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Subject 6 : Heretics
[6-9] Seven Types of People Who Will Be Cursed by God (Matthew 23:1-36)
“Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.’”
The First Type of People Who Will Be Cursed by God
In Matthew 23:13-28, the Lord spoke about seven types of people who will be cursed by God. It’s very important for all of us to clearly understand what kind of people are cursed by God and be careful, so that we can avoid such curses.
Who is the first type of people on whom God will pour His wrath? Jesus said in Matthew 23:13, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” The Bible says that God’s curses are brought on those whose faith is like that of the scribes and the Pharisees. These are the ones who pretend to believe in the righteousness of God even though they do not know it. It is such people whose faith is hypocritical that will be cursed by God. The reason why these people have fallen into hypocritical faith is because they do not believe in God’s Word of righteousness as the real Truth of salvation. God will punish hypocrites who do not believe in His righteousness but only pretend to believe.
Rebuking religious leaders like the Pharisees, the Lord said, “You shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Here Jesus said that the first sort of people to be cursed by God are those who shut up the Kingdom of Heaven from others. It’s because these people do not believe in the Word of God that they are condemned as those who shut the gates of Heaven. Despite the fact that God has made it possible for everyone to receive the remission of sin by finding and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, some people put up various obstructions to prevent the gospel from being spread. For this, they will be subjected to God’s curses. Such wretched people obstruct and prevent the truth-seekers who yearn to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit from believing in it, even though countless people can now encounter this true gospel through the gospel books or their e-book editions that we are sharing, or through the saints who were born before them. These people stand against the witnesses of the gospel of the water and the Spirit because they believe that only Jesus’ blood on the Cross constitutes true salvation. That’s why they are constantly trying to prevent others from believing in this true gospel.
However, most Christians today say that the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist, which is clearly written in the New Testament, is completely irrelevant to our salvation. But in the Bible, what did the Lord say about the gospel of the water and the Spirit? 1 Peter 3:21 says, “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism.” Yet this baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist is the absolute Truth, underscoring that Christ bore our sins personally. However, those who actually know this definitive Truth of salvation are too few today, while those who ignore this amazing Truth of salvation, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, are too many. That’s because these Christians have already been contaminated by a false gospel, and therefore even when they have a chance to encounter the true gospel of the water and the Spirit, they don’t actually believe in it. Invariably, these people are all trying to deceive their own conscience and even God.
Christians today must realize without fail that the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist is the Truth, that through this baptism Jesus took upon Himself not only their sins but all the sins of the world once and for all. When some people first come across the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, their eyes can see only His Word of the Law, and so it seems to them that only their sins are pointed out. As a result, they fail to realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the biblical gospel. This stems from the fact that their spiritual eyes are still closed, as they have not yet received the remission of their sins yet. Since a false gospel is covering their spiritual eyes, they stare at only their own sins, and since they are prisoners to the preconceived notion that the only way to solve these sins is offering prayers of repentance, they can’t escape from their spiritual blindness. Those among today’s Christians who still believe that Jesus’ blood on the Cross alone constitutes the Truth of real salvation are the spiritually blind. Because of their own faith, which is placed only in the blood of the Cross, they are imprisoned under sin. That is why they are unable to put on the grace of true salvation through the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross.
This grace of true salvation is received when one believes in the Truth that Jesus took upon the sins of the world once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist when He came to this earth. God’s grace is the Truth of salvation manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The grace of salvation that Jesus has bestowed on us is found only in the baptism He received from John the Baptist and His blood of the Cross, and therefore anyone who does not believe in this true gospel of the water and the Spirit will face the terrifying judgment of sin, for he has committed an extremely grievous sin before God. So those who ignore the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood of the Cross are ultimately pushing their own souls into hell. In the end, by shutting up the gates of Heaven, not only are they themselves unable to enter it, but they also prevent others from entering Heaven. Therefore, you must now realize that only the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth of real salvation.
So those who practice spiritual hypocrisy before God are the first targets of His wrath. Because they do not believe in God’s gospel—that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit—but instead believe that only the gospel of the blood of the Cross is the real gospel, they are still under the shadow of sin. Moreover, since they have joined forces with countless people who share their same faith and are together standing against the people of God, they will be cursed even more. Yet despite this, they still say that they believe in Jesus as their Savior. They will therefore be punished by God even more severely for their sins of hypocrisy. Such people will be judged by God harshly for their sins, and it is these people who are spiritually vile heretics in God’s sight.
In spite of this, however, many Christian leaders have no idea that the gospel of the water and the Spirit God has given to mankind is the definitive Truth of salvation, and yet profess to believe in God all in vain. They don’t want to believe in this gospel of Truth because it is different from the gospel that they have learned from mainstream Christianity. In the passage where Jesus said, “One must be born again of water and the Spirit,” they teach that the “water” here refers to the Word of God. But 1 Peter 3:20-21 clearly states that there is also an antitype of water which now saves us—the baptism of Jesus. They are unable to be delivered from all the sins of the world precisely because they have dismissed the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist, saying that it means nothing to them. They will therefore have to be judged by God for the sins they are committing against Him. It’s because of this misunderstanding that they have turned into heretics in God’s sight.
The Bible says that the true faith of salvation is to believe in Jesus Christ who has come by the water, the blood, and the Spirit. That is so self-evident. The water, the blood, and the Spirit manifested in the Bible all constitute one Truth of salvation coming out of God’s plan. 1 John 5:5-8 says that Jesus came by the water, the blood, and the Spirit, and that these three are one. The Triune God whom we believe in—that is, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit—have fulfilled His plan of salvation in Jesus Christ: By being baptized by John the Baptist when He came to this earth, the Son of God took upon all the sins of the world once and for all. Having thus shouldered all the sins of this world by being baptized by John the Baptist, the Lord was then crucified to death, rose from the dead again, and has thereby become the Savior of all sinners. Even at this very moment, He is saving those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Truth of salvation that the Lord has given to mankind is all contained in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This gospel of the water and the Spirit is the joyful news of true salvation that saves the entire human race from the sins of this world.
The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the only gospel of Truth written in the Bible. However, most Christians today believe only in Jesus’ blood of the Cross. That’s why I am so saddened. In fact, if anyone wants to receive the remission of his sins, he must believe in both the baptism of Jesus and His blood of the Cross. Is it then really in vain to believe only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross? Yes. You can never receive the remission of your sins by believing like this. For you to be saved from all your sins, you must wholeheartedly believe in both the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and His death of atonement shown on the Cross. Christians who do not want to know this gospel of Truth nor to believe in it cannot avoid God’s judgment. So those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit even after hearing it must realize that they are now standing directly against the gospel of the righteousness of God. They are committing a grievous sin by not only rejecting the gospel of the water and the Spirit by themselves, but also preventing others who would otherwise believe in this true gospel.
So God has no choice but to judge such people, for He is the righteous God who justly punishes whoever has sin in his heart. Can you then afford to let yourself be such a person who is to be judged by God for your sins? When the Lord has saved us from all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, how could you not believe in this gospel as the real gospel of Truth? Even though today’s Christian leaders deny that the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord is the real Truth of salvation, if the Bible says in both the New and Old Testaments that this gospel is indeed the real Truth, then it is the real Truth. As such, everyone who still does not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must repent and believe in it.
The gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is not something nonessential that has no relevance to your salvation whether you choose to believe in it with your heart or not. Far from it, this gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is the absolutely indispensable Truth that everyone must believe in order to attain salvation. For everyone, salvation is attained only if he believes in the Truth about the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Yet despite this, many Christians reject this gospel, insisting that they can be saved just by believing in Jesus as their Savior. But regardless of where they may have attained this kind of faith, they can never wash away their hearts’ sins with such a faith.
You must realize that true salvation can be attained only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and that only this faith is approved by God. You must therefore believe that only the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that brings the real remission of your sins. Only then can you solve away all the past sins that have been piling up in your hearts, and all the future sins that you will ever commit with your acts as well. It is only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that you can receive the true remission of your sins and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Second Type of People Who Will Be Cursed by God
Who is the second type of people that are cursed by God? Matthew 23:15 says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” The Bible continues to say that hypocrites will be cursed by God. The Pharisees were spiritual hypocrites. They pretended to believe only in outside appearance. Like them, today’s Christians also believe only in the blood of the Cross, rather than believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Such people are all spiritual hypocrites before God. These people will face terrifying woes from God.
Yet in Christian communities, it is such people who are now prospering, honored by many all in the name of Jesus. Some of them are very zealous with their evangelical effort, traveling all over the world to proselytize and convert people of other faiths to Christianity. But since these people are only spreading an imperfect gospel around the world, those who hear this false gospel from them and come to believe in Jesus through their teachings are unable to be washed from their sins, even as they confess Jesus as their Savior. These people will be cursed by God. That’s why the Lord said, “You travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” There are so many such people in today’s Christianity. The problem is that these people are evangelizing even more zealously. It would be far better off if they would just stay home and do nothing. Then those who know the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly would now be able to preach the Word to all those who do not know this gospel.
Some people, despite the fact that they have not received the remission of sin themselves, are so zealous to spread this flawed gospel that can’t even save themselves. What’s the result? They end up turning others into the same sinners as themselves infected by legalistic faith, making them drift away even farther from believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What then results from the faith of today’s Christians? As Christians believe in Jesus without any proper understanding of the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit from the beginning, they make countless people twice as much children of hell as themselves. Like this, among the so-called “good” Christians today, almost all of them have not been able to be washed clean from their sins, for they do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly. Therefore, those who have believed in Jesus until now without a proper understanding of the gospel of the water and the Spirit must turn around as soon as possible, receive the remission of their sins first by knowing and believing in the gospel of Truth, and then spread this true gospel. This is what God is admonishing them so earnestly.
The Greatest Sin of All Is Not to Believe in Jesus Who Has Come by the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit as the Savior
Those who still haven’t even begun to believe in Jesus as their Savior are okay, since they have an opportunity to believe in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. However, those who profess to believe in Jesus without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit must examine their salvation once again to see if it is whole, and believe in this gospel Truth. These Christian sinners can also be saved if they meet the evangelists sent by God, as they will be able to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly and believe in it.
However, those in today’s Christianity who do not know and do not believe in the correct gospel of salvation—that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit—despite professing to believe in Jesus as their Savior, have many spiritual problems. Some people preach to others that one can be saved just by believing in the blood of Jesus. But the reality is that they themselves have no proper knowledge of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You have to realize that this kind of faith is seriously flawed. Those who have their sins remaining intact in their hearts even as they believe in Jesus as their Savior will face the terrifying wrath of God.
What is the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given to us? It proclaims that Jesus has saved us from all the sins of the world through the baptism He received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross when He came to this earth. Why is it then people don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with their hearts? By being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus took upon Himself our sins, and by shedding His blood on the Cross, He bore all the condemnation of our sins. He has thereby saved us from sin and death. So how could anyone then foolishly follow those who preach only the blood of the Cross? Such foolish people do not realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth of perfect salvation. Among those who believe in Jesus as their Savior today, such people who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit even as they know it will be cursed by God. That’s because in His sight, it’s none other than these people who are heretics.
The Scribes and the Pharisees Rebuked in Today’s Scripture Passage Refer to Today’s Christian Leaders
The so-called “leaders” in Christian communities have the responsibility to lead their followers correctly. This responsibility is of utmost importance. If they fulfill this duty faithfully, they will receive many rewards from God, but if they fail, they will receive far more punishments than rewards. That’s why the Bible says, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (James 3:1). Although there are many Christian leaders in every denomination, most of them do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and so they are leading their followers with their spiritual hypocrisy. They are not only unable to truly recognize the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit and its witnesses, but even worse, they are actually obstructing those who try to proclaim this gospel.
Even though today’s Christians have misunderstood the gospel of the water and the Spirit, if they are taught by those who know this gospel of Truth properly, then they can still attain the right faith and reach their salvation. If any Christian sinner meets with a born-again witness and hears the Word, then he can realize, “Oh, all this time I had been ignorant of the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believed only in the blood of the Cross! I knew only a half-gospel!” If this person thus turns around and believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit as the Truth of salvation, then he will reach his perfect salvation. However, the so-called “Christian leaders” have not only failed to realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth of salvation, but even worse, they are at the forefront to obstruct this gospel of Truth from being spread. The problem is that they are intentionally refusing to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Even before this true gospel, they only cling to their own pride in their mistaken stubbornness. They are like Jeroboam in God’s sight, and so they must turn around from such a mistaken faith and repent, or otherwise they will be cursed by God.
Jesus said that such people travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, they make him twice as much a son of hell as themselves. Like this, as today’s evangelists do not really know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they are committing the same sins that false prophets in the Old Testament had committed. These people sin before God precisely because they do not know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. Traveling all over the earth, when they win a believer, they make him twice as much a son of hell as themselves. The problem, however, is that such people are not restricted to Korea, but are present everywhere around the whole wide world. Even the so-called “Evangelicals” today do not know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit properly, and so they believe only in the blood of the Cross as the Truth of salvation. Many of the world-renowned evangelists do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and yet they still claim to be preaching a gospel that brings the remission of sin and makes everyone righteous. They are the very leaders of Evangelicals. They think mistakenly that they have already received the remission of their sins by believing in the blood of the Cross. This means that they are leading their own congregation astray.
Such people are foolish in my assessment. I say this not because of my own merits, but because this kind of faith is not approved in the Kingdom of God. These people boast that they alone have the conviction of salvation. They also argue that because Jesus took charge of all the past, present, and future sins of mankind on the Cross, whoever believes in this has no sin. They insist that they are righteous. But have they really received the remission of their sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit?
My fellow believers, if someone believes fallaciously, and he adds his own flawed knowledge to preach to his congregation, can this person really be approved as a servant of God? By learning from those who preach only the blood of the Cross, and believing according to their teachings, you can never reach your salvation no matter how much you have learned. Many proselytes want to know and believe in Jesus as their Savior out of their sincere desire to rely on God, but Christian leaders today are actually preventing them from receiving their salvation by teaching a false gospel, and they are also standing against God’s servants who preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them. So how severely would they be judged for this sin then? Most Christian leaders are committing such sins.
You may then say, “If you know all this, then why don’t you do something about it?” Actually, that’s precisely why I feel that my calling is to spread this Truth in this present age. Until now, I’ve tried to avoid controversial subjects as much as possible, thinking that it was better for me to first preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit through my books. So through my gospel series and spiritual growth series, I’ve been preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to people all over the world. But now, I believe that my calling is to teach Christians about heresy, so that they may know exactly who in today’s Christian communities are heretics. So I will preach on this subject until all Christians know whether they are now heretics or not.
I am so thankful to God for all our coworkers abroad. In their emails sent to us from every corner of the world, they all testify that they had been heretics before, but now they have been saved through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They say that all this time they had considered themselves good Christians, and so they didn’t realize that they were actually heretics, but from reading our books, they’ve now realized the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It’s no exaggeration to say that virtually all ministers in Christian communities still do not realize the fact that they are heretics. So even at the risk of facing many criticisms and denunciations, I can’t help but shout to these heretics who dominate mainstream Christianity, “Your faith is wrong! Turn around and believe in the gospel of Truth!” I do this because only then can many people escape from the swamp of heresy and be saved by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
If a watchman does not shout, and as a result many people die from the enemy’s attack, then the watchman is entirely responsible for this. I am now preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to you. And I know which Christians are heretics before God. I know who are heretics in God’s sight, and who will be cursed by Him. That’s why I have to preach this Truth to you. Who will be cursed by God? Whoever is a heretic before God will be cursed. That heretics will be cursed by God means that they will be judged for their sins. What kind of judgment will they face then? Condemned for their sins, they will be cast into the everlasting fire of hell and suffer for eternity. In other words, they will be condemned to be hated and abandoned by God forever. It’s for this reason that I am now preaching this Word of Truth, in order to save them from the woe that will descend upon them.
The Lord makes the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit God’s children because He is the God of Truth. Put differently, because Jesus is God Himself, He infallibly fulfills everything according to His Word of promise. And He will surely judge today’s Christians who have the faith of heresy. Because we’ve been called to be God’s messengers, we are trying to reconcile people to God as intermediaries. So I ask you to understand us from this point of view—it’s to save people that we are now spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit and preaching about heresy.
The Third Type of People Who Will Be Cursed by God
Matthew 23:16-17 says, “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?” In Matthew 23:16-22, the Lord says that spiritually blind leaders will be cursed by God. These spiritually blind leaders are those who do now know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but sadly, it is such people who are now leading many in present-day Christianity.
Those who are spiritually blind teach their congregation, “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.” Some people swore by the Temple in Jerusalem, but they were tolerant enough to say that it didn’t really matter whether such vows were kept or not. However, when someone swore to offer gold to the Temple of God, then this vow had to be kept without fail. The Lord said that such teachings are teachings of the blind. Even now, spiritually blind leaders think that a pledge of monetary commitment is more important than a vow made in the name of God. So if their church members pledge to offer money, they teach that this promise must be kept without fail. This means that the blind leaders put more emphasis on financial commitments than any other promise made to God.
When a Christian today vows in his pastor’s presence, and says, “God, I will live virtuously and devotedly from now on,” then the pastor would just say, “Good! Action is more important than words for repentance. So do your best to keep your vow.” Such a vow is considered inconsequential; even if it’s broken, it’s not a big problem. However, if this believer had vowed to offer money to God, instead of pledging to live in a certain way with his will and words, then the pastor would compel him not to break this vow, saying, “Why don’t you offer the money as you had pledged?” In other words, if this believer had promised to offer money to God, then the pastor would press him to keep the promise without fail. In cases like this, the minister would visit this church member and say, “Why don’t you keep your promise? Why don’t you fulfill your vow that you had made to God? If you don’t keep your vow to Jehovah God, you will be cursed by Him.”
This is all because pastors nowadays are worshiping golden calves. These worshipers of golden calves heap curses upon their own congregation all in the name of Jehovah. Such pastors are interested only in money, rather than believing in and following the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Word of God. That’s why these people are spiritually blind people, and real heretics who worship golden calves before God. The Lord said woe to the spiritually blind.
My fellow believers, what is more important to God? Gold or His name? Can there be anyone who doesn’t know the answer to this question? Yet pastors in this age, who are ministering falsely as spiritually blind leaders, are interested only in the offerings of their congregation. Is it okay for someone who vowed by the Temple of Jerusalem to break this vow, but someone who vowed by his gold must keep this pledge without fail? When their vows and the values of these vows are assessed, the vow that was made in the name of God is far more important. However, the spiritually blind Jewish leaders had attached more importance to the vow made with money. The same thing is happening today. When we look at the pastors who serve golden calves, we see that they consider money to be more important than God Himself. Most pastors now worshiping golden calves are like this.
We’ve been sharing fellowship with our born-again brothers and sisters at the Ivory Coast through email. According to the news sent by them in their emails, there is a certain gathering of Evangelicals where its members must accept the words of their leader with the same authority as God. The leader of this gathering is a missionary sent from Korea, and apparently, he’s been teaching his congregation to keep his own words as if they were the same as the Word of God. To quote one of the members of this church, “We had to submit to this missionary’s words, even unto our poverty.” It would be nice if their offerings had been given to God by faith, but in fact, they had been exploited.
This missionary is said to have always taught his congregation like this: “Since our Lord has saved us by coming to this earth, shedding His blood to death on the Cross, and rising from the dead again, we should also offer all our possessions to Him. When the Lord was on this earth, He didn’t even have a house to call His own. Since the Lord has saved us like this, if we really believe in this love of the Lord, then we must obey Him unto our material poverty. We, too, must offer our everything for the Kingdom of the Lord and live in poverty.” Who then takes all the money offered by the members of this church, and where is it spent? In other words, are these offerings dedicated to God really spent properly?
Is this kind of faith correct? It is wrong for this missionary to invoke the name of Jesus only to take his congregation’s money and wring out offerings from them through such fallacious sermons. Do these believers somehow not deserve to have their own house? For them to serve the Lord until He returns, they also need a house and other possessions. But the missionary had taught them that they had to sell their houses and offer the proceeds to God. He is exploiting His congregation with this kind of logic.
How much money would Christians in Africa really have? Yet because this missionary has been exploiting the members of his congregation in this way, I was told that now, there is hardly anyone in this church who has his own house. When such pastors minister in Korea, they also say to their congregation, “Sell your house and offer the money to the Lord. You can live in a rented place.” This kind of ministry is indeed the same as Jeroboam’s worship of golden calves. These pastors invoke the name of God to press their church members to offer more money, and driving them to compete against each other to see who would offer more, they impoverish every member of the congregation. When the congregation has little money, they tell them to serve by whatever means possible, either by going into business and finding another job, and even when the congregation has no money left, they make them leave the church by criticizing them, “It’s because you have no faith that you can’t serve with your material possessions.” If some people are still left, they tell them to find a job for the Lord, take out a bank loan with their salaries used as collateral, and serve the Lord with this money.
In today’s Christianity, it is such people who are worshiping golden calves. They are more interested in the wealth of their congregation than the work of God. Without exception, they are all more interested in golden calves. Among Christians leaders today, those who will be cursed by God are those who are worshiping golden calves as their gods. The Bible says that such people will be cursed by God. Their faith is characterized by the fact that they have little regard for God’s Word of righteousness, and instead they are only obsessed with accumulating more wealth. Ultimately, the purpose of their ministry is to exploit their congregation for money. So in the end, it’s not these leaders who are disappointed, but it is the congregation who get disappointed after offering all their possessions. Such ministries are foolish ministries. To whom do they say money should be offered? They say it’s to themselves that money should be offered. This kind of ministry is a heretic’s ministry.
What Would Have Happened , If Their Faith Were Like Ours, Who Now Believe in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
Those who are ministering properly before God would teach their congregation like this: “I want you all to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit as much as possible. And to serve this gospel, it’s more important for you to dedicate your heart, body, and mind to the Lord than to offer your material possessions. That’s because serving this gospel of the water and the Spirit must be done by faith. So to this end, let us pool our strengths together and devote our energy to spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit.”
In God’s sight, such beliefs and teachings are on a whole different dimension from exploiting the congregation. While it is indeed fitting for us to contribute our offerings to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit, if we were to offer all our money, how could we sustain our livelihood? That’s why you should offer what is within your means, and why it is better for you to think of the Lord’s work and serve it by dedicating your body, heart, time, and mind to Him than offering all your possessions.
But what do the pastors intent on exploiting only money say to their congregation? They tell them to offer contributions even by selling their houses, the very basis of their livelihood, and so in the end, the congregation is left with nothing and ultimately leave the church. That’s why these pastors are so evil. Those who mislead the congregation like this are not good shepherds before God, but they are wicked shepherds. They are nothing more than thieving wage-earners. So in the churches ministered by such pastors, someone who offers the most money is honored the most. In the churches that worship golden calves, it is the rich, and those who contribute a lot of money, that receive the best treatment. That’s why the Lord called the scribes and the Pharisee as blind leaders. Such blind leaders are interested only in gold. Their sole interest lies in the congregation’s money.
All the heretics in today’s Christian communities are ministering like this. Even though they abide in Christianity, they don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they are just interested in money. Their faith is filled with confusion and hypocrisy. They gloss this over by saying that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is right, but it’s also right to believe only in the blood of the Cross. They cite the Word of God to their advantage according to different circumstances, but what they ultimately want is the congregation’s money. It’s as if they are mad about money. They confiscate the congregation’s wealth invoking the name of Jesus Christ. In the end, it’s the believers who are robbed and abandoned that are pitiful. The wrath of God will descend upon those who are ministering like this. They will surely be judged by God. All those who are now interested only in the congregation’s money will be cursed by God. That’s because without fail, the fruits of their faith are nothing more than golden calves.
The Fourth Type of People Who Will Be Cursed by God
Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:23-24)
Just like the third type, the fourth type of people who will be cursed by God are the scribes and the Pharisees who practiced hypocrisy. These people paid a tithe of mint, anise, and cumin, but neglected the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faith. This means that the fourth type of the accursed people are those who have legalistic faith.
These people do not believe in the Word of God exactly as it is. They put more emphasis on their own religious rituals and the doctrines of their own denominations than on the Word of God. They also lead a life of faith that emphasizes only human ethics and morals. Dismissing the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they rely more on their own denominations’ doctrines than God’s Word. They lead their lives of faith motivated solely by how the other believers may perceive them. Believing in the Word of God is not that important to them; what’s important to them is only the approval from their fellow believers. When we look at such church leaders and Christians who’ve been taught under them, we can see that they are experts at making only their outside appearance seem upright. When someone attends church for the first time, they teach him about offering a tithe, then offering thanksgiving alms, and then keeping the Lord’s Day faithfully. They then teach him to become an ethically and morally upright Christian, and a virtuous person to be praised even by the people of the world. However, the Lord says that such people, who have no interest in the righteousness of God, and who consider Christianity merely as a religion that teaches human ethics and morals, will be cursed by God.
Offering such things as the tithe, anise, and mint to God is not wrong in itself. While it is only a matter of course that we should serve God by tithing and offering other services and contributions, we must not forsake our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of God. In other words, as God has given us the gospel of the water and the Spirit out of His love for us, and as His righteousness is contained in this gospel, we shouldn’t just emphasize our formal rituals and duties to God, such as tithing and volunteering, while neglecting our faith in this Truth and the blessing of serving this gospel. Those who do so are neither mindful of the righteousness of God nor do they serve it. We must never forsake our faith in the Word of Truth—that through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit we have received our salvation, eternal life, and the remission of our sins; that we have become one family by this faith; and that we will go to the Kingdom of Heaven.
For instance, is it wrong to offer tithe to God? No. This, too, is something that God told us to do. So our Lord says, “These you ought to be done, without leaving the others undone.” But do we, the born-again, offer only a tithe to God? Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit offer ten out of ten; giving a tenth of what they have is nothing. After all, haven’t we dedicated our entire lives to the Lord? Just as the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17), we trust in God and serve Him wholly in our entire lives. However, the problem is that legalistic Christians emphasize only formal rituals of worship and ethical beliefs outlined by Christian doctrines, for they do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit nor believe in it. They wonder why anyone should believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In other words, this gospel of the water and the Spirit is unimportant to them.
What is God saying to them then? He is saying that they are wrong. They don’t think that the righteousness of God is important. They attach more importance to their own righteousness than the righteousness of God. So for them, what’s important is what they’ve done and sacrificed for God. In other words, they believe in a religion of their own making. What’s important for them is establishing their own righteousness before God; the righteousness of God, which Jesus Christ has fulfilled for us humans by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood on the Cross, is not that important for them. Even though Jesus Christ took upon all our sins once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, was condemned for them by being crucified, rose from the dead again, and has thereby at once saved us the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they are incapable of thanking Him by believing in this Truth. Put differently, they are ungrateful to God even though He has saved us from the sins of the world through His power. This powerful righteousness of God is not important to them.
The biggest problem in today’s Christianity is that even though such people are spiritually blind before God, they wield so much power and influence as its leaders. These people are sinners who strain out a gnat and swallow a whole camel. They are still unable to be delivered from their sins. Because they are spiritually blind, they moan over the smallest sin in their everyday lives and offer prayers of repentance for it, but they don’t think twice before committing the sin of not believing in the righteousness of God. In other words, while they are good at identifying and sorting out a negligible sin that’s like a gnat, they have no hesitation to commit a grievous sin that’s like a camel. The gravest sin that condemns one to hell is disobeying the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This is the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:26-29). Yet so many Christians are now swallowing the greatest sin before God in its entirety.
We are saved only if we truthfully believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit before God because it is in this gospel that His righteousness is contained. However, many Christians put more emphasis on such blessings as a peaceful relationship between fellow believers, wealth, fame, and power, and they consider them more important than the righteousness of God. That’s why they do wrong by just straining out the slightest sins like gnats. For instance, if they’ve raised their voices and fought against another fellow believer, they say to God, “Lord, I’ve committed such and such sins. It’s my fault; please forgive me.” When they do something wrong to each other, they admit their fault easily, but they don’t care about their unbelief in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that constitutes the righteousness of God.
Out of His love for us, God has blotted out our sins once and for all with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. So Christians should show their thanks to God by believing in His righteousness that He has bestowed on them through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but far from this, most of them are too busy to establish only their own righteousness, boasting about how much in tithes they’ve offered for God and their churches, how much offering they’ve contributed for church construction, and what services and sacrifices they’ve made. Such people are spiritually blind, and yet today, many church leaders are exactly like this. If a church leader who is supposed to guide the congregation is blind, then all the rest of the congregation are also blind. Those who are living their lives of faith like this will be judged by God.
The Fifth Type of People Who Will Be Cursed by God
Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26).
In other words, the Lord said that although the heretics in today’s Christian communities who worship golden calves try to look clean in their outside appearance, inside their hearts they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. The Pharisees’ hearts are filled with extortion and self-indulgence. But they pretend to be impeccably clean in their outside appearance. They are always proud of themselves, saying, “I am leading a godly life like this.” In reality, however, they are trying to deceive themselves, their congregation, and even God.
A certain pastor in Korea is prone to boast his frugality, saying, “I am living on only $700 a month.” With these words, he is indirectly implying that his coworkers who spend more money for living expenses than he should all repent. In the end, he is just saying that his junior coworkers should be more thrifty, and that since he is serving the Lord with such frugality, he should be respected. Who is this pastor? He is a famous leader in an evangelical denomination whom most people would recognize. I heard this from a sister who used to attend our church, but moved to this pastor’s church. This sister visited me and said, “The leading pastor of my denomination says that he spends only $700 a month for his living expenses. He doesn’t even take any money when he travels. But he says that when he prays, God provides for him right at that moment. This is how he says God provides for his traveling needs: When he gets on a bus without any money, he would meet one of his church members on the bus, and this member would not only give up her seat to the pastor, but would also give him enough money to cover his traveling expenses.”
So this pastor claims that wherever he goes, God provides for all his financial needs if he just prays to Him, and therefore $700 a month is enough for him to make a living. It’s become official for his congregation to believe that his living expenses are only $700 a month. Their church newspaper writes that he spends only $700 for his monthly living expenses. And his congregation takes a great deal of pride to say this to new church members. So the ministers under him mistakenly think, “The leading pastor of our denomination is so spiritual. Not only are his voice and appearance spiritual, but his everyday life is spiritual as well. He only spends $700 for his monthly living expenses. He doesn’t even take any money when he travels. When he prays, God provides for all his needs in no time.” But weren’t this pastor’s traveling expenses paid by his congregation? Is the money in his pocket all that counts, as if his congregation’s money somehow does not count? In fact, whenever such a pastor visits one of his affiliated churches, this church would pay for all his expenses and give him plenty of allowances as well. It’s nothing more than a fraud for this pastor to boast that he spends only $700 for his monthly living expenses, when in reality he spends plenty of other people’s money. Isn’t this man’s logic preposterous?
With such people in mind, the Lord said, “You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.” The pastor in the above story carries plenty of debit cards and credit cards as well. Just by sitting around, he would receive at least a million dollars a month in cash, since all his branch churches would try to outdo each other by sending more and more contributions to the mother church. If he had spent all this money for the gospel, and really cut down on his living expenses to spend only $700 a month, then he could indeed be described as a servant of God worthy of respect. But since the reality is far different from this, he is nothing more than a swindler.
People like him are the same as the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees that the Bible speaks of. They are spiritually blind leaders. That’s because rather than exalting the righteousness of God, they are fronting only their own rightfulness. Their faith is one that will be cursed by God. God keeps saying to them, “Woe to you! Woe to you hypocrites!” There are so many such pastors in this world.
Pastors who practice hypocrisy in Christian communities will be cursed by God. They are heretics who actually worship golden claves. The very fact that pastors and laypeople in today’s Christianity are practicing hypocrisy before God is the evidence of the fact that they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It proves that they do not believe in the Truth, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, either with their acts or with their hearts. All their faith is a false faith that has deviated from the righteousness of God. They are no more than practitioners of a religion in God’s sight. God’s curses are waiting for such people. God said to such hypocrites, “Spiritually blind Pharisee, cleanse your inside, and your outside will also be clean.”
If any of us realizes and believes that the Lord came to this earth for us, and blotted out our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, then this person can wash away all sins and become a righteousness person forever. When we receive the remission of our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with our hearts, our inside is cleansed. The Lord says that when our inside is cleansed first, our outside is also cleansed. What happens when you are cleansed inside? Even though you are insufficient, as you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you will come to serve the Lord always and receive His blessings in your life. The life that serves the righteousness of God is so worthy.
Unless we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit wholeheartedly, then regardless of how much or how little we may carry out the work of God, our hearts are bound to be drawn to the world and be defiled. In today’s Christian communities, those who pretend to be spiritual leaders without even believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit make so many demands from their congregation, but they themselves don’t even raise a finger. All that they are doing is just raking in money from their congregation and building huge church edifices.
Most pastors can’t even say a single word about the Truth of the remission of sin—that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit—to their congregation, and yet they call themselves leaders of their respective churches. They just keep telling their followers to believe in the blood of Jesus alone. Insisting on their congregation to offer prayers of repentance, they just teach Christian doctrines, saying: “Since you believe in Jesus as your Savior, you were chosen even before the foundation of the world. Therefore you are one of God’s people, and God approves your faith. You have already received the blessing of salvation from Jesus Christ. But to receive even more blessings, you have to offer more money to your church.” This essentially captures of the gist of the sermons preached by the hypocritical heretics who worship golden calves. That is how the spiritually blind leaders of present-day Christianity preach.
The Sixth Type of People Who Will Be Cursed by God
The Lord pointed out the sixth type of people who will be cursed as the following: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28). Here, Jesus is speaking to those who minister without having been born again as of yet. It means that those who lead a life of faith that’s like a whitewashed tomb will be cursed by God.
It’s hard to understand this passage without knowing its background. In Korea, graves are made out of earth. Korean graves have round mounds of earth over the top. So everyone can tell a grave by seeing this mound. The burial customs of the Israelites were different though. They usually buried their dead by interning them in caves carved out of rock and enclosing them with large boulders. The outside of these tombs were then whitewashed to make them look tidy and seal them, so that nothing would seep into the graves, not even rain. So the Israelites could tell a grave when they saw a whitewashed boulder.
A grave that’s embellished like this may look white and clean outside, but inside it’s filled with filthiness. For the heretical pastors who worship golden calves before God, their faith is just like this grave. They have sin in their hearts. Christians who are now taught by these heretical pastors who worship golden calves also have sin in their hearts. Since church leaders have sin, it’s only a matter of course for laypeople to also have sin. Even though these pastors claim to be good Christians, they are just robbing their congregation’s wealth, murdering them spiritually, and turning them twice as much into children of hell as themselves. So when the congregation wants to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and ask their leaders about it, far from answering them, these leaders threaten them, saying, “If you try to dig too deep into such things, you will go spiritually astray.” They claim that it’s dangerous for a layperson to try to understand the Bible too deeply.
A while ago, while riding a cab to church, I had a little talk with the driver. This man started to preach to me. So I told him that he seemed like a good Christian. I then asked him how long he had been a Christian. He told me that it hadn’t been that long, about four years. He said that he had been an alcoholic before, but not anymore. I told him that it was very fortunate for him. But this cab driver didn’t stop preaching to me.
So I asked him, “But mister, does your conscience have sin or not?”
He said, “No, it doesn’t.”
“If you believe in Jesus, then of course you have no sin,” I said. Then I asked him again, “But we still commit sin in our lives, and so can you really say with a clear conscience that you have no sin before God?”
He said that even so, he still had no sin, since his sins were condemned on the Cross as he believed in the blood of Jesus. He said that the wages of his sins were already paid off by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and so he had no sin. He was sure that he was sinless.
So I asked him again if he really had no sin in his conscience when he stood before God, that is, when he examined his conscience before His presence. The driver then began to get upset and balked at me, saying, “Of course not!” Even so, I asked him again, “You are actually convinced like this as you believe in the Christian doctrine of the blood of the Cross. You are free to have such conviction, but are you really sure that you have nothing bothering your conscience?” I asked this because without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, no one can claim to be sinless with a clear conscience. Those who know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and truly believe in it cannot have any sin in their conscience. That’s because the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit has saved us from sin and set us free, and therefore there is no sin in our conscience. When we commit sin, we feel uneasy in our conscience, but because the Lord has blotted out our sins and saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, by believing in this Truth, we can boldly say that we have no sin. But when I asked this cab driver about his conscience, he got so upset and angry that if I pushed him any further, he would have run out of control. So I told him, “Let’s stop here. Anyways, you have a good faith. Don’t’ drink, drive safely, and best wishes.” I barely managed to calm him down, and as I had almost reached my destination, I got out of the cab.
Even though this man said that he believed in Jesus ardently, in reality, he believed in his own emotion. So while he was witnessing Jesus to me, he seemed as if he really believed, but if he stands before God one on one with his conscience, not only will he remember his sins, but because of the sins written in his heart, he will also be tormented unbearably, unless he believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That’s why the Lord has given us true salvation through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Among Christians living in this world, those who believe that Jesus’ blood on the Cross alone constitutes their salvation infallibly have sin in their conscience. That’s because they do not have the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. No matter how such people may boast to be revivalist preachers, and how they quit drinking and smoking, they are still sinful. Just because someone quits drinking and smoking, does this mean that he believes in Jesus properly? That’s not so hard to do; anyone can quit drinking and smoking. However, if one is taught under the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, then he comes to think that such outward changes are the evidence of becoming a good Christian. As a result, even though he may seem upright outside, inside, he is full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. He is rotting away inside his heart, and there, Satan is working together with sin.
Among the men of the clothe in today’s Christianity, there are many who have become pastors from making a mistaken vow to God. They had mistakenly vowed to God that they would become pastors, and it’s because of this that many pastors are now working as ministers. However, their hearts still remain sinful, and they are ministering as God’s holy men even as their sins have not been washed away yet. That’s why those who have become pastors on account of their own vow to become one have many spiritual problems, and most of them are ministering fallaciously among the rank of heretics without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If you still had sin in your heart, and yet despite this you vowed to God that you would become a pastor, is this right? When the first bottom is misplaced, it’s inevitable for the second bottom to be also misplaced. As such, everyone must first receive the remission of his sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The Seventh Type of People Who Will Be Cursed by God
Who are the seventh type of people that will be cursed by God? The Lord said in Matthew 23:29-30, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’”
I’ve explained that the Pharisees and the scribes in the Bible refer to today’s worshipers of golden calves.
When those who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit read the Bible, they say, “If we had lived in those days, we would have recognized righteous people and not killed them.” However, the Lord said that those who say so are witnesses against themselves testifying that they are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets in the Old Testament. And the Lord said, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:32-33) Jesus Christ called them the Devil’s children. In other words, Jesus was asking how heretics, the children of the Devil, could ever escape the condemnation of hell. Even though God has saved us by coming to this earth, being baptized, shedding His blood on the Cross, and rising from the dead again, heretics do not believe in this even as they know it, nor do they preach it exactly as it is. They rather spread lies by adding to the true gospel, mislead others to believe in these lies, block those who want to go to Heaven, and make them twice as much children of hell as themselves. So how could these heretics ever escape from the condemnation of hell? They are all bound to hell.
Those who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and those who do not believe in it even as they know it, are nothing more than worldly religionists. If anyone goes under such people and learns the Word of God from them, then he is certain to become a heretic himself. Whom do these people persecute? Just as their forefathers had imprisoned and killed the prophets in the old days, they persecute the righteous in this age. And heretics are experts at lying. They are all nothing more than liars.
Christians throughout the world are very interested in this question of who heretics are. But what use is it to preach only about heresy, without teaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit? It’s useless to just teach about heresy without teaching about orthodoxy. So I’ve now decided to speak frankly about heresy along with the genuine gospel of the water and the Spirit. Although I haven’t addressed this issue at a great length so far, I believe that the time to teach this has come. Now is the time to preach, “Who are heretics before God? Who actually are heretics in Christian communities? They are those who are like Jeroboam.”
You must grasp just how tragic and accursed it is that Christianity all over the world has been corrupted into a religion of this world. The very fact that corruption arose from within Christianity means that it has turned into a heresy in God’s sight. My fellow believers, you must be orthodox believers before God. You must understand properly what the Word of God is really saying, and you must believe in this Word. First of all, through the gospel of the water and the Spirit that remits away your sins, you must realize the Truth and believe in it—that is, you must know just how much the Lord loves us, how He sacrificed Himself for us, and how and by what method He has saved us from our sins. Through this gospel of the water and the Spirit, you must grasp and believe that God has done good things for us, and that He has done what’s right for us. You must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly. Only then can you quench God’s heart.
I am so fond of God’s love of righteousness and His grace that I can’t help but preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit; and so despite my insufficiencies, I will dedicate my God-given talent to the Lord and serve Him with all the abilities and gifts that God has given me. And I will preach this gospel. We must become such people before God. However, in Christian communities today, there are too many people who have not been born again, and it is these people who have become heretics. This world has too many people who have become heretics in God’s sight by believing in Jesus according to their own doctrines, without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There are countless people in Christianity who have turned into heretics. Yet despite this, they don’t even realize that they’ve become heretics.
To such people, the Lord says, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23) My fellow believers, the reason why I am saying these things and preaching this Word is to admonish you to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and return to it. Unless heretics return to God’s gospel of the water and the Spirit, they will be destroyed. It doesn’t matter that your acts are insufficient, for God loves us so abundantly. To truly save us from all our sins justly and correctly, the Lord came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man, took upon our sins by being baptized, bore the condemnation of sin by being crucified to death, rose from the dead again, and has thereby saved us. We must realize and believe that the Lord loved us rightly like this, that He has saved us justly with the Truth, and that this is the righteousness of God.
Understanding the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must believe in and exalt the righteousness of God manifested in this gospel. We must be thankful for Gods’ righteousness with our faith. So whether we are alone or in a crowd, whether we are working, sleeping, or awake, whether we are eating or drinking, the love of the Lord must always reign in your hearts and mine. We must always thank Him for His love that has saved us so abundantly, rightly, truthfully, and perfectly. The righteousness of God that has saved us to perfection like this must abide in our hearts all the time by faith.
Everything in our hearts will then be solved by faith. All unrighteousness will disappear, our sins will be blotted out, and our filthiness will be eradicated. We will be made holy, and our mistakes will be corrected and our curses will be lifted. We will receive the remission of our sins, and everything that we’ve done wrong, whether in our thoughts or acts, will be redressed to return to normal. We will then realize through our faith that God loves us rightly, abundantly, and perfectly; and we will be saved by faith, become righteous and sinless before God, enter His Kingdom, and receive His blessings.
However, those who have not been born again as they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit keep fronting their own acts. Yet they don’t know what to do when their acts go astray. Because they are incapable of solving the problem of their sins, they are constantly ridden with spiritual problems, and because their hearts are defiled, they keep seeing other people’s filthiness. Since they keep digging out their filth but can’t solve this problem, they fall into the swamp of their weaknesses and perdition, saying to themselves, “I have even more filthiness!” Like a pig that has fallen into filthy water, they struggle in their filth, but their days are numbered and they cannot avoid hell.
It is our Lord who has washed away all the filthiness of this world with His Truth, and this Truth is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Our Lord has blotted out all our sins. We must therefore thank God with our faith, realizing and believing that the Lord has saved us from our sins so abundantly, perfectly, and justly, and that He has made us His children, all through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must return God’s love by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Even though our brothers and sisters, our workers, and I myself are alike so insufficient and have so many shortcomings, God has perfectly saved all of us from our sins. We must thank Him for this. We must become such people of faith. Every Christian must escape from heresy as soon as possible.
Every time I come across God’s Word and preach it like this, I am so grateful for His perfect love and His perfect grace of salvation. Sometimes it’s too hard for me to carry on with my work, overwhelmed by its burden and with my body getting wearier. Our workers also get exhausted. So to carry out God’s work, I try to systematize our tasks. When we work systematically, we can work very efficiently and predict the progress of our work. Each of us may try hard and run around by himself, but this will achieve nothing. We are now running some businesses to raise our mission fund. For instance, a few ministers and workers are now running sewing machines in a small plant, and while right now this is how we are running one of our businesses under the prevailing constraints, in the future, we will expand the plant and run it more systematically for large-scale production.
As I am now carrying out such business-related tasks, sometimes I get so engrossed in my work that I don’t even know what day it is, whether it’s Tuesday or Wednesday. I am so busy nowadays that this morning, when I woke up from asleep at our Discipleship Training Center in Inje, I thought that it was my home. That’s how busy I am these days. Even though I am so mindlessly busy like this, what never changes, what never disappears from my heart, what I must remember in my heart, and what is imperishable, is the fact that God has saved me perfectly like this through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As such, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are made true believers. It’s not because of our own merit, but it is God who makes us true believers like this. That’s why I am so grateful to God.
It is my hope and prayer that all Christians would now escape from the faith of heresy and be able to thank God truthfully. I pray that all those who want to worship God would thank Him in the Holy Spirit and in the Truth. I give all my thanks to our Lord.
I wait for everyone on this planet to return into the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who have become servants in the Lord are admonishing you in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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