कोविड-19 और आंतरराष्ट्रीय डाक सेवा में रुकावट की वजह से हमने कुछ समय के लिए 'निःशुल्क मुद्रित किताबों की सेवकाई' को निलंबित किया हुआ है।
इन परिस्थितियों को देखते हुए हम इस समय आपको किताबें भेजने में असमर्थ है।
प्रार्थना करे कि यह महामारी जल्द ही खत्म हो जाए और डाक सेवा फिर से शुरू हो जाए।
Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 22-1] Only Those Wearing the Garment of the Water and The Blood Can Attend the Feast in Heaven (Matthew 22:1-14)
(Matthew 22:1-14)
“And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, ‘See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.’’ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. ‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.’”
Summer Discipleship Training Camp begins August 13th. Yesterday, I visited In-jae Discipleship Training Center (DTC), and it was truly a blessing. This year, many flowers were planted in the front garden of the retreat center, and a swimming pool was also built there. The valley stream was swollen by recent heavy rains, and the water came up to the level where it was splashing against the bottom part of the bridge that we had built at the training center entrance.
Also, the sound of rocks rolling in the ravine sounded like thunder from the sky. So, I was thinking, “Is it the sound of rolling rocks or is it thunder? It doesn’t sound like water raging down, so is it must be thunder cracking in the sky?” When I went to the bridge, the amount of water was tremendous. Returning back from the DTC, I saw the support columns of the Livingstone Bridge submerged halfway under water. Truly, this recent rain had been tremendous. That DTC suffered no damage what so ever, despite such heavy rain, was all by the grace of God. The only problem was that we couldn’t finish the preparations for the Summer Discipleship Training Camp, but there was no other damage.
With nothing much to do these days, I think the missionary school students seemed bored, so I think I will send them off to work at In-jae DTC in a few days. It’s good for our missionary school students to go there and do some cleaning up, as well as make preparations for the Summer Camp. When one goes there, work doesn’t feel all that tiresome. I had hoped to stay there for about a week and do some work, but because there was so much work to be done here, I had no choice but to come back. You can’t imagine how good it is at In-jae DTC.
It’s great during the rain, and it’s great even without rain. When I was there, the rain really poured down, and it was a sight incomparable to cities like this. In cities, rain comes down on rooftops, roads, and cars. When we see rain slipping down on a window, our hearts are prone to getting depressed and feeling sad. But, as I looked out from DTC, I saw that the rain had fallen on the trees on the mountain and fog had formed in the air. I like scenery such as this.
When I young, I lived in a board-framed house covered with a roof made of asphalt shingles. Because it was right after the Korean War in 1950s, most people built their houses with wooden boards and covered it with their homemade shingles as a roof. People made shingles by spreading asphalt on corrugated cardboard and then scattering sand over them. Then, they would nail them to a roof fabricated with wooden boards, and thus, a board-framed house was complete.
When it rained, a rumbling sound could be heard vividly from the ceiling. When there was a rain shower, I would enjoy hearing the pattering sound coming from the roof. Even today, I really enjoy the sound of the rain. Because water would leak from the seams of the roof covered with these shingles, whenever it rained, we had to bring washbasins, bowls, and whatever else and then spread them on the floor. They would make various sounds in different tones, and you can’t imagine just how cheerful they sounded. When a water drop hits a particular container, it would make a ‘plop’ sound, and when it hits another container, it would make a ‘pop’ sound. As I remember, the sound varied according to the type of the container into which the water drop fell.
Most likely, because I had lived in a place like that, the scenery of nature I saw in In-jae DTC was so very beautiful. Water coming down from the valley stream is also a wonderful sight. Water at In-jae DTC is first class water. We had asked the authorities to test the water quality at In-jae DTC. The valley stream and the well that we use for drinking water were both determined to be first class uncontaminated pure water. Because there is no pollution there, the water is very clean. Whenever I go to In-jae DTC, my heart feels serene, affectionate, and so good. The dearly missed smell of the soil, and refreshing sound of the water bring memories of my youthful days. And the water of the brook is so clear that one would feel guilty just to dip his or her feet in it.
