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 28 : If You Have Confusion and Emptiness in Your Heart, Seek the Light of the Truth
[28-7] When We Were Like Dry Bones, God Breathed the Living Breath on Us and Brought Us Back to Life (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
< Ezekiel 37:1-14 >
“The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O LORD GOD, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”’” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’”
“The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O LORD GOD, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”’” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’”
The Background to Today’s Scripture Reading
Today’s Scripture reading comes from Ezekiel 37:1-14. It is written here:
“The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, You know.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.’”’ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the LORD GOD: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’”’ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!” Therefore prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the L ORD, have spoken it and performed it,’ says the LORD.’”
God showed the Prophet Ezekiel a valley full of bones. God said to him, “Ezekiel, can these bones live?” The Prophet Ezekiel answered and said, “Lord, You know.” God then said to him, “I command you to prophesy to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord,’ and the Prophet Ezekiel prophesied the Word of God exactly as God commanded, saying, “Breath, breathe on these slain, that they may live.” Breath then came into these bones, they turned into the living, and their number was like an exceedingly great army.
This Word of prophecy was all about how God would work on the people of Israel. Having been enslaved for 70 years, the people of Israel were now fully cognizant of their wrongdoings. They were full of regrets, wondering to themselves, “How did we turn into such rebellious sinners, when we received so much grace, love, and privileges from God?”
Today, all human beings are also living apart from God because of the sins of their ancestors, and God is telling us that they are like the dry bones that Ezekiel saw in the valley. God is saying that He will judge those who have united their hearts with His enemy. Referring to such people, God calls them rebellious sinners who have left Him. To this day, all human beings have had rebellious desires in their hearts to stand against the Word of God, and that is why they have drifted away from the true God. Like this, every human being has turned into God’s opponent because of Satan’s work.
This happened fundamentally because people united their hearts with the angel who stood against God. As a result, from the day they were born, all human beings were born as someone standing against the Word of God, and that is why they have become sinners. Therefore, they must all admit that they are standing against God and obtain the washing of their sins. When human beings oppose and disobey the Word of God, they are revealing themselves before Him as evil beings, and this means that they are standing against God. Seeing this, God is saying to us that they are His enemies and sinners.
Most people think that they are not really standing against God. However, if people are standing against the Word of God, then this is the evidence showing that they are standing against God Himself. Whenever one’s heart desires to reject and oppose the written Word of God, this desire itself demonstrates that the person is standing against God. We must all admit that by our nature, we are rebellious. There is not a single person born and living in this world who does not stand against God’s Word. You might then say, “When did I ever stand against God and His Word?” Even if you have not stood against God consciously with your action, surely your heart must have at times been uncomfortable with the Word of God, disliked it, or wished to escape from it. This is the very evidence showing that you have stood against God. Most people wish to be left alone and don’t like it when God intervenes.
In other words, even though you may not directly stand against God and His Word, you still wish to live free from God’s meddling. This desire is found in every human heart because from the ancient days of Adam and Eve, our ancestors, human beings have wished to escape from God and live freely. When such desires come together, people end up rebelling against God.
To illustrate this, consider the following example. The written Word of God says, “Do not worship idols,” but you may think to yourself, “I like idols. Why is God telling me what to do and what not to do? I resent this. I want to live as I see fit. I will live free from God’s meddling hand!” This is precisely what it means to have a heart that is disobedient to God. If you have such rebellious wishes and thoughts, then it means that you have already turned into God’s opponent. You dislike God’s intervention in your life and stand against Him because you have inherited such desires from your ancestors, and as a result you wish to stroke your own ego. So, being God’s enemies by nature, you and I stand against God and His Word with our thoughts and actions throughout our entire lifetime, only to perish in the end.
From the day they are born, all human beings therefore want to drift away from God, hate it when He intervenes in their lives, and yearn to be the masters of their own destiny. They consequently live without God and His Word in their hearts, and that is why they are so wretched and pitiful. In God’s sight, every human being is like a lost sheep. We detest being meddled by God. We must wholeheartedly admit to God that this is who we are. And we must believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that God has given us to blot out our sins, and by this faith be remitted from all the sins we have committed by disobeying His Word.
Because of our sins, we had drifted away from God. However, our God still loves us and wants to bless us, and we must now restore our relationship with Him. This is done by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit God has given us. It is by faith that we can reconcile with God. From now on, we must realize that our God has given all of us the true Word of salvation to save us from all the sins of this world. God Himself has solved away the problem of our sins with the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and we must accept this Word into our hearts and thereby be washed from all our sins. God has now given us the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. By faith, we must acknowledge that this Word of salvation is the most beautiful news of salvation that delivers us from the sins we had committed while living as God’s enemies.
Those Who Were Like Dry Bones
The Book of Ezekiel writes about dry bones in a valley. Who, then, are the people who are like these dry bones? Are they not the very people to whom we must preach the gospel now? Are they not all those born in this world who, in trying to escape from God and live on their own, are doomed to live the rest of their lives in sorrow? Even though they did not intend this, they fell into the sorrow of sin because their fate was already determined by someone else. We call such people sinners, who have left God and are standing against Him. God is telling us that our evangelization is precisely for these people.
Although those who are physically alive are called the living, in reality, they cannot really be said to be alive unless they have the living breath of God in their souls and bodies. God is saying that anyone who does not have His living breath in the heart is like the dry bone. Those who are estranged from God can be described as already dead. So, because people’s souls have been estranged from God from the day they were born in this world, even though they are physically alive, they are already in the same condition as the dead.
Since human beings were already born as the descendants of those who rebelled against God, they cannot change their fate no matter how hard they try, and therefore they all need God’s care, forgiveness, and mercy. Yet, despite being born as the descendants of God’s opponents, far from seeking His mercy, they are actually trying to escape from Him all on their own. They cannot change their fate with such a mindset. Human beings must realize that they were born in this world as someone who had already fallen into the pit of sorrow, and that they are living in such a miserable condition. This is the fate of humanity.
Therefore, people must grasp that they can escape from all their tragic circumstances only if they realize the intention of God the Creator in allowing them to be born with such a fate. However, this is not something that anyone can realize on one’s own, and therefore people need help from someone else. Put differently, you need the righteous, who already understand your predicament, have the knowledge to deliver you from this pit of sorrow, and feel compassion for you. You must realize God’s providence through them. You must accept into your heart that you were destined to be guided by the predecessors of faith who have already escaped from the valley of sorrow before you, and willingly submit yourself to their guidance.
People who have stood against God cannot be treated as though they never have. You must therefore admit that you were such a rebellious sinner. It is impossible for human beings not to disobey God. After all, given the fact that everyone was born in this world with a rebellious heart to stand against God, how can anyone resist this? How can we, who are only human, free ourselves from our rebellious desire to stand against God and force ourselves to submit to Him? This is impossible. For this to come about, we must get all kinds of help from those who have already become God’s people.
Because everyone was born as the seed of sin from the very beginning, no one possesses the ability not to disobey the Word of God. Since all human beings were born with such a sinful heart, they must all be judged for their sin of rebelling against God even if this was not intentional. How, then, can one escape from such a wretched condition of the heart? There is only one way to be restored from such a condition. It is to realize that the Triune God made a glorious plan of salvation for such people like us, open our spiritual ears, and listen attentively with our hearts. We must realize that by exercising faith, we can see this Truth with the eyes of the heart.
The way to finding this glorious plan is by finding Jesus Christ with our hearts, the Savior of mankind who came to this earth looking for us. We find this way of glory by believing in the Truth of salvation, that Jesus Christ has saved us through the water and the blood. We can embark on this road only if we believe in the love of God the Father who gave up His Son for us, and we are thereby remitted from all the sins that are in our hearts and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
God has made us His own children to live in the dominion of faith, and this blessing stems from His loving heart. So, we humans can enter and live in this glory only after we pay off the wages of all the sins we committed while being estranged from God. Having completed His work of blotting out the sins of this world, Jesus is now waiting for us, wanting to give us the salvation of the remission of sins. This road to the remission of sins is found only in the faith to believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. The Lord is rejoiced to breathe the living breath of the remission of sins on whoever discovers this glorious way and seeks to live a life of faith.
Just as God brought the dry bones back to life by making the Prophet Ezekiel prophesy on His behalf, in the present age of the New Testament, God has blessed the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to receive the living breath of the remission of sins into their hearts. Like this, God has blessed us to have the true faith. Today, I would like to share the Word on this issue.
We Were Already Dead in Trespasses and Sins
It is written in Ephesians 2:1-2: “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” Here God is telling us that He has “made us alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” This means that we were sinful from the moment we were born on this earth, and that by our nature, we cannot help but commit countless trespasses throughout our earthly lives.
This is because our ancestors did not listen to the Word of warning God our Creator gave them and failed to believe it with their hearts. It is because they fell into Satan’s temptation, and as a result, they ended up sinning by siding with the Devil and standing against the Word of God instead of believing in Him. It is from then on that human beings turned into God’s opponents standing against Him and His Word. Adam and Eve, the ancestors of mankind, should have believed in and obeyed the Word of God from the very beginning, but they failed to do so, and this failure is what explains why all of us born as their descendants exist in this world as such terrible sinners. From the days of Adam and Eve, human beings therefore came to live as God’s enemies. From then on, mankind came to walk and live on this earth as God’s opponent.
The life of God’s enemy is miserable. Without exception, to live as God’s enemy is to tread through a field of thorns. Those who stand against God never believe in His spoken Word, and instead they always follow their own thoughts. Because of this, they have no purpose in life. Even though they try to clear a path for themselves, they only end up on a road to confusion, their lives see nothing but repeated failures, and, ultimately, their final outcome is death.
We humans came to suffer so many losses in our lives because we did not obey the Word of God by faith. So, human beings had to learn how to rely on God, as denoted by the word faith. The word “faith” means “to trust and lean on.” To have faith in God is to trust in and lean on God. If we lean on God in both body and spirit and live by faith, we will most definitely be remitted from all our sins and find happiness. So, from now on, let us rely on God, obey Him by placing our faith in His Word, and follow the guidance of Jesus Christ by faith as He leads us. Just as the Bible says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, if we believe that the remission of sins and the blessings of Heaven will be fulfilled for us exactly as God said to us, and if we follow Him by this faith, we will indeed enjoy the blessings God is offering us and ultimately be victorious in faith. To those of you who believe in and follow the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, let us no longer live as God’s enemies, and let us instead live by believing in God and follow Him by faith.
Returning to today’s Scripture reading, let us examine what the Word of God is saying to us so that we can be victorious by faith. Even though every human being must obey the Word of God, all human beings failed to do so in reality. What was the consequence of this disobedience? All human beings who disobeyed the Word of God were confirmed as completely depraved sinners before Him. That is why everyone came to be called a sinner in God’s sight. Human beings became sinners before God not because of their wrongdoings per se, but because they did not believe in the God-spoken Word with their hearts, and did the opposite by siding with the deceiving words of His opponent instead. That is why human beings ended up turning into God’s enemies. Ultimately, it is because they did not believe in the Word of God that they became disobedient. So, since we were all born as the descendants of Adam, we all inherited the seed of disobedience to defy God even before we were born in this world; and, consequently, we became God’s enemies.
The reason for this is explained in detail in the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis. In Genesis 3:1, we see the serpent asking Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Eve then said to the serpent, “Of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’” (Genesis 3:3).
What Eve said here—“lest you die”—indicates that she did not believe in the God-spoken Word. Eve swallowed the serpent’s poison because she did not believe in what God had said to her. The fact that she answered the serpent’s question by saying, “God told me not to eat the fruit, lest I die,” means that she was already poisoned by the serpent. She was sprinkling the Word of God with her own doubt, which shows that her heart was siding with God’s enemy. God’s enemy had driven a wedge between God and Eve, so that she would drift away from Him. It is because Eve did not believe in the Word of God her Creator that all human beings became His enemies. The end result of this unbelief was death: everyone became estranged from God as an unbelieving, disobedient being.
In the serpent’s view, Adam and Eve were standing against God and His Word rather than obeying, so Satan took advantage of this opening and planted doubt in their hearts with his words. As Adam and Eve fell into these deceiving words, they ended up uniting themselves with the Devil. It is written in Genesis 3:4-5: “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” We can see the serpent speaking against God here by lying to Eve that she and Adam would be like God when they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan was whispering to Eve, “God told you not to eat the fruit because He is afraid that you will be like Him. So, if you just eat it, you will be like God.” Ultimately, Adam and Eve sided with God’s enemy and ended up eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
What happened as a result? A standard of judgment sprang up in the minds of Adam and Eve, and they turned into God’s opponents refusing to believe any of His Word no matter what. In other words, a barometer of good and evil suddenly materialized in their hearts. This is the reason explaining why human beings stand against God, who sets the standard for everything. Put differently, they came to acquire their own standard of judgment in their minds to depart from the Word of God. God alone can set the barometer of all judgments, yet human beings themselves came to have their own standard of judgment, so how can it be said that they did not rebel against God? Because human beings came to establish their own standard of judgment when Adam and Eve fell, an invisible wall of sin went up between God and us humans.
Human beings were originally the objects of God’s love. However, because they did not believe in God’s warning and instead stood against Him, a wall of sin sprang up between God and us. As Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin sprang forth from this disobedience; and because of this sin, mankind became estranged from God and a wall of sin was built. It is therefore absolutely crucial for you to realize that the more you build your own standard in your heart, the more you will drift away from God. That is because the absolute standard of good and evil belongs only to God our Creator. Those who fall into Satan’s temptation end up acquiring their own standard of good and evil, but this standard does not fit with the standard by which God judges good and evil, and as a result they end up turning into God’s enemies. It is therefore indispensable for everyone in this world to have the true faith to obey God and His Word.
Faith in God’s Word must spring forth from within us. To believe in every written Word of God like this, we must be meek, just as Matthew 5:5 in the New Testament says, “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.” This means that human beings will be blessed to inherit the earth if they believe in and obey the Word of God. We can see today that those who believe in God’s gospel Word of the water and the Spirit and obey His will are living with abundant peace and material blessings as well even on this earth. The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death.” All human beings are destined to be condemned for their sins, but the Lord has saved such doomed people by blotting out all their sins with the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. We must receive the remission of sins into our hearts by believing in this Word.
Whoever has fallen for the Devil’s temptation and sided with his words has turned into God’s enemy. That is why God says in Ephesians that His self-sacrifice was necessary to deliver us from all our sins, who had stood against God. Speaking of the sins we committed by standing against God, Jesus is telling us that He has “made us alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” It is with His Word that God speaks to mankind about the salvation of the remission of sins, and this Word is the God-given gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. We all are full of rebellious desires to oppose the Word of God. We are sinners in God’s sight precisely because we have not united our hearts with His Word. Because mankind did not believe in the God-spoken Word, when they were tempted by Satan, they believed in the words of this enemy of God instead. As a result, mankind ended up reaping God’s enmity. They ultimately turned into God’s enemies themselves. It is from then on that mankind came to stand against God as His opponents.
However, despite the fact that we had become His enemies, God still loved us so much that He sought to save us from all our sins. To save us the sinners who had rebelled against God, and to deliver us humans from our sins and death, God planned to make us alive by sacrificing Himself. Like the dry bones in the valley mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel, we had drifted far away from God and turned into His enemies, but our Lord still wanted to give us the remission of sins and new life. In other words, God decided to grant new life to us the believers by giving us the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that brings the remission of sins into the human heart. The Lord has blessed whoever believes in this gospel of the water and the Spirit to live a new life of faith.
Spiritually speaking, the breath mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel means that Jesus Christ would come to this earth and give us the salvation of atonement by paying off the wages of the sins of mankind with the baptism He received and the blood He shed on the Cross. With “the gospel of the water and the Spirit,” the Lord has given us another opportunity to be saved by faith. As human beings, we had stood against God by refusing to believe in His Word, but the Lord has given us the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit so that we may receive, by faith, the everlasting remission of sins that the Lord has granted us. This is the blessing that God has given to all human beings, so that they may from now on live by their faith in the Word of God. In other words, Jesus Christ has blessed us to once again be able to live with God by believing in His righteousness. That is why we cannot afford not to believe in every Word of our God.
We can receive the remission of all our sins by believing in the Word of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ our Lord has given us. Now, anyone can become God’s own child by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the Word of God. All these gifts of salvation and of the remission of sins are the blessings that God has given us. If we really believe in Jesus Christ according to the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, and if we really have become sinless in God’s sight, then all these blessings have come from God Himself, and therefore we cannot forsake His grace. By our nature, we were simply incapable of keeping the Law of God, nor could we resist the lust of our flesh. We couldn’t help but live in this world as such feeble beings, but Jesus Christ has given us the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit so that we may reach our salvation.
Like this, even before the foundation of the world, the Triune God had decided to be our Savior, and entrusted all the work of salvation to Jesus Christ. As the Savior of sinners, Jesus Christ has fulfilled the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and this gospel of salvation was planned according to God’s determination to give us the believers new life. The plan of salvation God made in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world is all contained in the true gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that has brought the salvation of the remission of sins to us.
It is for this reason that Jesus Christ was born as a Man from the body of a woman, to come to this earth just as God had promised with His Word that He would be our Savior. And when the time came, Jesus received His baptism from John the Baptist, and in doing so He bore all the sins of mankind on His own body. Through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, Jesus Christ Himself wanted to bear all the sins of mankind once and for all, and He wanted to remit them away with His precious blood on the Cross while shouldering them. Now then, let us turn to the written Word of the New Testament and trace Jesus’ footsteps, looking at what happened when He went to John the Baptist to take upon all the sins of this world once and for all.
The Birth of Jesus and His Ministry
It is written in Matthew 1:21-23: “‘And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.’ So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’”
To be with us now, Jesus Christ was born on this earth through the body of a virgin living in Israel. The Lord had promised that He would come to this earth as the Savior of mankind to deliver His people from their sins, and He wanted to fulfill this exactly as He had promised.
When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the voice of God the Father could be heard from Heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Put differently, God the Father was saying to us, “Obey My will and wash away your sins by believing in the righteous work My Son is doing. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist now to bear the sins of mankind.” By being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus bore all the sins of the world once and for all, and by shedding His blood on the Cross and rising from the dead, He has saved all of us from all our sins. All these things were the righteous work that Jesus did to bring the remission of sins to the entire human race. The baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist was the most righteous work that Jesus carried out to blot out all your sins and mine and save us, who were made in the likeness of the image of God.
When Jesus was 30 years old, He went to John the Baptist and sought to be baptized by him. However, in Matthew 3:14 we see John the Baptist refusing this at first, saying to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” The reason why Jesus sought to be baptized by John the Baptist here is clear: It was to bear all the sins of mankind once and for all. For us the believers in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the baptism that the Lord received was meant to breathe the living breath of the remission of sins on our souls. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist to give us new life, and at that time, He accepted all the sins of the entire human race once and for all; and for all those who believe in this fact, He has washed away all their sins from their hearts. The fact that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist to bear the sins of mankind demonstrates God’s love and reveals His salvation to us. The baptism Jesus received on this earth and the blood He shed on the Cross are the most beautiful and noble news of the remission of sins in the history of mankind, and whoever believes in this will receive God’s blessings.
This news that has reached us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit is beautiful news, and it is also God’s blessing that breathes the true breath of life on everyone living on this earth who believes in this gospel of joyful news. Born on this earth incarnated in the flesh of man through the body of the Virgin Mary, Jesus is the Savior who had come to bear the sins of mankind and blot them out once and for all. He is also the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven, the King of kings, and the Prophet bringing the tidings of true salvation. Jesus Christ is our King, our High Priest, and our Prophet teaching us about our true salvation. He is not only our Savior, but also our Creator God who made the heavens and the earth. Jesus had come to this earth to fulfill His duty as the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven and save us the believers in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit from all our sins. Jesus Christ is the true Savior of mankind who was incarnated in the flesh of man and accepted the sins of mankind once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist.
It Is Finished
To absolve us from the sins of this world once and for all, Jesus Christ received baptism on His body and gave it up on the Cross to be crucified. The Lord did all these things to bear all the condemnation of sins, for He had borne the sins of mankind once and for all. That is why Jesus Christ could say, “It is finished,” when He passed away on the Cross. What Jesus said on the Cross here—“it is finished”—is God’s blessed Word that is very much relevant to those of us living in the present age who believe in the Word of God. The phrase “it is finished” speaks of God’s blessing that Jesus, having come to this earth, cleansed the sinners of the world from its sins once and for all and bore their condemnation. It was the blessed sound of trumpet announcing that Jesus Christ had completely solved away the problem of our sins and all the problems of life once and for all for everyone who must come out to the presence of God.
This is the blessed Word of God telling us that any and all sinners can be delivered from every sin and be qualified to enter the Kingdom of Heaven by faith if they just believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with the heart. To deliver us from the sins of the world, Jesus offered His own body to His Father as our sacrificial offering of atonement. Having been baptized by John the Baptist and shed His blood on the Cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” This was the voice declaring that the work of opening the gate of Heaven was now complete.
We must therefore have faith in Jesus as our Savior, who willingly became the sacrificial offering of atonement for our sins. From now on, we the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit must have the conviction that all the sins of our hearts have been washed away once and for all on account of our faith in the Word of God, and that we are thus qualified to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We have the faith that Jesus Christ offered Himself as our sacrificial offering of atonement to take us to the Kingdom of Heaven, and we must henceforth become witnesses spreading this faith to everyone around the whole world.
Those in this present age who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that our Lord has given to all of us can also enter Heaven by the same faith that we have. As someone who has faith in this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, let us no longer wait and be the witnesses who preach the remission of sins and Heaven to all souls by faith. Let us live as such witnesses who believe in God and His Word to His pleasure.
Let us no longer hesitate to believe that the Lord sacrificed Himself as our offering of atonement. Let us have faith in the true salvation found in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and accept it into our hearts. With our hearts thus freed from sinfulness and become sinless, let us praise the righteousness of Jesus Christ our God. We have put on the grace of salvation thanks to the everlasting sacrifice of atonement offered by Jesus Christ. Let us all forever praise the righteousness of the Triune God for planning our eternal salvation from sin.
Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life
As we know, dry bones do not come alive naturally. However, just as Jesus Christ said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), the Lord can make us alive with His true Word even though we were already dead in our sins. So let us have the faith of resurrection as we carry on with our lives. The Lord has permitted resurrection to all of us who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. In the days of the Old Testament, God turned dry bones into an army by breathing the living breath on them. Just like this, the Lord has also blessed our souls to have new life today, for we believe in the God-given Word of the water and the Spirit.
Although we are living in this world, we had been waiting only for the day our bodies die. For such hopeless people like us, our Lord sought out John the Baptist, accepted the sins of the world through His baptism, was crucified while shouldering these sins, and poured His precious blood. By accepting the sins of this world through His baptism, shedding His blood to death on the Cross, and rising from the dead, the Lord has blessed us the believers in the Word of the water and the Spirit to become new creatures. He has blessed all of us who believe in the God-given salvation to receive the remission of sins and become God’s own children.
Because our hearts are fundamentally sinful, our souls are like the dry bones we see in today’s Scripture reading. However, by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the gospel of new life for our souls, we have been able to receive new life. We were completely hopeless before God, for we had sin in our hearts from the day we were born in this world. Like this, all human beings are completely hopeless, and this is because from the day they were born as sinners to this very day, they still have not found the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, which is the breath of life coming from God. In the past, when we had not received the remission of sins into our hearts yet, the baptism of Jesus Christ and His blood on the Cross were absolutely indispensable to our souls. We must realize that we can all receive the remission of sins the moment we understand and believe, according to the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit written in the New Testament, in the sacrificial offering of atonement that Jesus Christ, the Son of God in Heaven, fulfilled when He came to this earth.
We believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit as our washing of sins, and that it gives us new life. If we believe in this gospel Word with our hearts exactly as the Truth is telling us, we will be moved from death to everlasting life. The Lord is offering us salvation from sin, and if we receive the remission of sins by believing in this salvation according to the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, we will receive the God-given right to become His children. Living the life of faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has given us means living with the true, God-given hope of Heaven. Having thus been made sinless by faith, we have become God’s people, and we are now qualified to abide in God’s Church as His saints and workers, which is open to only the sinless.
When Jesus bore the sins of this world, He said to John the Baptist, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). When Jesus said to John the Baptist here, “Thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” He was saying to him, “I am here to be baptized by you. Baptize Me now and pass all the sins of mankind to Me. Through you, I will accept all the sins of the world. This is the path God the Father has set for mankind. Everything you and I are doing now will fulfill all the righteousness of God.”
On this planet earth, there are many people whose spiritual lives are like the dry bones. To these people, Jesus is saying, “Because I was baptized by John the Baptist, I paid off the wages of your sins on the Cross. The baptism I received is the most righteous work in this world, for I accepted and bore your sins. Believe in Me and receive the remission of your sins!”
When Jesus went into the water of the Jordan River to be baptized and came out of it, there was a voice coming from Heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17). This means that through His baptism, Jesus personally accepted the sins of this world and bore them on His own body according to the will of God the Father. God the Father was saying here, “I am pleased by what My Son Jesus Christ has done. I am very pleased, for My Son has accepted and obeyed My will.”
Therefore, we must accept into our hearts the righteous works Jesus Christ did in obedience to the will of God the Father—that is, being baptized and shedding His blood on the Cross—and we must become the people of faith in unity with the will of God the Father. It is then that Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father in whom we believe are rejoiced by our faith. I hope and pray that we would all believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and thus bring joy to the Triune God. It is my sincerest hope that we would all live a life that glorifies God with faith.
Having heard and read this Word, what will you do now? Will you also by faith partake in God’s work that is pleasing to Him, and His Word? We are now carrying on with our lives in this world by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and it is through this faith of yours and mine that God is being glorified. There is nothing you and I have done to please God except for one thing: we are now preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If there is anything else that we have done, it is just that we have worked hard to support the gospel ministry, prayed for our people of God, and nurtured them with His Word to defend them from the enemies.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus again after His baptism, he bore witness and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). After John the Baptist testified like this, calling Jesus “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” the Lord was crucified while shouldering all the sins of the world, and He poured out all His blood for our sake. And, right before taking His last breath, He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Jesus then rose from the dead in three days, blotting out all the sins and trespasses of mankind for all those who believe in the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. He has therefore given the gift of the remission of sins and the Holy Spirit to all those who believe in the true gospel Word of salvation. That God has given the remission of sins and the Holy Spirit to mankind means that He has given us the blessed gift of Heaven.
Let us turn to Acts 2:38-39 here: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’” Peter went on to say in Acts chapter 3 verse 19, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” As it is written here, Jesus will breathe the breath of new life on all those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit and are thus convinced of their remission of sins.
All of us can now be remitted from every sin by believing that the baptism the Son of God received and the blood He shed on the Cross to blot out our sins once and for all constitute our remission of sins. Such faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and such news of salvation, are the tidings of the living breath and the remission of sins for the human race. Moreover, the faith that Jesus Christ, who has come by the water and the Spirit, is our Savior is the faith of those who have received the living breath into their souls.
For us the believers in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, this news of salvation is the Truth that has brought the remission of sins and new life into our hearts. As Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist to bear the sins of this world on His body and blotted out the sins of the entire human race once and for all with the precious blood He shed on the Cross, He is the true God of salvation for us. The God of life has turned all of us who now believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit into His own children according to His Word, just as it is written in John 1:12: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” In this present age that is full of dry bones, God has made the Truth known to us, that we can receive His love and salvation, the remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. For all those who have planted in their hearts the work of salvation Jesus carried out by the water and the Spirit when He came to this earth, the Lord has blessed them to be saved from all their sins.
We have been delivered from all our sins by accepting into our hearts the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, the bread of life that the Lord has made for us. We have received the blessing of new life that enables us to rise from the dead and live again. Those who have accepted Jesus’ work of atonement into their hearts can live forever with God, for they have been remitted from all their sins by faith. Hallelujah! I give all glory, praise, and thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for coming to us and looking for us now with the Word of Truth! Hallelujah!
“Ezekiel, Will These Many Dry Bones Live?”
When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He fulfilled mankind’s salvation from sin once and for all through His baptism and His blood on the Cross. We must grasp this salvation, believe in it with our hearts, and thereby receive the remission of sins. When God asked, “Ezekiel, will these many bones live?” Ezekiel answered and said, “Yes, Lord, only You know.” Bringing the dry bones back to life could be achieved only by the Son of God, Jesus Christ, with the gospel work of the water and the Spirit He carried out on this earth. This work of delivering mankind from all the sins of the world was the righteous work that only our Lord Jesus Christ could accomplish.
What power did the people of Israel have to free themselves from their captivity of war and attain true deliverance and liberty? The nation of Israel had been defeated in war and taken in captivity, and this was something that only the Lord God, who was speaking to Ezekiel here in the age of the Old Testament, could bring about. Likewise, bringing the prisoners of war back to their country was also something that could be achieved by the power of God alone, who could breathe the living breath on the dead.
God was saying, “The people of Israel have stood against Me so much like this, so on what account would they receive My blessings? This is impossible. However, I will not forsake My people completely. That is because I have many plans of salvation for them, and also because I love them.” Because God had promised Abraham, “I will be the God of your descendants,” the people of Israel still could find salvation and hope in God.
Like this, for those of us who are living in the age of the New Testament and believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, we are also living with the hope of Heaven because God has given us the Holy Spirit. The people of Israel could be freed from their captivity of war because God had promised to Abraham, “I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. I will be their God.” Just as the people of Israel who believed in God’s Word of promise returned home from their captivity, all of us who are now living in the present age of the New Testament can also reach true salvation if we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel of the remission of sins the Lord has given us. Having taken away all our hearts’ sins by being baptized by John the Baptist, our Lord has fulfilled our deliverance from the sins of the world.
For everyone living now in the whole wide world, God has given the righteous work of salvation carried out by His Son, the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and the blessing of blotting out all the sins of whoever believes in this Word. In this age also, the Lord has given the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit the power to live by their faith in the Word of God. The Lord has bestowed the gift of the remission of sins on those who believe in the Truth of salvation proclaimed by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Long before Jesus Christ the Son of God blotted out all the sins of mankind by sacrificing His own body, God the Father had already established and worked on His plan of salvation. Jesus came to this earth exactly according to the plan God the Father made to save all sinners from the sins of this world, and according to this design of the Father, the Lord completed the work of blotting out the sins of mankind with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven, Christ also fulfilled His earthly duties faithfully by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood on the Cross, going as far as sacrificing His own body to save His people from all the sins of this world.
To fulfill His duties as the High Priest, Jesus Christ Himself came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man; when He turned 30 years old, He bore the sins of this world once and for all by being baptized; and, accordingly, at the age of 33 He shed His precious blood on the Cross, thus fulfilling all His priestly duties. It is by offering His own body that Jesus Christ completed the work of salvation to deliver His people from their sins. To offer the sacrifice of salvation, and to thus blot out our sins, the Lord sacrificed His own body. By laying down His body, Jesus Christ offered the sacrifice that only the High Priest of Heaven could offer, bearing our sins and being condemned in our place as our sacrificial offering. Jesus Christ bore the condemnation of sins with His blood and death like this because He had been baptized and thereby taken upon all the sins of each and every one of us now living on this earth. All these things were done to make us, the believers, God’s children.
What Can We Realize from the Old Testament?
With the start of the fall season, I have lately been reading the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. In Isaiah God speaks about how He would punish the people of Israel, but I can see that His real desire was the complete opposite. We know that in the days of the Old Testament, the Lord God was pleased to judge those who brought suffering to the people of Israel, and He was also rejoiced to deliver His people from their oppression. We have seen how God punished without fail those who oppressed and tormented the people of Israel in their war captivity, and how He promised them with His Word that He would save them from their suffering. Just as God loved His people during the age of the Old Testament, through His sacrifice God has also manifested His love to all of us living in the age of the New Testament. When His creatures are suffering because of their own sins, God has revealed Himself as their Savior.
God punished trespassers not because He hated them, but because He loved them and did not want them to be cursed. Because they were on such an accursed road, punishing them was the righteous God’s way of saving them so that He may turn them around and deliver them from their accursed transgressions. It is because human beings, who were made in the likeness of the image of God, did not turn around from their sins that God had no choice but to raise His rod to turn them around from their flawed way. This was God’s righteous wrath that was meant to lead them to the blessed way.
Therefore, God had promised since time immemorial that He Himself would come to this earth as a descendant of a woman to deliver human beings who had sided with His enemy from their sins, and exactly according to this promise, in the days of the New Testament, God indeed bore all the sins of mankind created in the likeness of His image by being baptized personally by John the Baptist. With this baptism, Jesus Christ was able to wash away all the sins of the world once and for all. With His crucifixion, Jesus also bore the punishment of sin that mankind should have borne, and by rising from the dead again, He has become our Savior now. He had come to this earth looking for His people to save them from their sins, and He fulfilled this salvation by sacrificing Himself to God the Father as their sin offering. This is the remission of sins that the Lord fulfilled as the High Priest of the Kingdom of Heaven by sacrificing Himself exactly as He promised. Like this, Jesus had promised mankind’s salvation, and to fulfill this promise exactly as He had promised, He laid Himself down, being baptized by John the Baptist and paying off all the wages of the sins of mankind by being crucified.
It is on account of the sacrifice of atonement Jesus Christ made that God has saved you and me now. The baptism of Jesus, His crucifixion, and His death on the Cross were the heavenly sacrifice of atonement that He offered for you and me now. Therefore, in the sight of God in Heaven, your salvation and mine have been fulfilled through the atonement Jesus made for us. The Word of salvation is fulfilled as the true gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and this is the Truth that Jesus is speaking of. This Truth constitutes the living breath of salvation that God has breathed on all of us, which has come by the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. And the Truth for all of us is this: if we hear and believe with our hearts in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit God has prepared for us—that is, the tidings of salvation from all the sins of the world—we can be delivered from all our sins once and for all.
Those Who Are Living with a Hurting Heart Because of Their Sins
Today, even among Christians, there are many people whose lives are tormented by the transgressions they have committed. Some of them are living with a hurt heart, thinking that they have been abandoned by God because they cannot help but sin despite not wishing to do so. Do you think that God has abandoned you because He hates you for sinning? No, that is not the case! You think like this only because your soul is hurt and suffering from the fact that you sin against your wishes. The wounds of the heart that are inflicted from the sins one commits cannot be healed with any medicine in this world. Does this then mean that these wounds of the heart can never be healed? No, they can still be healed!
The heartache you are enduring right now is from the pain of ignorance, all because you do not know the Truth that our Lord has already washed away all your sins with the water and the Spirit. Have you ever heard and believed in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit in your lifetime? You probably have not, at least not until today. The Truth of salvation from sin is the gospel of the water and the Spirit that can be realized from the Word of God. This is the Truth about the water and the Spirit that cannot be heard in today’s worldly Christianity. If you want to heal the wounds of your heart, you must believe wholeheartedly in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that can actually heal you. To do so, you must come to the presence of God, listen to the Truth of salvation that is in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and realize this Truth. Only then can you be healed from your wounds.
If you do not accept into your heart the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit, you cannot help but continue to live with your wounded heart and suffer from your sins. You will then not be able to receive the blessed remission of sins the Lord is offering. Nor will you be able to enjoy any peace and happiness on this earth that you could otherwise enjoy in the Lord. It will be impossible to live happily as the redeemed do. Although all human beings are precious creatures made in the likeness of the image of God, nothing is more pitiful than human beings in God’s sight. That is because if they do not believe in the remission of sins God is offering them through the gospel of the water and the Spirit and reject His blessing to become His own children, their punishment of sin will only grow accordingly. It would be wonderful if you were rich, but would your riches make your life as happy as someone who has been born again and freed from confusion? It would be great to have power, but do you think you would be able to live as happily as those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and serve the will of God?
Way back when I was a kid, I used to listen to a Chinese song. There was a time when Hong Kongese songs were quite popular in Korea. The song’s title is “Susanna,” and its lyrics went something like this: “Over the west hills sets the sun, and the day is over. Are the leaves dry? The fall only deepens.” The song sang about a girl named Susanna who was suffering from cancer and would die when the last remaining autumn leaves fell. The few remaining leaves could fall anytime, and the precariousness of these leaves were the same as the girl’s fate. The lyrics were translated into Korean, and the song was sung by a Korean singer. It was a very sad song. “Leaves are falling, life is a meaningless journey.” As I recall, the girl in this song was very rich. She had all the riches and opulence of the world at her fingertip, but her illness made her as perilous as the autumn leaves. When the last leaf on the tree fell, her life was also over. It’s a sad song singing about the utter emptiness of life.
Like this, to live with one’s sins remaining intact is to live in grief with a wounded heart and wait for only death. Every sinner in this world is living with a wounded heart hurting from sin. No one whose sins remain in the heart can ever find any happiness no matter how long one lives. Wounded by their sins, such people are inundated by suffering and pain, only to reach death in the end.
Those whose hearts are still sinful must die for their sins, just as the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). However, what we must all realize here is that Jesus Christ went to the Jordan River to bear all your sins and mine and accepted them once and for all by being baptized by John the Baptist. Having shouldered all the sins of this world on His body, Jesus carried them to the Cross, died in your place and mine for our sins, rose from the dead, and has thereby become our Savior. Today, the Lord wants to walk with each and every one of you who are crying over your sins with a wounded heart. This Lord is none other than Jesus Christ who bore your sins through His baptism, shed His blood to death on the Cross, and rose from the dead.
Jesus Christ wants to be the Savior of all those whose hearts are wounded and suffering now. He wants to be your friend, and He wants to walk with you. And the Lord is saying to you, “Are you wounded and hurting from your sins? I was baptized by John the Baptist to bear all those sins. Through the baptism I received from John the Baptist, I took upon all your sins once and for all. Why are you then ignoring the baptism I received for you? I want you to truly understand the meaning of the baptism I received from John the Baptist. I want you not to turn away from the fact that I bore your sins through this baptism. Knowing that your life on this earth would be full of sadness and tears because of your sins, I accepted and took care of each and every one of your sins through the baptism I received from John the Baptist. So why do you not believe wholeheartedly in My righteous work that has saved you from all your sins, and why are you not accepting Me as Your Savior?” The Lord is rebuking you like this.
Everyone is beholden to the four fundamental conditions of life: birth, aging, sickness, and death. Once born, all human beings must grow old, fall ill, and die eventually. This is mankind’s fate. Nearly every kid wants to grow older quickly, but once people reach the 30s, from then on time only goes by evermore quickly like a speeding car. Time accelerates as one gets older. When we are only 30 years old, it feels like we are driving at 30 km/h, but when we turn 40, it feels like we are doing 40 km/hr. As we turn 50, 60, 70, and so forth, the speed only keeps picking up, and eventually we find ourselves going over the speed limit and flying at 80, 90 km/hr. It is a fact of life that the older we get, the more quickly time flies by.
Like this, the human existence is no different from ephemeral fog. Life amounts to nothing. That is precisely why you must realize that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save sinners, and why you must believe that He has taken care of all your transgressions with His baptism and blood. You, too, can then be delivered from all your sins and walk with the Lord. All of you who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit thanks to God’s Church have been blessed to walk with the Lord forever. Hallelujah!
The True Savior of All of Our Wretched Lives Is Jesus
Our unhappy lives were devoid of hope, but because God created us in the likeness of His image, He sought to take care of us, save us from all our sins, and give us everlasting life. God then achieved this work of salvation, so that He may blot out all the sins of His people with His work and enable them to enter and live in His Kingdom. This is the plan God made for us, and it is also His wholehearted love for us. So, as we saw in today’s Scripture passage, when Ezekiel prophesied as commanded by God and breath was blown into the dry bones, they came together, veins and flesh appeared on them, and they lived again to stand like a great army. This was akin to how man had come alive when God made him from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. In the same vein, our God is telling us here that He has made us, the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, live again by blotting out all our sins and giving us the gift of His Spirit.
Because of the sins we inherited from our ancestors from the day we were born in this world, we had already been dead spiritually. From the moment we were born on this earth, our lives had already drifted far away from God on account of our sins. We were all born with the inevitable destiny that doomed us to be estranged from God and live under curses. Because all human beings are born as sinners by their very nature, they are all destined to live as sinners for the rest of their lives, only to be judged for their sins at the end of their lives and go to the place to which every sinner must go. Like this, because everyone is born with a rebellious heart to stand against God and is inevitably sinful, you and I can be saved only if we believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with our hearts, that Jesus Christ has blotted out all our sins once and for all. Those who otherwise do not believe in this gospel will be deservedly condemned for their sins as the wages of their transgressions.
It is because human beings are born in this world with a rebellious heart to oppose God that they automatically come to stand against Him. This is why the entire human race is standing against the holy, righteous, and merciful God automatically for no reason. Yet, even though human beings are rebelling against God endlessly like this, God has still sought them out with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and He is saying to them, “Long before I made you, I already had a plan of salvation so that I may live with you forever.”
Questions Many People Are Asking God
Some people ask, “When God made Adam and Eve, did He already know that Satan would deceive them?” God’s answer to such a question is as the following: “The appearance of the Devil who tempted Adam and Eve, their fall into his deception, and the consequent pain suffered by mankind were all permitted under My providence. These things came about to meet the precondition for making human creatures My own people and children. To fulfill this purpose, I will come to this earth as a Man and blot out all at once the sins of Adam and Eve, and the sins of their descendants, with My baptism and My blood on the Cross. This is all contained in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that I have prepared for you. I have completed everything so that you can become My children by believing in this Truth. This is what you should all realize.”
If God had made every human being His own son or daughter unconditionally, all the other creatures made by God would have protested ferociously. Humans and non-humans alike, all creatures are the same in that they were all made by God, so if God were to give special treatment to just human beings, He would not be treating all His creatures equally. God would then have been denounced by His creatures. If God had singled out mankind for special treatment unconditionally and unilaterally like this, the other creatures would have protested to Him as they would have deemed it unfair. So, as human beings were created in the likeness of His image, God established a great plan of salvation to make them His people, and He said that He would give salvation to whoever believes in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.
This is why God had prepared His Son Jesus to save mankind from their sins, knowing that the fallen angel would deceive them and turn them against Him. And it is in Jesus Christ that God permitted mankind to sin. This was done to remit away all the transgressions of such sinners and make the believers His people. To do this, Jesus Himself had to bear everyone’s sins and pay off their wages. That is why God the Father said that He would blot out every sin by sending His Son to this earth.
When mankind fell into sin, God promised with His Word that Jesus Himself would come as a Man and deliver them from all their sins with the saving Truth of the water and the Spirit. And to fulfill every Word of covenant God promised to mankind, Jesus personally came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man through the body of a virgin, and He accepted and cleansed away all the sins of mankind by being baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30. For all those who believe in this Truth and want to be washed from all their sins, the baptism that Jesus received lacked absolutely nothing to cleanse them from their every sin. The Lord carried out the work of salvation perfectly and completely, so that whoever accepts the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit would lack nothing to be delivered from all sins and become God’s own child. The work of salvation that Jesus accomplished personally is all written in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.
Because Jesus shouldered the sins of mankind with baptism and carried them to the Cross, and because He shed His blood on the Cross and rose from the dead, from this point on the Lord has allowed all those who believe in His work of salvation to reach salvation no matter what kind of sin they might have committed. This Truth is the providence of salvation God has established for all mankind. What, then, would happen to you if you were to refuse to believe in this gospel providence of the water and the Spirit planned by God, just because it’s not to your liking? Salvation would be beyond your reach. God has fulfilled the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit because He wants to save us from all our sins and make us His own children, and we must now believe in this Word with our hearts and thus receive the remission of sins. What would be our hearts’ condition if we were not to believe in this Truth of salvation? We would still remain sinful.
You may then ask as the following: “Then why didn’t God just create a sinless world at the beginning?” It is because God gave all His creatures truly free will, and He wanted to respect it. Having granted free will to His creatures, God did not want to take it away from them. And Jesus came to this earth to obey God His Father, and He also wanted to cleanse and release mankind from the sins of this world by being baptized by John the Baptist. God promised us, “The Devil has separated you from Me with the sins of the world, but I will deliver you from him, the sins of the world, and your judgment.” To fulfill this promise of salvation from God, when the time came, Jesus Christ personally came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man through the body of Mary, and by being baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30, He took away all the sins ever committed by any and all human beings ever born on this earth.
Jesus Christ then carried all the sins of this world to the Cross, and He bore the condemnation of each and every sin of mankind by shedding His precious blood to death. Because Jesus was baptized to take away the sins of the world, He said on the Cross, “It is finished!” He then rose from the dead. To breathe new life into those of us who believe in this Truth, our Lord was rejoiced to give us the gift of the Spirit.
The fact that the Lord has saved us from the sins of this world is the most joyful news to all who accept into their hearts the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit that the Lord fulfilled when He came to this earth. The gospel Word of the water and the Spirit sets us free from all the sins we commit in this world, and Jesus has given the Holy Spirit as the gift of salvation to whoever believes in this gospel. Our God wants to give the gift of the Holy Spirit to all those who accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit by believing in His Word, and He wants them to live in His presence. This is the plan of salvation God established for us and the entire human race, and it is also the completion of salvation that Jesus Christ fulfilled when He came this to earth. The Triune God Himself made and fulfilled all this plan of salvation in Jesus.
Will you now accept God’s love for us humans by faith? Can you now understand God’s plan of creation that He made in Jesus? When God breathes the living breath of the Spirit into us the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that is when we are saved from all our sins.
Jesus Has Given True Hope to Those Who Are Hopeless Because of Their Sins
Jesus has given the hope of salvation to all sinners, and He has given true hope to the hopeless. He has given true salvation and Heaven to all those who are heading to hell for their sins, and He has given the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the gospel of the remission of sins, to all those who are suffering from their sins. To those who are enslaved by the Devil, the Lord has given an opportunity of faith to become God’s servants by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Having been baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood on the Cross, Jesus said, “It is finished,” and then He passed away.
Jesus was saying on His baptism and the Cross that He had now completed mankind’s salvation from all sins. For everyone, sin denotes one’s separation from God. Therefore, being sinners by our nature, we must believe that the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit Jesus fulfilled for us is our salvation. We must realize that there is now a way for us to restore our broken relationship with God and share communion with Him through faith. God has spoken to us with His Word about what He has done for us, and through this Word we can reach our salvation by faith. God is saying that He has breathed the living breath of new life on us the believers.
Do you now believe in the Word of Truth, that your soul, which had been dead, has now been born again from death through your faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit? Believe now in the Truth that Jesus has delivered mankind from their sins with His water and blood. If you believe in the saving Word of the remission of sins, the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, you will be delivered from all your sins through faith. You will then realize that just as you believe, all your sins have indeed disappeared completely already. Jesus Christ, God Himself, has now saved us from the sins of the world through the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, but unless we realize this Truth, it will forever be impossible for us to rise from our spiritual death and live again. That is because your soul and mine had already been dead long before we were even born in this world.
When we look at the lives of movie stars in the world, it seems like they are living a glamorous life without any worries. However, since even such people have shortcomings, they also run into hardships in their lives, and they sometimes make the wrong decision as well when their living circumstances worsen even slightly. People’s lives are not that different from one another. The grass in the field created by God may look lush only to wither away overnight. Likewise, human beings, created in the likeness of the image of God, may prosper in the flesh, but they can easily find themselves struggling with tremendous hardship or even be ruined overnight when they fall ill or their businesses fail.
Tragically, some people die too young, much to the grief of their loved ones. It’s not rare for someone who looks completely healthy outside to die suddenly from an unexpected disease. So, given just how precarious life is, we ought to believe in the God-fulfilled gospel Word of the water and the Spirit and receive the remission of sins whenever we get a chance. Only then can we be happy, and only then can we live a second life. And we must prepare our faith now for the next world by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, so that when our lives in this world are over, we may enter Heaven, which can be entered only by faith.
God said that when He made us humans, He made us according to His image. The fact that God made us according to His image means that He made us so that we would live happily forever with Him in His Kingdom. God did not make us just to play with us like toys, but rather, He made us with a purpose, to enable us to live with Him forever. The problem is that we humans are oblivious to this plan of God, and are living by foolishly trusting in our own strengths, only to stand against the holy God when things do not go our way and perish.
Even though human beings were born in this world because of God, they are going about with their lives without knowing the purpose for which God created them. This is the problem. We fail in our lives precisely because we foolishly insist on our own way of life without realizing God our Creator’s purpose for us. The problem is that we are not living by faith, not knowing that our God has already prepared countless blessings for us, nor realizing the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the salvation that the Son of God has given us.
Therefore, we must receive the remission of sins into our hearts by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit proclaiming that Jesus Christ our Creator and Savior has blotted out all our sins once and for all, so that when He calls us, we may all live with Him in His Kingdom. So, it’s very important for us to understand what it means when the Bible says that we were made in the likeness of the image of God. We ought to believe in the merciful love of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind who sacrificed Himself to blot out our sins; we ought to recover the true faith; and we ought to, by faith, live happily forever with our God.
We must believe that Jesus Christ the Savior of mankind came to this earth, was baptized by John the Baptist, the representative of mankind, to blot out the iniquities of sinners once and for all, and through this baptism bore at once all the sins of the world, yours and mine alike. And He carried these sins of the world to the Cross. It is because Jesus shed His blood while bearing all the sins of mankind on His own body that He said when He passed away, “It is finished.” With the baptism He received and the blood He shed, Jesus completely fulfilled His objective of saving mankind over His 33 short years of life on this earth. Our God is telling us that He has breathed the new living breath of the remission of sins into all human beings created by Him.
Whoever Is in Christ Is Now a New Creation
It’s written in 2 Corinthians 5:17 in the New Testament: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” By believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit the Lord has given us, our souls have received new life. If anyone believes in the righteous work of salvation Jesus carried out on this earth with the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, this person will receive the everlasting remission of sins and new life into the heart. From now on, if people just believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with the heart, regardless of who they might be, they can all be saved from their sins and receive new life from God to rise from their death and live again.
So I urge you to believe that Jesus Christ is God Himself, and that He is the Creator who made you and me. And I ask you to accept into your heart the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit that Jesus Christ has given us, so that you may experience for yourself how Jesus would breathe new life into you. This Truth has been manifested as the gospel of the water and the Spirit, so believe in this gospel. If you now listen to and believe in this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with your heart, you will be remitted from all your heart’s sins, receive new life, and become a new creation in God’s sight. Someone who has become a new creation will live the rest of the remaining life in a way that is worthy of being a new creation.
We were all indeed made by the Lord, the Lord has blotted out our sins with the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and we have been saved from all our sins by believing in this gospel with our hearts. Therefore, the worthiest of our respect and love in the whole world is no one else but our Lord Jesus Christ. This is because it is our Lord who has delivered us from all the sins of the world, made us God’s children, and blessed us. Is there any gospel that is lovelier than the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has given us? Any gospel in this world other than the gospel of the water and the Spirit, such as the gospel of just the Cross, is not the true gospel. Compared to the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel of the Cross is no more than a half-gospel. The real gospel in this world is the gospel of the water and the Spirit proclaiming that the Lord has given us the believers new life by being baptized by John the Baptist, shedding His blood on the Cross, and rising from the dead. Apart from the most cherished gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, there can be no other gospel in this world that can truly quench us.
For the entire human race, other than the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has given us, absolutely nothing can ever bring true peace, true blessings, and wonderful communion with God. When we were sinners, Jesus Christ came looking for us and saved us through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and He alone is our Savior. We are now able to carry on with our lives by faith, believing that Jesus Christ is our God, our Savior, and our true Lord of life. Only Jesus Christ who has blotted out the sins of the world is the Savior who has truly delivered you and me from all our sins, and He alone is the God who has given us true salvation and truly new life.
When our souls were dead for our sins, Jesus Christ brought us back to life, and He has blessed us to receive the true remission of sins and truly new life. God said in Ezekiel 37:12-13, “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.”’” Those who seek to live without uniting their hearts with the Word of God have already drifted away from Him. The Lord promised that He would open the graves of the dead, resurrect them from their death, and let everyone who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit receive everlasting life.
It’s written in Ezekiel 37:14, “‘I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,’ says the LORD.’” With the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, Jesus Christ has blotted out all our sins once and for all, but this is not all there is to His work. The Lord has also given the gift of the Holy Spirit to all His people who have received the remission of sins through the water and the Spirit, enabling them to be led by the Holy Spirit while carrying on with their lives on this earth. Like this, at the same time that Jesus Christ delivered us from our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, He also poured the Holy Spirit on our hearts so that our lives may be forever led by the Spirit.
All such blessings are God’s true providence for those of us who now believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. When God said here, “I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live,” He was promising with His Word that He would give the gift of the Holy Spirit to our hearts so that we may live forever with Him. God said, “I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live.” None other than this is the will of God. If we believe in the God-given gospel Word of the remission of sin, we will surely receive the gift of the Holy Spirit into our hearts.
Let us turn to Acts 2:38 here: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” Just as the true Word says here, to all who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, God will indeed give both the remission of sins and the gift of the Spirit to their hearts at the same time. When I first understood the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, I knew that the remission of sins had come into my heart, but that was the extent of my realization initially. When I read Acts 2:38 and saw that I had also received the gift of the Holy Spirit, I realized fully that the Holy Spirit was already in my heart and working with me. Even at this very moment, I am walking with the Holy Spirit.
The people of Israel did not accept Jesus as the Savior for whom they had been waiting, and they rejected Him. So, the disciples of Jesus admonished them to believe in Him, saying to them, “You do not believe in Jesus as your Savior. Turn around, and believe in Jesus as your Messiah.” This Word is what is written in the Bible, and what God is telling us now, about true repentance. To truly repent means this: if we now realize that our lives of faith had been misdirected all this time, we ought to return to the right gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it with our hearts. We will then receive the Holy Spirit into our hearts. This is the biblically sound faith of repentance. Saying to God just with our words that we have wronged Him is not what is meant by true repentance. Rather, to truly repent is to return to the Truth that Jesus has remitted away all our sins, turn around from the flawed religious beliefs we have held, and believe in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit instead. This faith is what true faith is all about.
Repent, and Believe in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
It is written, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Some Israelites did come to repent and believe in Jesus as their Savior. Why, then, did these people also have to be baptized like Jesus? This is because the baptism Jesus received from the John the Baptist was the act through which the Lord bore all the sins of mankind and washed them away once and for all. Just as Jesus was baptized, the new believers also had to be baptized as the sign of their faith in His righteous work.
When we are baptized, we confess our faith as the following: “I believe that when the Lord was baptized by John the Baptist, He bore not only the sins of the people of Israel but also my sins. I believe that when Jesus Christ went into the water to be baptized, it revealed that He would suffer bodily death in my place because He had borne my sins. I believe that Jesus is my Savior who was baptized to take away all my sins, and who was condemned for the sins once and for all by being crucified to death. And I believe that Jesus’ emergence from the water when He was baptized signifies His resurrection, that the Lord would bring me back to life just as He rose from the dead. I now believe wholeheartedly that Jesus took away my sins through His baptism.”
It is absolutely imperative for us to believe that Jesus’ work of salvation, from the baptism He received from John the Baptist to bear our sins to His crucifixion and His resurrection, was all fulfilled to bring the true remission of sins and new life to us. The real confession of faith is made when we confess that we have been remitted from all our sins by believing in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. The Bible says, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Clearly, the Holy Spirit is God’s gift that is bestowed only on those who have received the remission of sins. Faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is all about believing that this gospel is our true salvation that remits away all our sins, and the Bible says that it is when we believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit that we can receive the Holy Spirit.
For all of us who have received the remission of sins by believing that Jesus has blotted out all the sins of this world with the water baptism He received and the blood He shed on the Cross, God has blessed us to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. By giving the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit into our hearts, the Lord has confirmed definitively that He has turned us the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit into God’s own children who can glorify Him. In other words, the Lord has sealed us the believers in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with the Holy Spirit so that no one may take away our faith. When our hearts have faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit descends on our hearts, and with this seal of the Holy Spirit, God confirms that we are indeed His children.
Those who have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit works in their hearts when they hear the Word of God. The righteous’ souls are made forever alive by hearing the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit through God’s Church. The work of the Holy Spirit unfolds in the hearts of those who believe in the water and the blood. It is where the Holy Spirit works that true peace and true salvation can be found. As we carry on with our lives of faith in God’s Church, we can all realize that the Holy Spirit is always working among us along with the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.
In fact, the Holy Spirit neither dwells in the heart of anyone who has not received the remission of sins yet, nor does He work on such people. Because the work of the Holy Spirit always unfolds according to the written Word, it is imperative that we follow His work by believing in the written Word of God. Put differently, it is when we follow and trust in the Word of God that we can see the work of the Holy Spirit unfolding with our own eyes. Unless we follow the Word of God, we cannot see the work of the Holy Spirit. So I ask you to believe that your life of faith must be led according to the God-given gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit always works with the written Word of God, and we must be mindful of this clear fact.
If we otherwise rely on our own emotions instead of the Word of God and conflate them with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will eventually succumb to the work of the Devil and end up living as his instrument of wickedness. The Devil’s work always prods us to ignore God’s Word and follow our own thoughts and feelings of the flesh, only to fall into grave errors. Such fallacious beliefs spring forth when people follow their own emotions rather than the Word of God. They can easily fall into temptation and stumble greatly, for when they follow their own emotions, they are following their own feelings instead of God’s Word.
As we carry on with our lives in this world, we are bound to sometimes fall into the weaknesses of our flesh and sin against the desires of the Holy Spirit. That is why the Bible says, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). If anyone who has received the remission of sins ignores the desires of the Holy Spirit and follows one’s own fleshly thoughts instead of doing what is pleasing to God, then ultimately this person will live as God’s enemy rather than His servant.
In God’s eyes, those who live according to the lust of their flesh instead of the guidance of the Holy Spirit are like the man who received one talent, and, accordingly, they are God’s enemies. If you grasp the Word of God, feel it, believe in it, and accept it personally by faith, then the Holy Spirit will dwell and work in your heart. Those whose hearts have received the Holy Spirit can continue to follow God joyously, for they are led by the guidance of the divine Spirit and the Word of God. When those whose hearts are dwelt by the Holy Spirit hear the Word of God, they gain new strength and submit to the Word. So, as they abide in the dominion of the Holy Spirit, their lives come to be defined by faith in the Word of God.
The hearts of those who have received the Holy Spirit as the gift of faith are refreshed. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” God is saying to all of us here, “Get your sins blotted out.” Anyone who professes to believe in Jesus as the Savior should not have any sin in the heart. If one really believes in the Word of the water and the Spirit as the Word of God, then there cannot be any sin in the heart. It is indeed right that whoever believes in Jesus has no more sin. Should we still have our sins remaining in our hearts even after believing in Jesus, or should our hearts be sinless? Which is right? The correct answer is that our hearts are truly sinless. The Bible affirms such a clear answer as the right answer, but, unfortunately, man-made theology treats it as a binary, black-and-white answer and questions its correctness.
In the Bible, the Lord said to the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, “You have received the remission of sins. You are therefore sinless, for you believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. You are right. Your faith is correct.” This is because the Lord Himself had come to this earth to once and for all blot out all the sins of the world that are in people’s hearts. And it is also because Jesus Himself accepted all sins through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, washed them away with the blood He shed on the Cross, and eradicated their judgment with the condemnation He Himself bore. In contrast, theologians claim that Christians still have sin, but because they believe in Jesus, God treats them as the saved who are sinless. This is known as “justification by faith.” What would they then say about the passage we just read, where God said that when our sins are blotted out, times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord? This passage tells us clearly that that our sins are indeed blotted out.
Have you received the remission of sins into your heart by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit emanating from the Word of the Lord? I have received the remission of sins from the Lord through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. I remember clearly how my heart was refreshed far beyond anything that this world could ever do for me. Since then, I have continued to lead my life of faith to this very day, and I am only too happy, for my heart remains invariably sinless. All these blessings of salvation have come to me through the Word of God thanks to our Lord. I place my faith in my God and give all thanks to Him. God wants to give the gift of the Holy Spirit into your redeemed heart and mine. It is when we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God makes us His own children.
God has given the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to the entire human race, and in the hearts of those who believe in this gospel, God is answering them with the gift of the Holy Spirit even at this very moment. Our ministry is all about preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we are doing this work so that those who still have not received the remission of sins can drink the living water of salvation. God said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, prophesy My Word. Speak to the people of Israel in My place. The living breath will then enter them. I will make the breath enter them, and they shall live.” The gospel Word of the water and the Spirit we are preaching now is the living breath for all those who still have not personally met the Lord. When these people accept the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit into their hearts, they, too, will receive the remission of sins; and the moment they receive the remission of sins by faith, our God will put the gift of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. God will therefore ensure that they are also made His children just like us now.
We are now preaching the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the Word of God, throughout the whole world that is filled with nothing but dry bones. Those who have not been saved from their sins yet do not have any hope in their hearts, and they are just carrying on with their worldly lives meaninglessly. God is commanding all of us who have become His children by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to breathe this gospel into such hopeless people. We are preaching the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit as commanded by God. I have written and made available on our website no fewer than 65 books as part of my sermon series on the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and all but one of these titles speak of this gospel. The book on the Song of Solomon is the only book that does not directly address the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If you pick any of these books randomly and read it, you can learn all about the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and through this gospel, you will be able to receive the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit that you need so desperately.
We have all now come to realize this: “The Lord was baptized by John the Baptist when He came to this earth, and He was condemned for our sins by being crucified and shedding His blood. The Lord has saved us from all our sins like this.” If we now accept into our hearts the work of redemption Jesus has done for us through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, our hearts will receive new breath. We were already dead because of our sins, but we will live again thanks to the Lord. On account of faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the souls that had been dead all this time will rise again. By believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, our hearts will be brought back to life and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and we will live forever as God’s children. From then on, we will want to preach God’s gospel of the water and the Spirit so much that it will be irresistible. God commanded the Prophet Ezekiel, and you and me today, to spread this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world.
What Is Happening to This World Now?
This world is now all turning into a valley of death. There are only dry bones in the world, and the only people breathing alive are the believers in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. People living on this planet now are completely hopeless and just waiting for death, for their sins remain in their hearts. From your parents to your family members and friends alike, and regardless of race and ethnicity, people all over the world are perishing in hopelessness because they have not found the remission of sins that has come by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If there is now one hope for the entire human race, it is our Lord Jesus Christ; there can be no other hope but the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has given to mankind.
The true hope for all humanity is Jesus Christ. Although He is fundamentally God Himself, He came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man. Having thus come to save mankind who stood against God from their sins, Christ has indeed delivered all those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit from the power of Satan and saved them. Jesus took upon all our sins through the baptism He received from John the Baptist, washed them all away with this baptism, and personally bore the condemnation of all the sins of mankind once and for all. The Lord Himself has thus saved us from Satan, God’s enemy, through the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, even though we were truly hopeless sinners. Now, if only we believe with our hearts in the remission of sins that has come by the water and the Spirit, we can all be saved from all our sins. By believing in Jesus Christ who has delivered us from darkness, we can receive new life.
Because we have received new life by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that the Lord has fulfilled for us, we have reunited with our God and come to live in His Kingdom once again. These amazing blessings are unfolding in God’s Church today, and these are God’s blessings that are poured on us. Thanks to our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that our Lord has fulfilled with His water and blood, you and I have now received the blessings of salvation from our God. Every believer ought to know how to share fellowship with one another while living in this world. We ought to also know how to commune with God through our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Those who have become such people of faith know, and are now in communion with the holy God. Such people have personal integrity. In contrast, those who have no integrity before God know only their own selfish interests. They do not listen to others at all. People like these cannot become genuine believers with integrity.
We ought to reach our salvation in God’s sight by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, feel the work of salvation He has done for us through this faith, and thank Him with all our hearts. We should all be able to confess, “Lord, You loved us so much that You were baptized like this and sacrificed Yourself for us. The purpose for which You made us humans is not to turn us into Your toys, but to make us Your own children and bless us. When we fell into Satan’s temptation and went astray, You came looking for us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit to give us true salvation. You came to this earth to bear our sins by being baptized, and You have saved us by shedding Your blood on the Cross and paying off the wages of our sins with Your life. Thanks to the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, we now know and believe that You did all these things for our sake.” Such faith is the faith that enables us to receive God, and such faith is the faith that saves us from our sins. Our faith in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with the heart brings the remission of sins to us and makes us God’s children. In short, by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, we have been saved by God and received the blessings of faith to live forever in His Kingdom.
It is on account of our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has now bestowed us with the blessings of faith to be saved from our sins. And along with such blessings of faith, God has also blessed us to preach this gospel of the water and the Spirit. If I were to preach from the pulpit anything else but the gospel of the water and the Spirit, admonish the congregation to serve the gospel, or extoll them to live in unity with God, I would just be uttering vanities.
It is written in Ezekiel 37:14, “‘Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,’ says the Lord.” Here God is telling us to spread the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to all those who still do not know this true gospel of salvation. We know that God has brought us back to life and given salvation and the Holy Spirit into our believing hearts so that we would deliver the people of the world who are like the dry bones in Ezekiel’s valley. And we believe this. The Word of promise God spoke to Ezekiel in the days of the Old Testament is the Word that God also spoke to all of us who now believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. God has breathed the living breath of salvation on you and me.
God is not a clumsy God. He is merciful, and His goodness is beyond description, for He has saved us from our sins. It is by believing in such a God that we have been remitted from all our sins. We are all so grateful to God. However, because so many people still do not know this, for their sake we must work hard to breathe the living breath on them. We are preaching to them the Word of God in His place. You are serving the gospel of the water and the Spirit by supporting its ministry, and this work is the work of those who live by faith. This work is God’s work. And we are participating in this invaluable work that spreads the living breath of salvation throughout the whole world. Our labor is for the sake of everyone living in these end times. Mankind now has absolutely no hope apart from Jesus Christ and His gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. Inflation will rage on with prices increasing by several hundred percent. People dream of one day owning their own home, but in the years to come, such dreams will be impossible to attain. The days of misery and unhappiness for the flesh are just around the corner.
Even though we are living in such a gloomy world, if we accept into our hearts the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that God is breathing into us, He will surely give us the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit as our rewards. In believing that we have received the remission of sins and the Holy Spirit by faith, we must also believe that we are to prophesy the Word of God by faith. God is pouring countless blessings on us both in body and spirit. We have the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that enables us to live happily and prosper on this earth also. We have also been blessed to live happily forever when we depart from this earth. I believe in our God who has come to us by the water and the Spirit. What about you? Do you also believe? At this hour when I am preaching the Word of God, my body and spirit are strengthened, and words cannot describe just how happy and rejoiced I am.
I consider and believe firmly that the work you and I are doing is invaluable. That is why I am so happy to carry out even the smallest of the work of God. I am always rejoiced whenever I carry out God’s work, for the work you and I are doing together to serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit is immeasurably important. We are only too happy to carry out God’s work. I trust that this is true for you too. Hallelujah!
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