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 6 : Heretics
[6-13] Today’s Heretics Who Are Like King Ahab (1 Kings 21:1-26)
“And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, ‘Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.’ But Naboth said to Ahab, ‘The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!’ So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, ‘I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.’ And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, ‘Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?’ He said to her, ‘Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’’ Then Jezebel his wife said to him, ‘You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.’ And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, ‘You have blasphemed God and the king.’ Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.
So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, ‘Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!’ Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, ‘Naboth has been stoned and is dead.’ And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, ‘Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.’ So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: ‘Have you murdered and also taken possession?’’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: ‘In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.’” So Ahab said to Elijah, ‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’ And he answered, ‘I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.’ But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.”
From today’s Scripture passage, I would like us to reflect on the sins of Ahab and Jezebel. To expropriate Naboth’s vineyard by force, King Ahab had solicited perjury from false witnesses, and based on their false accusation, he had Naboth killed. To hold Ahab accountable for this sin, God then told Elijah His servant to deliver the following message to Ahab: “Have you murdered and also taken possession? In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours” (1 Kings 21:19). This came to pass exactly as Jehovah had said, as later on, Ahab was killed in the battlefield shot by an arrow while waging war against Syria, and while the chariot stained with his blood was washed in a pool in Samaria, dogs came and licked his blood (1 Kings 22:38). Ahab was the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Jezebel was his wife; they followed the footsteps of Jeroboam and provoked the wrath of God with their greed.
The Sins of King Ahab and Jezebel
As an Israelite, Naboth had the duty to pass to his descendants the vineyard he had inherited from his forefathers. So when King Ahab tried to buy his vineyard, he declined the king’s offer. King Ahab wanted to get his hands on this vineyard so badly that when Naboth rejected his offer, he stopped eating and huddled himself in the bed, as if he were protesting. Seeing this, his wife Jezebel asked her husband King Ahab why he was lying in the bed all day long and had stopped eating. King Ahab then explained to Jezebel that he stopped eating because he wanted to get his hands on Naboth’s vineyard next to the palace, but Naboth refused to sell it to him. Hearing this, Jezebel promised King Ahab that she would get Naboth’s vineyard for him. Frustrated to see her husband acting like a child when he was supposed to be the most powerful man in Israel, and coveting the vineyard herself, Jezebel said to him, “You are the king, and yet can’t you even handle this minor issue? But don’t worry; I will get the vineyard for you.” She then proceeded to implement her scheme. To take away Naboth’s vineyard and give it to her husband, Jezebel conspired with the king’s officers to come up with false accusations against Naboth, had him killed, and then gave the vineyard to Ahab. Later on, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take possession of it.
It’s written in 1 Kings 21:17-19: “Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Have you murdered and also taken possession?’” And you shall speak to him, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.’’””
After Ahab murdered Naboth, God sent His servant Elijah and rebuked him, saying, “So now that you’ve murdered, have you also taken possession?” Of all the sins that Ahab had committed against God, the greatest sin was that he had forsaken Jehovah God to believe in golden calves as his gods, and by leading his people to also believe like him, he had made the people of Israel sin. King Ahab was the man responsible for leading the nation of Israel to both physical and spiritual death by triggering the wrath of God and making his people sin against God. Beginning from Jeroboam, all the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel committed the sin of idolatry, and they all made their people sin against God as well.
What’s so unique about this sorry history is that once Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, committed such sins against God, it became a matter of course for all the kings who succeeded Jeroboam to commit the same sins he had committed against God without any hesitation. The sins that these kings of Israel committed against God were the very sins that led to the destruction of the entire nation of Israel. The greatest of these sins was deceiving the people into believing that the golden calves were the gods of Israel. So when Ahab killed Naboth, God said that He would kill Ahab and also bring the same curse upon all the children of his house. And here in verse 22, God explained to Ahab the reason for his death by saying, “Because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.”
Even though the people of Israel had all witnessed how Jehovah, the God of their forefathers, was alive and working for them now as before, and despite the fact that not too long ago, Elijah had shown them all to see clearly that Jehovah was the true God of Israel by defeating 850 prophets of Asherah and Baal in a contest of faith, tragically and sadly, the Israelites were still worshiping golden calves as the gods of Israel. King Ahab, following the sins of Jeroboam, had also worshiped golden calves as his gods, and with this idolatry he was leading the entire nation of Israel to destruction. This sin alone was enough to provoke God’s wrath, but now, Ahab went as far as killing an innocent man—Naboth, just so that he could take possession of his vineyard. Such a sin is an extremely grievous sin that directly challenges Jehovah God. It breaks my heart even more to see how such fallacious faith and beliefs are also found across today’s Christian communities.
Naboth’s vineyard was located next to the palace of Ahab. Every spring, the vineyard blossomed and grapes began to grow, and by late summer, the air was filled with the sweet smell of ripe grapes. As its owner Naboth was a hardworking farmer, he cultivated the field diligently to yield abundant grapes. But King Ahab wanted to seize this vineyard for himself, and this was his sin. He wanted to get hold of Naboth’s vineyard so badly that he was even willing to use force. At first, though, he tried to buy it from Naboth. But Naboth refused to sell his vineyard. Ahab should have just given up this vineyard then. After all, weren’t there plenty of vineyards in Israel other than Naboth’s? But once Ahab set his eyes on this vineyard, he wanted to take it by whatever means. So as he couldn’t get the vineyard with money, he ended up killing Naboth, and God was provoked to great wrath by this atrocity. As if all the sins that King Ahab had committed so far weren’t enough, he now went as far as killing Naboth, one of God’s people.
So Jehovah God then decided to kill King Ahab. “So have you now killed one of My people like this? Alright then, you will now die at My hands. Not only will I kill you, but I will also kill every man in your house. I will spare no one, not even one man!” Of the past kings of Israel, there was no one who had worshiped idols and submitted to these idols as eagerly as Ahab had done so. God said that King Ahab sinned like this because he was stirred up by Jezebel’s provocation (1 Kings 21:25). In other words, Jezebel his wife had made King Ahab worship golden calves and pagan gods even more King Ahab had become a slave to his wife.
Like everyone else in this world, the righteous also have families, and for the homes of the born-again saints, the right thing to do is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and live by faith united in one heart. King Ahab’s life, in contrast, was constantly stirred up into evil acts by his wife Jezebel’s enticements. To this Ahab, God said that dogs would lick his blood at the same place where Naboth’s blood was shed. This was God’s just judgment. And God also cursed Jezebel, saying, “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel” (1 Kings 21:23). Just as God had said, Jezebel’s body was indeed entirely devoured by dogs, leaving nothing behind but her skull, feet, and palms (2 Kings 9:35).
God had also said that He would kill every male from Ahab’s offspring and spare none, and this Word was also fulfilled exactly as it was said. Every prophetic Word of God was fulfilled. This was the wrath of Jehovah God brought upon Ahab and Jezebel for their sins. The just curse of God had descended on King Ahab’s home. This whole incident shows that God will also bring down His wrath on those who stand against the gospel of the water and the Spirit today. We must realize here clearly that the wrath of God awaits all who follow the sins of Jeroboam.
The Lord said, “I am the vine, and you are the branches.” The vine here refers to the Lord Himself, and its branches refer to the members of God’s Church—that is, we the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When God judged this world with water, Noah was saved by His grace, and when he began his second life, he also cultivated vines. The spiritual implication here is that the servants of God have always led His Church. The vineyard symbolizes God’s Church, and Naboth was a servant of God carrying out His work. King Ahab, on the other hand, symbolizes those who are now persecuting God’s Church. Even today, people like King Ahab are trying to buy God’s Church with their money, and when this does not work out, they resort to persecution—for this they will all face God’s terrifying punishment. These people are also trying to destroy God’s Church, as well as preaching a false gospel rather than the gospel of the water and the Spirit, as if their gospel were the gospel of Truth.
Today, those who obstruct the gospel of the water and the Spirit from being spread are trying to take possession of God’s Church by force and kill His servants. Such heretics will all face the just judgment rendered by God. That’s because these people neither know the Lord nor the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they have the faith of the heretics who have replaced Jehovah God with golden calves and worship these golden calves instead. Today’s Scripture passage makes it clear that God will infallibly judge and destroy all these heretics who, in their ignorance of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, believe in a false gospel and are standing against the righteousness of God, His servants, and His people.
King Ahab was cursed and killed by Jehovah God for robbing Naboth of his vineyard. Likewise, God is saying that He will also render His just judgment on all those who blaspheme His Church today—that is, all those who don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, stand against God, and try to destroy His people. Whoever is worshipping a golden calf as his god does not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given to mankind, and therefore all such people are heretics just like Ahab. Even though these people claim to believe in Jesus as their Savior, when the Antichrist emerges, they will invariably side with him. God is saying here that He will surely punish these heretics who murder the righteous.
You Have to Reject Even Your Own Wife’s Advice If It Does Not Accord with the Righteousness of God
Ahab was a man easily stirred up by his wife into doing anything she bid him to do. As a result, he ended up following the sins committed by Jeroboam and turned into a typical heretic, replacing Jehovah God with golden calves and worshiping idols instead. It’s also said in the Bible that Ahab loved his wife Jezebel more than anyone else. A heretic is someone who loves another human being more than God, who cherishes the words of another person more than the Word of God, and who values the things of the world more than God. It’s such people whom God calls heretics. Ahab provoked the wrath of God because he had unquestionably accepted whatever his wife said, including even her fallacious beliefs.
Of course, if your wife says something that’s right and in accordance with the Word of God, then you should listen to her closely and accept her advice, but if it’s not, then you should reject her advice and teach her rightly. Both you and your spouse should correct each other’s mistakes. If your wife’s advice is beneficial to spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you should accept her words. But there has to be some limits on what is acceptable when it comes to other types of advices that are carnally oriented. Since women are the weaker vessels, if your wife makes some demands that aren’t to your liking, you can still accept them to a certain extent as long as they are not too unreasonable. However, if you submit to your wife even when she demands you to worship idols rather than God, then you are surrendering yourself to evil. You have to be very careful about this and reject it, or otherwise you will become just like King Ahab.
Even among the servants of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, quite a few people ended up perishing in both body and spirit from accepting their wives’ advices too easily. Some people unquestionably accept everything their wives say 100 percent, but spiritually speaking, such people are today’s Ahabs. Even among the righteous, there are many brothers who let their Jezebel-like wives push them around. Many of my own acquaintances ended up facing spiritual death all because of their Jezebel-like wives. I just can’t understand these men no matter how hard I try. These men are prone to accept their wives’ words at face value even when their wives stir their thoughts in the wrong direction. So you have to be very careful.
There was a man in our gathering who, after ministering with us for a while, left us to go on his way. I was told that he used to call his wife a holy woman. I was shocked to hear that. Who on this earth would call his own wife a holy woman? How could anyone say this, unless he loved his wife too much and worshiped her like an idol? Given how every husband knows all about his wife’s blemishes, and how every wife also knows all about her husband’s flaws, how can anyone be a holy man or a holy woman? So what does it mean when someone calls her wife a holy woman despite all this? Do you think it’s right to exalt your own wife with your lips like this? What is then the hidden motivation behind describing one’s own wife as a holy woman? Isn’t it just another way of demanding recognition from everyone else to approve one’s own wife as a holy woman? The minister in question must have seen his own wife as a holy woman, though this was never true in my view. Such people are easily stirred to emotion by their wives in all aspects of life by only being led to sin.
That’s why the servants of God have the following admonishment for such men: “If you say and believe in such things, you will perish away in both body and spirit. But it’s not too late yet; you have to wake up even now. Don’t worry about your mistakes, as they will be all forgiven. What’s important is that you have to pay attention to the relationship with your wife now. We will tell you what is right, and so listen to the words of the servants of God, and as you carry on with your life, keep their advice in mind.” For those who have already fallen deep under their wives’ control, however, even such words of admonishment unfortunately fall onto deaf ears.
There also are some brothers whose spiritual fellowship with the servants of God ends up lost once they hear their wives’ words. In such cases, their previous fellowship with God’s servants is rendered all useless. When the servants of God painstakingly explain to them what is really right for hours, they say at first that they now understand the will of God. But once they talk with their wives just for half an hour, they make a complete U-turn to change their minds. It’s a mystery to me how anyone can accept his wife’s words so unquestionably. In some ways, such men may seem admirable, but when viewed spiritually, we can see that they are actually complete fools. In certain lights it seems as though they are much better than me. But spiritually speaking, I just can’t understand them. I keep wondering, “How can these men listen to their wives so well, and yet don’t listen to the servants of God?” It’s very likely for such people to be unable to unite with God’s Church and end up leaving the Church. But it’s actually better for God’s Church to be without them, as it can carry out God’s work better.
The Curse That Is Prepared for Those Who Follow the Sins of Jeroboam out of Their Own Volition
Knowing what they had done, Jehovah God got really angry with Ahab and Jezebel. So He decided to kill them. God then called His servant Elijah and told him to say the following to them: “‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.’ And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field” (1 Kings 21:21-24).
This passage means that spiritually speaking, God saw Jezebel like a dog. Since she had stirred her husband to do all these evil things, Jezebel was more abominable than Ahab in the sight of God. God’s wrath was so great that even if He killed them both and wiped out all their children, His anger could hardly have been pacified. Yet despite this, God had given them a chance to repent by giving them a warning, in case they might turn around and return to Him. But far from repenting, Ahab and Jezebel murdered Naboth, an innocent man, and so God let the dogs devour all the flesh of Jezebel in the city of Jezreel.
Even though we are insufficient in our flesh, we can’t forsake the holy Jehovah God and worship golden calves instead. The Lord is our everlasting Savior and Master. Jesus Christ has forever saved us from our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Just because we stumble on our way from time to time while following the Lord, can we really replace Jesus Christ who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit with golden calves and worship them instead? Even if our pride is hurt a little, can we really forsake Jesus who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, believe in something else, and thus commit the sin that will not only disappoint God and also make us accursed before Him? No, we can never allow this to happen!
Yet despite this, that is exactly what King Ahab did before God. The transgression that King Ahab committed by making Israel sin is none other than the sin of idolatry he committed by following the way of Jeroboam. Jeroboam had sinned by replacing Jehovah God with golden calves, and this sin was the greatest of all sins. Beginning with King Jeroboam, all the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel and its people committed this sin. As a result, countless people perished in both body and spirit, unable to receive the salvation of God’s grace. In the end, God even allowed Israel to be conquered by Babylon.
No matter how insufficient we may be before God, we must never follow the sins of Jeroboam. If there are some people among us who have followed the sins of Jeroboam, they must realize what a terrifying punishment is awaiting for them from God and turn around. If we abandon Jesus Christ who came by the water and the Spirit, and instead believe in golden calves and worship them as our gods, then it’s not just we ourselves who will perish, but ultimately, our entire families will also perish. It is not just upon our bodies that death will come, but also that our spirits will be forever punished and cursed by God. The sin that’s committed by following the way of Jeroboam leads one to bear the most terrifying punishment of God.
The greatest of all sins is replacing the Lord who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit with golden calves and worshiping them instead. This kind of faith is a betrayal to the Lord and a mockery to Him. The sad reality, however, is that just as idolaters and heretics emerged out of those who had once believed in God, it’s those with a crude understanding of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that end up betraying the Lord. It would be better if they were completely ignorant of this gospel, as in this case all that they have to do is just learn. But because their knowledge of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is only superficial, it’s very easy for them to betray the Lord. This sin of betraying the Lord even after knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the greatest of all sins.
No matter how deeply Ahab, Jezebel, and the people of Israel had fallen into sin, they could all have been saved if they had just turned around from their mistaken path. But they didn’t turn around from their worship of golden calves, and that is why their sins reached all the way down to their own descendants. No one who commits such a sin can ever escape the terrifying judgment of God. Worshiping idols before God not just by oneself, but making others to believe in idols like this also, is to heap the wrath of God on oneself, a mortal sin that’s absolutely unforgivable.
Why, then, did Jeroboam worship golden calves not just by himself, but also make others worship them as well? It’s because he wanted to satisfy his own greed. The people of Israel and their leaders committed the same sins as Jeroboam did which he followed to his destruction and were all judged by God for their sin. Of all the people living in Israel, God did not spare any king or spiritual leader who followed the sins of Jeroboam. All such kings and leaders were destroyed in both body and spirit. In today’s Christian communities, those who are following the sins of Jeroboam will also face physical and spiritual destruction. They don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, nor are they God’s people. They are false prophets, who are nothing more than God’s enemies and idolaters of golden calves. They are heretics because they believe differently from the people of God who have received the remission of sin and have become holy.
Among today’s Christians, all of those who, just like King Jeroboam, believe in golden calves as their gods rather than believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are heretics in God’s sight. Christianity in this age is filled with too many heretics who don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As there are so many such heretics, unless the very origin as to why their faith is heretical is exposed, they won’t be able to grasp and recognize that they are heretics.
When the nation of Israel was fragmented into the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom came to worship golden calves as its gods openly, all because its first king Jeroboam followed his own greed. As a result, by the time of Ahab’s rule, all the preceding kings of the northern kingdom of Israel and its people had already turned into heretics before God. But Israel was not alone to turn into a kingdom of heresy. Later on, almost all the kings of the southern kingdom of Judah and its people were also turned into heretics. Why did this happen in Judah? It’s because the southern kingdom had allowed the fallacious faith of the northern kingdom to come into Judah instead of rejecting it. That’s why among the kings of the southern kingdom of Judah also, there eventually emerged some who walked in the way of Jeroboam.
Such a fallacious faith should have been cut off completely from the beginning never to be allowed to mingle with the true faith. The southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel were spiritual enemies to each other. The Israelites in the northern kingdom were calling golden calves their gods. How could such people be God’s people? They were nothing more than God’s enemies. Yet despite this, even as the kings of the southern kingdom knew very well that it was wrong before God to worship golden calves, they made a huge blunder by tolerating this sin instead of rebuking it. The people of the southern kingdom should have completely sealed off the corrupted faith of the northern kingdom from coming in.
Today’s Christian Communities Are Also Overflowing with Such Sins
Just like in the days of Jeroboam and Ahab, in this present age also, there are many people who, despite claiming to know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, do not actually serve this gospel by faith, but far from it, go out into the world and live their lives just to satisfy the lust of their own flesh, all the while serving golden calves as their gods. When they come across the faithful saints abiding in God’s Church and serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they often mock them with these words: “Listen, I am not serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit now, but I am doing just fine without any punishment from God!” We have to realize that none other than these people are the Jezebels and the Ahabs of today, and we must stay far away from them. We should all grasp that even if they are not punished now, sooner or later, they will all face the terrifying judgment of God for their sins. In fact, even at this very moment, they are spiritually accursed, and each and every one of them will all be cast into the everlasting fire of hell.
Are these people leading a life of righteousness? No, absolutely not! That’s why even as they are alive in their flesh spiritually speaking their lives are as good as dead. God said to us, “Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath” (Romans 12:19). Accordingly, we should leave them to God’s hands; while spiritually we should stay away from their faith. If the righteous whom believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit join their hearts with those whose faith is like that of Jeroboam, then they will also be destroyed along with these heretics. That’s because the stain of their wickedness is also smeared on the righteous. In other words, if the righteous stay with the wicked, they will also be cursed by God along with the wicked.
I’ve discovered that today’s Christianity indeed has too many heretics like King Jeroboam. And in the course of my recent research on heresy, I’ve also been reminded once again how both the Old and New Testaments are filled with passages warning about heretics and admonishing us to beware of them. As it’s our duty to turn even such heretics away from their iniquities and lead them to their salvation, we still have to preach the gospel of them as well. While we should also preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to non-Christians to save them from the sins of the world, at the same time, we have to preach this gospel of Truth to the lost Christians who, despite professing to believe in Jesus, are actually mired in heresy, so that they may also be saved from sin.
To every Christian around the world, we must now raise the following question: “Have you really been born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit?” And we must preach the true gospel of salvation to them. To save these Christians who still have not been delivered from sin despite professing to believe in Jesus, it’s also imperative for us to offer prayers of intercession on their behalf. That’s because even though many people believe in Jesus as their Savior, they don’t really believe in Jesus properly, who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Even for present-day Christians, if they believe in Jesus without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit the Lord has given to us, then they are heretics before God. And if some Christians who profess to know this gospel of the water and the Spirit just by their lips don’t serve this gospel by faith and instead serve their own greed, then they are also heretics. So we must save all these people, too. Preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all such people, we must save them from the sins of the world.
We don’t have that much time left before the Lord’s return, as disasters have begun to strike everywhere around the world. We are now living in the very age of sorrows written about in Matthew, chapter 24. Not too long ago Kashmir, a border region between Pakistan and India that was struck by a devastating earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. Many inhabitants there perished from this earthquake. As I watched the tragedy unfolding on TV, I saw that most of the buildings in the stricken region were actually sturdy buildings built with concrete and steel, but they had all collapsed. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale can easily bring down this church building, and none of us here would survive. Countless people around the world are now dying from earthquakes. The scale of natural disasters breaking out across the world has increased so much that nowadays, a few casualties resulting from minor earthquakes, floods, and other such disasters are no longer considered newsworthy. In these days, even a few hundred casualties are not that shocking anymore, as the death toll from the latest disasters now reaches thousands and tens of thousands all at once. It seems that such disasters have now become rather common to witness. It’s getting so bad that sometimes we even hear of such disasters several times in just a week. If the massive earthquake that struck Kashmir were to occur in Korea, I won’t be surprised to see the death toll reach a million. But thankfully, such things have not occurred yet, as God has protected us. But consider the possibility here. Just how many people are living in Seoul, the capital of South Korea? That city alone has over ten million residents, and when the metropolitan area is included, the population exceeds 20 million. So in this light, it’s not that hard for a million people to die from an earthquake. If Seoul is ever stricken with this kind of disaster, it will take more than a month just to recover all the dead bodies.
Now in this time, when such natural disasters are striking so often all around the world, we the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must spread the news of salvation to the heretics trapped in the sins of Jeroboam, and we must save them once and for all through this true gospel. Although I used to preach about heresy from time to time before, I didn’t preach about this issue that often and devote very much attention to it. But now, I can’t put off preaching about heresy any longer, as it is our duty to save all these Christians trapped in heresy.
You may still have some lingering doubts and wonder if there really are so many heretics like Jeroboam in today’s Christian communities. Make no mistake about it; there indeed are many such heretics. The problem, however, is that these Christians don’t even realize that they themselves are heretics before God. Strangely, many of them not only have no idea that they are actually heretics before God, but even worse, they actually think that they are orthodox Christians. Nevertheless, those who profess to believe in Jesus without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot deny the fact that their sins remain intact in their hearts. When they ask themselves whether they have sin or not, they themselves know very well that they have not received the remission of sin, and hence have nothing to do with God. That’s because those whose hearts still remain sinful are completely irrelevant to the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
They are hypocrites who, isolated in their own little world called Christianity, only try to keep religious rituals. They pray to God rather pretentiously, saying, “We give thanks to the holy, merciful, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and forever living Lord who has become our Shepherd.” Like this, these people are very articulate with their words and their prayers sound impressive, but in spite of all this, they’ve become heretics before God in the end, all because they don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord. Since their sins still remain intact in their hearts, they are nothing more than heretics. But what’s even more tragic is that these Christians actually have no idea that they themselves are heretics. They have this mistaken notion that as long as they believe only in the blood of the Cross then they are all orthodox believers. They think erroneously that even though their hearts remain sinful, if they can recite the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer well, and just believe in the blood of the Cross then they are not heretics. However, no matter how well they recite the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer; no matter how beautifully they pray and praise during the worship hour; no matter how many good deeds they do in service of others; and no matter how ardently they believe in the blood of the Cross, as long as their hearts have sin, they are still heretics. Since many of today’s Christians do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they have not received the remission of sin, and so they are instead just making a mockery out of the love of God. That is why these Christians are heretics. There are so many such heretics among today’s Christians.
This is the most important problem that today’s Christianity is facing. It’s a problem plaguing not just Christians in Korea, but Christians all around the world. So step-by-step, I am determined to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit proclaimed by the Word of God. Our spiritual battle is waged until the day the Lord returns, and therefore we must brace ourselves for this war not as sprinters, but as marathon runners. That’s why whenever I preach the Word, I look far into the future and focus on a topic that’s appropriate for the times. I have to take into consideration how the prevailing undercurrent of this world is changing, and preach the Word of God that’s fitting to the times we are living in.
Now as before, I will continue to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to every Christian. Spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit tirelessly through my literature ministry, I will continue to guide those who believe in this gospel to receive the remission of sin, and to those who have already been born again, I will continue to nurture them by preaching the Word of faith. Then across the entire world, there will arise saints and God’s servants, and as their hearts are changed little by little to attain spiritual discernment and stand firmly as the people of faith, the gospel of the water and the Spirit will also be proclaimed through them as well. The Kingdom of God will then expand on this earth.
Unlike some other, so-called Christian “leaders,” we have absolutely no intention to just seek our own fame, branching out abroad and holding revival meetings around the world just for the sake of vanity. Until the day we die, we must live on this earth as the light of the world, trusting in and spreading the gospel of Truth, the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must live to proclaim this gospel of the water and the Spirit that can save everyone today trapped in Jeroboam’s sins. Together with you, I will continue to carry out this work of saving souls.
The Bible says that Ahab’s transgression was making the people of Israel sin. This is the sin of walking in the way of Jeroboam. Today’s Christian leaders are also committing the same sin. They are leading Christians to the fallacious faith of heresy, and none other that this is the greatest of all sins. Although their individual flaws are also problematic, even more problematic than these shortcomings is that they are misleading their own congregation. And this sin cannot be forgiven by God’s grace. It would not be such a huge concern if they were just heading to hell all by themselves, but they are actually killing other souls as well, and in God’s sight, this sin is far graver than any other sin. We must never allow ourselves to commit such a sin before God. Instead of pretending to be so holy, today’s Christian leaders must reflect for themselves on the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and verify if their faith is indeed upright or not before God. Pastors shouldn’t just be pleased in self-complacency to be respected by the people of the world, but they must instead ask themselves whether they are really leading other souls properly to enable them to receive the remission of sin and enter Heaven.
Today’s Christianity abounds with heretics following the sins of Jeroboam, and if we also end up believing like them, then we ourselves will also turn into heretics before God. Far from following their faith, we must show our faith to these heretics. The Lord said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). There is no need for us to intentionally sow enmity with the people of the world. However, if they approve us even when we believe in and preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then this can only mean that we are spiritually the same people as those who are doomed to hell. We must bear witness of our faith clearly through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And we must testify that any gospel other than this gospel has all come out of Satan. The Lord told us to beware of false prophets and stay away from them, and I believe that this counsel is right in every aspect.
As Ahab walked in the way of Jeroboam before God, he ended up killing all his children. If Ahab had really loved his wife and his children, not to mention himself, then he should have never followed the sins of Jeroboam as he did. Even if he were to be denounced by others, he should have trusted in the true sacrificial system established by God and stood firmly before Him by faith. He should have thus saved his wife and his children, and delivered his people as well. This was his duty as their king, for when just one king goes astray, the people also go astray.
If today’s Christian leaders go spiritually astray, then everyone who attends that church is bound to go astray as well. This shows just how heavy a leader’s responsibility is. That’s why the servants of God are of the highest calling to have been entrusted with the utmost duty from God to guide their followers’ souls properly. Spiritual ambassadors must teach the spiritual lessons of their Lord clearly. They should never let the people of God fall into the sins of Jeroboam and cause them to sin.
Words cannot express just how thankful I am that Jehovah God has saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and that He has become our own God. And I cannot thank Him enough that He has also entrusted us with this work of saving all those trapped in heresy. Trusting in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, let us then also rise up to the challenge of this work which lies ahead of us by placing our faith in the righteousness of God and let us all carry out this work diligently to save everyone mired in the faith of heresy from all the sins of the world.
This sermon is also available in ebook format. Click on the book cover below.
Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission