Search

Sermoni

Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN

[Chapter 8-3] The Power of the Gospel of The Water and the Spirit (John 8:1-16)

The Power of the Gospel of The Water and the Spirit
(John 8:1-16)
“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?’ This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’ Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, ‘You bear witness of yourself; your witness is not true.’ Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me.”
 
 
The power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is truly astonishing. This powerful gospel is the everlasting Truth of the salvation that we could never proclaim enough no matter how much we preach it. People would not struggle from the oppression of their own sins if they knew and believed in the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who truly know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit definitely receive the blessing of the salvation and all of the divine grace and blessings of the Heaven from God.
Our country also implements the five-day workweek now. They tell us that the Banks will start implementing it first. The result of this will be an increase in temporary employment opportunities. But what might happen if people have so much of free time? Will they be involved in more constructive things? Or will they follow after pleasurable things? People will probably follow after their sinful natures.
 
 

Jesus Is the True Savior

 
In today’s Scripture passage there is a woman who was arrested for adultery, and Jesus forgave her. When we look at the way Jesus treated this woman, today’s preachers just fob it off and say that Jesus showed her a lot of love. But the actual truth is that Jesus not only showed her love, but removed all her sins. That is why He told her, “Neither do I condemn you.”
The scribes and Pharisees arrested this woman and brought her before Jesus and tried to accuse Jesus by using the letter of the Law. While this commotion was going on, Jesus wrote on the ground and said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” Then those who were accusing her were convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest to the youngest, and only Jesus and the woman were left there.
Christianity today including other secular religions are good at pointing out sins people commit everyday. Some religions say by practicing asceticism without committing any sin will lead them to the truth. But how is it possible for a person not commit sin when he has been born with sin, and how can a person who has human flesh not commit sin? Besides how could this woman receive the remission of sins if Jesus did not remove her sins, and how could this woman believe that Jesus is the Savior?
We human beings are wretched, who cannot help but commit sins until we die. That is why we need the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit every moment of every day. I really desire for the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit to reach everyone all over the world. I want everybody to hear this good news of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord said, “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth.” But the souls who believe in the power of the Gospel are the only ones who will keep their faith until the end. The power of faith only comes from the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, there is nothing else for us to do but listen to God’s Word with our ears and believe it in with our whole heart. There is nothing else that is worth believing in.
Do you have anything else that is worth believing in? Can you please God with your ascetic life? Can you make the Lord happy by not sinning while living in this world? Although it is better that you do not sin than to willfully commit sin. However, it really does not matter to God whether we sin or not. You will not harm God if you sin, and there will not be any benefit to God if you don’t sin. What is abundantly clear is that all sinners will face the judgment of God for their sins without exception. If it were not for the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has given us, we would be put in the same predicament as this woman who was caught in adultery. How could we ever receive the remission of sins before the presence of God if it were not for the gospel of the water and the Spirit? How could we live the rest of our lives without being stoned to death, and how could we continue to witness the gospel if it were not for the power of the gospel? I want you to know that this woman was able to survive because of the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
 
 

“I Also Say You Do Not Have Sin”

 
Jesus declared to the woman who was caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you.” On the other hand, Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, “He who is without sin among you, let him first throw a stone at her.” Because everyone is born with sin, there is no one who has no sin, and there is no one who does not commit sins. That is why the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Lord gave us is so great. There is no difference to this woman who had committed adultery, but our Lord blotted out all our sins.
Do you know why the Lord told her, “Neither do I condemn you”? It is very simple. Jesus came to save her from all her sin, and took over all of her sins by receiving His baptism. Even this woman’s sin of adultery was already transferred onto Jesus’ body; it did not remain in this woman’s body.
Today’s passage shows us that this event applies to all of mankind. People are saying that we should try hard not to commit any sin, but such words have its origin from false doctrines. If it were not for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, no one could be truly saved.
Would this gospel only be needed in our country then? No not at all. This gospel is needed throughout the whole world. Each and every born-again believer needs the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And those who don’t believe Jesus Christ also need the gospel of the water and the Spirit. How is it possible for anyone to receive the remission of sins, if it were not for the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit?
This woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. Even if she promised never to sin again and was let free, could such a person ever reach the state of perfect sanctification by not committing any sin in the future? No, she could not. Not only this woman, but also all of us, cannot help but continue to commit sins. It does not make any sense when we say that we do not commit any sin before the presence of God.
Religions as we know it today is all man made. People if they are very cunning could make a lot of money if they use these worldly religions. “Please accept my little dedication.” This is the lyric of a praise song that was in the old edition of the Korean Praise Book. Christians are asking God to accept their sincerity even though they still have sin in their hearts. Believers in Buddhism also come to their god with money and plead with it to accept them. Christians generally are very self-centered, and also plead with and sing praise songs to God to accept their money and their lives. Therefore we find many praise songs in Christianity today that plead with God to accept their sincerity. They ask God to receive their sincerity and their faith. But does God receive their sincerity, material things and their efforts while they still have sin in their hearts? Who is there that will receive this stuff with excrement? Would you take money from someone with disgusting excrement on it? No matter how wonderful the clothes may be, would you accept these clothes if they had excrement on it?
Yet Christians have the audacity to ask God to accept them even though they have sin in their hearts. When we look at the Book of Isaiah God said, “Please do not bring those things to me, it is burdensome, please take those filthy things back.” In the Old Testament times, the Israelites came before God and asked Him to receive their blemished and sick animals such as cows, sheep and goats. Likewise most Christians today also come before God and plead with Him to receive their sinful hearts along with their material things.
These stubborn people give testimony that they have met the Lord through only the blood of the Cross, but this is like an imaginary pregnancy. A certain gospel singer gave a testimony that she met the Lord in her dream, and suddenly tears of repentance flowed down her cheeks and touched her heart, and she became born again, and decided then to give her voice to God.
All of you have probably heard the word “stalker.” A stalker is someone who follows another person that he likes regardless of whether that person wants it or not, and in some instances even makes a copy of that person’s house key, and enters her home and waits for her with a meal. These stalkers violate their victims’ privacy. Stalkers really do not love or care for their victims, but to scare and make life very difficult for them. In the some way Christians today are doing the very same thing; they are stalkers who bother God with their invincible and stubborn wills.
The Lord clearly told everyone to receive the remission of sins first by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But Christians refuse to accept this and first ask the Lord to receive their devotion even though they are sinners. Therefore God does not appreciate this type of devotion. You must realize that the Lord only accepts faith from those who have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Even if a Christian who is not born again by the gospel of the water and the Spirit sells his house and offers it up to God, and even if he offers up his own life, God will never receive such things from such a sinner. God never accepts praise and worship from anyone who still has sin in there hearts.
The scribes and Pharisees were confident that they are the chosen ones who lived an upright life before the Lord, and so they used to judge others according to the standard of the Law. Even today, many Christians find fault in other people and judge them according to the standard of the Law while they still have sin in their hearts. They need to realize that God’s ways and our ways are very different; I don’t know why they have not realized this. It must be driving God crazy because people who still have sin in there hearts continue to plead with God to accept them.
It is natural for a rich and powerful person to grant something to those who are subordinate to them. But does it make any sense for a feeble homeless person to go to a rich person and ask him to accept the food he gathered by begging on the street? What is the difference between a religious person and a man of faith? A religious person is someone who refuses to receive God’s grace, but instead tries with own strength to offer up his merits to God. Even today we see Jews bowing their heads and bang it against the stone Wailing Wall, asking God to accept them. They write their wishes on a piece of paper and push it in-between the stones of the Wailing Wall and plead with God to accept them.
But a man of faith is someone who realizes that he is hopeless and just believes with a thankful heart that God blotted out all his sins. God does not accept any type of prayer, offering, service and sacrifice from a sinner. There is only one thing that God will receive from a sinner: And that is a prayer like this, “Lord God, please save me from all of my sin.” God will not receive anything else from a sinner besides this. Rather, God is telling us that we should be receiving blessings from Him. God said, “Neither do I condemn you.” This means, “That you have no more sin.” The Lord is saying this to us, because Jesus came to this world and received the baptism from John the Baptist and took over all our sins all at once. Therefore, before we offer up any type of sacrifice to God, we first need to know and believe what the Lord has done for us and then believe in Him and follow Him.
Yesterday, we had three newcomers to our worship service. One couple was from Australia. I asked them approximately how many Koreans live in Australia. They told us around 50,000 Koreans live there. They also told us that most Koreans living in Australia live from payday to payday. They say, “It does not matter what type qualification and work you achieved in Korea. Once you move to Australia, they will not accept your qualifications and therefore you cannot find a professional job.” So, most immigrants have to live payday to payday, if they want to stay there.
The other one told us that he lives in Hwachun, and he is a sergeant. He came to Choonchun and visited one of the dental clinics where he found one of our books and started to read it whilst waiting in the waiting room, and he received the remission of sin right there and then. So he jotted down the phone number from that book and called us, and he paid our Church a visit. There are also many people in our country that have read our books and were saved from their sins.
How can anyone these days receive the remission of their sins? Would it be possible to receive the remission of sins if we pray well, offer a lot of money, attend early-morning prayer meetings and all-night prayer meetings, regularly attend Sunday worship services and volunteer to do many different works like the scribes and Pharisees? No, we couldn’t.
Ask people who do these things in their spiritual walk, if they still have sins in there hearts. They will definitely say that they still have sins despite doing all these things. How could a person then receive the remission of sin? Whosoever hears the gospel with their ears and believes in it with their hearts, receives the remission of sins because it has the power to blot out all sins all at once. This gospel of the water and the Spirit is astonishing. Besides, we are living right at the end of the world and what is there to believe besides this gospel?
There are some Brazilian ministers sending messages to us. They all want to know through what Word would they be able to receive the remission of sins. They want to know how we received the real remission of sin, because they cannot receive the remission of sin through their own way. Receiving the remission of sins can only be achieved by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There is no other way. The Lord’s return is very soon and every prophecy of the Bible will be fulfilled. Therefore there is only one way for sinners to be saved from sin. If people believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they will receive the remission of sins and receive power in order to follow the Lord and be victorious against Satan the ruler of this world, and also be able to walk with the Lord. The gospel of the water and the Spirit not only gave us our salvation, but it also gave us strength and blessings, enabling us to follow the Lord. It is a great thing. Nothing matches the gospel of the water and the Spirit in power.
The Apostle Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). God’s power exists in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The word “power” is “dunamis” in Greek and we get the word dynamite from this word. Everything could be blown to bits if we lit up a handful of dynamite. Even a huge building could be blown away if a basket of dynamite is exploded. This is the power of dynamite. The power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is like this that blots out all our sins; our original sin and personal sins; our past, present and future sins; our sins of commission and omission; the sins that we actually commit and the sins committed in our hearts; and also the sins that has already vanished from our memory. We must therefore know the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
I once saw a poster that invited people to a revival meeting of one of the world famous evangelists. It showed some pictures of healing examples of the crippled and deaf. Another famous evangelist held a revival meeting recently at our Olympic Stadium. He testified that he has been full of joy and never experienced hardship or felt sad ever since he met Jesus during his teenage years. He told everyone that he could do everything ever since that time.
But do we never experience hardships, sadness, commit sins because we have become born-again? No, that’s not true. Even though we became truly born-again by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we feel sadness when we are carnally minded. Even though our sins are clearly removed when we believed in the power of the gospel, it is difficult to live a righteous life even after we have become truly born again. We need to go through many spiritual battles to live out our faith.
 
 

What Will Happen to You, If You Refuse to Believe in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit?

 
There is no other gospel, no other blessing, no other power besides the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, people must believe this. And we need to be clothed in the power of this gospel of the water and the Spirit and run for the gospel. God will then give us the grace and divine blessing and resolve all our problems. We need to believe this and follow the Lord. If we do not do this, then there is nothing for us to inherit. I am very comfortable in my heart. Sometimes I feel much compassion when I look at all the lost souls, but I feel comfortable because I have received the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
I really desire to proclaim the gospel of the water and the Spirit all over the world. We are thus preparing many things to proclaim the gospel this year. And we are also spreading the gospel while we are preparing them. I believe that many people will believe the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit and receive the remission of sin, and even embrace their martyrdom while singing praises to God, when the time of the Lord’s coming draws near.
Our country was once known as the Jerusalem of Asia, but Christianity is on the wane. Our people need the gospel of the water and the Spirit more so now than ever before. The soldier who visited our Church yesterday told us that his church where he was attending could not resolve the problem of his sinful heart, but that now for the very first time it was resolved through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
You and I must engrave the gospel of the water and the Spirit into our hearts and share it with everyone. There is nothing better than this. Do you believe it? What can be better than this? If it were not for this gospel, who could ever, be truly saved? The faith we believe in is the gospel that has power. This gospel makes every sinner sinless, opens the eyes of the blind, makes the lame walk, and brings the dead back to life. And it blesses those who could not but live a life of misery. It is like that spiritually.
I am very thankful that I was saved from my sin through the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. My heart is now at peace. My thoughts are busy due to other souls, but my soul is very happy and at peace. I am very happy that I was able to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Please share the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit with your family members.
In the very near future, many people in Israel as well as the people from the Arab States will be saved from their sins as we move into that area. We also made a home page in Arabic, so that Moslems could read our books and understand the Truth. We also made electronic books for the countries where we cannot distribute printed books in. I know that someday we are going to reap the fruits of happiness if we continue proclaiming the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit; just like the way that person got saved from his sin after reading our books in that dental clinic. I am happy that I believe the power of the water and the Spirit. Are you happy also? I am the happiest when I am dwelling in this gospel.
To deliver the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the entire world, we look far into the future as we work and prepare for the gospel. At the end, I believe that the flowers of the gospel will blossom like a forest fire. If we prepare for it carefully step by step, the flowers will start blooming and it will be a fruitful time. We are going to strive to do our best for this work to please God. Until the day of the Lord’s return, until the day that we all stand before God, I want to share the gospel of the water and the Spirit to those who do not know the gospel so that they will receive the remission of there sins. Therefore I desire above all to do this work as long as God permits.
Of course, doing this work is not easy. It is difficult Satan makes it difficult for us. There are many moments that really pull us down, but I am going to continue to live by faith. We have lived until now for the gospel of the water and the Spirit and what else is there for us to do besides the work of the gospel. I don’t have anything else. Is there any work that is more worthwhile than this? No, there isn’t any.
Many people will receive the remission of sins if we live for the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Even now, my heart is filled with joy at the thought of people in foreign countries reading our books and receiving the remission of sins. A person sent us an e-mail message. He said that he had ordered three of our books and received them all. He said that his father was reading the third book and he was reading the first volume of our gospel book series and they both liked it very much. He said that he wanted to read the book his father was reading, and his father told him to wait another week. After the entire family finished reading our books, they will lend them to their friends. Thus, the gospel will bear fruits in hundreds and thousands fold.
How can we quit this work when we continue to receive so many beautiful messages of gratitude like this? We need to devote ourselves to the work of spreading the gospel continuously with excellent preparation. Just as a Soccer game has the first half and the second half, there are also first half and second half in our preaching of the gospel. If we have worked in the first half until now, then we are going to take a little break and will play the second half. We are going to do the work of spreading the gospel until we have the victory through our faith. Our Lord has already prepared the victory and we just have to run toward it. There is a triumphal arch waiting for us. The twelve Gates of Pearls are our triumphal arches. Are you having a hard time? We have already won. We will surly meet that glorious day.
The five-day workweek system will be rather a good opportunity for us. Not many people attend Church regularly. We should pass around the gospel books to people in our country at a time like this. We have a special team in our mission that travels all over the country distributing the mission books. This special team works so thoroughly to fulfill their mission whenever we just request them to do anything.
The Scriptures says, “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6-7).
The Lord desires God’s servants to work without taking a rest, and He is telling us to continuously pray so that God would work without rest also. We are going to do much more work and bear much more fruit. If we do this faithfully, then this world will in the near future be destroyed. Therefore, now is the time we should devote ourselves in the spreading of the gospel by using all our strength. We are going to put much effort in now when the situation is amicable, but we will not be able to do this work when it becomes difficult. There is one last thing that we need to do, and it is providing spiritual and physical food to our family members who have not received the remission of sin. And lastly, we should help even those people to receive the remission of sins and then we shall die gallantly.
It was Jesus who saved the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. We also received the gospel of the water and the Spirit and the power through Jesus. Many people receive the remission of sin now because we share the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Let us live like that for the rest of our lives. Halleluiah!
 
This sermon is also available in ebook format. Click on the book cover below.