Also, our fellow saints at In-jae DTC had planted corn so much that there are corn stalks everywhere. When you come to the upcoming discipleship training camp, there will be plenty of corn for you to eat. Dear fellow believers, please come to the upcoming discipleship training camp. Please bring along your family members, too. The corn was cooked right after having picked them off the stalks, and they were tender and tasty. Our fellow workers and saints at In-jae Retreat Center had planted much corn to welcome you here to the DTC. Produce at the DTC farm had been planted, and when the saints or the servants of God come visit, they will be shared and eaten together.
We are living in the era of calamities. Soon, the days of seven trumpets will arrive, and when the sound of the last trumpet blows, the Lord will raise us up from the dead and we will be raptured into the air to meet the Lord. I have a truly thankful heart that the Lord will come again. I go on living looking forward only to that day. These days, the gospel is getting spread widely through paper and electronic books. I thank God for bestowing us with grace so that we may widely spread the gospel. I know that this was made possible because we had gone through trouble serving the Lord, and the Lord helped us through. I also believe that the Lord will bless us and help us until the end of the world.
Lately, there have been many book orders from various countries through our website. There is a lot of good news also. I believe we can spread the gospel to 2/3 of the world’s population through the Internet within a few years. I regard this Internet ministry as something very precious. I believe that working through this means is more effective than sending off ten thousand missionaries. I will support this ministry with all our financial capability from now on.
As I have said many times, there isn’t much time left for us to spread the gospel in peace. However, we don’t get to greet the Lord without having gone through the days of natural disasters, and without the calamities of seven trumpets. The claim that we will face the Lord’s second coming and the rapture without having gone through the tribulations is wrong and unbiblical. Such a notion is a self-centered point of view. Those who believe so are hard headed. There were people like that in our Church, but they have gone their ways on their own.
As for those who erroneously believe in the Word of God and have their thinking hardened like that, no matter how much we preach the Word of God to them, it is of no use. They are trying to pull down this gospel. Accusing me, they had claimed, “That man speaks of the imminent end of the world, so he is a liar. The gospel of the water and the Spirit he preaches is also false.” They had tried to raise turmoil inside the Church. They had tried to gather their followers and establish a church separately, but fortunately, we took care of them because their plan had become exposed prematurely.
I gave sermons on the Book of Revelation because I was truly hoping that no one would believe like that. I spoke of the Word in the Book of Revelation because people have mistaken knowledge about the last of the days. But we have to interpret the Word of God strictly as it is to answer the question, “Definitely when will Jesus come?” If a preacher closes the Bible and speaks according to his or her own thinking in the pulpit, then he is a false preacher. When we open up the Bible, we must speak on the basis of the Bible. Worried that there might be such people among our ministry workers, I had preached in detail about these things. Furthermore, we have published books on Revelation in order for the servants of God and the saints all over the world to know about the Word properly. Whether or not to believe in the Word of Revelation is up to each person’s faith.
In the last days of the tribulation, there will be tribulations of seven trumpets and tribulations of seven bowls. Only when the days of seven trumpets arrive does the Lord come. Without the calamities of seven trumpets, there is no coming of the Lord. It is written in the Bible that among the seven trumpets, only when the last trumpet blows, will the rapture of the saints occur. Therefore, people mustn’t interpret the Bible from their self-centered point of view. Those who have raised turmoil recently and left God’s Church afterwards did not listen to my sermons correctly.
Then, as I was preaching on the Book of Revelations, their plan was faced with a setback from that time on. Their leader tried to create certain upheaval inside the church by berating me as a false prophet who claimed there would be rapture by June of next year. However, my preaching on the Words of the Book of Revelations moved in a direction different from their own thinking. It made them distressed, and they started not listening to the sermons. And then, they spoke so much of my faults to other ministry workers. But, my fellow servants of God and the saints in the church scolded them instead.
When the Lord comes, all we have to do is to go to Him. Until the Lord comes, what must we live for? We must live for the spreading of the gospel. Is it so, or is it not? Yes, it is our duty. Until when can we go on spreading the gospel? That is what’s important. After we finish spreading the gospel to the ends of the world, the Lord will come. Then, our efforts will come to an end.
However, is it right for a farmer to wait for fall without having engaged in farm work or sowed seeds? The farmer has to wait for the passing of summer and the arrival of fall by tilling the field with the arrival of spring, sowing seeds, watering, having them sprout buds, removing weeds, transplanting, and so on. By continuing to take care of the field, fruit will be borne when fall comes. So the farmer must prepare in advance storage bags and threshing tools. Then, when the fall arrives, the farmer gets to harvest the crops. Yet, if a person were to wait for fall without having finished his work, that person would be a beggar. If we were to wait for the day of the Lord’s coming without having spread the gospel, then Jesus will never come. Then, the Lord will come later and rebuke us as lazy servants, casting us away into a place of darkness.
People think it is good to become a leader. Having been a leader of a certain gathering and having stayed in high positions, one would realize that such places are actually uncomfortable. Physically, leaders get very tired. There are many things to be concerned about, to take responsibility for, and to attend to. If there is anyone in our gathering who covets such positions and seeks personal glory, then that person must quickly leave our gathering. That person should go out from God’s Church, gather up the same sort of people, and reign over those people by getting them to agree with him, and by being humanly kind to them. The person has to act as a king or as a queen there, because in our gathering, no one can reign over people. We don’t have that privilege.
Here in God’s Church, there is no one who can say, “You are my servants and I am the king.” Should anyone say that, I believe you fellow believers would take off your shoes and slap that person across his or her cheek. You and I are those who live for the Lord and the gospel. Is there someone among us who provides service to a person? No, there isn’t. It is not easy to deal with all of you individually, and because there is the Holy Spirit inside those of you who believe in the gospel, such things are not tolerated.
Saints at Seoul Church say it has been very hard for them up until now. A certain saint said that because the ministry worker had hated him so much, he resorted to offering the ministry worker an envelope filled with money. After giving the ministry worker the envelope of money, the saint said he started treating him very amiably. Please do not give envelopes of money to your ministry workers. To do so would be fine if you were to give it in order to show some appreciation toward your ministry workers out of gratitude. It is a serious problem if you give one of your ministry workers money just because you think he or she hates you? Is God’s Church a political organization? Are we electoral candidates for the National Assembly? Is our gathering a place where people give envelopes of money to someone in a higher position in exchange for party nomination? That is not so.
The minister who had recently left the Church was said to have been the head of the Church. But whenever the Head Office made some request for help, he was very uncooperative. Once, our Mission Church of Chung-ju needed to buy a computer, and because it was cheaper in Seoul, I asked for help from one of our ministry workers at Seoul Church. I called him on the telephone and said, “Junior Pastor Ahn of Chung-ju Church will travel to Seoul, so please find him a store where he could purchase an inexpensive but decent computer. When he arrives, please guide him and help him purchase one at a good price.”
And so, Junior Pastor Ahn made an appointment to go to Seoul Church nine o’clock in the morning. But, when he arrived at nine o’clock, he told me that the church doors were locked and the ministry worker was still asleep. When Junior Pastor Ahn knocked on the church door, the ministry worker’s wife who had been sleeping until then barely woke up and said, “My husband worked late last night, so he is still asleep. So, go and buy it alone.”
As it was his first visit to Seoul, the junior pastor, fumbling and wandering, found his way to Yong-san Shopping District, which is famous for selling electronic equipments at low prices. But as luck would have it, it was the day when all the stores are closed. He told me that as he went back to Chung-ju without having been able to buy a computer, he had so many regretful feelings toward that ministry worker. As the ministry worker was living in Seoul, he could have found out about the information and given guidance just by making a single phone call. The ministry worker at Chung-ju Church could have bought a computer by going there directly, but because he was a fellow worker of our mission organization, he had trusted him and asked for help. But with the treatment he received, he truly had felt ever so astonished.
The ministry worker, who has now left the Church, has a mother who was managing the In-jae Retreat Center, and though I found out about the truth later on, the woman had done really many evil deeds before God while she was working there. Once, a few family members of sister Eun-young Hwang went to In-jae DTC, because her mother was staying there.
As they went there, they saw a good crop of peppers we had grown, and they asked if they could take a few. But, the woman, who had been managing In-jae DTC, told them, “Buy it with money, and then take it.” Selling a box of peppers for 5 dollars to the family member of a person who works there! Can you imagine how bad they must have felt? Not only that; when sister Eun-young Hwang sent some spending money to her mother for her birthday, the woman kept it all and did not give it to sister Hwang’s mother.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of all that they have been doing inside the Church. How can I not speak ill of them? Should I have stayed still and not speak? They are such people, who attended God’s Church, all the while saying that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is not the Truth. Because they did not really believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they did not know how to serve fellow brothers and sisters, and they sought only their own benefit.
Is there anyone among you who can say that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is not the Truth? Human beings commit sins everyday due to lacking. If it weren’t for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, how would human beings be without sins? How would we be able to say that we have no sin? The gospel of the water and the Spirit is our life. It is the Truth, like a priceless pearl which cannot be exchanged for anything. That is why the Scripture tells us that those who have found it will go and sell all that they have and buy it, for they know that it is something so very precious (Matthew 13:45-46). Even so, they threw away the gospel of the water and the Spirit and went out into the world. It is like playing jackstones with diamonds, unaware that it is a precious stone. It is the same as native children trading the diamonds for a single chocolate given by explorers.
Through today’s Scripture passage, God speaks to us about precisely these things. God speaks of those who enter the Kingdom of Heaven. What sort of people are those who enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Long ago, a certain prosperous king held a banquet for his son’s marriage, having prepared everything and invited many people. Because the king had invited people to the feast, anyone could have participated in the feast just by coming wearing a wedding garment.
Just as people can receive hospitality and enjoy glory by attending the feast with a wedding garment on, our entering Heaven is like that. It is God who invites people to His Kingdom. God invites people by saying that anyone who believes that Jesus has saved us by the gospel of the water and the Spirit can enter Heaven. Regardless of who it is, anyone who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in his or her heart has prepared the garment of faith, and gets to enter Heaven. It means that even though people have received the invitation to Heaven, only those who have prepared the garment of faith can enter Heaven.
On the other hand, people who didn’t prepare the garment cannot enter Heaven. Dear fellow believers, when we go to a house in celebration, having received an invitation, we get dressed in formal clothes. Whether it is a traditional clothes or a suit, there really isn’t anyone wearing sportswear or short pants. Even in worldly things we show such courtesy. Yet when we are invited to the Kingdom of Heaven, how can we go there without wearing formal clothes?
Having invited us to Heaven, God checks to see if we came wearing a wedding garment. He has made it that, among the attendees of the feast, anyone who is wearing a wedding garment can eat, drink, enjoy, and stay without limit. However, God picks out those who have come to the feast without having worn a wedding garment, and throws them into the darkness. It is said in verse 13, “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Dear fellow believers, if we want to go to Heaven, what sort of garment of faith must we wear? The Lord has prepared for us a garment that would allow us to enter Heaven, but what sort of garment is it? It the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord has saved us by coming to this earth, taking on all our sins by receiving the baptism at the Jordan River, carrying away the sin of the world, shedding blood on our behalf by getting nailed to the Cross, and resurrecting on the third day. Believing in this gospel is precisely what wearing the garment is. What is the garment that allows us to enter Heaven? It is that Our Savior Jesus, the Son of God, has saved us by coming to this earth, taking on all our sins by receiving the baptism for us, and dying vicariously on the Cross. Whoever wears this garment can never fail to enter Heaven.
Only those who are clean, that is, without sin, can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who are absolutely clean get to enter Heaven. Wearing the garment means believing in the baptism that Jesus had received by coming to this earth, in His blood that was shed on the Cross, and believing in the resurrected Lord as the Savior.
We must believe in the meritorious deed of Jesus being born on this earth in human flesh, the meritorious deed of His having received the baptism, the meritorious deed of having carried away the sin of the world, the meritorious deed of having died on the Cross, and the meritorious deed of having resurrected from the dead. Sitting at the right hand of the throne of God the Father, He will judge each and every sinner who has refused to believe in these meritorious deeds. Believing that the Lord has personally become the God of salvation for those who believe in the work that the Lord has done is precisely what wearing the garment is.
This garment is important. Because it is the feast of the Kingdom of Heaven, and only those without sin can attend, one must wear the garment without fail. How good is this garment that the Lord has made for you and me? The more you think about it, the better it is. We offer worship before God “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). We praise the Lord who has made us to be without sin by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with its lyrics set in our hearts, and sing songs of praise in union with other saints. We offer thanks and worship, singing songs of praise. This is to offer the sacrifice of praise to God (Hebrews 13:15).
