Subject 23 : The Epistle to the HEBREWS
[Chapter 11-6] Let’s Stand before God After Living By Faith like Noah (Hebrews 11:6-7)
(Hebrews 11:6-7)
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
The Sin of a Leader Led to an Irreversible Consequence
Our Church has found it necessary to publish a book on heresy but I have some concerns regarding this. Many people think that Solomon was a great king. There are also those who do not know that King Jeroboam in the Old Testament, a prominent leader who spearheaded heresy, appeared all because of Solomon’s sin. The sin of Solomon was the sin of bringing idols into Israel and making Gods people worship them. Therefore, we can say with certainty that King Solomon brought about a revival of idols in Israel. I am really embarrassed to speak about Solomon.
Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines and there were many gentile women amongst them. Solomon arbitrally took gentile women as his wives and worked hard to appease their many gods and idols all to gain their hearts. Let’s ponder upon this bad situation. If say, each of his wives believed in a certain kind of religion, then how many different religions would he have to contend with since he had so many wives? One thing we can be sure of is that some of them began to insist on worshipping their idols instead of the true Jehovah God. Solomon’s wives began to bow down and worship some image carved out from stone or wood and worshipped that.
They recited chants to these idols and so forth; and King Solomon had to cast a blind eye when the queens were offering these sacrifices. His many wives brought these idols with them from their homelands and lit incense and offered up evil sacrifices. Solomon asked his wives, “How do the idols answer you?” Then they replied, “Go ahead and light incense and offer up a sacrifice to my god.” Solomon then retorted, “I believe only in Jehovah God.” Then his wives started manipulating him, saying, “Didn’t you say that you loved me? If you really love me you will light the incense to the god that I love.”
No matter how Solomon refused and remained adamant that he could not worship any gentile god, his wives kept on insisted, “Didn’t you say you loved us? You can prove your love for us by worshipping the gods that we believe in?” The nagging words of his wives began making sense to him. Soon King Solomon also began bowing down to their idols all to appease his many wives.
Can we imagine how many different kinds of idols there were in his kingdom seeing he had so many different Gentile wives? Let’s say his first wife lit incense and bowed down to her idol. When his other wives saw this they said, “Why can’t we do that also? You must give us these same privileges to worship fairly if you really love us.” In this situation, how could a king refuse these requests, seeing they were all his beloved queens? Upon seeing this evilness by their king, how would the people react? They all would slowly turn and also begin to bow down to these many idols. Soon all of Solomon’s officials had to bow down and worship these idols. And, if Solomon’s loyal subordinates did such evil things, then soon all of Israel began bowing down to these idols. During that time the Israeli people followed the faith of these queens and served them in accordance with their various religions in order to earn some brownie points.
So we can now see that it was Solomon who was guilty of bringing idols into Israel. He was the very person who made all of Israel heretics. Because of Solomon’s sins, God said Jeroboam will become king of Israel. Solomon had driven Israel to worship idols because of accepting Gentile wives.
The Israeli People Did Not Obey God’s Rule
Actually it was Jehovah God who personally ruled over Israel, and it would not be wrong to say that judges also ruled over them during that time. The Israeli people served God and had a system of theocracy until the time of judges. Joshua was also their leader. However, the Israeli people began to reject theocracy and wanted to establish a kingdom of Israel and have a human king rule over them.
Therefore, they desired to be ruled by a faulty human being instead of being ruled by the perfect God. God therefore told them, “Do not do this. If a faulty human being ruled over you, he will for sure drive you to your deaths, and he will not be able to solve your problems when you face any dire situation.” God tried to stop them from doing this, but it was useless. Because they insisted to be ruled by a human being, God then commanded Samuel, “Do as the people wish and establish a human king for them.”
Who did the people want as their first king? They chose Saul, and Samuel established him as king. He was very tall and handsome, towering over others. The Bible says that Saul was head and shoulders above most Israeli’s. Saul thus became the first king of Israel. However, from that moment on, we can see things changing by them beginning to disrespect Gods Word, not revering Him and offering up sacrifices to idols.
But despite this even in a system of monarchy, God desired a person who revered Him to rule over His people and thus established David, but they instead went against God and established Saul as their king. Because of this situation, the things that were not allowed to do in the time of King David were becoming acceptable during Solomon reign who was Davids son; and under Solomons reign the entire country of Israel became a nation that worshipped idols. Because the people worshipped idols, God decided to give the royal authority over the Israeli people to another person to punish them. But God did not let this happen while Solomon was alive, but only after Solomon’s death. God did this because He wanted to keep His promise to David whom He loved.
After the death of Solomon, Rehoboam his son became the king. God then took the royal kingship and gave it to Solomon’s official called Jeroboam, who was not born from his royal bloodline. God took the people from the 11 tribes among the 12 tribes of Israel and gave them to Jeroboam. Therefore, Israel being one nation was divided into a northern and a southern kingdom. And so Israel was divided, both north, and south. And Jeroboam in the north started replacing God with golden calves. He changed everything that was established by God with golden calves, even changing the established law of sacrifice, and the statute of God that stipulated that only the descendants of Levi could become priests. And so in time all the 11 tribes of Israel served golden calves. But the smaller southern tribe of Judah did not serve idols or follow this heresy, but eventually they also succumbed to this evil custom of serving idols. Thus, Israel eventually became a country that worshipped idols.
What Kind of Faith Do the People in Christianity Have Today?
It makes me wonder why so many people worship idols today while believing in Jesus. Also, there is no change in people’s hearts and their lives are not honest; and the question remains unanswered as to why Christianity has not been able to change the world. We must therefore look at the current reality of Christianity through Solomon’s corruption, and how a person like Jeroboam came out of that situation.
People have this notion that Christianity is one of the religions of the world. But Christianity is not a religion of the world. Rather in its true sense, it is having faith in the truth that God saved us from our sins. Human beings here on earth have created religion, but faith is admiring and believing that God has saved us from our sins by manifesting His power. This is true belief, and true faith. Religion is something we humans have made by ourselves apart from God. Christianity is not something that humans have created. It is in fact salvation of the remission of sins that is illuminated on the truth which God has spoken.
God created this world and gave the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to save His people, when they, who are made into the image and likeness of God, fall into sin and temptation. Therefore, God made us and accepted us as His people when we encountered and believed in His saving gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must therefore speak and preach this Word teaching about these fundamental things by explaining Solomon’s sins and the heresy that manifested out of that situation.
Heretical people appeared in Israel all because King Jeroboam and King Solomon worshipped idols. Likewise in Christianity today we have many heretics who worship idols instead of God whose faith in like that of Solomon. Many people know that Christianity has gone wrong, but they do not know why it has gone wrong, and that they have become heretics. Christians must read and learn all about the gospel of the water and the Spirit so that they can meet the God of the Truth. When they do meet this true gospel that saves perfectly they might feel confused initially, but they must persist by casting away their thoughts.
Knowing This, We the Righteous, Can also be Diverted off the Right Path
As we can see in Solomons life of faith, many leaders in Christianity today are leading their followers to the religion of idols. And by doing this evil thing they will all receive a curse. And because of this situation they struggle to come to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and will in the end, be destroyed. They need to know these evil things, and what is said must be said. If all Christian believers throughout the entire world do not know or believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit they will never be able to compare their incorrect faith to the correct one properly. People must know that all the things in their spiritual lives have gone wrong. They will not be able to believe or understand the gospel of the water and the Spirit if they do not know these facts.
We have to preach this true gospel to all the peoples of the world, but it’s becoming very difficult. You and I can only pray for this work. We must pray to God that He will save these people who have fallen into the religions of idols. We must pray to God that He will protect us as we continue with the evangelization of the gospel of the water and the Spirit so that we are not impeded in any way. We must take responsibility for the two kinds of work as explained like a faithful watchman. A good watchman has the responsibility to inform the people clearly and concisely that enemies are coming. And we the watchmen have this responsibility to fulfill this work.
If a watchman climbed up high on a watchtower and saw the invading enemy steaming ahead but did not inform the people of this dire situation because he was fearful of the people, and as a consequence his people were invaded, and killed off, then who would be held guilty of this crime? The watchman would have to answer for this crime. Therefore, we have no other choice but to do the work of a watchman. We must preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to many Christians, including all those who are not Christians. We must carry on preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all the people living in the world.
You must know that Christianity as we have it today worships golden calves like the Israeli people. Many sermons delivered by them are all about money and people offering more money. And they are saying that anyone can enter Heaven if they just believe arbitrally in Jesus as their Savior. Fundamentally, the content of their sermons are about “Living virtuous, moral and ethical lives in this world, while being coerced to offer up a lot of money.” Because of this, many of these leaders worship idols and golden calves.
In the Gospel of John, the Lord said that a hireling runs away when wolves approach the sheep. To be frank, the current leaders in Christianity are there just to request money by replacing Jesus with a golden calf and believing in it. They do not have the God of Truth in their hearts. Their ultimate goal is money, not God. Therefore, Christianity today cannot respond positively to the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The reason why people who believe in Jesus today cannot accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit is because they are fearful that they might lose their religion. Despite these facts, we must continue to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the entire world in these times. Therefore, we cannot but do the righteous work of God by preaching the gospel and handing out our printed sermon books.
Let’s Look at the Ministry of Noah
Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Noah did the work of God by faith. After being divinely warned, Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his household, and by doing this he condemned the world. Noah in building the ark judged and condemned the people, saying, “Why are you so stubborn and refuse to believe? You will all end up in hell if you do not believe. You will all be destroyed.” And because of his faith he became heir of righteousness. The Bible says that Noah inherited the Kingdom of Heaven and became a person who lives with God eternally.
We, like Noah, are also working by faith. We have been working like Noah after we have also received the warning that this world will soon be destroyed. We have been preparing the ark and doing the works of establishing the Church everywhere in the world by the preaching of the true gospel. We are working tirelessly in our endeavors. We must really make many souls receive salvation by preparing an ark of faith that is, getting them to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, because this world will not go on for too much longer.
Noah can be described as a perfect and righteous person of his time. He is a righteous person before the presence of God even though his fleshly works are insufficient. God saved Noah’s family through him during that period. As Noah had done this work a long time ago, you and I are now doing this same work of preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit also.
After returning from a conference, I received more e-mails of wonderful testimonies of salvation again; there are many such testimonies of salvation. We are now preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the entire world; many people say that they wish to work with us after meeting the true gospel of Christ. Some said that they were afraid when they first read our book. They were afraid of falling into something weird while reading our sermon books. So, instead of throwing it away they prayed to God, saying, “LORD, please give me peace and joy in my heart that this is the truth and not a lie. Give me faith. Tell me it is okay to read this book.” And so they began reading our sermon books prayerfully. Because of their faith, the Word of God entered into them and they realized the truth, after coming to understand and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they received the remission of sins. They testify and are so very thankful now after meeting the true gospel that has saved them perfectly.
There are, however, many people who understand the gospel of the water and the Spirit we are preaching as a gospel that is fundamentally different from theirs. Brothers and sisters, if we do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then Christianity is nothing more than one of the religions of this world like Buddhism. If Christians do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit then what would be the difference between them and the religious people of the world?
The fundamental purpose of religion is to make people live virtuously in the flesh. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is nothing like the gospel that espouses faith only in the shed blood on the Cross. The Bible says that our Lord came to save us from all our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit because we are the kind of people who deserved to receive the judgment before the presence of God due to our sins. Therefore, our Lord received the baptism from John the Baptist in order to take our sins upon His flesh. The Scriptures is telling us that our Lord took our sins upon Himself all at once, but many have misunderstood, trying to fathom this out with fleshly thoughts, and consequently come up with the notion that we must live virtuously. Such thoughts are wrong, very wrong.
I cannot understand the people who try to live a spiritual life like this. We cannot live virtuously all the time because we constantly do wrong, and even if we did by chance live virtuously, God would not consider it good in His eyes. Therefore, we are the people who deserve to receive the judgment for our sins. Therefore, we must believe in and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, of how our Lord has saved us from all our sins.
It was not easy at first for all for us to realize the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It was very difficult because we had come to the realization that we had to throw away our thoughts, the customary thoughts of this world, before we could understand and believe. Our own righteousness must be utterly broken down even after receiving the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We thought we were okay when we looked at ourselves, but our shortcomings manifest themselves even after living a spiritual life for a long time. Hence, when the mistakes of our brothers and sister or the servants of God are revealed, we come to thank God even more as we come to realize, “I am also like that. Our Lord has saved us who are like that by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” Therefore, we must believe in the true gospel in order to continue to dwell in Christ and He in us. Thus, a person who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must also hear this gospel continually, and not only hear it but to preach it also.
We have now seen that Noah had prepared an ark and preached the Word of God to many people. But the only people who believed in the Word he was preaching were his household. In some ways, it was fortunate that, at least, his family believed the Word. He would have gone into the ark alone if his family refused to believe. What would have happened then? But God made all the members of Noah’s family believe. I think that situation was very fortunate, but on the other hand, I am saddened that there were only a few people who listened and received the remission of sins. Through this account God is saying something to us also.
God is saying that we cannot please Him without having faith of believing in Him and in His righteousness. We must really have faith of believing in God and in His righteousness. Do you know that the work we are actually doing is pleasing to God?
I believe that this work of preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the entire world by our literature missions is like a knob of flowers, and all the works we do are the works that God is pleased with. We must have faith of believing in God, and in His will, in order to please Him. Therefore, we believe in God, and in His written Word. I believe that God will help us when we do things that are pleasing to Him. The Lord leads us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord blesses us who preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And we have hope when we do the works that are pleasing to God. We expect God to make us prosper in all things and we have such expectation because God really loves us. I am so thankful.
I am so thankful that we are doing such a worthwhile work of preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit like this after being born into this world, and I give thanks to God who has entrusted such work to us. We really were bound to do meaningless works after being born to this world, but I am thankful that we can now do worthwhile works and live like this because of God. If I did not do this work of serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I would not be able to do this worthwhile work while living in this world. If this were the case what hope would there be? There is a popular song in Korea that goes, ♪Have a drink, sing, and dance. But the only thing left in my heart is grief♪. What hope is there? There is no joy there. Would we have fun if we played soccer? It might be fun while playing soccer, but there will only emptiness after the game is over. Would it make you happy if you won the game? After winning, there will only be emptiness. In everything, there is no satisfaction after achieving that goal.
But as I ponder upon these things, I become so thankful that God has made us serve this gospel of the water and the Spirit. God said that He will reward all those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and serve this gospel. We pray to God often in order to do this righteous work. Only when we do this by faith can we do the righteous work.
Summarizing Noah’s life of faith through the Word we have pondered upon this hour, we can say that we also have become heirs of faith, that we have also become the people who live with God. The Scripture says that Noah condemned the world. By him condemning the world it means that Noah pointed out their sins and judged them, saying, “Your faith is all wrong. Why don’t you believe in God’s Word of righteousness? You are completely and hopelessly wrong!” Like this, we are the Noah’s to a lesser degree. God wants to bless the work we are doing. Thus, I want you to thank God for the work you and I are doing by the faith.
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