ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ကပ်ရောဂါနှင့်အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာစာပို့လုပ်ငန်းဝန်ဆောင်မှုများပျက်ပြားခြင်းကြောင့်ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ 'အခမဲ့ပုံနှိပ်စာအုပ်ဝန်ဆောင်မှု' ကိုယာယီရပ်ဆိုင်းလိုက်သည်။
ဤအခြေအနေ၏အခြေအနေအရကျွန်ုပ်တို့သည်ယခုအချိန်တွင်သင့်အားစာအုပ်များမပို့နိုင်သေးပေ။
ဤကပ်ရောဂါသည်မကြာမီကုန်ဆုံးပြီးစာတိုက်လုပ်ငန်းပြန်လည်စတင်ရန်ဆုတောင်းပါ။
Subject 24 : Sermons for Those Who Have Become Our COWORKERS
[24-2] Enter by the Narrow Gate (Matthew 7:13-27)
(Matthew 7:13-27)
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
The Narrow Gate Is the Difficult Way and There Are Few Who Find It
In today’s Scripture passage, the Lord spoke to all the people of this world, not only to those who believe in Jesus. The main point of today’s Scripture passage is that we must enter by the narrow gate. For it is written, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The Lord tells us to enter by the narrow gate. He tells us, “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.”
The Lord tells us to enter by the narrow gate, but what do Christian believers these days do? Contrary to the Lord’s Word that tells them to enter by the narrow gate, they like the wide gate and are entering by this gate instead. The Lord told us to enter by the narrow gate and the prophets just as the predecessors of faith had entered by this narrow gate according to the Word of God, but those who do not follow the Word of God are moving towards the wide gate without even giving it a second thought.
Among Christian leaders, there are many that are really very ignorant. Most preachers of the Word of God are teaching Christian believers incorrectly without knowing the Truth which is manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And the audience listening to their words is also abnormal. When we listen to what they are saying, we find that it is too ridiculous to even sit there and listen to them. But, they just carry on sitting in their chairs and listen very attentively to the words that are not true. Many of them are people of learning and of experience. Of course, the fact that one has some worldly knowledge does not necessarily mean that that person is intelligent. But even such people with common sense sit there and listen to these nonsensical words of false teachers and then agree with them. The Scriptures state that they are such people that enter by the wide gate. Therefore, those who are preaching the Word of God falsely is entering by the wide gate and their followers hearing their false teachings are also trying to enter by this same wide gate. They are preaching and listening diligently like this because they are of the same cloth. I feel really sad when I look at Christian believers that are going towards the wide gate rapidly.
Among the people preaching the Word of God in this world, there are some that preach the Word of God properly, but others do not preach the Word properly and only preach by using their own wicked thoughts. Once, I watched a pastor from abroad preaching on a certain Christian TV channel. He was leading the worship service with many people gathered in a place as big as a huge indoor stadium. When I looked at this audience, it seemed like they were trying hard in their own way to believe in God faithfully. However, when I heard his sermon, the content of that sermon was leading these believers to a very wide gate. The preacher said that a married couple must love one another, live peacefully with other people, and that God the Father will consider us to be sinless even though we have sin in our hearts because we believed in Jesus as our Savior. And He said further that the Lord will bless us and fill our needs if we live peacefully among the people and live for the Lord although it is difficult. The content of his sermon was filled with words that lead to the wide gate that the Lord had admonished us not to enter by.
Even in our country, a certain famous preacher once gathered hundreds of thousands of people together and preached about similar things. That preacher gave this illustration:
“A certain virgin who believed in Jesus as the Savior got married to a man who did not have any Christian faith. And that groom was a farmer. Therefore, that woman also worked on the farm. In order to attend regular worship services, the woman did all the work that her mother-in-law and the father-in-law told her to do ahead of time by even working without sleeping and absolutely finished the work before going to church. In spite of this, the parents-in-law rebuked her a lot because she attended every worship service. She was persecuted like this by her in-laws. While being persecuted like that, the in-laws even hit her on the back of her head with a stone and cracked her skull. As time passed by, she went to the Kingdom of God after leading a life of faith like that. However, her husband, mother-in-law, and father-in-law all came to believe in Jesus because she did not succumb to any persecution whatsoever while living in this world and they saw her faith and were inspired by that.
After such an event, God took her in-laws to Heaven briefly and showed them around in Heaven. They saw her in Heaven and saw that a diamond was stuck on the back of her head. Hence, the mother-in-law asked the Lord, ‘Lord, what is that? Why is that big diamond stuck on my daughter-in-law’s head?’ Then, God said, ‘Didn’t you hit your daughter-in-law on the back of her head with a stone while she was alive because she went to church? I have put a diamond on the back of your daughter-in-law’s head as a reward for attending every worship service and also preaching the gospel to you even while being persecuted in the world like that.’”
This is the summary of the preacher’s illustration. The point of the preacher’s sermon was that anyone who believes in Jesus and serves the Lord diligently while being persecuted like that receives much reward in the Kingdom of Heaven. A preacher that preaches such absurd sermons is the one that leads believers towards the broad way.
A certain minister once gave a testimony, saying, “There was a time when our church was going through many difficulties and hardships. At that time, the members of the church offered up money as well as their efforts, and because of that, we became one of the largest churches of the world and we are now able to collect money to help the poor.” And he said that all the members of their church that served like that during the time when the church was going through such a difficult time have now become wealthy. And he said that God blesses such people that serve much like that.
What are all these sermons speaking of? Such sermons are encouraging the believers to enter by the wide gate. However, the Lord told us to enter by the narrow gate, not the wide gate as it is written, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The Lord said the gate that leads to destruction is wide and therefore there are many people who enter it; but the gate that leads to life is narrow and difficult and there are few who find it.
According to the Word of God we have read, it means that “We must enter by the narrow gate in order to receive life.” However, God said that only few find this gate of life, which is the narrow gate. The Lord said that few find the gate of life because the path to it is narrow and difficult, but He said that people must enter by the narrow gate to receive genuine life. This means that all the members of God’s Church, both the preachers and the congregation, must know and believe what grace the Lord has given us, how the Lord has given us the remission of sins, and how the Lord has blotted out all our sins. That is, if our Lord says that He has blotted out all our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the people listening to the Word must also believe it in their hearts. And the people who have already believed in the Lord like this must also lead the other people into the Word of God. You and I must lead people to this narrow gate.
Like this, both preachers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit and the audience listening to this genuine gospel must be thankful to God by faith of believing in the Word of God after hearing it and believing, “The Lord took all our sins upon Himself by the baptism He received from John the Baptist and carried all those sins to the Cross and received judgment for them. Thus, the Lord made us who believe to enter the Kingdom of God by cleansing all our sins away and receiving judgment for them in our place.” We must be thankful to God like this by faith of believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
However, so many Christians do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, by which the Lord has saved us from the sins of the world. The false leaders are going on the way to destruction and cannot give teachings that enable today’s Christians to resolve the problem of their sins. Rather, those leaders are speaking only about how to receive carnal blessings, and the people listening to them also want to hear about such things only. Such carnal Christians who desire the wide gate like this are not interested in the things like entering by the narrow gate and receiving the remission of sins and are only interested in hearing that someone has been blessed much by serving the Lord much or someone has been cured of a sickness after praying so fervently to God.
These days, many family ministry programs are in vogue. So, preachers like to lecture a lot about such things like “How can a married couple live harmoniously? How can they live together without disputing?” Such lectures are very popular among today’s Christians. However, no matter how popular such lectures are, they are all the sermons that lead Christians to the wide gate. The Lord told us to work hard to enter by the narrow gate and that anyone who enters by the narrow gate receives life. But the false preachers today constantly show and praise the wide gate and lead many carnal Christians to the wide gate.
Who Are Those That Lead People to the Wide Gate?
As the Lord pointed out in today’s Scripture passage, the false prophets are the ones that lead people to the wide gate. The false prophets put on sheep’s clothing and come before the people with a good appearance, but they are actually stealing from them. They do the work of killing souls and destroying the life of people. These false prophets are stealing people’s time, thoughts, and souls in order to deprive them of their hard earned money. Simply put, these false prophets are wolves. They are the wolves that put on sheep’s clothing and take everything from these misguided people.
God said that false prophets are the wolves spiritually, but people do not know this. When false prophets tell them to merely live virtuously and decently, the congregation agrees blindly and follows these false prophets. The Lord told us that there are so many of these false prophets about. These false prophets are the wolves because they minister although they themselves have not yet been born again; and they are thieves who do such things like devouring the lives of the sheep and depriving them of their food.
Those misguided Christians who have been deceived by such false prophets bear bad fruit because they are not the saints of God who have entered by the narrow gate. The Lord compared people to trees, saying, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18). It means that those who have not been born again lead people to the wide way and the people that follow the wide path do not bear good fruit. They become the people who cannot receive new life because they do not enter by the narrow gate. Such people are the bad trees that God does not approve of. Therefore, even if such people do good deeds throughout their entire lifetime, the end results are always bad fruit. They come before misguided people and make this and that kind of gesture to make it look like they have done such good works, but the reality is that their end is to be cast into the unquenchable fire because they are merely the non-born again people who follow the wide path towards destruction. God says that He will cut down such a tree and throw it into the fire (Matthew 7:19). The Lord sends such people to hell.
These so-called ministers today should be leading their congregations towards the narrow path, but the reality is that they are leading them towards the wide path. Such ministers only try to be approved by their own congregations while they lead people continually towards the wide path by only boasting of their own righteousness. They sing hymns very earnestly and try hard to be recognized as good ministers who follow the Lord faithfully. They try to look very honest and faithful like an angel before their congregations and they try to make them seek the same things they seek. We therefore call such people ‘angels of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14).
However, all they do and say are lies. Can a person who has not been born again do genuine good? How can a person who has not been born again lead others to the upright path? It is so ridiculous when I look at such pastors. It only makes me frustrated whenever I watch such ministers preach on TV and listen to them while they lead the audience to the wide path. Such false preachers seem to think that they are really great.
Some of them are really ridiculous. They come forth and preach a sermon saying something like: “It was when I was ministering in a big church in Seoul after graduating from theological seminary. One of my friends was also a pastor and he had cancer. While that friend was dying, he left his will to have me lead the funeral service because he was really sure that I was the real servant of God. Therefore, I had to administer my friend’s funeral service. It was a very solemn moment that awakened me to the vanity of life. And from then on, my ministry was so successful that I now am ministering in a church with almost one hundred thousand church members.”
Wasn’t that preacher just bragging about himself with that stupid story? Wouldn’t someone preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to others if the preacher knew this genuine gospel? What matters regardless how much success one has in his or her ministry if they still have sins in their hearts because they do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit? It does not matter. For example, even if a non-born again pastor built a huge church building and preached to 500,000 church members, or even 1 million people, what would all that matter if he was ultimately heading for hell? The Lord said that He will cut down such a tree and burn it in the fire. Hence, he is ultimately destined for hell. Then, what is the use of his great success in his ministry in this world? No matter how much success he has in his church-ministry and gave an inheritance of his huge church building to his child or to any church member, is that true success? Today’s Christianity is full of such stories regarding carnal successes.
We are really blessed when we have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit before the presence of God, that is, when we have received the God-given grace and have been approved of our faith before the presence of God by receiving the remission of all our sins and iniquities. We evaluate someone’s life to be successful only when they have received such grace of salvation before the presence of God, lives by faith, goes to the eternal Kingdom of God when the Lord calls, and enjoys eternal life there. Otherwise, they have failed completely if they end up in hell. So, David also declared, saying,
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:1-2).
However, pastors today who are going on the Broadway think that they have achieved success although they are walking on the way to hell. Then, what is the plight of the believers that are following such pastors? What use is it for Christian sinners if so many of them gather and worship like that? What does it all matter if one still has sins in his or her heart?
When God told Abraham to offer up his son to Him as a burnt sacrifice, Abraham obeyed that Word and prepared to offer up his son. At that time, God had prepared a goat as a sacrificial offering, and Abraham called the name of the place, “Jehovah-jireh,” which means “The-LORD-Will-Provide” (Genesis 22:14). Abraham then offered up a goat as a sacrifice in place of his son Isaac. To walk on the difficult path and enter the narrow gate is to obey God’s Word as it is given just as Abraham obeyed the Word no matter how unacceptable it was to him.
The Lord told us to be faithful to enter by the narrow gate because we will surely perish if we go on the Broadway. Anyone who is a Christian must have read this Word at least once. Most pastors and lay people probably have heard this Word many times. The gospel Books of the New Testament like the Gospel of Matthew are the Scripture Words that every preacher generally preaches about for thousands of times during his entire life of ministry. But few find the narrow way that leads to life because it is a difficult path. Can there be any Christian who does not know such Scripture passages as follows?: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7) or “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). All Christians have heard and read these Scripture Words at least once. Then, Shouldn’t Christians take time to think whether or not they are going on the Broadway? If a person still has sins in his or her heart even while believing in Jesus, then that person is ultimately going by the Broadway.
I feel so frustrated when I look at them. The success of the present is not the genuine success, and only the one that laughs in the end is a truly successful person. A person must receive the remission of sins if he wants to laugh in his last days. A person must at least receive the remission of sins and know the will of God and live according to the will of God in order to laugh in the end. In order for you to laugh in your last days, you have no other way but to receive the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
However, most ministers are not like that. They ask us how we can know whether a person has been born again or not. Therefore, they say that every Christian must only live virtuously since he or she cannot know whether or not they are born again. They think that they must live virtuously because they have sins and this is the only way they can resolve their problem of sin. In other words, Christians today say that they must live virtuously in this world in order for them to not go to hell because they do not have conviction in whether they will go to Heaven or hell.
The so-called great ministers among many ministers of the world today teach like this to the members of their churches. Because they do not know whether they are going to Heaven or hell, they claim and preach the Christian doctrine of predestination, saying, “How do we know who has been chosen or not before the presence of God? The Lord said that a tree is known by its fruit. So, we can discern the chosen from the lost just by their works. If you believe in Jesus and attend every church worship service, then, you have been chosen, and those who do not have not been chosen.” But if a certain believer asks, “Then, I must be going to Heaven because I have been chosen since I believe in Jesus and attend church now. Is this true?” Then the minister answers, “No one knows whether someone is going to Heaven or hell. God only knows this.” And then if another believer asks, “Then, if I have believed in Jesus with the understanding that I would go to Heaven just by believing in Jesus, but I end up going to hell later, there is no way to go back and change that tragedy, right?” the minister then answers, “Yes, we have no other choice over God’s judgment. There is no way to go back and change that.” Generally, these famous pastors or these so-called very humble theologians confirm this notion. This is the very evidence that they are indeed false prophets. Those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in this present era are all false prophets, the heretics, the hirelings, and the Christian sinners who are destined for hell.
However, what makes me feel so sad is that there are so many Christian sinners who are going towards the broad way like this. We can look around us and see there are so many such Christians. There are many ministers that appear on television programs today and among those ministers, there is a certain minister that is as funny as the best standup comedian on the circuit. I am so embarrassed whenever he appears on any TV program. He speaks with the Bible opened, but he cannot speak clearly about even one verse of the Scripture, about what it is saying. He just fits the Word ridiculously into whatever he wants to say, but the people gathered there listen to it and like it so much. And you can see that most people in the audience are middle aged women. Those middle aged woman are just enamored with him. He is so popular to them.
We must know how so many people are going by the broad way. Today, so many people are going into their destruction like this. Those who are deceiving the people and the deceived are all going into destruction. This is why the Lord warned us of these false prophets.
Who Are the People Who Do the Will of God the Father in Heaven?
Let’s read the Word from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 7 verses 21-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
The Lord definitely said it just like this. Therefore, those who are going by the broad way are on this path of destruction and they are as a consequence going headlong into the everlasting fire. There are so many Christians who are now on the broad way like this. The Lord was telling us how such people are leading the life of faith.
First, He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Those who say to Jesus, “Lord, Lord” are the people who believe in Jesus. However, the Lord is saying that not everyone who believes in Jesus will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who believe according to God’s will, will enter Heaven.
The will of God the Father was to send His Son to this world and make His Son receive the baptism from John the Baptist and blot out all our sins and save us by dying on the Cross. And the Lord Jesus has accomplished all these works faithfully in obedience to His Father. Therefore, whoever receives the remission of sins by believing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And such people who believe in this genuine gospel are the ones going by the narrow path. But, those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit but instead go by the broad way will say to the Lord, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” (Matthew 7:22). Those who are going by the broad way are the ones who are pretending to be prophets.
Then, who are these so called prophets of God? Are they not those who claim to know and teach the Word of God? They have taught the name of the Lord to their followers. They teach that whoever believes only in Jesus’ blood of the Cross will receive the remission of sins and that you can go to Heaven even though you still have sins in your hearts if you believe in Jesus. These false prophets teach false information to so many people. Of course, they also teach people that Jesus is God. And they teach that Jesus has become our Savior by being condemned for all our sins and by suffering all the pain on the Cross. And they also teach people that whoever believes in Jesus as the Savior will receive the remission of sins. In short, they teach people that whoever believes in Jesus’ blood of the Cross can receive the cleansing from all sins, just like the robber who was crucified next to Jesus.
Let’s read how these wicked prophets who have taught like this will defend themselves when they meet the Lord. They will protest, saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” Even false prophets cast out demons. However, what good is it even if they cast out demons? These demons return back inside the hearts of the former demon-possessed again if sins are still in their hearts, and these demons then also take authority over them. Demons will be cast out completely from the heart of the demon-possessed person only when that person has truly received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must therefore give up our own fleshly thinking and believe in the Word of God spiritually. The way to cast out demons is simple. Demons depart from a demon-possessed person, even if the person does not do anything special to cast out the demons; when that person comes to know, believes, and is thankful for the fact that the Lord took all the sins of this world upon Himself by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist and carried those sins to the Cross and was crucified to death on the Cross for the judgment for those sins. Demons cannot dwell in a person’s body if that person acknowledges his or her wrongs before the presence of God and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Then the demons depart from that person’s body immediately and permanently.
One cannot cast out demons without such correct faith. Without correct faith, it is useless no matter how great pastors lay hands on the demon possessed. Demons are just toying with them. Who are the preachers of the Devil? They are the shamans, the false prophets, and the Christian exorcists. These false prophets have gone on the broad way like this, say to the Lord such things like, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” However, the Lord rebuked them, saying, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
Those who minister in churches, prophesy in God’s name, cast out demons although they themselves have not received the remission of sins are all false prophets. They tell people that they can become rich by believing in Jesus, that they can be cured of sicknesses by believing in Jesus, that married couples can be more harmonious by believing in Jesus, and that they can become happy when they just believe in Jesus. In short, these false prophets lead their followers to seek after only the happiness of the flesh. Such false prophets lead you towards the broad way. Such misguided believers are prone to feel convinced of the words of these false prophets and believe in them, and as a result, they eventually end up on the path of destruction and go to hell; and sadly there are so many people like this in this world.
But what is worse is that there isn’t anyone who tells this truth to these misguided Christians who are going on the path of destruction in this era. If you told such misguided Christians, “You are going towards the path of destruction,” you would be persecuted and hated by them. People consider it a great disrespect even if we just point out their spiritual blindness. However, when we see a spiritually blind person, we must first tell him of his spiritual blindness according to the Word of God and cure him of his blindness by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Fleshly speaking, it would be wrong if we treat a violent mad man as a normal person. Like this, it is wrong in itself if we cannot call a false prophet, a false prophet. Those who are not able to point this out and those who cannot accept anyone pointing this out to them are both foolish.
What did the Lord say about these two kinds of people? He said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).
The Lord said that a person that hears the Word of God and does not practice it is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The Lord said that, among those who believe in Jesus, all those who hear the Word of the Lord and do not practice it are false prophets, the practicers of lawlessness, and the cursed that shall be cast out from the Lords presence on the judgment day and will go to hell. Anyone of us who hears the Word of God and does not practice it shall face such a dreadful end.
Then, What Kind of Person Does Not Practice the Word of God?
Anyone who has not received the remission of sins in their hearts because of not believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot practice the Word of the Lord even if they want to. A person who has sins in his or her heart cannot live according to the will of the Lord no matter how desperately that person wants to do so. Such a person cannot save their neighbors from their sins even if he wants to; and such a person cannot preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit no matter how eagerly he wants to. Such a person cannot preach the true gospel to another person even if he wants to because he or she does not know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. Even if such a person loved another person and wanted to give new life to that person, that person cannot do this because he himself does not know this Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Why is it like this? It’s because Christian sinners do not have the Holy Spirit in their hearts. It’s because they have not yet become the people of God. A sinner absolutely cannot preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit that blots out the sins of others. So, they are prone to devote themselves to seemingly wonderful volunteer activities such as running orphanages or free clinics. It might look like that they are doing righteous works, but they are not approved by God because they are really boasting of their own human righteousness. It is because their faith is speaking of the righteousness of their flesh instead of believing in the righteousness of God.
The Lord said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19), but can they follow this command? No, they cannot. They cannot reach that point of fully obeying this command. They absolutely cannot do this. Consequently, such a person has built the house of his faith on sand. Therefore, that house collapses when the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow and strike that house. When there is a flood and a huge stream of water flowing down, the house they built on the sand will be swept away completely along with the sand and thus their house tumbles down completely. However, the house built on the solid rock stands firm when the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on that house because water cannot destroy the rock.
What Kind of Person Can Hear the Word of God and Practice It Just as It Is?
There are some people who are walking the narrow path. They are the people who have entered the way of life. Only such people can do truly virtuous deeds and truly love others. Regardless of how great a minister is, how famous one is as a leader of a social movement or a social-minded service, and how much one loves his or her neighbors and friends and tries to help them, that person is nothing if the person cannot preach to them the gospel of the water and the Spirit which makes them receive the cleansing of all their sins in their hearts as white as snow. If a pastor does not know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then that pastor cannot do anything good. Consequently, such a pastor will go to hell as the Lord said, “The rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” A house of such false faith collapses.
No matter how faithfully a person believes only in the blood of Jesus Christ and tries to lead a life of faith, no matter how wondrous works they do like casting out of demons and offering up much money, no matter how they give themselves up to God and lead a life as His worker, no matter how great a social status one has achieved, and regardless of whether one is an elder, deacon, or a pastor in a church or whether a person is a superintendent or a director of a denomination, or a renown pastor throughout the entire world, such a person cannot listen to the Word of the Lord and practice it accordingly if he or she still has sins in their hearts because they have not believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, such a person is like the one who built his house on the sand. The one that does not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is a person that has entered by the wide gate instead of the narrow gate, and they are people who lead others to the wide gate. The Lord said the house of the faith of such a person shall fall.
Now, the Lord said that He will judge everyone for their sins when He comes. The Lords said, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), and the Lord really will judge them based on whether they have sin or not. In other words, the Lord will judge you based on whether or not you have believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And the Lord will judge you based on whether you have obeyed and lived according to the will of God after believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Anyone who leaves God’s Church and lives only for himself although he believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit will be condemned by God. And a person who does not tell others about the gospel of the water and the Spirit although they know and understand this genuine gospel also shall receive judgment. Also, that person will be condemned if they explain the gospel Truth only in general terms and avoids its specifics because of the fear of being persecuted by telling the Truth and therefore insists that one can receive the remission of sins by believing only the blood of the Cross. This is not something I have made up on my own. Rather, it is the Word our Lord has spoken. The Lord said that the crumbling house built on sand refers to the broad way and the person whose house is built on the rock is the one going by the narrow path.
The overall theme of today’s Scripture passage is that a house built on the rock does not crumble, and, the Lord is that rock. The rock can withstand even when rain and wind beat on it because the rock is solid. That is, the Lord compared the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to the rock to illustrate how firm this gospel is. When the Apostle Peter professed his faith in the Lord, saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), the Lord declared, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). And Peter later said, “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God)” (1 Peter 3:21). Therefore, Peter is someone who understood exactly who Jesus Christ is. This is the reason why Jesus said to Peter, “On this rock I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18).
Peter knew clearly that Jesus is the Savior who saved us by taking upon Himself all the sins of us humanity by being baptized, carrying the sins of the world to the Cross, being crucified on it, and rising again from death. Therefore, Jesus said to Peter, “On this rock I will build My church.” Peter’s original name was Simon, but after his confession of faith, the Lord called him Peter, which means the “rock.” The Lord was very pleased with his solid faith.
What Makes You Have Solid Faith?
It is true faith of believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What really is the Truth that blots out all our sins? It is the gospel of the water and the Spirit by which the Lord came to this world and blotted out all our sins. It is the truth that all our sins were passed onto the Lord once and for all when the Lord was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. All the sins of our hearts have been cleansed away because all our sins were transferred to Jesus at that time; and He carried those sins of the world to the Cross and received all the judgment for our sins in our place by being crucified on the Cross, all because Jesus had taken over our sins. The Lord has saved us from the sins of the world by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We must build the house of our faith on the rock. We must have the kind of faith that enables us to enter by the narrow gate. Our faith must be something that leads us to enter by the gate of life. This is possible for all the people throughout the world if they just decide to enter by the narrow gate and receive new life. How is this possible? We have distributed to them many books and e-books that contain the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have published many sermon books and e-books in so many languages of the world. So, whoever reads just one of our books that contain the gospel of the water and the Spirit they can definitely receive the remission of their sins. It is possible enough for anyone to enter by the narrow gate if they have built sufficient faith that can build their house of faith on the rock through our books.
This is the electronic age of the Internet. Therefore, whoever wants to find this gospel of the water and the Spirit can do it easily. You also can get into our website by searching keywords such as, “the gospel of the water and the Spirit,” “remission of sins,” “Holy Spirit,” and “salvation” in the web search engines. Therefore, the Lord said that if we will meet the Lord and He will answer us if we knock and seek Him. It means that anyone can be saved from all their sins completely. In other words, if you just peruse one of our books carefully, you can discern what the gate of life is and what the true gospel of the water and the Spirit is and then believe in it; you can surely be saved and build the house of salvation on the rock if you just make up your mind to know the Truth and have a deep desire to build your house of faith on the rock.
The Way of Life Is Difficult
The gate of life that is opened to you is narrow and difficult. Therefore, those who are going on that path face many hardships. However, this is the way of life. You can go on this path sufficiently by faith. The broad way may look fine. But the narrow way is more wonderful and we can be more thankful to God for this way. The way to life is indeed narrow. Not everyone can enter the narrow gate, but only those who really want to walk on the narrow way can enter the narrow gate eventually. The narrow way is such a path that one must line up in single file to go in because it is so narrow. Even through it is such a narrow way, many people can go through it if they would just line up and enter through it over 50 years, 100 years, or thousand of years.
However, most people do not walk on the narrow way. Why are they prone to walk on the broad way which is the path of destruction? They are going on that path because they want the broad way. It’s not that they do not know what this Word is saying. It is not that the clergymen or believers do not know that this Word is clearly speaking to them.
Of course, we often could not fully understand some parts of the Scriptures before we were born again. Therefore, while reading the Word, there were times before when I could not continue reading it. I read the Scriptures a lot even before I was born again, but there were times when I could not read it anymore. It was like this because I was a false prophet and a false exorcist who was going on the broad way at that time. It was because I had felt guilty in my conscience since I was leading so many people to the broad way although I was not even truly born again then.
The Lord tells us constantly and tenderly. Jesus Christ is not the Lord who does not tell us the way of life or destroys and judges us. Therefore, the Lord appoints many of His workers like us to lead people to this narrow gate, the gate of life, according to the Lord’s will. It’s because God has opened up this way for them as well. Like this, God has granted His workers and His Church in this world. Therefore, there are saints that enter by the narrow gate by hearing and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. On the other hand, there are many false leaders and workers who lead people to the wide gate in this world because Satan is also working in this world.
On which path are you now standing on? Towards which gate are you heading to now? Are you trying hard now to enter by the narrow gate and walking on the difficult path? Or, are you going by the path of destruction, towards the wide gate merrily hand in hand with other people?
We must discern what kind of faith we have and be able to see this correctly in the Word of God. The Lord said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). All of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are going on the narrow path, but all the other people are going on the broad way because they do not believe in this genuine gospel. However, which path we choose definitely depends on us. Which way we choose before the presence of God and His Word depends solely on us. You must choose the proper path. One decision can either set your soul on the way to Heaven or to hell. I want you to choose the correct way.
Christians throughout the entire world now are going by the broad way. However, there are so many people throughout the entire world who are going by the very narrow way like us here. There really are so many of our coworkers throughout the entire world, domestic and abroad. Among them are Pastor Jim Montgomerie of the Netherlands, Brother Phil Grahn of New Zealand, Pastor Francisco Salcido of Mexico, Pastor Francisco V. Escobar of Peru, Brother Julian Chaderton of the West Indies, Pastor Peter Lee of Vietnam, Pastor Stephen Benjamin of Pakistan, and Brother Roshan Rai of Bhutan. These foreign coworkers have been officially appointed as Evangelists of The New Life Mission.
There are also some other devoted foreign coworkers such as Sister Christine Troy of France, Pastor José Galvão and Silvano Ribeiro de Paula of Brazil, Brother Zheng of China, Brother Eric Aboadwe and Henry Asabre of Ghana, Brother Kassahun Ayele of Ethiopia, Pastor Lucy Prada and Jorge Denegri of Peru, Pastor Luis Troncoso Rodriguez of Chile, and Pastor Emmamuel Tandoc of Philippines, etc. We cannot list all our faithful coworkers here on account of space. But God knows all their devotion to His work. And many of our coworkers and saints abroad are sending us their testimonies of salvation throughout the entire world.
Of course, some of them are walking well on the way of faith after receiving salvation through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but others are not. The latter are people who give up the way of God’s righteousness after receiving salvation from their sins, and therefore they are going by the way of destruction. Those who are going by the narrow way after being saved from sins are the very people that are walking on the way of life. They really are going on the narrow way, the way of life.
Is this absolutely clear or not? Are you and I going by the narrow path now? Or, are we walking on the broad way. We who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are truly united with God’s Church and are clearly the blessed that are going on the narrow path. We are truly fortunate.
Our lives are worthwhile even though we are walking on the narrow way after receiving the remission of our sins. This narrow way is even broad to us when we walk by faith on it by believing in the righteousness of God. There are so many things we have to do and also so many things to prepare in order to do the righteous works within God’s Church.
Dear fellow believers, I really want you to become a wise person, rather than a foolish person. The Lord said this to us in today’s Scripture passage. The thing I also really want is that many people throughout the entire world should enter by the narrow gate. This way is narrow and difficult, but it is not so narrow and difficult that people cannot walk by it. In some ways, it is better to walk and live by this narrow way.
I would have died both physically and spiritually if I had not encountered the gospel of the water and the Spirit, if I had not understood the secret of the Scriptures when I was reading it. I was going to be a pastor soon when I finished studying theology at a graduate school of a seminary, and I would have had to preach everyday to people to receive the remission of their sins although I still had sins intact in my heart. The broad way is not always comfortable and wonderful. However, so many people are going by the broad way.
We have a desire to minister in a nice place, be treated respectably, and be comfortable because we humans have flesh. Human flesh is obviously secular like this. No human being can escape from this. However, it is wrong to yearn for such things and go on the broad way. Can such pastors who have followed after the desires of the flesh with their sins still intact in their hearts and minister falsely like that have a clear conscience? Their hearts are always filled with anguish. How could an honest pastor minister in that delirious state? It would be better to give that up and make a living honestly by selling fruit and vegetables or cleaning the street. This would be better than swindling other people. These wicked pastors are the ones who cannot even teach their church members the gospel of the water and the Spirit and just teach them to believe only in the blood of the Cross. I was also like that before I was born again. I also taught the members of my church to believe only in the blood of the Cross. But I had sins in my heart although I was saying such things. However, the Lord taught me the gospel of the water and the Spirit personally by God’s Word.
The following instance happened shortly after I believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit for the first time. One day, I happened to meet a certain minister whom I knew well personally on a bus. I greeted him and sat down next to him. Then, he said to me, “I was leading a worship service somewhere last week and three thousand people gathered there. While I was preaching, I invited all the sick to come up to the podium and I laid my hands on every painful part in their bodies and prayed for them one by one. I said, ‘Satan, be gone in the name of Jesus Christ,’ and said, ‘Be cured of this sickness!’ I finished my prayers, saying, ‘I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.’ Then, I told every sick person to get up and every one of them got up instantly. Thus, the ministry was a great success.” He was actually bragging about his own righteousness.
I Was Disgusted Spiritually When I Heard Such a False Prophet’s Words
I was going to quit this false ministry anyway and when I heard this minister tell me this. I had decided in my heart to quit as fast as I could, and I consequently quit that life of falsehood without any regrets. And I decided to do the work of preaching this true and pure gospel of the water and the Spirit. I prayed to God, “God, I want to preach this wonderful gospel. However, I do not even have any money. I do not have anything.” If I had swindled people out of their hard earned money while I was working at the prayer center, which my foster mother was running, I would have some money. However, I did not have any money because I had never received any money for laying hands on the desperate believers. In my own way, I had believed that it is honest to not receive money like that. Therefore, I had not received money at all while I was ministering there.
Although I do not have anything, I am truly happy to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and live out my faith in this Truth. And I am preaching this gospel of the water and the Spirit devotedly now because I feel responsible for the fact that so many people in this world are going by the broad way. It would be a different matter if one or two people were going on the broad way, but among today’s Christians, about 99.999% are all walking on the broad way. If the reality is like this, then, should the theologians not shout out the gospel of the water and the Spirit? They should shout out this gospel with all their might. But they don’t.
So, because they refuse to do this, we are shouting out the gospel of the water and the Spirit by literature ministry like this. I plainly wrote my sermon style on the preface of my first sermon book, saying, “I want to inform you beforehand that this book is repetitive. I am repeating the main points of my sermons because these are extremely important. Therefore, while reading the book, please tolerate the fact that there are some points that are repetitive.” Thus, I feel justified to write repetitively and continually about the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
God has made us walk by the narrow way and the way of life and made us serve this gospel of the water and the Spirit, and I am truly thankful to God for all these things. Now, you must also go by the narrow path by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And we must thus please God’s heart by walking by this narrow way.
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