Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 26-5] Let’s Use Everything We Have for the Gospel (Matthew 26:17-29)
(Matthew 26:17-29)
“Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?’ And He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.’’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, ‘Assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, ‘Lord, is it I?’ He answered and said, ‘He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi, is it I?’ He said to him, ‘You have said it.’ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’”
“Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?’ And He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.’’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, ‘Assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, ‘Lord, is it I?’ He answered and said, ‘He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.’ Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi, is it I?’ He said to him, ‘You have said it.’ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’”
The Lord had the Last Supper before Passover. When the Lord prepared for the Last Supper, He told His disciples to go into the city to a certain man and tell him that He and His disciples would keep the Passover at his house. The disciples went into the city as Jesus said and told the man what they were instructed to say, and he obediently admitted them into his house. Therefore, the Lord was able to keep the Passover in that house with His disciples.
In today’s Scriptural passage, we see the Lord and His twelve disciples eating the Last Supper in the evening. There is an immortal masterpiece of art named “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. If we look at the picture, the room that the Lord had the Last Supper in was really spacious and there was a very long table there. It wasn’t a table that is in a normal family’s house; it was a great, long table that would have been in a banquet hall. As the God of Creation, our Lord made everything, and He knows everything. Therefore, the Lord also knew that there was a certain man in the city that had that kind of table. Since there is nothing that Jesus couldn’t do, the Lord could say absurd things from His disciples’ point of view.
Looking at it from a human point of view, there were several times when the Lord said things that were preposterous. One example is that the Lord commanded His disciples to enter the city and bring Him a young donkey that was tied up there. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? How could a person go into someone else’s neighborhood and, without the permission of the owner, untie a young donkey and take it away? If you look at it from a human point of view, since that act falls under theft, if they had been arrested, that is an act that requires being paid back many times over and being beaten. Therefore Jesus told the disciples who worried about what to do if they were arrested to say, “The Lord has need of the donkey.” It is impossible for that kind of thing to be said by someone except the Lord.
Keep in mind that if just anyone mimicked these words, they might fall into a big predicament. It would be sufficient if we just believe that these acts were possible because the acts of power were by the Lord. Since He is the only Master of the universe and everything in it, only the Lord could command for someone else’s property to be brought to Him. He can command someone to say, “The Lord has need of it,” when that person is caught.
Jesus Spoke during the Last Supper
In today’s Scriptural passage, the same scenario was unfolded. The Lord said to His disciples, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.’’” The disciples did as Jesus commanded and it all really turned out as He had said. This was something that only could have only been done by Jesus Christ the true God who made the universe and came to this earth in the flesh of man. The disciples thus prepared the table and all of the food according to the word of the Lord. So, they came to have the Last Supper in a certain man’s house in the city. It was dinnertime.
Jesus gathered the disciples and spoke to them. “One of you will betray Me.” Hearing that, they began whispering, and, driven by worry, they all asked, “Is it I?” The Lord spoke. “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.” They put down a lump of bread, took pieces of it, dipped them into a bowl of milk or wine, and ate them. When Jesus put His hand in the bowl, one of the many disciples there clearly put his own hand in, also. Jesus added, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” The other disciples also asked, but when Judas asked, “Is it I,” Jesus said, “You have said it.”
Isn’t this very clear? Yes, it is. The Lord knew everything to come. When Judas, who was going to betray Jesus in a short while, asked, “Is it I,” the Lord, who already knew everything about it, replied, “Yes, you have said it.” Jesus clearly told Judas that He already knew he would betray Him, but, even so, Judas did not change his mind. He probably didn’t even perceive that the Lord already knew that he was going to betray Him. That is because he did not believe that Jesus is God. And Judas had a desire to betray Jesus because Satan had already entered his heart. Even though Jesus told Judas so he would be awakened to his evil plot, Judas didn’t express his emotions and continued as before to think about taking care of the money he would get for betraying Jesus.
Judas never called Jesus “Lord.” He usually called Jesus “Teacher.” He regarded Jesus as only a very wonderful man. Since he had more interest in the honor of this world, he could not believe the Word of God with a pure heart. Since his greed toward the world was bigger than his belief in Jesus, it was very easy for Satan to use him.
Actually, there were just as many people who hated Jesus as those who followed, believed, and depended on Him. Many people who disliked Him thought, “A country boy from Nazareth comes and the whole country is stirred up and everyone follows Him.” “What on earth did that kind of country bumpkin do to warrant such attention?” As such, those high in the government of Israel, including the High Priests and the scribes that believed in Jehovah, really hated Jesus. On the one side, people who were poor, worthless, sick, and in pain and people who mourned believed in Jesus and followed Him, but Judas saw that most of the rich and the powerful ruled over others and were well off hated Jesus, and he followed after the majority that had the honor of man, power, and authority. Since Judas had accompanied Jesus, he knew that He wasn’t a bad person. But, the religious leaders that he respected slandered Jesus and were irritated that they couldn’t kill Him, so Judas was on their side because he thought that he could make a reputation with the people who tried to catch Jesus by giving Him up. Judas always had that sort of greed in his heart.
On the evening two days before the Passover feast, Jesus and His disciples were eating. At that time, Jesus said, “One of you will betray Me.” When Judas said, “Is it I,” Jesus said, “You have said it.” Even though no one else knew, Judas and Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. People know themselves well. Since Judas had decided to betray Jesus, when all of the others asked, “Is it I,” Judas also carefully joined and asked so with a pricked heart. Because Jesus knew what Judas would do, He said, “You have said it.” Even so, Judas didn’t change his mind but betrayed Jesus. Since Judas betrayed Jesus, He stood in the court of Pilate, died on the Cross, and came back to life on the third day.
When Jesus died on the Cross, it became clearly known that Jesus was the Son of God while the whole heavens darkened for three hours, and Judas realized for the first time that he had done wrong and was regretful. But, it was already too late. As was recorded, Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice that eliminated all of our sins through His baptism and death on the Cross and went to God the Father. But Judas’s life ended as a cursed one that would have been good had he not been born, just as Jesus said, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24).
Jesus Saved Us by Giving His Body and Blood
God decided before the foundation of the world that He Himself would come to this earth and save us through His body and blood by receiving the baptism and dying on the Cross. This was the plan that God had established. Therefore, at the Last Supper, our Lord blessed the disciples, broke bread, gave it to them, and said to them, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it also to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The Lord gave His body and blood in order to deliver us and everyone else in this world from sin.
If we think about it in Jesus’ shoes, we can also give our bodies to a certain extent. I think we, too, can to a certain extent sacrifice our bodies and labor diligently. Of course, the Lord giving His body is on a different dimension from whatever we may sacrifice to serve the Lord physically. That the Lord has given His body refers to that He has received the transference of all humanity’s sins by receiving baptism by John the Baptist after coming to this earth in the flesh of man.
But our Lord took the wine cup and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The Lord gave His blood. What is blood? It is life. The Lord gave His own life for us. If you and I were in that position, could you shed the blood of your life and die for someone else? That would be a really difficult task. Since the Lord was really powerful, He could show His unconditional love for us.
Giving of His body and blood is to give us His life. Since the Lord gave His body and blood for us in this manner, you and I have received salvation. How great is this love? Since our Lord really gave His body and blood for us, we have received the remission of sins and salvation. It was because of His great love that you and I have received salvation. If the Lord had not really done this, how could we have received salvation? The Lord came to this earth, submitted his body in order to receive baptism, was nailed to the Cross and died by shedding all of the blood of His heart onto the earth, gave us His body and blood, and really blotted out all of the sins of mankind by being resurrected on the third day after His death. The Lord has fulfilled the gospel of the water and the Spirit by giving away His body and life to us. We received salvation by believing in the Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If the Lord had not sacrificed Himself, we could not have received salvation, could we? We received salvation because the Lord sacrificed for us in this way.
Let’s Live Out Our Faith While Serving the Lord
I think about these things while serving the Lord: “The Lord has saved us by giving us His body and blood out of His grace. The Lord saved us by eliminating all of the sins that we commit until the end of the world. He allowed us to receive the remission of sins. He allowed us to become children of God. He allowed us to boldly go before God the Father.” I think about these facts. And, while thinking about the remission of sins and His body and blood that the Lord gave us, I came to make up my mind to do the work of spreading God’s gospel of the water and the Spirit to the whole world.
There are many times when it is really difficult while we live on this earth. If you look at Matthew 26:6-13, it talks about a woman who poured some very costly fragrant oil. The Lord said that the act of the woman pouring the oil on His head would be commemorated wherever the gospel was preached.
Let’s think for a second about the part of serving the Lord. When we think about the task of serving the Lord, how could we not serve Him as we have received such a clear remission of sins and salvation in this way? And we cannot but continually start new work in order to serve Him more. So, if we finish this work, we go on to do another work, but we can incessantly serve the Lord because the grace of the remission of sins that He gave us is the source of strength that enables us to serve Him to the end of our lives. While living on this earth, we make many countless sacrifices and labor diligently; among those sacrifices, I think that the most satisfactory and worthwhile work is laboring for the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Since our endeavor to serve the Lord is a most precious work, the more we work for the gospel the more preciously we value the gospel; the more worthwhile it becomes, and the more we want to work for it. Therefore, if we finish one task, we want to work for the gospel through some other work, and we come to harbor desires to do much more work for the gospel. This is the joy of serving the Lord.
I, too, have lived on this earth, but if a person labors only for himself, not only is there nothing worthwhile as well it is also difficult and irritating. While living as a prisoner to the problem of food, clothing, and shelter, a person cannot but labor in order to solve that problem, but there is nothing worthwhile in such a life. On the other hand, if one labors for the Lord, we see that it’s physically difficult, but his heart is glad, joyful, gains new strength, and he becomes grateful. I hope that all of you labor for the Lord after receiving the remission of sins. If you do so, you will experience the new strength that arises in your hearts. In Isaiah, it says, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). The Lord said that the person who lives for Him receives new strength. The Lord says, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” This means that those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, labor for the Lord, and work for Him can live vigorously by always receiving new strength in their hearts.
I have a feeling that I was somewhat negligent in taking care of the Church in our country this year. So, I have a desire to take care of the branches of our Church more carefully, serve the Lord with renewed desire, and spread the gospel to many more foreign countries. I want to do this kind of work. Just as the Lord gave away His body to bestow on us a new life, I want to work by giving my body and heart for the Lord, treasure the life that He gave, be thankful, and do the work of sharing this life with other people. I hope that you, too, live for the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which delivers life and salvation to every lost soul. I hope that you who have been born again of water and the Spirit will become people who can give something beneficial to others.
I think about the Lord’s body and blood that He gave us. I would be very grateful if I could just work for the Lord. If we were only able to give our bodies and blood for the Lord just as the Lord gave us His body and blood, I feel that this is truly precious. I want to suggest to you and me that we live by giving our lives for other people as the Lord gave us His body and blood. In the past, I wasn’t able to give myself for other people very well, but I have a desire and hope that we give our bodies and hearts for the gospel, other people, and all of us, just as the Lord has given us new life and salvation by giving us His body. Do you, too, have this desire?
Since the Lord eliminated all of the sins of the entire world, He enabled us to stand before God. I hope that you really become the righteous doing the work that God is pleased with. I hope that you and I become people who do good things for other people. People who give good things are beautiful, so I want you to have thoughts and desires to give the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the most valuable thing in the world, to all of the people in the world. I believe that everyone who is born again through the water and the Spirit would want to do so for the Lord. I really want to do likewise for the Lord.
We have also done a lot of work in foreign countries, not just in the Churches in our own country. We have really done a lot of work overseas so far. Even so, there are still way too many people in the world that do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, I have an earnest desire to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the souls who have not been born again until my last breath. From the position that I have been given, I think about how and what I have to do for the benefit of the gospel, and I always have the desire to act that way. Since you are all faithfully working from your individual parts, the gospel can be preached in this manner, and I also can be faithful in my part.
We have to do more work than the work we have done up until now. Just as the Lord came to this earth and gave His body and blood for you and me, it would be good for us, too, to give ourselves for the gospel and give everyone benefit. I want to proclaim the gospel to the whole world. I want to spread this gospel to all of the people who haven’t yet been able to receive it. I sincerely want to make the Lord’s gospel more abundant and more widespread. I want to spread the gospel to many people who haven’t received it yet, I want to give my body for the work, and when I think my life is necessary, I would like to give it up. We have a desire to serve the Lord to our hearts’ content because He gave us sufficient salvation. So, I want to go before the Lord after doing His work.
The Life for the Preaching of the Gospel Is Joyous
In today’s Scripture passage in verse 29, Jesus said, “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” I also want to do that. If you think about wine right now, are you dying to drink a glass of it? Let’s all drink together to our hearts’ content in the Father’s Kingdom, Heaven. When the Lord said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom,” it meant that after He drank wine at that time, He didn’t drink it again on earth. Just as Jesus said He would not drink wine, He rejected sour wine after tasting a little that people gave Him when He was hanging on the Cross.
I want to reserve the work of seeking my joy for the lost souls and those who have received the remission of their sins until the day I am with the Lord in the Kingdom of the Father. I want to work for the gospel even more and give my heart and soul for the spiritual benefit of others. And I want to continually spread the gospel to those who have not yet heard it. If we work for the gospel of the water and the Spirit with our whole heart, the Lord will come soon. When He comes, we will drink the wine of joy with Him and the Father in His Kingdom.
What does wine imply? Wine means joy and life. If there is wine, what is beside it? There is also food. In Revelation, it says that in Heaven, there is a “river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, an on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month” (Revelation 22:1-2). Everything on this earth is in Heaven. Everything on this earth and everything in the sea is there, too. I want to work for the gospel of the water and the Spirit and do the Lord’s work until the day when I come to enjoy that. There is a lot of work to do physically, mentally, and spiritually; no matter in what sphere it is, if it is for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I want to give my total commitment and work for the gospel. Do you, too, have that desire in your hearts?
Do you believe that our Lord has redeemed us from all of our sins by giving His body and His blood? - The body of the Lord speaks of the Lord taking charge for all of your and my sins by receiving His baptism, and the shedding of His blood on the Cross means that Jesus atoned for all of our sins that He had taken charge of by receiving the punishment for them. In other words, His body and blood refer to the gospel of the water and the Spirit that saves the lives that we have lost. The Lord willingly submitted His life to save us. Therefore, we have obtained new life through our faith in the Lord. And when the Kingdom of the Lord comes, you and I will come to live with the Lord forever. Until that day comes, we have the desire to give our bodies and blood for other people just as the Lord gave His body and blood to us. We want to give people the way of life, and we would like to work for this gospel by presenting our bodies as living and acceptable sacrifices to God.
Don’t think that you’re sacrificing and working too hard while working for the gospel in the Church. When you instead think by faith that everything that you are doing is for the Lord, it is not only that your strength is renewed but you also receive new blessings. And then a lot of joy arises in your hearts. When you live a life for the gospel of the water and the Spirit and a life of proclaiming new life, your hearts are renewed and you always obtain new strength, even if it is physically difficult. When you live that way, the state of your spirit gets better day after day.
Where are the people living in the world that live for other people besides those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and are born again? Only those people which are able to give their bodies for other people. Just as our Lord gave His body and blood to us, only those who have received the remission of all of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can give and sacrifice their own bodies and blood for the Lord and for other people. We are people who are impatient to give more, and we live lives of giving to many people. The Bible says, “The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives” (Psalms 37:21). The wicked are those who only think of themselves and harm and torment others, whereas the righteous believers are those who give to others as much as they can. The righteous who have been born again of water and the Spirit labor for other people and always think about what they can do for them.
If there were no righteous in the world, it would have already been destroyed. I think that God is preserving this world because God places His hope on the righteous believers who always yearn to do something beneficial to others. More specifically, the work we do serving other people is a spiritual service that rescues their souls from hell. We can’t physically help those in the world who are poor, sick, and oppressed. If we could, we would have to, but if we are preoccupied in that work, we can’t do the more precious work of saving souls. So we really give our hard-earned money for the proclamation of the gospel and for the salvation of souls.
Jesus said that the act of a woman pouring the costly fragrant oil on His head would be commemorated wherever the gospel was preached. However, His disciples disregarded what she did and slandered her, saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But Jesus said, “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.” Just as the Lord said, not long after this woman poured costly fragrant oil on His head, He was nailed to the Cross, died, and ascended to Heaven after being resurrected. People couldn’t see Jesus’ body on the earth anymore.
What Jesus said about the woman who poured the costly fragrant oil on His head was that working for the gospel of the water and the Spirit isn’t something that can be done anytime, but there is a time when it can be done. This world won’t be around for much longer. When the gospel of the water and the Spirit is proclaimed to the entire world and all the people who will receive salvation get to receive it, the end of the world will come. Whether they are rich, poor, sick, or pitiful, those among all of these people who accept the genuine gospel will go to the Eternal Kingdom of God the Father and those who don’t accept it will enter the everlasting fire. Therefore, Jesus said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life” (John 6:27).
We might not be able to labor, anyway because of food, clothing, and shelter when we are living in this world. None can escape hard work. If that is the case, I hope that you have the desire to labor for the will of God. Whether you do the dishes in the Church, clean the chapel room, spread the gospel, make money, or do anything else, you have to know that you do this work in order to serve the Lord. That way, you come to do more work, receive more blessings, your hearts are renewed, and you obtain new strength. You are capable of carrying out all work after receiving power from the Lord, and even though it’s physically difficult, it isn’t difficult for your hearts. Your hearts become refreshed because the Lord pours living water over your heart, and you sufficiently obtain satisfaction.
And after you finish one task, you want to do another, and you continue to receive new strength like an eagle flapping its wings and rising to the sky. Therefore, I hope that those who have received salvation would make up their mind to do whatever work joyfully that should be done for the Lord. That way, your faith grows of its own accord, you get beautiful hearts and a desire to serve before God, and your bodies and souls are all able to prosper.
Let’s Go before the Lord after Doing Works Beneficial to Other People
Brothers and sisters, I think about how the Lord gave us His body and blood. Therefore, I don’t want to brag about my righteousness. Rather, I want to very quietly and substantially serve the Lord.
If there is something I can do for you, too, I want to do it, and if there are people who haven’t yet received the gospel of the water and the Spirit, I would like to give it to them. I think that you, too, have that kind of desire. Am I right? That’s what we desire. By the way, the day that was promised is not far away. I hope that you really become the kind of people who give something beneficial to other people and for the Lord during the time you can still work for the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I hope that all of you live with that kind of desire and faith. That way, God and the Spirit are pleased, and you will receive a lot of blessings.
I give thanks to God. I am deeply thankful to the Lord because God gave us the gospel of the water and the Spirit and allowed us to work for it and live for the benefit of others. There aren’t many days left for preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There isn’t much time left, just as it says in the Bible, “All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it” (Ecclesiastes 1:8). How can we work for the gospel when this world is destroyed? You and I must work diligently when we can plant and cultivate seeds. And I want to become a faithful and trustworthy servant of the Lord.
The day after tomorrow, it is expected that books in Hungarian and Polish will be published. Then, we will send to Russia about 2,500 copies of books that are printed in four Eastern European languages. If our coworkers in Russia don’t do a good job, we can dispatch workers from Korea and then achieve a great work in Russia, just like we have achieved a great progress of the gospel in the United States due to Reverend Kim and his wife’s work. Through this ministry, we are spreading the gospel to several Eastern European countries. Just as the Lord gave us His body, we are laboring and spreading the gospel by sacrificing our bodies. Just as He shared life with us, we, too, are sharing life with other people.
We will begin translating our third book into English tomorrow. If the translation of the book is finished, we will print the book as soon as possible. If the book gets to be distributed, we will enter a new stage of proclaiming the gospel, and the gospel will be spread even more greatly than it has been so far. If we have spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit itself up until now, through the third English book on the Holy Spirit, we will remove the tares that Satan has sown, and a new work of planting the gospel more firmly will arise.
There are steps to spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The first step is spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the whole world from many angles, and the second step will be to publish the Spiritual Growth Series for those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. With the Spiritual Growth Series we can eliminate the tares of false doctrine that Satan has sown in the hearts of Christians. Every person who reads those books will find out they are being deceived by Satan and that they have believed in Jesus having sins intact in their hearts. A lot of people will find out through these books how clear of a gospel the gospel of the water and the Spirit is, come to believe in it, and by the end, everyone who is worthy to believe in this gospel will have come to believe it.
Since I believe that these things will happen inside and outside of our country, the labor that I am doing now does not seem like labor. I am doing this work with all of the branches of the Church in this country. Ministry workers gather together and hold meetings, and, if needed, we send workers to the regions where the Church needs them to be planted. By doing so, we continually do additional work by spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Of course, whatever we do, it is work for the gospel. While doing work for the gospel, we will do some new works and will give our bodies and hearts for the gospel as before.
To those among you who think that you are insufficient but want to give your bodies to the Lord, work together for the gospel, and give your precious things to other people, I hope that you jump into the work of the gospel. I welcome you. If we who are born again unite to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit and work for it, I am sure we will accomplish a lot of work.
Brothers and sisters, I truly give thanks to God. I really wasn’t in good health for a while, but I was able to finish my work because God gave me new strength. So, I am really happy. Now I want to do new work. I still desire to give a lot to the Lord. I will give my whole body before the Lord comes. The Lord says, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24). Not only me let’s all of us do something beneficial for others by sacrificing ourselves before we go to the Lord. I believe that the Lord will do that for us.
He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). I hope that God doesn’t make you people who give a little; I hope He makes you people who give a lot. Hallelujah!
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