Due to COVID-19 and disruption to international mail service
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 19 : The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the EPHESIANS
[Chapter 1-4] We Have Become God’s Possessions by His Grace (Ephesians 1:1-14)
(Ephesians 1:1-14)
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
We have recently composed new hymns to praise the Lord’s righteousness, and these new hymns delight me so much. Whenever new souls come into our Church, it’s very important for us to pay them extra attention and teach them these new hymns, so that they can also sing along with us. We need to put ourselves in their shoes and be considerate to them. Even we struggle sometimes when we try to learn a new hymn, and so it’s all the more difficult for new attendees coming to our Church for the first time. God sent us to this earth to save these people also, and so we ought to put ourselves in their shoes and be kind to them. It would be a big mistake if we were to neglect them thoughtlessly.
The Apostle Paul cared deeply about everyone around him, as he said, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law” (1 Corinthians 9:20). Paul treated everyone kindly like this in order to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We are liberal in the order of worship; we usually follow the order of plain worship. But when we have new attendees in our worship service on the Lord’s Day, we follow the traditional order of worship so that they would feel comfortable in a new surrounding. I ask you to make them feel welcomed in our Church, so that we may save everyone that is still standing outside Christ from the sins of the world. That is the right thing to do before God, and so let us all do so.
Yesterday I finished revising my sermons on the Gospel of Matthew and handed them over to the translators. My sermons on the Epistle to the Ephesians have already been translated and uploaded on our website as e-books, but I plan to revise them once more to publish them in paper format. I hope to finish this job as soon as possible, so that I may thank God and glorify Him even more for His wonderful providence. We have also been advertising our books in Chinese search engines, so that when a search is done, it would return a link to our website. As a result, Christians in China looking for the gospel of the water and the Spirit can now easily access our website through search engines.
We Must Prepare Beforehand to Preach the Gospel All over the World
It is very important for us to ready ourselves for the future recognizing that we will face vicious and vile opponents. Indeed, we should look at least a hundred years into the future and make all the necessary preparations to preach the gospel. Only when we prepare beforehand like this can we finish spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world without any worry even when we face unexpected difficulties.
Natural disasters have recently become quite common all over the world, but particularly worrisome among them is the rising sea level that is slowly submerging coastal areas. But even when such things happen, we have hope in the Lord’s return, and so we should prepare by faith and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That is how the gospel of the water and the Spirit is preached all over the world. If we otherwise do not spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit all over the world today, then we will be caught by surprise when the day of the Lord’s return comes upon us suddenly. Just as a house owner should prepare beforehand to protect his home before it is broken into by a thief, so we must also be ready to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit while we still can before natural disasters get worse. Only when we ready ourselves completely for the spreading of the gospel can we have no fear even when the end times arrive. Our literature ministry is the means by which we are making such preparation to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the Word of God that we must spread all over the world; and it would be a huge mistake if we failed to do fulfill this task, for many souls would then have no opportunity to find this Word of life. We cannot allow this to happen in these end times, and that is why I am being all the more watchful. But if we ready ourselves to preach the Word of God by trusting in Him and His righteousness, then we will have nothing to worry about.
People all over the world must accept into their hearts the gospel of the water and the Spirit that we are preaching now. Otherwise they will have to face the condemnation for their sins. The onus is on them to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We have no personal stake in whether people believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit or not. We are just being faithful to the will of God. But it saddens God deeply when people refuse to believe in His gospel. Therefore, people all over the world must come into the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit and believe in this Truth if they want to be remitted from all their sins. God is waiting for them patiently because He wants them all to be saved from their sins. Even now God is showing His mercy on them.
And this is precisely why we are preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to everyone. Our books have been advertised all over the world quite extensively, and the gospel will now be spread to every corner of the world through God’s servants. Although what we have already done for them would be insufficient, we can preach the gospel throughout the world with the help of God and His servants. That is why it is so indispensable for the people of faith who believe in the righteousness of God to work in each and every nation. Yet there are not enough workers of faith, and as a result we are not able to completely quench God’s desire. This is heartbreaking for me. So I hope and pray that more workers of faith would arise to quench God’s desire as soon as possible. Once we have more trained workers of God in every country, then I am sure that we will be able to completely preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world.
Even now, there are only a handful of servants carrying out God’s work in the world. But to me, even this number is a rather large number. In the days of the Old Testament, Gideon and his 300 warriors prevailed over the whole nation of Midian. Likewise, if more people on this earth come to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and follow the righteousness of God, then we will triumph in our spiritual battle against the whole world of darkness. I have every confidence that we can fight and overcome all the false prophets in this world through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I believe that victory will be ours.
We just read Ephesians 1:1-14 for today’s Scripture reading. In this passage the Apostle Paul is testifying about God’s abundant mercy and majestic plan. He is speaking of God the Father’s great plan of salvation and explaining to us the unsearchable riches of the salvation of Christ that is found in the Son of God. Paul’s message is that it is in this great plan of God’s mercy that we were able to receive the remission of our sins and become righteous workers by believing in the righteousness of Christ. And Paul is also teaching us that God is leading the lives of all His redeemed saints to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Every Spiritual Blessing Has Come from God’s Work According to the Counsel of His Will
It’s written here in Ephesians 1:11, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” The Bible says that God had the salvation of the human race in His mind and worked accordingly to it. All of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit right now should know that our salvation was prepared beforehand according to God the Father’s plan and will, and this salvation which the Father had predestined for us even before the foundation of the world was fulfilled through the righteousness of His Son. Every work of God was done according to the counsel of His will. This means that our blessed salvation was determined according to the plan that God the Father had made for us in Jesus Christ. In other words, God Himself worked to fulfill our salvation out of His mercy.
The Word of God here says that it is in Jesus Christ that we have obtained His inheritance, and it’s according to His will that we have become His possession. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 1:11, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” This passage explains in more concrete detail exactly how we have become God’s possession. That you and I have become God’s possession implies that God the Father decided to make all of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit His very own. In other words, it is entirely out of God’s own desire and plan that we have become His.
How did God plan to make us His children then? God planned our salvation in Jesus Christ according to His counsel, and God Himself fulfilled this plan with His righteousness that’s in His Son. This is how God was able to make us His children according to His wish through His righteousness. God the Father was more than able to turn us into His people we who believe in the righteousness of His Son.
It’s written in Ephesians 1:9-10: “Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” Here “the dispensation of the fullness of the times” refers to God’s great plan. It is according to His great plan that God has made all of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit today His own children in Jesus Christ. God did this so that “He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” In other words, God worked with such a great plan in order to unify us we who are no more than mere creatures with Himself. And God completely fulfilled His will by working according to this great plan. Put differently, God has fulfilled His profound will to all who believe in His righteousness that’s found in Christ. Therefore, all that we have done is just to believe in this wonderful plan of God, according to which God Himself has made us His.
How Could You and I Become the Children of the Holy God?
God the Father worked on our salvation with such a great plan because He wanted to make us His own children. God the Father has at once fulfilled His plan of salvation for all of us humans with His righteousness that’s in Jesus Christ His Son. That is how we could become God’s children through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Originally, all of us were no more than God-made creatures. To illustrate God’s work with an example, let’s say that a certain scientist made a robot just like himself. This scientist then elevated this robot of his own making to the same status as he is. That is likened to what God had done for us. Perhaps this analogy is not quite fitting, but God created us in order to make us His very own children. This is why we were able to receive true salvation through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that’s found in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It’s the Truth of the graceful salvation that the Apostle Paul has been speaking to us until now.
Like this, God the Father has shown us the dispensation of the fullness of the times in Jesus Christ. This means that God the Father, by sending His Son Jesus Christ to us as our Savior, has saved all of us who believe in His righteousness from all our sins and made us God’s own children. Put differently, all of us who now believe in the righteousness of Christ have received the remission of sins and become God’s children once and for all. God the Father has made us His children on account of our faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And to make us His children, God the Father has washed away all our sins once and for all through the sacrifice of His Son. Even though our forefathers had sinned by being deceived by Satan’s temptation, God the Father has saved us from all our sins through His Son’s sacrifice. So it is by giving us faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God was able to make us His children once and for all.
Therefore, when we consider the overall contour of God’s plan, we can see that it was completed along with the gospel of the water and the Spirit by God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Thus, it is not just by believing blindly in Jesus as our Savior that we have been saved from the sins of the world, but we have reached our salvation only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that’s in the special plan of God our Father. It’s on account of our faith in God’s righteousness that we were able to realize the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and it is by believing in this righteousness of God that we were able to become His. We could therefore reach our salvation only when we understood the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believed in it properly.
Although our salvation was fulfilled through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, this does not just mean the disappearance of our sins, but it also entails the glorious life that’s lived with God for all of us. There are many things in this world, but to whom these things belong to is also important. We would be nothing but ephemeral beings like all the other living creatures if it had not been for God’s great plan of salvation. Every human being was made by God and born on this planet earth because of Him. Despite this, the vast majority of so many people on this earth do not know of God’s great plan. Even in this age, however, you and I who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have become God’s possessions and we are living as His workers. It’s because we understood and believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that’s in Jesus Christ that we could become God’s cherished children.
To make this possible for us, God our Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to this earth as our Savior, made Him accept all our sins once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist, and let Him be condemned for our sins by being crucified and shedding His blood on the Cross while shouldering the sins of this world. By thus making His Son receive baptism from John the Baptist, putting Him to death on the Cross, and resurrecting Him from the dead, God the Father has eradicated all our sins and the judgment. If we have become God’s possessions like this, then it means the fulfillment of the Word of God that says, “He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” (Ephesians 1:10). In other words, the gospel of the water and the Spirit has been fulfilled to us exactly as God promised us. What it means for us that we have become God’s children is that we are now able to live with God and enjoy the glory of Heaven together with Him. This is God the Father’s great plan for all of us.
When did God the Father make this plan for us to receive such unfathomable heavenly blessings? He planned it in His Son Jesus Christ even before the foundation of the world and the creation of this universe. When we want to make something, we plan it beforehand. When you have something in mind to do, you first plan on how you would go about doing it, don’t you? Even when we make a small desk, we first sit down and draw its rough design and think about its necessary materials, don’t we?
Likewise, when the Lord made the door of our salvation, He first made up a plan and drew a blueprint to decide how and through what means He would fulfill our salvation. We can see this when we look at the blue, purple, and scarlet thread that was used to make the gate of the Tabernacle in the days of the Old Testament. Just as only certain specific materials were used to build the Tabernacle, there also were certain indispensable elements that God needed to make His children out of us, who were all born on this earth in the likeness of His image.
Then when did God the Father plan our salvation, providing everlasting life and heavenly blessings? He made this plan even before the foundation of the world. Even before creating this universe, God the Father had already planned to bring us out on this earth and make us His children through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Scientists estimate that this universe came into existence billions of years ago. Yet even so many years ago, before this universe and all its hosts came into existence, God had already planned to make us His very own children by compelling us to believe in His righteousness fulfilled in His Son Jesus Christ. In His Son, God the Father had chosen us the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and decided to make us His children even before the foundation of the world.
Our Salvation That Was Planned before the Foundation of the World
It’s written in Ephesians 1:4-7: “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
When did God the Father plan to make us His children? He planned our salvation in the love of Jesus Christ even before creating the universe. How did He make up this plan? He planned to make us His children by saving us, we who were chosen in His Son, through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Whom did God then choose among so many people on this earth? Of course, God chose to adopt as His children only those who solely rely on His righteousness. In contrast, God cannot not choose those arrogant ones who think that they are strong and wise enough on their own despite being no more than mere creatures and, as a result, reject the righteous love of God the Father that was fulfilled in His Son Jesus.
Recently, while Evangelist Byungi Ahn was preaching about Ephesians chapter 2, I heard him talking about how he had once been the top student in the whole school. But if one thinks highly of himself just because he had excellent grades back in his school days and he was praised by his teachers, this person will face a lot of trouble in his life. This actually entails many downsides. That’s because smart kids are prone to grow up into pompous adults, thinking too highly of themselves just because they excelled in school. But life is not all about grades. Even if you were the top of your class, what you learned in school is not everything that matters. There are many more things that you need to learn in this world to deal with the many problems that life brings. Of course, when someone is a student, all that matters is how good the grades are, and everyone would praise him if he has straight A’s. The problem is that many good students mistakenly assume that the same accolades will follow them when they become grown-ups.
Let me give a more concrete example. Among the many complaints that women usually make about their husbands, there is one complaint that almost always surfaces when these wives return from their school reunions. They get upset when they see their old friends back from the school days doing better than they are even though these friends were the worst students. So they get jealous and nag their husbands saying to them, “Everything about this friend of mine was worse than me when we were students, but now that she married a good husband, she is living a far better life. It’s all because I married you that I am miserable like this. It’s all your fault!” They complain like this because they think they should be doing better than their friends just because they were smarter, prettier and taller back in the school days. So they compare their current situation with their friends’ and nag their husbands. But women are not alone in this. Men also think that it’s not fair for them to be not as successful as some old school acquaintance who was a worse student than they were. In fact, when it comes to envy, nothing sets men apart from women.
My point is that life is not all about grades. Whether or not you were a good student is not that important. For that matter, even how successful you are now is completely irrelevant as far as your salvation is concerned. What matters is that God our Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Whom did God then choose among so many people? God chose those who had no merit of their own first of all, but solely relied on and trusted in the righteousness of Christ alone.
The Old Testament’s account of Jacob and Esau; it’s written that God loved Jacob but hated Esau. What kind of faith does someone like Esau have today, spiritually speaking? Such people consider themselves very highly, thinking that they are smart and meritorious. Esau was a strong man and an excellent hunter. He was also an excellent shooter. He used to prepare and cook the game he hunted for his parents.
What about Jacob, his younger brother? He was a mama’s boy, clinging to his mother’s skirt all the time and following her everywhere. I too was like Jacob in my past. For another example, consider Cain and Abel. As I’m sure you may all know, both Cain and Abel were Adam’s sons, but these two brothers offered completely different offerings to the Lord God. While Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground, Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and its fat. That Cain offered the fruit of the ground implies that he relied on his own physical strength and was eager to show off his merits even to God. And God rejected Cain’s offering for his arrogance. Such self-righteous people can never be chosen by God even though He has blotted out all their sins through His Son Jesus Christ.
In contrast, Abel was a shepherd raising a flock of sheep out in the field. He was a weak man with many shortcomings, but he had inherited his parents’ faith and relied only on the righteousness of God. It is such weak people like this who cannot help but rely on the righteousness of God that are chosen by God in His dispensation.
What I am trying to say to you here is that you and I were chosen by God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ on account of our faith. Would God have chosen people like Esau who was too arrogant, or people like Jacob who knew his shortcomings and relied on the righteousness of God? Of course God chose those who knew their shortcomings and clothed them with His heavenly grace. God chooses those who know their shortcomings and rely on the righteousness of God. And in this present age, such people are none other than those who wholeheartedly believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
In other words, it is we who believe in His righteousness whom God the Father chose. How were we then able to know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? This was possible because we could discover the righteousness of God in this gospel of the water and the Spirit. The crucial question for you therefore is whether or not you realize just how worthless you are on you own, and whether or not you choose to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God the Father is saying to us that He has saved us on account of our faith; and our faith is based on the Truth that His Son bore all our sins by being baptized by John the Baptist and was condemned for our sins by being crucified to death. God chose those who are grateful for and believe in this salvation that He has granted to them through His righteousness, and it is these very people who God has blessed to become His own children.
Therefore, all who know their shortcomings and believe in God the Father’s great plan of salvation are blessed. And we have put on such grace of salvation by believing in God’s righteousness that is manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I am sure that all of you who have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can understand this.
What brings peace to our hearts and fills them with blessings and joy is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This gospel proclaims that when Jesus Christ the Son of God came to this earth, He took all our sins once and for all away by being baptized by John the Baptist, bore the condemnation of all these sins once and for all by being crucified to death, and thus delivered us from all our sins by rising up from the dead. It is when you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that you are saved from all your sins. That is how peace comes into your heart.
When does your heart find true peace? True peace comes into your heart when you believe that the Lord has at once eradicated all your sins with the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. This is the Truth of salvation that has come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Put differently, what makes you and me sinless is the grace of the Lord that has come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This is God the Father’s great plan for us. Thanks to this great plan of salvation carried out and accomplished by the righteousness of God that you and I could become His own children. And now that we have become God’s children by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we know that we have peace in our hearts.
Once we are made God’s children by believing in His righteousness, everlasting life is given to us. Then everything God our Father has is made yours and mine. That is why it’s such a wonderful blessing that you and I have become God’s possessions.
The Signs of the Impending Destruction of the World
Lately there have been many news reports and TV programs warning of endless natural disasters. In Korea there is a popular documentary program on nature that’s broadcasted on every Friday evening, and in one of the episodes I saw scientists saying that it’s possible for massive asteroids to strike the Earth just like in the movie Deep Impact. But when God created this planet Earth, He put Jupiter on the asteroids’ path to protect the Earth from the countless comets heading toward it. So while moving toward the planet Earth, many asteroids end up striking Jupiter instead. If the asteroids were to strike our planet without Jupiter blocking their path, then the planet Earth would have disappeared long ago. Even so, an asteroid still strikes the Earth once in a while, and it’s believed that dinosaurs went extinct because of such a collision, bringing about radical changes to the Earth’s atmosphere. This is what scientists are saying. And many of them are deeply concerned, predicting that such an event could occur once again in the future.
Even now, there are countless asteroids in the universe hurling toward the planet Earth. Because the Earth would be completely devastated if it were struck by an asteroid, scientists are constantly plotting and calculating the asteroids’ path, and they are even trying to come up with a way to shoot down threatening asteroids before they collide into the Earth. It’s said that there is a big asteroid with a high probability of hitting the Earth around 2020.
Scientists are also concerned about the possibility of massive earthquakes breaking out. Earthquakes are caused by the movements of the tectonic plates, and one of them, called the Pacific Plate, stretches from the South Pacific to the east coast of North America and Japan. This plate has caused a massive earthquake in the past, and scientists are worried about new signs indicating that another massive earthquake is due. And they are also worried about the effects of El Niño. The oceans play a crucial role in maintaining the Earth’s climate. One way that the oceans control the climate is through the movements of cold and warm currents that influence the surface temperature of the seas, which in turn affects atmospheric temperatures. The problem now is that this crucial function has been largely ruined.
The Bible clearly says that destruction will surely come to this planet Earth and the whole universe. But I am not raising this issue just to scare you; rather, I am asking you whether or not you have the faith that would deliver you from all your sins. To phrase this question differently, do you really know the great providence of God the Father? Do you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has granted to you through His Son? Have you received the remission of your sins by believing in this gospel and becoming God’s own children and His possession? If you have become God’s possession, then you have nothing to worry about.
Here in today’s Scripture passage, the Apostle Paul is speaking about our salvation in relation to the whole history of universe. Some of you may say that since we have received the remission of our sins by faith, that’s the end of the story. However, while it’s absolutely important to receive the remission of our sins, it is also very important for us to realize that we have become Christ’s possessions. As God the Father has blotted out all our sins through His Son, who bore our sins and was condemned for them in our place, we are now able to truly thank God like this, for we know and believe in this Truth of salvation.
Indeed, that is why you and I are God’s glory and His praise. Why is God so praiseworthy? He is praiseworthy because of the great work of salvation He has done for us. Of so many creatures and countless people living on this Earth, you and I who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have become God’s children, and this very fact itself is God’s glory. We praise God because our salvation is entirely His work. We ourselves are God’s praise. After all, how could mere creatures become God’s children and be like Him? You and I could become God’s children all because of the plan God the Father prepared in Christ. He made it possible for us to be saved by giving us wisdom, intelligence and understanding. How about you then? Do you believe in this Truth of salvation?
God made countless people, and of all these people we alone realized God’s plan and were saved through our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You and I know that God has blotted out all our sins through His Son, and that He has made us sinless through the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. So we have accepted this Truth with conviction and thanksgiving, because God Himself has blotted out all our sins. This is how we have become God’s children. And this is why I am saying that of all the countless people, you and I have become God’s possessions. This is a tremendous blessing. It is an indescribably amazing blessing that God has given to us, and it is the glory that God has granted to us. Mere creatures have now become God’s own children. I am a child of God, just as you are also His child. Even though there are countless people living in this world, God chose only a few to make His children, one from a city and two from a tribe (Jeremiah 3:14). Our number is not large. It really is not that many people who have received this amazing blessing. Take a look around yourself. How many of your acquaintances have become God’s children? How many of your family members have become God’s possessions? How many of your countrymen have received this blessing? Of over 6 billion people living in this world, how many have received the remission of sins? The number is extremely small, and that is precisely why I am saying that we have been so blessed.
Among the countless people living on this Earth, only an extremely few have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Even though there are billions of people living in this world, only a handful of them have received the remission of sins to become God’s children, and you and I are such blessed people. But how often do we really think about the grace of God that has been bestowed on us? How often do we remind ourselves of this grace in our everyday lives?
I ask these questions so that we would all know the great plan of God the Father. Once we realize God the Father’s great plan for us, we will have no choice but to thank God. And once we realize the greatness of this blessing of salvation that we have received from God, we will all be compelled to praise Him as a matter of course.
This sermon is also available in ebook format. Click on the book cover below.
Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission