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Sermons

Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN

[Chapter 9-1] The Lord Has Saved Us Who Were to Be Cursed (John 9:1-7)

The Lord Has Saved Us Who Were to Be Cursed
(John 9:1-7)
“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”
 
 
How have you all been?
One of the beautiful works of the church of God is when various people work together in unity. Whenever I conceive a plan of action, I often experience the weaknesses of my flesh especially towards the end of that task. But even though I get tired, I am challenged by it and strive to finish the work, for I enjoy seeing the completion of this precious work. But it seems that some people have a tendency of shying away from doing challenging ‘righteous works.’
Whenever I go on a subway or when passing by a busy street, every now and then I see people wearing a banner, walking about and shouting, “Disbelief is hell, but Jesus is Heaven.” When considering this, I believe that this gospel of the water and the Spirit will become more effective than shouting and wearing banners like this. The reason for this is because the words they speak are not the gospel of the water and the Spirit which says that Jesus had died having taken on all the sins of the world through His baptism which He received from John the Baptist. For this reason they find it is easy to shout and go crazy, “Jesus, Heaven! Disbelief, hell!” in an open public place these days, and the result of this is that the world treats them as the crazy’s and with contempt.
The Lord told us clearly, “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon” (Luke 16:9). Therefore our pastors and missionary workers, as well as our lay believers, are earning money by running various businesses to support the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If we just shout out, “Jesus is Heaven! Disbelief is hell!” without the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then people will not come to know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and will not be able to go to Heaven with these few empty words. Therefore, we must have the desire to persistently carry out works that are useful to the evangelization of this gospel, and we should possess endurance to finish that work we had started.
More than anything else, I would like to inform you that it is a blessing for the church of God to support the evangelization of the gospel by constantly raising up workers of God who will spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If God’s Church was not here and if the forerunners of faith had not provided you with work to do, we would not have been able to spread the gospel so energetically.
If this were the case we would have carried out the work of serving the Lord’s gospel of the water and the Spirit all on our own without the guidance from God’s Church. As a result of this we would have stopped preaching the gospel within a year. For certain people it would have been just a month or two. Nevertheless, if our hearts were not standing firm on this gospel of the water and the Spirit it would lead to a rapid cooling off of our hearts love towards God. And the result of this it will incite the desires of the flesh to rise up and seek and follow after things that rot away. Therefore even if we did become a worker of God for having received the remission of our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and did not continue steadfastly serving the gospel by knowing the will of God, then our hearts would die a spiritual death. For this reason, when the church of God entrusts a certain duty to you, you must carry out that duty diligently and be thankful that you have been entrusted with that precious duty.
Once in a while, certain workers in the ministry think that it would be good to do the work of God independently by leaving God’s Church. It would be fortunate if they were to laboriously serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit all by themselves, but most of them are unable to do this. At first it seems as though they are coping well doing the work of God. But soon the desires of the flesh begin rising up in their hearts, resulting in them throwing in the towel. When people start to serve their own fleshly desires, it would only mean certain death. Therefore, I speak to all pastors, missionary workers, and all those who are faithfully carrying out the work of God inside the Church, please remain inside the Church that serves the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the end, by thanking God.
Naturally, if they really desire their independence, I will allow them to leave at any time. Anyone who does not want to work with me, I will allow them to leave and serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit all by themselves. If you desire your independence, then all you have to do is leave God’s Church and serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But before you do this, please think seriously about it? Try to visualize whether or not it will be easy for you to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit all by yourself and at the same time to keep your heart secure. Only then will you begin to realize just how blessed and how joyous it is to be working together in union with the fellow workers in God’s Church. Would there be anyone amongst the students of the Mission School who wishes to start an independent ministry, if so please raise your hands. I will support you. As for those narrow minded satisfaction seekers, who seek after not having to worry about putting food on the table, and getting welcomed as pastors, having luxurious cars, and receiving a large amount of money as honorariums, it would be better for the ministry if we were to send them in that direction.
We need to know that the Apostles, the Fathers of our faith of the Early Church, and those of us who truly love the Lord desire to spread the gospel throughout the world, and they do not chase after their own carnal desires. They only work for the benefit of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord said in the Book of Proverbs, “Take away the dross from silver, And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry” (Proverbs 25:4). Like these Words, if you don’t refine silver, you won’t be getting useful jewelry. Also should you are to leave silver in its original form, it will just be a lump of some silver, having no particular use. Silver spoons, silver hairpins, silver crowns, and so on are all things created by melting and refining it into pure silver. Likewise, after having been born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we must go through a sufficient amount of spiritual training, by dwelling in the gospel of the water and the Spirit so that the dross and impurities can be removed from our hearts. No one is capable of removing this dross from his heart all on his own. By giving up oneself wholeheartedly to the Lord, you become a useful tool through the Lord. Therefore, only after the removal of our fleshly greed, we can through the Church be disciplined by doing the entrusted works of God.
I must be honest there are times when I get exasperated when I see workers inside the Church. Amongst the people especially amongst the younger ones, they look so fragile like lambs, they seem as though they will die if left alone. But if they are given some guidance, they will survive and live. There are also people who do not realize just how important and how thankful they should be by doing this precious work of God inside the Church, by doing this they do not realize the fact that they are dying due to having fallen into the desires of the flesh. It is spiritually frustrating for me, but they will not realize anything by my teaching. Therefore I will leave them alone until they realize that fact by themselves.
 
 

There Was a Man Who Was Born Blind

 
We read the Word in the Gospel of John chapter 9. It tells us that as Jesus was passing by with His disciples, He saw a man who was blind from birth. Jesus’ disciples asked whether it was the man’s own sin or that of his parents that had caused this mans blindness. To this question, Jesus answered, it was neither this man nor his parents who sinned which causes his blindness, but rather that the works of God should be revealed in him. Actually, this Scripture passage is very simple. Jesus and the disciples saw a blind man, and the disciples asked Jesus for its reason. Jesus answered, “That the man was born blind was not due to him having sinned nor his parents having sinned, but rather, that the work of God should be revealed in him.” This Word spoken by Jesus means, everyone who was born as sinners can be truly born again by receiving the gospel of the water and the Spirit from Him.
Actually, in order to understand this account properly, we must realize why the Lord had given us all the gospel of the water and the Spirit. In other words, we must know the Lord’s intention that was shown to us in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. So, in order for you to understand the meaning of today’s Scripture passage, you must first be born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, otherwise its truth will always be hidden away from you.
In the Book of Romans it is written, “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19). According to this truth written in the Bible, we are the descendants of Adam and Eve who had committed sin, therefore because of this we are born ‘as sinners,’ having inherited that sin. We became sinners because we were born with sin, and our descendants after us will also become sinners. It is saying to us that sins are hereditary; therefore everyone without question becomes a sinner.
But what is the Lord trying telling us today? He is telling us that it is not because this man or his parents had committed sin, but rather God wanted to show His works through him. So, we can see that the Word, which says that the offense of one man Adam had caused many people to become sinners, is true. The Bible says that just as through one man’s offense had led many people to become sinners, everyone is born with sin. But the Bible also says, “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life” (Romans 5:18). So we can see that God had desired to show His glory through that blind sinner. The Word the Lord is saying to us is, “that the works of God should be revealed in him.”
Even before the birth of Adam and Eve, God had planned to blot out the sins of mankind by the gospel of the water and the Spirit in Jesus Christ, His Son. Originally it was the will of God to make mankind, Gods children. This is why even before anyone was born and even before Adam and Eve had committed any sin due to Satan’s temptation, God had planned the gospel of the water and the Spirit for the purpose of saving us from sins and then adopting us as His children. Through John the Baptist the representative of mankind, God had all the sins of mankind transferred onto Jesus when He was baptized, and had Jesus pay the price for all the sins of mankind.
Everyone is born with sin: all people are born ‘sinners’ not because they themselves or their parents had committed sin, but because God the Father had them be born as sinners for the purpose of making us His people in His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore like this blind man God had us born as the ‘spiritually blind.’ Of course, there are those who are physically blind from birth. But when we look at ourselves in a spiritual sense, we are blind from birth and cannot see the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This is so not because of anyone’s mistake. It is for the sole purpose of God the Father wanting to show the work that He had carried out; this plan for the salvation in His Son Jesus Christ.
Let us read the Gospel of John chapter 9 verse 6 and 7 together. “When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”
After announcing that He was the light of this world, He spat on the ground and made clay with His saliva; and with this clay He anointed the eyes of the blind man and told him to go wash it off in the pool of Siloam. Then the blind washed his eyes with this water and came back ‘seeing.’ What does this mean? It means that through the Law of God, the Lord made sinners realize their sin, and through this they received salvation by returning to the Lord through the God given gospel of the water and the Spirit.
When Jesus was going about healing this blind man, He spat on the ground and with this mixture made clay. And then he anointed the eyes of the blind with this wet clay. From a human perspective this would be an insulting and demeaning action. But being blind is demeaning enough, yet Jesus made clay from the dust of the earth and anointed his eyes with it. He then told the blind to go and wash himself in the pool of Siloam.
The miracle is this that those who have met and obeyed the Lord were all healed of their sicknesses, regardless of what it was. Rather than grumbling about how Jesus anointing the eyes with the clay mixed with saliva, the blind man went to the pool of Siloam and washed his eyes quietly and obediently according to the Lord’s command. Then this blind man eyesight was restored and he was able to have very good eyesight.
I am stressing something here; this Scripture passage is not telling us that if we obey well, we will receive blessings. Leaders inside Christianity tell their followers that if they obey and offer their tithes well, they will receive many blessings, and should they offer large sums of money by taking out a loan with faith, their businesses will prosper beyond their wildest dreams. We need to know, they are all liars. The Lord told us clearly here that our ‘spiritual eyes’ would be opened if we would listen and understand and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit well. He definitely did not say that our ‘spiritual eyes’ would be opened if we offer our money.
The meaning of Jesus spitting on the ground and making clay with His saliva, and anointing the eyes of the blind man, means that we are the accursed ones before God. We would spit on people who are really vicious and loathsome. We hardly ever spit on common people, in fact we never think of spitting. But sinners are those who are destined to be cursed due to these loathsome sins. Therefore through this we can see God spitting on those destined to receive the curse from Him. This shows us clearly that all of mankind are ‘the accursed.’ Those in this world who have sins before God are not ‘just sinners.’ They are much more than this; they are these ‘accused people.’
The Lord said, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). It is therefore only right that if people have sins, they ought to go to hell, having been cursed by God. They have to pay the price for their sins. But because we are so precious in God’s sight, He does not want us to suffer destruction due to our sins. This is because He did not create us so that He could send us to hell. That is why God the Father sent His only begotten Son to us as the propitiation for all our sins. And Jesus Christ had accomplished His mission of atoning for all the sins of the world, through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Therefore we must believe in Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of all of mankind, through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. To truly believe in Him, we should realize what the God given gospel of the water and the Spirit really is, and only through this gospel, can we receive the cleansing of our sins.
There is one important thing we must realize prior to being cleansed from our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And that is, realizing the fact that we are doomed to hell because of our sins, we are those who must gain everlasting life by receiving salvation from all our sins without fail. Not only do we have to receive the cleansing from our sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we should also realize, by believing in this genuine gospel, we are really ‘grave sinners’ who cannot avoid the penalty of being cast into hell unless we receive the cleansing of all our sins. In other words, prior to believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and receiving salvation, we must know and confess the fact that we are those destined to be cursed by God due to our sins when we measure ourselves before the criteria set up by God’s Law.
Why did the Lord spit on the ground, using His saliva to make clay to anoint the eyes of the blind man? He did this to show us publicly just how filthy we really are before God, and the fact that we are the seeds of sin destined to be accursed. We must bear in mind that it is only fitting for us to be cursed and destroyed before God due to our sins, and that it is only fitting for us to be sent into that terrible fire that will never die. Because of this we must go before God and confess that we are destined to receive ‘such a judgment and the everlasting destruction’ due to our sins. When we do this the Lord will then say to us, “You go now and wash yourselves in the pool of Siloam,” and when we quietly and obediently do this, you will be cleansed from all of your sins ‘once and for all’ by washing your hearts which is completely scarred due to sins, and according to that Word, you will be perfectly healed. So in order for us to receive the cleansing of our sins before God and become His holy people, we must ‘first know’ and acknowledge what sort of a sinner we really are, and the fact that we are the ones who would be suffering the wrath of God.
And then only do we go to Jesus Christ by believing in the God given gospel of the water and the Spirit, and receive the cleansing of our sins through that Word of Truth. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God sent by God the Father for the atonement of our sins. Jesus Christ did not come to us to carry out the work of salvation all by Himself at His discretion. He came down to this earth in accordance to the will of His Father, and as He lived out His life on this earth for those 33 years, He carried out this plan of His Father by taking on our sins through His baptism and vicariously dying on that Cross by shedding His precious blood according to that plan. The word ‘Siloam,’ when translated means, to be ‘sent.’ Jesus Christ is the Savior who had come to us having been ‘sent’ by His Father.
If we look at the Scripture passage in John chapter 9:4 we will read, “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” Jesus Christ was thus compelled to carry out the work according to the will of His Father. Only if we go to Jesus Christ can our filthy sins be cleansed and be gone forever. To do so, we should first realize that we are indeed ‘the dirty ones’ and have sins. And when we go before Jesus Christ, we must receive the cleansing of our sins by believing in the God given gospel of the water and the Spirit.
What is this ‘water’ mentioned in ‘the gospel of the water and the Spirit’? It is Jesus’ baptism. We should realize the Biblical truth that God the Father had called upon John the Baptist as the High Priest and the representative of mankind, where he was instructed to place all the sins of mankind onto Jesus Christ through His baptism that was performed in the form of ‘laying on of hands.’ In this way John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ, the Savior who had vicariously received ‘the judgment’ for all our sins by being crucified. By believing in Jesus Christ who had come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we can be cleansed from all our sins and look towards the love of God with restored eyesight. This means that we by faith receive the remission of our sins, and only then will be allowed to call God “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).
By realizing the fact that God had allowed us to be born into this world and the fact that we are doomed to be put to death because of our sins, we must accept His love. Having come down to this earth to save all of mankind; the very first work that Jesus Christ did during this short period of His public ministry, was to be baptized by John the Baptist. We must know and believe in this truth that Jesus come down to this earth and received His baptism in order to take on the sins of the entire human race. Jesus came into this world through the body of a virgin, and when He was thirty years of age, He received His baptism from John the Baptist. Only then did He start His public ministry to save all of mankind.
 
 

The Very First Work Jesus Did in His Public Ministry Was to Receive Baptism from John the Baptist

 
By having received His baptism from John the Baptist, Jesus took on all the sins of the human race starting from Adam onto His body all at once. And by being crucified as the result of all those sins and dying on our behalf, He had thus saved us from all these sins and its destruction. If you do not or refuse to know and believe in this fact, then you cannot become a true Christian. When people claim to be regular church members while professing that they believe in Jesus just by lips without even knowing about the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then they are considered by God to be mere worldly religionists, likened to Buddhists who ceaselessly chant sutras without even knowing its literal meaning. This is so because sins still remain inside their hearts.
It is therefore very important to know how Jesus had taken onto Himself all of our sins and how He had perfectly solved ‘the problem of sin.’ We must clearly understand why He had to receive His baptism and what the exact meaning of this baptism really is, and then we must truly believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Only then will we at once be perfectly cleansed from our sins, obtain everlasting life and the remission of our sins and become the children of God. When we are truly born again like this, we will go on witnessing on our own that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the real Truth, even though we are not compelled to spread this genuine gospel. This is why it is important to have faith of knowing and believing in Jesus Christ who had come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We should also know ourselves well as well. We must know that even though we had been loathsome sinners, the Lord had saved us from our sins by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
I really trust that you would not underestimate this Truth of salvation that being, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Lord told us clearly, “Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:26). Because sins still remain, despite them hearing this precious gospel, they will therefore not be able to get out of prison, that being hell. The price of sin is a terrible thing. It is so agonizing and painful that one would wish never to have been born at all.
We must realize just how disgraceful we really are and the fact that we are the accursed due to our sins, and then, we must believe in Jesus Christ who was sent by His Father. Through today’s Scripture passage, we must clearly know that Jesus had taken on ‘at once’ all the sins of the world by receiving His baptism from John the Baptist. The Bible records the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit which was fulfilled by Jesus Christ and its relevancy and its foreshadowing of the Old Testament.
We should therefore know that we cannot cleanse away our sins without the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Our sins do not get washed away just by us ‘knowing our sins’ and asking for forgiveness. Rather we should realize the Biblical truth of this cleansing by knowing and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You should know how the Lord had blotted out all our sins in order for our hearts to be freed from ‘all sins.’ Our sins are not cleansed by our asking for forgiveness every time we sin. But despite this Biblical truth many Christians are praying to Jesus mistakenly. They continually offer their prayers of repentance sobbing and asking for forgiveness, and saying that they have done wrong.
The truth is we do not receive the remission of sins in this way we are wasting our time. We should rather believe in the fact that Jesus has blotted out all our sins by having received His baptism from John the Baptist and having shed His blood on that Cross. The Lord did not blot out our sins just by just shedding His blood on the Cross. The Biblical truth is that because Jesus had taken on our sins by receiving His baptism from John the Baptist, He thus received the judgment for all our sins vicariously. Jesus ‘had’ truly taken on all our sins People are nevertheless still ‘spiritually blind’ because they still go on with there fasting, offering prayers of repentance, and begging regardless without even knowing about how to be completely remitted from their sins. That is why the Lord says they are ‘the blind from birth’.
We obtain our salvation when we believe in Jesus who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit; this is the foundation of our faith. But this ‘foundation of faith’ is not obtained so easily. You really do not know how difficult it is to establish the foundation of faith. Jesus came to this earth, and in order to save you and me from the sins of the world, He had to work tirelessly for 33 long years. What I am trying to say is that ‘this work’ is not something ‘so simple’ as many make it out to be. In order to give us the gospel of the water and the Spirit, Jesus had to take on all the sins of mankind through John the Baptist who was its representative and was nailed to that Cross and died there instead of us, where He paid the full with His life. In this way He saved us from all our sins, curses and destruction.
If we were able to condense all the righteous acts of Jesus into one single sentence, we could say this; “Jesus saved us from the sin of the world by the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” Therefore we should know fully what the ‘water’ mentioned in the Bible really is, who the Holy Spirit really is, and what the Truth that saved us from our sins really is, and then we must believe with this knowledge. Put differently, we must know and believe in the work the Lord had fulfilled for us with the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
After the Lord fulfilled all those works perfectly, He was resurrected and ascended to the everlasting Kingdom. But the disciples remained behind on the earth. They were none other than the Apostles and their followers of the Early Church. The word ‘apostle’ means the ‘sent ones.’ When all the original Apostles had passed away, the Church Fathers became the church leaders, but unfortunately the gospel of the water and the Spirit gradually disappeared with the passage of time. Actually it will not be an exaggeration to say that the gospel of the water and the Spirit was totally exterminated from this earth with the declaration of the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D.
But Praise God in this age and time, He has established another faithful group of people who have inherited this very faith of the original Apostles. These people of God are none other than you and me. We together are currently preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the entire world. We are right now spreading this gospel of the water and the Spirit to 6.5 billion people of this world. We are the defenders of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and are carrying out the works of God to all of the world’s peoples. Because the Lord sent us, we are obediently and faithfully doing His work.
And so, for all those who have as yet not truly met the Lord and as a result still have sins, should as soon as possible seek out and meet one of the truly born-again people who know the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. Because ‘these people’ are the ones who have been sent by God, when you meet them, hear the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it, you will be cleansed of all your sins and gain everlasting life. To do this, you should deny your thoughts, learn the whole Truth step by step, and obtain answers to your questions. Only then will the problem of our sins be resolved. This is what this Scripture passage is telling us. It is saying we, who have met the Lord and have through it received the blessing of the remission of sins, are those who have come to see the world and God having had their eyesight’s restored, and are also those who have come to receive the blessing which was accomplished by the Lord.
Dear fellow believers, the blind man went right away to the pool of Siloam, where he washed and then returned with his eyesight having been restored. Washing is an act of cleaning away filth. People say that death is the end of everything, but this is not true. For the righteous, there awaits the eternal Heaven, but for sinners, there awaits the judgment for sins in the everlasting fire of hell. For this reason you should without delay receive the cleansing of your sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You should receive the remission of your sins and be washed clean as snow and receive the Holy Spirit as a free gift from God.
To obtain salvation for our souls, we should meet up with those who have already met the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, and then with an open learning heart listen carefully to what they tell us about this truth. And then believe in it with all of our hearts. God has given us the Truth of the water and the Spirit. He has allowed us, who had been spiritually blind before to know our Lord Jesus Christ who had come by the water and the Spirit, and not only did He allow us to know the gospel Truth, He also allowed us to believe in it and to be truly born again. Therefore, by looking at today’s Scripture passage, I hope for you to realize and understand the reason why God made us to follow and serve Him, and give thanks to God.
Also, for those who are still spiritually blind, I hope and pray that you would soon learn the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit from God’s workers, pastors, missionaries and brothers and sisters in His Church. To perfectly learn the Word you should cast away everything you have heard and learned up to now. These thoughts are the yeasts of human thought. You should therefore not know this admonition in a doctrinally manner, but rather to throw away the yeasts of human thought before you meet the Lord. So go ahead and throw away the yeasts of human thought that you have so far accumulated and accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If you will do this, you will then receive all the blessings of Heaven from God.
 
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