ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ကပ်ရောဂါနှင့်အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာစာပို့လုပ်ငန်းဝန်ဆောင်မှုများပျက်ပြားခြင်းကြောင့်ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ 'အခမဲ့ပုံနှိပ်စာအုပ်ဝန်ဆောင်မှု' ကိုယာယီရပ်ဆိုင်းလိုက်သည်။
ဤအခြေအနေ၏အခြေအနေအရကျွန်ုပ်တို့သည်ယခုအချိန်တွင်သင့်အားစာအုပ်များမပို့နိုင်သေးပေ။
ဤကပ်ရောဂါသည်မကြာမီကုန်ဆုံးပြီးစာတိုက်လုပ်ငန်းပြန်လည်စတင်ရန်ဆုတောင်းပါ။
Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 24-4] Prepare for the Second Coming of the Lord (Matthew 24:7-31)
(Matthew 24:7-31)
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
A thought occurred to me, “How much time from this moment on will be left for the righteous to gather together and offer worship?” I think about 10 years should be sufficient. And, I worry over how we, the righteous, will endure when the tribulation truly arrives until the time of the rapture. However, on the other hand, a feeling of thankfulness also arises. It is because I have thought about the fact that if we were to stay alive until the rapture we would be able to taste the glory of getting raised before the Lord and having been changed without having suffered death. By saying, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:51), the Apostle Paul told us that if we were to stay alive until that moment, we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye, be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Therefore, I don’t know whether to say to you that you and I have been born into good times or to say that you and I have been born into bad times. It is because a life of faith isn’t a theory but rather a reality.
How Will the Righteous Endure for 10 Years
It is of great importance how we, the righteous, will live by faith for about 10 years from now. What I am saying to you is that even if our Lord does not come within 10 years from now, it is very important for us whether or not we live out our faith for about 10 years in this world which is headed toward destruction.
I am not intimidating you. Right now, the world has agreed on the Uruguay Round and is moving toward the direction of worldwide economic integration under the banner of free trade. All countries of the world are now bullying Korea to relinquish protective trade policy at this time and to open up for agricultural products. Looking at such events, I started thinking, “They are really putting up quite a show. Soon, they won’t even have food for themselves, yet they are making all that commotion to have Korea purchase their food. With a worldwide famine for about 2 to 3 years, the food supply will hit the bottom and all will starve to death. But despite such circumstances, why would they come to a weaker nation and make threats and commotions to have it purchase their food?”
At one time, Gorbachev, a political leader of the former Soviet Union, pushed forward with opening up the former Soviet Union and its reform under the banner of perestroika. At the time, Gorbachev was in the midst of high popularity, but I was sure back then that Gorbachev would surely be toppled and his policies would never receive support. The Bible says that the king of the North will invade Israel at the end of the age (Daniel 11:9). It doesn’t make sense for Russia, a country soon to be like that, to be shouting out for any democracy and political reform. That country is fundamentally very violent and bellicose. Even though the country had dissolved the union and divided itself into various independent nation-states, and even though it shouts for reforms, the nations will fight with each other later on, and in the end they will be united once more. Those nation-states will come together as one once more, and then make war against the entire world. A country that could do so is the former Soviet Union.
And so, when the popularity of Gorbachev was soaring, I had said mockingly, “Ah, soon that man will step down from his office. Right now, he is enforcing policies that do not make sense.” And, when I said it people who hadn’t been born again that were around me pointed to me and said that I was a crazy man. They said cynically, “What do you know? The United States is cooperating with the Soviet Union’s open-door policy and the entire world is applauding. Yet, what do you know to say a thing like that?” I said to them, “Let us wait and see if it really happens. Wait just a little more and Gorbachev’s reform policies will become quite unsatisfactory. And soon, he will step down from his office.”
Incidentally, after a little while he did step down from his office. By then, the sinners looked up to me somewhat. They were saying, “That man is surprising. Wow, how did he predict that?” Dear fellow believers, am I smart? Did I say those words because I was smart? No, that is not the case. Because it is shown in the Bible, I had said those words by believing in the Bible as it is. Because I believe in the Word of God in which He says faith is the substance of things hoped for and because I believe in things turning out according to the Word, I was able to speak out those words by faith. In a country where there is freedom of religion, can’t a man speak out of his faith? If a man can’t, then it would just be a communist country. Whatever the case, because of that happening, my popularity was raised a bit among the sinners.
A Grave World
Dear fellow believers, please take a look at how the world is turning out. You might be in a very good mood, but once you ponder how the world is turning out, your hearts can never be just jovial. When you come here to Chuncheon from Sokcho, you will be following the upper stream of the Han River. As I go back and forth from Sokcho several times every year, I have noticed that the water level is declining. At first, when I was going back and forth from Sokcho to Chuncheon, I noticed that the water level was high, nearing the riverbank. But, year after year, the water level shrunk little by little up to the point now where it is no longer a river. It is just ditch water trickling down the middle of that wide riverbed. It is said that the Amazon River, which is the largest river in the world, is drying up like that, and truly, this world has become a place where one has to be concerned more and more about water shortage due to drought.
Because of the shortage of snowfall this winter, it is said that the shortage of drinking water will be severe next spring in the southern region of Korea. It is said that immediate drinking water will be in absolute shortage, let alone that for industrial use, as well as that for agricultural use. Later, water coming from the bathroom will seem too precious to just let it go to waste, and so we might even have to drink that water by collecting it and then purifying it. There is a strong possibility for that to happen. Thus, I am truly thankful for living in the northern region where there is a lot of snow. I was born and raised in Busan, but if I had been down there I would have been collecting and purifying water mixed with urine and feces of people up the river and then drinking it. However, I am living here in the northern region and I am so thankful for not having had to do so.
When Will the End of the Age Mentioned in the Bible Begin?
Precisely, when is the day that this world will completely come to an end? When will the rapture occur? This is the biggest concern for all people. The greatest matters that the entire humankind is concerned about are these three questions: When will the tribulation begin? When will this world come to an end? And, when will the rapture occur to the righteous people who have been born again of water and the Spirit? The Bible often says that at the end of the age, there will be tribulation. It is written that the nation of Israel will fall into tribulation and suffer tribulation for three and a half years. Also, it is said that those among the people of God who endure to the end times will receive salvation. And the Bible says that the end of the world is near.
The nation of Israel had lost its country for about 2,000 years and was rebuilt just recently. That country has sprouted once more and now puts forth leaves in abundance. And the Lord has said that when that country becomes a bit more exuberant, it will be invaded by enemy troops once more until it recognizes and accepts the truth that Jesus who had come in the past is the Savior that they have been waiting for. Then it will live in the midst of tribulation. A conceited person will sit on top of a place where the ark is laid, inside the Temple of the nation of Israel, and the person will proclaim, “I am God. From this moment on, I completely prohibit your offering sacrifices to God.” The Lord has said that for three and a half years, there will be tribulation upon the people of Israel as well as the entire world. The Book of Daniel says that hence, three and a half years after the nation of Israel has gone under tribulation, the end will fall upon this world.
Then, What Point in Time Should We Consider as the Beginning of Sorrows?
When does the Bible say will be the end of this world? Today, we are going to think about this and how we will live from now on.
The Gospel of Matthew chapter 24, in its entirety, speaks about the end of the nation of Israel and the end of this world. And so, this chapter is referred to as the chapter of the end times. The disciples first asked the Lord, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” And the Lord answered and said to them, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
With the Word, the Lord spoke of the end of the world in a long series as if it were a novel. Also, the Lord spoke of the things that will happen in the end times repeatedly. Thus, the born-again righteous can understand this passage by reading it once. In other words, it is said that destruction shall overtake the sons of darkness as a thief, but all sons of light, not sleeping, shall watch and be sober for that day (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5). People of this world cannot understand the Word of Christ concerning the end of the world.
First, the Lord spoke of when the tribulation will begin. It is shown in verse 6, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” There will be so many wars and rumors of wars. However, it is said that that will not yet be the end.
In verse 7 and 8, it is said, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Dear fellow believers, in the future, nations will rise against nations, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. Soon, worldwide famine will worsen. And countries will create alliances and fight each other. In order to defend one’s country, it would have to possess nuclear weapons. When wars pervade, weaker nations that do not possess nuclear weapons will be crushed to destruction by stronger nations.
Also, even if the powerful nations do not use military force through trade wars, they will devour those nations that are weak. Using the WTO system established through the Uruguay Round, all the powerful nations will make pacts that are favorable to them and try to dominate weaker nations. People say that globalization is beneficial, but it isn’t always good. With the finalization of globalization, the world will become one, and an absolute king will come to rise. Then, at the end, he will coerce every one into receiving the mark of 666. In other words, this world is right now crying out for globalization in order to head toward the end.
Wars rising from countries and nations fighting against each other are categorized as an artificial calamity, but what can we do about the two calamities brought on by nature, that is, famines and earthquakes? All over the world, the number of famines and earthquakes are on the rise. Currently, there are so many people dying because of famine. Not long ago when Ethiopian refugees and Somali refugees were shown on TV, you must have seen images of children in starvation with their belly bulging out due to abdominal dropsy. When I saw those children with bulging bellies I was reminded of my younger days.
When I was young, I barely had anything to eat due to a food shortage, and so I had a figure similar to those children. It was right after the Korean War (1950~1953) and the entire nation was in ruins. And, it was very difficult to survive. When you pick out some edible grass from the field and boil it in a pot for a long time along with a handful of rice, you get a grass gruel that is thin and light. My mother would take some of that, put it in a bowl, and stir it. You were able to count the number of rice grains in them. There are a few grains of rice and some leaves of wild edible greens, but the rest is just water. And so, no matter how much you would eat them, you could not help but feel hungry. You would eat and eat trying to satisfy hunger, but when you tried to get up, you were unable to do so because of so much water filled inside your stomach. And so, in order to stand up, you had to do so by just barely getting support from the legs of the dinner table. The bulging stomach looked full, but because it was filled with water, which lacked nutrition, you were in so much hunger. That is why, when I see those Somali children with their bellies bulging out, I am able to understand how hungry they must be.
Many Sinners Will Die of Famine
In the future, Somalis won’t be the only ones dying of famine, but rather there will be many people all over the world dying of famine. Earthquakes will also occur everywhere. Yesterday, a strong earthquake occurred in Japan. I heard some news from Pastor Kim, and it is said that at least 2,500 have died and the number of the injured is over 4,000. This earthquake was a strong one, measuring over 7 on the Richter scale; there were many losses, houses crumbled, roads were destroyed, and railroad tracks were cut apart. Japanese pride themselves on building the sturdiest building structures in the world. Yet, so many buildings came down because of the earthquake. Rev. Kim said that the number of dead would rise higher because they haven’t been able to dig up people buried under the rubble.
About this time last year, there was a strong earthquake in Los Angeles, California, USA. US geologists are predicting that a super-scale earthquake will be occurring in the western part of the US in the near future. Geologists can find out how large of an earthquake will be occurring and approximately when, by basing it on information concerning structures of the continental plates and their moving speed. The recent earthquake in Japan was made up of three continuous shocks. There were much more losses because strong aftershocks had shortly followed the initial tremor.
Thus, what we fear the most is the coming of famines and earthquakes on a worldwide scale. Famines and earthquakes are scarier than wars. Dear fellow believers, even though there isn’t anyone shooting guns, when a famine continues for a few years people turn feeble and die. What I am saying is that there will come a tragic time when people will just die because there isn’t any food, even if they were to struggle restlessly to live. Right now famines have already begun all over the world. And unusual changes of weather are accelerating all over the world. Not too long ago, I heard that Los Angeles issued a state of emergency because of a winter tornado. Such events will occur more and more in the future. Please know that such natural disasters will continue to occur more and more.
Korea is a country that has a water shortage. Most people don’t understand the seriousness of water shortage. However, as I watch the television, I see how serious it is. And, when you see reservoirs getting dried up around you, you would probably understand its seriousness. We view it more seriously because it is written in the Bible that such things will be occurring in this world at the end of the age. Our Lord has said that there will be such things happening at the end of the age. He says that once the calamities start, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. He also says that famines will occur and earthquakes will break out in various places. What is more, He says that these are the beginning of sorrows. Because the Lord said that these are the beginning of sorrows, they are very serious.
Of course, there have been earthquakes on the earth since the beginning, and they still exist today. In other words, earthquakes have always occurred. However, the thing is that from now on, earthquakes will be occurring all over the world at the same time. As of recent, there have been earthquakes even in Korea, a region that supposedly had hardly any occurrences of earthquakes. There are magmas flowing underneath the earth’s crust, and it is reported that there has been a change in their flow. There are so many abnormalities in weather that typhoons are occurring even in winter.
Just in Korea alone, there were many great abnormalities in weather. The Lord has said that when there are frequent famines and earthquakes on earth, be warned that they are the beginning of sorrows. What it means is that that would be the beginning of the tribulation. Frequent occurrences of calamities are the warning signs of the tribulation to come. God turns up the warning siren saying, “From this moment on, there will be the tribulation,” and that time is when there will be occurrences of famines and earthquakes in various places and many outbreaks of war. When the calamities occur, an alarm will ring, signifying that the tribulation has come upon this world.
All living creatures have the power to know beforehand the coming of natural disasters and to cope with them instinctively. When you go to seashores, there are worm-like creatures called, sea-slaters. They seem somewhat odd. Sea-slaters are creatures that live on seashores feeding on dead animal flesh. Those creatures live between rocks along the seashore or on a bed of pebbles. But on some days, you can see that these sea-slaters have crawled their way up into fields that are about 10 m high up from the seashore. When adults see this phenomenon, they say that there will soon be a tidal wave. They say, “Listen to me child. Starting today, do not go into the sea. There will be a tidal wave at the seashore.” “No, what do you mean by tidal wave? The waves are so calm, yet how could you say there will be a tidal wave?” “Listen carefully to me. Know that a tidal wave will come when I say it will. Just wait a day or two. See if it really comes or not.” No matter though, the sea seems so calm. It looks as though it were a lake. However, in fact, the sea is very calm before a tidal wave. But in two or three days, the sea begins to move all of a sudden and then it surges and overturns. Great waves turn the sea floor upside down. Waves five to ten meters in height form and tidal waves come ashore.
Dear fellow believers, people cannot see the tidal wave coming, yet how is it that such trifle creatures know of it before we humans? They flee to a safe place a couple of days ahead of time, and then when the tidal wave passes they go back down to the seashore living as they had before. They can be found in great numbers. People cannot see the calamities that they are about to face, but the fact is that trifle creatures see them coming very well. Thus, I think that is why there is a saying, people are no better than trifle creatures.
Our Lord says, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red;’ and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:2-3), and He grieves. Even while we are going round and round, just eating food, going to the bathroom, falling asleep, and then waking up, there is one thing that we must know. We must go on living with a proper understanding of how this world will change in the future and of what the Lord has said about this day and age, all the while thinking about them.
Once calamities start in this world, He says that famines and earthquakes will occur frequently and that many wars will occur due to nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And He says that many people will die because of such calamities. When nation rises against nation, and country against country, what will happen is that the stronger countries will be devouring the weaker ones. At a time when country rises against country, and nation against nation, a good neighbor policy set in the past gets ignored. In order to survive, a country will be swallowing up weaker countries. Put differently, a strong country will resume a good trade relationship, but when the partnering country starts to disobey its terms, it will crush the partnering country with its military force. It means that such happening will occur amongst countries in this world.
As the calamities occur rampantly in this world, the nation of Israel signs an agreement with a certain country. “Let us not go to war against each other.” But all of a sudden one day, that country betrays Israel and invades rapidly. We should know beforehand the fact that when the nation of Israel gets invaded by a certain country, we have entered the last phase toward the tribulation. The tribulation is seven years long, but the duration of the tribulation that we have to go through will be three and a half years. It is three and a half years from the moment when the nation of Israel gets invaded by a certain country and its entire territory gets completely burnt to the ground. Daniel and the Apostle Paul speak of this part. The Prophet Daniel said, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days” (Daniel 12:11-12). 1,290 days as well as 1,335 days refer to a time period that is a little more than three and a half years since the beginning of the tribulation.
Those who endure for three and a half years since the beginning of the tribulation get to receive the salvation. Our Lord comes down to this earth to reward those who had endured to the end, not having bowed before the idol of the Antichrist, not having received the mark on their hands or forehead, and not having betrayed the Lord God. That will be the end of the world. For the first time since the creation of the heavens and the earth, the beginning of His work, this world will be coming to an end.
And, the Lord will build new heavens and new earth out of this planet, and then, by renewing this world and all the creation, He will have the righteous live for one thousand years. The Book of Revelation speaks of this. We must know that there will be only three and a half years left for this world when a certain country invades the nation of Israel, burns the nation of Israel down to the ground, and erects its own idol inside the most holy of the Temple. When the tribulation comes, soon there will be the rapture, and the world will come to an end. The entire history of humankind begins in the nation of Israel, moves around the globe once, and comes back to the nation of Israel where it concludes. And the end of the world comes.
God created Adam and Eve. By making them be born again by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, He created the descendants of faith. Starting from Adam, God allowed his descendants to flourish and continued to let the descendants of faith, such as Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, and Abraham, remain on this earth. Also, through His righteous people He unfolded the history of this world.
The nation of Israel will be invaded and be burned to the ground by the enemies at the end because the people of Israel do not believe in Jesus Christ. The people of Israel still do not accept Jesus as the Son of God. By giving the land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham, God had promised that He would have them live there forever. And, He told them to carry out circumcision as the sign of His promise. However, the people of Israel did not accept Jesus who had come to circumcise the hearts of all humankind. They did not accept Jesus as the Son of God. And so, the fact is that God wants to give the nation of Israel a chance to turn back by making it go through hardships one more time before He ends this world.
By making the nation of Israel surrender before the Lord through the tribulation, the Lord is bestowing grace upon the people of Israel so that they would believe in Jesus as the Savior and thus become God’s people. Because the Lord had loved Abraham and had made a promise to him, He will take the descendants of Abraham as people of Heaven, even through a coercive way. In order to present Heaven to the remaining people of Israel by making them be born again by having them believe in Jesus, the Lord focuses the end of the history of this world on the nation of Israel. The fact is that God is giving the people of Israel a chance.
When the people of Israel believe, “Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” and accept Jesus as their Savior, this world comes to an end. As soon as they start to believe in Jesus as their Savior, God will be giving them the spiritual land of Canaan, that is, the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven. God will bring this world to an end when He fulfills that single promise to the people of Israel. All that God has promised to us as human beings has been fulfilled already and the only remaining promise is His promise to save the descendants of Abraham. As soon as that promise gets fulfilled, the Lord can then bring the Millennial Kingdom to this world. Furthermore, the Lord will be unfolding new heavens and new earth of an everlasting world upon the righteous, and thus, an age of everlasting happiness will begin.
The Righteous Must Closely Observe the Nation of Israel
In Korea, there once was a group of people called, Dami Mission, who were seducing the world by saying that Jesus would come October 28, 1992. To say that Jesus was coming despite the fact that the nation of Israel wasn’t even invaded was nothing more than a delirious utterance spoken out of ignorance of the Bible. To those who were claiming that Jesus would be coming on October 28, 1992, I said, “How could someone who claims to have faith in Jesus be so imprudent? Do you not know the Bible? Do you believe so without the knowledge of the history of the nation of Israel? What does God say about the end of the world in the Bible? The reason why God has to burn the people of Israel down to the ground is all shown in the Bible, yet you do not know the reason? Right now, this nation of Israel has become a powerful nation by sprouting new leaves like that and then becoming a fig tree full of leaves like that. Isn’t the case that so many countries throughout the world are right now showing animosity toward the nation of Israel?” As such, I admonished them.
Even in the United Nations, the nation of Israel is treated like a stumbling stone. Even though Israel is an explosives warehouse of the Middle East and acts like an eyesore to many countries, the entire world cannot bring the nation of Israel under its control. God allowed the people of Israel to resume their land about 2,000 years after the loss, just as He had promised, “I shall make you know that I am your God.” God had made promises through numerous prophets of the Old Testament, and He did actually fulfill them. For a country that has been devastated for about 2,000 years to be rebuilt is an unprecedented event in history. It is something that can never happen without the working of God.
What we should remember is the fact that this country has now become a powerful nation. The nation of Israel is strongly intact like so. Thus, how can Jesus come? That nation has to be burned down to the ground for Jesus to come. Why? It is because the Lord will burn that nation down to the ground at least once to save the people of Israel. And thus, after the people of Israel have been born again by believing in Jesus Christ, the Lord will come to wake those who are sleeping in their tombs and having received the remission of sins and to bring His people, that is, His children up to His Kingdom. When the Lord created humankind He had the intention to take them up to the Kingdom of Heaven and live together with them forever, and on the last day He will bring all the righteous people up to Heaven by saving the people of Israel.
Now Is the Beginning of the Tribulation
When famines and earthquakes occur frequently in this world and when the risings of nation against nation and country against country begin, you should know that the tribulation willed by the Lord has come. As it is said, with recurrent releases of gas, dung is soon to follow, when the signs that are said to appear at the end of the age start to occur frequently that will be the beginning of sorrows. All that you and I need to know is the fact that the world has gone into the tribulation from that moment. Dear fellow believers, do you understand? As for you and me, I hope that we will lead a life of faith with the understanding of the beginning of the tribulation.
Dear fellow believers, right now you and I can smile with composure, and even if the tribulation comes, I wonder if we might be able to still smile. I think that we, brothers and sisters, will be able to gather together and giggle and chuckle with pure happiness, even if the tribulation should come. It is because there will be so many things to be happy about when we gather together, no matter how bad the world is turning. I believe we will be able to smile even during the tribulation because our Lord will have turned us into the righteous filled with hope.
The Lord speaks of when this world will come to a perfect end like so:
“At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.
But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Daniel 12:1-4).
On what does the Bible focus lastly? It is on the people of Israel. What does God consider as the target of the end of this world? God considers the nation of Israel. God said, “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1). Accordingly, through Daniel the prophet, God is saying that the tribulation will fall upon the people of Israel also. Also, He says that at that time the Angel Michael shall stand up. Furthermore, in the midst of that tribulation He says that many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to an everlasting life. In other words, in the midst of the tribulation, there will be the rapture of which the Apostle Paul spoke. The fact is that the rapture will occur during the seven-year period of the great tribulation.
The Book of Daniel says, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days” (Daniel 12:11-13). Blessed are those who wait and come to the 1,335 days, approximately three and a half years. It is said that those who endure for a period of a little more than three and a half years, starting from the beginning of the tribulations, will be blessed, because the rapture will occur at that time. This is written in Second Thessalonians chapter 2, and the Book of Daniel also records this Word of prophecy. It is said, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days,” and this means that the abomination of desolation will be set up in the Temple when a certain country takes hold of the nation of Israel.
The most important thing for the people of Israel is none other than the Temple. The most important thing inside the Temple is the ark. Inside the Holy Place a veil is set up once more, and behind the veil is the Most Holy where there is the ark. And there you will find the ark. The ark, rectangular in shape, measuring 110cm in length, about 70cm in width, and 70cm in height, is covered by a lid called the mercy seat, which has figures of two golden cherubim at either end facing each other with their wings stretched out. When you open this lid called the mercy seat, inside the ark, you will find Aaron’s rod that budded, a golden pot that has the manna, and the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments.
Once a year on the Day of the Atonement, the High Priest laid his hand on the head of a goat. Having transferred the sins of the people of Israel over to that goat, he then drew blood from it by cutting open its throat. And as he collected the blood in basins and sprinkled it seven times on top of the Mercy Seat, which is the cover for the ark, the people of Israel got to receive the remission of sins. Because this is carried out at the end of the sacrificial ceremony of the Day of Atonement, it was of great importance. Even though Jesus has already offered the eternal sacrifice for atonement in accordance with this sacrificial system and thus has become the Savior, the people of Israel are still offering this legalistic sacrifice because they do not believe in the eternal sacrifice for atonement that the Lord has fulfilled.
But, when the end of the age comes, a certain man will go on top of the ark, and saying that he is God, he will block out everything so that people cannot offer sacrifices before God. 13:20Because the people of Israel regard that as something that is worse than loosing in a war and dying, when that happens it will be the end for that nation. To the people of Israel, religious oppression that does not allow them to offer sacrifices is the same as death. It is said that a certain powerful ruler will appear and “take away the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.” In other words, it is telling us that when a certain idol is set upon the ark and people are made to worship it, let it be known that it is time when the tribulation is moving toward its peak. The exact same thing is also mentioned in the Book of Second Thessalonians.
In the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter 2, it is said, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).
What the Apostle Paul says starting from the middle of verse 3 to verse 4 is the same thing as the Word in the Book of Daniel which says they shall take away the daily sacrifices and place there the abomination of desolation. Here, in Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4, it is said, “Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” The Apostle Paul says that the abomination of desolation is a man. He is saying that a certain man will sit on top of the ark and say, “I am God.”
In the First Book of Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 15, the Apostle Paul, quoting the Word written in the Old Testament, says that there will be rapture. Henceforth, many saints as well as those in Thessalonica started to lead a disorderly life little by little as they waited for the time of the Lord’s second coming and the rapture of the saints. And so, the Apostle Paul went on to say clearly that first there will be the falling away,17:35 then there will be the nation of Israel getting invaded, and then someone will go on top of the ark of the Israeli Temple and show himself that he is God. And after all that, he said there will be the rapture of the righteous. Thus, the fact is that the rapture of the righteous will occur during the tribulation of the nation of Israel. Do you understand this?
Theologians mostly profess the ‘pre-tribulation rapture’ theory. It says that all the saints will go through the rapture and be taken up before the tribulation falls upon this world. Furthermore, certain people profess the ‘post-tribulation rapture’ theory. However, all those are groundless claims. One has to speak by basing on the Bible, and thus, if one were to groundlessly profess and believe in the time of rapture, it would be the case that that person is foolish. The rapture will occur precisely in the middle of the tribulation. That is, it will occur right past the halfway mark of the Seven Year Tribulation. It will occur during the tribulation of the people of Israel.
In First Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 15 through 18, it is said, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Dear fellow believers, the Lord says that He will descend to this earth with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. When would be the time for Jesus’ second coming? It is written that as the people of Israel suffers the tribulation, our Lord will descend in the midst of showing all His glory with the voice of an archangel, and with the blasting sound of the trumpet of God so that He may show us who Jehovah God is. 21:00 The Bible tells us that although the Lord in His first coming was born in a manger, the Lord in His second coming will descend with all His majesty. It is the case that angels and heavenly troops will line up on either side far and wide, and our Lord will descend down the middle escorted by angels.
The Lord who has saved sinners from sins is the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. All things of the universe were created by our Lord. There isn’t a single thing that wasn’t created by the Lord. Thus, all things are of the Lord. Our Lord even received the power of judgment from God the Father. The Lord also received the power to pass judgment and to give salvation. He received every authority. The Lord is the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, the King of Righteousness, the King of Peace, and the King of Wisdom. And as it is said that such Lord will come, when will that be? When does He come for the second time? 22:40 He will be coming at a time when the nation of Israel is in the midst of an unbearable tribulation.
At that time, the Lord will awaken among us saints those born-again who had died first, that is, the righteous who were asleep in their graves. When our Lord died on the Cross, wasn’t it a fact that many tombs had opened up? Actually at that time, some saints who were in their tombs came out as the living. The dead came back to life and walked about. And, they bore witness to their resurrection (Matthew 27:52-53). The fact is that the Lord had already shown us that the rapture would occur in the future. It is the case that He had shown us ahead of time that the saints sleeping in their graves will come back to life in the future.
How do we know when the Lord will come? And, how can we foresee the end of this world? How can we predict the rapture and the end of this world ahead of time? We must understand that the time for the righteous to be taken up by the rapture is at hand when the people of Israel fall into the tribulation. Whenever there is something about the nation of Israel on TV I watch attentively. Right now the nation of Israel is in the midst of negotiating with the surrounding Arab nations. The people of Israel are making an agreement with Jordan and a peace treaty with PLO. They were unimaginable in the past, but now, Israel is signing agreements with its surrounding nations if at all possible. Israel has become a good-hearted nation.
When I turn on the television once in a while, a man of short stature named Premier Rabin is shown. He tries to resolve conflicts with the surrounding nations through dialogue and does not resort to a military conflict. I read a newspaper not long ago and found that Premier Rabin had announced a nation-wide state of emergency. Why? The fact of the matter is that all the nearby countries are in possession of nuclear arsenal. The nation of Israel is always under an emergency because no one knows when a nuclear war will erupt.
Right now, the nation of Israel has a hostile relationship with all the surrounding Arab nations. When those Arab nations join hands with a country that has a powerful military force and attack Israel all of a sudden, Israel will just have to suffer. 26:12 The Bible said that the great enemy of Israel will swoop down like a swarm of locusts. Which country can do that? Just wait and see. Precisely, only two countries are capable of invading the nation of Israel. It will be either Russia or the European Union. Not just any country can invade and claim victory over the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel itself is a powerful country. A country that challenges the nation of Israel cannot be but a powerful country. In the future, Russia and the former Soviet Republics will again be united as one. Also, EU will wield its power all over the world once more. It’s not just my story, but rather, it is something that the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel speak a lot about.
We must focus on this part. We should not just say, “Let us wait unconditionally, the Lord is coming.” Dear fellow believers, how can we just wait low in spirit? The Lord has revealed through His Word the time when He will come so that the born-again can understand. As for the children of light, the Lord will not be coming like a thief to them. If we were to wait for the passing of three and a half years from the moment when the nation of Israel falls under the tribulation, the Lord will come exactly at that time. After the nation of Israel gets invaded by some country and fall into ruins, the tribulation will come. It will fully become an age of the tribulation.
Then, why didn’t our Lord speak of things that will occur in other countries throughout the world at the end times? Our Lord speaks of the history of the entire world focusing on the nation of Israel as its benchmark. What does Jesus say when a disciple asks the Lord, “When will the end of the age fall upon this world?”28:43 “The Temple of the nation of Israel will be thrown down, not one stone be left here upon another. I will bring it down. And, there will be wars for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And, there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” He said it like that.
It isn’t the case that our Lord didn’t speak of it. However, we don’t know it well mostly because we aren’t able to understand it properly from our side. Dear fellow believers, you don’t realize just how much we have to study and how much we have to read the Bible in order to understand this single passage. There has to be much preparation in order to speak about one passage before a crowd of people, and when we want to speak about the end of this world, the fact is that we must focus on the people of Israel. When that country gets invaded and brought down to ruins, the tribulation will begin at that moment, and from that moment on if we wait for exactly three and a half years, the Lord will come. It is mentioned in the Book of Daniel.
The Calamities Have Already Begun in This World
Then will the world be peaceful when the nation of Israel gets swallowed up by an enemy country? That is not the case. The world ends. In the Book of Revelation, it is said that a third of the trees will be burned up. And it is said that water will turn to blood. It means that people won’t be able to drink water. Thus, all the conditions for the world to come to ruins and for all the people to die will be met. It will become a world where one would not want to live in. When that happens, all that the righteous have to do is to wait for the second coming of Jesus. Even so, instead of waiting haphazardly, we must see what will happen to the nation of Israel in the future, and we must believe in the truth that there will be exactly three and a half years left for the second coming of the Lord once the nation of Israel loses from a war against a certain country. If such things occur in Israel and if we doubt even then, saying, “Well, a war is always something that one can win and lose,” and do not prepare by faith then it will be too late.
When the nation of Israel gets invaded, the person who seizes that country will be the one who has seized the entire world, and that person will precisely be the Antichrist getting used by Satan the Devil in order to control the entire world. The Devil makes people bow before his idol set in the Temple and the Devil gives power to that idol. The Devil carves and erects an idol, and by giving it power, the Devil makes that idol speak. And the Antichrist kills all those who do not bow down to his idol without exception. And then servants of that Devil who are in all places seek out and kill those that do not submit to the Devil. Killing off all those people who do not submit to the Devil, that is the law of the Devil.
To control people, servants of the Devil place the mark of the beast on people’s right hand or on their forehead. And, as for those that do not have the mark, they do not allow them to neither buy nor sell things (Revelation 13:16-17). That is the last calamity. Thus, it is written in the Book of Revelations that even though all those who haven’t been born again become servants of the Devil by bowing to the idol and receiving the mark on their hand or on their forehead, those whose name is written on the Book of Life suffers martyrdom for having refused to receive the mark to the end because of their faith in God.
Because such tribulation will come and people of this world will all be standing against God bluntly, God will come to pass judgment over this world. The fact is that the Lord will come down to this earth personally. At that time, the people of Israel who hadn’t bowed to idols and hadn’t received the mark until that moment will believe in the Lord and be raised before God. Actually, the people of Israel are more devout in faith than us. For them, there is only one God. Thus, they cannot worship anything other than Jehovah God. Also, because they have already suffered endless pain for having worshiped so many idols, they no longer do things like worshipping idols, ever again. Also, because they are well versed with the Word of God, they know that Jehovah God is the very God who has allowed them to reclaim their land. They believe in and follow the very God whom David had believed as the God who had saved them.
Therefore, we must keep our minds fully collected. Until the nation of Israel gets invaded and something fearful happens inside that country, the righteous have to collect their minds fully. When the time comes, be known that the day of the rapture has come close and let us not even be thinking about marrying or giving in marriage. Our Lord has said, “Woe to those who are pregnant at the time of the tribulation.” Thus, He is telling us to know the times and not to even think about getting married when something like that happens to the people of Israel.
But, it will be better to get married if you are prone to do this that you are told not to do and are about to go crazy wanting to get married. However, do not forget that you must go on living by faith, knowing that there are only about three and a half years left for the world from the time when such things happen. When that moment comes, you might not even be able to hear the Word of the Bible because those who believe in God will be killed and any large-scale gathering will not be permitted by the government.
When Will the Rapture Occur?
I hope you realize the fact that the rapture will occur during the great seven-year tribulation. That is, once the nation of Israel suffers the pain of destruction, let it be known that the day has come, and we must keep our faith to the end with the faith that if we were to endure just a little, we will go before the Lord without having tasted death. And so, I spoke to our ministry workers. I said to them that if we were to truly endure just a little in this day and age, we will taste the glory and calamities will fall upon the nation of Israel. I also said to them that calamities will fall upon this world and calamities which people cannot endure as humans will occur all over the place throughout the world. God will kill those who have gone against Him by allowing calamities and disasters to occur at that time.
People of Israel get invaded and thus the act of offering sacrifices to God inside the Temple for worshipping God becomes forbidden, and it is said that the number of days for that period to pass will be 1,290. Then, that makes about three and a half years, doesn’t it? If we wait a bit more, Jesus will come before 1,335 days are up. Therefore, if there are some people of Israel who could wait until that time, then they will be considered blessed. As for us, even if we don’t wait for 1,335 days, the end will come during that period of time.
Then, the question of how will we be waiting for three and a half years is crucial to us. How will we endure three and a half years? And, as I now speak to you about the end of this world, I say to you from this moment on that the calamities have already begun in this world. I want to tell you that the age of sorrows has begun in this world and that the countdown toward the end of the age has begun.
Now, we must verify this through the Word, and if it is the case that we believe this, we must think about what we must do. Should we wait for the tribulation just sitting around? What must we do now? The Bible says that the tribulation will come upon this world and that the end will come, but it is also said that the end will come when the gospel of the baptism and the blood is preached to the ends of the earth. From here, we can find an answer to the question of what we must do. From here on out, I would like to speak a bit about this and then draw this sermon to a close.
What must we do now? From now on, we must not put our hearts in things of the earth. If we do not teach those who do not know this in advance before it happens, we will be rebuked by God and we will be reproached by the saints as well. Dear fellow believers, do you think there is a difference between leading a life of faith knowing that the calamities have begun in this world and just facing the calamities without having any knowledge beforehand? There is a great difference. It is because if you were to go on living without any preparations in your heart, it would be hard for you to keep the faith at the end. This is something that I must tell you because you cannot fall into hardships and face difficulty in keeping the faith.
Calamities Have Begun
Dear fellow believers, not only the recent earthquake in Japan but also famine and earthquakes all over the world, as well as nation rising against nation, and kingdoms against kingdoms, have begun to occur. Our Lord said, in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24 verse 7, that this is the beginning of sorrows. And the fact is that this Word has come true before you and me in this present day. Just as the gospel has come into our hearts, I hope you will realize that this beginning of sorrows has come down before you and me in this present day. Do you understand this? I have clearly stated this fact to you. Do not complain later on, “Pastor Jung didn’t even preach that to us.” I have already said that to you for certain.
If it were the case that there is much time left for this world, then all we have to do is to lead a life of faith like this all through our life time, and come to God when the Lord commands us to come and sleep when He commands us to sleep a bit somewhere. However, the reason why I say this is because, in truth, the age you and I live in hasn’t much time left and the time for our Lord to fulfill all that He has promised is really close at hand. Now, when what is meant to occur breaks out, we must be able to face it tranquilly by knowing about it in advance and having prepared for it. Just as someone on his or her deathbed would try to settle everything and does what must be done before dying, we must go on living having prepared our faith, prepared for the rapture, prepared for a life of faith, and made plans on how we are going to live. We must live out our faith properly by knowing what things need to be settled and how to lead a life of faith.
We won’t just die having lived this way and that. During our time, a great upheaval will occur on this earth. To put it easier, I am saying that the end of this world will come, just as people have always been worrying. Soon, great natural disasters that people only heard about will occur in this world. What do you think of this current world? Do you think that it is the beginning of sorrows or do you think it still isn’t? What are your thoughts? As for me, I think that the calamities have already started. Although we realize that it is the beginning of sorrows, if we do not precisely point it out within the Word, we would just be forgetting about that fact, and when the tribulation actually does arrive → occur, we would just be submitting to the mob of the Antichrist out of confusion.
I believe precisely that the Lord will come. But if I am to tell you about this in a way that you can understand, the fact of the matter is that even if the Lord doesn’t come for 10 years, this earth in the ten-year period would have gone through so much change that people would no longer be able to live in it. I am not saying that the environment will become completely inhabitable, but rather, I am saying that people themselves cannot survive due to so many occurrences of natural disasters and endless sweepings of wars and pestilences. But, the Lord reduces that unfathomable tribulation just a little instead of carrying it out to the very end. For whom does He do so? He does so for His chosen ones. He reduces the period of tribulation for you and me. He does so because it seems that we won’t be able to endure to the end.
Also, He focuses on the people of Israel again. He said, “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath” (Matthew 24:20), but why did He say this? It is because people of Israel must never walk very far on the Sabbath. Along with that, He told us to pray so that such things may not be in winter because the Lord knows that when winter comes at a time when we are under hardship due to calamities, we would be in pain even more. At the end of the age, God will be most concerned with none other than the people of Israel. The very last thing that God will do for the people of Israel is the work of saving them.
From this moment on, the righteous must not put their hope on things of the earth. If you really believe in the Lord’s return, you will not put your heart in things of the earth. But, if you do not have faith in Him, then you will put your expectations on things of the earth and invest in them. Instead of investing your treasures in things of the earth, invest in Heaven which does not rot away. By that, I am not saying that you should donate money to me, but rather, I am asking you to invest yourself in the precious works of the Lord instead of investing in works of the earth that bears no fruit. 18:40 Dear fellow believers, the most foolish person is someone who treasures things that are on the earth but then loses them all to calamities without even having used any of them. Do not become such a foolish person. You must truly be wise.
If we were to go to Yanbian, China with just 500 US dollars, we can hire about seventy natives there to do work for a week. We can gather up seventy people as housekeepers and then say to them, “Please wipe the floor over here.” Thus, the room would be wiped clean. Then, we say to them, “Place some cushions here and have a seat. Now, we are going to start the work. Take a Bible. And, open up to a certain passage. Now, I am going to say some things to you. Your work is to listen to what I am saying from this day on.” And that is in fact gathering up seventy people and preaching the gospel to them. Since we can employ them for seven days, we can have them receive the remission of sins by feeding them for seven days with the Word. 100 US dollars is said to be worth half a year’s worth of salary for people of that country who do not have particular skills enrolled in physical labor. Hence, I want to invest money in those kinds of things. And we can invest your material things there also.
If the Lord comes to this earth seven years from now, what will you do at this moment? If it is the case that the tribulation has already started as of now, in the mean time, what do you think we must do? 21:06 All we have to do is to try to live well with what we have left, and then be devout to the work of spreading the gospel. Also, as we continue to work in our workplaces, we must serve the gospel with material things that we gain from work, and we must carry out the work of harvesting those souls that remain by investing in the spreading of the gospel all those material things that God’s workers have saved through frugality. You and I must carry out the work of spreading the gospel all over the world. We must put all our efforts into this work so that we can spread the gospel to everyone, not only those in Korea but also those around the world.
How do we put to use what we have before we go to Him? Dear fellow believers, carry out your duties at work faithfully. As for those who preach the gospel, be faithful in the work of spreading the gospel. As the end of the age draws nearer, you must be even more faithful to your duties. “Alas, I now have done this much, so I don’t need to do more.” You must not think like that. It is said that the end will come when the gospel is preached all over this world. If your material gains are needed in the spreading of the gospel, be diligent in earning money and heap up your treasure in Heaven.
A stupid person invests his life in things of the earth when it is said there are only about 7 or 10 years remaining in this world. However, a wise person, if it is the case that the person believes it, invests his precious things in the work that can save a great number of souls. Dear fellow believers, in Yanbian, China, it is said that the temperature goes down to minus 40 degrees in Celsius during winter. But if one were to buy an electric heater and use it there, one would not get cold at all. As long as we go there with money, our ministry workers as well as our brothers and sisters do not have to go through hardships.
Thus, it is necessary to live wisely, using money in service of the gospel. We must use money wisely. We are really going to go to Yanbin and carry out what we have told you accordingly. We are going to contact a human resources company and say to them, “We are looking to hire seventy people for a week.” Then, we will give salaries to those seventy people and bring them. And we will intensively preach the Word for about a week to those seventy people. Wouldn’t it be so good to come to us to work for about a week? They will be listening to the Word all day long sitting comfortably, and then they will be given money and salvation. Thus, who would be more fortunate than those people?
Dear fellow believers, do you know why we purchased a new video camera? I really don’t like being videotaped, but nevertheless, we bought a video camera. We bought it in order to spread the gospel. And, instead of taking videos of only me, we can take videos of all the ministry workers in each church delivering sermons and distributing them to the souls living in a region like Yanbian. Because we cannot always be with them, I have purchased the video camera so that they may see and hear the Word of God and believe. We must diligently share the gospel with others.
We must think about how we are going to live out the end of the age, and we must live out the remaining days meaningfully. I count the things that I must do from now on. I often think it would be good to spend what material things we have on the spreading of the gospel like this. In all honesty, is there a church that preaches the true gospel besides us in Korea? No, there isn’t. Even in Korea there are so many places where the church needs to be built. Dear fellow believers, there are many chapels in Korea, but there isn’t one that preaches the gospel. And, there are so many people who have died without having heard the gospel. Even now, you don’t know just how many people haven’t even heard of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, not even once. Thus, I wish to preach to them the gospel, and I hope that many of you will rise up as workers who will be serving the Lord to the fullest.
As for You All, Do not Set Your Heart on Earthly Things but on Heaven
The end of the age will surely come. As for you the saints, please devote yourself to your livelihood diligently. As the end draws near, you must be loyal to the work that you have taken responsibility for. With not much time left, if you were to set your hearts on impertinent things, your salvation could become a futile matter. It is said that at the end of the age, the Lord will separate the wicked from among the just and then appoint them their portion with the hypocrites (Matthew 13:47-50). Having received one talent, the one who had hid it in the ground instead of engaging in a trade concerning the gospel, is the wicked. As the end of the age draws nearer, do not make light of gathering together. Gather together at the church and unite with the church. That is the way for you and I to keep our faith until the day the Lord will come.
Furthermore, as for you all, pray before God more and more and think with reason about the Word you have heard before God. Instead of claiming to have reached an understanding after having seen visions, all the while having babbled along with eyes closed trying to speak in tongues, think about the Word you have heard with reason. And then, set up your faith inside your heart. Then make plans for a life of faith with regard to how you are going to live. And with those plans, come forth to your spiritual leaders and consult with them
And as for you students, please study hard. Students have to spread the gospel to their friends all the while studying diligently, and office workers must spread the gospel to their co-workers all the while working for the company. As for you who own businesses, please sponsor the gospel while carrying on your businesses diligently. And as for you ministry workers, please use your material possessions entirely for the spreading of the gospel and devote all your heart and energy into that mission.
Dear fellow believers, people of faith must not do the work of investing many material things in earthly matters. If you possess material things, you ought to invest them in the spreading of the gospel. This year the Church is going to try to enter the region of Yanbian, China and preach the gospel there. So then, you all must also unite your hearts and think about what you can do for the righteous work of preaching the gospel in Yanbian, and you must truly resolve to work entirely for the gospel for the rest of your life. All of you, please do not place your hearts in earthly matters, but rather, let us go on living with our hearts set toward Heaven.
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Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission