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Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 2-2] Throw Away Your Thoughts of the Flesh (John 2:1-11)
(John 2:1-11)
“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Whatever He says to you, do it.’ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the waterpots with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, ‘Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.’ And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, ‘Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!’ This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”
Today, I would like to speak to you about the passages in the Gospel of John chapter 2, verse 1 through verse 11. The event occurring on the day of the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee speaks to us about “What is the greatest obstacle to our faith in God?” To the servants who were worrying over the lack of wine at the feast, Jesus says, “Pour water into the waterpots of stone. Fill them up to the brim. Then, draw some out and take it to the congratulators.” Jesus’ mother Mary told the servants to carry out the Word of Jesus as it is regardless of what He says. The servants who had obeyed and followed this Word filled the waterpots with water and took them to the congratulators according to what Jesus has said. Then, they tasted the miracle of that water turning into wine.
What Is the Greatest Obstacle in Our Life of Faith?
Dear fellow believers, do you know what this Word of God means? Through this Word, God tells us the fact that the greatest problem for believing in God and leading a life of faith is none other than one’s own fleshly thoughts. As we go about believing in and obeying God, what hinders us the most is the fleshly thoughts of ours and nothing else. God is telling us that when a person is bound by one’s own fleshly thoughts, and when a person insists on one’s own fleshly thoughts, we can neither follow nor obey the Word of God.
What would have happened if the servants appearing in the above passage had been people of strong personal opinion and many fleshly thoughts? They surely would have thought, “He is joking. Even though I can fill up the waterpots with water, there is no way that I can obey the Word telling us to draw some and take it out to the people. It is because what those people want is wine, not water.” This might seem like appropriate and logical thinking. But, if they had believed in their thoughts and did not draw some water and brought it to people, they would not have been able to witness the miracle of water turning into wine. Furthermore, they would not have been able to gain such a great joy resulting from it.
Dear fellow believers, as we lead a life of faith, what is the greatest obstruction that prevents us from solving certain problems by faith? Precisely, it is our fleshly thought which sways our faith. This is a problem which just cannot be considered lightly. It is because people who have many fleshly thoughts of one’s own can neither believe in nor follow the Word of God. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). The very first thing that we must do when we try to follow the Word of Jesus is to deny our thoughts. Therefore, when leading a life of faith, it is very important for us to throw away our own fleshly thoughts.
We believe that all the Word of God written in the Bible is the truth. The truth spoken by God is simple, yet it is the perfect truth. Thus, all one had to do is to just accept it as it is, but there are times when fleshly thoughts creep up and obstruct it. Fleshly thoughts come up by themselves, and thus, there is even a saying that a human being is but a thinking reed. You also have many fleshly thoughts, don’t you? Yet, when you dwell in those fleshly thoughts, the faith of believing in the Word of God will soon disappear completely and there will only remain useless thoughts. When that happens, the faith of believing in the Word of God will no longer exist. Having become unable to believe in God, you will no longer be able to follow God in the end. Also, we will feel anguish and guilt because of this result. Dear fellow believers, I hope you know that people who have many thoughts of their own can neither follow nor believe in God, and in the end, they will be unable to receive salvation from sins.
Throw Away Your Useless Thoughts and Believe in the Written Word of the Truth, the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
You tend to think of the faith in the Word of God only as something difficult, but in truth walking by the word of faith is surprisingly simple. All you have to do is to just believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit written in the Bible and some other Words besides. This is the simple and clear Truth, but because of our useless thoughts, we often get confused and truly suffer through pain a lot.
Let us consider an example. We have heard many times the passage of John 1:29 that states, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Upon hearing a Word like this, those who say, “I understand. Jesus took away all the sins of the world by having taken them on by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist. It is all over. I have no sin. The Lord has taken on my sins through the baptism and vicariously died on the Cross by having them with Him once and for all. Like so, He has vicariously suffered the judgment on the Cross, so what need is there for us to be offering a sacrifice again? Hallelujah. Amen,” We have already received the remission of sins.
But, how are our fleshly thoughts? Unable to believe in that Word of God purely, it makes us think, “This Word must mean that He has taken away only the original sin of people. I have committed so many sins and I will go on committing sins in the future, too. So, how could He have taken away those sins as well? This passage expresses clearly that He has taken away only the original sin.” If one were to interpret the Word like that with one’s own fleshly thoughts, then even if he believes in Jesus ardently, he won’t be able to receive salvation from sins.
Furthermore, people’s fleshly thoughts are more than just an obstacle to one’s receiving of salvation from sins. It is the same after having received salvation from sins. When there is a problem, if one were to believe, “I believe God will take care of the problem,” then by that faith, the problem would already be over. If one were to throw away one’s own fleshly thought, “Will it truly get solved?” and believe in the Word of God perfectly, then everything that the person wishes for will actually get realized.
When we deliver the gospel to others by faith, it is also the same. If we calculate according to fleshly thought, “Will people come to this revival meeting, or not?” our faith will gradually disappear. Even though you had believed in the Word of God up until just a minute ago, if you are falling into your own fleshly thoughts, then those thoughts will eat away the faith of believing in the Lord and later on, you will become someone who has no single piece of faith of believing in the Word of God. In the end, the faith inside your hearts will conceal itself.
How Wrong Are Our Fleshly Thoughts?
People can think, but you must realize that thinking becomes a great obstruction before God. In our pursuit of the Lord, fleshly thoughts only eat away one’s faith toward the Lord. If the faith, which is more precious than anything else, that is, if the priceless faith given by the Lord were to disappear completely due to your fleshly thoughts and mine, how sad would this be? You say that you believe in the righteousness of God. Yet, your thoughts that continue to perk up are eating away that faith in all. If you allow your thoughts to work with full freedom, your faith will only be reduced to just its shell. Faith will be nowhere to be found, and only your fleshly desires will remain.
Dear fellow believers, like this, fleshly thoughts are a great enemy to the spiritual faith. Our thoughts are prone to lead us to be enemies of God. They are obstacles to our unconditional faith and pitfalls in our way of following Him.
Dear fellow believers, a life of faith isn’t just going back and forth from God’s Church. True faith is coming to God’s Church, listening to the Word, emptying one’s thoughts by having faith in that Word, believing in the Lord, and following Him. However, up until now, you probably have had the faith of believing in and following the Lord only when you conclude that the Word seems to agree with your own thinking within your reasoning. If this is the case, you still haven’t been able to empty your thoughts. But, you will also realize soon that when the faith deepens a bit more, you will reach the state in which you will deny your thoughts, believe in only the Lord purely, and follow Him. You will realize that God expects precisely such a state from us.
Many people have the faith of following the Word when it is suitable to their thoughts and not following it when it is not suitable. Despite having said that they believe in the Word, when fleshly thoughts arise in their hearts and doubts start to appear, people do not believe in it. Such people decide that although they did receive the remission of sins through Jesus, they can no longer just perfectly believe and follow the Word after having thought about it with reason. “Is this right? Is this not right? Will it be possible? Will it not be possible? I think this is like this and that is like that….” Like so, when there are so many thoughts of one’s own, in the end, nothing will get realized. Whatever that may be, even 0.1% of the possibility will disappear.
Do you think that there is a chance for people like this to receive salvation? Well, let us think. Let’s say that you have listened to the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Even while listening to the Word, this thought and that occurs in your mind. With that, 30% of the faith will have been eaten away. Thinking a bit more, you are really stubborn and selfish, and you have committed many sins. With the deepening of doubt, 60% of faith will have disappeared. You think more. “As expected, because my personality is bad, I’m impossible.” Now, 90% has disappeared. And with the disappearance of the remaining 10% of faith and as you conclude that it just isn’t possible, it will come to an end. The fact is that your chance to receive salvation becomes 0%. Would there be any faith which you can rely on left? The fact of the matter is that you can no longer receive the salvation due to the fleshly thought, “I cannot receive the salvation. I will go to hell. Who would forgive me? I want to be saved from sins, but it will be impossible for me.”
Like This, So-called Fleshly Thought Is What Gnaws Away the True Faith
Even thought we have fleshly thoughts, genuine faith is to believe in, obey, and follow the Word of God so purely, as deemed to be a fool, instead of following those thoughts. It means that to believe like that is the true faith. As we think fleshly more and more, it drops the possibility for all things. As we continue to think, it will appear as though there are just so many things that simply cannot be done. Dear fellow believers, in believing in the Lord and following Him, the effort to try to find what suits reason and what fits thoughts aren’t necessary. The fact is that we must believe in God just simply, honestly, and purely in order to follow God.
Speaking frankly, I also was someone who has had great many thoughts. When I was young, I used to look at ants, squatting down as an ant crawls by and thinking all the while, “Why is that ant crawling? Which hole did it come from, and where is it going? Did it come out to look for food?” I had all sorts of thoughts as I watched ants fighting each other and moving about seeking sheltering when the rain came down. It has been the same as I looked at people. Even when I saw a man just walking by, I have had endless doubts, “Why was he born? Where is he going? Why does he go on living? What is his purpose in life?”
But now, I have realized it all. I have realized the fact that such thoughts aren’t much of use before God. No matter how hard a human being thinks about the purpose of life, in the end, there will be nothing. When one arrives at the thought’s end, only the conclusion that there is no need for living out life comes out. As Koreans summarize life as, ‘Birth, Aging, Sickness, Death,’ the events in life for every single person can be summed up as being born, getting old, getting sick, and dying. Like so, human thinking before God is futile and worthless.
Shall we once more ponder upon our lives right now? As we think about our lives, we will discover ourselves quickly becoming grandfathers and grandmothers, and in the end, entering a grave. As we reach the end of such thoughts, would we be alive? The fact is that we are already dead. I’m not saying that such thinking in itself is bad. It is because if we do not think, we would be the same as animals. The important thing is that although we can think, we mustn’t live out our lives getting swept away by such thoughts and living according to them.
It is the same thing with faith. Although we can have many thoughts as we go on following the Lord, we must never have faith in accordance with such thoughts. Then, what would be the proper way of following the Lord? What must we do to receive the salvation of the spirit? We must believe in only God. There is no other way but to believe like this. In that, there is no need for any wisdom or thoughts of ours. When thoughts deepen and grow in number, people who should be receiving salvation won’t even be able to receive it. Without faith, the spirit can never be saved. The fact is that without faith, nothing can be realized, regardless of what it may be.
Deny Your Fleshly Thoughts and Possess Pure Faith
Through the Word of God, we can learn the fact that believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit simply is the genuine faith. As we deny our thoughts and believe in and follow God, God sees such pure faiths of ours and saves souls by performing the work. As we lead a life of faith, if we try to fit all sorts of things to our thoughts and to discern what fits that reasoning, we will never be able to follow the will of the Lord. Rather, such people will always be captured in their thoughts, and thus, they will worry, feel gloomy, and feel unhappiness. The fact is that they will live out their entire life like that under the gloomy weather, unable to see the clear day. Everyday it will be gloomy, and everyday there will only be rain and thick fog. Each day will be full of worries and sadness.
It you had been someone with many thoughts of your own, you would not have been able to draw water and take it to the congratulators saying, “This is wine,” like the servants mentioned in today’s Scripture passage. Even though Jesus has said it and Mary has said it, you would never have been able to do so. According to your fleshly thoughts, it is just water and never wine. It is because you would have already decided in your thoughts that the water will never turn into wine.
Like this, people who have many thoughts of their own are all bound to leave the gospel. They will depart from the Church and the Word of Truth which becomes life. People who have many thoughts of their own depart from the faith of believing in God. If this is the case, then how will they be able to believe and follow? Someone who follows human thought deriving from a brain that is not even the size of a fist more than the faith in God, can never be able to follow the Lord. The possibility of that is absolutely none. We must live out our life of faith by knowing this fact.
If we want to believe in and follow the Lord, the very first thing that we must do is to throw away our thoughts. Only by doing so, can we believe in the Lord and serve the Lord by faith. Only when we throw away our thoughts can we carry out the faith. Even as I speak to you, you mustn’t try to fit it together with your thoughts and reason. With this Word, I can speak to you not only today but also tomorrow. I can speak about it all week long, 365 days a year. Because this Word is the truth, I am saying that I can do so at will. However, even if I were to speak like that all through the 365 days a year, if you were to listen with the thought, “He spoke the same thing during the morning worship today, yet how come he has so much more to say?” then you will never be able to obtain salvation.
We follow our Lord by faith and we believe in the Lord. However, let us consider for a moment that we will be leading this sort of life of faith for the next year, 2 years, 10 years, 20 years, and so on. If there are too many fleshly thoughts, we will never be able to follow the Lord for that length of time.
Dear fellow believers, there are many famous figures among theologians. However, most of their conclusions are that one cannot believe in the Word of God. All of them only reach the conclusion of not being able to accept Jesus’ Divinity, saying, “I cannot believe in the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. I can accept Jesus who has come as a human being, but I cannot accept the fact that He is the Son of God.” Some others may say, “I can accept the Divinity of Jesus, but I cannot accept His human nature. I cannot accept Jesus who came as a human being.” Hence, they say they cannot believe in God. They are unable to follow the Lord purely. However, faith starts from denying one’s own thoughts. Faith starts from there. Faith starts from the moment when one discards one’s own thoughts and starts to believe in God.
In Our Life of Faith, We Must Fight against Our Fleshly Thoughts Incessantly and Go on Denying Them
As we have believed in the righteousness of God all this while, on how many occasions did we reckon, and on how many occasions did we doubt with numerous thoughts? Whenever that happens, we cannot but follow the righteousness of God with a genuine faith. The moment when we deny our thoughts, as if it were a lie, we will be able to realize and believe in the righteousness of God, and we will have become able to follow the Lord perfectly. Those who doubt their faith do so precisely because they haven’t been able to deny their fleshly thoughts. Once they start thinking that they can never believe in or follow the Lord, they will end up giving up on faith. Gradually, they will become more distant from the reach of salvation given by God. People who wholeheartedly love and follow the righteousness of God are those that deny their fleshly thoughts and just purely believe in the Word of God. People who think, “I am a fool,” and believe in the righteousness of God simply are the ones who follow God.
Dear fellow believers, ironically, if one were to think a lot from the outset, the person can give up such thinking. It is truly an interesting solution. Therefore, people who think just a little and have doubts about faith must think a lot more. They must think by dividing up their sleep time. One has to think for about a year on a single issue. Only then, can it be said that a lot of thinking had gone into it. Afterwards, having reached the end of thinking, one must stand on top of the fact that there can never be possibilities or hope through thinking. Only then will that person be able to deny his or her thoughts.
If you are someone who has to do a lot more thinking, please do not do it at the Church. Sit on the toilet seat at your house and think. When you think only a little, you start thinking even when you shouldn’t be doing so. However, people who think much actually don’t do that much thinking when I encourage them to think much. It is because they are constantly thinking. It is the same logic as a person who doesn’t usually offer prayers carrying on a long prayer that lasts for an hour when asked to lead a prayer.
Dear fellow believers, with regard to the works of the world, we must think a lot. It is because the works of the world are such that if you were to think a lot and come to a decision with prudence, you can arrive at a conclusion that is as good as you would like. I’m not saying you shouldn’t even be thinking that as well. However, in relation to believing in God, we must utterly throw away all our thoughts. Faith isn’t something that can be built within the level of our thinking. Therefore, we must renounce our thoughts. Only then, will we be able to believe in God purely.
Our fleshly thoughts, which may be necessary in worldly works, are of no use before God. But, what are we like? We say we want to live out our faith in God, but we are prone to have faith in the Word only when it seems to be in agreement with the logic of this world. However, we abandon our faith in the Word if it doesn’t seem to be plausible. Then, how could there be faith in such hearts? There is no way. Even the remaining faith as well as the salvation will vanish. Even now, there are many people who fight against their thoughts. When that happens, instead of thinking superficially, you must think about it without sleeping for nights on end. Only then, you get to realize, “Alas, my thinking is meaningless. It only gives me a headache,” and then stand up, fluttering away all thoughts. From that moment on, you start to obey the Word of God by faith. Dear fellow believers, do you understand?
People with many thoughts have their thoughts written all over their faith. They can neither find the proper way of faith nor joyfully sing songs of praise. They can neither follow nor serve the Lord. Only those who discard their fleshly thoughts and wish to follow God perfectly can truly obtain the genuine faith.
Only Those Who Throw Away Their Own Thoughts Can Follow the Lord
Through the Word of today’s Scripture passage, we must know about this part. Only those who throw away their thoughts can follow the Lord. God gives us so many promises. Through the Word He witnesses many things. However, if we do not throw away our thoughts, those Words can never come inside our hearts. It means that we cannot believe in them. Is what I say understandable? Can you realize the fact that one must deny one’s own thoughts to have genuine faith? If a person cannot deny his or her thoughts, then the person will unable to lead a Church life properly. Even in our Church, there are many who cannot come to the Church for not having been able to deny their thoughts. Such people wander around. Thus, from a certain perspective, it is no exaggeration to say that only the fools are gathered at the Church. They indeed are fools, but they are the fools of the Kingdom of God, not the fools of the world. Not only that, they are those whose level has surpassed that of this world.
Dear fellow believers, because Einstein, a worldly genius, was so smart, it is said that people at the time weren’t able to understand his hypothetical notions. Even now, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity sounds very difficult to the lame people. Even if people are aware of the theory, the fact is that they aren’t able to understand 100% of what he has said. People, whose level has surpassed that of the world, think for a long time, and as they do so, they acknowledge the fact that there is a limit to their thinking. In the end, they submit themselves to God. However, if one’s own thoughts are limited, the person won’t be able to deny those shallow thoughts, and in turn, he will be unable to follow the Lord, having fallen into obstinacy.
Your Thoughts Become Your Greatest Enemy
This is also the same for me. What also becomes the greatest enemy to me is my own thought. Therefore, following the Lord is something that is so very difficult. As there is an enemy within oneself that cries out and rationalizes one’s own thoughts, how can it not be difficult? It is so difficult that one just simply can’t imagine it. Nevertheless, anyone who cannot deny one’s own thoughts that are inside his or her heart will never be able to follow the Lord. Such a person will surely be separated from the Lord. Everyone throughout the world is the same.
On the other hand, those who deny their thoughts, despite their lacking, get to receive protection inside the Church. Those who think much in social circumstances but deny those thoughts before God will grow to be a new green life inside the Church. It is because God works through them. You all possess such possibilities.
Dear fellow believers, there are times when someone who had been leading a life of faith will all of a sudden leave the Church. Despite having been recognized by the Church, people who are no longer here at the Church now are those who haven’t been able to deny their thoughts. They had thought that they were smarter than God. For this reason, they have left the Lord in pursuit of their thoughts. Just like Lot mentioned in the Old Testament, they had decided that their thoughts are wiser than those of Abraham and even God.
Shall we talk a bit more about Lot? Abraham and Lot, whose possessions had grown so much that they could no longer live together, decided to go about their own ways. At the time, Lot looked and saw the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. He saw that it was very good for raising stock, rich in soil as if it were the Garden of Eden. In God’s view, the land was full of evil. But he, following his own thoughts, discarded God and went to that land. In the end, when God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot lost all his wealth and barely escaped with just his body. However, Lot’s wife was reluctant and looked back toward Sodom and Gomorrah. Just then, she turned into a pillar of salt and died. Lot’s story warns us in advance of how horrific the result of not having denied one’s own thoughts is.
Lot was clearly a righteous person. However, unable to neither overcome nor throw away his shallow thoughts, he went to the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, and thus, fell into a path toward destruction. On the other hand, Abraham, following the Word of God, entered the land of Canaan which is in today’s terms, Palestine. Just then, God appeared before Abraham and promised him, “For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever,” (Genesis 13:15). In the end, Abraham, who had followed God, received the promised land of Canaan as an inheritance and became the ancestor of faith. We can say that this is the result of Abraham believing in and following God instead of following his thoughts.
Imagine the path Abraham had gone through. It is completely full of rocks, and as we look at its base, we can see that there isn’t much plant life. It only seems like a land where only scorpions that bite and kill human beings can live. But referring to that land, God said it to be a land that is so rich that it flows with milk and honey. Flowing with milk and honey, could the land be so dried up and arid like that? According to human thinking, the Word simply did not make sense at all. However, God said that this place was the land that flows with milk and honey and that the land of Sodom and Gomorrah was a land destined to receive the judgment. Lot, who had followed his own thoughts and went to the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, was destroyed. Abraham, who had discarded his thoughts and followed God’s Word into the land of Canaan, got to enjoy glory for all generations in the land of Canaan, which became rich according to the Word of God.
When we view the land of Israel through the mass media, and when we hear the Israelites speak, we can see that the land of Canaan has truly turned into a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Often, it is said that the delta regions, that is, island-like places that have appeared with the mounting of earth after the stopping of a water flow, are the best land for farming. It is said that anything planted there will grow well because of the rich, heaped up soil carried there by the water. Right now, the land of Israel is rich like that. The land of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey as mentioned in the Bible, at the time was a barren land; but now, truly according to the Word, it has turned into a land flowing with milk and honey. Of course, the rain comes down only once or twice a year, but if one were to just plant seeds and give water to the rich soil which has been heaping up for thousands of years, the seeds, having naturally absorbed that nutrition, will all grow well.
This is exactly what God spoke of. Even though the rain doesn’t come down often in Israel, people gear up sprinklers, draw water, and spray it on top of the plants. For every single apple tree and for every single flower, there is a water pipe that is connected to a sprinkler system. Water is turned on and off by a timer system. Then, all the plants throughout the entire land of Israel get fed water. Everyone who has been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land speak alike about how rich that land of Israel has become. The richness of the land of Israel right now shows us how well those who have denied their thoughts and followed God’s Word, as well as their descendants, get to live. Abraham followed God’s Word instead of his thoughts. If people want to go on following the Word like that, they must first of all deny their own thoughts.
Like the Word mentioned in the introduction, if people want to taste the water that has turned into wine, they must first of all deny their thoughts. Even if they don’t want to deny them, they must deny them. I hope for you to know that this is the proper way. Even though they might not suit reason, people must accept it by saying, “Alas, this must be the proper way, the established way.” If you are unable to deny your thoughts, then I want you to agonize over why you can’t do so and to pray. A life of faith isn’t something that you carry out in just any sort of manner. You must learn what is following by faith, what is self-denial, and what is genuine faith. Just as the servants were able to taste a much better wine by having followed the Word spoken by Jesus as it is, we must do the same. This is exactly what today’s Scripture passage is telling us is. This is the Truth, the faith, and the belief.
Dear fellow believers, do you believe this? Like this, the Bible speaks to us about something highly precious, but most of us go on looking at the Bible too halfheartedly. Because we look at it too halfheartedly, we go on believing in God halfheartedly and also go on judging based on our thoughts, thinking that we already know, even though we don’t grasp the Word properly.
We Must Remove Our Thoughts Which Are Obstacles to Our Life of Faith
Dear fellow believers, God is speaking out the truly exalted Word. Like this, He is telling us what the greatest obstruction to a life of faith is. The obstruction is that we must remove ‘one’s own thoughts.’ We mustn’t put forth our thoughts before God. We must deny all our own thoughts and believe in and follow only God. Do you believe in and follow only God? I also believe in and follow Him. Such faith is the same as saying that I deny my own thoughts. It means that at least before God, I turn down my thoughts. With things of this world, the more I think, the better I can do, but before God, I am saying that I will never put on airs. Before worldly people, I profess my thoughts, but at least before God, I am saying that I will deny my own thoughts.
Dear fellow believers, we must deny our own thoughts to have genuine faith. Everyday, your face is dark due to many thoughts. You aren’t able to see the blessing that God gives to you due to many thoughts. You worry as if only the things on this earth are everything due to your countless thoughts. Do you want to live like that? If you are feeling stuffy and vexing because God’s Word does not fit reason as you think about it, then try to throw away your own thoughts at once right now, saying, “Yes, Lord, You are right.”
Cain and Abel
When Cain and Abel offered sacrifice to God, Cain offered with what he had gathered from farming, but Abel offered sacrifice with a lamb he had killed. But God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s sacrifice. Hence, Cain started to think, “That Abel played everyday, and all he did was kill a lamb and to slap it on top of a stone. Yet, God accepted only the sacrifice of Abel. For a year I farmed diligently, washed the products of the ground clean, and placed them sincerely. Yet, He accepted none of mine. This does not suit reason. This is unfair.” Cain, who had gotten peevish, became very angry and his countenance fell. From a fleshly perspective, God may seem unfair. However, having fallen into his own thoughts, Cain did not know the will of God.
When Adam and Eve, the parents of Cain and Abel, committed the sin of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,” (Genesis 3:17-18). The fact is that the ground was cursed for Adam’s sake. Having given sacrifice with things of the ground which had been cursed, it is only right that God did not accept them. However, Cain was absolutely unaware of the will of God, and unwilling to know what sort of sacrifice God wanted. He offered a sacrifice just according to his own thoughts. Furthermore, when God did not accept the sacrifice he had offered according to his own thoughts, he became angry and thus, he went on to commit the sin of murder, killing his younger brother. His fleshly thoughts that do not follow God had called forth murder. Like this, one’s own fleshly thoughts that have nothing to do with God can bring about horrific results. Those who go to hell in the end for having been unable to throw away their fleshly thoughts and for having rejected the Word of God are like Cain.
Deny Your Thoughts and Throw Away Your Thoughts! You Must Do So before God
Dear fellow believers, the gospel of the Bible is very simple. Through simple words, the Bible tells us what is to follow God, which one is the proper way, and what sort of faith is the proper faith. Just as much better wine came out when the servants threw away their own thoughts and did as they were told, the proper life of faith is achieved when we deny our own thoughts and throw them away before the Word of God. Average people put out good wine in the beginning and then put out wine of less quality than that later. But as for this house in which Jesus performed the miracle, the wine that came out later was of better quality than that which came out in the beginning. It was the result of everyone throwing away human thinking and following the Word of Jesus.
The Bible tells us of such truth. If so, what must our faith become in order to be proper? The fact is that we must precisely be throwing away our thoughts before God at least. That is the proper faith. Dear fellow believers, do you believe in this? Truly, we must believe in only God and follow God with the purity of a fool before God. Of course, in things of the world, we must think wisely and come up with decisions. Thinking must be used precisely in such worldly things.
Dear fellow believers, let us all become those who believe in God properly. If we just believe without fleshly thoughts, we will surely become the people of faith. If we think and consider whether or not it fits our reasoning, faith will vanish. Even if you do believe in the Word, if you have too much of your thoughts, then the faith in His Word will disappear.
Who are the people of faith? They are none other than those who deny their thoughts. Who are the descendants of Abraham? They are those who deny one’s own thoughts; they are those who just believe in and follow God.
Dear fellow believers, do believe like this?
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