Devido ao COVID-19 e à interrupção do Serviço de Correio Internacional,
suspendemos temporariamente o nosso 'Serviço de Impressão Gratuita de Livros'.
suspendemos temporariamente o nosso 'Serviço de Impressão Gratuita de Livros'.
Diante dessa situação, não podemos enviar os livros para você neste momento.
Ore para que esta pandemia termine em breve e retorne o serviço postal.
Ore para que esta pandemia termine em breve e retorne o serviço postal.
Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 6-8] Work for the Food That Does Not Perish On This Earth (John 6:26-59)
(John 6:26-59)
“Jesus answered them and said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.’ Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’ Therefore they said to Him, ‘What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.’ The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’ And they said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?’ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ‘Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.’ The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.’ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.”
When Jesus went up to the mountain and preached, multitudes were following Him. Then putting His hands on the small amount of food that was only enough for a single lunch, Jesus blessed it and performed the miracle of feeding more than 5,000 people with bread and fish, leaving twelve baskets of leftovers. So the people followed Jesus and sought to have Him as their king. They thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such a king?” So they sought to make the Lord their king, but Jesus departed and went over to the other side of the sea.
When the great multitude followed Him desperately wanting to attain another meal from Him, Jesus rebuked them, saying, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to everlasting life” (John 6:27). The multitude had followed Jesus for the food that perishes, to quench their hunger temporarily at that time, without realizing that the truly everlasting food was with Jesus. This is why Jesus rebuked them.
The lesson of this passage also applies to the born-again. Jesus also reiterated about how we should live after being born again. Our Lord said, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). The Lord said that while our carnal thoughts bring death to us, spiritual thoughts bring everlasting life.
When We Do God’s Work, for What Should We Labor?
We have been saved, but what kind of work should we do after being saved? Should we labor for what would perish? Or should we labor for the food that endures to everlasting life? Should we labor for what does not perish, enabling others to receive everlasting life, or should we labor for what perishes? This is what Jesus was addressing. He was telling us to labor for the food that does not perish, to do the kind of work that enables others to receive eternal life.
For us to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit is to preach Jesus who identified Himself as the bread of life. We are of those who labor for the work of everlasting life that does not perish. We, who are spreading the gospel all over the world, are such people. When we preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, people will hear this Truth, and when they believe in this Truth with the heart, they will surely receive the remission of their sins and attain everlasting life. What is important is what kind of work you and I would do after receiving the remission of sin. Would you labor for the food that perishes? Or would you labor for the food that does not perish? The food that perishes refers to completely useless work, while the work of everlasting life refers to the work of saving souls.
What, then, should we do? We can be both carnally and spiritually minded. While the right thing for us to do is to think of and do what is good for other souls, we all have a free choice. So we ourselves must think about this question of for what we should live, decide on one, engrave this in our hearts, hold onto it and follow it.
Although countless people were following Jesus, their purpose was just to feed themselves. They followed Him only to receive and eat the food of the flesh that would all be digested away in a day; they did not follow Him believing that the Lord had the real, everlasting food. In today’s Scripture passage, we see the Lord warning those who were following Him for the perishable food. Jesus told the disciples and many others to labor for the food that endures to everlasting life, and to follow Him for this. That is why it is so important for us to set our minds on for what and how we should labor when we are working.
We can do both works, the spiritual and the carnal, but it is critically important to set our hearts on the right work. We need to realize clearly what spiritual work is, what it is that endures to everlasting life, from where and through what this work comes, and how we can do this work. We are prone to think highly of ourselves when we are actually nothing. So, Paul the Apostle warns us saying, “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3). Therefore, we have to examine once again whether we are determined to labor for the food that does not perish and live our lives accordingly.
Of different types of Christians, there are those who follow Jesus for their own flesh, and others who follow Jesus to receive eternal life. Essentially, in other words, there are those who follow Jesus to do the work of the flesh, and there are those who do the work of Jesus to receive eternal life.
The critical problem is that 99.9 percent of today’s Christians are attending church only to be fed with the food of the flesh. The Apostle John said, “I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2), but we all know that there are many who believe in Jesus not for their souls, but for their carnal riches and fame. In other words, there are many Christians who believe in Jesus just to become rich, to prosper in business, and to live a healthy and lavish life. As a matter of fact, if Christians in the past 2,000 years of the history of Christianity were boiled down to 100 believers, 99 of them believed in Jesus for their own flesh.
In a survey of Christians in the United States, three types of sermons were identified as the sermons most frequently preached by American pastors. The first type was the notion one would become rich if he believes in Jesus; the second was the claim that one would attain fame if he believes in Jesus; and the third was the notion that one would be happy if he believes in Jesus. The pastors, in other words, were feeding their congregations with the food of the flesh. What was the result of such sermons that preached, “You’ll be rich if you believe in Jesus. You’ll be happy if you believe in Jesus. You’ll be famous if you believe in Jesus”? As Christians became wealthy and content with their lives, and raised their social status in this world, they no longer believed in Jesus. Even worse, they ended up turning against Jesus.
In Korea also, far too many Christians say that they attend church so that they would be cured of their illnesses and become rich, so that their families would be in harmony, or so that some scumbag would turn into a good person, all from believing in Jesus. These Christians believe in Jesus only for their own flesh to prosper. Jesus said not to labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that does not perish and endures to everlasting life. Yet despite this, 99.9 percent of Christians believe in Jesus so that their flesh shall prosper.
Jesus rebuked such people in today’s Scripture passage: “Do not believe Me nor follow Me for such things. Labor for the food that does not perish, for the food that endures to everlasting life.” So Jesus said, “In the times of the Old Testament, the manna came down from heaven. God brought the manna through Moses, but even those who ate it all died in the wilderness. But the Son of Man is the bread of life. I give you the bread of life. If you believe in Me, follow Me, and testify of Me, so that people will receive everlasting life. And they will not thirst forever. I am the bread of life, and this is the will of My Father, that whoever sees the Son of Man and believes in Him may have eternal life; and I will raise him that believes on the last day.”
As it is written, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51), none other than Jesus Himself is the bread of life. That is why Jesus said, “Eat of Me. And believe in Me. And Preach Me. If you want to labor, labor for the work of the Father. How can you do the work of God? To believe in Him whom God sent is to do His work.”
Jesus said, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56), and, “He who eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:58). Jesus was talking about Himself. Here He told us to eat His flesh, but how can we eat Jesus’ flesh? It is by believing that Jesus took upon all the sins of world by being baptized on His body that we can eat His flesh. In other words, Jesus was telling us to believe that He took all our sins upon Himself by being baptized to save us from the sins of this world. He was saying to us to eat His flesh by believing in this.
“My Flesh Is Food Indeed, and My Blood Is Drink Indeed” (John 6:55)
Our Lord was saying, “If you believe that I took upon your sins and was condemned for them by being baptized by John the Baptist and crucified to death, then your hearts will be relieved from the heavy burden of your sins. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has attained everlasting life.” We believe in this Word wholly.
Since we have received everlasting life by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we pay even more attention to what our Lord has said to us. As our Lord said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life” (John 6:27), we believe that He said this to us. While we have received the remission of our sins by eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking His blood by faith, we still need to set our minds clearly on whether we would labor for the food that perishes or for the food that does not perish. We need to realize what it is to labor for the food that perishes, and what the food that does not perish is.
To labor for the food that perishes is to be carnally minded, only to think of the peace and comfort of our own flesh. What, then, is the food that does not perish? It is to be spiritually minded. As we serve this gospel, fulfill our role as its witnesses, preach it all over the world, and labor for this work, many people will indeed attain everlasting life. Making it possible for others to receive eternal life is what we must do. We need to discern clearly between laboring for the food that perishes and laboring for the food that does not perish, and we must set our minds on one of these two and work accordingly.
We Are Laboring to Preach the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit throughout the Whole World
Sometimes, even while serving the Lord, we wonder skeptically, “Is it really right to work like this?” And there are also times when we labor for the food that perishes, as there are times when we labor for the food that does not perish. Of course, we can go astray sometimes because of our weaknesses, but we should fundamentally set our minds on the right direction.
We need to set our minds clearly. It is to preach the gospel throughout the whole world that we are laboring like this. We are devoting ourselves to the literature ministry: We pray for this ministry, translate our books and publish them into many languages, and distribute them for free to whomever wants to read them. Most of our workers raise financial means for this ministry and support it with their own labor and sweat. None other than this is laboring for the food that does not perish. Do we really believe this when we are working? If we want to labor for the food that does not perish, then we need to set our minds on the work that does not perish. While it is possible for us to be mindful of both carnal affairs and spiritual affairs, we should set our minds on the work that does not perish, dedicate our hearts to it, and trust in it entirely. It is only then that we can become workers of righteousness, making it possible for others to receive everlasting life.
It is my sincerest hope that we would all serve the Lord and live for Him always. I admonish you to really set your minds on the work that does not perish, dedicate your hearts to it, and believe with all your hearts, not just with your thoughts, that it is the most precious work for you to labor for the bread of life. Although you are capable of doing both carnal and spiritual works, I want your hearts to realize that one is entirely wrong and the other is entirely right, and to dedicate your hearts and minds wholly to the right work and labor for it. While we can also work for the food that perishes, we must have the resounding and unshakable belief that it is only right for us to cherish the gospel and serve it, and we must become the people of faith offering ourselves to this work and dedicating all our strengths to it.
I have poured all my heart into preaching the gospel throughout the whole world. I am not saying that it’s now enough, since we have been serving the gospel to this day; rather, what I am saying is that because this is the right thing for us to do, we should set our minds on the right work and have the firm belief that it is only proper for us to live like this for what is right. Regardless of how we might have lived so far, now we need to realize what is truly right and follow it. If we know what is right, but do not dedicate our lives to the food that does not perish, then our faith is all in vain. Do you know what it is to labor for the food that does not perish? Do you believe that it is right for us to live for this food? Have you set your minds on it and are you living entirely for this work? What is proper is not to just end with knowledge, but to set your minds on the right work, and to dedicate your lives wholly to this work.
Because we have the flesh, we sometimes fall into the work of the flesh. This is not proper. What the Bible says is right, we must believe wholly that it is indeed right at 100 percent. We shouldn’t just think that one type of work is merely better than the other. What is wrong is entirely wrong, and what is right is entirely right. We have to set our minds unambiguously like this. Only if we place our hearts on what is right at 100 percent can we do the right work. And by doing this work, we can bear the fruit of everlasting life.
How are we then? Of course, our hearts may change from morning to evening, our thoughts may be as fickle as a reed and as unclear as fog, but we still have to make the decision of faith to place all our hearts on what is right at 100 percent. Only then can we do the work of everlasting life and bear the fruit of everlasting life. For our hearts to waver back and forth is only too human, but even so, to be unable to admit what is right at 100 percent is a shortcut to go astray. That is why we must labor entirely for what is right, realize that it is wrong for us to live for the food that perishes. And we also have to believe at 100 percent that working for the food that perishes is indeed wrong. If we evaluate these two works on a relative basis, we will not have clear faith in what is right, because the two get all mixed up. We really need to admit what is right as right at 100 percent, and what is wrong as wrong at 100 percent. Only then can we live entirely for the right work dedicating our hearts to it. Otherwise it is impossible.
What does Jesus say in today’s Scripture passage? He tells us to labor for the food that does not perish. But are the Christian sinners all over the world really laboring for the food that does not perish? Aren’t they following Jesus so that they would become rich, famous, and happy all from believing in Jesus? Jesus, in contrast, says that we must do the work of God. God’s work is to labor for the food that does not perish. To enable others to receive everlasting life is to do what the Lord wants us to do. We have to believe that it is 100 percent right for us to work for the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We really have to dedicate ourselves to this work and live for it.
My fellow believers, we need to make up our minds clearly. And when it comes to our work, we need to make it clear that what the Bible says is right is 100 percent right, and what the Bible says is wrong is 100 percent wrong. Yet even when this is made clear, since we are only humans living in this world, do we not often compromise on certain issues? There are many such cases. However, when it comes to our hearts’ fundamental principle, we must never compromise.
We should be spiritually minded rather than carnally minded. And I believe that once someone believes that to be spiritually minded is 100%, he will be changed. That’s because it is our human nature to dedicate our hearts to what we regard as 100% right. The Bible says that a virtuous wife does her husband good and not evil:
“She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms” (Proverbs 31:13-17).
I believe that we have to also work for the Lord like such a virtuous wife. We the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the ones who have received the Holy Spirit by eating the food of everlasting life, and the Bible says that those who have the Holy Spirit in their hearts do what is right. In other words, they labor for the food that does not perish. They yearn for the will of the Lord to be fulfilled, so that when the Groom comes they would be commended for having preached the gospel to others and served it. They toil and labor for this work, they set their minds to believe that it is only right for them to carry out this work devotedly, and they live their lives accordingly.
Rather than looking back and forth at both the world and the Lord’s domain, and rather than wavering between the two, we must labor setting our minds on what is right at 100%. On certain issues, we sometimes make small compromises with the family, since we are all human beings, but because we never compromise on the fundamentals, we return and do what is right. We are the ones who do the work of God. Through us, as we carry out God’s work, His heart is quenched, more and more people come to hear and believe in the gospel, and these people then receive everlasting life.
Of each and every person who eats the flesh of Jesus and drinks His blood by faith, there is no one who does not receive the remission of sin, and no one who does not attain everlasting life. And of all the people who labor for this food of life that does not perish, who preach the gospel believing 100% that it is right to serve this work, and who hear the Word and believe in it trusting that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is 100% right, there is no one who does not receive eternal life. That is why you and I must set our minds on spiritual work. And on the question of how right the spiritual work is, we need to score ourselves always. Is the spiritual work 100% right? Or is it only 70% right and 30% wrong? Or is it even 100% percent wrong?
We must set our minds unequivocally that it is 100% right for us to do spiritual work. Only when we have such a determination can we follow the Lord and become His precious workers who labor for the food that does not perish, and only then can those who receive the gospel from us attain the remission of their sins. Those in whom the Lord is pleased are blessed by Him in both body and soul, and bestowed with His grace and love. It is such people that we are to become.
You and I have probably come across a critical juncture in our lives facing the question of how we ought to live our remaining lives. What is far more important and what requires far more attention than any question that we have faced so far is this question of how we should live. Jesus said clearly, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life” (John 6:27). And the Lord is asking, “How right do you really think it is to labor for the food that does not perish, and how much do you admit and believe in this commandment?” If the Lord asks us this, then we should all answer by faith, saying, “Lord, it is 100% right to labor for the food that does not perish.” Are you willing to answer like this?
We are preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but it is not so easy to live for this work. When the Lord said with only His Word to let there be light, there was light; to let there be trees and plants, there were trees and plants; and to let there be birds flying in the air and fish multiplying in the sea, there were birds and fish. Everything was indeed fulfilled exactly according to His Word. Although we believe in the Lord’s Word, we know very well just how slow and difficult it is to obey His Word completely. We are so fragile that we get tired easily at the slightest hardship. It is really hard for us to work by ourselves for the food that does not perish.
However, our Lord still uses such people like us as His workers, for He is powerful. He is amazing. When a machine begins to sputter, it can be easily fixed and made to work again, but human beings are not like this. It requires sophisticated techniques and tremendous faculties to use us, but despite this, the Lord is able to use us as His instruments. That’s because He made us.
When it comes to working for the gospel, we must have the belief that it is 100% right to do so. We may say so with our words, but what is important is to set our minds. We may say, “I’ll think about it at home.” But when we are at home, we don’t really think about it. We have to make up our minds here and now. A foolish person may think about this work for a hundred years and yet still not make up his mind, but the wise can make the decision in five minutes.
My fellow believers, you must be passionate. I was told a story that was unbelievable: Someone was so passionate that when he was dating in his car, he did not even realize his car was floating down by increasing river flows. We can imagine how passionate he was while dating in his car. We must be passionate. Not only when we are dating, but also when we are working, we must be passionate about what we do and set our minds clearly and resolutely. If we are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, then nothing can be achieved.
What happens when you pour cold water on hot coffee? It would turn lukewarm and lose its taste. Each of us has a distinctive personality. When we the born-again work for the gospel, we must work passionately submerged in that work, and throw ourselves to this work while believing that this work of serving the Lord is 100% right. “Though I have not been entrusted with a great mission, because I am living wholly for the gospel, its flowers are blossoming all over the world.” The righteous need to have this kind of conviction and passion for the righteous work. God has made us such people. This age is indeed an age of uncertainty, but we need to have the unfaltering belief that what we are doing and what we believe in are definitely right.
Once you have received the remission of sin, you have to start a new life oriented to the righteous work; you have to get out of your country, from your family and your father’s house, to a new life that God shows you. You have to set up your mind clearly to work for the gospel for the rest of your life. What would happen if you drag your feet? You would soon be surrounded by all kinds of filthiness. This world does not leave you alone if you remain undecided. When you hear the Word of God, you must clearly approve it whatever it says is right; if it is right, then you must accept it; and if you reject the Word, then you must clearly provide the reason for rejecting it. If you drag your feet indeterminately, the Devil will come and devour you. If you still wonder, “Is this gospel right?” and if you still drag your feet even after ten long years of attending the Church wavering between this and that, the Devil will come and devour you.
We have been saved. We have been saved by eating the flesh of the Lord and drinking His blood. Have you eaten the flesh and drunk the blood given by the Lord? When did you do that? To believe that all your sins were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized is to eat the flesh of Jesus. You ate it by faith. How did we drink Jesus’ red blood? We drank the blood of Jesus by believing that He shouldered our sins and died for us on the Cross. Has your thirst now been quenched? That is why Jesus said, “My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed” (John 6:55). When we eat the flesh of Jesus by faith, our eyes are opened wide and our stomachs are filled. When we drink the blood of Jesus, our hearts are quenched.
My fellow believers, as we live on, sometimes we make mistakes; sometimes we are insufficient; and sometimes we even make irreparable blunders. However, when we think about how Jesus took upon our sins through His baptism and was condemned on the Cross in our place, our inside is all quenched. So I can’t help but say, “Lord, You really died a good death. Thank You.”
Would Jesus have been in pain on the Cross? Or would His heart have been satisfied? When He was crucified, He would have been in pain. While He was hung for six hours, He would have suffered immensely. But when He died, He felt relieved of the heavy burden of sin by the completion of His atoning ministry. To blot out all the sins of the world, Jesus came to this earth and accepted them all when He was baptized at the age of 30, and so how heavy must these sins have weighed Him down? Although He was in so much pain when He was crucified while shouldering more sins than the thick clouds in the sky, when He died, He was satisfied to have fulfilled all the works of salvation from sin. When the Lord said with His last breath, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), He was filled with joy. The Bible prophesied this, saying, “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11). What happens when we finish some work? Our hearts feel greatly relieved. Like this, Jesus was filled with joy when He finished off all the sins of the world and said, “It is finished!”
Jesus was baptized and died on the Cross for our sins. It was because He was filled with joy at the last moment that He said, “It is finished!” and promised, “I will return again.” He did not complete everything in pain alone. If He had completed His mission painfully up to His last breath, He would have said lastly, “This time I came like this, but you should save yourselves on your own the next time. You should reach it for yourselves.” However, because the Lord forgot all about His pain, He said, “I will return to take you away exactly as I ascend.” The Lord told us that He would take us and live together in the Millennial Kingdom and in the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven.
You and I must have this belief that it is 100% right to live preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. “I will continue to do this work, for it is entirely right at 100%.” We must have such a belief in our hearts. Only when we have this kind of heart filled with faith at 100% can we live our remaining lives by faith. Only then can we be filled with conviction and overflow with joy until the day the Lord returns. Otherwise it’s too hard to follow Him. Does it upset and exasperate you just to think about how much you have labored so far? Sure, it has been very hard, but we are still rejoiced, for it is right for us to have worked for the gospel by faith to this day. So, as we make a midterm assessment, we are confident that there won’t be any problem in the future, either.
My fellow believers, this is not some kind of hypothesis, but it is our wholehearted faith. We need to set our minds once again, and we need to place our hearts on God’s work again. We must really have the belief at 100% that what the Lord says is right is indeed right, and that it is only proper for us to do the work that does not perish. When we place our hearts on this work at 100%, we will renew our strength and mount up with wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31), all that we do will be blessed by God through the Lord, and we will complete everything that remains in Him who give us power. If we dedicate our hearts to what is right at 100% percent, then there is no problem. But if we do not offer ourselves like this, then it’s impossible for us to follow the Lord and to achieve the works He has entrusted to us.
Despite my actual insufficiencies, I have labored diligently so far. Though it has been hard, I believe that it’s the right thing to do. And although I am still insufficient even now, because I believe that it is right for me to live for the salvation of souls, I have lived my life like this thus far. I have labored to this day because our righteous lives are the food that does not perish and is approved by the Lord, because I am convinced that people will receive everlasting life if they believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit, and because this is what has actually been fulfilled. In the future, I will continue to work just as I have worked to this day, believing with my heart that it is 100% right.
We have published our books on the elementary principles of the gospel of the water and the Spirit from various angles. From now on, we will speak on how to live our everyday lives by faith. I believe that all that remains for us to do is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, to separate ourselves from those who are not born again, to believe wholeheartedly that it is right to labor for the food that does not perish, set our minds firmly, and give glory to God and bear the fruit of everlasting salvation. There isn’t anything big that we can do for the Lord, but all that remains is to live our lives believing in what He says is right. There is nothing else but this. The lives of the righteous who have been born again of water and the Spirit are a continuation of the life that is lived for the Lord by offering the heart to Him day by day.
In case of any human work, we can finish it after attaining the expected goal. But this life of faith must be lived until the day the Lord returns. However, although this life may seem hard to live, it’s not so hard if we live it by believing in what is right and offering our hearts 100% to the Lord, for He will empower us. On the contrary, it is quite easy, as it is written, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The reason why it’s not so hard to lead our lives of faith is because the Lord empowers us. If we believe that what the Lord said is right and set our hearts on it, then the Lord will give us new strength. Because He renews our strength, we can march forward by faith, and through this we come to thank the Lord, for we experience for our selves how He is helping us. I give my thanks to God.
I am eagerly waiting for our spiritual growth series to be published soon. I am sure that this series will work in many people’s lives and yield a plentiful harvest from every nook and corner of the world. I know that we have to pray for this, and that to dedicate our hearts wholly to this work, believing that it is right to labor for the food that does not perish, is to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We live by faith relentlessly not to show off our own glory or the pride of the Church, but to spread all over the world the food that does not perish. We continue to do the work of God, preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to let all the souls throughout the whole world be born again. We will do our best to preach the gospel day by day. So I believe that we need faith, and that it is right for us to offer our heart’s faith in everyday life. I know that you also believe so.
My fellow believers, we must eat the flesh of Jesus and drink His blood by faith. If any Christian has not had the flesh of Jesus and His blood by faith, then he believes in Jesus erroneously. He is someone who is laboring for the food that perishes. Those who believe in Jesus only to be happy in this world, to be rich and famous, will depart from Jesus as soon as they prosper even slightly. There are so many Christians who eventually leave Jesus behind.
However, you and I cannot leave Jesus no matter what. Because we have received the true remission of our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with our whole hearts, we are 100% convinced that it is right for us to live like this. Happy are those who live their lives dedicating their hearts wholly to the right work and believe in it.
I hope and pray that you would not just know what is right in your heads, but put your hearts on it 100% and believe in it.
This sermon is also available in ebook format. Click on the book cover below.
Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission