Subject 26 : LEVITICUS
[26-4] The Righteous Should Fulfill All Their Priestly Duties (Leviticus 3:1-17)
(Leviticus 3:1-17)
“When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar. Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD, its fat and the whole fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone. And the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the LORD. And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD. He shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. Then he shall offer from it his offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the LORD’s. This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood.”
Our Present Duties
You and I are leading our lives of faith in God’s Church, and accordingly are serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit united together with one heart so that sinners may be reconciled with God. We all believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we are all serving it diligently even at this very moment. But this gospel work will not end so easily anytime soon, for it is something that we must carry on until the end of this world. We are therefore determined to continue to carry out this work into the future. Even though we sometimes get weary from our work, and we feel worn out in both body and soul, we must still bear the burden of this work by placing our faith in the righteousness of God. That’s because the salvation of so many souls now depends on us. Because there are so many sinners in this world, it is incumbent upon us to preach to them the gospel of the water and the Spirit that reveals the righteousness of God.
Most Christians living in this world today are perishing away in silence because of their sins. Having turned into God’s enemies, they have nothing waiting for them except their own destruction, and therefore they must return to the gospel of the water and the Spirit if they want to prevent this outcome. In contrast, we are now preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the people of this world. When we complete God’s work that each of us are doing now, there will be still more work waiting for us. For instance, our Christian book series has continued to expand endlessly, from the Book of Romans to Revelation, 1 John, Genesis, the Gospel of John, and the Gospel of Matthew. This literature ministry must continue on into the future, producing yet more gospel books to enrich our fellow saints all over the world.
That’s because just as you are listening to the Word of God continuously, so do our brothers and sisters and our coworkers abroad need to listen to the Word of God in their lives of faith, and this is made possible through our gospel books. That is why we are so devoted to our literature ministry all the time. Through our print and electronic ministry, we hope to proclaim the gospel of the water and the Spirit and nurture God’s people all over the world. Even though we have preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the people of the world, if we fail to nurture them continuously through our literature ministry, we will also fail to spread the gospel completely. We will then bring disappointment to God. We have given birth to many spiritual children of faith by spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but unless we share our spiritual bread with them, these souls will end up perishing. We therefore cannot afford to take a break from God’s work, that is, spreading the gospel through our literature ministry.
Once we complete the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit to people all over the world, it will be an absolute necessity for us to nurture them with our gospel books. Of course, no one here in God’s Church is doing anything superfluous; everyone is indeed doing something necessary and useful. Our literature ministry is that much more important, an absolutely critical task for God’s Church. That’s because when a spiritually immature baby is born, we need the milk to feed this baby right away. Don’t you agree with this? If a spiritually immature baby never eats anything, this baby is bound to get seriously ill. When people fall spiritually ill, they need spiritual nourishment to restore them, but if there is no spiritual food, then these souls will end up perishing. What is the bread of our souls then? This spiritual bread is found in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit written in the Old and New Testaments.
And this gospel of the water and the Spirit written in the Bible is explained in our sermon books, and we need to spread and share these sermon books with everyone in this world. Only then can the dying souls live and find new strength to grow. This is precisely what we are doing right now. We are working to reconcile every sinner with God. We are doing something tremendously joyous, for this work is absolutely indispensable and priceless.
The Sin Offering Desired by God
Take a look at the peace offering described in today’s Scripture passage. It explains how sacrificial offerings were made to reconcile sinners with God. Every peace offering mentioned in the Bible was an offering made to reconcile sinners with God. All those gathered here today have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and therefore we will focus on what we must do as God’s servants to spread this gospel.
Leviticus 3:1-2 we just read describes how the people of Israel and its priests passed their sins on a sacrificial animal by laying their hands on it, slaughtered it, put its blood on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and burnt the body of the animal by fire. The passage shows us how the Israelites passed their sins on their sacrificial animal by laying their hands on it, and what the priests did for their people once this sacrificial animal was handed over to them. What the priests did is recorded in verse 3 and onwards: “Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD” (Leviticus 3:3-5). These are the things that the priests did continually in the Tabernacle. They offered peace offerings day and night.
During the age of the Old Testament, the priests ministered in the Tabernacle to blot out the Israelites’ sins, but inside the Tabernacle there wasn’t even a chair for them to sit down. So the priests had to always stand while working. It’s written in Leviticus 3:6-11: “If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as an offering made by fire to the LORD, its fat and the whole fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone. And the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove; and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the LORD.” It’s written here that the Israelite’s sacrifice was an offering made to God. That the sacrifice was an “offering” made to God means that God accepted this sacrificial offering and remitted away the Israelites’ sins in return.
The priests of the Old Testament fulfilled God’s desire by ministering these peace offerings, while in the age of the New Testament, when Jesus came to this world, He bore all the sins of this world once and for all through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, shed His blood on the Cross, and thereby saved sinners from their sins and iniquities—an offering accepted by God the Father. It’s such an offering that God is demanding from sinners. The sacrifice that God the Father wants is the sacrifice of faith that blots outs sins; He demands nothing else. Therefore, in the age of the New Testament, God is pleased when we offer Him the sacrifice of faith, that is, faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit—rather than any sacrifice of the old Testament.
If we have indeed received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, then we must continue to spread this true faith so that others may also receive the remission of sins. This is indeed the right thing to do. As those who have now received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must offer the sacrifice of faith ceaselessly for those who still have not heard this gospel. Those who offer such sacrifices have come to know the righteousness of God and believe in it, and therefore they must minister to offer the sacrifice of faith that saves the souls of sinners from sin. We must preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the countless people living in this world, and for us to achieve this, we must teach them about their salvation from sin, the righteousness of God, and His judgment.
For this to happen, who are the people that should make a peace offering for these sinners? Who should minister to make such offerings as burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sin offerings for them? It is none other than us who are living in the age of the New Testament and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit; it is us that must fulfill this priestly duty by placing our faith in the righteousness of God. This is the responsibility of those making peace offerings.
It Is All Thanks to the Righteousness of God That We Can Continue to Carry out Such Blessed Works in Our Lives
God’s Church, where we are abiding, is supporting the work of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit in various ways, and we are serving this work from our individual positions. The righteous are indeed laboring hard for God’s work. However, while it is admirable that we are carrying out God’s work diligently, it is also exhausting to our flesh and we sometimes feel very weary and tired. As a result, there are some people among us who are taking an easy approach to God’s work and neglecting the work of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In other words, although God’s workers are indeed carrying out His work, some of them are working with a careless and an unspiritual heart.
What should we then do when such fleshly thoughts come to our minds? Since this would mean that our minds are tainted by the flesh, we must overcome it by placing our faith in the righteousness of God. It’s true that among the laborers serving God’s righteousness, there actually are some people who are not spiritual enough. It’s also true that some of them are trying to protect their own privileges to live for their own fleshly desires. So these people think to themselves, “I am doing enough for God’s work, and so no one should expect anything more from me, I will do only so much and no more.” These people care more about their own flesh than the work of God or His righteousness.
If we have really received the remission of sins into our hearts by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then all of us should be happy to carry out God’s work. The problem, however, is that some of us do not have this disposition. There are various departments within the Church serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but some people want to do just what they like, trying to pick and choose their preferred departments and positions. Such people challenge the Church leaders endlessly, thinking to themselves, “I have my rights and privileges, and so why are these rights not recognized then?” What do they do eventually, when they can’t suppress their fleshly thoughts? They refuse to be led by the Church, saying, “I’ve been carrying out the Lord’s work as a faithful believer in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but no one has given me any recognition.” Many of them come to think, “I will live my own life from now on,” and as a result, they end up leaving God’s Church, wanting to live for their own desires rather than serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit for the sake of God’s Church.
Still others may think, “I’ll attend the worship service at God’s Church and listen to His Word, but the rest of my time will be spent on my own fleshly affairs. I’ll no longer devote myself exclusively to God’s work alone, but I’ll also live for myself.” It’s actually possible for everyone, young and old, including even ministers, to have such fleshly thoughts. However, although it’s true that all of us have such carnal thoughts, we don’t live according to the flesh because it can’t make God pleased and we will be destroyed.
The righteous who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have the duty to preach this gospel to all the sinful souls that still do not know or believe in it. It is then only a matter of course that all of us should indeed serve God’s work by faith. Yet despite this, there still are some people even in God’s Church that refuse to do His work and instead follow their own flesh. They think to themselves, “I’m sure that I’ve received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. So don’t pester me with all these requests. What has God’s Church done for me lately? I’ve served the Church more than enough, what more can anyone demand from me?” All these fleshly thoughts do exist within the righteous. Before God, carnal thoughts only leads to death, both spiritual and physical.
As those who have been made righteous, we must know the will of the Lord and His righteous work which He entrusted to all of us clearly, and we must faithfully carry them out. The Book of Leviticus explains the sacrificial system through which the Israelites made sacrificial offerings to God. What do these offerings mean? Do they mean that you and I have to continue to carry out what the priests did literally? Or do they mean that now that we have become spiritual priests by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must fulfill our spiritual duties as priests until the end? Not just those of us who have been entrusted with God’s work, but all of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are spiritual priests. Therefore, each and every one who believes in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit must carry out spiritual work. This duty extends to everyone in Gods’ Church, from the kids in the Sunday school to teenagers, young adults, men and women, lay believers and ministers alike. All of us must preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and all of us must serve this work of proclaiming the gospel.
As the righteous, we must make peace offerings time after time for the sake of all those who still do not know the righteousness of God. Is anyone then especially exempted or excluded from this work? No, that is not the case. Everyone must partake in this work. It is something that must be participated in by all. Each and every one of us must serve and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, no one is exempt from this. Remember this clearly, if you have indeed been remitted from your sins, thanks to the righteousness of God, then you have this duty, you are not excluded.
When we received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, how was this all made possible? We were able to born again because of the peace offering made by the priests who believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit before us and were serving to proclaim this gospel. As such, we must also devote ourselves to the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit and share our faith with others. It is none other than you who must work spiritually to serve and proclaim of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
No righteous person is ever exempt from serving this gospel. If a three-year old child has really received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then even this child must serve the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit in whatever capacity that’s appropriate for his or her age. In whatever way, whether by being a good-mannered child or in some other way, the child must serve the gospel. So even among our kids at the Sunday school, when I see some kids not serving the gospel, I say to them, “Although you are young, you still should serve the gospel. Shouldn’t you do so if you have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and if you really believe in this gospel?” Don’t you agree with this? What about our adult believers? Don’t they also have the same duty to serve the gospel? If you and I have indeed received the remission of sins, then whether we like it or not, both of us have the rightful duty to serve and spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit by faith, which is the gospel of the Lord. This is right and fitting. It’s the destiny of the righteous to carry out this work. It is something that’s only a matter of course for all of us.
In God’s Church, it’s not acceptable for only some people to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit while others are neglecting it. Even if you are a teenager, you shouldn’t think to yourself, “Now that I’ve reached adolescence, I don’t want to serve the gospel anymore. I am a free person, and so don’t try to suppress my freedom.” Every adolescent student must still continue to work to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Likewise, the elderly must still serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Whether young or old, strong or weak, everyone must serve equally to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You can’t say, “Well, since you are strong and healthy, you should serve the gospel diligently, but I don’t have to serve the gospel since I am not healthy.” There are such exemptions. Each and every one who has become a priest before God must minister to offer spiritual sacrifices for sinners.
How Did the High Priest of the Old Testament Minister?
On behalf of sinners, the high priest of the Old Testament had to lay their hands on live sacrificial animals such as lambs and goats, slaughter these sacrificial animals, and burn them with fire. To show His power to Moses, God had brought fire down from the sky to ignite the altar of burnt offering, but He did this only once. All offerings, including burnt offerings, peace offerings, and sin offerings, were made to God by the priests, putting firewood under the altar of burnt offering and igniting it to burn the sacrificial animals. A huge amount of firewood was thus needed for this. The priests had to bring the dry firewood and ensure that it would burn well. Even when the smoke stung their eyes, they couldn’t complain about it. They also had to make sure to cut the flesh of the sacrificial animals into pieces. This wasn’t all. Once high priest laid his hands on the sacrificial animals head, he had to kill it and remove all its unclean parts.
You can imagine just how revolting it was to see what was inside this animal. When an animal dies, it defecates, and the priests had to clean up all the feces. All of this required a tremendous amount of water and firewood, both of which had to be prepared by the priests. The priests had to minister the sacrifice of the remission of sins for countless Israelites before God. To accomplish this, they had to keep the fire burning constantly under the altar of burnt offering.
All these things were done by the priests of the Old Testament. Today, if one has received the remission of sins, I believe that this person must serve to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, whether he is a Sunday school kid or the elderly. Isn’t this true? What do you think will happen if someone with a sound body and mind says, “Though I’ve received the remission of sins, I won’t serve the gospel”? Do you actually feel that God’s Church has not served you well enough? But if you have indeed received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then isn’t it obvious that you were saved because those who had become priests before you had served you?
I am sure that you are well aware of the fact you and I are serving the righteousness of God. Do you think that our ministers and our supporting workers are laboring hard because they have a tough heart? Even ministers struggle in their flesh from time to time. Some evangelists are overheard praying like this when they go out to preach the gospel: “Lord, please allow me to come across good people whose hearts are prepared to receive the mercy of God, so that I may preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them. “Every evangelist wishes this sincerely, praying to God to bring good people to them. If you put yourself in the evangelist’ shoes, you will also find yourself praying like this. No matter what, all of us must serve the Lord and preach His gospel of righteousness. This duty belongs to all of us equally, none of us are exempt. However, when I say things like this, some of people still can’t understand and just blink their eyes. So whenever I say anything, I have to explain it in detail.
How Do Today’s False Pastors Pray to God?
Today’s false prophets pray to God like so, “Our holy, merciful, and omnipotent God, Your people have committed many sins in the past week, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Please forgive them.” Some of them also say, “Everyone is a priest before God. Because the Lord Jesus Christ has saved us by shedding His blood on the Cross for us, we have been delivered by our faith, and therefore we are all priests. Now that we have been saved, we should live happily. God had come to this earth to love us. We were born on this earth to be loved by Him.”
However, if we have indeed received God’s love of salvation, then we ought to love everyone else’s soul in turn as well. Yet despite this, some people just insist on their own rights when they attend church, saying to their pastor, “If I stop giving donations to this church, you will probably have some serious trouble. You may be the chair of the board of directors at this church, but I am also a member of the board. So what will you do? Are you willing to make some compromises with me? If not, I will have your salary reduced.” How would a pastor who hears something like this preach then? This pastor will have no choice but to bless his congregation and say, “May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. I want you all to receive material blessings. I wish you all to become rich.” Why is it unavoidable for this pastor to minister like this? Why must he say things like this? That’s because only then can he get paid and make a living. In other words, false pastors get paid only if they curry favor with the members of the church board or its Eldership.
What will such pastors do to their congregation in the end? They will turn their congregation into arrogant people, wanting to be served in the church rather than serving, thinking to themselves, “I have been saved by believing in Jesus’ blood on the Cross. All that I have to do in this church is just give a tithe and make various thanksgivings and special offerings.” Many Christians taught under such false pastors consider that this way of thinking is only natural. God’s truth, however, teaches very differently.
The Word of God Says That the Believers in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Should Never Live Like the False Christians
The Bible teaches that those who have received the remission of sins from God must be, from that moment on, faithful to God and His gospel to death. As those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, all of us must be fully devoted to God’s work on this earth until the day we go to the Lord’s Kingdom to enjoy everlasting life. This means that in order to deliver the souls that have not been saved from the sins of the world yet, we must make these offerings, such as the peace offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and sin offerings spiritually on their behalf, all with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And we must also lead these souls to the Church and continue to offer peace offering for them through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In other words, we must carry out God’s work continuously to serve these souls. This is what every priest must do without fail.
It would be deplorable if any of us were to fail to realize this and think, “I’ve done my share of work since receiving the remission of sins. What more can anyone ask from me? I’ve done everything I should as a minister. So how can anyone expect anything more from me?” Such people will render it meaningless that they have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Of course, it’s not completely implausible for us to say, “There are well over 6 billion people living in this world. When will we ever preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all these countless number of people? I’ve done my best, and this is all that I could achieve. What more can I possibly do?” However, my fellow believers, we must serve the righteousness of God ceaselessly, placing our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and being empowered by God.
Think about it for a moment. Just because a priest has offered a sacrifice once for his people, does this then mean that he is done with all his work? No, that is not the case. You must continue to abide in God’s Church and carry out His work. And when you go home, you must return after taking care of your family affairs and resume God’s work. In the Old Testament, priests were required to fulfill their priestly duties until the age of 50. But what about us? If priesthood were to end at 50, many of us should have retired long ago. Pastor Kim should have retired, and I myself should have retired as well. But this is neither tenable nor acceptable. The priests of the New Testament must fulfill their priesthood from the moment they first believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the very day they pass away.
You and I Have the Same Priestly Duties
I am no exception when it comes to my priestly duties. I must also continue to carry on with my spiritual priesthood. I also know very well just how hard you are working, but this gospel work must continue. Countless sinners are stretching their hands out to us for help, asking us to save them, and we have the duty to preach the true gospel of the water and the Spirit to them. After all, are we not doing God’s work? Haven’t you seen newly hatched chicks opening their beaks to be fed, even when their parents are not around? Aren’t the sinful souls all over the world opening their mouths to be fed just like these chicks? Aren’t they begging us to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them? Given this, it is simply impossible for us to avoid this work. We must continue to spread the Word of life through our sermon books.
What will happen when the chicks grow up? Won’t their flap their wings and venture out, and with enough courage, soar into the sky? What will happen when more time passes by? Having matured into fully-grown birds, they will hatch their own chicks and they will have to continue to bring food to their offspring. Haven’t today’s believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit also become spiritual parents, doing the work of God until their time comes? Isn’t this true having given birth to our spiritual children? We therefore cannot neglect them. How can any parent say, “My life is mine to live,” and neglect to feed the children to seek one’s own pleasure?
You are carrying out God’s work faithfully now, and you will continue to do so even without my admonishment, but even so, I want all of us to fully realize just how important this work is, and to do it even better. If you carry out God’s work without realizing its importance, you will think to yourself, “I’ve done enough work.” That is why I am calling all of us to set our minds firmly on God’s work, renounce all other pursuits, and continue to do God’s work faithfully.
Do you think there is anyone among the workers serving the righteousness of God who is free of any health problems? Even if we are physically ill, we must still continue to serve the Lord even while treating our illnesses. Only then can we preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to everyone in the world. You and I were born on this earth with this mission of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This mission has not just been imposed on us, but it is something that we have willingly taken on out of gratitude, because we are so very happy to have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is out of this heart of gratitude that we have come to nurture our spiritual children and make many more preparations to continue to carry out this work. And once we began to live in this way, we have also come to realize how we should live as Christians.
Ultimately, we have realized how we ought to live. The Lord said, “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher” (Matthew 10:25). Having come to this earth, the Lord has given us His own life, thus making it possible for us to receive true life. We are then Jesus’ disciples, and if we really want to live according to the will of Jesus our Lord, then we ought to live with Christ and die with Christ. How should we then live and die? We should live to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we should also die for the proclamation of this gospel.
My fellow believers, everyone who has become a priest and received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must serve the work of spreading this gospel. Regardless of who you are, man and woman, young and old, all of us must spread this gospel throughout the whole world. It doesn’t matter whether or not you hold an office in God’s Church. As long as we are in God’s Church, all of us must work from each of our positions. Only then will this gospel of the water and the Spirit be preached completely to the ends of the world. Only then can every soul all across the world be saved. As such, I believe that we must live in obedience to the will of the Lord from the very moment we realize and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We should no longer think or expect that life would get easier once we are elevated to a higher position in the church. In reality, when you are offered a higher position in God’s Church, you will actually be even more busier. The higher your church office is, the more work of God you must do. Perhaps some of our junior ministers are thinking, “Since my church office is still low, I think what I am doing is enough for now. I’ll serve more when I’m promoted to a higher office. When I become a senior minister, I’ll enjoy more privileges.” But this is not the case. You’ll find this out once you actually become a senior minister. There will be even more work for you to do, as you will have to be sensitive to the needs of the saints, lead them, and build a sound foundation for them to serve the gospel well. Perhaps you will have a slightly more authoritative voice, but you will still have to carry out the same work of God as you had done before.
So, my fellow believers, do not think what you are doing for the gospel right now is enough. Instead, prepare yourself to work a hundred times more than what you’ve been doing thus far. Your mind will then be at ease. If you think that you are already doing more than enough for the gospel, then you will react adversely and have even a tougher time when more work of God is entrusted to you. But this doesn’t mean that you should do nothing but work.
I believe that all our saints must serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit in unity, at least if they have indeed received the remission of sins. Am I right here? I ask you all to believe so also, and carry out the work of the Lord without fail by this faith. All those who have become spiritual priests must serve the Lord’s gospel, and I believe that this readiness is something that all of us should have as a matter of course. Let me then close by giving all thanks to the Lord for His righteousness.
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