ដោយសារការរាតត្បាតនៃជម្ងឺកូវីឌ១៩ និងការរំខានដល់សេវាកម្មប្រៃសណីយអន្តរជាតិ
យើងបានផ្អាកជាបណ្តោះអាសន្ននូវ "សេវាកម្មសៀវភៅបោះពុម្ពដោយឥតគិតថ្លៃ" របស់យើង។
នៅក្នុងស្ថានភាពបែបនេះ យើងមិនអាចផ្ញើសៀវភៅទៅកាន់លោកអ្នកបានឡើយ។
សូមអធិស្ឋានសម្រាប់ការរលាយបាត់យ៉ាងឆាប់រហ័សនូវជម្ងឺរាតត្បាតនេះ និងការដំណើរការឡើងវិញនូវសេវាកម្មប្រៃសណីយ។
សូមអធិស្ឋានសម្រាប់ការរលាយបាត់យ៉ាងឆាប់រហ័សនូវជម្ងឺរាតត្បាតនេះ និងការដំណើរការឡើងវិញនូវសេវាកម្មប្រៃសណីយ។
Subject 3 : The Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
[3-16] Believing in God’s Work Is Doing God’s Work (John 6:16-29)
(John 6:16-29)
“Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, when did You come here?’ Jesus answered them and said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.’ Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’”
We just read John 6:16-29 for today’s Scripture reading. It’s written in John 6:28-29, “Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” God’s heart is glad when we believe in the One whom God sent. This is what God desires from us, and it is also what today’s Scripture passage is teaching us. Therefore, to believe in the One sent by God is to do His work.
Earlier, Jesus had miraculously fed over 5,000 hungry people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. After this, our Lord went to Capernaum across the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, but the people of Israel who had been fed earlier, also followed Him there. It’s written here that the disciples got into the boat by themselves and headed to Capernaum across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus must have told them to go ahead of Him, and that He would follow them later, as it says here that the disciples were by themselves in the boat. When the disciples were well offshore, about three or four miles from the shore, they got caught in a big storm and their boat began to take in water.
While the disciples were trying frantically to bail out the water and trembling with fear, they saw the Lord appearing suddenly and walking towards them on the water through the crashing waves. The disciples were so shocked that they thought they were seeing a ghost. However, when Jesus got nearer, He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Realizing that it was Jesus, the disciples accepted Him into their boat, and once Jesus got on board, the waves died down immediately.
The next morning, when the multitudes that had been fed for free saw that Jesus and His disciples had crossed over to Capernaum, many of them crossed the sea to follow Him. The Scripture doesn’t say exactly how large this crowd was. It could have been thousands or even over 10,000. But it’s clear that there was a huge crowd following Jesus.
When Jesus saw the multitudes who had followed Him to Capernaum, He said to them, “Did you follow Me all this way to here because you ate the bread, or because you saw the miracle I performed? If you came because you saw this miracle, and as a result, believed in Me, then you are at the right place. But if you followed just for a few more loaves of bread, then you are mistaken. The bread that you seek cannot satisfy your hunger for long. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to everlasting life.”
This large crowd of people then said to Jesus, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus replied, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Our Lord made it abundantly clear here that to believe in the One whom God sent is to do God’s work. After reaching our salvation, we sometimes find ourselves wondering what it is that we should do to carry out God’s work. We struggle with this question, not knowing what we should do to carry out God’s work and how to do it.
God’s Work Is to Believe in the One Whom God Sent
Many Christians wander around not having a clue as to what they need to do to do God’s work. So they sometimes follow the Lord for their fleshly needs, like the people who were after a few loaves of bread. However, our Lord told us not to labor for the food that does not endure. He told us that if we want to do God’s work, we must believe in the One whom God sent. Who then is the One who was sent by God? It is none other than Jesus Christ. Our Lord God loved this world so much that He sent His only begotten Son. Believing in this Son of God sent by the Father - is doing God’s work.
It is God the Father our Lord who sent Jesus Christ to this earth. That the seal of God the Father is set on the Son of Man means that God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ as the only Savior of mankind, so that through Him, all human beings would receive the remission of sins and become His children. This means that there is no Savior of mankind but Jesus Christ, just as the Bible says that there is no other name under Heaven by which we can be saved.
It is God the Father who created the heavens and the earth, the universe and all things in it. It is also God the Father who has saved us from all our sins and blessed us to enter Heaven by sending His Son Jesus Christ. That is why the Scripture says that to believe in the One whom God sent is to do God’s work. In other words, believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior is the very work of God. None other than believing in the One whom God sent is God’s work.
Believing in Jesus, the Savior Sent by God the Father, Is God’s Work
We yearn wholeheartedly to do God’s work, and we think constantly about what we should do to carry out His work. But it’s not as complicated as we think it is; the Bible says that believing in the One whom God sent is His work. It is Jesus Christ whom God sent to this earth. It is Jesus who was born on this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, and it is also Jesus who bore all our sins by being baptized in the Jordan River.
We are all weak and carnal, for we still wear the flesh, and this flesh of ours commit sins until the day we die. Yet, Jesus Christ bore all such sins. He took all our sins upon His body by being baptized, and He made an end to them all and saved us by being crucified and shedding His blood in our place. Having risen from the dead in three days, He is now sitting at the right hand of the throne of God the Father, and, He has become the Savior of all mankind. Therefore, to do God’s work is first of all to believe in the One sent by God, Jesus Christ our Savior. Believing with all our hearts that Jesus has saved us is God’s work. That is the will of God. And that is God’s desire.
What should we do to do God’s work then? We should first of all believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. By any chance, have you not been trying to do something on your own for God, instead of believing in Him with your heart? Just because you do something for God, does not mean that you are doing His work. Rather, doing God’s work means believing in the amazing miracle and salvation that God fulfilled for us by remitting away all our sins.
So, we the believers, who have received the remission of sins by believing in Jesus Christ, are doing God’s work. There are many things that I’ve been working on for the Lord. In the past, I used to think that I needed to make a lot of money to do God’s work. I had this misguided vision of building a huge church compound with dozens of buildings like a university campus, with each building serving different purposes from worship to education and recreation. I dreamed of this even while I was still sinful. However, the Bible says that believing in the One whom God sent is God’s work. Who is the One sent by God? Isn’t He Jesus Christ, the only Savior of Mankind? To believe in the Savior God is to do His work.
What Should We Believe Next to Do God’s Work?
We should believe that God the Father sent John the Baptist to this earth in order to pass the sins of the world to Jesus Christ. When we turn to John chapter 1, we see the Bible saying, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe” (John 1:6-7). The man in this passage refers to John the Baptist, who is even more important than the twelve disciples of Jesus. The most important figure in the Scripture is, of course, Jesus. John the Baptist is the next one, followed by the twelve disciples, and then all the servants of God and His people in the Old Testament.
The Bible says that to believe in the one sent by God is to do His work. Let’s then turn to John chapter 1 and find out whether or not John the Baptist was really sent by God. It’s written in John 1:5-12: “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”
The passage here speaks of Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. Isn’t it written in verses 6 and 7, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe”? So then, to believe in the one sent by God is to do His work. And the man sent by God here is John the Baptist, and is the second one whom God sent especially.
Any of us can run around, busy trying to do something for God. But that’s not what God wants from us. God wants us to believe in the one whom He sent. That’s doing God’s work, and that’s what God desires. We ought to then realize this desire of God and believe in the One whom He sent, rather than doing something on our own without even understanding the will of God or His wish.
The second one sent by God is John the Baptist, as the Bible says, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe” (John 1:6-7). Who is the man sent by God here? It is John the Baptist.
Do you now believe that there was a man sent by God, and that this man was John the Baptist? John the Baptist bore witness of the Light, and he came as the representative of mankind and the last prophet. He was the greatest of all those born of women. He baptized Jesus in the Jordan River where he passed all our sins to Jesus. And he bore witness of Jesus as our Savior, testifying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John the Baptist bore witness like this so that through his testimony of the baptism he gave to Jesus Christ, many would come to believe in Him. The Bible says that believing in the one sent by God is doing His work. In addition to Jesus, John the Baptist was also sent by God the Father. This then implies that believing in what both Jesus and John the Baptist did is to do God’s work.
In other word, believing in what John the Baptist did is God’s work. Many Christians nowadays believe blindly in just Jesus’ blood on the Cross, and exclude the work of John the Baptist. But this is not a biblically sound faith. This is not doing God’s work. When we preach the gospel, we are not doing God’s work either unless we preach about what John the Baptist did, how he was sent by God, and how God passed all the sins of mankind to Jesus through him. Anyone can claim to be preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But only when we preach about what Jesus and John the Baptist did can we really say that we are preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Unless we preach about what Jesus and John the Baptist did, that is, the work of atonement that Jesus accomplished by accepting all the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist—then we are not doing God’s work, no matter how much we believe in and preach Jesus. That’s why whenever we preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must always preach about the work done by Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, both of whom were sent by God, through which the Lord has saved us from our sins.
The Third Requirement in Doing God’s Work
We recall that doing God’s work is believing in the one sent by God as mentioned. God’s servants are also sent by God. This implies believing in God’s servants is also doing God’s work.
God sent many servants in the Old Testament, from Moses to Abraham, Jacob, Ezekiel, Daniel, Malachi, Habakkuk, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, and so on and so forth. In the New Testament, there were the twelve disciples of Jesus, and under their apostolic leadership, there were many other servants raised by God as well. Believing in those sent by Jesus Christ, who was sent by God in the first place, is doing God’s work. This does not imply believing blindly in everything they say, but rather believing that they are in fact God’s servants and trusting them. The Bible says that to believe in the one whom God sent is doing God’s work.
If you do not recognize the servants raised by God, then you are not doing God’s work. And you don’t really believe in God either. I am very grateful that you trust me as a servant of God. Personally, I cannot even dream of asking you to believe me. But there are many false prophets who make outrageous claims, some going as far as to say that they are Jesus.
There are no grounds for me to ask you to believe me. In fact, I am just as selfish and imperfect as anyone else, so I can’t ask you with a clear conscience to trust me. I can’t say that because there is little you can trust me about. However, if there is one thing that I can ask you to believe about me, it is that I am a servant of God. In other words, even though I am an imperfect man with many flaws, one thing that is clear, I believe in and preach the Truth as someone sent by God. And there is no question that if you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and the Word of God preached by me, you will not only receive everlasting life and the remission of sins, but you will also prosper in body.
I am absolutely convinced of this. Even though it is I who speak, it is the Word of God that I preach, not mine. It’s because I believe in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, His wisdom, His understanding, and His desire that I am asking you to believe in the servants whom God raised and sent. To believe in the servants of God is doing God’s work. Trusting God’s servants - is doing His work.
A Life of Faith Can only Be Led When You Trust God’s Servants
Only when you trust the servants of God can you also believe in the Word preached by them, receive the remission of sins, lead your everyday life under their guidance, and live out your faith properly.
When we trust God’s servants, we can live and believe like this. And we can also receive countless blessings. What will happen if you and I do not trust the servants whom God raised and sent, but also not believe that our pastors and ministers here are actually God’s servants? The consequence is that we will not be able to believe even in God.
Why is this so? It’s because although God is the Word, He does not work unless He can work through His servants whenever He wants to do anything, just as God spoke the Truth to the Prophet Amos. In other words, God teaches everything to His servants first, from the mystery of salvation to living by faith, wisdom, everlasting life, and the way to receive all blessings; and it is through these servants that God then speaks to every believer.
That’s why we must trust God’s servants. How about you then? Do you trust the servants of God? To believe in the servants of God is to believe in the ones sent by God, and, this is God’s work. Even after being saved, some people still do not trust God’s servants. They say that they can lead their lives of faith without any problem even if they don’t have God’s servants. This, however, is absolutely not the case.
If you don’t come to God’s Church, don’t trust the servants raised by God, and don’t listen to them, then you cannot live out your faith properly. It doesn’t matter that you have been saved; if you just sit on the couch and watch TV every day, do worthless things, and preoccupy yourself with just the affairs of the flesh, you will face nothing but incessant trouble and hardships. Only when you hear the Word through the God-appointed servants can you believe in God, and, by this faith in the Word of God, carry out His work.
The same goes for me as well. If I were a layman, I would also need someone preaching the Word to me. Without someone preaching the Word to me, I wouldn’t be able to lead my life of faith. I have done all kinds of things in my life. I was at one point a layman, and even after being saved, I held all kinds of different jobs. There is hardly anything that I haven’t done; I’ve done pretty much everything there is to do. So I know very well how you feel. I also know very well what it is that you need to do to serve the Lord.
Trusting in the servants of God means believing that they have been sent and raised by God. For whom has God sent these servants then? He has sent them for none other than us, for you and me alike, and believing so is doing God’s work.
How could we live out our faith if we fail to recognize God’s servants? If we don’t recognize these servants of God, then we won’t recognize Jesus Christ and John the Baptist sent by God the Father. Although we have been saved, how could we find faith and receive blessings in our lives unless we recognize God’s servants? How could we find any guidance? We must trust the God-appointed servants.
Yet, some people still do not trust the servants raised by God. If you do this, your faith will be over. It will be finished. But there still are such people around. They not only oppose God’s servants, but they also insist that God’s servants should listen to them instead, not the other way around. But would God’s servants listen to them? This is like a student saying to the teacher that both of them should be teachers. There won’t be any need for school then. What’s the point of having a school if there is no student? If everyone in the Church were a teacher and a God-appointed servant, then there won’t be any congregation left. There will be no need for the Church either. We might as well all go home. Yet, sadly, some people think like this.
So, refusing to come to the Church, they stand against the servants of God, saying, “You are not the only servant of God, I am also God’s servant!” This, my fellow believers, can be uttered only by someone who is completely reckless. As it’s written in the Scripture, when Jesus was asked what one should do to do the work of God, He said clearly that believing in the One sent by God is doing His work. Refusing to recognize and trust the God-sent servants is contrary to this Scripture teaching, and it is a sure way to ask for perdition.
Genuine Acts of Faith Come from Believing in the Word of Truth
When people are saved, they listen to the Word and store the bread of the spirit at first. So they are strengthened and healed from countless illnesses. When you receive the remission of sins, it’s not the end of the story. When people receive the remission of sins into their hearts, they are healed from all kinds of diseases. This is what actually happens. Those who are in poor health become very healthy. With their health restored, some people may start thinking, “Now that I’m back in good health, there is no need for me to attend church. I’ll just go out to the world and try to strike it rich.” This, my fellow believers, is totally wrong.
No one could be more reckless than such people. Yet there still are people who stubbornly refuse to listen to the servants of God. Their faith will be finished. No matter how good your faith may be and how talented you may be, God has raised His servants so that you would be nourished and led by them with the Word. If you ignore God’s servants and try to do God’s work on your own, you will produce nothing but your own work. Your own zeal and devotion are not God’s work. You could donate a million dollars to the Church, but you would still not be doing God’s work. You will instead be trapped in your own work.
Put differently, you will fall back into the Law even after being saved. The Bible does say that faith without works is death. But the correct interpretation of this passage is as follows: Believing in Him whom God sent is doing God’s work, and therefore when we believe in the One sent by God, we are saved, led by Him, and blessed by Him. It is on account of faith that we are blessed; it is on account of faith that we are led; and it is also on account of faith that our works emerge. In other words, it’s because we believe in the Word of God and trust His servants that we follow the Word. That’s from where our works emerge.
This is what the Bible means when it says that faith without works is dead. But those who do not trust God’s servants don’t listen to them and dismiss them no matter what they say, thinking to themselves, “Yeah, sure. You can’t fool me; I can see through you.” This is wrong. The Bible says clearly that believing in the One sent by God is His work. God’s work is not anything else. It’s believing in the One whom God sent. If you want to be led by God and receive countless blessings for the rest of your life like Abraham, then you must believe in the one sent by God. There is another group whom God has sent. To sinners, God has sent His people. He has sent the witnesses of Jesus Christ, His disciples.
The True Word of God Is the Food That Does Not Perish
These sinners must believe the people of God. They must believe the righteous. Believing in what the righteous are saying is doing God’s work. It’s when the sinners listen to the people of God and hear the gospel preached by them that they receive everlasting life, just as Jesus said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life” (John 6:27). They will receive everlasting life that will never perish.
I feel I am being a bit too light with my sermon today. I keep looking at the clock, unsure whether I should expand it or not; I’m afraid that I would take up too much time once I start expanding my sermon. But I want to urge you all here to start growing up. When you were first saved, you were clearly saved by believing Jesus Christ’s work of salvation and the ministry of John the Baptist sent by God. The next step is believing in the God-appointed servants. Whether these servants stumble or rise depends entirely on God.
In the days of King David, a man named Uzzah was struck down by God for touching the Ark of the Covenant when it was being brought back to Jerusalem from the land of the Philistines. Uzzah was driving the cart on which the Ark was placed, and when the oxen stumbled, he reached out his hand and grabbed the Ark to steady it, so as to prevent it from falling. For this, he was struck down by God and killed.
In our man-made thoughts we may wonder what was so offensive about holding the Ark steady when it looked like it was going to fall. If anything, Uzzah should have been commended for steadying the Ark; how could it be right to just do nothing and let the Ark fall? This, however, is not how God thinks. The work of God cannot be touched by anyone. God the Father made us, and turned us into His own people, He sent His Son Jesus Christ. He also sent John the Baptist. Working together, one of them passed all the sins of the world to the other, and this One bore all these sins and was condemned for them. That is how God has saved us.
God’s Servants Are under His Rule
The saints cannot stick their nose into what God Himself has planned and is doing, nor can they meddle with the servants whom God Himself has raised. To be completely honest with you, I am no different from anyone else when it comes to wanting to get my way. I do many things on my own. I like to get my way, and I also change my mind all the time. However, there is a limit to getting my own way. Even God’s servants cannot do whatever they want to. That’s because they are subject to God’s rule. When they do anything that runs counter to God’s wish, the Holy Spirit in their hearts speaks to them and convicts their hearts to turn them around. He lets them know clearly that He is not comfortable with what they are doing.
Once the Holy Spirit convicts the hearts of the servants of God, they cannot get their way. Even God’s servants cannot do everything according to their own wishes. As long as you know that God’s servants are also subject to His rule, you can trust them. It’s a big mistake to think that God’s servants are somehow free from His rule and can do whatever they want to do. They cannot wield power as though they were tyrants. Like the centurion whose servant Jesus healed, they submit to the Word. Because the Word is in them and the Holy Spirit dwells in them, the Holy Spirit speaks to their hearts. God is the Absolute. Whatever God speaks is fulfilled exactly as spoken. Even His servants cannot get their way unless permitted by God. It’s very important for you to grasp this.
This is something that I came to realize fully only after I myself became a servant of God. I can’t do whatever I want. You can’t do whatever you want either. It’s absolutely impossible. I know this very well. Now that you have received the remission of sins, you have the Holy Spirit in you. Because you have the Holy Spirit, you can say that you have no sin. And you are in fact sinless. The Holy Spirit bears witness of this in your heart. So whenever you hear the Word of God, you are joyous to hear it, you believe in it wholeheartedly, and you yearn to follow it. Faith springs forth. It’s all because you have the Holy Spirit in you. You may still think that can do whatever you want to do, but give it a try and see if you can really get your way. The Holy Spirit will convict your heart and make you feel uncomfortable, restless, anguished, and painful. You will find your heart’s suffering unbearable. If you don’t believe in the Word of God and don’t follow it, then your heart will be tormented so much that life itself will become intolerable.
So you have no choice but to follow the Word. That’s precisely why God has put you in the Church, so that you would follow the Word. He makes you listen to the Word through His servants. Do you really want to live a worthy life? Do you want to do God’s work? Then believe in those sent by God. None other than this is doing God’s work. God’s work is not something that you do just by relying on your own zeal and effort without believing in those sent by God.
Believing in the Word of God Is His Work
Believing in the righteousness of God is His Work. Although we all think that we know the righteousness of God very well, it’s still crucial for us to have a solid grasp of today’s Scripture reading, that is, we must all realize that to believe in those sent by God is doing His work. I believe that God has raised up those who believe in His Word as His servants on this earth. I also believe that whoever believes in this Word will receive the food that endures to everlasting life.
When Christians speak of Jesus, many of them speak of only His incarnation and death on the Cross. They believe that when Jesus came to this earth, He saved us by just dying on the Cross. There are many people who preach the gospel like this. There also are many people who believe like this. But with this kind of faith, they cannot receive everlasting life. They can believe like this all they want; no matter how ardently they might believe, they still remain sinners, and they are still bound by the Law. God did not give us the Law so that we would keep it all. Rather, He gave us the Law so that we would realize our sins through it, believe in Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind sent by God, and thereby receive the remission of sins. To believe otherwise is to fall into the Law again.
The misguided Christians who do not believe in those sent by God say even after hearing the gospel of the water and the Spirit that salvation can be reached just by believing in Jesus’ blood on the Cross. And they go to and serve at the churches that propagate such false teachings. They donate to such dens of false teachings and work themselves to death there. This, my fellow believers, is not doing God’s work. Even if we are playing around, resting, or just sitting around doing nothing, as long as we believe in the Word of God with our hearts, we are doing God’s work. That is what is meant by God’s work. Believing in those sent by God—in the servants of God, in the role of John the Baptist, and in Jesus Christ—is doing God’s work.
It is thereby by faith that we work, not by our own acts. Whether or not we still need deeds after reaching our salvation is a moot point. We do our work because we believe. It’s because we believe that our deeds spring forth. It’s because we believe that we come to the Church. And it’s because we believe that we serve the Lord for the sake of the gospel.
Believing in the Word Is Doing God’s Work
Fourthly, we do God’s work when we believe in every written Word of God. God has given His Word to you and me on this earth. To believe in this Word is doing God’s work. It’s when we believe in the Word of God that His work unfolds. That’s when God is joyful. Believing in God’s Word is doing His work. Do you think there is something more to God’s work than this, something special, as if living a holy and pious life without any sin would mean that you are doing God’s work? That is not the case at all!
This is a big problem plaguing many Christians these days. For instance, in Korea it’s a common sight to see fanatical Christians, usually middle-aged women, standing around subway or bus stations and shouting out blindly into a microphone for people to believe in Jesus. They do not have any clear message. They just repeat the same jumbled up mantra over and over again, screaming to those passing by to believe in Jesus. This is not bearing witness of Jesus. It just drives non-Christians even further away and merely confirms what many of them think about Christians that they are a bunch of lunatics! I actually had a chance to listen to one of them for a while. I even asked them for a brochure. I read through it, but the brochure just had the usual biblical passages about how much God loves us and how we will be saved if only we believe in Jesus. It was absolutely devoid of any substance.
These misguided Christians think what they are doing is doing God’s work, when in fact they are just damaging the cause of the gospel. This is not doing God’s work. God’s work is believing in those sent by God. Those sent by God are Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, the servants raised by God, and His Word. To believe in these is to do God’s work. Therefore, it is when we read the Word of God and believe in it that we do God’s work—we are, in fact, doing God’s work at this very time.
When we trust the words of the servants of God, we do God’s work. When we believe in those sent by God, in the role of John the Baptist and the fact that Jesus Christ has become our true Savior by bearing all our sins and being condemned for them, we are doing God’s work. It is therefore absolutely indispensable for us to read the Scripture. It’s the Word that we must read, and it’s the Word that we must believe. Just as the Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17), it’s when we hear the Word that faith springs forth, and it’s when we believe in this Word of God that we carry out His work.
To have faith in God is to do His work before Him. How about you then? Have you been saved by faith? If you have indeed been saved by faith, then I urge you to trust in God’s Church and unite yourself with it. To be one with this Church, you must be one with the servants whom God has raised. You must believe in what the servants are saying. You must unite yourself with them. You must be nourished with the Word through God’s servants. You must share fellowship with the saints. You must obey the Word of God. You must follow it. This is what God’s work is all about.
Therefore, my fellow believers, we ought to be exceedingly glad to do God’s work. If we really want to do God’s work, then we ought to believe in those whom God has sent. Rather than trying to do God’s work by ourselves, we ought to believe in those sent by God. That’s how we can receive everlasting life, how we can follow God, and how we can receive His abundant blessings.
God has told us that believing in Him and His Word is doing His work. I am so thankful to God for this wonderful lesson. God has taught us that to rejoice and believe in those sent by God is to do His work. We believe in God. We believe in those sent by God. We believe in the Word. We believe in the saints. We believe that God has raised His servants for us. We believe that the saints are righteous. And we believe that all of us are God’s own people.
In short, we are doing God’s work. Because we believe, we can abide in God, live a beautiful life, and receive His blessings. What makes all this possible? It’s our faith. By believing in all the Word of God, His servants, Jesus Christ, and the role of John the Baptist, we are doing God’s work. If you believe, you will be healed from your illnesses. If you believe, you will receive the remission of sins. If you believe, you will become a servant of God like Abraham. If you believe in the Word of God, His Church and His servants, then you will prosper in all things. Hallelujah!
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