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 25 : The SONG OF SOLOMON
[25-11] God’s Blessings Belong to Those Who Have United Themselves With God’s Heart (Song of Solomon 7:1-13)
(Song of Solomon 7:1-13)
“How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
O prince’s daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
The work of the hands of a skillful workman.
Your navel is a rounded goblet;
It lacks no blended beverage.
Your waist is a heap of wheat
Set about with lilies.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower,
Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon
By the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
Which looks toward Damascus.
Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
And the hair of your head is like purple;
A king is held captive by your tresses.
How fair and how pleasant you are,
O love, with your delights!
This stature of yours is like a palm tree,
And your breasts like its clusters.
I said, ‘I will go up to the palm tree,
I will take hold of its branches.’
Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
The fragrance of your breath like apples,
And the roof of your mouth like the best wine.
The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved,
Moving gently the lips of sleepers.
I am my beloveds,
And his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved,
Let us go forth to the field;
Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards;
Let us see if the vine has budded,
Whether the grape blossoms are open,
And the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
The mandrakes give off a fragrance,
And at our gates are pleasant fruits,
All manner, new and old,
Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.”
Warm greetings to you all. I am very happy to see you here. Today is the last day of January, and February is just right around the corner. The long winter is at last coming to its end.
Today’s Scripture passage comes from Song of Solomon chapter 7. The key message here is that God loves all His workers who are devoted to the gospel work of the water and the Spirit. God is head over heels in love with each and every worker who is now carrying out His work. It’s written in Song of Solomon 7:1: “How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O prince’s daughter! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, The work of the hands of a skillful workman.” This passage is spoken to God’s workers. Elsewhere in Isaiah 52:7, God said: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.” God is smitten by His workers because their hearts are set on spreading the gospel, and are also seeking ways to devote themselves to supporting this gospel ministry.
It’s written in today’s Scripture passage: “The curves of your thighs are like jewels, The work of the hands of a skillful workman.” This implies that the witnesses serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit with all their hearts are beautiful in God’s sight. It exclaims what a beautiful life is led by those who preach and serve the gospel. When the Lord sees the workers serving Him wholeheartedly and devotedly spreading the gospel, they are beautiful in His eyes. Such workers are completely devoted to the spreading of the gospel. They have set their minds unwaveringly on the gospel; and its such people who are beautiful in God’s sight, as its written: “The curves of your thighs are like jewels, The work of the hands of a skillful workman.”
In today’s Scripture passage, God is speaking of the beauty of His workers using numerous metaphors drawn from various body parts. He said first of all that the thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman; second, the navel is a rounded goblet that lacks no blended beverage; third, the waist is a heap of wheat set about with lilies; fourth, the two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle; fifth, the neck is like an ivory tower; sixth, the eyes are like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim; seventh, the nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking toward Damascus; eighth, the head is like Mount Carmel; and finally, the hair is like purple, whose tresses hold a king captive.
This Is How God’s Heart Is Captivated by His Workers
Today’s Scripture reading shows us how beautifully God’s servants work to serve the gospel of Truth. It’s written in the Word of God, “Your navel is a rounded goblet; It lacks no blended beverage.” Indeed, for God’s workers, the center of their hearts is purely set on spreading God’s gospel. That’s why when God sees that His workers have set their hearts on spreading His gospel and are living out their faith; He is pleased by them beyond words. God also said about His servants: “Your waist is a heap of wheat Set about with lilies.” People nowadays don’t like thick waistlines and prefer thin, curved waistlines shaped like a Coca-Cola bottle.
God said that His workers are living a beautiful life because their lives are precious and worthy of preserving. As it’s written, the legs of God’s workers are thick, their navels are deep, and their waists are like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. These metaphors bear witness to the fact that their whole lives are beautiful in God’s sight.
When God’s workers carry out His work and labor hard to support it, their waists can actually get thick. When the servants work hard to spread and serve the gospel, their waists and legs will get thick. Otherwise, they won’t be strong enough to fulfill their duty to support the gospel ministry. God also said regarding His workers, “Your neck is like an ivory tower,” and He said this because His workers look towards the Lord for direction. It’s also written: “Your eyes like the pools in Heshbon By the gate of Bath Rabbim.” This testifies that the faith of God’s workers is that clear and pure.
The Bible says that the noses of God’s servants are like the tower of Lebanon looking towards Damascus. This implies that the righteous are proud of their faith and strong. The faith of the righteous are remarkably strong and they are exceptionally proud of it. The hearts of the righteous serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit are strong and unwavering. They have a tendency to take lightly those who have not been born again or those who are working on an unworthy cause. The righteous think nothing of what such people might have, thinking, “You may be rich, but so what? That big house you have means nothing to me!”
In contrast, the people of the flesh find a great deal of satisfaction from their riches, which ultimately is meaningless. Some of these people are indeed very rich—many are millionaires, and some are even billionaires. They are proud of what they have. But are they really living a worthy life just because they have millions of dollars? No, in the eyes of the righteous, their lives are futile. The righteous are not impressed by the riches of the world. In fact, when the righteous see such people, they feel sorry for them. To the righteous, whether some people are rich or poor is not what matters; what’s really important is the cause for which people live, and what it is that they believe in and follow. The righteous judge a person’s worth by what they believe in and what they are living for. If someone is living for his own flesh, then such a person’s life is not a worthy life. Such people’s lives are led in vain before God.
God was indeed speaking of the pride of faith when He said: “Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon Which looks toward Damascus.” In the olden days, fire stations used to have a tall tower looking over the town to watch out for any fire breaking out. In many cities nowadays, surveillance is done through the CCTVs located in nearly all the street corners. In the past, surveillance was done from a high place, like the top of a hill or a tower. Describing His servants’ heads, God said in today’s Scripture passage: “Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, And the hair of your head is like purple; A king is held captive by your tresses.”
That the hair of the head is purple implies royalty. The garments of kings in the ancient age were all purple. Even now, red carpets are used for VIPs. The color purple denotes royalty. So, this implies that God’s workers are kings, living a royal life by faith. These kings are God’s own children and the disciples of Jesus Christ. They are the ones who will live in the Kingdom of Heaven with the Lord. They are the ones who will reign over all creatures created by God. And that’s why the righteous are so overjoyed to live as God’s workers for the spreading of His gospel of God.
Do You Really Appreciate That God Actually Loves His Workers So Much?
Whether we can feel God’s love or not, God does love His workers. While serving the Lord and the gospel, there are times when you and I see our weaknesses being exposed. Every righteous saint has certain weaknesses; however, this does not change the clear fact that you and I are indeed God’s servants. We actually have nothing to boast of in our flesh. But, if there is one thing that we can boast of, it is the fact that we are God’s workers carrying out His work. The very fact that we have willingly become servants to the spreading of God’s gospel is in itself worthy of pride.
Moreover, since it is through us that God fulfills His work, as His actual servants we have earned the right to be proud of our spirituality. Why? It’s because when God sees us, we are so beautiful to Him that His heart is captivated by us. Put differently, God has fallen head over heels in love with us.
The people of this world are prone to be smitten by celebrities, such as, actors or singers. As I myself am totally indifferent, I have a hard time understanding why so many people are so obsessed about celebrities. Even when I watch a really good movie or TV drama, I don’t fall for it. It doesn’t matter how beautiful and handsome the actors are. Whether men or women, celebrities don’t interest me. So it’s puzzling to me to see how people can be so fascinated by celebrities.
Nowadays, so many Japanese women have fallen for Korean actors that they even travel to Korea in a group tour to catch a glimpse. A Korean TV drama named Winter Sonanta was very popular in Japan, and a lot of Japanese women fell for the main actor in the drama, named Yongjun Bae. Some of them are coming to Korea just to tour the old drama sets and filming sites. Of course, a lot of people like to have a meaningful theme when they travel.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to see particular countries, people, or historic places when travelling. The problem is when people take it too far—for instance, by planning their entire travel around a celebrity. Yet, so many people are so fascinated by celebrities. The recent popularity of some Korean celebrities is drawing people from all over the world to Korea and they are spending a lot of money here. I like that.
God’s heart has also fallen for us like this. As foreigners have fallen for Korean actors with the onset of the Korean wave, so has God fallen for us. Some of you might then wonder what’s so attractive about us that God has fallen head over heels in love with us. You might doubt it, but it’s actually true. It’s quite possible. God is in love with us not because we have something attractive in our flesh, but because we are spiritually attractive in His sight.
Because God is righteous, He is the God of love, and He is the just God who has saved our souls, He cherishes those of us who are serving His work. It’s because we love God and His righteousness that God loves us wholeheartedly. It’s all thanks to the Holy Spirit that we are cherished. And we are carrying out His work. Just as God had come to this earth to save our souls, so are we the righteous also carrying out God’s work. We are supporting the gospel ministry.
We are doing all kinds of work just to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This is what God finds so attractive about us. The very fact that we are now preaching and serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit is what attracts God. All of us serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit have such an attraction to make God fall head over heels in love with us. Our appeal is that we love God with all our hearts, we cherish His righteous work, and we love other souls. That’s why God calls us, the good workers. And because we are doing what’s pleasing to our God, He is captivated by us. This is what today’s Scripture reading is teaching us.
How could I ever fully comprehend such a mind of God? Yet, when I see our brothers and sisters sacrificing themselves and breaking their own wills to carry out and fulfill God’s work, I am also captivated by their good works and their beauty. Given this, wouldn’t God also be captivated by us? The Song of Solomon illustrates this very point, teaching us just how deeply in love God is with us. The Song of Solomon can actually be quite embarrassing if interpreted literally. So anyone immature should not use the Song of Solomon to preach in literal terms. I can give a sermon on it because I can understand what’s in God’s mind when I read His Word. Once your faith matures, you will also be able to preach like this.
Because God’s workers are serving the gospel, His heart is captivated by us. That’s how much God loves all of us who have become His workers. That’s how much the Lord has fallen for us. Why? It’s because God is joyous by the gospel work, and we are also joyful to carry out this work. In other words, God is pleased by us because the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts; for we believe in the righteousness of the Lord, and thanks to the Holy Spirit we have come to carry out God’s work. God finds us very attractive. So, it’s very important for all of us who are serving the gospel to realize that God has fallen deep in love with us. That’s what we ought to believe and that’s how we ought to live accordingly.
Let’s turn to Song of Solomon 7:6-9: “How fair and how pleasant you are, O love, with your delights! This stature of yours is like a palm tree, And your breasts like its clusters. I said, ‘I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches.’ Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine, The fragrance of your breath like apples, And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved Moving gently the lips of sleepers.”
God’s Heart Is Delighted by Us Carrying out His Work
God’s workers are a delight to His heart. Why is God delighted by us? It’s because we have come to possess the righteousness of God by faith and are now serving His work. Palm trees grow very tall. The palm tree in this passage refers to faith. The righteous look towards the heavens, they share fellowship with God above, they rely on Him, they seek His help, and they work by trusting in Him. It’s because of His workers that God’s heart is delighted.
It’s written, “Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine.” This refers to the fact that the center of our hearts is wholly set on the spreading of the gospel. Among the righteous, those who want to live as God’s servants are constantly wondering about what it is that they should do to spread the gospel further. The whole purpose of their lives is set on the spreading of the gospel. Day and night, the righteous are asking, “What should we do to preach this gospel to everyone all over the world?” For God’s workers, in other words, the center of their hearts is wholly set on God. That’s why God is so pleased that we are living as His servants.
Rather than setting our hearts on the things of the world, we have set them on the will of God alone, and we are living for this will. We harbor God’s will in our hearts because He told us to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. That’s why we are living in joy. And God is delighted by all His workers, men and women alike, who have devoted their whole lives to the spreading of the gospel. Everything God’s workers do—their every gesture, their every step, their every thought, and their every act—is a delight to God’s heart.
Let’s continue to read the Song of Solomon: “I said, ‘I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches.’ Let now your breasts be like clusters of the vine, The fragrance of your breath like apples, And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved Moving gently the lips of sleepers.” We are indeed captivated by Jesus, who has done the righteous work to share His life with the whole world. God, too, is captivated by those among the righteous who work tirelessly by trusting in God to spread this gospel that saves the souls. And, God loves all those who endure all kinds of hard work to support this ministry, muster their strength for its sake, think about it, plan for it, and put the plan into action. The Lord is pleased by every aspect of such a righteous life; and the righteous, in emulating the Lords’ heart, are saving souls. So how could God not be overjoyed with us? How could God’s heart not be content?
When people build a house, they first hire an architect to design the house. They explain to the architect what kind of house they want to build, and the architect draws a blueprint accordingly. It’s according to this final blueprint that the construction company prepares the necessary materials, lays the foundations, and builds the house. Whenever the owner who commissioned the work sees his house going up, he is thankful to the workers as they are doing his work. His desire is to finish building the house as soon as possible and move in. The owner wants to move into the new house as soon as possible. Like this, so is it God’s desire to complete His work.
We are working hard to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world. In various shapes and forms, we are all laboring hard to support the gospel ministry. God is delighted to see us working hard like this. Why? Because the gospel is spread further and further through the work we do. We, too, are overjoyed, for we know that thanks to our work, countless souls are being saved. Moreover, since the work we do continues to fulfill the Lord’s will, we have even more reason to be rejoiced. The Lord is also exceedingly joyful by this. When God sees that we are working hard to support the gospel ministry, His heart is also delighted. This is how one leads a worthy life—by doing God’s work.
After Meeting the Lord, I at first, Preached the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
After a while, I came to realize that there was only so much that I could accomplish by relying on just preaching the gospel. I felt an acute need for a literature-based ministry. I realized that even if I were to spend the whole day sitting down and preaching the gospel, I could reach only a couple of people a day. It took the whole day to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to just a couple of people, and by the time these people came to have the conviction of salvation, the sun was setting.
While it doesn’t take a long time to preach the gospel, before doing so, the field of the heart must be tilled and the foundation laid. To lay this foundation, one must understand the situation the other person is facing and address this problem first. It’s after this that the gospel of the water and the Spirit can be preached. This is how one is saved. When someone is about to accept the gospel into his heart by faith, Satan resists very strongly. In such times God’s workers preach His righteousness by faith, and what the listener needs to do is believe in the Word of God. Even if one doesn’t have that much faith in God, once this person realizes what the righteousness of God is and how this righteousness has been fulfilled to save him from all the sins of the world, he can come to believe in it.
But it takes a long time for this to come about. Three, four hours are needed just to explain the basics of the gospel of the water and the Spirit and plant the initial seed of faith in the listener’s heart to believe in the Word of God. Moreover, after people initially accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit into their hearts, many of them are also prone to swallow the poison spread by the servants of Satan. They then begin to raise a lot of questions, questions that they had not thought about seriously before. They start wondering, “Does this then mean that all these countless people have not been saved? What about the people who didn’t even have a chance to hear the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Were all these people unsaved and cast into hell?” Such thoughts of the flesh don’t arise when one remains unsaved; rather, they arise after one is saved by believing in the righteousness of God.
It’s therefore very important for God’s servants to answer such questions with the precious Word of God. Many of the questions raised are absurd, but even these questions must be answered with the Word of God. Doing so takes 5, 6, or even 7 more hours. So, when I was preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit directly to people, the most I could reach in a day was about two. At that rate, there was no way I could spread the gospel to the whole world, and that’s why I decided to preach the gospel by publishing books. To prepare for this literature ministry, I began to have my sermons recorded and transcribed.
To Launch This Literature Ministry, I Collected My Sermon Recordings Over a Period of 6-7 Years
God taught me and us, that we must support the ministry to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I realized that money was needed to carry out this work. The Bible says, “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon” (Luke 16:9). As long as we recognize that whatever money we have is all given by God, and we spend it correctly, it can be used for a worthy cause. Every material possession we have is given by God, and what’s important is where we actually spend it. Where should we spend what God has given us? We believe that it should be spent on spreading the gospel. For us to carry out our literature ministry, we need financial resources. The logical conclusion is to pray to God and find the necessary resources. That’s why we are working hard to support the gospel ministry.
To support this ministry of spreading God’s gospel, all of us have had to devote ourselves to the task assigned to each of us. I, too, have my own role to play in this important work of spreading the gospel. At first, I focused on my own task and had no wish to intervene in the tasks entrusted to my coworkers. However, over time, I saw that God’s work was not moving forward as I had hoped. Of course, I know that all the work done in God’s Church, whether by me or someone else is done to serve the gospel and support the ministry. But I came to realize that I shouldn’t put a limit to my work, and that there was a need for me to provide advice and counsel to other workers.
There was a time when I devoted myself to preaching the Word of God and praying. At that time, I had decided not to get involved in the construction of the building, delegating the responsibility to someone else. But I couldn’t resist getting involved. So I ended up participating in the construction, and as a result of my involvement, we built a large structure with H-beams. I saw the need for a big building to accommodate all the saints attending the Discipleship Training Camp, and a large Chapel to hold hundreds of attendants. With this need in mind, I began to get involved in the construction.
Like This, I Realized That Supporting the Gospel Ministry Was Spreading the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
I realized that God is overjoyed to see us carrying out His work with all our hearts and minds to spread the gospel. God is truly pleased when He sees the gospel of the water and the Spirit spreading all over the world. His heart is exceedingly delighted by us. His heart is overflowing with joy because of the work done by His servants. That’s why when all of us who believe in and serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit pray to our God, we do so boldly by placing our faith in God. And we wait by faith, trusting that God would answer us.
As we are the righteous, the power of our prayers is great. They are like certified cheques. When we the righteous get together and pray to God, all the difficult situations are over. Everything is fulfilled. The Lord’s work will all be fulfilled soon, although right now it remains incomplete in our eyes. We know this by faith. We believe in the righteousness of God and His will.
When we start working on a certain task, we work creatively. We support the gospel ministry by living a faithful life like that. God is pleased with our lives. That’s because we are not leading our lives of faith merely in theory, but we are actually living out our faith. We need to realize here this is what makes God so happy. The work we do to support the gospel ministry is not done for our own sakes or for our own honor, but it is done to spread the righteousness of God. We are now working to deliver the souls that still don’t believe in the righteousness of the Lord and as a result remain unsaved. That’s why God is so happy with us. God is delighted because we are relying on Him fully, we believe in His righteousness, and we are doing what’s pleasing to Him. As God has made it known to His workers, it is through us that God is saving souls.
Do You Realize How Much God Loves Us and How Delighted He Is with Our Work?
It’s extremely important for us to realize this point, and it’s very helpful to our faith also. We know and believe that if we are joyful by doing God’s work, He will fulfill it for us. God will bless us. However, if God is not pleased with our work, then our plans will not be achieved.
God called the people of Israel out of Egypt and then led them into the land of Canaan; if they had embarked on the already determined path, their journey would have taken just seven days. They would have entered the land of Canaan in just one week. But what happened instead? They went through a great deal of suffering, all because they did not follow the path that was pleasing to God. The Israelites blamed God for this. That’s why God disciplined them in the desert for 40 long years, and it was only after they poured out all the things of their flesh that God allowed them to enter the land of Canaan by faith alone. The first-generation of the Israelites who left Egypt originally all perished in the wilderness, and among their descendants, only the faithful were allowed to enter the land of Canaan.
God permitted only the people of faith, such as Caleb and Joshua, to reach the land of Canaan. God has a purpose for us His workers. Working through all of us, He wants to save all the people from all their sins and live with them. So it’s little wonder that God is so delighted to see us, we who have received the remission of sins and have become His workers. It’s very important for you realize that God is so joyful like this to see us carrying out His work. It’s when we realize this fact that our hearts can gain the spiritual strength of faith, and it’s when we realize this fact that we can believe that God’s work is never in vain. When we grasp the will of God, we come to have the assurance that the gospel preached by us will reach the ends of the world without fail.
The Righteous Belong to God
Let’s turn to Song of Solomon 7:10-11 here: “I am my beloved’s, And his desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, Let us go forth to the field; Let us lodge in the villages.” My fellow believers, God belongs to all of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and are carrying out God’s work, just as we belong to God. That is why we are of those who have become one with God. And that’s why the Bible says God is our Groom and we are His brides. When we first received the remission of sins, we had died with Christ and had risen from the dead again with Christ and therefore we are now able to live a new life.
As such, my fellow believers, our lives are clearly distinguished between the old life that we used lead before being born again and the new life that we are now leading as the born-again. Those who understand and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly have seen a fundamental transformation in their purpose for life and their lives of faith. However, if anyone has not seen a clear transformation in his life despite believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then it indicates that this person had neither died with Christ nor risen back to life with Christ. Such people still want to live their old lives even after being born again. Such people are not the Lord’s workers, nor can they become so. Because they lack the faith to live a new life, they cannot walk with the Lord. They cannot follow the Lord, either.
The Lord gives us faith, and we, in turn, have shown Him that we are trustworthy. That’s why we are living with our hearts united with the Lord. We have become one with the Lord. God’s purpose is in the saving of souls and bringing everlasting life, and to us His workers, God’s purpose is our purpose. We have the same purpose. Just as it’s written here, “I am my beloved’s,” we belong to God and God belongs to us. The Lord is allied with those who are living as the servants of righteousness by trusting in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. He sides with the believers in the righteousness of God. I can’t emphasize enough just how important it is for you to realize this and believe it.
God has given us such faith of unity. Therefore, whoever believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must live by relying on this faith. The righteous are to live a new life as a new creation, as it’s written, “Behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17) Old things have all passed away for us. All of us ought to live a new life realizing that Christ loves us.
God’s Desire is Towards Us the Servants of the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
Why is God’s desire towards us? It’s because we are His brides. It’s because we are His workers. God’s workers are fundamentally different from the workers of this world. This world’s workers are done when they complete their task. Once they are paid, their job is over. In contrast, God’s workers continue to rise to new challenges and work ceaselessly to overcome them, all to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When their existing task is completed, they begin a new task. They keep looking for new challenges.
Who would have thought that we would be doing such good works? It’s all to spread the gospel that we continue to carry out God’s work day after day. It’s all thanks to the gospel of the water and the Spirit that you and I are living such a life of faith. We are laboring for one reason and one reason alone, and that is, to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We need to realize here that just as our desire is towards God, so is God’s desire towards us. God cherishes each and every one of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
That’s why God’s servants are heartbroken when you go astray and stand against Him. God Himself is also heartbroken. The grief of His heart is shown through His workers. Through their spiritual fellowship and guidance, God’s servants provide the correction when a saint goes astray, saying, “How could you do this? Will you forsake the One who loves you and kick Him away? Do you think you will still be blessed? Do you expect to prosper even after abandoning your spiritual Groom?”
It’s written in the Song of Solomon 7:11,“Come, my beloved, Let us go forth to the field; Let us lodge in the villages.” Here, God is asking us to plant His Church everywhere in the world and carry out His work with the Lord in every corner of the earth. This is God’s desire for all of us His workers. Having saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, God has established His Church. God is therefore always with this Church, and He fulfills for us everything we plan in His righteousness. God is with us in our acts, our words, and our thoughts alike, and with the best of them He fulfills His will. God blesses us all. He is taking care of His Church through His workers.
Let’s turn to Song of Solomon 7:12-13 here: “Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see if the vine has budded, Whether the grape blossoms are open, And the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. The mandrakes give off a fragrance, And at our gates are pleasant fruits, All manner, new and old, Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.” What does it mean when God says to us here, “Let us get up early to the vineyards; Let us see if the vine has budded, Whether the grape blossoms are open, And the pomegranates are in bloom”? It means that the family of God’s Church is spreading His gospel.
The vineyards here refer to the Church of life, and the spreading of the gospel. When God says here to get up early and go to the vineyards to see if the vine has budded, the grape blossoms are open, and the pomegranates are in bloom; He is telling us that when we work with Him to plant the gospel seed in people’s hearts, we need to check back and ensure that the gospel seed has budded by faith to blossom. Just as this passage says, we are indeed spreading the gospel all over the world and our gospel ministry is blossoming everywhere.
We are sending our gospel books to anyone who asks from anywhere in the world. Those who are born again from reading our books invariably get in touch with us to share their joyful news. When we read their correspondences, we can realize in what state their hearts are. We can see that the gospel has reached them as a result of reading our books, that they even desire to serve this gospel, and that the Holy Spirit is working in their hearts. We then send them more books and ask them to also spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to those around them. We nourish their hearts so that God may carry out His work through them also. Through the work of God we do, we are dedicating ourselves to saving many souls. God is ministering together with His Church, with us the members of this body, and with all our caretakers of the souls. God Himself is raising His flock.
God Is Working through Those Who Have United with God
The Bible says this in verse 13: “The mandrakes give off a fragrance.” To put it bluntly, the mandrakes here refer to aphrodisiacs. It was thought in the ancient times that having this herb called mandrakes increased one’s libido. So in those days, people used to have mandrakes together before going to bed.
It’s written: “And at our gates are pleasant fruits, All manner, new and old.” This passage invokes us to be united with the Lord. In unity a husband and his wife become one body. The righteousness of the Lord is uniting our hearts. When we break the will of our flesh and unite ourselves with the Lord through our faith in His righteousness, this marks the beginning of a miraculous life. In the Kingdom of God there are all kinds of blessings prepared for us, new and old. One by one God’s blessings are mounting up in the hearts of all who are in union with God. Because they believe in the Word of God with their hearts, they are the first to be filled with His blessings.
When the Bible says, “Which I have laid up for you, my beloved,” it means that God has prepared and laid up for us the most pleasant fruits, new and old. God has piled up His blessings for all who have united their hearts with God. He has laid up His blessings for His servants. So, if we unite ourselves with the Lord, then the Lord will surely bless us in everything we do. If you unite your heart with the work done by God’s Church, you will receive God’s blessings. If you can’t work yourself, you can still follow the work of God’s Church by faith. All that you have to do is be in unity with your predecessors of faith. You will then surely receive God’s blessings together with them.
To Bless Us, God Has Readied Everything for the Gospel to Be Preached All over the World through His Church
As God has prepared everything for us, I don’t agree when people get worried. Because I believe in such blessings of God, I am very bold. God has bestowed His blessings on His workers. All of us who believe in these blessings of God can experience them for ourselves. What do you see when you look at your spiritual leaders living out their faith in God’s Church? Do you see their carnal blemishes? Do see their flaws? Seeing such things is itself a curse. That’s because you also have plenty of carnal blemishes.
What should you see in your predecessors of faith then? You should be able to see that God is fulfilling His work through these predecessors of faith, that He is with them, and that He is blessing them. It’s extremely important for you to know this and follow them accordingly. When I look at you, I see God’s workers. That’s why I rebuked you when you needed to be rebuked, trained you when you needed to be trained, and invariably ask you to do God’s work when your faith needs to grow. I can never bring myself to mislead you. Why? It’s because all of you who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have the Spirit of God inside you. You are not alone, but God is with you.
We the Believers in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit Who Are Now Carrying out God’s Work Constitute His Church
The gathering of those who have joined their hearts with God is His Church. Therefore, just as I see you as God’s workers, you should also see me as God’s worker and recognize other servants of God in the same light. I feel somewhat hesitant to say this, but I am saying it because it is beneficial to your faith. Personally, I don’t care whether you see me as God’s servant or not. But I am saying this for your own benefit. If you can’t tell whether I am God’s servant or not because you don’t have the eye to discern this clearly, then you are facing a huge loss.
While you will be blessed if you have the eye to recognize that God is holding steadfast all His servants and workers throughout His whole Church, if you don’t have the eye to discern this, then you will likely end up losing your blessings and faith. All of you can receive countless blessings from God; if you aren’t receiving them, it’s because you don’t have the eye to recognize and appreciate the noble servants of God, and as a result, your faith is unable to grow.
The Word of God says, “Which I have laid up for you, my beloved.” What is it that God has laid up for us? He has laid up all kinds of heavenly fruits. Put differently, God has laid up His blessings for us. To whom do such blessings belong? They belong to those who unite their hearts with God, realizing that they have become new creations now that they believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It’s to such people that God gives all His blessings. God does not bless just anyone.
Throughout the whole world there are many workers who have been born again by faith from reading our gospel books as shared by God’s Church, and who are now in turn preaching the gospel themselves. They have united their hearts with us, recognizing that the Church in Korea is their mother church and God’s servants here are their predecessors of faith. Those who labor in unity with God’s Church according to its guidance will indeed be blessed. The problem, however, are that too many people fail to see this and instead think, “Faith is all about the individual. Since it’s I who personally believe in the gospel and God is my personal God, I can carry out His work all by myself without help.” This is absolutely false.
While faith is indeed a personal matter, one must still be united with God without fail, and to do so one must be united with God’s Church. Moreover, there are God’s servants in the Church. It’s through those who work in unity with the Church, rejoice by what the Church is doing, that God spreads the gospel all over the world. And it is through the predecessors of faith in the Church that God bestows His blessings on those whose faith is still young. This is something that all of us must grasp. None of us can lead a proper life of faith without grasping this point. Even if one has been saved, without this knowledge they can be forsaken like the servant who received one talent. Such people are always the loners.
What’s a family? A family is formed when a couple marries and gives birth to children. The children are born from the same parents. So they are one body. Likewise, so is God’s Church one family. That’s why no matter what problems we face, we solve them all in unity, we encourage one another, we strengthen each other’s faith, and we hold one another steadfast. The job of the righteous is to make it possible for sinners to receive God’s blessings. This is what God’s Church does. It’s through His Church that God carries out His work. And it’s through His servants that God works. God’s desire is towards such workers of His who are laboring hard to support His gospel ministry and serving it by faith. In leading our lives of faith, we must realize that none other than we are such workers.
No life of faith is led effortlessly. Whenever we feel discouraged while living for the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we turn to the Song of Solomon. As God’s love towards us is revealed so clearly here in the Song of Solomon, we find a great deal of comfort and strength. So we are very thankful. It’s simply amazing that we have put on God’s love and become the objects of His desire. All of this is because of God’s love and blessings. I give all thanks to God. Hallelujah!
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