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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 4-2] In What Do Our Hearts Find Satisfaction? (John 4:10-24)
(John 4:10-24)
“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’”
In today’s Bible passage, we see a Samaritan woman who had no satisfaction in her heart. Samaritan woman had had five husbands including the present one who wasn`t her husband. In her heart, she was spiritually thirsty and void, and ashamed before even the people of this world. As she was living in hiding, she needed the water of everlasting life that only the Lord could give.
When Jesus was sitting by the well, the Samaritan woman came there to draw water. To have fellowship with her, Jesus began to speak to her, asking her, “Give me a drink.” The woman was dumbfounded by this, for a Jewish man was asking her for a drink, even though she was a disgraced Samaritan. This is because at that time, the Samaritans were despised by the Jews. Their forefathers were originally Israelites, but of mixed blood, a result of the many invasions that Israel had suffered, and so they were despised by the Jews, even though they partially shared the same blood. So when a young Jewish man asked this Samaritan woman for a drink in spite of this, she couldn’t help but suspect that he was mocking her.
So she said, “You Jewish people despise us Samaritans so much. How is it then that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink?” The Samaritan woman asked Jesus how He could ask her for a drink when He was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. Jesus said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). The woman then said, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?” (John 4:11) This woman simply could not understand what Jesus was saying to her. However, as Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14), the woman said, “Sir, give me this water,” and then our Lord told her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” She immediately said, “I have no husband.” Jesus then said, “You are right. You have had five husbands, and yet the one whom you now have is not even your husband. In that you are quite right.” The woman was shocked by this, and so said to Him, “How do You know all about me? You are indeed a prophet.”
The well from which this woman was drawing water was the well that her ancestors had dug and drunk from it, and the mountain where this woman worshipped was the Mountain Gerizim where her ancestors had worshipped. In terms of her line of faith, this woman was someone who was proud of her ancestors’ orthodoxy. This is why the woman raised the orthodoxy of her religion to Jesus. What did she say to Him? She said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship” (John 4:20). This woman considered the place of worship quite important. She was arguing, in other words, over the question of where the place of worship should be, that is, where the more orthodox place of worship was.
But Jesus said to her, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Although she wanted to be approved of her religious orthodoxy by Jesus, Jesus said to her, “God looks for those who worship Him in spirit and truth.”
To Be Washed from Our Sins, What Must We Do, and What Must We Believe in?
When Jesus met the woman, it was about the sixth hour by Jewish time (John 4:6). In contemporary time, it was about 12 o’clock, that is, at noon. In the land of Palestine, this time of the day is so scorching hot that everyone takes a nap. The woman had come to the well to draw water at this hour trying to avoid the prying eyes of the others. She was so ashamed of herself that even to quench the thirst of her flesh, she had to keep away from them. To quench her soul’s thirst, she had lived with five husbands including her present man, but still she had no satisfaction. Our Lord had come there to meet with this woman whose heart had no satisfaction. And He taught her the real reason why her life had no satisfaction, and solved this problem for her by giving her its solution.
She had relied on the religious line and traditional faith of her community blindly and in vain. However, when Jesus told her past and present exactly, this woman was able to realize that the Man who was talking to her was the Messiah, that is, the Savior Jesus spoken of in the Old Testament. Today, Christians who have not met Jesus are prone to rely on their respective denominations by deifying them. However, no Christian denomination in this world is God Himself; moreover, none of them can bring true life. People try out different denominations trying to receive true life for their souls, but there is no denomination in this world that brings this true life. Only the Word of God brings true life to mankind. While people may claim that their own denomination is the best, they cannot claim that the denomination itself has solved and washed away the problem of sin in each individual’s heart, enabled their hearts to be remitted from their sins, or made it possible for them to receive the true washing of sin.
No religion in this world can solve the problem of sin for even just one man. Today’s Christians who are leading sectarian and religious lives of faith do not actually believe in the Word of Jesus, but they believe in their own thoughts instead, and this is why they are failing at their lives of faith. It is because they are preaching only their own denominational teachings and doctrines that they are unable to solve the problem of sin in their hearts and continue to live as sinners, no matter how much they hear such teachings. Put differently, these religionists are unable be washed from their sins, and their hearts continue to thirst, for they do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The Samaritan woman had told Jesus honestly that she had no husband. Indeed, the woman did not have a real husband. That she had no real husband does not just mean that she had no husband in carnal terms, but that she had not met the real Savior in spiritual terms. In other words, there was no true Savior that satisfied her heart.
All the people living in this world are pursuing only pleasure, trying to find true satisfaction for their hearts, so they all seek after the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). But they cannot find real satisfaction with the things of the world. Can anyone be satisfied by pursuing the things of the flesh? No! When we come across very beautiful sceneries or follow the lust of the flesh, we may find satisfaction for a short while. But our hearts cannot be truly satisfied by these things. It is only in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit that our hearts can find satisfaction. It is only through faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus that everyone’s heart can find true satisfaction. This is why all those who do not believe in this gospel continue to feel thirsty in their hearts.
If people’s hearts were refreshed, joyous and happy owing to the things of the world, they would have no need to look for Jesus. Unless they meet Jesus and wash away their sins by placing their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, their lives are bound to be empty. No matter how rich anyone might be and how ideal his circumstances, if he has sin in his heart, then his heart cannot be satisfied with anything else in this world but only feel emptiness. My fellow believers, while whoever has sin in his heart cannot attain true peace, if he receives the remission of his sins, then he can attain this true peace. You should realize here that the Samaritan woman had no real satisfaction, even though she had lived with five men in turn, trying to look for and enjoy the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, wealth, fame, and carnal splendors and pleasures. But all the people living in this world, no matter how weary, sad, and tormenting their lives might be, can still receive the true remission of sin and true joy if they encounter the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord. Whoever believes in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit given by our Lord can have true satisfaction in his heart.
Many people try to find satisfaction from the things of the flesh. But no satisfaction can be attained from the things of this world. Thinking that their lack of satisfaction stems from their lack of material possession, they pursue and come to possess material things, but they discover that they still cannot be satisfied with these things. It is only by believing in the gospel Word of the Truth of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord that everyone can attain true satisfaction. What solves the problem of sin in people’s hearts is the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. For everyone, if he is resolved from the sins of his heart, then he can have true satisfaction in his heart and attain real joy, even if he has little material possession and his circumstances are far from ideal. On the other hand, however, if he does not encounter the Lord, and therefore is unable to receive the true remission of sin into his heart, then there is no real satisfaction in his heart. It is because people do not have satisfaction in their hearts that they go back and forth to this religion to that religion, to this denomination to that denomination. The people of the world try everything to find satisfaction, from going to nightclubs to accumulating wealth, but through such efforts their hearts cannot attain true satisfaction. If you have not received the true remission of sin into your heart by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you can never attain real satisfaction from the things of the world.
For everyone to find true satisfaction for his heart, he must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and receive the remission of sin into his heart. If you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you can realize who Jesus is, what His remission of sin is, and how He has blotted out your sins; you can experience the true salvation that has really blotted out your sins; and you can enjoy true joy. Without believing in this true gospel, everything else is completely useless, no matter how ardently you might pray to God, call upon His name, raise all kinds of rackets, fast all the time, or fall back like a log in ecstasy.
Even if you have spoken in tongues, seen visions, or met Jesus in your dreams, this does not mean that you really met Jesus. Anyone who has sin in his heart has not met Jesus yet. If there is sin in your heart, then you are not in Christ, for the Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Your lack of satisfaction even as you profess to believe in Jesus is because you do not have faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
When some people are asked, “How is your life going?” they answer, “Well, I’m alive, but only because I’m not dead.” When asked, “What do you do for living?” they just say, “Nothing. I just live”; when asked, “Why do you live?” they say, “Because I’m not dead”; and when asked, “Why do you eat?” they reply, “So that I won’t die. I eat food because it’s there.” Most people are indeed living such meaningless lives.
My fellow believers, unless we have the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord in our hearts, there can be no satisfaction for us either. When our flesh is weary, upset, and stressed out, it’s only natural for us to complain of hardship. Nonetheless, we can still live satisfied, for the Lord has solved away the problem of sin in our hearts through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All our carnal problems are of little consequence, since we can overcome them by faith. On the contrary, even if such superficial problems are all resolved, if we fail to solve the problem of our sins and continue to thirst, then there can be no satisfaction at all.
All the philosophers of this world have asked themselves this question: “Who am I? What am I? Where did I come from, and where am I heading for?” But they, too, failed to find a solution to these problems of life before passing away. The famous people whom you know all tried hard to resolve these problems of who they are, where they are from and where they are heading, but in the end, they moved on to the next world without solving any of these problems, not even the problem of their sins.
Do you know yourself? You need to realize that you are a human being created in the likeness of God’s image. Human beings can live as God’s children only when their hearts are washed from sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. How can mere mortals enter the Kingdom of Heaven? It is only by being born again of water and the Spirit that people can enter Heaven (John 3:5). For everyone, no matter who, it is only when he receives the remission of his sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with his heart that he can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Your heart is empty and confused because there still remains sin in it. Those who are carnally minded say that all that they need is to solve the problem of clothing, feeding, and housing themselves, but they must realize acutely that there still remains the problem of their souls even when these basic needs are met.
I myself yearned to be washed from my heart’s sins more than to have the wealth and splendor of this world, for in the old days, I had been lost spiritually. Before I encountered the gospel of the water and the Spirit, life was so hard for me as I had no real satisfaction. My greatest single desire was to get the problem of sin solved in my heart. Therefore, I yearned with all my heart to know the Truth that would resolve this problem of sin. At that time, I really was like the Samaritan woman. When I woke up in the morning and saw the sun, I was ashamed of myself, and I felt depressed. Like Job in the Bible, I used to wish the sun would not rise. I wished the world would rather be dark.
This is how I was, and yet like this Samaritan woman, I met our Lord and came to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Then every question I had about the Lord’s ministries was answered once and for all. I came to understanding all the works of salvation that the Lord fulfilled for me: Why the Lord was baptized; how He took away the sins of the world; how He died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and ascended to Heaven; and what will happen when He comes again.
Ever since I realized the gravity of all the sins in my heart, I looked for the Truth of being born again, and ever since I came to believe in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, I have found satisfaction, even when I don’t drink, sing or dance. And I came to realize that my heart could not be satisfied from the things of the flesh. I can still get upset sometimes, but no matter how weary I might be now, my new self cannot be compared to my old self before being born again. Nor can the sufferings that I had faced before being born again be compared to my present sufferings. Ever since I was born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, no matter how weary I might be, it is only because of my weak flesh that I am weary; no longer because of I am worried about impending hell. This is why I am always rejoiced in my life. I beseech all of you to also accept by faith the true remission of sin into your hearts
There are countless churches seen by your eyes. But we can realize that most of them are not God’s Church. For us to discern this, we need to see whether the preacher of any church has received the remission of sin or not before the Lord. Only when he is someone who got his problem of sin resolved before God, does he become a true servant of God who can solve the problem of sin for the hearts of the congregation. Those who preach the Word of God without getting their own problem of sin solved are neither God’s servants, nor His people. Just because you attend some mega-churches of this world, this does not mean that you can actually encounter the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What you need to realize is that only the churches that preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit belong to God’s real Church.
Many people are now trying to get the problem of sin solved even though they attend the churches where there is no gospel of the water and the Spirit. Of course, we try to deliver the true gospel of the water and the Spirit even to them. However, they should realize that because their faith is an ethical one, it is hard for them to encounter the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Today, such people believe literally that when they are slapped on their right cheek, they should turn the other cheek. Who can ever live like this, when all human beings are fundamentally piles of sin? After all, is this not why Jesus came for us? As a Christian professing to believe in Jesus, you should ask yourself if you are not such a person whose beliefs are only ethically oriented. These people are unable to encounter the gospel of the water and the Spirit precisely because they are trying to act as if they are better than Jesus. I say this because through such moral faith, it is hard to meet the Lord who came by the water and the Spirit. You must first recognize your sinful nature as it is, because only sinners can find this gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Everyone must realize that he should be washed from all his sins and be born again by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Today’s Christians who profess to believe in Jesus and yet still retain their sins are living their lives of faith before God only ethically. If the problem of sin is not resolved in their hearts even when they have attended church and given offerings all this time, then they should encounter the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it. Unless they do this, they will be spiritually defrauded.
When you come to God’s Church and want to give offerings, you should have first received the remission of sin into your heart by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit before you give offerings. When we give offerings to God, we really should give them entirely out of our own voluntary will. Every aspect of our lives of faith must absolutely be led by God. We must live out our faith wholeheartedly, by placing our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.
When one tries to be born again from all his sins, can this be achieved by doing something on his own? You shouldn’t think like this. How could anyone be washed from his sins through his own virtuous acts? If anyone tries to be born again from his sins through his deeds, then he is a Pharisee and an impostor. I beseech all of you to be truly born gain from all your sins by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that the Lord Jesus has given us. Encounter the Truth, that Jesus has solved away the problem of your sins once and for all through the water, the blood and the Spirit. Believe in this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit and be born again from all your sins. Confirm with the Word of Truth how Jesus has blotted out all your sins, and be born again by believing in this. The gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Bible speaks of, none other than this is the very Word of the Truth of being born again.
My fellow believers, the fact that today’s many Christians believe that they must be sanctified by attending church, quitting smoking and drinking, and not sinning, means that they have fallen into their own groundless thoughts. To entertain such a preposterous notion is to only build Christian doctrines one by one. The belief that one can gradually reach his sanctification by not committing sin is no more than a trick of Satan. The fact that many Christians would sit calmly and utter amen’s and hallelujah’s during the worship service, and yet once they get out of church they live completely different lives that deviates from the Word of God, is because they have not yet been born again of water and the Spirit. It is not by living a life of sanctification that one can be freed from his sins. The only way for us to be truly born again from our sins is to believe that Jesus has blotted out all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is absolutely not by living virtuously that all of us can become sinless.
The rich in their own righteousness can never enter Heaven. It is even harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. It is impossible for anyone to be born again from his sins through his own virtuous acts. This is why the Lord said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We must realize that it is our Lord who has blotted out all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You must know how God has blotted out your sins. Only then can we really find out the Truth of being born again. You must have true faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. By believing in this gospel of the water and the Spirit, I have been freed from all my sins. Have you also been freed from sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? If you have indeed been freed from sin by believing in this gospel of the water and the Spirit, then you are indeed a happy person, no matter how hard your life might be.
In the Word of God that we read today, there appears a Samaritan woman. When Jesus asked this woman for a drink, the Samaritan woman was astonished because it was not common for a Jew to associate himself with any Samaritans. So she asked, “How is it that You are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink, when You are a Jew?” But Jesus said to her, “If you knew Me, who is asking you for a drink, I would have given you living water.” So while conversing with Jesus, she eventually came to recognize that He was the true Savior. Indeed, Jesus is truly the Savior of all mankind. Since thousands of years ago, God had promised mankind that He would send the Savior for all men, and this Savior is none other than Jesus. The Samaritan woman from today’s Scripture passage did not recognize Jesus at first, but later she came to realize that He was the Savior.
My fellow believers, who is the One that gives us the true water of everlasting life? Who is the One who truly quenches our thirsty hearts forever? Is it not our Lord Jesus? Have you been saved through the gospel of the water and the Spirit that He has given us? Our Lord is the Savior who has delivered us from all the sins of this world through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. He who has given the living water to us who are living on this planet is not a man but the Savior of mankind. Jesus is the Savior who has truly quenched our hearts’ thirst and solved away both our carnal and spiritual problems. Our Lord did not give us everlasting life through the materials of this world. Living in this desert-like world, all of us went looking for Jesus to draw the living water, for we had been spiritually thirsty, and at that time, Jesus met with us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
When we were struggling with hardship in this world, and when our hearts needed God’s salvation, what was absolutely necessary for us was the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Only our Lord solved away the problem of all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and only He gave us true life. When we were weary and had no satisfaction because of our sins, when we were struggling in this desert-like world because of our sins, and when we were dying because of our many problems of sin, our Lord gave us, through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the living water that made us never thirst again. Our Lord became the Master of the living water that made us thirst no more forever.
Is it a human being that washed away our sins? Or is it some material thing? Is it the Christian doctrines of this world? No! It is only Jesus who has solved away all the problems our lives, and only He is the true Savior who has given us the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is because Jesus alone is the true Savior for us that He forsook His glory and came to this earth, put all our sins on His own body through His baptism, and was crucified to shed His blood, and has thereby saved us. He has become the Good Shepherd who gives us all the blessings that we need to live in this world, who strengthens us when our hearts are troubled and weary, and who solves away all the problems of our hearts.
Through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, Jesus has solved the problem of sin that was impossible to be solved on our own, and given us eternal life. Our Lord is the God who has made it possible for you and me, who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, to drink the true water of everlasting life. Our Lord has permitted us to attain the remission of sin and eternal life, blessed the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to become God’s children, and filled all our needs to continue to carry on with our lives in this world. Truly, the gift of salvation that God has given us is too great and wide to fathom.
Once again, therefore, we come to think of our Lord. Had we not had the Lord, how could we have lived in this desert-like world? Had it not been for our Lord, we would have died of spiritual thirst long ago in this world. We were all bound to live our lives thirsting so much and without any satisfaction, but for our Lord.
Knowing fully what we lack while living in this world, our Lord has filled our needs whenever we prayed to Him. God has always blessed us, who are living in this desert-like world. And He has solved away not only the problem of our sins, but many other problems also. We need to ask Him for the grace of all these blessings, and we need to live by faith. It is when our hearts ask God for His grace that we can finally taste the profundity of His grace.
Does your heart now desire to ask God for His help? Just as it is by the grace of the Lord that we have lived so far, it is also by this grace of the Lord that we can continue to carry on with our lives. Just as our Lord gave the living water to the Samaritan woman and solved all her problems, I believe that God will also give us and clothe us with all the blessings that we need to live in this world, and I thank Him with my faith.
Jesus said to this woman, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw” (John 4:15). This woman was so ashamed of herself that she dared not to venture out during the daytime. But she still needed water everyday. So she had to come to draw water under the scorching sun, when everyone else was resting. Given this, how weary must her life have been? Since she could not go without water to cook, to do laundry and to bathe, she had to go to the well to draw water everyday. Yet the Samaritan woman could draw water only under the scorching sun. So how happy must she then have been when the Lord told her that He would give her a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life? The woman asked Jesus, “If there is such water, give it to me just once.”
My fellow believers, we, too, drink water everyday, but we still get thirsty again and again. If there is this kind of water that would quench our thirst forever and make us never thirst just by drinking it only once, would we not also beg Him to give us this water? Jesus said to the woman, “Go, call your husband, and come here” (John 4:16). The woman then answered, “I have no husband” (John 4:17). Besting her, Jesus then said to her, “You have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband” (John 4:18). The woman then said, “That’s so true! How did You know that I was such a woman? Lord! I now perceive that You are a prophet!” This woman now thought that Jesus was a prophet, the kind that knows all about what happened before and what would come to pass. So at the beginning the woman thought of Jesus as one such prophet, but as she continued to converse with Him, she came to realize that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
Is it a small thing that this woman had lived with no less than six men until then? Perhaps it’s not such a big deal, but in Korea, it would probably set a new record. Ordinary Koreans do not change their spouses this often. The problem for this woman was that her own conscience was bound by her great sins. But Jesus said these things because He wanted to not only expose all her problems of sin, but to solve them all as well.
From the Word of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, we come to know who the Savior is. We come to realize that the sacrificial Lamb spoken of in the Old Testament is Jesus, and that by coming to this earth and being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus took away all the sins of not only this woman, but all the sins of the world. Through what did our Lord solve away the problem of all the sins of mankind? He solved away all our problems through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. My fellow believers, why was it that we could not be blessed by God but live accursed lives before? It was because of the sins that were in our hearts. There was a barrier of sin between God and us, and this is why we had lived accursed lives. There wasn’t any other barrier between God and us, but it was the barrier of sin that had blocked us from Him.
When our Lord came to this earth, He solved away this problem of our sins once and for all. How did He solve it? Our Lord solved away the problem of all our sins and condemnation by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, taking away the sins of this world once and for all, shouldering them to the Cross and shedding His blood on it, and rising from the dead again. As we carry on with our lives, we must hear and believe in the Word of everlasting life, that our Lord has solved away all our problems of sin. It is through our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that we can enjoy everlasting life and attain true happiness.
My fellow believers, just as our Lord gave this woman the remission of sin and the water of eternal life, so has He given them to us also. This woman had had no less than five husbands, including the man who was now living with her without being legally married. Why did this woman go through so many husbands? She did so because she was trying to find her happiness from her husband. Just like her, people try to find happiness in the wrong places, thinking that they would be happy if they have a lot of money, fame, power, knowledge, or amusement. Spiritually speaking, we must realize that we, too, had lived with five husbands. We all had chased these things while sinning until we met the real Bridegroom, Jesus. We could not avoid but sin in this world until the day we die, and we were bound for hell for the sins that we committed. In spite of this, however, our Lord has solved the problem of all our sins through His baptism and His blood on the Cross. So just how grateful and indebted are we for this? Because our Lord is almighty and because He loves us, He has solved away all our problems of sin, leaving none behind.
Were it not for our Lord, how could we quench our hearts’ thirst forever? As our Lord has solved away the problem of sin in our hearts, our hearts’ thirst can now be quenched wholly by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
In General, When People Admit Their Sins, They Tend to Admit Only The Sins That Are Exposed Outside
In general, people consider only the sins that are exposed outside as sins, and they do not regard the sins that they commit with their hearts as sins. So they try hard not to commit any sin with their acts, but they are all bound to continue to commit sin. The law of this world points out only the sins that people commit with their acts and punish only these revealed sins. But the Law of God points out both the exposed and unexposed sins, and condemnation follows all sins. Those who do not know the Law of God or do not recognize it properly often claim, “I have no sin.” What is even worse is that even among those who are attending church, there are many who do not recognize the sins in their hearts. They therefore think that they would not be condemned for their sins. The problem is that there are far too many such people.
Everyone cannot avoid but commit countless sins time after time while living in this world. You should realize that those who seem upright in their acts are in fact committing even more sins than the Samaritan woman. While not everyone acts like a thief with his deeds, he still steals countless times with his thoughts and heart. Although people may not have committed murder with their acts, in their hearts and thoughts, they still have murdered many. The reality is that countless people find it hard to admit their true selves as sinners, and they do not know that they are to be condemned for their sins.
However, because God sees all the inside of the human heart, He says that there are exceedingly many sins in it. That’s why He said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
People who have not yet been born again need to plow the fields of their hearts thoroughly and know the sins that are hidden deep inside. They must realize that there are exceedingly many sins in their hearts, and that God will condemn them for all these sins. When they thus recognize clearly that they had been bound to hell for sure as the condemnation of their sins, they can then realize the need to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The Function of the God-Given Law
The Law that God gave us plows our hearts, exposes the sins that were in them, and, furthermore, becomes our tutor that leads us to the Savior. So the Bible says in Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
In the Law of God, there are 613 statutes and commandments of do’s and don’ts. This Law of God requires perfection from all of us. So God’s Law can be met only when we keep it in its entirety, at 100 percent. To keep only 10, 50, or 80 percent of the Law is to fail to keep it. If anyone broke God’s Law even just once in his entire lifetime, then this means that he failed to keep it all. The Bible says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10-11). As it is stated here, if we fail to keep even just one point of the Law, then we are guilty of all. To break a single commandment of the Law, in other words, is to break all the Law.
Do we then break the Law only a few times in our lifetime? No, this is not who we are. Because our fundamental nature is sinful, we cannot avoid but break the Law repeatedly countless times. The seventh commandment of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall not commit adultery.” Are we capable of keeping this commandment of God? For us to keep this commandment of God, whenever we see a woman, we should not have any lustful thoughts in our hearts either. But are we capable of this, of not committing sin in our hearts either? Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). This means that whenever we look at a woman and lust after her, we are actually breaking the seventh commandment against adultery. To break God’s commandment is to sin, and the condemnation of this is destruction.
Every time we see a woman with our eyes and lust after her, we are accumulating sin one by one. If you are faithful, you would know that adultery is wicked, and you would try not to commit this sin. Many people abhor adultery as filthy, and they despise those who commit it. But in reality, do we not all commit adultery? The more we remember the commandment telling us not to commit adultery, the more we see that we are actually committing it. Furthermore, the more we try to keep the commandment, the more we realize that we are simply incapable of doing so. Given the fact that adultery is inherent to us, is it not the case that we cannot help but have lustful thoughts when we see a woman? The commandment against adultery therefore teaches us that sexual immorality is a sin, and that we commit fornication countless times. As such, the Law awakens us to the fact that we are simply incapable of keeping God’s commandments.
It is written, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23). Like this, God’s commandments teach us about the twelve sins that are inside us, and the Law also teaches us that we break all the statutes of God’s Law routinely on a daily basis. Each and every sin specified by the Law, furthermore, speaks about the condemnation of sin. There can be absolutely no doubt whatsoever that we are indeed piles of sin that are leaving behind a trail of sin that would send us to hell. We must recognize this fact to our pain, and through God’s Law we must clearly realize that we are indeed sinners.
All Human Beings Are Confused, Not Knowing Their True Selves
To forget, it is said, is only too human. Many people live in delusion, forgetting that they are sinners piling up countless sins before God, and thinking to themselves, “I am not that bad,” “I think I am pretty decent,” “I am better than the others,” “At least I am not a prostitute,” “I am no murderer,” “I am not a thief,” and so forth. Having thus forgotten the fact that the eternal condemnation of hell is awaiting them, they live their lives pursuing only their carnal pleasures, obsessed to satisfy their hedonistic desires before they get too old.
If you say to a classy lady, “Spiritually speaking, you are a prostitute,” would she admit this willingly? If you say to a dignified gentleman, “Biblically speaking, you have committed countless adulteries,” would he acknowledge this honestly? Far from it, they would be extremely offended and go ballistic on you. They will protest fiercely, saying, “What the heck are you talking about?” How would you respond if you were in their shoes? If you knew the Law correctly, you would admit this, saying, “Yes, you’re right. I don’t like to admit it, but in God’s eyes, I am the same as a prostitute.” If, on the other hand, you still did not know the Law of God properly, then you would gripe furiously and get angry, saying, “I am not like this prostitute!”
Truly, we need to be able to see our spiritual selves as being like a prostitute before God. When we turn to Luke chapter seven, we can see that a sinful woman, an ex-prostitute, who had come to Jesus knowing very well that she had far too many sins, was in fact remitted from all her sins. Why did this woman come to Jesus? This woman knew that she was an infamous sinner in her town, and that she was an exceedingly great sinner before God. This is why she had come to Jesus despite her shame. Although the woman did not say with her words who she was, she still admitted to Jesus that she was a great sinner, and that Jesus was the One who would save her from all her sins. So Jesus, knowing this woman’s heart, said to her, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:50).
When the woman met Jesus, who had come to this earth for her and saved her not only from her sin of adultery but from all the sins that she ever committed before God, she was overwhelmed with joy. This is why she wept before the feet of Jesus, wet these feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured fragrant oil on them. The room was filled with the fragrance of the oil. She did these things because she wanted to praise Jesus’ salvation all over the world by these acts of faith. All her deeds were for the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world. So Jesus commended her faith, saying, “Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:9). This woman had indeed been in complete darkness because of her sins, and therefore it was only by finding Jesus that she could be saved from all her sins.
How Were Our True Selves before the Lord?
Before God, we had been utterly corrupt seeds of sin. Was this not the case? Everyday, we had left a trail of lustful sins, and we had been bound to be condemned by God. Was this not true? There can be no dispute whatsoever that we were fundamentally corrupt seeds and infamous sinners.
However, some people know themselves, but others don’t. What we need to pay particular attention to here is the fact that while the ex-prostitute met Jesus and received the remission of her sins, the Pharisees were not able to be washed clean from their sins, even though they were sitting at the table with the Savior. We really need to focus on the consequences of these two kinds of people’s awareness of sin. Through the Law of God, we must realize just how much of a sinner we all had been before God. You must realize that it is only those whose hearts’ fields are thoroughly plowed, and who know that they are wholly piles of sin before God, that are able to come before the gospel of the water and the Spirit and be washed from all their sins.
Are you capable of keeping the Law of God to perfection with your acts? You can never keep it perfectly. We should realize that we are simply incapable of keeping the Law of God, and that we had been sinners who could not help but sin because of our hearts’ sinful nature inherited from our ancestors. Were you a sinner in God’s sight wholly or only partially? We had all been wholly sinners who could not solve the problem of our sins on our own. Do you admit that before God, all of us were great sinners, bound to be condemned to hell for our sins? If you admit this, you must go by faith to Jesus who came by the water and the Spirit, and believe in the Truth that the Lord has saved us from all our sins. The entire mankind throughout the whole world must believe in Jesus as its Savior and be saved from all its sins.
My fellow believers, because there is adultery in our hearts, we are fundamentally incapable of not committing fornication, and because we have murderous desires in our hearts as our basic nature, we cannot avoid but commit murder in our hearts. It is because all human beings have greed that they cannot avoid stealing, and it is because they also have deceptive hearts that they cannot help but lie. All of us are bound to commit sin everyday, for we have twelve kinds of sin in our hearts. Therefore, when we see ourselves reflected from the Law of God, we can all realize that we are indeed bound to break God’s Law everyday.
My fellow believers, we are incapable of keeping even a single statute of the Law of God. Our lives are such that we are all bound to break every statute of the Law repeatedly and ceaselessly throughout our entire lifetime. Given this, how could we then argue over the amount of sin before God, whether it is great or small? Who could cast a stone at the woman who was caught for adultery in the very act? No one who has sin can ever do this. When you have committed so many countless sins, like the thick clouds in the sky, how would you not be condemned for your sins? Anyone who has sin cannot escape from his fate but cry sadly like a lonely cuckoo and wail like a lost sheep for his entire lifetime. But could he be saved from all his sins by doing so? All of us must realize that where there is no gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, there can be no remission of sin.
The Sins That Are Written in the Tablet of Everyone’s Heart!
Where, then, are all the sins that people commit written? The Bible says, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; With the point of a diamond it is engraved On the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars” (Jeremiah 17:1). Everyone’s sins are written in the tablet of his heart and on the horns of the altar. Here, the horns of the altar refer to the Books of Deeds, that is, the Books of Judgment written in Revelation 20, which are opened in front of God. This means that God records all our sins, regardless of whether we remember them or not, whether we are aware of them or not. It is telling us that we must remove all our sins written in the tablets of our hearts and in the Book of Deeds, and we must receive the remission of our sins. If there is any sin still remaining in you, even ever so slightly, then according to this sin, you will bear the condemnation of sin.
How, then, can we get all the sins of our entire lifetime written in the tablets of our hearts and in the Books of Deeds washed away? It is written, “‘For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,’ says the Lord GOD” (Jeremiah 2:22). In other words, no soap of any religious teaching whatsoever, and no prayer of repentance whatsoever asking for forgiveness can ever wash away your sins. There is a hymn that goes,
“♬Weeping will not save me!
Tho’ my face were bathed in tears, ♪
♬That could not allay my fears,
Could not wash the sins of years! ♪
♬Weeping will not save me.”
My fellow believers, you must realize that you can never wash away your sins just by crying over your sins, shedding your tears and asking God to forgive you. To stop at just begging Jesus to forgive your sins is like putting on a garment of hypocrisy. Is this not the case?
How can we then be remitted from all our sins and be saved from them all? First of all, we must recognize that we are great sinners to be condemned by God for our sins, and we must acknowledge the Word of God. We must admit our sinfulness, confessing, “Lord, I am bound to hell for my sins. I am completely a pile of sin. Unless You save me, I cannot avoid but be cast into hell,” and then believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with the heart. We have to confess, “Lord, from the day I was born to the day I die, I cannot help but sin in my thoughts and with my acts. Please save me from all my sins. I have broken all Your Law.” After thus admitting ourselves, we must then hear and believe in the gospel of the baptism, the blood, and the Spirit that Jesus has given us. It is when we do this that we can be remitted from all our sins that we have committed from the day we were born and will continue to commit to the day we die.
Until the Samaritan woman met Jesus, there was no prophet who could quench her soul’s thirst. So she had always felt thirsty in her heart. Unable to meet this Lord, and yet trying to find satisfaction, she therefore pursued arts, music, alcohol, or pleasures. Like this Samaritan woman, everyone in this world is living in pursuit of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Since people do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, their hearts are empty, and yet even until now, they have not yet encountered the servants of God who can solve this problem for them with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Can your spirit be truly satisfied when you are following this world? Can anyone find real satisfaction from the people of this earth or its beautiful sceneries? The things of the earth may bring some temporary satisfaction to him, but none of them can forever save his soul from his sins.
For everyone, it is when he encounters and believes in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord that from then on, he comes to experience for himself how the living water is flowing like a river in his heart, and is able to receive all blessings from God. Yet in spite of this, many people still do not listen to the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. You, however, should believe with your heart in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, of the remission of sin that the Lord has given you, and thereby receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Samaritan woman had tried to find satisfaction from her earthly husbands, but there was no real satisfaction for her. It was not because she did not have enough material possessions that she had no satisfaction. Like this woman, you, too, probably did not find the real meaning of life before you came to know Jesus, the Master of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Was it not the case?
In Korea, there is a song called “Whale Hunting.” Its lyric goes like this: “♩Though I drink, though I sing, though I dance; ♬My heart is filled only with sadness. ♬” There is another Korean popular song called “Vagabond,” and this song goes, “♬Life is a journey; from where it came to where it is going, ♪I do not know. It just floats down without aim. ♪On this journey that goes by fruitlessly, as time passes by, let us not have affection, nor lingering attachments. ♪Life is a journey; from where did it come, to where is it going?”
If we do not meet Jesus who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then our lives can find no satisfaction, no matter how we might drink, sing, and dance, just like these songs of the world. Everyone’s existence is like a traveler that stays in this world for a short while only to disappear. From where have all these travelers come, and to where are they all going? Countless people are indeed floating down aimlessly to their own destruction with passing time.
The Bible says, “As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). No life amounts to anything unless people receive the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus. All the philosophers of this world have struggled all their lives with these basic questions about life: “Who and what am I? From where did I come, and to where am I going?” Yet they all perished away unable to find the answer to the very end. Though these philosophers tried to tackle this problem, attempting to find out from where they came and to where they were going, they still perished away without solving this problem in the end. You, however, must get your problem of sin resolved by knowing and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and come before the presence of God. By believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you must get your problem of sin resolved before God, receive the Holy Spirit, and find the way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Everyone was made in the likeness of the image of God. Therefore, everyone must be washed clean from all the sins in his heart, and everyone must also receive the Holy Spirit as the gift of the remission of sin. Only when people know this can they live in God’s blessings. It is by the gospel of the water and the Spirit that you can find out whether you are a sinner or a righteous person.
Your heart is empty only because there is sin residing in it. Everyone says that all is fine if only he can feed, clothe, and house himself, but the reality is that even when these basic needs are met, a human being’s soul is still barren, for it still remains accursed because of his sins. But when you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, all your sins will disappear from your heart, and you will be filled with happiness. Therefore, you must meet the Lord through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Shouldn’t you do this? Look for the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And meet your Savior by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Cast aside all your mistaken beliefs of the past and believe all over again properly in the real Truth!
If you still have not been saved from all your sins and are still living like the most wretched of all, and yet despite this you think to yourself that you believe in God properly, then you are simply mistaken. If, in spite of claiming to serve God, you still have not had the problem of your heart’s sins resolved and still have not received the Holy Spirit as your gift, then you should realize that you are now standing before the gates of death. Are you not, by any chance, such a Christian? Don’t you want to meet Jesus through the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Then know the gospel of the water and the Spirit written in the Scriptures, confirm it with the eyes of your heart, and believe in this true gospel.
You must be remitted from your sins, receive the Holy Spirit, and be born again. But you must not try to achieve this on your own through your acts. If you are such a person, then it is clear that you are indeed a fool who built your house on sand. How can anyone be born again from all his sins through his own virtuous deeds? For you to try to be saved from your sins through your acts is nothing more than a product of your own thoughts. Furthermore, those who encourage you to do this are not the real shepherds. They are nothing more than the servants of hell who are leading people to destruction, for they are unable to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit that washes away people’s sins.
Today, there are some churches that would approve anyone as righteous if he would quit smoking, not drink, try not to commit sin, and live virtuously. However, such places that teach only Christian ethics are not God’s Church. God’s Church is where the gospel of the water and the Spirit is taught, so that people, whose acts are insufficient, would receive the remission of their sins, and it is where they are enabled to be born again. God’s Church is not a place that teaches you only hypocrisy. God’s true Church is the place where His servants preach the Word of God and the gospel of the water and the Spirit to you, thus making it possible for you to receive the remission of your sins.
Do you still think that all is fine if you only attend church, without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Do you believe only in the doctrines of Christianity, and are you pretending to be humble when in fact you have no faith at all? Many Christians sit in their churches and utter amen’s and hallelujah’s endlessly, but anyone who has sin in his heart cannot be a saint of God. Those who believe like this are no more than false Christians. They are on their way to perdition, walking on the wide way.
Have your sins been blotted out once and for all by believing in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood that He shed on the Cross? And have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit also? Only the gospel of the water and the Spirit can make you free from all your sins and be born again, as it is written, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). I beseech you all to listen closely to the gospel of the water and the Spirit and to learn it.
Ask yourself whether you really know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. To be washed from your sins now, believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You, too, will then be born again from all your sins through this faith. You, too, will be remitted from your sins and receive eternal life through this gospel of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus.
Now is the time for you to find and meet Jesus through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If you now believe in this true gospel, you will surely receive the everlasting remission of sin.
I pray to God that through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, He would bless you to drink from the living water.
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