How clean and good is the garment with which God has clothed us? Because God has clothed us with this garment, we are able to enter Heaven. Yet, how ignorant are those who do not wear the garment as well as those who are reluctant to wear one? How should we then prepare to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? We can prepare it only by faith. We wear the garment which God has all prepared for us so that we may enter Heaven by faith. This is the faith that leads us to receiving salvation, and that makes us children of God. This is precisely what a blessing is. Though I can give sermons on various subjects with today’s Scripture passage, it is imperative that I preach about the garment with which our Lord has clothed you and me. The garment with which Jesus Christ, who has come by the water and the Spirit, has clothed us is a blessing to us. Do you believe in this?
The Lord has done it all so that all we have to do is have faith in the works that He has done for us. When we reflect over this gospel and reflect on our souls, we must truly give thanks to the Lord. Regardless of whether or not we are in a good situation, we are able to thank the Lord at any time. Because we are wearing the garment of faith, we are able to go before the Lord no matter when He should call us, always doing mightily the work that He has entrusted to us by faith.
Because we are in the grace of salvation by faith, we should be thankful to the Lord from the bottom of our hearts, and come to offer praise. Because our hearts are filled with joy, praise just comes out naturally. We wish to gather and share communion, and we want to be able to finish all the work that the Lord has entrusted to us. Because the Lord has saved us and we have received salvation we are able to do the work that the Lord has entrusted to us. Although we are unable to do some works, we do those works which we are able by uniting with each other. This is truly good. Where would you find anything that is better than this?
Regardless of whom, it is truly childish not to throw away the desire to seek one’s own glory and fight over a position to move up in ranks within the Church. Is it good to be in a high position inside the Church? That is not so. It is good just to have something to eat and wear, and to be able to do righteous works. That is why the Apostle Paul said, “And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:8). I am so thankful that God has taken care of our needs concerning food, clothing, and shelter, and that He has given us the heart to do righteous works. If we can only live for the Lord by taking care of ourselves, lest our body should get sick; and if only we can live for the gospel without the suffering from problems with food, clothing, and shelter, we would be content.
There would be no need for us to desire anything else. Not only that, there would be no need for us to loose our temper over those who stand against us groundlessly. Doesn’t every thing become one’s own just by being greedy? God has told us to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. We are content with leading our lives spreading the gospel for the Kingdom of God. God will provide us with all that we need if we go on living in faith and being thankful. I am thankful just for that.
There are those who oppose the gospel of the water and the Spirit through e-mails, without disclosing who they are and what their beliefs are. If they were truly courageous, they should show themselves and do whatever they believe is right. But there are people hiding behind a computer and make claims that do not make sense. I do not deal with people like that. God will not leave alone those who oppose those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I believe God will avenge them twice as hard as they have afflicted harm on us. We just ask God that He will let us see with our own eyes and ears what He will be doing with them. They have nothing to do with us. By the way, we will never be able to meet them when we go to Heaven.
Such people only speak of the blood of the Cross. Then, I go straight to the point and ask, “How do you take care of the sins that you commit today?” Some people answer by saying, “Jesus completely took care of those sins by taking them on and then dying vicariously on the Cross.” However, that is incorrect. If that had been the case, what need would there have been for God to set the sacrificial system in the Old Testament? Wouldn’t people today be cast out of Heaven because they have sins in their hearts for having believed only in the blood of the Cross and thus, not having prepared the garment? That is why Jesus said, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
We have received salvation because God had chosen us in Jesus Christ and had given us salvation in the Lord. It isn’t the case that we have received salvation just because we say, “I believe” unconditionally, without having faith in the gospel of the Truth. By faith, it is that we are in Christ. We get to wear the clean garment by knowing and believing in Jesus having saved us by the water and the blood according to the sacrificial system, as promised to us for salvation. Jesus has saved us in His will that was planned even before the creation.
Because God has saved us perfectly, we get to receive salvation by faith. Do we get saved by practicing asceticism? Do people reach holiness and purity by disciplining themselves by sitting and staring at a wall for 10 years? In Korea, there was a famous Buddhist monk whose Buddhist name was Sung-chul. He disciplined himself for 10 years by going into a small room and staring at a wall without lying down on the floor. For his entire life, he patched up and wore a single piece of clothing and led a life as if he had transcended human lust. He received praise from many Buddhists who said, “He is a living Buddha.”
However, when he was about to die, he left a poem that says, “For I have deceived so many men and women during my entire life, my sins have filled the skies, higher than Mount Sumi. (Mount Sumi is a legendary mountain that is regarded as the highest one in the world - editor’s comment.) I will fall as a living flesh into an endless pit of hell, and my remorse will divide into tens of thousands of forks that are intertwined.” This reflects the fact that sins are in his heart, and this poem is honestly confessing the fact that sins never go away just by one’s own disciplining. People called him a living Buddha, but the man knew on his own that he was a hypocrite, and that he would fall into an endless pit of hell. He himself pretended to be holy, but in fact, he had confessed that he had deceived so many men and women.
Christians today are like that. Don’t they take pleasure in pretending to be holy? As people have sin in their hearts, can they become holy just by pretending to be holy on the outside? If one were to pray when sitting at a time of worship, and if one were to walk straight and well, is the person holy? The Lord has saved us by coming to this earth, receiving the baptism, and dying on the Cross. We have come to be holy by having faith in that.
That is why it is joyful for those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to meet together among themselves. They do not have to be hypocritical about being holy to each other. When there is something delicious, the righteous make a commotion trying to eat more than others. Upon seeing the pain and the lacking of others, we comfort each other by faith. We are those who commit sins every day because of lacking. What is that which has made us, who are like that, righteous and without sin? It is the garment. It is the garment of the Lord having saved us by the water and the blood.
If we look at today’s Scripture passage, it is said, “Gather together people there, both bad and good.” It is said to invite everyone, regardless of who they are. But, no matter how virtuous a person may be, those not wearing the garment get cast away. Even though a certain person may have been called evil from the world, because he or she is wearing this garment and has the proper attire, he or she does not get cast away. People cannot attend the feast of Heaven on the basis of good and evil according to this world. The important factor that decides whether or not one can attend the feast depends on whether or not one has faith that God has saved us. This faith is what’s important.
Believing in Jesus is to believe that Jesus has saved us by coming to earth, receiving the baptism, and dying on the Cross. Just because we have been born again by having faith in the gospel, do we live a holy life on our own? After starting to believe in the gospel, there is nothing for us to change. If just one thing has changed, it is that we have worn the garment of faith, with no sin inside our hearts. There is nothing that has changed in our acts after we started to have faith. There are also those whose acts have become worse after having been born again. This is why the born-again need the Church. The just must do righteous works. There are too many people whose temper has become much worse after having been born again. If we do not serve the Lord after having been born again, we become very peculiar people. That is why the Church is necessary for the righteous.
Let us not put forth our own righteousness. Instead you and I will believe in the righteousness of God and be thankful for it. Let us give thanks before the Lord who has given us the garment. Dear fellow believers, are you thankful? If you do not thank the Lord, and do not believe in the gospel despite having heard it so many times, there isn’t much that I can do. In order for us to receive salvation, there is nothing else for us to do except to have faith in the work which Jesus has done. Human beings are lacking as such, yet how can a human being become God? Human beings are just human beings. That is why God has saved us by coming this earth in flesh, taking on all our sins by His baptism, dying on the Cross, and by receiving the judgment for all sins. He loved this world that much. This is exactly what God’s love is, and this is, without a doubt, the righteous work of God.
By believing in this, we get to wear the garment of salvation. By wearing the wedding garment of salvation, we have become Christ’s bride. Now, when the Groom comes, we will go to Him. Why does the Groom come to this earth? He comes in order to take up His wife. If the bride isn’t on this earth, then why should the Groom come? In order to take away the bride, the Groom has dressed the bride with all sorts of beautiful things. The Groom has sent everything for the bride so that His bride would have need of nothing, readied to absolute perfection. Did the Lord send us everything or not? He has sent them to us. For us, the Lord has made us to be absolutely perfect. This is what the garment is, and this is what God’s love is.
I will preach sermons like this until the end of the world. We must go on living with our hearts immersed in the grace of God. Also, we must go on living, listening to God’s love even though we have heard it often, and being thankful for it, considering it. Animals that do not chew the cud are unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7). Do pigs chew their cud or not? They do not. What about cows? Cows do chew their cud. A cow fills itself with grass, and while it rests on a sunny place, it brings back up what it has swallowed before and chews it like a piece of gum, repeatedly chewing in a grinding fashion. Because cows have four stomachs, they store food and then chew by bringing the stored food back up.
Cows live on grass. But, people these days, trying to raise the cow faster, are said to be feeding cows animal-based feed. They say that is the reason mad-cow disease had appeared. The brain of an infected cow melts and shrinks, leading to its death. It had to be fed grass according to the way set forth by God. Because people ignored the way, such a horrific disease has appeared. If people do not follow the natural way of things, they will become like that. Yet, there are people who do not follow the Word despite having heard the Word of God. They are those who will catch spiritual mad-cow disease.
The Bible tells us only things that are beneficial to our spirit. The Bible tells us about God’s love, and how our Lord has blotted out our sins. If we do not listen to the Word of God, we cannot live. That is why the Holy Spirit makes me speak about this gospel of the water and Spirit all the time. Only when we do so, we can always repeatedly meditate on the gospel. Only when we meditate on this gospel of the water and the Spirit, does our faith become firm once more. Also, the waste in our hearts and unclean thoughts get removed. Because we come to realize the fact that “The Lord truly has loved us,” we become thankful in that faith. Because we are thankful, we start serving the Lord. Furthermore, because we are children of God while living in the Lord, we receive blessings from God. This all comes naturally.
Among you, there are people who have known me for 10 years. Since the time we met until now, if there is one thing that I haven’t changed, it is the fact that I am preaching this gospel of the water and the Spirit even now. There must be some who say, “That man is peculiar. It seems like that is all he knows. Other pastors speak about ‘how can there be water above the firmament?’ and ‘why did people’s lifespan become short?’ But, why is it that Pastor Paul C. Jong only preaches about the gospel of the water and the Spirit?” I know much about the things that pastors of this world talk about. However, because it is better not speak of things that are somewhat unnecessary. I omit them and share much more about the Word of importance with you.
I pray for you to know and believe in the fact that it is God who has clothed you with the garment. Because we have received God’s love and salvation by the grace of God, we are spreading the gospel to people. We believe in it first, then spread it to people. We are living in grace before God. This is the Truth of living by faith. Trying to renew faith, if one were to believe one way, and then in another way, making commotions, while having disregard for God’s gospel, that would not be a proper faith.
Faith is to believe in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Fellow believers, do you believe this? Faith is to believe peacefully what God has given us as it is. Going to prayer retreats in a mountain and making commotions, crying and screaming isn’t what faith is. We must be clear about our life’s purpose. Our life’s purpose is believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and thanking God for it, and spreading that gospel. It is because there is still a tremendous number of people who do not know the Truth.
If we take a look at the book ordering section of the New Life Mission website, we can see that people are ordering free books from countries all over the world. Countries like the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Brazil, France, Germany, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Guatemala, Belgium, Pakistan, Japan, Italy, the Dominican Republic, the Great Britain, Canada, El Salvador, Spain, Russia, and so on. Even those from Western Europe, whose Christian history goes back several hundred years, send us their impressions of our books. One person said he had studied theology and had worked as a pastor for 50 years. But after having read volumes 1, 2, and 3 of our English books, he confessed that his life had changed completely, and that he had experienced total change of his heart. They have confessed that after having read our books, their problems of sin were solved and that they have come to realize what it is to receive the Holy Spirit.
Dear fellow believers, believing in what God has given us and spreading it is the life that we, the bride of the Lord, should be leading. As for you, please do not say, “I am so lacking that I cannot follow the Lord” or “I am so wise that I have no more things to hear in the Church.” There are exactly two ways to train those who haven’t yet set their hearts to live for the gospel: Either beat the person with the Word until he or she realizes that something is wrong with them, or have the person do the work of the gospel so much so as to make all his or her own righteousness be broken. By doing this, that person will realize how gracious and how thankful this gospel is. He or she will realize how thankful the gospel is because it is absolutely free.
I offer thanks to God for having clothed us with the garment of His righteousness. Halleluiah!
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