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Sermons

Subject 3 : The Gospel of the Water and the Spirit

[3-9] Let Us Do the Will of the Father with Faith (Matthew 7:21-23)

Let Us Do the Will of the Father with Faith
(Matthew 7:21-23)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
 
 
MAYBE I AM THE ONE...
 
Does everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ enter the kingdom of Heaven?
No. Only those who do the will of God
 
Jesus Christ says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” These words have struck fear in the hearts of many Christians, causing them to work hard to do the will of God.
Most Christians think the only thing they need to do is to believe in Jesus to enter the kingdom of Heaven, but Matthew 7:21 tells us that not everyone who says to Him, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Many who read this verse are driven to wonder “Maybe I am the one.” They try to convince themselves, “No, Jesus must have meant the unbelievers.” But the thought remains in their minds and keeps nagging at them.
So, they hang on to the latter part of the verse which reads, “But he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” They hang on to the words, “does the will of My Father” and think that they can do that by paying the tithe faithfully, praying at the break of dawn, preaching, doing good deeds, and not sinning...etc. They try so hard. It makes me feel so sorry to see them.
Many people make mistakes because they do not understand this verse. Therefore, I would like to explain this verse clearly so that we may all know the will of God and live by it.
First, we must know that the will of God is for His Son to take away the sins of all people and thus free us from sin.
In Ephesians 1:5, it is written, “God has predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”
In other words, His intention is for us to know the true gospel that Jesus Christ washed away all our sins, thus allowing us to be born again. He wants us to be born again of water and the Spirit by passing all our sins onto His Son, Jesus. This is the will of God.
 
 
JUST FOR SAYING, “LORD! LORD!”
 
What must we know when we believe in Jesus?
The will of the Father
 
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
We ought to understand the Father’s will in two ways. First, we should know that it is His will that we obtain forgiveness for our sins and become born again of water and the Spirit. Second, we should work on the basis of that faith.
It is His will to blot out the sins of all people on the earth. Satan brought about the fall of our ancestor Adam through sin. But the will of our Father is to wipe out all the sins of man. We should understand that it is not our Father’s will for us to offer the tithe faithfully and offer prayers at the break of dawn, but to save us all from sin. It is His will to save all of us from drowning in a sea of sin.
The Bible says that not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven. This means that we should not just believe in Jesus, but know what our Father wants for us. It is His will to save us from sin and the judgment of hell, knowing that the legacy of Adam and Eve means that we cannot help but live in sin.
 
 

THE WILL OF GOD

 
What is the will of God?
To make us His children by freeing us from sin
 
Matthew 3:15 says, “For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Thus it was to fulfill God’s plan that Jesus came to this world to save us all from sin. The will of God was fulfilled when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
He wanted to save us and make us His children. In order to do that, His Son had to take away all our sins. It was His will to make all people His children. So He sent His own Son to take away the sins of all people who had fallen into Satan’s clutches. It was His will to offer the life of His own Son for all people so that they could become His children.
When Jesus was baptized and died on the Cross, the will of God was fulfilled. It is also His will for us to believe that all our sins were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized and that He took the judgment for all our transgressions through His death on the Cross.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). God saved His people from sin. To do so, the first thing Jesus did in His public ministry was to be baptized by John the Baptist.
“But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him” (Matthew 3:15). It was the will of God that Jesus came to this world, took away all the sins of the world through His baptism, died on the Cross, and was resurrected.
We should know this clearly. Many people read Matthew 7:21 and think that it is His will for us to serve the Lord, even to the point of death, by offering all our worldly possessions to build churches.
Fellow Christians, we who believe in Jesus should first know the will of God and then do it. It is wrong for you to dedicate yourself to the church without knowing His will.
People ask themselves what else can there be except to live in faith within their orthodox churches. But I myself studied Calvinism in the Presbyterian Church and was raised under an adoptive mother who was as religious as any veteran pastor. I learned in the so-called orthodox church.
The apostle Paul said that he could also boast that he was from the tribe of Benjamin and studied the Law under Gamaliel, who was a great rabbi at the time. Before Paul was born again, he was on his way to arrest those who believed in Jesus. But he found faith in Jesus on the road to Damascus and became righteous through the blessing of being born again of water and the Spirit.
 
 

WE HAVE TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD BEFORE WE CAN DO IT

 
What is necessary before we believe in Jesus?
We must first know His will.
 
Our sanctification is the will of God. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). We know that it is the will of God that we be completely sanctified through the water and the Spirit and live in faith all our lives.
If there is anyone who believes in Jesus but still has sin in his heart, he is not living in accordance with the will of God. Following His will requires that we be sanctified through the salvation found in Jesus. To know this is to do the will of God.
When I ask you, “Do you still have sin in your heart even though you believe in Jesus?” and your answer is yes, then clearly you do not yet know the will of God. It is the will of God that we should be sanctified and saved from all our sins through faith in the water and the Spirit.
Once there was a man who had obedient sons. One day he called the eldest, who was also the most obedient, and said, “Son, go to the village across the field...”
Before he finished speaking, the son said, “Yes, father” and was gone. He didn’t wait to find out what he was supposed to do. He just went.
His father called after him, “Son, it is all very well and good that you are so obedient but you should know what I want you to do.”
But the son said, “It is all right, father. I will obey you. Who can obey better than I?”
But of course he came back empty-handed. He had no way of doing his father’s will without knowing what it was he wanted. He just blindly obeyed.
We could be like him if we do not know Jesus Christ. Many devote themselves, follow theological doctrines, offer the tithe faithfully, pray all night and fast, all without knowing the will of God.
When they die with sin in their hearts, they are turned away at the gate of Heaven. They were so eager to do the will of God but didn’t know what God wanted.
 
What does it mean to practice lawlessness?
To believe in Jesus as a sinner while not knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit
 
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22-23)
There are things God wants us to do, and there is faith He demands of us. He wants us to believe that Jesus took away all our sins. Many prophesy, cast out demons, and do wonders in His name without knowing the truth of the water and the Spirit.
Doing wonders means building many churches, selling all one’s possessions to donate to the church, and offering one’s own life for the Lord, among other things.
To prophesy in His name means to be a leader. Such people are like the Pharisees who boast of living according to the Law while antagonizing Jesus. This also applies to would-be orthodox Christians.
To cast out demons is to exercise power. They are all so enthusiastic in their faith, but the Lord will tell them in the end that He does not know them. He will ask them how can they know Him when He does not know them.
The Lord says, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” On that day, crowds of people will cry out to Him, “Lord, I believe. I believe that You are my Savior.” They will say they love Him but they have sin in their hearts. The Lord calls them the practitioners of lawlessness (the sinners who are not delivered) and will tell them to depart from Him.
On that day, those who died without being born again will cry out before Jesus. “I prophesied, built churches and sent out 50 missionaries in Your name.”
But Jesus will declare to those sinners, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
“What do You mean? Don’t You know that I prophesied in Your name? I served in the church for many years...I taught others to believe in You. How can You not know me?”
He will answer, “I never knew you. You who claim to know Me yet have sin in your heart, depart from Me!”
It is lawlessness before God to believe in Him with sin in one’s heart or not to believe according to His law of salvation. It is lawlessness not to know His will. It is lawlessness to try to do His will without knowing it or not knowing the blessing of being born again of water and the Spirit. It is also lawlessness to follow Him without obeying His will. Lawlessness is a sin.
 
 

THE WILL OF GOD IN THE BIBLE

 
Who are the children of God?
The righteous who have no sin
 
It is His will for us to believe in the gospel of being born again of water and the Spirit. The true gospel fosters our rebirth. It is also His will that we live for the gospel as His children. We should know the will of God, but so many do not know the gospel of being born again of water and the Spirit.
When I ask people why they believe in Jesus, many say they believe in Jesus in order to be saved from their sins.
I ask, “Then, do you have sin in your heart?”
They say, “Of course, I do.”
“Then, are you saved or not?”
“Of course I am.”
“Can a sinner who has sin in his heart enter into the kingdom of Heaven?”
“No, he can’t.”
“Then, are you going to the kingdom of Heaven or into the fires of hell?”
They say they are going to the kingdom of Heaven, but can they? They will go to hell.
Some think that because they believe in Jesus, they can enter into the kingdom of Heaven even if they have sin in their hearts and that it is the will of God for them to do so. But God does not accept sinners into the kingdom of Heaven.
What is the will of God? It says in the Bible that the will of God is for us to believe in His Son, to believe in the blessing of being redeemed through the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross.
Those who believe in the blessing of being born again of water and the Spirit become His children. It is our glory to become His children. His children are righteous.
When God calls us righteous, does He regard a sinner-Christian as righteous? God can never lie. So before Him, you are either a sinner or a righteous person. There can never be ‘considered to be without sin.’ He calls only those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to be sanctified.
 
How can we become children of God?
By accepting the gospel of the water and the blood
 
Because God passed all the sins of the world onto His Son, even His own Son had to be judged on the Cross. God could never tell a lie. He says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When His Son died, the darkness fell on the earth for three hours.
“Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Matthew 27:46)
Jesus took away all the sins of the world through His baptism to save all people from their sins. He took away the sins of humanity, knowing that He had to be crucified and forsaken by God, His Father. So God judged His own Son for the sins He took away at the Jordan and turned His face from His Son for three hours.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).
Are you children of God? We are the born again because we have accepted the gospel of being born again of water and the Spirit. Those who are born again of water and the Spirit are righteous. Now we have all become righteous.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). When a righteous man calls himself righteous before God and the people, those who are not redeemed tend to judge him. So the apostle Paul says, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). God wiped out all our sins through Jesus and called us sanctified, righteous, and His children. He gave us the right to become glorious children of God.
Those who are born again of water and the Spirit are His children. They live with Him eternally. They are no longer just creatures in this world but children of God who belong to Heaven.
Now that they are righteous children of God, there’s no one who can bring a charge against them, judge them, or separate them from God.
We have to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to believe in Jesus. We have to know the Bible. It is essential that we know and believe the will of God in order to be able to carry it out according to His will.
 
 

IT IS THE WILL OF GOD THAT SINNERS BE BORN AGAIN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT

 
Why did God send His Son in the likeness of sinful man?
To have all sins passed onto Him
 
It is the will of God that we become redeemed and born again of water and the Spirit. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
It was the will of God to send His Son so that all sins would be passed onto Him and we could be saved. This is the law of the Spirit that allows us to be born again of water and the Spirit. It freed us from all sins.
We are redeemed. Now, can you all recognize the will of God? It is His will to redeem us all. He doesn’t want us to compromise with the world but rather to believe only in His words and worship Him alone.
It is also the will of God that those who have been born again testify the gospel and live in the church, devoting themselves to the work of bringing other souls back to God.
We sin not because we want to, but because we are weak. But Jesus took away those sins. God passed all the sins of the world onto Jesus through John the Baptist. He sent His own Son for that purpose and had Him baptized by John. We are saved by believing in this. This is the will of God.
 
 
IT IS THE WILL OF GOD FOR US TO BELIEVE IN JESUS, WHOM HE SENT
 
Why did Jesus come in the likeness of sinful man?
To take away all the sins of mankind
 
The Bible says doing the will of God is to believe in Him whom He sent. “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’” (John 6:28-31).
People told Jesus that God had given Moses a sign when he was on the way to Canaan, giving the Israelites the manna from Heaven, and as a result they believed in God (John 6:32-39). People asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered that they should believe in Him to do the work of God. If we are to do the work of God, we have to believe in the works of Jesus Christ. It is the will of God for us not only to believe and preach the gospel but to live in it.
God commands us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Jesus clearly tells us to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Everything He did for His Father and the Spirit is contained in His baptism. When we understand that, we can believe in God and see everything Jesus did in this world and how the Spirit testified to that.
Jesus was sent by God to testify to the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore only when we believe in the word of God and His servant can we be saved.
 
 

TO DO THE WORK OF GOD

 
What is the purpose of our lives?
To do the will of God by spreading the gospel all over the world
  
If we are to do the work of God, we must first believe in the gospel of the baptism of Jesus and His death on the Cross. It is the work of God to believe in Him whom God sent. In order to believe in Jesus, we should first believe that He saved us with the water and the blood.
The will of God is accomplished in us when we believe in Jesus and preach the gospel. In this way we do the work of God. He told us that only those who believe in the blessing of being born again of water and the Spirit can enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Let us all take our places in the kingdom of Heaven by recognizing the following essential truths. Recognizing the true will of God, by knowing and believing that all our sins were passed onto Jesus with His baptism. Live for the expansion of His kingdom. Finally, preach the gospel until the day you die.
Fellow Christians! Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the ones who do the work of God. It is the work of God to believe in Him whom God sent. It is doing His will to believe that all sins were passed onto Him whom God sent and that Jesus Christ is our Savior.
The work of delivering man from sin was accomplished when Jesus was baptized at the Jordan River and died for all of us on the Cross. The second part of the work of God is to believe in Him whom God sent, to believe in the Savior who took away all the sins of the world, and to preach the gospel throughout the world.
Now we who are born again should live and preach the gospel to the end of the world.
 
Where do those people go who believe in Jesus without knowing the will of God?
They go to hell.
 
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22-23)
This passage tells us clearly who are the sinners before God and who are the practitioners of lawlessness.
There are so many who are not born again among those who say ‘Lord, Lord.’ They are in pain because they still have sin in their hearts. So they cry out to God, calling, ‘Lord, Lord,’ in a half complaining manner, ill-befitting true prayers of worship.
They believe their consciences will be cleansed if they cry out in prayer, but it is impossible because sin remains in their hearts. They pray in the mountains, crying out in anguish, as if God was far away. When we do not have complete faith, we tend to call out ‘Lord, Lord’ more often.
In some churches in which the congregation is not born again, they pray with so much enthusiasm that the pulpit breaks down.
But we can see in the Bible that not all those who call out ‘Lord, Lord,’ enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have the faith that leads them to do the work of God.
The Bible tells us that it is lawlessness to call out His name with sin in one’s heart. Have you ever been to mountain prayer meetings? Some old female deacons cry and cry, calling out His name because they have neither met Jesus in truth, nor accepted the Spirit in their hearts, nor become born again of water and the Spirit. They call His name so urgently because they live in permanent fear that they will go to hell.
Suppose that someone who had devoted his life to serving the church as a missionary or a pastor was ultimately discarded by the Lord. To be abandoned by a parent or a spouse would be enough to break anyone’s heart, but having been abandoned by God, the King of kings, the Judge of our souls, where would we go?
I hope this will never happen to any of you. Please listen and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is the will of God for us to be born again and live within the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We Christians have to truly believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and draw strength from the truth of the Bible. Only then can we be saved from the judgment of God.
 
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RETURN TO THE GOSPEL OF THE WATER AND THE SPIRIT