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we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
we have temporally suspended our ‘Free Print Book service’.
In the light of this situation we are not able to mail you the books at this time.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 3-6] Let Us Do Spiritual Work by Faith (John 3:16-17)
(John 3:16-17)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
It is so difficult for human beings to live in this world. Struggling against the rapidly changing environment is hard enough, and many people have perished from recent heat waves. Every summer, we hear of news about how many people did not survive through the scorching heat waves and perished. Temperatures in my country during the summer have also gone up so high that it feels as though I live in a tropical climate, and simply taking in breaths is hard work. The world has yet to see far worse heat waves, and so my heart is determined to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to everyone throughout the world as soon as possible.
The world is falling ill now. In Botswana, a southern African country, almost 40% of the population is said to be HIV-positive. The crises of neighboring countries are almost the same. The situation is so bad that the very survival of these nations is now in doubts. UNAIDS, the joint United Nations program on HIV, reported that the average life span in Botswana is no more than 39. If the HIV infection rate of this country does not decrease, over two-thirds of its teens would pass away in the near future.
It is in such a tough world in which you and I are now living. For what reason should we live, and what purpose should we mark for our lives? We the born-again righteous who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit should know clearly what our purpose of life is.
There are so many things in this world for us to do, and yet there are so many difficulties that we are facing. Are you also struggling? For what purpose do you live? People in this world start to distance themselves from their lust of the flesh and begin to think about their souls only when they are nearing death, and it is only then that they desire to be washed from their sins, to become sinless before the presence of God. Because countless people try to take care of their souls only upon their imminent death, they are unable to receive the true salvation and remission of their sins, and therefore they ultimately end up going to hell.
You and I have the duty to live for the countless souls who still have not accepted the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We are doing all these works of service to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them in any way possible. In doing so, our situation does not matter. Throughout this whole world, there are many people waiting for our helping hands. In underdeveloped countries, there are countless souls dying because of their ignorance of the good news. These people desperately need the Word of God, and we must do everything possible so that they may also believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that can save and renew their souls. Though they are struggling with hunger and diseases, I know that they would want their souls to be filled with God’s abundant blessings just like us. They are calling us to be saved.
People in some developed countries, on the other hand, are proud of their past glory. They are proud of the achievements of their ancestors, boasting of their great castles, renowned artists, and cultural heritage left for the world. But the matter of fact is that their souls, too, are also dead spiritually. We must go to them also by sharing our gospel books. We need to share our books that hold the gospel of the water and the Spirit with everyone in the whole wide world. There is indeed much for us to do, for we must spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to them, so that they may come to know and believe in Jesus, receive the remission of their sins, and enter the Kingdom of God.
What Is Our Purpose for Life in This Age and Time?
“For what purpose should we live?” This question is something that all of us must give some serious consideration to at least once. Human beings are fundamentally so weak that they cannot even survive through slightly more intense heat waves. The spread of the gospel of the water and the Spirit to such beings has now become our purpose in life. And this means that we have been permitted by God to receive strength from Him and to live fruitful and worthy lives. For the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit who have received the remission of sin, they are now living for this purpose of spiritual work and this is something to be greatly proud of.
It would be a shameful life if I were to lead my life simply to eat and drink, trying to make some pittance for my own survival. Money cannot be the goal of our lives. We only need it to survive in the flesh in order to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As such, those who have now received the remission of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must live for the salvation of other souls. It is crystal clear that unless one is remitted from his sins, he is bound to hell. Therefore, we should not fail to grasp God’s desire, which has made us born again first through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, so that we may help others to prepare their next lives for Heaven rather than hell. If we instead live for our flesh, even after receiving the remission of our sins, and we do not make up our minds to spread this gospel for the rest of our lives, then we would be like the beasts that perish (Psalms 49:20). You need to realize here that when the born-again righteous do not live for God’s righteousness, they have no reason for existence.
Our purpose in life is to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to others, so that they may receive the remission of their sins. The Lord said to us that life on this earth lasts only a moment, and all that remains thereafter is the judgment. This is why we must do the spiritual works that save souls. It is written, “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6). If you have indeed become the righteous children of God by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then it is only proper for you to live for other souls just as Jesus Christ has done so.
Our thoughts, our minds, and our purpose must be clear and large. However, most people live lowly and hopeless lives because of their small aspirations and narrow minds. What would be sadder than having nothing worthy in their achievements on their headstones other than to note the years of their birth and death? The reality is that everyone on this earth who has not been born again is like this. The born-again who do not live for the gospel are also like this. You do not want to end up like these people, to leave a headstone that only says you were born in such a year, were born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but then lived to only feed yourselves, do you?
We do not serve because we want to be memorialized by someone down the road, but we serve because we do not want to lead the kind of life that we would not be proud of. Those of us who have been born again of the water and the Spirit should have our headstones read, “This man was born in such a year, was born again in such a year, and until he passed away and came to rest here, he preached the gospel to countless people and he saved countless souls.” Only then have we led truly worthy lives.
Whether one’s life would be something to be proud of or be ashamed of depends on how he decides to live his life. On one hand, there are those who are living for the immediate pleasures of the flesh, and on the other hand, there are those who are thinking about their future and wondering how they can live worthy and meaningful lives. How one ends his life depends on how he decides to live his life.
Human life, after all, lasts only 70-80 years, perhaps 90-100 years if we live long. Everyone is inevitably bound to die like this, for it is appointed for man to be born once and die once. But once we are born, we have to meet the Lord, receive remittance from all our sins, and live our lives to spread the gospel to everyone throughout the world. Just how eagerly are people waiting for our help?
Have you ever seen the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil? The Brazilian dance Samba is world-famous. What a dizzy, sumptuous, and lively dance is it? But while seeing the magnificence of this Samba Carnival, suddenly I realized the emptiness of life, for in my eyes, these death-bound people shaking their bodies fervently in their dance were only desperately trying to forget their suffering temporarily. When I thought about how they had worked hard for a whole year just to enjoy the revelry during the Carnival, and how they had lived only to eat and drink like this, they seemed so pitiful to me. As I came to see the pity that lies behind the glittering splendor, my heart was convicted to spread the gospel to such people in Brazil first.
When we look at people, there are those who draw our compassion, and then there are those who do not. Those who seem fine in their outward appearance, and have adorned themselves, do not draw our compassion. But those who still retain their sadness and misery despite searching and trying hard to live their lives in true joy draw our compassion. It was our goal to spread the gospel to such poor people that we published our books in every language. These books are going into every nation to testify about the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and as a result, there have arisen many partners of the same faith as ours around the world. This is how we are able to meet those who were looking for the Truth.
God has entrusted us with the work that enables people to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and receive remission for their sins. It is simply a joy to see people receiving the remission of sin and giving thanks to God. So we willingly and gladly do our best to carry out this work before God. This work is something that we do simply because God has commanded us to do so, and it is worthwhile because of the profound joy that is found in sharing the gospel with others; there is nothing we demand from them. We are only pleased with this work that makes it possible for dying souls to be saved. What is greater than this, to enable the dying to receive the remission of their sins and eternal life? People may not realize it, but to do this work that saves other souls is the greatest joy in the world.
When those who have received the remission of their sins before the gospel of the water and the Spirit are asked about the most memorable and worthwhile thing to happen in their whole life, they will likely say that the greatest joy for them is the fact that they have encountered the gospel. It is an utterly abundant and overflowing blessing to be saved. If you were interviewed at your deathbed, and were asked, “As your flesh is now deteriorating before God, what was the single most meaningful event to happen in your life on this earth, if any?” how would you answer this question? Wouldn’t you say that the most worthwhile moment was when you received the remission of your sins? “That I met the Lord, came to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and have been remitted from all the sins in my heart, was my most meaningful event. This is the most worthwhile event in my life, that my heart has received the remission of all my sins and I have lived to spread the gospel.” This is how you would answer.
Even though our circumstances and situations may get worse day by day, we still continue to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is not to blow our own horn to show others how hard we are working, but we work heartily to embrace everyone in the whole world. It is because we are spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit that those who have subsequently heard and believed in it are now able to live their lives free from all their sins. Given this, we are indeed doing something that is profoundly worthwhile.
There is no one in this world who is greater than we, the born-again, who are serving and spreading this gospel. Those on this earth who boast of themselves are nobody. Those who are arrogant and boastful are akin to a pig with gold earrings in its ear and a diamond ring in its hoof. Is a pig transformed into a human just because it’s wearing a diamond ring on its nose? No, it still remains nothing more than a pig. As it is written, “As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion” (Proverbs 11:22), a life that is apart from God’s will cannot be anything but worthless. Those who have been remitted from all their sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, who have embraced everyone in this whole world in their hearts, and who are living their lives for them as the witnesses of the gospel—these are the most admirable people on this earth.
You and I are now doing this very work. Through our literature, we are spreading the gospel throughout the whole world. It is because you and I, the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, have united with God’s Church, that we do various works for the sole purpose to spread the gospel throughout the entire world. All of us have done this together. You may not have designed the cover-arts of our books, edited our books, or translated them, but still, the gospel could be spread only because of you, who have prayed for this ministry, gave offerings, fulfilled your role as out of sight supporters, and served behind the scenes. We have all done this together.
My fellow believers, these books that we have made together are now making their way to every corner of the world. For the last few years, we have translated our books not only into major languages, but even into many tribal languages also. Soon, even people living in obscure countries that we’ve never seen or heard of will send us letters that confirm the same faith as our faith. In particular, many ministers and theologians will send us their letters that proclaim the same faith of ours.
There are many famous pastors throughout the world, but few actually preach this gospel of the water and the Spirit. How do I know this? We can find this out using the Internet. Before we published our first book, some of our staff workers had surfed the Internet to find out if anyone else had the same faith as ours. But, unfortunately, we couldn’t find any pastor who was preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Another piece of evidence indicating that few people knew of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is that of the many reviews that we have received, none have ever said, “I’ve had the same gospel of the water and the Spirit before I came across this book. I am so happy to meet my family of faith!”
So, I wrote on the inside cover of my first book, “This is the first book of our time to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit in strict accordance with the Scriptures.” By this, I meant that there has been no one who has preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit since the end of the Apostolic Age up to my first book. It’s been proven that this is not an exaggerated advertisement. Many pastors were unable to hide their amazement, and have testified, “I have read many Christian books, but I never knew that Jesus’ baptism held such significance. I didn’t know that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is so blessed.”
When we were about to print my first book, I said, “Soon our pastors and our brothers and sisters will be invited all over the world.” What has actually happened so far? Truly, there have been too many people around the world who have invited us.
Countless pastors and theologians have published Christian books, marketing them on Internet bookstores such as Amazon.com. As I browsed through their books on the Internet, I came to deplore the fact that they all have written their books full of their own thoughts to make a show of their own limited knowledge. To spread the Christian faith in a book, it is only proper for the book to hold the Truth, which is the gospel of the water and the Spirit that enables one to receive the remission of sin through the Word of God. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that was revealed first in the Apostolic Age.
My fellow believers, countless Christians say that they have no sin even when they believe only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross. They still retain their sins everyday because they commit sin everyday, and they have no other recourse but to pray daily for repentance. These people, too, believe in the resurrection of Jesus, in His birth, and in the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, but they do not know how Jesus accepted their sins, and they consider it strange and incorrect that He accepted the sins of the world when He was baptized. This is how most Christians are.
My fellow believers, to believe in and preach only the blood of the Cross is only to spread religion. Yet despite this, few are actually preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit besides us. That’s why to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit is so right, and those who do this work are so precious. We will preach this gospel to everyone in this entire world. As the Apostle Paul said, “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise” (Romans 1:14), we have to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to everyone throughout the whole world. We are the remarkable people who have the gospel of power to achieve this. We are now preaching this amazing gospel. This is why we truthfully think about spiritual works and do these works of God, regardless of the hot weather and difficult circumstances, and whether worldly thoughts arise in our minds or not.
The Scripture passage that we read today says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). My fellow believers, our God the Father told us that He sent His only begotten Son in order to save every one of us. The word “gave” here means that God sent His Son to this earth, and made Him save everyone by accepting all the sins of this world through His baptism, and that He let His Son be crucified for all those sins. God has saved everyone in this world by sending His only begotten Son. Because Jesus Christ has blotted out everyone’s sins, all who believe in this Jesus who came to this earth, was baptized, died on the Cross, and rose from the dead again as their Savior, are the sinless who have been saved. They have become God’s people, who have turned into the righteous, and they have received everlasting life.
God has already saved you and me from all our sins. Therefore, we are not bound by our sins that Jesus already took away from us, but we should be thinking about spiritual works for the future. We should think about what God has done for us to save us mankind, to save you and me from our sins, and we should preach this to as many people as we possibly can.
The second half of John 3:16 reads, “That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” My fellow believers, when you believe that God the Father has saved you by sending His only begotten Son to this earth, then you will receive everlasting life. Do you want to receive this eternal life? Do you want to have everlasting life? With this everlasting life, do you want to live happily forever? Do you abhor death? If the answer to these questions is ‘Yes,’ then believe in our Lord. The Lord has not only blotted out our sins, but also all the sins of all the people in this world. Our Lord Himself has blotted out all the sins that we have committed out of our lustful flesh, and He has given us the remission of sin and eternal life.
Now we are able to do spiritual works because we have received everlasting life and the remission of our sins by believing in our Lord. And we can lead everyone to also receive this remission of sin, and we can continue to do the work that saves souls.
Our Lord said in John 3:17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” God did not send Jesus to condemn us. Why, then, did He send His Son? God clearly states here that He sent Jesus so that the world would be saved through Him.
My fellow believers, Jesus was sent to this earth by God the Father to save everyone in this world from sin. All the people in this world are waiting for their salvation. They wonder to themselves, “How can I be saved?” They are longing for God’s salvation.
Our books, carrying the immutable Truth called the gospel of the water and the Spirit, are now reaching them and knocking on the doors of all those who yearn to be saved in every nook and corner of the world. Among those who have been touched by the Truth through our book, pastors in particular have responded very positively. Just as it takes a while to find out whether a certain medication is good or bad, if we continue to do God’s work and wait a bit longer, even more numerous and better fruits will be borne.
A pastor in India once wrote us that too many groundless Christian books were coming into his country. It was in this climate that he came to receive and read my first book, and he testified that this book was truly like drinkable water. Saying that this book was a good book, he told us that he wanted to translate our books into his tribal language and share them with the Tamil-speaking people. So he translated our books into Tamil language, and we willingly financed the cost of publication. This is a wonderful thing, since even if we ourselves do not go out to the mission field, if our coworkers work there on our behalf, people can continue to receive the remission sin.
Every place our books enter, the gospel of the water and the Spirit enters also, and everywhere this gospel of the water and the Spirit enters, people are receiving the remission of sin. If someone would only read one of our books, the book would bring about more positive result than a week’s worth of my labor. This is why I love to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit through the literature.
Some people wonder occasionally, “Can the gospel of the water and the Spirit be spread through books?” I believe that it surely can. No matter how insufficient we may be, the Truth of the water and the Spirit is indeed spread when we continue to publish our books throughout the whole world. If our books are spread throughout the world, they may very well become the bestsellers in this world. They not have been advertised enough though, but I am sure that when they are known more widely, they may actually follow the record of the Bible as the most consistent bestseller in the history of mankind. In fact, thanks to our books, people are being saved everyday through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Our Lord came to this earth, was baptized, and shed His blood for us. It is written in the Word that God the Father did not send His only begotten Son to condemn the world but to save it, and Jesus precisely fulfills the Word. This is why Jesus was baptized, and through this baptism He accepted all the sins of our entire lifetime. This essentially means that He has given salvation to the entire mankind. It was to save mankind that the Lord came to this earth.
We must preach what our Lord did for us when He came to the world to all the ends of the earth. This is the primary goal of our spiritual work. However, you and I pursue many things of the flesh. Is it a sin to follow the flesh or not? It clearly is a sin. I don’t mean to suggest here that we should determine to never commit any sin again, but that we should admit to God what is sin as sin. For us to follow the flesh is a sin, but our Lord has blotted out all these sins and entrusted us with the work of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore, by placing our faith in this gospel, we can deny our flesh and do spiritual works.
The Lord has given us the truly amazing gospel of the water and the Spirit. And by believing in this gospel, we have received the remission of our sins. It gives me such joy that our lives are not the kinds of life that follows the flesh, but they are spiritual lives. I am happy that our lives are spent not to do carnal works, but to continue to do spiritual works. All of us must become the ones who do spiritual works by faith, and all of our hearts must desire to do these spiritual works by faith. You and I are all capable of doing spiritual works. With God’s power we can lead everyone to be saved. This is because our Lord has already saved us from all our sins, and He has also blessed us to do spiritual works. To do these works, we must live by faith. And we must live for the purpose of spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world.
We are mortal beings, as it is written, “As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). But, there is another passage of hope that says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This means that God has already given us His salvation and everlasting life. Let us, then, not try to take care of only our flesh, nor to pursue only our own selfish greed, but let us now live for the purpose of proclaiming the righteousness of God throughout the whole world.
Some people believe beyond any doubt that it is for their own families and their own flesh that they should live. Strictly speaking, however, their lives are not for anyone else, but for themselves. Nonetheless, God has taught us the way to live the kind of life that is worthy of His commendation, and it is right for us to follow it. It makes me so happy to think that our hearts have received the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we are able to live our lives preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit, so that our families may also receive the remission of sin by hearing and believing in this Truth, and, taking a step further, so that everyone throughout the whole world may be saved—I cannot think of anything else that would make us as happy as this.
Everyone must go out in search of his happiness, and he has the duty to live his life for a worthwhile cause. It is my sincerest hope and prayer for all of you that it would be in your spiritual lives that you find this calling. Though we are weak and insufficient, now that we have accepted our God-given salvation, we must live for our Lord. And instead of serving our flesh only for its own sake, we must live our lives to make it possible for other souls to be saved also. This is so we can lay up treasures in the Kingdom of Heaven as it is written in God’s Word.
As human beings can only live up to 70-80 years, and 90-100 years at most, what would be left at their end? If we do not yearn for everlasting life, there is nothing else in our existence but eating, laboring, sleeping, going to the washroom, and then dying. Instead of narrowing our minds, we should let our hearts and minds grow bigger and bolder, and live to serve the gospel so that our lives may not be in vain. We must live for what is right, and then go to the presence of our Lord.
It is my hope and prayer that you and I will continue to be blessed in our lives, both in body and spirit. There is no other way to be blessed both in body and spirit, but to live for the Lord doing spiritual works and then coming face to face with the Lord. I thank God for the salvation that He has given us.
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