts to come closer to God’s Church and unite our hearts with the Church. This is the implication of the account that Jesus’ parents in the flesh met Him again in the Temple. If we are otherwise engulfed in our own affairs, the lustful sins of the flesh are bound to spring forth from our hearts in no time. If you are leading such a ministry, then you are following your own lust rather than walking with the Lord, and yet you still think that you are walking with the Lord.
Admit Even Your Minute Sins
Where can you and I meet the Lord who has fulfilled the righteousness of God? We can meet the Lord in God’s Church that preaches the gospel of the water and the Spirit. For us to meet our Lord, we must acknowledge His righteousness that took away even our minute sins. However, we often just gloss over our everyday sins. Although the Lord took away all sins, we sometimes don’t take seriously the small sins that we commit in our everyday lives, and we become indifferent to the righteousness of the Lord that has remitted away our sins. As a result, we end up losing the righteousness of God and wander off.
However, the Lord took away all our sins through His baptism, even the minutest of all. We must realize that because we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, our sins have been blotted out and we ourselves have become sinless, and we must be always conscious of this fact. We can then meet the Lord of righteousness. Just as Mary and Joseph found the Lord in the Temple, when we realize that we ourselves have no sin, we can also follow the Lord of righteousness and walk with Him.
When do we lose the righteousness of the Lord? It’s when we forget in our lives the fact that the Lord took away even our everyday sins. It’s in times like this that we feel as though we are away from the Lord. We should never forget the fact that our Lord took away all our sins by being baptized. Everyday, we need to be cognizant of the fact that there is no sin in our hearts. We can then meet the Lord where there is no sin, have fellowship with Him there, and be led by Him as well.
The place where we meet the Lord is inside the gospel of the water and the Spirit, in the holy Temple. The holy Temple was the place where the Israelites, who committed sins every day, met God with their sacrificial offerings. Therefore, we can meet the holy God who has remitted away all your sins and mine whenever we reaffirm the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that has blotted out all our sins, when we believe that the Lord took away our everyday sins, and when we recognize that the Lord took away all our sins even if our hearts go astray, our hearts can always be holy.
It is in this kind of faith that we are able to have fellowship with the Lord. Through His baptism, the righteous Lord took away all our sins once and for all. As such, we can walk with the holy Lord the very moment we reaffirm that we have no sin, and that the Lord has made us sinless. We can then walk with the Lord and be led by Him in our lives, never losing His righteousness.
After you and I believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, haven’t there been quite a few times when we forgot all about the righteousness of the Lord, and so we did everything according to our own wishes? Mary had lost the Boy Jesus on her way back home, and yet she had no idea. She just thought that the Boy Jesus was somewhere in her company. Aren’t we also leading our lives like this? By realizing and believing that the Lord has blotted out all your sins and mine, we are able to find the Lord once again, have fellowship with Him, and walk with Him. The gospel is what makes it possible for us to meet the Lord and walk with Him. Because the Lord has blotted out our sins, once we realize that we ourselves are sinless, we can walk with the Lord. When we realize that our hearts are clean and sinless, we can walk with the Lord all the time.
Although we are now sinless, we are still insufficient, and therefore we still commit sin constantly. However, we must grasp here that the Lord took away all such sins. Unless we realize this we cannot walk with the Lord even though we have received the remission of sins. Because there is dross in our hearts, we can’t help but end up looking at something else and lose the sight of the Lord, only to wander all alone. That’s why we must constantly affirm the fact that there is no sin in our hearts. This must be confirmed always. This is the very life of faith that we lead while walking with the Lord.
At the beginning of this sermon, we read the passage from Leviticus 2:4-6. And the next passage records, “You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. Then the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD” (Leviticus 2:8-9). It is written that the priests had to take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. Then the Lord God accepted that sweet aroma.
My fellow believers, all of us who have received the remission of sins are priests before God. When we recognize that the Lord took away even our minutest sins, when we realize that the Lord took away all the sins committed every day in our thoughts, hearts, and acts, when we believe that the Lord has blotted them out entirely, and when we always affirm that we ourselves are now sinless, we can carry out our priestly tasks and duties, live out our faith, and walk with the Lord. It’s when we grasp that the Lord took away all our sins, even our smallest ones, we are able to walk with Him. However, if we think, “The Lord took away all these minute sins, and so what more is there to think? The answer is simple: I am sinless,” and neglect to reaffirm the Truth every day, then dross will accumulate in our hearts, we will drift away from the grace of the Lord, and we will come to act on our own.
Cleanse Your Heart with Your Faith
A mirror reflects well when it is clear; if it gets dirty, your reflection looks even dirtier than it actually is. What’s clear must be kept clear. My fellow believers, thanks to the Lord, we have been truly cleansed by receiving the remission of sins. The Lord took away all our sins. He carried away all the sins of the world. By taking away all our sins as thick as the mist and the cloud, He has made us sinless. Our hearts are therefore like clear glass. It’s like a mirror. Even though dust may settle in our hearts, we must be conscious of the fact that the Lord has taken away all our sins.
It’s then that we can be thankful to God always. We can pray to Him and have fellowship with Him. We are able to walk with the Lord all the time. Our hearts spring forth with the desire to pray to the Lord and walk with Him, and we actually come to walk with the Lord and be led by Him. So we pray on every occasion: “Lord, what should I do? Help me with this, and protect me as well.”
My fellow believers, Because we are born-again people, we can lead such a life of faith. Our Lord had this passage written in the Bible so that those of us who have become God’s people would once again find our way home and return to our nest. Although most Christians think that they are now walking with the Lord in their lives of faith, in reality they are actually living in this world all by themselves according to their own wishes. Therefore, through the Word, the Lord is explaining to us the way Christians can meet the Lord again and walk with Him in the Temple, in the gospel.
My dear fellow saints, didn’t our Lord take away all our sins? Yes, He indeed took them all away. The Lord took away not only the great sins that we admit, but also the tiniest of all sins. However, we are prone not to admit what we consider to be trivial sins. This is wrong; we have to admit our smallest sins as sins as well. Since we know that a sin is a sin no matter how great or small it is, we should never leave it alone, but instead, we must realize clearly and believe that the Lord took away even this sin.
However, for those who have committed many grave sins, when small sins enter their lives, they don’t take them seriously nor admit them sincerely; just absentmindedly assuming that the Lord took them away also. They think that since the Lord took away their great sins, He must have also taken away their small sins as a matter of course. Without really confirming this, they say in complacency, “Well, the Lord took away all our sins anyway.” Like this, they carry their sins around in a corner of their hearts, and when these sins eventually weigh them down heavily, they consider in their minds that the Lord took them away also. Many people don’t take what they consider to be small sins seriously, thinking to themselves, “The Lord took away even my greatest sins, and so I am sure He won’t get so picky over my small sins. Since the Bible also says, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,’ every sin is included in these sins of the world. So why should I argue over this with my obtuse mind?”
In reality, however, it is precisely these small sins that cloud us in darkness and make us drift away from the Lord. Although grave sins also cloud us, we tend to resolve them right away as we can’t bear to leave them alone, because we find it intolerable unless these sins are resolved. Therefore, you must remember that it’s not because of our great sins that we drift away from the Lord, but it is because of our small sins. It’s when we can’t see small things properly, when we can’t lead a holy life as Christians, that we end up drifting away from the Lord. So, not knowing where we lost the Lord, we wonder why we are so miserable when we clearly believe in the Lord. Also, when it comes to praying, we pray only as a matter of duty rather than out of deeply felt necessity, and we discover ourselves leading a lethargic life of faith.
Why does this happen, my fellow believers? It’s because you have not actually offered a grain offering. That’s why you can’t walk with the Lord every step of the way.
Our Lord Is Jesus Christ
Jesus is clearly Mary’s Son born from her body. However, although Jesus was born from Mary’s body, He was not made by her or her husband Joseph. Jesus was not born by any human being. Rather, God the Creator was born by borrowing the body of a human being in order to save mankind.
The Bible says that the Boy Jesus, only twelve years old, carried on a conversation with the great scholars of the Law in the Temple. It’s written, “They found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at His understanding and answers.”
Whenever the Passover came around, all the scholars of the Law in Israel gathered in the Temple. Jesus was twelve years old at that time, and so in today’s terms, He was no more than a sixth grader. Mary and those gathered in the Temple were truly astonished to see such a small Child carrying on a conversation with the scholars of the Law and answering their questions. After all, Jesus was only a Boy back then. How could He have learned all about the Law, mastered this field, and known everything about the Scripture? However, we should not forget the fact that Jesus is the very God who created the universe and everything in it just with His Word. He is the omniscient and omnipotent God who came in the flesh of man for a while to save us out of His love. The main protagonist of the Bible is none other than Jesus Christ.
It was in the Temple that Mary found Jesus. This implies that the place where we meet Jesus Christ is also the Temple. We have received the remission of sins at the altar of burnt offering where the Lord offered an eternal sacrifice for our sins. Thanks to the gospel, we have been cleansed from all our sins. Jesus was baptized as the Lamb of God who took away all our sins, and He fulfilled all righteousness. The Bible says, “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:18). It is in this gospel through which Jesus has remitted away our sins—that is, at the altar of burnt offering—that we are able to meet the holy Lord. My fellow believers, every sin must be condemned without exception, whether it’s big or small. But the Lord took away all these sins.
However, in our minds we don’t really give much thought to our small sins. Even though the Lord took away all these sins by being baptized and was condemned to death for them, we are too indifferent to such sins. So we end up falling into a dusty life of faith that cannot see properly. For us to escape from such a life of faith, we must enter the Temple again. We must reaffirm and acknowledge once again that the Lord took away all our flawed sins, whether committed intentionally or unintentionally, including those sins that we did not consider seriously. We must also realize that our hearts have no sin. When we realize that there is no sin in our hearts, that our conscience is completely free from sin, we can call on the Lord boldly, find Him, and have fellowship with Him. Unless our hearts are clear, how can we call on God and have fellowship with Him?
Let’s turn to 1 John 3:21-22 here: “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” It’s said here that if our hearts do not have anything to be condemned before God, then we will have confidence toward God, and whatever we ask, we will receive from the Lord.
What should we then do if we want our hearts to have nothing to be condemned before God? We should admit our sins in detail and cleanse them by reaffirming the gospel Truth every moment we realize our sins. If we don’t confess in detail all the sins that we commit in our lives, and just pass over them without being aware of them, ultimately we will end up losing the Lord. If this happens, we ourselves will lose our hearts’ confidence before the Lord, unable to find Him and going on our own way, only to lose the Lord forever.
We Christians are actually very sensitive. Although Christians may seem quite sturdy, they are actually very sensitive. That’s because the Spirit of Jesus Christ in us is sensitive and perceptive. We are able to have fellowship with the Lord and walk with Him only when we believe that the Lord took away even our minutest sins and realize that there is no sin inside us.
If we don’t recognize that the Lord took away even our smallest sins, and instead just paper over them, then we are not really walking with Jesus in our lives, although we have received the remission of sins to enter Heaven. If we have been born again, then we have to walk with the Lord in our lives. Just as Mary here walked with the Lord both when she went up to the Temple and came down from it on the Passover, so must we also walk with the Lord in whatever we do, whether we are running our businesses, working at our jobs, living our everyday lives, engaging ourselves in some projects, or doing the work of God. It’s absolutely imperative for us to walk with the Lord in our lives. We can live only if we walk with the Lord on this earth. Unless we walk with the Lord, we are nothing on our own. Those who walk with the Lord are the honorable ones. In contrast, those who do not walk with the Lord even as they have received the remission of sins are not honorable.
A dog is cherished pet when it’s walking with its owner. A dog without an owner is a wild dog, and it’s inevitable for such homeless dogs to be abused, impounded, and even put down. No dog without an owner can be a cherished pet. A dog is protected as a cherished pet only if it’s accompanied by its owner. Even when it comes to a dog, it needs an owner before it can be cherished. For us as well, it is when we walk with the Lord that we are made His cherished saints. It is then that we can shine the light on the world as the precious saints. My fellow believers, if you really want to be honored, you must walk with the Lord.
It’s possible for you to harbor wrong desires and wrong thoughts in your heart, and it’s also possible for you to do whatever you want to do. However, if the Holy Spirit points out to you that this is wrong before God, then you must admit this and confirm that the Lord took away this sin. You can then walk with the Lord. My fellow believers, how closely are you and I really walking with the Lord? As we are all insufficient, we make mistakes every day. But how much do we really recognize in our lives that our Lord took away all these flaws? How assured are we that we have no sin? We need to ponder on these questions carefully, and entering the Temple again, into the gospel with which the Lord has blotted out our sins, we must confirm that the Lord took away all the sins committed by us, and thus find the Lord and walk with Him in our lives. Do you understand this? Our hearts are darkened precisely when we are unable to walk with the Lord because of the dross in our hearts.
Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus Met the Lord
Shortly after the Lord’s resurrection, two of His disciples traveled to Emmaus, and they were joined by the Lord. However, although the Lord appeared before these two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they did not recognize Him. When they stopped near the village to spend the night, the Lord broke bread with them and blessed it, and He explained to them in detail the prophesied Word of the Old Testament and how it was all fulfilled in the New Testament. This was none other than the gospel. When the two disciples heard this gospel, they realized that the One who broke and gave the bread was Jesus Himself; but by then Jesus had vanished from their sight.
Clearly, the disciples of Jesus believed in the Lord. They were born-again people. Yet despite this, the two disciples here failed to recognize Jesus all the way to Emmaus. They had lost their spiritual sight so completely that they couldn’t recognize Jesus until He broke bread with them. Like these disciples, we also lose the sight of the Lord or fail to recognize Him sometimes. Why is this so? The problem is not our Lord, but our hearts.
How frequently have we affirmed the gospel? How much have we ruminated on the gospel, just as a mirror needs to be wiped everyday to be clean? This is what the Lord is asking us. We have many flaws. We don’t just offend others with our wrongdoings, but we are too tolerant of the many evil things that come into our hearts. We can’t help it because we are too weak as human beings, but that is why it is so important for us to always recognize that the Lord took away all our sins. This is the proper life led by those who have realized the real Truth, and the right way to live out your faith. This is what faith is all about.
It’s written in today’s Scripture passage: “His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.’ And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’” This means that Jesus Christ was in His Father’s house. God the Father wanted to blot out our sins and make us His own people, and Jesus Christ fulfilled this will of God the Father. He has saved us from sin in this will. Jesus Christ has done this all in the will of God the Father.
Everyone around the World Must Return to the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
For us to meet the righteous Jesus, we must return to the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Although we have received the remission of sins, we must once again ruminate on the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When we look at ourselves carefully, just how many sins do we commit in our lives? When we are asked to give our testimony of salvation after receiving the remission of sins, we always talk about only our past sins. We talk about how we used to get drunk, do bad things, and get into fights. But we are now sinless because Jesus took away all these sins. But we actually need to admit even the sins we commit now, and give our testimony of salvation in the present, not just in the past. We have to confess like this: “I admit that I’ve committed such sins today. But the Lord took away even such sins. There are so many times when I am wrong, but the Lord took them all away.” Like this, if we really testify in detail, there is so much to testify.
Of course, we must not follow a legalistic faith. We should shed the light of the Law to recognize our sins correctly, but this does not mean we have to be bound by the Law. The Law fulfills wrath to us, but the salvation of Jesus Christ removes wrath and gives us true salvation. Just how much hardship, big and small, do we come across while living in this world? Just how many large and small obstacles do we come across? Sometimes we come across still waters, other times we come across filthy sewage, clean ice fields, asphalt, and green pasture. Just how many things do we go through while living? In all these things, there are also sins. However, the Lord has blotted out all these sins. He took them all away. This is what we must recognize whenever our hearts are darkened.
It is by offering a burnt sacrifice to God, by accepting the gospel of the water and the Spirit by faith, by which our hearts can find the Lord. We must walk with the Lord in our lives, always affirming and recognizing that there is no sin in our hearts. Do you understand this, my dear saints? Do you understand what kind of life is the life that walks with the Lord? We can walk with the Lord when we admit even the smallest of our sins and affirm that the Lord took them all way. We have to recognize that the Lord took away not only our great sins exposed outwardly, but also the smallest sins that we’ve committed just in our hearts, and our future sins also. Then our evil thoughts and acts are rendered obsolete. If one commits sin, this sin remains with him. But because the Lord has remitted away all our sins and made us sinless, because the Lord took away even the sin of planning evil schemes, this plan and its wickedness are both rendered obsolete.
We, the born-again, can always start anew before the Lord. Only when we build our house on the rock of the gospel like this can we lead an unwavering life of faith that never falters. What’s not right is always wrong. But we can always begin anew. We can always meet the Lord, walk with Him, and thank Him all the time, and that is why it’s so wonderful. Do you now realize what’s wrong with your faith and mine? It is a mistake for you to think that everything is okay now that you’ve received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Whoever has received the remission of sins must from then on live a life of faith that truly walks with the Lord. To this day, we have walked with the Lord ever since we first received the remission of sins, and we can continue to walk with Him forever.
The Life of Faith That Offers a Grain Offering
The Bible says that Enoch walked with God for 300 years. The true life of faith begins from the moment one receives the remission of sins. To ensure this, we must recognize that there is no sin in our hearts. We have to realize this. We must keep this Truth in our hearts always. We must clean the heart, the temple of the Holy Spirit, all the time so that our hearts may not be defiled. This cleansing of faith takes place not because we have sin, but rather, because we have the faith to believe that the Lord has already blotted out all our sins. It is from then on that we come to walk with the Lord. We can then live out our faith until the end. I have every confidence that you can all achieve this. Having been saved, you can now lead a life of faith that offers grain offerings everyday. You can walk with the Lord in every detailed aspect of your life.
The Lord has bestowed us with such grace. He has saved us. Far from forsaking us, the Lord walks with us, protects us, blesses us, and is always with us. He has made us God’s people and become our own Lord. He has become our Shepherd. I give all my thanks to the Lord!
If there is something wrong with our faith, if we have offered just the flesh and blood of the sacrificial animal on the altar of burnt offering, then we must now offer grain offerings of fine wheat flour. This is the life of a mature Christian. We have to admit our daily sins in detail and reaffirm the gospel of the water and the Spirit to maintain the perfect cleanness of our hearts. A spiritual life of fine wheat flour is what we need. Realizing that the Lord took away even the minutest of all our sins, we should all be thankful to Him for this.
Although we are sensitive and keenly aware of sin, this does not mean that we are able to always live a clear and clean life. Because we are all in the flesh as human beings, it’s unavoidable for our flesh to commit sins, large and small alike. That’s why it’s necessary to cleanse the heart with faith.
A venerated Buddhist monk in Korea called Sungcheol Lee famously said, “Mountain is mountain, water is water.” But this saying has no meaning at all. The Lord said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). He is speaking of the nature of the flesh. The flesh still feels only carnal senses and demands only what’s good for it; but the spirit doesn’t do so. The spirit always demands what’s clean. Although the spirit is not detectable by our physical senses, it actually does exist. The spirit is also sinless, and it is different from the flesh and the worldly. This is what the Lord is saying.
We must always give the grain offerings of fine wheat flour. We must offer a detailed sacrifice every day. Our Lord has taken away even the smallest of all our sins so that we may be able to offer such an offering every day. He has made us sinless. We have no sin. I give all thanks to the Lord! The Lord has permitted us to offer a grain offering every day and walk with Him more closely in every aspect of our lives.
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Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission