ដោយសារការរាតត្បាតនៃជម្ងឺកូវីឌ១៩ និងការរំខានដល់សេវាកម្មប្រៃសណីយអន្តរជាតិ
យើងបានផ្អាកជាបណ្តោះអាសន្ននូវ "សេវាកម្មសៀវភៅបោះពុម្ពដោយឥតគិតថ្លៃ" របស់យើង។
នៅក្នុងស្ថានភាពបែបនេះ យើងមិនអាចផ្ញើសៀវភៅទៅកាន់លោកអ្នកបានឡើយ។
សូមអធិស្ឋានសម្រាប់ការរលាយបាត់យ៉ាងឆាប់រហ័សនូវជម្ងឺរាតត្បាតនេះ និងការដំណើរការឡើងវិញនូវសេវាកម្មប្រៃសណីយ។
សូមអធិស្ឋានសម្រាប់ការរលាយបាត់យ៉ាងឆាប់រហ័សនូវជម្ងឺរាតត្បាតនេះ និងការដំណើរការឡើងវិញនូវសេវាកម្មប្រៃសណីយ។
Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 24-11] Love the Lord More Than The Things of the World (Matthew 24:32-51)
(Matthew 24:32-51)
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
How have you all been? It’s raining now. When it rains like this, our hearts can sometimes get depressed for no particular reason. But, we who have been born again will continue to live for the gospel and then afterwards go to the Lord. Your fate and mine has already been decided. The Lord has saved us out of His complete love for us; we have no other way but to live our lives by trusting in the Lord and loving Him. Of course its natural since we are all too human, it is therefore still possible for us to be disheartened at times, and we share in both times of hardship and times of joy. We the righteous live for the Lord, but even for us, there are times of happiness, sadness, joy and suffering.
During these times, it is the Lord who comforts our hearts and consoles us. The Lord alone is our faithful friend who strengthens our hearts and bestows us with His grace. But should we love anything else other than the Lord, there will be neither any peace nor any strength in our hearts, and we will struggle alone in suffering, not knowing where to go. In contrast, if we love the Lord and follow Him more than anything else in this world, then He brings peace into our hearts, strengthens us, enables us to love Him, makes us serve Him, and leads us to follow Him until the day He returns.
In today’s Scripture passage, Jesus spoke of the end of this world using the nation of Israel as an example, and He spoke about how the servants of God should go about leading their lives. He said, “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” The words mentioned here, “This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place,” what the Lord was actually saying here was that He would return before the disappearance of the nation of Israel. When iniquities abound in this world, Israel will also be drawn into war swept up by this ever-changing world. Even though the Israelites are God’s own chosen people, they too will be dragged into war as it is written in the Word of the Lord, and as they go through and experience the tribulations, those who of them who would believe in the perfect salvation Jesus gave us, will be saved but in the end will eventually lose their country.
The entire world is now filled with sin. For example there are so many rave party clubs in Los Angeles a large City in the United States, where it is reported that many people gather in these clubs, just too use dangerous drugs. There are also a large number of Korean people living there, who also frequent such clubs and indulge in these terrible drugs. Many Korean residents living in that area are now advising parents in Korea not to send their children to Los Angeles to further their education. Recently a new drug has been introduced; it is reported to be several times more powerful and yet cheaper than methamphetamine or ‘P’ as it is generally known. So we are now seeing this new drug gradually spreading across Europe, Asia, and the United States, it is now becoming an epidemic that governments have declared war on drugs.
A number Korean residing living abroad are said to be also taking this new drug, which means that it is only a matter of time before these people smuggle this drug into Korea as well. When people are in the business of smuggling drugs, they hide them inside cigarette packages or under the soles of their shoes or in places unimaginable, and the police have a real tough time to screen them out, particularly more so because they smuggle in these new drugs that are still not known in Korea.
This drug currently costs about US$20 each. This new drug is very popular as it is six times more powerful than methamphetamine and capable of inducing extreme hallucinations, but at the same time, it paralyzes the brain and the jaw. So in the end it can eventually paralyze the entire nerve system, trigger a seizure, and even lead to death. Anyone who takes this drug ‘just once time’ is immediately addicted. Despite its seriously damaging effects, when the drug eventually wears off, people will still keep taking this drug time after time, wanting to experience its hallucinating effects again and again. The drug is easily available to anyone who wants it. All that is needed is a telephone number a phone and some money, and can call a drug dealer at anytime of the day, and it would be delivered into his hands in no time. This drug is widespread in the United States, and it is now making its way into Korea also.
In Seoul our Capital, more and more clubs are now opening where people do drugs and dance under its hallucinating effects. These clubs are now flourishing all over; I wonder what would happen to this generation if this trend would continue unabated. I think that drugs hook people because they have no real satisfaction in their lives. This trend is not unique to just Korea, but it is a global trend. It looks quite likely that by the end times, drugs would intoxicate the whole world.
To tell you the truth, does anyone have any satisfaction at all, except for those who believe in Jesus Christ and His true gospel? Is there anything that’s worth doing or any joy at all? When I put myself in the shoes of those who have not been born again, I don’t think I could live without drugs, as I would have neither any joy nor any satisfaction. How about you? What do you think will happen to you if you put yourself in their shoes? Don’t you think that you would also do what they are doing? After all, don’t people do drugs because their lives are completely devoid of any real satisfaction, that is why they take drugs in order to forget about everything and feel better, if only momentarily? In Korea also, many entertainers have been charged and prosecuted with drug abuse.
Jesus told us to learn from the parable of the fig tree. He said that when its branches turn tender and its leaves come out, we should realize that the second coming of the Lord is imminent, and that He would return before the passing of this generation. In the Bible a generation is estimated to be about 40 years. I believe this passage of scripture refers to the end of this world and its universe will come about when Israel is oppressed by another nation and goes into the final full-scale war, and in the end is destroyed. But it seems to me that irrespective of whether it is Israel or any another country, when everyone takes drugs and goes mad, war would break out due to the collective madness. If this should be the case, then as I examine various events that are unfolding now, I think that the day of the Lord’s return is not that far away.
I believe that this is more than likely to happen, once drugs are cheaply made and become freely available throughout the whole wide world. When we consider how people have no hope in this world, if they can take drugs at a cheap price, experience its hallucinating effects, and thereby become addicted to them, wouldn’t everyone then come to use drugs in the end? Once addicted to drugs, people would have no control over their compulsive use but continue to abuse them day in and day out as if they were eating meals, and some of them would inevitably perish out of this excessive abuse of drugs. If this should happen then there would be no way for drug-addicted people to realize their sins, and they may even die without hearing this glorious gospel.
No one knows the exact day and time of our Lord’s return, but He did say that He will come when people are busy getting married, eating and drinking, just like the day when Noah entered the Ark. What will really happen when our Lord returns at this time? When tribulations descends on this world, all those who have received the remission of sin will suddenly be transformed and lifted up into the sky with Him, whether they are already dead / sleeping in their tombs or are still alive.
To bring this into sharper focus, Jesus said that there would be two men in the field, one will be taken and the other one left. It will be just as He told us in the Word, although there are countless number of people living in this world, only some of them will be called by the Lord and lifted up into the sky, for they would have been saved, but the rest will be left behind to endure every disaster to come. In other words, when the Bible says that one of the two men in the field would be taken up and the other one is left behind, it means that while some people on this planet have received the remission of sin, others have not received it.
Those who have received the remission of sin will go to a new world when the Lord returns. And they will also reign in this new world, the Millennial Kingdom together with the Lord. In contrast those who do not believe in the Lord and have not been born again will be forsaken on this planet to endure the tribulation. After a thousand years has passed, the Lord will resurrect the dead sinners and throw them into the everlasting fire of hell together with all the sinners that would be still living. We do not know when this day is, but the Lord will surely return soon. So we must be ready at all times. The Lord told us that just as one would be ready if he knew about the coming thief, those who believe in God must be awake, become thoroughly faithful and wise servants, who are made ruler over the Master’s household to give them food in due season.
What should we do whilst living by faith until the day of our Lord’s return? What should we do to love the Lord, love this gospel, and live in this world with Him until the day He returns? When we consider these questions, we see that we should love the Lord rather than the things of this world. If we really solely love the Lord, then regardless of when He may return to this planet, we are able follow Him until that day, love Him, and carry out the task He has entrusted to us. I am absolutely sure beyond any doubts whatsoever that the born-again believers who believe in this salvation plan given to us by the Lord, should now all become such exceedingly faithful servants who continually share the Word of God, this very bread of life, with others they meet in obedience to the Lord’s commandment.
My fellow believers, in order for us to love the Lord and live until the day He returns, we should not be drawn away and love what this world has to offer. Yet because we are all frail and too human, we could at times find ourselves drawn to the world. One thing is however clear, that we cannot love the things of the world more than the Lord, nor can we set our minds more on them rather on the Lord. If we should fall into the trap of loving the world in equal proportions as we love the Lord, then we will eventually come to forget about following the Lord, and would in turn have the thinking that His return is delayed, and we will then indulge ourselves in self-complacency.
When the Lord returns at such time like this, these people will be appointed their portions with the hypocrites, therefore we must never lead this kind of life. Although we could at times stumble as we are only too human, we must never love the things of the world, but instead we must remember how much the Lord loves us, and we must believe in this love from the depths of our hearts. Because the Lord is a jealous and envious God, we please him greatly only if we love Him alone no matter what. If we instead should love what is in this world, or love both the Lord and the world, then He will be disappointed, frustrated, and jealous. So I hope and pray that no matter what, you and I would never find ourselves loving the things of the world more than the Lord.
So it is my hope and prayers that you and I would all walk with the Lord and live by faith until the day He returns. In this time at the Lord’s imminent return, we must truthfully follow the Lord, carry out His work, and share His bread. This work of sharing the bread of life is not something that just ministers are required to do. For you to spread the gospel is also sharing the bread. If you love the Lord more than anything in this world, then you can live as a servant of Jesus Christ to share His bread with the people of God. Because the strength to continue to live like this is given to us by the Lord, and we able now to live such a life with the Lord. If we should love the things of the world more than the Lord, then we are unable live for Him.
No matter how much we may try to live for the Lord, if there is something that we love more than the Lord, it would then become impossible for us to live for Him, for He would not be pleased with us. We at times make mistakes even when we love the Lord and follow Him more than what is in this world, but the Lord tolerates such occasional mistakes. However, if we should love the things of the world more than the Lord, then He will cause displeasure to rise within our hearts, He will then not walk with us anymore, and will be jealous, saying in frustration, “I don’t care anymore; do whatever you want to do, and live in whatever way you want to live.” My fellow believers the return of the Lord is now imminent. One thing is very clear and that is, we must love the Lord more than anything else in this world. Do you grasp this? If you don’t then you will not be able to love the Lord when He returns, neither able to follow Him nor carry out His work.
Because we are all living in this world, none of us can at times help ourselves but love what the world has to offer. But even if this were the case, if we should love the things of the world more than the Lord, then this will be to our doom. It is quite possible for us to like what is in the world, but this should only be to the extent that it does not offend the Lord or hurt His heart. If you should follow the world too much, you will only be asking for the wrath of the Lord and your own destruction. What will happen then? The Lord said that at the time of His return, if one beats his fellow servant, and eats and drinks with the drunkards, then the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour when he is not aware of, and will cut him into two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. For us to really lead our lives of faith properly until the day of the Lord’s return, we must love Him more than anything else in the world or what it can offer.
The Lord is a jealous God. Mankind’s own conjectures and speculations are completely useless before the Lord. He knows all about our hearts. If anyone loves the things of the world more than the Lord, then He will cut off such people right away and no longer walk with them. Is there anyone who can prevail over the Lord? Can anyone deceive Him? No not at all; no one can deceive Him.
However if we should love the Lord more than what is in this world, He will then make our hearts happy and full of joy. He will then give us the joy to our hearts, wisdom, peace and rest. But what will happen if we end up loving the world more than Him? The Lord will become jealous, and He will not even talk to you for days, as He dwells in our hearts, if He should stop talking to us because He is displeased with us, how could we then, who are living only because of Him, ever have joy in our lives? When in our hearts there the Lord displays His anger, how could we then continue to live happily? It is simply impossible!
Everyone who has received the remission of sin has the Holy Spirit living within his or her heart. So when we set aside the Holy Spirit, we are unable to live out our lives of faith. Simply put, we can live out our faith only if we do everything according to the pleasures of the Holy Spirit. Although we have received the remission of sin, if we should love the world more, then the life of faith itself becomes impossible to lead. The Bible says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Are you now wondering, “Well, what am I supposed to do then? It is impossible not to love what is in this world; I cannot help myself but to love these things. So what I am to do?” This passage of scripture means that you should not love the things of the world more than the Lord, just do what pleases Him.
Is there then anyone in the world today who does not love anything of the world at all? No not at all, as we go on living in this world, it more than possible for our hearts to be drawn to the things of the world. Nevertheless, at least in the center of our hearts, the Lord must always be our foremost priority, and we should never love anything of this world more than the Lord. Does this then mean that if we just resolve in ourselves not to love the world more than the Lord, we can somehow achieve this? No, this is not the case at all.
Although it is still possible for us to sometimes love the world more, what is crucial is that in times like these, we must always admit our mistakes to God and turn around speedily. Regardless of any excuse we may have, we must cherish the Lord more than everything else in this world, love Him more, and follow Him more, for the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart and mine. Everything we do from henceforth is done only under the Lord’s permission. The Apostle Paul also said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Unless the Lord permits, we cannot do anything at all. I am not just insisting on my own hypothetical notion here, but the Holy Spirit actually does dwell in us, and therefore it is best for us all to live accordingly.
My fellow believers, do you desire to live as true servants who share the bread of life with souls that are in the house of the master until the day of the Lord’s returns, and then go to see Him? If this be the case, then you must think of the Lord first, and you must please Him first before anything else. And if there is anything you want to do, you must first ask for His permission.
The end of the world is near. As I keep talking about the end, you may get a bit annoyed. Perhaps you are thinking, “The end will come when it comes; let’s just keep quiet rather than talking about it all the time. Stop talking about such things! I get nervous and uneasy when I constantly hear it. I am already weary enough as it is, so why do you keep saying these things?” But believe me it is not as if I enjoy talking about the end of the world. Yet despite this, I am compelled to continue to speak about the end times because this last day is indeed closer than we may think.
The nearer this day approaches us, the more sin abounds in this world, and the more things that make us unable to follow the Lord. As such, until the day the Lord returns, we must love Him and live in this world within the bounds permitted by Him—that is, we must live the kind of life that is pleasing to the Lord, and that is cherished by Him before we go to see Him. I keep saying these things so that you would be able to meet the Lord in joy.
I am not one of those world-renowned eschatologists. Few people are as humane as I am. If you really get to know me, you would see that I am a very soft man. You too, are gentle like a lamb. When you consider yourself, are you gentle or not? In fact, there is no one whose heart is as gentle, pure, clear, and clean as those of us the righteous. Because our hearts have no sin, we are able to smile genuinely and gently unlike everyone else, all thanks to the Lord. The real righteous people have the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and therefore no one else can be gentler or purer than them, unless they are facing a situation where they have to stand up resolutely.
Whenever I speak of the end of the world, I cannot but talk about the gloomy prospect the world is facing, but I wish I could talk about brighter and more cheerful things than such depressing things. Sadly I have no choice but to speak of these things despite my wish to be different. It is also extremely wearisome to see the world actually nearing its end. Somewhere in my heart, I have this thought, “If the Lord were just to come now, I wish He would return soon and end this world in 30 minutes!” But the Lord is not a human being like me, and so He will not do this. The Lord is full of mercy; He endures in patience time after time, waiting even until the last moment for people to be saved by believing in Him.
This world is getting darker and darker. A few days ago, I was watching a TV news program titled “World Now,” and I came to see just how evil the world is. As I saw my fellow Koreans in LA dying from drug abuse, I felt great pain in my heart. Some of them even smuggle drugs into Korea to make money. They don’t just take drugs for themselves, but they make addicts out of others. They go on a group binge, splurging themselves with drugs and partying all night long in debauchery until they collapse, and the next day, when they wake up in misery with their bodies shaking uncontrollably, they once again turn to drugs and are drawn into hallucination. When one is high on drugs, their mind is altered and his vision is skewed. Nothing looks normal, but everything looks foggy and dazzling.
Once one takes drugs a few times, he gets addicted, and once he is hooked, it irritates him and drives him mad not to be high on drugs. That is why so many people find it impossible to quit doing drugs but continue to abuse them. They are burning their whole bodies just for the momentary pleasure of drugs. I feel best when my mind is the clearest and I can think of everything rationally and clearly. I used to drink everyday when I was in my early twenties. Some people say that they feel good when they drink, but I actually felt bad whenever I drank back then. That is because it only slowed down my head and my body. So I see absolutely no point in this stupid practice.
It is my sincerest hope and prayer that until the day the Lord returns, we would all love Him more than anything else in this world, so that the Lord would rejoice inside our hearts, unable to help but to love us. That is the best course to take. The best thing for us to do is to love the Lord the most and be loved by Him. We look the most lovely in God’s sight when we think of His work first as His servants, love the Lord before and more than anything else in this world, walk with Him, talk with Him and abide with Him in our lives. I believe that until the day of the Lord’s return, you and I must continue to share the bread of life with others, preach the gospel to them and nurture them, so that when the Lord is finally here, He would reward us all. The nearer we draw to the end, the more we must love the Lord.
There are only two types of people on this planet: Those who have been born again, and those who have not. If you don’t love the Lord more than the things of the world, and instead you end up loving the world more than the Lord, then you will leave Him in the end. Leaving the Lord means to leave His Church. If you leave the Church, it means that you don’t love the Lord. What would happen if you and I no longer loved the Lord with all our hearts? You would then be destroyed. You would not only leave the Church, but the Lord Himself would also disappear from your heart. This would be akin to losing your parents and becoming an orphan. Your life of faith is not something that is forced upon you against your will. Nor it is something that you can lead just by making your own resolution, but it is something that becomes natural if you love the Lord more than anything else in this world. In other words, we can live out our faith only when the love of the Father is found in our hearts. We are nothing if the Father’s love is not in our hearts. Without the love of God the Father, our lives of faith would only entail religious rituals and forms.
The world is a very dark place. Do you then still love the world, even though it is so depressing? Is it not right for you to set your mind on the Lord who is guaranteeing your future, rather than setting it on a completely hopeless place? Won’t you then live as a servant of the Lord until the day He returns, love Him and serve Him more than anything else in this world, live within the bounds permitted by Him, and then meet with Him on His return? Should we not all receive the Lord like this? Let us indeed receive Him in this way. Do you grasp this fully?
Jesus said that two women will be grinding at the mill, and one will be taken away and the other one left. Even though everyone lives in the same world, works the same, and drinks and eats the same, some people will be taken away when the Lord returns, while others will be left behind on this earth. To be left behind on this earth means to be cast into hell. Do you then still want to remain on this polluted earth? This earth will soon be destroyed, and so if you are left behind on this earth, it means that you will along with the earth be discarded as garbage.
Although there are countless people living in this world, only some of them have been truly born again, while the rest of them have not. Ask yourself whether you really are a born-again person or not. Are you someone who has the Holy Spirit in your heart? Are you someone who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Even though you are insufficient and weak, do you believe that the Lord has blotted out all your sins? Despite the fact that you are flesh and blood, do you really desire to walk in accordance with the Word of the Lord? If your answer is “yes” to all these questions, then you are the one whom God will take away on the last day.
Those who have not received the remission of sin will be destroyed on that day. They are the pitiful of this world. Some are starving and others are suffering from terrible debilitating diseases. But the most pitiful in this world are not the homeless starving in the streets. Hundreds and thousands of times more wretched than these people are those who have not received the remission of sin. Christians who neither know nor believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and therefore still retain theirs sins intact in their hearts despite them professing to believe in Jesus, and those who have neither been remitted nor washed from their sins through Jesus Christ—these people number thousands and tens of thousands of times more wretched than the homeless. Such people cannot call God their Father, and even though they profess that Jesus has become their Savior, they cannot call Him their Savior either. This is all because they have not accepted the Truth.
My fellow believers, right now huge consignments of our books are being shipped and distributed all over the world. Last month alone, tens of thousands of books were shipped to various places around the world. Thanks to these books many people are now reading about the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Our books are designed and very easy to understand that people can finish reading them rather quickly. As their contents are not that difficult, if people just set their minds to it, they can finish reading them in a day or two. If one person reads one of our books and recommends it to another person, and this person reads it, then even if we estimate that just two people read the same book in a week, it would mean that at least hundreds of thousands of people are coming across the true gospel in one month.
What a tremendous accomplishment is it that at least ten thousand people are able to encounter the gospel in a day? If all our books published in various languages apart from English are spread like this, then the gospel will be preached all over the world in no time, even though some people would believe while others do not believe in this gospel. It is really not impossible nor a distant prospect for us to accomplish the spreading of this gospel to the ends of the world very soon. On the other hand, this world is also being corrupted very rapidly. For instance, this gospel cannot reach people on drugs. After all how could anyone high on drugs and hallucinating see the gospel of the water and the Spirit clearly? If you go to such people and say to them, “Do you have sin in your life?” they will just reply, “What is sin? Get away from me!” As even their character would be destroyed eventually, if we try to give our books to them, they may rip them apart and turn violent towards us.
This world is changing so fast, but the gospel is also being spread very rapidly. Some people after receiving and reading just one of our books should hand over this book to another person to read, and those who have received and read our books in the second place are now making contact with us. Others have requested more books and just yesterday, a psychiatrist working at a prison in the United States got in touch with us and requested 50 more books, saying that they were very useful to the inmates there. Fifty books would be shared and read by thousands of people in the prison. This would then mean that we would be preaching the gospel to thousands of people with just 50 books. It is as if we were sitting in that prison and preaching the gospel to those inmates. Like this the gospel will soon spread all over. Spreading the gospel is difficult at first, but once it gains some momentum, it will spread like a bushfire.
Given the fact that the world is becoming darker and darker, and the day of the Lord’s return is getting closer, how should we live and conduct our lives? I know that your body is tired and weary. But I also know that the Holy Spirit is inside of you, and I also know how you must live to be happy. For you to live as a faithful servant until the day the Lord returns, your heart must love Him more than anything else in this world. Only then can your heart find peace and rest. Otherwise you will be destroyed. Do you grasp this? Jesus has saved us through His water and blood. Since you believe in this, is there any sin left in your heart? No, there is none. Just as this is real so is the return of the Lord real, including the end of this world. I am not saying these things to ask you to bring me your money. Just as I have never passed around offering plates before, I am not telling you these things so that you would sell your house and bring the proceeds to me just because the end is near.
Far from it, my only admonishment is this: Let us love the Lord more than this world until the end of this world and His return, serve Him like this out of our pure love for Him, live within the bounds permitted by Him, and then meet the Lord. In other words, let us spread the gospel while we are alive. Believe that the day of the Lord is at hand and that you have to prepare your faith to go through the end times. My fellow believers, if you should face the last day without believing, then it will be too late. Believe now.
Is the world turning just fine nowadays? For some strange reason, people do not take natural disasters seriously, even as they have devastating results on them. When the end times come, God will pour out one plague after another, from famines to earthquakes, wars and volcanic explosions. If you do not really believe in God, He will unleash earthquakes and bring your house down. Rather than only realizing then that the end is indeed upon you, believe now. Only then can you be ready. I am not saying that you should offer all your money to me as the end is near, but what I am saying is that you should prepare your heart.
Even though the world is trying to confuse and misleads us, we must be wide-awake and be ever alert. While it is true that we still are unable to help ourselves but to follow the world, we should never lose our love for the Lord that is in our hearts. The Lord said, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” From this passage of scripture, we should realize that, “The Lord will not be pleased if we should love the things of the world more than Him. So I should not do this. It will not be beneficial to me at all.” Even though the Lord is not visible to our naked eyes, He is still the Master of our hearts. As His servants then, what could we possibly gain by doing something that offends the Master? So let us please the Lord instead, and live prosperously being loved and blessed by Him until the end.
Moreover, this planet earth will not last that long. If you keep refusing to believe, a great earthquake may arise within this year. Your house may collapse from the earthquake and you may have to live in a tent. I am not saying that I will bring this about, but the Lord may do this if His heart is disappointed, so that you would wake up. “Lord, Your people do not believe that the end of the world is at hand. Make them believe, Dear Lord. Shake them up once more and then hold them steadfast again.” I can pray like this. But if this is not God’s will, He will not respond to a pray like this.
Those who do not believe that this world will end are too fond of the world and love it too much, and they will eventually leave the Lord. You must realize clearly here that if you leave God’s Church, you will fall into destruction right away. I say this only because I want you to prosper; I have no other motive here. For you and I to prosper, we must lead our lives of faith properly. That is your happiness and mine, both in body and spirit. Do you think that you would prosper even when you leave the Lord and depart from the Church? If you are really a born-again person, then you can never prosper when you leave your own family.
Anyone who really has the Holy Spirit in his heart can never flourish when he leaves the Lord. That is the fate for the born-again. Although I say these things in words, because I am also a human being just like you, I don’t like that the world is darkening and turning depressing, and I am also weary of it as well. Spring is upon us, but just look at the weather. I wish it were a nice spring, where just sitting on the warm grass would make you doze off, but because of the sand storm blowing far away from China; the sky is cold as if it were angry. I don’t like this either.
My fellow believers, we need to examine our hearts to see if they might not be totally controlled by the current of this world, and turn our hearts toward the Lord. Both you and I are equally human beings. When this world is fine enough, we feel good, but when this world is troubled, we are troubled the same. You and I are alike. Let us live our lives believing that the day of the Lord is near. And let us be ready for the end. When the end times are so near, how could we afford to expand into too many useless businesses and go into debt, only to find ourselves having nothing to eat later on? I admonish you to be wise. The wise are those who manage what they have at the present well; live a wholesome life until the day the Lord returns; lead their lives of faith diligently; love the Lord inside their hearts evermore; preach the gospel; receive joy into their hearts; and share the bread of life with others. Let us all become such people. Only then do we really live out our faith properly.
My admonishment is this: Let us live our lives receiving God’s blessings for both our hearts and bodies. Let each and every one of us prosper, leaving none behind. Let us flourish in both body and spirit before we go to the Lord. There is only one way for us to prosper in both body and soul, and it is to love the Lord with our hearts, more than anything else in this world. If we love the Lord more than the things of this world, then we will flourish in both body and spirit.
Even though we are just weak beings, we can manage our lives well if we love the Lord with our hearts, more than anything else in this world. So that no one may fall behind, let us all live well. Let us live within the bounds permitted by the Lord and go to Him when He calls us. If you want to be happy and prosperous, then love the Lord more than the things of this world. There is no other way. Halleluiah!
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