LORD I BELIEVED (the way to salvation)

Before Reading

Being busy is sometimes perceived as being diligent. So, people tend to believe that
being busy is a good thing. But rarely is this the case. Imagine a person driving at 25
mph. Then imagine a car racer driving at 200 mph. Does the racer have the luxury of
taking in the surrounding beauty? The driver only focuses on what is ahead of him.
When we are really busy, we tend to look straight ahead, not looking sideways to see
our families and friends along the way. Unless you slow down, you can even lose
yourself along the way. So I’d like to ask you to step on the brakes and consider for a
moment the following questions.

"Who am I?”
“What is the purpose of life?”
“Where am I from and where am I headed?”

These questions go after the most fundamental aspects of a human being, the
meaning of his existence. The mere act of asking the question, therefore, forces you to
think about how you can live a life worth living.

Since the creation of mankind, millions of people have asked the exact same
questions, hoping to find the most authoritative and trustworthy answer. But, not very
many people appeared to have been successful. And I say that’s because people are
searching in all the wrong places.

Consider this also. Would you agree that none of us were brought into this world
according to our own wish? Was it because of your parents’ will, then? Parents wishing
for a daughter beget sons and vice versa. Although we may be here because of our
parents, our birth is not the absolute result of our parents’ will.

Rather, it is done by the will of a third party. How can I make this kind of claim? Here’s
the test. If it were done by your own will, you would have been able to answer the
questions above yourself. In other words, you needn’t ask such questions as “Who am
I?” and “Why am I here?” If it were by your parents’will, all you need to do is turn to
them and ask. But these questions, which are central to the meaning of human
existence, can neither be answered by your parents nor your school teachers.

Who must we turn to then?

We must turn to the one who sent us into this world in the first place, the creator of
the universe called God. Turning to God means turning to the Bible. The Bible is God’s
response to questions that a man has about his existence. The Bible is the overflowing
abundance one finds in God that fulfills all human needs. It is the Word from the one
and only God. If you push the Bible aside, you are pushing aside God’s Words.

The Bible is the world’s bestselling book. Anyone can easily obtain a copy of the Bible.
But interestingly enough, it is the least read book compared to the number of copies
sold. Furthermore, very few peopleLet us read the Bible.
Let us read the Bible.

Reading the Bible will show you the world, the history of mankind, from the beginning
to the end. The book talks about salvation, everlasting life, sin and judgment. It
teaches us about the true God and Jesus Christ the Savior.

This book Lord, I Believe, is a comprehensive summary of a Bible conference. John

5:39 reads, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you
possess eternal life.” Accordingly, I have shown people the path toward everlasting life
and hence the purpose of a man’s life as taught by the Bible.

God put us in this world in order for us to receive God’s life, eternal life. Receiving
everlasting life is the Creator God’s will for the people. “For my Father’s will is that
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). This means that anyone who has received
eternal life has fulfilled God’s will.

I sincerely hope that the Lord will accept this humble book as a piece of tool to help
more people read the Bible and come to love God. The greatest gift of God to mankind
is the Bible. It is through this Book that all blessings come.

Let us read the Bible, as it, has led people in the right direction and, has ensured them
a path towards true happiness and hopeful future to this day.

Chapter 1. To the Unknown God

Where Does Life Come From?

I want to talk about life: people’s everyday lives, how the world is unfolding its history,
and most importantly, how you came to be. You may have wondered, ‘If God really
exists, why doesn’t he make me happy? Why am I often sad and lonely and made to
suffer? Why did he create the universe and everything in it anyway?
These are the questions I would like for us to find answers to during our time together
through this book.

You must have at some point in your life asked yourself the following: ‘How was I
brought into this world and where would I end up after I die?’ If you’re still asking the
question, you have yet to find a satisfying answer. Philosophers asked the same sorts
of questions for ages but to no avail.
In his short book, A Confession, Tolstoy says that everyone must understand what life
is before facing death and further emphasizes that it is the biggest homework God
gave to men.

I want to take you back in time to about 1970. It’s a story about a revered educator in
Korea by the name of Kim Hwal Ran, or better known abroad as Helen Kim. Dr. Kim,
for a very long time, served as the president of Ehwa Womans’ University(*Translator’s
note: Spelled with an “a” instead of “e” to stress the individuality of each student). A
devout Christian, Dr. Kim was well-known for her efforts in helping to lay the
foundation for the modern Korean society during the term of Sygman Rhee - Korea’s
first president. I happened to read an article describing the scene of Dr. Kim’s
deathbed.

The Hankuk Daily briefed that many visitors had come to the hospital to catch the last
of her. Those visiting were her former students, fellow professors, renowned leaders
from various strata of society.

They all cried out, “Professor Kim, you cannot leave us now. If you do, what would
become of Korea? And what about the future of Korea’s education? Stay a little longer,
please.”

Students, grduates, professors, families and friends all broke into tears. People
standing outside the room were crying as well. It was at that moment Dr. Kim asked
that she be raised to sit upright. When the bed was raised some half way, Dr. Kim
turned to them and asked, “Why are all of you crying? If I die this very minute, I will
go to heaven where there is no tear or pain. Shouldn’t you be bidding me farewell with
glad hearts, telling me to go in peace to a place where there is no suffering? Instead,
here you are, encircling me with faces full of tears, frantically asking for my stay. How
can I leave this world in peace? If you truly love me, shouldn’t you be saying goodbyes
with joyous hearts? So please do not cry. Where I am headed, there is no sickness, no
pain and no suffering. I am not disappearing for good. I will be living in my Father’s
kingdom forever. Do not be saddened by my departure. Sing for me my favorite hymn
instead.”

The hymn she requested was “I Come to the Garden Alone.” Dr. Kim closed her eyes
for the last time while listening to that song. How moved I was by this story!

Let us ponder the question one more time - where did you come from
and where are you headed?

Everyone wants to have a “good” life. And they think, ‘the more money I have, the
happier my life will be.’ So people give their best efforts to have a good life, not
realizing that death is approaching with each day.

Korea is known for its high mortality rate due to automobile accidents. According to
statistics, approximately 10,000 people are killed by car accidents every year. Do you
think that any one of them saw this coming? Again, everyone tries so very hard to
have a good life but life is, more often than not, filled with agony, hurt, grief and loss.

If that is mostly what life is about, there is something we should prepare for. (You
probably know where I am headed.) We must be well prepared for the inevitable
destiny of all mankind - death.

You can have all the riches in the world but that money won’t do you any good upon
death. The dearest person to you in the world will not be able to save you from your
death. We have all come from somewhere. And we are all headed somewhere. But we
spend so much of our time trying to eat and live well that we rarely give second
thoughts to the question of our own beginning and end.

If you turn to the Bible, Psalm 90:10 reads, “The length of our days is seventy years or
eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they
quickly pass, and we fly away.” Let us test this verse to see how true it is. Just look
back on your life. Is it not filled with hard work and a lot of grief? Betrayed by your
spouse, disappointed by your children, backstabbed by your coworkers and friends, all
amounting to sorrow and sadness.

This possibly cannot be the entirety of our life, can it? Every time we have Bible
conferences such as this, I throw this question: “Where do we come from and where
are we headed? The question seems simple enough. But if you pose the question to
your mother, who brought you into this world in the first place, she is likely struggle
for an answer. Why are we all here, suffering the way we do? Why are there so many
diseases, crimes, grief, and war? Can your school teacher answer these questions?
Frankly, I have never met anyone who was able to answer the question.

God’s Will

How would you explain to others (or yourself) about your existence in this world? And
what about your parents? Instead of giving you a straight answer, they may say,
“Honey, we were actually hoping for a boy but you came along.” Even parents cannot
decide the fate of their children. So you don’t know the answer and neither do your
parents.

Who wants to be born into a poor family and what parent would want to have an ugly-
looking child? Still, a child is born with a hereditary disease and suffers from it all his
life. The parents obviously did not want their baby to suffer but because they gave
birth to it they bear the responsibility of having to raise it. Don’t you think that if the
parents had a choice, they would choose to have a very smart, good-looking child?

The fact of the matter is, however, that you and I were brought into this world
according to the will of another being. Whose will is it? Who sent us here? The Bible
tells us that it is by the will of God. So the question “Why am I here?” must be directed
to God. God is the only one who is able to answer the questions of where you came
from, where you are headed, and why you were brought into this world.

The Reason

You are all here today to learn about the meaning of life. And please know that you
are more blessed to have been born than not. You are here because of God’s special
plan. And if the absolute being God is our creator, he would not have sent us into this
world without a plan. If you have a correct understanding of his will and accept it as
yours, you will also understand joy like no other joy in this world.

‘I didn’t realize it before, but I am no ordinary person. God’s will was given to me. I
am here to fulfill his will. Even if I die and leave this world, God will guide me.’ This is
what you will be able to see.

There is always a reason for doing something, whether it is eating or sitting in this
room to listen to sermons. If sitting here for a week does not benefit you in any way,
your precious time will have been wasted. You might as well as have watched TV or a
movie instead. But I hope that by the end of the conference, you will realize that this
conference was far better than any television show.

Going back to the meaning of a man’s existence and to a larger sense, the meaning of
the world and history, God is simply the only One who can give you the answer. Well,
guess what? God has already kindly revealed to us all that has happened and all that
will happen. Just by paying attention, you will be able to see precisely what will
happen in the future.

Let me also say that we are not here to throw our hands up in the air and clap for the
Holy Spirit to descend on us. That is not how one receives the Holy Spirit, anyway.

Instead, we are here to listen to God’ message and to learn about his plans through
the Bible. As the person telling the story, my role is obviously important but it is also
necessary that you, as the listener, pay close attention. The speaker and the audience
each bear half the responsibility in making this conference successful, so please listen
closely.

Man’s Idea of God

One common statement that people make is, “It’s not that I do not want to believe. I
do want to believe in God. But I want you to show me where he is.”

We should remember that God is a spiritual being and that we are mortals. This is a
major difference between God and man.

Presently we live in the 21st century, where we are said to have the latest technology
innovations and people are being placed on the moon. By comparison, in ancient
Greece and Rome, people served numerous gods, from Apollo the sun god to Saturn,
the god of agriculture to Bacchus, the god of wine and even Nike, the god of sports.

People at that time thought, ‘Many gods look after the human world. And gods, just
like people, are represented by both a female god (goddess) as well as a male god.
These gods must be pleased in order for us to be blessed. To have a good harvest
year, for instance, we must please the god of agriculture and to have a good voyage
on the sea, we must please the god of sea.’ Such were the beliefs of people during
that time.
Our Korean ancestors were no different. They would place a bowl of water before a
tree and diligently pray to the moon all night. We have known that nothing is on the
moon since humans landed there in 1969. But people still pray to the moon. Even with
the advent of technology, people’s tendency to rely on something greater than
themselves exists. Strangely, people are naturally inclined to lean on a greater,
mightier being.

An Unknown God

Let us turn to Acts 17:16.

While Paul was waiting for [Silas and Timothy] in Athens, he was greatly distressed to
see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and
the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who
happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute
with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked,
“He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching
the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him
to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him “May we know what this new
teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears,
and we want to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who
lived there spend their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest
ideas.) Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens!
I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked
carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN
UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to
proclaim to you. (Acts 17:16~23)

About 1900 years ago, a man named Paul came to visit Athens, the current capital of
Greece. At that time the temples stood intact. I have actually been to Greece several
times. The symbol of classical Greece is the Parthenon which stands on the Acropolis.
It is said that the Parthenon, which was built 450 years before Jesus Christ was born,
cannot be replicated by today’s architects and as to how the large stones were laid on
top of each other without the help of a crane still remains a mystery.

As for what is left of the Parthenon, the restoration work is still going on. The
Parthenon is perhaps a reminder to the world that people do not necessarily get
smarter with time. The columns of the Parthenon may be a testament to my claim.
Consisting of many drums, the shorter columns have rifts in the middle to piece the
slices together. When restoring the temple, people used iron clamps in the hole. But
the pillars didn’t fit and were misaligned after awhile.

It was later learned that what had originally held the pillar together was lead, not iron.
What happened was that during World War I, when Greece was fighting against
Turkey, all of the pillars were brought down so as to retrieve the lead within to make
bullets. When people started restoring the temple, iron was used instead of lead. But
what the restoration workers did not realize was the contracting tendency of iron. The
Greeks who had lived almost 2500 years ahead of our time knew.
When Apostle Paul stood before such temples, it became clear to him that the
Athenians were a religious people. He spoke to the Athenians on top of Areopagus(a
mount in front of the Parthenon) before a group of two major philosophies of that time
- the Epicureans and the Stoics. The Epicureans believed in pleasure while the Stoics
were adamant believers of abstinence. Both were eager to begin a conversation with
Paul. They had never heard anyone say things that Paul was about to tell. Paul’s
sermon to this very crowd is the crux of Chapter 17.

Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. (Acts 17:22)

Paul tells them that he had never in his life seen people who served so many gods.
The Greeks had gods for everything. The sun god Apollo, the moon goddess Artemis,
the sea god Poseidon and the list goes on. In one location there was a sign that read,
“To the Unknown God.” This was to make sure that no god or goddess was left out.
How clever of the Greeks! Seeing how thoroughly prepared they were, Paul starts his
sentence based on this realization. Here’s what we just read.

The Creator of All

The Areopagus was the modern Supreme Court of Justice of the ancient Greece. It
was the Areopagus that ruled the democratic Greece. Comprised of some 200
members, the Areopagus made decisions on important matters of the city. Literally,
Areopagus means a hill of rocks. Let us look at the next passage.
Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around
and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this
inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I
am going to proclaim to you. (Acts 17:22~23)

Since the people of Athens even had an altar for an UNKNOWN GOD, Paul sets out to
explain to them just who this UNKNOWN GOD is.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and
does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he
needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
(Acts 17:24~25)

In explaining to the Greeks this UNKNOWN GOD, Paul says that the Lord of heaven
and earth made the world and everything in it. The Greeks had a god for the moon,
the sun and various other things but the God that Paul was referring to was the god of
gods since he alone had created everything.

Where God Exists

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and
does not live in temples built by hands (Acts 17:24)

God does not dwell in buildings that are built by men. However, many people still think
that if a house of worship is built, God would place himself in it. I, for one, was born
and bred a Christian and attended a church that was in fact founded by my father. As
a child, I was not allowed on the platform that supported the pulpit. My parents
forbade me to play around the pulpit, saying that God was watching over it. So, I did
not dare go up on the pulpit and if I had to for some reason, I tiptoed my way across
it, afraid that I would be punished for allowing myself to walk on the sacred place.

When my father, who was a chief elder, prayed, he always said, “Holy, holy, holy God
the Father, today we have come before the majestic presence of God.” The front of
the majestic presence referred to a place where God was sitting, meaning that the
house of worship is the place where God is sitting.

If that were true, then what happens to the passage that says that “the Lord of
heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands”? Is God really inside the
church, checking the attendance of everyone in the building? Is he really saying, “Oh,
so and so is missing today and so and so has given a lot of contribution to the church
today”? Absolutely not!

People see God as the master of the physical house (or in this case, the church).
Here’s an example of why that cannot be - St. Peter’s Basilica. St. Peter’s Basilica is
probably the most extravagant of all churches in the history of Christendom. Located
in the Vatican City, Rome, St. Peter’s took 150 years to build. The building is filled with
works of art and sculptures made by the greatest artists such as Michelangelo and
Raphael.
If you ever go to the Vatican City, please take a look at the building carefully. The
sheer size will captivate you at first. Once you’ve taken in the enormity, look carefully
at the top of the main building. You’ll see that there is a lightening rod at the top of
the cross. Well, what is wrong with that, you might ask. Let me kindly remind you that
the building is supposed to be the temple of God, decorated with the finest materials
in the world, including expensive marble, gold and jewels. If God is the master of this
beautiful building, would he not protect it from lightening? After all, he is the Almighty
God who made the world and everything in it. Surely, he can beat a lightening.

You get my point. The Bible says that God does not live in temples built by hands. It is
time for us to change the way we understand God.

God Who Cannot be Seen

You may have called out God’s name all your life, but still not know who God is
exactly. Most believe God to be a supernatural being who is slightly more powerful
than human.

Even the people who go to church and have studied the Bible have very little
knowledge of God. This is made worse because he is invisible. Everyone has different
perceptions of God. It is based on this faint, vague idea of God that people call out his
name and sing hymn.

How does one come to understand the true existence of God then? Please turn to I
Corinthians 8: 4.
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in
the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods,
whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”),
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom
we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and
through whom we live. (I Corinthians 8:4~6)

There are many gods and lords in this world, but they are made by man. There is only
one God that created the universe, heavens and earth and us.

We are trying to find the one who really sent us to earth, not the three gods governing
childbirth (according to a Korean tradition) or the gods made by man such as the god
of trees, the god of the earth, the god of rock and the god of the moon. We must find
him that made the world and everything in it, including me. That is the single most
important thing we need to do before we die. It is the search for God, Lord of lords,
the one and only God.

Religion is then the byproduct of this search for God. Many religions are a result of
people having studied, imagined or deeply thinking about a Divine Being. Major
religions today worship these imagined gods. If Christianity is also about believing in
one of these made-up gods, it would merely be a religion.

But the Bible tells us something different. First, let us see just how God is defined in
the Bible. Let us turn to 1 Timothy 6:15.
…which God will bring about in his own time? God, the blessed and only Ruler, the
King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in
unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might
forever. (Timothy 6:15~16)

Here it is recorded, “whom no one has seen or can see.” When we cannot see
something we say that it does not exist. It’s easier to accept a visible, tangible object
as being real rather than something that is invisible. Here I am standing before you as
someone that can be seen and touched. But according to the Bible, God cannot be
seen or touched.

In the movie, The Invisible Man, a man takes a special potion and his body disappears.
Let’s say that my friend took this same potion and disappeared. Can I find my friend
who is now invisible? No. My friend has to come to me. Since I cannot see my friend, I
will not be able to locate him unless he comes calling for me first. Because God cannot
be seen and no one has seen him, the very effort to see and search God is misplaced.

A man’s search for a god, therefore, is a religious effort. Many religions of this world
are people’s efforts to seek God from a man’s side. So if we are the one searching for
God, we will end up turning God into a human being. Let’s go back to the example of
the ancient Roman gods. You’ll recall that these gods took on the image of a person. A
man’s understanding of a god does not and cannot go beyond his own mortal mind.
That is why God, the one who cannot be seen, has to find me. A man’s search will only
find a hoax and there are many examples of this. What, for instance, do people see as
being a god? In Korea, there are still people who would look at the full moon and say
to themselves, ‘Oh, it’s a full moon. If I bow to it, I may be blessed.’ But kneeling
before a moon has never done anyone any good. In such a way, today, as well as in
the past, people have worshiped nature as god.

Where There are People, there are Religions

People who lived before us also worshiped the nature, so there is this passage
describing this in the Old Testament. Here is Jeremiah 10:2.

This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by
signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.” (Jeremiah 10:2)

What are the signs in the sky? They are the moon, the stars or constellations. In the
past, people feared the signs in the sky and worshiped them, but the passage says
that we must not fear them.

Let us continue to read from verse 3.

For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a
craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it
with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their
idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them;
they can do no harm nor can they do any good. (Jeremiah 10:3~5)

We must not fear the signs in the sky nor what was made by man. People make an
idol and pray to it for blessings. People bow down before an idol carved with hammer
and chisel of a skilled craftsman. They are coated with gold, decorated in different
colors and positioned in high places by man because they cannot move on their own.
They are not God. They are just artifacts that are made by man.

Some people bow before a statue of the Buddha. But these golden or silver statues are
also made by man, so it is a curious thing that people would go in front of them and
ask for their blessings. Many Koreans still bow before the statue and ask for a son or
successful results on their children’s college entrance exam, recovery from sickness
and so on. This is all because we are fragile beings.

This is how religion is made. Across the world, there is no nation without a religion. No
matter how primitive or uneducated, people as a nation have a religion. Even the
primitives living in Amazon or an African tribe have their own religion. Don’t you find
this strange? Wherever you have people, you have religion. This is because there is an
empty void that people are trying to fill.

Thirst of the Spirit

Everyone has a stomach that needs to be filled. If you miss a meal, you feel hunger.
It’s a sign that tells you your stomach is empty. If you didn’t have a stomach, you
wouldn’t feel any hunger. But since you do have one, you instinctively feel hunger.
Very naturally, we look for something to eat until the stomach is relieved of this
hunger.

Just as we feel hunger because of an empty stomach, we feel empty and lonely
because of an empty spirit inside us. At night when we close our eyes to sleep, a
sense of emptiness overwhelms us at times. This feeling of being alone is felt more
acutely when you are ill because you realize that no one can die or be ill for you. If the
loneliness gets worse, it becomes a depression. You get nervous, anxious and
frustrated. It is because the spirit has not been filled. As we feel the pain of hunger
when our stomach is not filled, we will feel nervous, anxious and lonely until we die if
the hunger of the spirit is not filled.

To relieve the loneliness of the soul, people resort to all sorts of methods. Some
people rent a lot of movies when they are lonely and frustrated. They sit and watch
the movie, laughing to their heart’s content while the movie lasts but feeling empty
again when the movie is over. Some play music very loudly. They feel fine when the
music is on but feel all alone when it is turned off.

The movie may provide some pleasure at first but it does not last. Some people eat to
appease their spiritual hunger. And then there’s the TV. I wonder how people would
spend their time without a television. It is probably the biggest form of entertainment
today.

According to statistics, Koreans spend an average of 3.5 hours a day before the
television. Housewives will watch TV as soon as the husband and children leave the
house. They would typically watch TV for five to six hours a day. If you are watching
3.5 hours of TV every day, this is equivalent of 58 days a year. That’s a sixth of a year
you are spending before the TV!

Every day, we live worshiping television. Television is the god of modern people. We
laugh and cry while watching TV. We rely so much on the TV that it has become a god
on its own.

God Continues to Speak to Us

We usually don’t think of God unless we are forced to, like when our business isn’t
doing well or our health is failing.

“Oh, God! Please turn this business into a fortune,” people will say.

People also look for God when they are ill. Even an atheist is said to have cried out
God’s name at the brink of death. Earlier, I said that religion is a man’s effort in search
of God but that a man’s hard work will never take us to God. Even if you do find
something, it’s a figment of your imagination if it’s based on your own efforts. So, we
shouldn’t attempt to find God and define God from our side. God has to “reveal”
himself to us. In other words, God has to come to man.

How does this take place?

The word revelation refers to the act of making something known. The act of making
known his invisible self to us, in other words, is revelation. What God reveals to us is
the most important. Even if there is God who is so powerful as to have made the
entire universe, how would we ever come to know him unless he speaks to us first?

Again, God is invisible. The Bible says that he is. It also says that no one has seen God
until now. But this doesn’t mean that he is not revealing himself to us. God has not
been silent. he has been speaking to us through the Bible. Gospel John 8:25.

‘Who are you?’ they asked. ‘Just what I have been claiming all along,’ Jesus replied.
(John 8:25)

Jesus is God himself. Jesus was God, having come to this world in human form. When
the Jews at that time asked Jesus who he was, he answered, “Just what I have been
claiming all along.” To what point in time is he referring to when he says “all along”?
He is referring to when the earth was made and when the first man was placed on the
earth. Jesus is the one who had been speaking all along since the beginning of time.
And he is still speaking.

God isn’t someone who just sits and does nothing. He continues to reveal himself to us
through a certain way. And the way was chosen carefully because if God spoke to us
through lightning and thunder, for example, people would be terrified and run away.
Please turn to Hebrews 1:1 in the New Testament.
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in
various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Hebrews 1:1~2)

“In the past” means “from the beginning.” In what way did God speak before Jesus
came? It says God told everything he wanted to tell through prophets: Jeremiah,
Ezekiel and Daniel, to name a few. These are names of prophets from the Old
Testament. See for yourself how the invisible God spoke through the prophets.
Jeremiah 1:4.

The word of the LORD came to me, saying (Jeremiah 1:4)

Now Jeremiah 2:1

The word of the LORD came to me: “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem
(Jeremiah 2:1~2)

If we look at this, expressions such as “the Lord told me” or “the Lord said” or “the
word of the Lord came to me” are recorded more than 2,000 times in the Old
Testament. Even though God is invisible, he has been telling his plan, thought and
everything that he wanted to say to the prophets. Before Jesus came, the Old
Testament was the word that God spoke. God revealed his thought and intention to us
first through the prophets, then through Jesus, and through the apostles.

The Bible - Word of God

The New Testament and the Old Testament make up the Bible as we know it today.
The Bible is a record of everything God wanted to say to mankind. It is a collection of
God’s words to man from the very beginning. It states, for instance, that he will bring
about his appearing in his own time, which is how we know that the Lord will come
again.

In the Bible, God tells us the fate of humankind, the fate of each individual, and the
fate of the earth. Since he structured the fate of the world, he knows how and when it
will end. And God does not want to keep this a secret from you. That is why the Bible
is translated into so many languages. According to the latest data I have, the Bible is
translated into 2,167 languages. How many books do you know that is translated into
this many languages? I know of no other book that is translated into as many
languages as the Bible.

For what reason was a book translated into this many languages? It is because God
wants to reveal the future and everything else that a man has to know through the
Bible. Let us look whether this is really so. Please turn to Isaiah 44:6.
This is what the LORD says - Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am
the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let
him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I
established my ancient people, and what is yet to come-- yes, let him foretell what will
come. (Isaiah 44:6~7)

God says if there is anyone that can proclaim, declare and lay out like him, let the one
come before him. There were many gods, but did Apollo speak? Did the god of the
moon speak? Did the god of wine Bacchus and the god of victory Nike speak? They are
just gods and idols made by men. We call rocks, trees, the moon, and the stars gods,
but do the gods speak? People believe in countless gods on the earth, but God asks
whether those gods speak like him. He says let them foretell what will come.

God who Foretells what is to Come

You and I cannot look into the future, although we would like to. So where do people
go when they are curious? They go to fortune-tellers, hoping to learn something of
their future and ask whether their sons will pass exams or not. People are weak. What
does the Bible say? God, who is the one and only creator of the world and everything
in it, has told us everything that is to come through the Bible. When we see the Bible,
we can see the world and the history of the world. The Bible says the end of the world
is right before us. We can see how close it is when we see it through the Bible.

We cannot see properly when something is far away. With our eyes we cannot see the
craters of the moon, but if we use a good telescope such as the Hubble Space
Telescope, we can see the craters of the moon. With our eyes, we cannot even see
properly the lines in the palm of our hands, but with a powerful microscope, we can
even see germs crawling on our hands. We cannot know the world with the knowledge
of the world. However, if we look at the world through the Bible, we can see that the
fate of the world is in front of our eyes.

Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what
has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come-- yes, let
him foretell what will come. (Isaiah 44:7)

God has spoken from the time when there were Adam and Eve, that is, the first people
on earth.

God says confidently, “Who is the one that can proclaim, declare and lay out like me?
Who on earth is the one that can tell when the fate of the world ends? Who is the one
that can tell what is to come? If there is one, let him tell it.”

This is what the LORD says-the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to
come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my
hands? (Isaiah 45:11)

Are you curious about the future? Don’t you want to find out if the end of the world is
really coming? Many people want to know about the future. Some people even take
advantage of this curiosity to make money.

You may have heard about “The Prophecies,” written by the French apothecary and
seer, Nostradamus. It’s a compilation of some 1200 quatrains that were obscurely
written. Later, people tried interpreting these prophecies to make sense out of them. I
dare say, with a stretch of imagination, people have gone to say that a particular
prophecy was about Hitler or about the outbreak of World War III. In this way, they
were able to imbue some meaning to 50 or so of these prophecies at best.

Even if we do give credit for all 50 of these prophecies, what percentage is that out of
1200? Still, people shudder at the predicted arrival of “King of Terror”from the sky, not
knowing about the prophecies of the Bible which is achieved with the success
probability of 100%.

There are a lot of things in the Bible regarding the future that I can refer to with a
great level of confidence. These stories attest to the accuracy of the Bible and will
continue to build on its veracity.

God who Reveals himself through Nature

If there really is a God, would he have sent us into this world to be miserable? I
certainly hope not. So why do we find ourselves so miserable? There are reasons.

If we understood God’s will behind all our trials, we would know that they are
incomparable to the glories we will be enjoying later. So think about how comforting it
would be to know the reasons for all your hardships. And guess what? The Bible very
clearly tells us what those reasons are.

God has his own way of revealing himself to us. Thus it is not with our efforts that God
is found.

The first way he reveals himself to us is through the universe and everything in it. God
shows himself through nature. If you look around you, you’ll notice that even a leaf of
grass or a single tree did not automatically come into being. They have all been made
according to a set of very precise laws.

The constellations, for instance, are designed to have the earth rotate around the sun
and the moon around the earth. It’s like the hour hand of a clock that slowly turns in
tune with the faster movements of the minute hand - a very specially designed set of
rules that reveals what God is like.
Let us read Psalms 19:1~4 together.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day
after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no
speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the
earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for
the sun (Psalms 19:1~4)

When we see a house neatly arranged and tastefully decorated, we say that the
decorator of the house has a good taste. A beautifully decorated house shows the
character of the house owner. As it says in verse 1, “The heavens declare the glory of
God.”

So I ask you, instead of always thinking about where to go to make money, look up in
the sky and enjoy the skills with which God created the stars in heaven. Without God,
how could have such wonders been formed? Would there be order in the universe?
Stars of great and small sizes, flowers and tress of all shapes and colors, the winds,
rain, thunder, lightening, snow, and hail all reveal God’s awesome power.
According to a proverb, “God made the country, and the man made the town.” The
city is full of skyscrapers and structures of great sizes but do not necessarily result in a
harmonious scene. The countryside, however, is a perfect harmony of seemingly
unrelated shapes, sizes and colors. It demonstrates the mastery that God has over his
creation. Again, God reveals himself first through nature that is of his making.

God who Reveals himself through the Spirit

Second, God reveals himself through the conscience of man. People often ask where
God is. But the fact of the matter is that we don’t even know exactly where we are.

Here’s what I mean.

When I was a freshman at university, I took a course called “Introduction to Occidental

Philosophy”. During the first class the professor told us about an occidental
philosopher. One day, he was walking in the street wondering “who he was.” At first,
he thought that his body, from head to toe, was who he was. However, when he came
home and took off his clothes, he realized that his clothes weren’t part of who he was.
So he decided that the person lying naked in the bathtub was who he was. He then
went to the barbershop for a haircut. After the haircut, he realized that he was who he
was whether his hair was long or short. What if he had no hair? He knew that the hair
on his head wasn’t something he essentially needed to be called himself. Just then a
wounded soldier came into the barbershop and asked for some help. Looking at the
single-legged soldier, the philosopher was troubled because he realized that he would
be who he was even if he didn’t have his two arms or legs or his eyes or ears.

In fact, our body parts do not make up who we are. I may be born into this world as a
tiny baby, at first, and get bigger over time as I consume more food. However, as you
saw in the earlier example of the philosopher, the physical me is actually not the real
me.

Well, what does that mean? you are probably asking.

We talked about how God is invisible. In the same way, the real person is invisible but
contained in a perceivable body. So we cannot see our real selves just as we are not
able to see God. It is this invisible person inside the visible body that continues to
search for God. It is not our physical eyes or our ears that are searching for God;
something else in our body is searching for him. And that something else is called the
conscience - a realm of the spirit.

Now animals don’t have a conscience, only we people do. God reveals Himself through
the spirit. The Bible says, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s
children.” (Romans 8:16)

The Spirit in a House of Clay

People wonder what the spirit is. In the Bible it says that God made man from head to
toe from the dust of the ground. Let us look at Genesis 2:7.
The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2: 7)

God made the human body with the dust of the ground. The body is soft but the dust
(soil) of the ground is not, so many people wonder how it is possible that we are made
of dust. Science tells us that the human body is 70% water. The rest, or 30%, consists
of all kinds of organic matters and mineral elements. These elements that make up
30% of the body are the same elements found in the soil. Scientists say that 17
essential elements of the human body are identical to that of the soil. This is why
when people die and are buried, they return to the soil and become part of the earth
again.

The Bible says that the body is a house of clay. It means that our body is a house
made of clay. It has a roof (hair), a chimney (nose), windows (eyes), a dining room
(mouth), a bathroom (rectum). It also has a heater (heart). The house, or your body,
needs to be kept warm so the heart pumps blood and sends it throughout the entire
body. And when the blood returns to the heart, it warms it up again and sends it back
to the body. This is why the body temperature is always constant. The Bible says,
“How much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more readily than a moth!” (Job 4:19) God wants to address the real
person, not with the house. This is just like you meeting people inside the house and
not the house itself. God wants to meet with the person in this house of clay.

As time goes by, the roof of the house (hair) turns gray or falls off, the windows (eyes)
become dustier, the workers (teeth) of the dining room disappear and the ears are
blocked. Also, like the pipes of the house get clogged. That is to say, the blood vessels
become narrower because of the piled up cholesterol. Then because oxygen is not
supplied to the capillary vessels at the end of the blood vessel, your hands start to
tremble.

Is there a hope that God has placed in this house of clay? The house will become old,
eventually collapse and then disappear. But inside the house is the real me - the spirit.
If you ask where I come from and where am I headed, well, as for the body, it is from
this world so it will go back to the world, but as for the spirit, it will return to God, for
it was sent by God.

When a person dies, his body returns to the ground and the real person living in his
body just moves to another place. When the real person moves away, the owner of
the house disappears. So the empty house is buried in the ground.

Then where do we move to? When somebody dies, we say he has passed away. He is
passing to where he first came from. There is surely a place where he first came from.
Man returns to their eternal house. Because the Absolute God sent us to the world, we
go back to him. These are the teachings of the Bible.
The body that you touch everyday is a house. You paint the house (by putting on
makeup), adjust the roof (by arranging your hair), and clean the bathroom and dining
room. And then when the owner of the house leaves, there is nobody to take care of
the house so it becomes useless.

The spirit that lives in our body wants to be in touch with God. How does God reveal
himself? It is not through our ears, eyes or nose. Then how? He reveals himself
through the conscience, our spirit which lives in this house of clay. So men can hear
God’s voice only when they are fully aware of their conscience. Even as we speak, God
is speaking to us. The sound of the conscience does not come from our head. The
mind is one’s soul.

Let’s say that you are walking down the street one day and you pick up a ten dollar
bill. You give furtive glances to the sides and seeing that no one is around, you place
the bill into your pocket. In this instance, you have followed the voice of your soul. A
little later, somebody runs up to you and asks if you saw a ten dollar bill. You pretend
not to know anything and tell him no. Immediately, you hear a voice. What does your
inner voice say?

“Hey, why didn’t you give the money back to the owner?” the voice says.

“Who cares? He didn’t see me,” you say.

This is not the same voice you heard from your own mind. It is the voice of God. Even
now God speaks to you through your conscience. The Bible speaks to people with an
active conscience and reveals himself to them. Is your mind in conflict with yourself?
Then it means that the voice of God and your voice are in conflict.
“Why did you just lie to your mom?” the conscience asks.

“That was hardly a lie. All my friends say that.”

In this way, the two voices come into constant conflict. Ever since you were able to
perceive thoughts and your conscience became active, God spoke to you and is
speaking to you to this day.

“You mustn’t do that. That is sin. Don’t do it,” the voice tells you.

If you can tell me that you have never, in your entire life, heard such as voice inside
you, you don’t need to be here. If your conscience has become completely insensitive,
you cannot receive salvation. God is speaking to us through the conscience to this day
but people choose to ignore his voice.

Revelation through the Bible

Thirdly, God reveals himself through the Bible.

Nature and our conscience can be imperfect in that nature can be destroyed and the
conscience can become numb. However, the Bible is imperishable. “Until heaven and
earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear” is what God said. Only the Bible says that it is the Word of God.
Does the Buddhist scripture or the Koran of Mohammad say so? There are plenty of
books in this world but the Bible is the only book that shows us what God himself has
said. You will see that the Bible continues to point out that “The Lord said,” and “The
word of the Lord came to me.” It is the only book with God’s Word.

But not many people turn to this Word of God. Most households have at least one
Bible these days. But they don’t even open it once. Some people have been Christians
for 20 and 30 years but many of them haven’t read the entire Bible once.

Some people say, “The Bible is for pastors or evangelists to read. It is enough that we
attend our weekly service to listen to the sermon and pray.” They think that this is the
life of faith. When they pray, they say, “O my Lord, do as you will and not as I wish.”
But I ask you, how can you seek God’s will when they don’t even read the book, where
his will is recorded? People usually think that a person has good faith if he is able to
give good prayers. But, if you pray without knowing who God is and what he says in
the Scriptures, your prayer ends up being no more than a mere religious custom.

These days there are many church goers that come to church empty handed with a
smaller version of the Bible that has only the New Testament and the Book of Psalms.
Such people fear that they would be seen with a Bible and be called a Jesus freak.
Even inside the church, they like to sit close to the aisle, lest they make direct eye
contact with the pastor. They come to church because they are afraid that they would
go to hell if they don’t observe the Lord’s Day. So they’re lucky if the reverend only
turns to the New Testament that Sunday but if he reads from the Old Testament, uh
oh.

As sad as this may sound, even the pastor does not refer to very many verses in the
Bible. One day the pastor tells the audience to turn to Habakkuk. People who have
never heard of the book look bewildered because the name sounds like hobakuk, or
pumpkin soup, in Korean. Most people will be able to tell you where all the sauces and
herbal powders are in their kitchen but not know all the books of the Bible even if they
had been attending church for 10, 20 years to have become deacons and elders.

We should be honest with ourselves. We cannot say that we are living a life of faith
when we don’t even know the Bible. The Bible is so important that when we stand
before God’s judgment seat, the Bible will be there, laid open.

We are Judged as it is Recorded in the Books

God is speaking to us through the Bible now.

Some people may have read the Bible but have failed to understand the meaning. And
for others, they may never have even seen the Book. Regardless of which group you
fall under, the end result is the same for people who have not received God’s Word.
Let us see what the consequences of judgment are. John 12:47.

As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him.
For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who
rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn
him at the last day. (John 12: 47~48)

It is said “my words.” Since when has God been speaking? From the start, the very
beginning. The words that he has been speaking from the beginning are all compiled
in the Bible. Let us have a look at how the last judgment seat would be. The author of
the Book of John also wrote the Book of Revelation. Let us read Revelation 20:11, the
last book of the Bible.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled
from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and
small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened,
which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as
recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what
he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire
is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he
was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20: 11~15)

At the last resurrection, all people will come to life to be judged. In front of the
judgment seat, there will be books opened. Those books are the 66 books of the Bible.
This is what God has spoken.

That very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. (John 12: 48)
It means that the Bible will be placed in front of the judgment seat. Then at the
judgment seat some might say something like this.

“Oh, God I was so busy that I couldn’t read the Bible.”

“Why were you so busy?”
“I don’t know. I got married and then I had to take care of the children. It was a hard
life. I was so distracted and busy.”
“How many hours of TV did you watch?” God may finally ask.

There was a person who religiously read the newspaper every day. The first thing in
the morning he did was to read the newspaper.

“Why didn’t you read the Bible as much as you read the newspaper?”
“I tried reading it but I had no idea what it meant. I fell asleep as soon as I opened
the Bible. I just could keep my eyes open.”
Falling asleep while reading the Bible? That cannot be an excuse. It doesn’t make
sense to say that you didn’t read the Bible because you didn’t have enough time, when
you spent all your time reading weekly magazines, newspapers and watching TV. And
it’s written in your own native tongue!

To help you even more, an overview of the Bible will be given to you if you just listen
carefully for a week. There is no need to panic. The Bible isn’t the encyclopedia. It is
only a book. If I read the Bible at the pace that I am talking now, it will take only
about 80 hours to read the whole Bible. So if you read the Bible 8 hours a day it will
take 10 days, 4 hours 20 days, 2 hours 40 days to finish the whole book.

In November, I bought a brand new Bible and started to read it. How many days do
you think it took? I read at a fast pace so it took me 25 days. So if you go about your
daily life and put 2 hours to read the Bible it will take you about 40 days. If you put in
one hour a day, it will take you 80 days, so this means that you can read the whole
Bible every three months. So if you watch an hour less of TV a day, you will finish it in
three months. So in a year you will read it at least 4 times. Even the dullest person will
know the outline of a book after fourth reading.

The Making of Ben-Hur

There is no pride in never having read the Bible. If you really put your mind to it, there
is nothing you cannot do. Have you seen the movie Ben-Hur? The person who wrote
Ben-Hur is the novelist, Lew Wallace. Wallace had an atheist friend who would often
say that there is no God during his lectures or at unofficial occasions. This friend one
day made a proposal to the skillful writer, Wallace.

“Hey! Wallace, you know that I can deliver a good speech but I’m not a good writer.
Let us put our talents together and save the foolish and ignorant Christians from
believing in this superstitious Christianity of theirs. How foolish are they to believe in
this God that they can’t even see. My lectures alone wouldn’t suffice, so you write a
book on it. With your book let’s enlighten them and show them that their faith is
wrong and that there is no God.

Wallace took up on the offer. So he started to read the sacred book of the Christians,
the Bible, to critique each and every wrong. As the Korean saying goes, if you want to
catch the tiger, you have got to go into its den. After having written half of his
manuscript, he started to read the Bible from the Book of Genesis. While carefully
reading it, he started to think that if the Bible is right, there actually might be a God.

“Oh! No! I should read it again or else before I know it, I might become one of those
Christians,” Wallace thought.

He read it for the second time from the beginning. After having read it twice, he
became somewhat frightened-frightened, because if the Bible were true, then God
would be alive today. After reading it a third time, he could not deny the existence of
the living God. He ripped apart all of the manuscript he had written and appealed to
the Lord.
“God, I look at the Bible and you seem to be a living God. If you are indeed alive,
unveil yourself to me. You must show yourself to me by this hour on this day or I will
be judged just like the Bible said. God, you have to reveal yourself to me on this day.

He clung on to the Lord and did nothing but read the Bible. The day that Wallace had
designated came but God did not reveal himself to him. Before the night was over,
however, Wallace received salvation from the Word of God.

In the movie Ben-Hur, there is a scene where the leprous mother and sister of the
main character are completely healed at the moment when Jesus was crucified. In
fact, this scene is actually about the author himself. Wallace depicted in his novel that
the moment Jesus died, all of his dirty sins were completely washed away.

Sin Separates Us from God

Many of us carry the Bible with us to church every Sunday but remain largely ignorant
about the Bible. We simply do not have any idea what the Bible is talking about and
what relation the book has with us. By the same token, we think that God will listen to
our prayers but in reality, God does not grant all of our wishes. God does not answer
everyone’s prayers. as long as you remain accused of an untold sin by your
conscience, God will never answer your prayers. Let us take a look at John 9:31.

We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his
will. (John 9:31)

What does it mean that God does not listen to sinners? When does a person become a
sinner anyway? When I am called a sinner by someone else? Or when I have been
jailed for a crime?

It is actually my own conscience that points to my sins and lets me know that I am a
sinner. If you have a guilty conscience or is troubled because of sin, this is a proof that
you are a sinner. And God does not listen to sinners. There is a detailed account of this
in the Old Testament. Isaiah 59:1.

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But
your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from
you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with
guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. (Isaiah
59:1~3)

God is not deaf but I’ve seen many people who, as soon as they are asked to pray,
start wailing and shouting at the top of their lungs. Revivalist preachers actually teach
people to pray like that. They say to raise their voice loudly so that the devil may not
interfere. In the past, I also prayed a lot at the morning devotional services. I still see
people shouting while praying these days when I go hiking, for instance.

Why Are My Prayers Not Answered?

I once had the chance to go to the Sinai Peninsula. We woke up at 1 o’clock in the
morning to climb Mount Sinai, the mountain that Moses had climbed, and we arrived at
the top at 4 a.m. There were many visitors from Korea. They climbed to the top, sat
down in a circle and started to pray very loudly. I approached one of them and asked,

“Excuse me, but is God asleep? Why are you shouting? I don’t believe God is deaf.”

There were other foreign visitors there and so I was somewhat embarrassed by my
fellow Koreans who were praying so loudly.

Even if we pray like this, our prayers are not necessarily answered. Why not? Why do
we pray in vain? It is not because his ears are dull but because of the fact that our
prayers do not reach him. As long as we pray with a guilty conscience, a gap lies
between God and us. Sin separates us from God. The conscience points out our sins to
make us realize that we are a sinner.

Even a person who has broken into other people’s houses and robbed their entire life
will turn to his son and tell him not to live like that. Why? The reason is because they
feel remorseful and fear judgment at the end of the day. People feel the pangs of
conscience even more before death. Why are people afraid of death? They are afraid
because of sin. The Bible clearly states “Just as man is destined to die once, and after
that to face judgment”(Hebrews 9:27). The conscience knows of this sin and instructs
us of its existence. So in order to die properly, we must be prepared. All the sins that
we committed in this world must be cleansed while we are alive, because there is no
salvation after death. After death there is only judgment.

If we receive forgiveness while we are alive, God becomes our father and we become
his children, and our spirit will find rest. The loneliness, anxiety and trouble that we
once felt will disappear. We will be able to put on a smiling face, our sorrow will turn
into joy and we will have confidence because of a new hope. A person who had never
mentioned the word Jesus will talk about him to his relatives and friends. A person
who has gone though such complete transformation is said to have “received
salvation.”

God sent you into this world so that you may receive salvation and become God’s
children. You have all been granted the opportunity to become God’s people and his
children. If you weren’t born, you wouldn’t have been given this opportunity. Let us
read Deuteronomy 4:32 together.

Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man
on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. (Deuteronomy 4: 32)

God, the Owner of History

Here in Deuteronomy God tells us to “ask about the former days...from the day God
created man on the earth.”

I’m currently living in the year 1998, wondering where God is. Just as I wonder today,
people before me also might have wondered about the same thing. Where is God?
What is he saying to me if he truly does exist?

Before answering that question, however, let’s talk about the concept of time as we
know it. First, the division of B.C. and A.D. When we write a letter to a friend, keep a
journal or sign a contract, we record the date. In the case of today, for instance, we
would write February 16, 1998. But before 1998, it was 1997 and before that 1996
and before that 1995 and so on. So 100 years ago, it was 1898, and a thousand years
ago, it was year 998. If we continue to go back in time we will eventually come to year
one, right? But do you know how the first year became the first year?

If we divide history into four large periods, we would have the contemporary history,
the modern history, the medieval history and the ancient history. Roughly speaking,
this is how the historians would divide history. Do you know since when the word
“contemporary” began to be put to use? We have contemporary literature and
contemporary art, for instance, which refers to pieces of work made after the nuclear
bomb was dropped in Hiroshima, Japan. So the bombing of Hiroshima serves as the
starting point of contemporary literature, fine arts and art.

As for modern ages, we call a period to be modern if it is after 1492, when Columbus
discovered the American continent.

In secular history, the medieval ages is said to have started in 476 when the Roman
Empire collapsed. In Christianity, the medieval ages began when Emperor Gregory
ascended to the papal throne in 590 and ended a thousand years later.

How did the counting to begin? There must have been year 1 for us to be in year
1998, right? Well, the starting point of history, or year one, is when Jesus was born
into flesh. Why was the birth year of Jesus Christ used as a starting point and not the
birth of Buddha or Confucius? Have you ever wondered why the whole world agreed
on the birth year of Jesus as the starting point?
B.C. is an abbreviation for Before Christ and we use these two abbreviated letters to
refer to the time before the birth of Christ. As for the time after Jesus Christ was born,
we use the term A.D. The term A.D. does not come from English but the Latin words
Anno Domini. Anno means year and Domini means the Lord. In the movie Quo Vadis,
we would hear the question “Quo Vadis, Domine?” It means, “Where are you going,
Lord?”

The birth of Jesus Christ was set as the starting point then. This is because God is the
owner of history. God began history. God came into the history of man to give people
salvation. The history of humanity goes down 4000 years before the coming of Jesus
Christ. As mankind became depraved, corrupt, sick in the body, and continued to walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, they started to seek God. So God, by
becoming human himself, for he had compassion for humanity, created a turning point
in history. You may have never even opened the Bible but by way of acknowledging
today’s date, you have already acknowledged that Jesus came into this world.

The Location of Eden

Let us go back to Deuteronomy.

“Long before your time” refers to a time before you were born.

From the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the
other. (Deuteronomy 4: 32)
Since it is written “long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth”,
Let us see what happened since then. Let us go to Genesis 2:7.

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had
planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And
the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing
to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden;
from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon;
it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land
is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the
Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the
Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The
Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of
it. (Genesis 2: 7~15)

God said to think about the day since the world was created, so let us start from there.
When people read the book of Genesis for the first time, they tend to think this way.

“It’s a myth! Just another make-believe story. The Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve?
People living for almost a thousand years? C’mon!”

The Garden of Eden is not an imaginary place. God made the earth and chose a place
in it and called it Eden. The passage that we just read explains exactly where Eden is
located. In the Garden of Eden, there were four rivers which flowed through the center
of Eden. The Bible tells us the exact names of the rivers and the place where they are
located.

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four
headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of
Havilah, where there is gold.

The geographical location of the land of Havilah is Yemen, located in the central part
of Arabia.

(The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of
the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.

Cush is located in Ethiopia.

The name of the third river is the Tigris.

Tigris is also known as Hiddekel. The Hebrew pronunciation of the river of Tigris is
Hiddekel and Tigris is the Greek pronunciation.

It runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the
Euphrates

Asshur is an Assyrian word an

d it is the current Iraq. Euphrates is the name of a river in Iraq. The Bible says that the
Garden of Eden was located here. In the map, Lebanon is located above Israel. Higher
above is Turkey and below are the Sinai peninsula and the Arabia peninsula. The
country to Israel’s adjacent right is Jordan. Above Jordan is Syria and to the right of
Syria is Iraq. In Iraq there are two rivers. To the left is the Euphrates river and to the
right is the Tigris river. The exact location of the two rivers called Gihon and Pishon are
still unknown but the location of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers are certain.

If you look at the world map and gather all the continents toward the center of the
page, you’ll have the North American continent joining with Africa. Put the two
together and you’ll see that they fit like matching puzzle pieces. Not only do the
shapes fit together nicely but geologists say that the layers and fossils along the same
latitude also show that these lands were at one time a single mass of land. Studies on
animals and plants from the same latitude have revealed such remarkable findings.

Let us suppose that the west and the east are joined together to make a single mass.
Where then would the center be? If all six continents were joined together, the center
would be around the Mediterranean Sea. What is the meaning of the Mediterranean? It
means the sea in the middle of the land.

When God made land it was originally a single piece of mass. The Bible says so. The
land was separated after the Deluge, or Noah’s flood. And even now, the land is
moving. But when God first made land, he designated the center of the land to be the
Garden of Eden. The Mediterranean Sea, being in the middle of the land, therefore, we
can assume that the Garden of Eden is somewhere around there.

The Trees of Eden have Gone Down Under

But wait, you might say, there are hardly any lush, green in the middles east. And
you’re right. Most of the land in that region is desert. One thing we should remind
ourselves of, however, is the tremendous amount of crude oil found in this region
known as “black gold”. This tells us that long ago, there used to be a lot of plants and
animals here. The next passage of the Bible explains this fact. Let us read Ezekiel
31:16.

I made the nations tremble at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to the grave
with those who go down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of
Lebanon, all the trees that were well-watered, were consoled in the earth
below...‘Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and
majesty? Yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below.
(Ezekiel 31: 16~18)

It is said here that all the trees of Eden went down to the earth below. Scientists claim
the following:

“The time when the dinosaurs lived and the time when humans lived were different.
The time when dinosaurs lived was 120 million years ago and the time when humans
first lived was a million years ago. So the dinosaurs first dominated the earth and
because of the ice age, they all died. Then mankind appeared on earth.”

This is how we were taught. However, recently a discovery was made near a river in
Tennessee, revealing a great number of dinosaur fossils. Among the fossils some 200
of them were of human footprints. What does this imply? It means that the dinosaurs
and humans lived at the same time! We don’t know whether this was before or after
Noah’s flood, but the Bible assures us that the Garden of Eden went down under the
earth.

I really couldn’t guess as to how big things were in the Garden of Eden but just to
wrap our heads around the sheer size, I’d like to give you the example of a big
national park called Sequoia National Park in California. Sequoia is the name of the
trees there. These trees are one of the oldest living things on earth. The oldest
amongst them is a 2300-year-old tree. When a tree fell, the annual rings of the tree
were counted and it was found that it was more than 2000 years. The girth of the tree
was 30 meters. One of the trees fell in the middle of the road, so they had to make a
hole in the tree to let cars go through.

In spite of the unfavorable climate after the Deluge, the fact that there are such great
trees still living says much about how it would have been before the Deluge. Even
today, in the icebergs of the North Pole, among the fossils of trees discovered, we can
find asparaguses. A single leaf of the asparagus tree is 1.5 meters long. This is
something we cannot even dream to imagine. Before the Deluge, the luxuriant forest
of the time of the Garden of Eden is even incomparable to the tropical forest of the
Amazon. There were many trees and reptiles. They all died and transformed into oil.
The great numbers of huge dinosaurs, big as the mammoths were all buried at once
and turned into oil because of the chemical changes. The Bible says that the Garden of
Eden is situated here.

Contradictions in the Theory of Evolution

Let us look at Genesis 1:20.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the
earth across the expanse of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea
and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their
kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
(Genesis 1:20~21)

Chapter 1 of Genesis describes what God created on the first, second and third days.
Genesis 1:20~21 is about what God created on the fifth day. On that day, God created
all animals and plants according to their kinds.

However, what does the school say about the universe? It argues that there was only
one kind of creature on the planet at the start. According to the theory of evolution,
the only kind at the beginning was one-celled organisms like amoebas, which evolved
over time into multi-cellular organisms. Such is the theory of evolution-wisdom of
today’s science.

In contrast, the wisdom of God tells us that everything was made according to their
kinds in the first place. This indicates a contradiction between thoughts of people and
God. You learned the so-called evolutionary theory at school. When introduced to the
Bible’s creationism, those people who have already learned the evolutionary theory at
school say:
“Well, that’s not what my teacher told me.”
“What did your teacher tell you?”
“My teacher said that the progenitors of the human race are anthropoid apes including
the Java man, Beijing man and Neanderthal man. And apes evolved into black men
and later yellow race and lastly Caucasians.”

In a way, this seems to make sense because humans bear similar traits to that of
chimpanzees or gorillas but let us test this idea in a very simple way. Let us assume
monkeys could evolve into men. Could this happen in a day or two? According to
evolutionists, it would take at least hundreds of thousands years. Suppose monkeys
could evolve into human beings in a hundred of thousand years, these monkeys would
be half-human and half-monkey in fifty thousand years and then three-quarter-human
and one-quarter-monkey in seventy five thousand years and finally they would become
completely human in one hundred thousand years time.

This is where the evolutionists get nervous. According to their theory, there should be
a creature representing the intermediary phase of an ape and man. But nowhere on
this planet earth do you find any fossil. And why can’t you find it? Because there is no
such thing as half-ape, half man being in the first place.

Moreover, with the help of computers and high-tech devices, analyses of the so-called
ancestors of people such as the Neanderthal man, Beijing man and Java man showed
that they were hunchbacks and long-armed apes. So we no longer call them our
ancestors.

Charles Darwin intentionally proposed the evolutionary theory. He is one of those

people who tried to seduce people into believing that there was no God.

If you visit Wuppertal, a city in Germany, it features a museum to glorify Karl Marx, a
propagandist of communism, Friedrich Engels, an economist and Charles Darwin, the
founder of the evolutionary theory. As you well know, Communists denied the
existence of God and instead accepted Darwin’s theory, saying truth was found only in
science and philosophy. If it is invisible, as in the case of God, then it was non-
existent. Communist regimes put in a lot of efforts to teach the theory of evolution,
but communism disappeared. People had been deceived for 70 years before it
crumbled into nothing in 1990. The words in the Bible, however, still live on. Genesis,
in particular, was recorded 3,500 years! God tells us that he created everything
according to their kinds.
Noah’s Ark on the Mountains of Ararat

Now let me turn to another story that many believe to be a fairytale Noah’s Ark.

After Adam and Eve fell, they were thrown out from the Garden of Eden and had to
live by working the fields. They had children and their children had children and so on.
For some 1,600 years people prospered and lived according to their own wishes.
Seeing that man continued to live in sin, God became furious. God was sorry that he
had made the human race. So God decided to have everyone be swept off by water.
Everyone died in the flood except Noah’s family.
Our ancestors in Korea described this flood as the opening of heaven and earth.
During this period, Noah’s flood swept all through the world. Clay plates were found
depicting the Flood in Korea, China and Babylon. The Chinese character “船(seon),”
indicating ship, consists of “舟(ju)” standing for ship, “八(pal)” for eight and “口(gu)”
for mouth, which means eight family members were aboard a ship. Why eight?
Because the number of Noah’s family was eight. Noah and his wife and his three sons
and their wives were aboard.

The Bible says that Noah’s Ark, after floating in the flood, stayed on the mountains of
Ararat. Many people have made attempts to find the remains of the ark. I have a
photo here of the ark from a person who found the ark recently. Let us read the story
about the ark in Genesis. Genesis 8:1.

But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with
him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Now the
springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain
had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the earth. At the
end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth
day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.(Genesis
8:1~4)
The Bible says Noah’s Ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. Then, where are they
located? They are located in the border area between Turkey, Russia and Iran. The
mountains are about 5,650 meters high, roughly two times higher than Mount Baekdu
(the highest mountain in Korea).
I have been to the foot of the mountain. The top is covered with perpetual snow and
the terrain is so steep people cannot climb to the top very easily. The place where I
have been to was 2,000 meters above sea, which was already quite high. There was a
hotel where James Irwin, the astronaut who walked on the moon, had stayed. He
visited the mountain to find the ark. He fell and hurt his waist on the mountains of
Ararat. The accident was covered by a Turkish newspaper and I found the article
about the accident displayed on the wall of the hotel.

Not only Irwin but many others have also explored the mountains of Ararat in search
of Noah’s Ark after the first and second world wars. Ferdinand Navara, a French
explorer visited the mountain in 1955 and Russian reconnaissance planes made
circular flights over the mountains in an attempt to find the remains of the ark. Since I
am interested in the Bible, I went to the U.S. to meet a person who said had
discovered the ark. His name is Ronald Wyatt. Born in Tennessee, Wyatt has climbed
the mountains as many as 27 times.
Kurds often appear in the mountains of Ararat so the place is quite dangerous for
tourists. However, the Turkish government launched a tourism center there and
designated the mountain as a national park. There is a town near where Noah’s Ark is
thought to be located and the town’s name is “Eight” in Turkish. Why do you think the
town is named “Eight”? The name obviously indicates the eight family members of
Noah. It appears that Noah and his family resided in the town after the Flood.
Wyatt described in his book in detail the town, the residents in the town and the big
rocks that are believed to have been used as the anchors of Noah’s Ark. Just as the
Garden of Eden truly existed, the flood actually took place and it is also true that the
Ark of Noah existed on the mountains of Ararat. I recommend you to read the book
written by Ronald Wyatt. Of course, you will be able to have a great first-hand
experience if you can go to the mountains yourself. But we have sufficient proven data
that testify to the authenticity of the Bible.

In the history of the Scriptures, there are stories about the Garden of Eden, Noah’s
flood, the Tower of Babel and others. History shows what God had told us, what God
is telling us and what God tells about the world to come in the future. He recorded all
the things including the past, the present and the future in the Bible.

Chapter 2. Everlasting Bestseller

Plans to Establish Heaven

When we plan to build a house, we make a blueprint first. Then we build a house
according to the blueprint. Like building a house, God has a purpose for building his
kingdom on earth. According to the Bible, the kingdom of God is heaven. And God
already has plans to establish heaven on earth. His plans are well explained in detail in
the Bible. Please turn to Amos 3:7 in the Old Testament.

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the
prophets (Amos 3:7)

An architect does not build a house without a plan for how to build it. The same is true
for God. When God planned to build the kingdom of God on earth, he said that he
would announce it beforehand to let his people know. Secret is only a secret when it is
kept inside. Once the secret is out, it is no longer a secret. God’s plans were a secret
when he kept them to himself but he spoke of his plans through prophets. Now known
to his people, God is fulfilling his plans according to what he has said.

You might wonder when God’s kingdom will come. If you read the Bible, you will
immediately know what plans God has for us, how history is unfolding according to his
plans, and where in his program we are standing at this moment. Against this
backdrop, I will talk about how God planned our history, when the end of days is that
people are talking about and where the year 1998 stands in his chronicles.

Seven Feasts of Jews

Please turn to Leviticus 23:4 in the Old Testament.

These are the Lord’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at
their appointed times: The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of
the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Feast of Unleavened
Bread begins: for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day
hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. For seven days present an offering
made to the Lord by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no
regular work. (Leviticus 23:4~8)

As you know, the beginnings of all things are written in Genesis in the Old Testament
including the beginning of the world, the beginning of humanities, and the beginning
of sin. There are words about the salvation of sinners in the second book of the Bible,
or Exodus. How the saved should live for God is written in Leviticus where God
revealed through the feasts of the Jewish calendar future events.

These feasts are actually the “Lord’s feasts,” however, and not the feasts of Jews.
God’s feasts were determined not by Jews but by God and God even set the dates.
Since these are feasts presenting an offering to God, he provided details on how it
should be carried out when they pay tribute to him.

There are seven feasts in chapter 23 of Leviticus. God put these feasts in the Jewish
calendar one after another. He gave an order that these feasts are to be a lasting
ordinance for generations to come. The Jews still keep these feasts according to the
Jewish calendar. God tells us how history is worked out through these feasts from the
time of Jesus to the end of the world. God had given the feasts 1,500 years before
Jesus was born, which is around 3,500 years from now and he explained in detail what
would happen from the moment Jesus was born until the end of history. Let’s look at
what these feasts are.

The first is the Passover. The second is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The third is the
Feast of Firstfruits. The fourth is the Feast of Weeks. The fifth is the Feast of
Trumpets. The sixth is the Day of Atonement. And the seventh is the Feast of
Tabernacles. Let us now see what these feasts mean.

The seven feasts are shadows of Jesus

Colossians 2:16 in the New Testament.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a
religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. (Colossians 2:16)

A religious festival or a New Moon celebration here means a feast and a Sabbath day
Jews celebrate on the first day of every month. They keep the Sabbath day on every
Saturday. It is not appropriate that people argue over whether Sabbath should be
Saturday or Sunday, or who is right or wrong, because what do feasts of a New Moon
celebration and a Sabbath day mean?

These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however is found in
Christ. (Colossians 2:17)

Colossians 2:17 is the key to interpreting what these feasts mean. These feasts had
started 1500 years before Jesus came and since then Jews had kept them for 1500
years. However, they are called a shadow of the things that were to come. Shadow
comes first when the light is behind. As the shadow goes before the body when there
is light behind, a shadow came before Jesus. Feasts are the shadow and the body of
the shadow is Jesus. Then whose shadows are all the seven feasts? They all belong to
Jesus. That means each feast is related to Jesus.

These feasts are classified into two parts: first four feasts and second three feasts. The
first four feasts are related to the first coming of Jesus while the last three feasts to his
second coming. First four feasts are during the spring in the Jewish calendar in which
there are 354 days a year. Last three feasts are in the fall. In other words, four feasts
occur in the spring but there are none in the summer and then three feasts come in
the fall. Therefore the feasts can be called either spring feasts or fall feasts.

Passover - Sacrifice of Jesus

Please read Leviticus 23:4 again.

These are the Lord’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at
their appointed times; The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of
the first month. (Leviticus 23:4~5)

The first month here is March or April according to the current solar calendar. The
fourteenth day of the first month is called the Lord’s Passover. Passover means ‘the
feast of Passover.’ Let’s see when the Passover originated. It first begins with Exodus
12:1.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ‘This month is to be for you the first
month, the first month of your year. (Exodus 12:1~2)

God told the Israelites to make the month of the Exodus, in which they were led out of
Egypt by Moses, the first month of the year. The month is either late March or early
April. God said that since the days of their slavery was over, they must make the
month they escaped Egypt the first month of the year and pay the Passover ritual on
the fourteenth day of the first month.

This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into our belt, your sandals on your
feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. On that same
night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn - both men and animals
- and I will bring judgment on all the goods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be
a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over
you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to
commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the
Lord - a lasting ordinance. (Exodus 12:11~14)

God punished Egypt on the Passover. Before he killed all the firstborns, both men and
animals, he said to Moses, “Let Jews kill the lamb and put the blood on the door frame
and the mold of a wall. When I see the blood, I will pass over the house and not kill
the firstborns.” So the Jewish people put the blood on the door frame and the mold of
a wall. The angel of God passed over the house where there was blood and did not kill
the firstborns. Koreans also put red bean soup on the door to ward off evil spirits on
the winter solstice. This custom may have originated from the Passover.

In the Passover, the lamb was killed and was bled. If the Passover is a shadow, then
there must be a real lamb. The true lamb is Jesus. Therefore, when the public ministry
of Jesus began, John the Baptist said,

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29)
Jews had killed lambs each year before Jesus came but that was a shadow. So when
the true lamb comes, it is He who would be killed. God would look at that blood, no
longer hold us against our sins and “pass over” them. Passover was completed with
the coming of Jesus. Passover is a feast that symbolizes the death of Jesus as the
lamb bleeds. The Passover that the Jews had kept for 1500 years was made complete
when Jesus came to earth and died. A shadow comes first and the body comes later.
Passover was given as a symbol of the death of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Feast of Unleavened Bread-The Body of Jesus that Did Not Decay

Please turn to Leviticus 23:5 again.

The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the
fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. (Leviticus
23:5~6)

The second Feast is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. When you bake bread, yeast you
need to leaven it. But during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, you must eat bread made
without yeast. The unleavened bread is bland but the Jews were to eat the bread
made without yeast during the feast.

In the Bible, yeast symbolizes sin. Yeast raises, leavens and finally decays bread. The
same is true for sin. It’s what decays people. It is also sin that corrupts and degrades
people. What this means is that without sin, our bodies would not grow old and
eventually die. The second feast represents Jesus whose body did not decay after
death. During the three days Jesus lay in the tomb, his body didn’t see decay. That’s
because he was without sin.

Bread made without yeast symbolizes Jesus without sin and explains why his body
didn’t decay in the tomb. This is predicted in the Old Testament. Let’s look at Psalms
16:10.

Because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see
decay. (Psalms 16:10)

The Lord’s Holy One is Jesus. That means the Lord had made a prophecy in the Old
Testament that the body of Jesus would not decay. After Jesus died, his body didn’t
decay for the three days while he lay in the tomb. Actually, the human body is said to
start decomposing 24 hours after one dies. However, the body of Jesus did not go
through such process. The grain of wheat refers to Jesus and it should not decay.
That’s the lesson of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Let’s look at another story about the Feast of Unleavened Bread in 1 Corinthians 5:7.

Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast - as you really are.
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7)

Our Passover lamb, the protagonist of Passover, is Jesus Christ. Christ is the lamb of
the Passover so that he died and was buried.

The Feast of Firstfruits-Jesus, the First Fruit of Resurrection

The third feast is the Feast of Firstfruits, which is written in Leviticus 23:9.

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the
land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the
first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted
on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.’ (Leviticus
23:9~11)

During the Feast of Firstfruits, a sheaf of the first grain harvested is presented as an
offering. Jesus who came to earth as a grain of wheat died and bore the first fruit. This
also refers to Jesus, who died and has been raised from the dead as the first fruit of
resurrection. People after Adam died on earth but the first one who has been raised
from the dead is Jesus. In the Old Testament, there is a story about Enoch who
walked with God and was taken away by God but it doesn’t mean that he was
resurrected. There is none other than Jesus who has been raised from the dead. The
Feast of Firstfruits symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 verse 20.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have
fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:20)

Those who have fallen asleep means people who died. The firstfruits of those who
have fallen asleep refer to the resurrection of Jesus.

Feast of Weeks-Coming of the Holy Spirit

The fourth feast is the Feast of Weeks which is written in Leviticus 23:15.

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering,
count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath
and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.
(Leviticus 23:15~16)
On the Fiftieth day after the Feast of Firstfruits, comes the Feast of Weeks when an
offering is presented to God. Then let’s see what happened on the fiftieth day. During
the Passover, Jesus died. During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, he was buried and
his body didn’t decay. Three days after that, he rose. That is the Feast of Firstfruits.
How many days did he stay on earth? It was for forty days. Let’s look at Acts 1:1.

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach
until the day he was taken up to the heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy
Sprit to the apostles he had chosen. (Acts 1:1~2)

The former book is the Gospel of Luke. Luke’s first writing is the Gospel of Luke and
his second one is Acts. The Gospel of Luke is the first part and Acts is the second part.

After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs
that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about
the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)

The reason Jesus came to earth is to establish the kingdom of God. While he was
staying on earth after the resurrection, he was explaining the kingdom of God that will
come soon. On the last day of the forty days, Jesus gave his apostles a very special
command.

Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you heard me
speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with
the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4~5)

God had already promised in Leviticus that on the fiftieth day after Jesus’ resurrection,
he would send the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Wait for the gift my Father promised…”
Then what is God’s promise? On the fiftieth day, the Holy Spirit would come. That is
the coming of the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus was resurrected, he stayed on earth for forty days. “In a few days, you…”
Jesus said. Then how many days? Ten days. If the apostles had known what it said in
Leviticus, they might have known that on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of
Jesus, the Holy Spirit would come. That is God’s promise that on the fiftieth day he
would send the Holy Spirit after Jesus ascended to heaven. Jesus said ‘in a few days’
neither months nor years. In Leviticus, ‘count off seven full weeks’ means that the
Sabbath day passed seven times, which is 49 days. On the fiftieth day after that by
adding the next day, the Feast of Weeks comes to present an offering of new grain to
God.
Glorious God

The Holy Spirit didn’t come as a result of prayers. Let’s look at Acts 2:1.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a
sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the house where
they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and
came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Sprit and began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1~4)

It is these verses of the Bible that make lots of people confused. Many mistakenly
assume that in order to receive the Holy Spirit, they must receive the baptism of fire,
and consequently they say their hearts and their whole bodies feel hot and excited as
if their whole bodies are on fire. Do you know what the fire really means? The first
verse, ‘When the day of Pentecost came,’ means the day was the Feast of Weeks
according to the Jewish calendar. As Korea’s Liberation day or Foundation day is
marked in the Korean calendar, Passover and the Feast of Weeks when the Holy Spirit
came are also marked in the Jewish calendar. On the day of the Feast of Weeks, which
is the fiftieth day after Jesus was risen, the Holy Spirit came.

You might wonder why you have to sit here listening to the Bible stories instead of
receiving the Holy Spirit and fire. Let’s see why the verse “They saw what seemed to
be tongues of fire” is written. Exodus 19:9 in the Old Testament.
The Lord said to Moses, ‘I’m going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people
can hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.’ Then Moses told
the Lord what the people had said. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and
consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by
the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight
of all the people. Put limit for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be
careful you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the
mountain shall surely be put to death. He shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows;
not a hand is to be laid on him whether man or animal, he shall not be permitted to
live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, may they go up to the mountain.
(Exodus 19:9~13)

Now to Exodus chapter 19:16.

On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightening with a thick cloud
over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
Then Moses led people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot
of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on
it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole
mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.
Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The Lord descended to the top
of the Mount Sinai. (Exodus 19:16~20)

Before Jesus was born, when the Israelites were out in the wilderness of Sinai, God
descended on Mount Sinai. What is written in Chapter 19 of Exodus is about the
shadow of Jesus who came to Mount of Olives. In the chapter, fire, smoke and sounds
of trumpet appear. The Lord God in Genesis called to the man, “Where are you?” God
called Abraham from heaven. “Leave your country, your people and your father’s
household and go to the land I will show you.”

God also appeared to Jacob and Moses. In Exodus, God descended from heaven to the
mountain. Where God contacts, there surely is fire. When Moses first encountered
God, there was a bush on fire. “I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush
does not burn up.” When he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the
bush. God also descended on the top of the Mount Sinai. There was fire, smoke, and
sounds of trumpet. Let’s look at Exodus chapter 24:16.

and the glory of God settled on Mount Sinai. For six days, the cloud covered the
mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To
the Israelites the glory of Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
(Exodus 24:16~17)
When the Holy God, the creator of all things, put his foot on earth, the glory of God
looked like fire to the eyes of people. God of Glory came to a tabernacle people made.
On the tabernacle, there was also cloud and a pillar of fire. Cloud and a pillar of fire is
the evidence that God is there. God descended on people. This is written in Chapter 2
of Acts.

For God descended on people in the form of the Holy Spirit, he looked like “what
seemed to be tongues of fire that separated.” This means that the glory of God is
present with people, not that we must receive fire. You must not be confused between
receiving the Holy Spirit and receiving fire. The glory looked like fire to the eyes of
people and the first time the God of Glory came down on people was during the Feast
of Weeks. The feast is when God began to be present with people through the Holy
Spirit who came to them. The Holy Spirit, “what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated,” means that the glory in chapter 19 and chapter 24 of Exodus was present
with people.

The reason that the Holy Spirit came during the Feast of Weeks

I received fire before I was saved. While I was praying with all my heart, I experienced
the receiving of fire. Even though I experienced that my emotion was extremely hiked
and excited to the point where my whole body got hot, and I sweated a lot getting my
clothes wet, it was due to the action of soul but it had nothing to do with the Holy
Spirit.

The fact that the Holy Spirit came on the day of the Feast of Weeks has a very
important meaning. In the time of the Old Testament, God the Father appeared
through prophets. When Jesus came to the earth, he was present inside the body of
Jesus. Today, God is present as the Holy Spirit. Then what has the Holy Spirit done on
earth since he first came to the world?

Jesus came to the earth, died, was buried, resurrected, and came as the Holy Spirit at
the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of
Weeks respectively. These four feasts already passed by in history. The Holy Spirit has
now come to earth with only one purpose.

The Holy Spirit came to earth to call the people of the kingdom of God together. The
purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit is to establish the church. When 120 people
gathered together in the attic, the Holy Spirit came to establish the church. From then,
the gospel has spread across the world and lots of people have been able to come into
the body of the Lord, the church.

Church, a Called Out Assembly

You may wonder what the church means. Since the Holy Spirit came to the earth in
order to complete the church, if the church is completed, its history will be ended.
Some of you may think because the Presbyterian Church that you go to is the most
widely accepted one, it is the best. If you are Catholic, you think Catholic Church is the
origin and Protestant Church separated from the Catholic Church so that your church
must be better. Some people think that their church is orthodox, dismissing other
churches as heresy.

What we must know today is what the church is. The word “Church” is Ekklesia, a
Greek word meaning “called out assembly.” Who are called out and how? Let’s look at
1 Corinthians chapter 10:32.

Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God (1
Corinthians 10:32)

There are three peoples: Jews, Greeks and the church of God. The Jews and Greeks
are each people of a nation. The church of God also refers to a group of people. When
Adam and Eve were the only people on earth, there was no Jew. Is Adam a Jew or
Gentile? Greeks represent the Gentile but when Adam lived, there was no distinction
between the Jews and Greeks, the Gentile. Jewish history began with Jacob, the
grandson of Abraham. Actually, Abraham himself isn’t a Jew. He, who had lived in Ur
of the Chaldeans, belonged to the Aramean people. His grandson is Jacob and Jacob’s
twelve sons are the ancestors of Jews. Since the father of Jews is Jacob and only the
descendents of Jacob are called Jews, the rest are the Gentiles.

All the people in Jesus are called the church of God with Jesus as its head. When God
established the church, he brought Jews and the Gentiles together to make new
people, the church. Church means neither religious bodies nor denominations. It
doesn’t refer to the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, the Presbyterian Church,
the Methodist Church, the Holiness Church or others. The church is the body of Christ.

You may think because you are a baptized member of the Presbyterian Church, you
are in the church. However, it is a different story with the church of God. Because you
belong to a certain denomination and you are a member of a certain religious body
doesn’t mean that you belong to the church of God.

Eve, the Shadow of the Church

Let’s look at Genesis chapter 2:18 in order to learn more about the church.

The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper
suitable for him.’ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the
field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would
name them; and whatever he called each little creature, that was its name. So the
man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall
into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed
up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken
out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of
my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of
the man. (Genesis 2:18~23)

The story in chapter 2 of Genesis is very important to understand what church is.
Adam and his wife Eve appears in the story. “Adam who was a pattern of the one to
come,” as seen in Romans, is the shadow of Jesus. Then whose shadow is the wife of
Adam? She is the shadow of the church, the wife of Jesus.

The story in Chapter 2 of Genesis is about how God made Eve, the wife of Adam, and
if we know more about it, we could see how the church, the wife of Jesus, can be
established. One thing to note is that God didn’t make the wife of Adam out of the
ground as he did for all the beasts and the birds regardless of its gender. This is what
we need to think about.

Did God not have enough dust of the ground after he created all the beasts and birds?
Did he make a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man because there wasn’t
enough dust? An important point is that the wife of Adam was not made of dust as
opposed to all the mates of other beasts and birds. It means the wife of Jesus is not
supposed to be made of the dust. Those made of the dust are not eligible to be the
wife of Jesus. Your body cannot be the body of Jesus or come into the church of God.
The wife of Adam came from Adam. God took one of the Adam’s ribs and made a
woman from it. Then the church, the wife of Jesus, needs to be made from one of the
ribs taken out of Jesus. Jesus’ side, where there were ribs, was pierced with a spear
and water and blood flowed from it. That’s where a new creation began.

If you think you have become the wife of Jesus or a member of the church of God only
because you decide to believe in Jesus, become a member of a church, or you have
gone to church after you were born into a Christian family, then you are trying to
make the church with the body of the dust. If you think you belong to the church of
God because you have believed in Jesus for thirty years, you are also mistaken. We
must be made of what came from Jesus’ side. Then what is made of what came from
Jesus’ side other than the body we inherited from our parents? You shall be born again
with water and the Holy Spirit. That makes a new creation possible. You will never be
the bride of God if you discipline, consecrate and improve only your body. You will be
focused only on the body if you think being a nice person is all it takes. God let
something out of the side of Jesus.

“Water and blood” is God’s blessing and the Holy Spirit in return for the death of
Jesus. There was a new creation and that new creation originated with the group of
120 people in the attic. It was the beginning of the church. It is not a building or a
religious body or a denomination but a new creation through water and blood flowed
from Jesus side that is the Holy Spirit.

Place where a new creation gathers

Let’s look at the early church in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 :19.

The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you
warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. (1 Corinthians
16:19)

In the early church, there was no Presbyterian Church, Methodist Church, Holiness
Church, or Baptist Church. “The church that meets at their house” as seen in 1
Corinthians indicates the new creation gathered at the house of Aquila and Priscilla,
who were saved. Given the fact that the church that meets at their house also greets
you warmly, ‘the church’ here is not a building.

In the time of the early church, believers, each part of a new individuals gathered at a
house. In the Bible, these new creations are the church. Wherever and whoever you
may be and whether you are black or white, young or old, male or female, well or
poorly educated, as long as you are a new creation from the water and blood from
Jesus’ side, you are a member of the church of God.

Because you belong to a denomination doesn’t mean you are in the church. There are
some people who think, ‘The church that I visited before had no cross and people
gathered in a house. The church is heresy.’ Then all the early churches should be
heresy as well. Let’s look at Colossians 4:15.

Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her
house. (Colossians 4:15)

A woman was saved and her house seemed to be large. She opened her house and let
other saved people gather at her house. Therefore, Paul wrote in his letter “Give my
greetings to … the church in her house.”

Newly born and saved people can gather anywhere, such as in a field, at a house, or
at a community center. It doesn’t matter whether there is a cross or not. What counts
is whether you are born of the water and blood that flowed from Jesus’ side. In other
words, it counts whether or not you were born of the Holy Spirit except for the body
you inherited from your parents as seen by “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit.” It is not the flesh but the Spirit that makes the body of Christ.

The church dates back to around 2000 years ago. As the good news spread across the
world, the number of people saved in the name of Jesus has been increasing.
Feast of Trumpets-Church Taken Up

The problem is that the number of people who can come into the church is limited. We
don’t know how many there will be. However, in the Bible it is written “until the full
number of the Gentiles has come in.” God will count how many Jews and the Gentiles
have come in when he calls each of them.

Given the fact that the feasts from the Passover to the Feast of Weeks are related to
the first coming of Jesus, they are passed in the history. This prophecy had been made
1500 years before Jesus was born but the four feasts were all completed within 1500
years. What will come next in God’s history are only the three feasts. We are living in a
time when the three feasts are about to be completed. We will soon realize how
pressed for time we are in this age.
The prophecy of the seven feasts had been written around 3500 years ago and four of
them were completed 2000 years ago. From then on, it has been the time of the
church when God calls in his people. When the full number of them has come in, Jesus
will come again and establish the Kingdom of God.

Before the Summer has Ended

I already mentioned that the first four feasts are related to the first coming of Jesus
while the last three feasts are related to are related the second coming of Jesus. There
is a time gap between the first coming and the second coming. Let’s look at Jeremiah
8:20.
The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved. (Jeremiah 8:20)

Jews grow two crops a year. First, they farm in the spring and the crops are mostly
barley. Next, they grow figs or olives in the fall. They harvest their crops for their
spring farming. That’s why the Bible says, “The harvest is past, the summer has
ended.” During the spring harvest, Jesus came and died. In summer, Jesus reaps the
harvest. In other words, it is the time of the church when Jesus harvests people who
have been saved through the death of Jesus. Now it is summer. Next we will have fall.
There will be some people that will say, “The summer has ended, and we are not
saved.” The Lamb of God came, sowed the seeds of the good news and will reap the
harvest.

We are living in the summer. If the summer is over, we cannot be saved because the
Feast of Trumpet will come next. This is the beginning of the judgment. Now is the
time that you can be saved. Before the summer, during which we can be saved
through faith in the good news, is over, we need to be saved. Jesus sowed the seeds
by his death during his first coming and became the firstfruits. We are to be saved by
being the ears of the firstfruits. However, after this time is passed, there comes the
judgment.

The Trumpet Call of God

I’m not sure how many more years will pass before the Feast of Trumpet comes but if
the feast actually comes, Jesus will raise the church on earth. There will be those who
are already dead as well as those who are still alive. Therefore, Jesus said, “He who
believes in me will live even after he dies.” It means those who died believing in Jesus
will rise again. Jesus also said, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” It
means that those who are still alive until the moment they are raised, they will not die
but live forever. Let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve
like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and
so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you we who are still alive, who are left till
the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For
the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage each other with their words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13~17)

One day, suddenly, there will be the trumpet call of God. There was also the sound of
trumpet blasts in chapter 19 of Exodus. That was not the sound of the trumpet of
mankind, but the sound of the trumpet of God. When there was a loud trumpet blast
with a thick cloud over the mountain, God descended on Mount Sinai in fire.

During the rapture, the Lord will come again in the air. Then the sound of a trumpet
will blast and it will bring all of those who are saved through their faith in him. Those
who are saved through the death of Jesus will be raised into the air at the same time
across the world. This is called the rapture, which means that they are raised into the
air.

Those Who are Raised During the day and Those who are Raised at Night

If you look at Luke 17:30, Jesus explains the rapture.

It will be just like the day the Son of Man is revealed. On the day no one who is on the
roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one
in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever tries to keep
his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you on the night two
people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be
grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.
(Luke 17:30~35)

Regarding verse [36] *, if you look at the bottom, it says that the verse is included in
some Western manuscripts. “There will be two men in the field; one will be taken and
the other left.”

This is Jesus’ explanation about the rapture. What shape did people think the earth
was around 2000 years ago? When Galileo lived around 350 years ago, science books
said that the earth was flat. The books also said that there was a cliff far away from
the land so that you mustn’t go far by ship. At that time, people thought a big
elephant supported the land, a big turtle supported the elephant, and a snake
supported the turtle.

Around 350 years ago, no one even imagined that the earth is shaped like a round
ball. Then what about people who lived around 2000 years ago? They might have
been even more ignorant. However, Jesus knew that the earth is round. If Jesus said,
“Even though you might not understand it but actually the land is hanging like a ball in
the air,” people would have thought he was crazy. If people couldn’t understand that
even 350 years ago, then would people 2000 years ago understand that the earth is
round?

Since the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees, there is day and night at the same time. One
side of the earth is day while the other side of it is night. Korea is located in the east
so its time is faster than most other areas. For example, the time zone in Korea is 15
hours ahead of the time zone in Los Angeles. Therefore, if it is October 28 in Korea, it
is still October 27 in the US.

However, Jesus’ explanation about the rapture is different. “Two men will be in one
bed; one is taken and the other left.” It indicates that it is night. “Two men will be in
the field; one is taken and the other left.” It is day. “Two women will be grinding grain
together; one is taken and the other left.” Jews used to grind grain to bake bread in
the morning and evening. This indicates that it is either morning or evening. That
means people are raised in the morning or in the evening depending on the place they
live in.

Who could explain it better than Jesus 2,000 years ago? If he had tried to explain that
the earth is round, then it might have confused people even more. Jesus is the God of
creation and that’s why he could explain that on the day the Son of Man is revealed,
people are taken in the morning, at around noon, in the evening, or at night, indicating
there will be time differences among countries when the rapture takes place.

Until the rebellion occurs

Let’s look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1.

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask
you brothers not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or
letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already
come. (2 Thessalonians 2:1~2)

It means you should not be afraid of some prophecy that “Jesus will come again soon.
I received a sign from the spirit.” or some report that people received letters from the
apostles.

Don’t let anyone deceive you anyway, for that day will not come until the rebellion
occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will
oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so
that he sets himself up in the God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. (2
Thessalonians 2:3~4)

Apostle Paul said that you must not be disturbed by anyone who says that Jesus is
coming soon. According to him, there are preconditions. The Antichrist, the son of
destruction, will rise first. The Antichrist will set himself up in the God’s temple and
proclaim himself as God. These will take place first. Until then, there will be no rapture.

Time for a New Temple

Let me introduce an article to you. It was in the Times, issued on October 16, 1989.
Its title is “Time for a New Temple.” A reporter of the Times went to Jerusalem and
covered the story of a prospect for rebuilding the Temple. I was quite surprised by the
article.
After Jesus died, in 70 AD, the Roman General Titus destroyed the Temple. At that
time, all the Jews were taken as prisoners. Since then, there had not been a Temple
for around 1,900 years. However, now the Jews are planning to rebuild the Temple.
What will happen if the Temple is rebuilt? The Antichrist will rise.

After reading the article, I thought, ‘I should go to Israel to meet the people in the
article and see whether they are only planning to build the Temple or actually
preparing to build the Temple.’

One of those I met there was Rabbi Israel Ariel, director of the Temple Institute. I
visited the Institute without an appointment hoping to get some answers and waited
for him to come. I couldn’t meet him for several days while I was waiting outside
hoping he would meet me. Without appointments, it is hard to meet people in foreign
countries. On my fifth visit, his secretary may have felt sorry for me and said, “The
Rabbi will come this afternoon. You can meet him, then.” I finally met him on my sixth
visit.
As soon as I saw him, I told him that I was the editor of a Korean magazine and that I
hed came from Korea all the way to Israel to have a conversation with him. I handed
him a copy of our magazine and he looked at it. The cover of our magazine was the
picture of the replica of the Temple they have been preparing to build. He was glad to
see that and asked me where I got the picture. I told him that I got the picture from a
book. He seemed to be very glad about the fact that the Temple they are working on
was also introduced to Korea and said he had 40 minutes to talk with me.

Here are the documents he gave me. They already completed the replica of the
Temple. The problem is not the building of the Temple but the various articles
belonging to the Temple that need to be made exactly as God told the Jews to make in
the past. When I visited the Institute in 1990, he said that around 60% of the
implements for the Temple had been completed.

Red Heifer

Nearly 20 years have passed. How much progress have they made since? I contacted
him from time to time for further information. He told me a very important story. Even
if all the vessels are reconstructed and the priests appropriately trained, they cannot
enter the Temple until they are purified. Priests that have never presented an offering
for almost 2,000 years must purify themselves first in order to enter the Temple. Ritual
purification is necessary. More information about that is written in Chapter 19 of
Numbers.
You are to slaughter a red heifer, burn it to ashes, put the ashes in the water fetched
from the pool of Siloam and spread the entire water with ashes. However, he said that
the flawless red heifer that the Bible refers to didn’t exist in Israel. Therefore, he
visited a famous ranch in Israel to discuss whether the ranch could get the flawless red
heifer with the same pedigree or have it bred. He asked the ranch to do whatever it
takes to bring a solid red heifer in to the world since there was no such red heifer as
the one in the Bible.

I myself had visited the ranch. I had asked the owner of the ranch if it is possible. He
said technically it is possible. Until then the red heifer had not been born. However,
the first red heifer since A.D. 70 was born in Israel through breeding, and its picture
was seen in the US Newsweek Magazine in May 1997. Jews made it. Its name was
Melody.

Now you are living in the world which is different from the world in the past when our
ancestors believed in Jesus. It is said that it takes only six months to build the new
Temple. It is said that when Solomon had the Temple built, no sound of hammer or
chisel was heard.

They dressed stones somewhere else and brought them to the site to assemble them.
If they want to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and assemble
the Temple, it will take only six months. However, it takes lots of time to construct a
range of implements necessary for the temple and to have the flawless red heifer.
Melody was six months old in May 1997. The red heifer is supposed to be slaughtered
when it turns three. It was one year old in 1998.
The Bible is not written abstractly or vaguely. No book is as precise and clear as the
Bible. The story about the red heifer made the headline in a Sunday newspaper in
Korea. The story of the red heifer being bred was very shocking to Arabs. On the site
of the temple stand the two of the holiest Muslim buildings, the Al Aqsa Mosque and
the Dome of the Rock. Jews must destroy them in order to rebuild the Temple. Then a
war will be inevitable. While Jews had been working step by step in order to build the
Temple since 1967, they also made a pure red heifer born through a gene modification
when there had been none for around 2000 years. It is amazing.

Actually, the news was introduced in Korea as well, but it didn’t draw much attention
partly because we have busy lives and partly because we don’t know much about the
Bible so we failed to realize what that really meant. We are so focused on our bread
and butter issues that even though history is unfolding as God planned and the end of
days is drawing near, we still complacently think, ‘When would it come? When we are
to die, we will die.’

Trumpet Sounds that Call the Saved Church

Let’s look at the Feast of Trumpet. Let’s see Numbers chapter 10:1 in order to find out
what the Feast of Trumpet means.

The Lord said to Moses: ‘Make two trumpets of hammered silver and use them for
calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are
sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent
of Meeting. If only one is sounded, the leaders ? the heads of the clans of Israel ? are
to assemble before you. When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the
east are to set out. At the sound of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set
out. The blast will be a signal for setting out. To gather the assembly, blow the
trumpets, but not with the same signal. The sons of Aron, the priests, are to blow the
trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come.’
(Numbers 10:1~8)

When the Jews came out of Egypt and came to the Sinai Peninsula, the wilderness of
Sinai, a number of them with children and adults combined might be around between
2 million and 3 million. It is said that the number of young men alone was 603,550.
When the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud led the way and many people followed,
they were to blow the trumpets with different long and short sounds. They had people
assemble and set out through the signal of the trumpet sound. God did not allow them
to shout out loud.

The trumpet was used to assemble people. God ordered them to blow two silver
trumpets which symbolize two groups of people on earth. One is a group of Jews, the
chosen people and the other is a group of saved people, the church of God, who are
scattered across the world. The sound of the trumpets is to bring these together. It is
not to call the Methodist Church or the Holiness Church but to call those whose sins
have been forgiven in the Lord. The Jews are to be called to their homeland in Israel
and the church to God. This is the rapture.

Jerusalem which was Trampled on by the Gentiles

When the trumpet blast is sounded, Jews who are scattered across the world will go
back to their home country. The church of God will be taken to meet the Lord in the
air. At this point, we need to study the past and the present of Jews.

When Jesus was alive, The Jews were under the Roman rule. During the period when
Israel was colonized by Rome, Jesus was born. Jews didn’t stop resisting the Roman
rule. The Emperor Nero sent Roman General Vespasian and his son Titus to Israel to
contain the rebellion. After that, Nero died.

When Vespasian came back to Rome, there were fierce fights over the throne. After
having defeated Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, Vespasian became the emperor. He
appointed his son Titus to the Roman General and sent him to Jerusalem again to
contain the rebellion. His son is the famous General Titus. Jesus had made a prophecy
that General Titus would destroy Jerusalem in A.D. 70. This story found in Luke 19:41.

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even
you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace ? but now it is hidden
from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an
embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will
dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave
one stone on another because you didn’t recognize the time of God’s coming to you.
(Luke 19:41~44)

When Jesus looked at Jerusalem, he predicted in detail what would happen and said,
“Your enemies will build an embankment against you.” Jerusalem is surrounded by
stones. The length of the stone fortress is nearly four kilometers and the size of it is
about three square kilometers. He predicted that Jerusalem would be encircled with
the embankment and the Jews’ enemies would dash the Israelites to the ground.

When General Titus tried to attack Jerusalem in 70 A.D., its gate was tightly closed
and it was difficult to attack the stoned wall. Titus therefore built the embankment to
envelop Jerusalem. He completely put Jerusalem under siege so that no one could get
in or out of it during the long period of time. The Romans caught Jews outside
Jerusalem and used battening rams to throw them to death against the wall instead of
rocks. They kept catching Jews outside of Jerusalem and dashed them to the wall.
While doing this, Titus threatened people inside to surrender.

What happened in Jerusalem as time passed by? They couldn’t hold out. Their food
ran out. With no food around, they started to eat children. This tragic incident took
place due to starvation. Jesus also predicted this. Let’s look at Luke 21:20.

When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know its desolation is
near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get
out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment
in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for
pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and
wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to
all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the time of the
Gentiles are fulfilled.
(Luke 21:20~24)

Jesus said that when armies encircled Jerusalem, they would know its fall was close.
He was talking about the complete fall of Israel. The Roman soldiers surrounded
Jerusalem on every side in 70 A.D.

Jerusalem, Completely Destroyed

Jesus said woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days. Why did they
suffer when the war broke out? He said it was the time of punishment for all that had
been written would be fulfilled. What kinds of punishments they would get is written in
the Old Testament. God told Jews this. Let’s look at Leviticus 26:14.

But If you will not listen to me and carry out all the commitments, and if you reject my
decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my
covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting
disease and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant
seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I’ll set my face against you so that you
will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will
flee even no one is pursuing you. “’If after all this you will not listen to me, I will
punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and
make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your
strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield crops, nor will the trees
of the land will yield their fruit. “’If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen
to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. I will send
wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle
and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted. “’If in spite of these
things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself
will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. And I will
bring the sword upon you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw
into your ruins, I will send a plague among you, you will be given into enemy hands.
When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake bread in one
oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat but you will not be
satisfied. “’If in spite of this, you will not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward
me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you; and I myself will punish you for
your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your
daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense alter and pile your
dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. I will turn your
cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the
pleasing aroma of your offerings. I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who
live there will be appalled. I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my
sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste and your cities will lie in ruins.
(Leviticus 26:14~33)

After the Israelites left Egypt and before they entered the land of the covenant, God
explained in detail what would happen to them. After they entered their land and lived
as the chosen people before Jesus was born, if they were to refuse to listen to God,
these are what they would go through. According to the prophecy, all the disasters
that are mentioned here would come one after the other and finally they would eat the
flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters and their land would be laid waste.

Since around 600 years before Jesus was born, Jews had been punished. For their first
punishment, they were taken as prisoners to Babylon. They suffered due to Babylon,
Media, Persia and Hellas. Their fourth punishment was suffering under the rule of
Rome. It is the fourth punishment that “they would eat the flesh of their sons and the
flesh of their daughters and their land would be laid waste.” As Jews kept refusing to
listen to God, at last they were to suffer the fourth disaster. Jesus predicted the
disaster that they would eat the flesh of their children as well.

“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know its desolation is
near.” It was too late to reverse the course. Before, when they had been taken as
prisoners, they had repented and they had been forgiven and a few more times, they
repeated the same mistakes but because they still didn’t listen to God, God said he
would destroy them completely. Jesus also said about the days of 70 A.D., “This is the
time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.” In other words, all the
disasters written in chapter 26 of Leviticus would be fulfilled as the time of
punishment.

While Titus was surrounding Jerusalem for a long time, what would happen to
pregnant women inside? People were waiting for the baby to be born to eat it. That’s
why Jesus said, “aoe to pregnant women and nursing mothers.” Jews were holding out
for around three years by eating their children but all were doomed. Jews were taken
as prisoners to Rome and Jerusalem was totally destroyed. Let’s look at Luke 19:43
again.

The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against
you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground,
you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another,(Luke
19:43~44)
Jesus predicted, “They will not leave one stone on another.” The temple in Jerusalem
was all made of stones. However, when the Roman soldiers demolished Jerusalem,
they heard the legend that gold devoted to the temple was hidden between the
stones. They took out all the stones one by one in order to take the gold. Jesus’
prediction was exactly right. They took to Rome even thegolden lampstand that had
been kept inside the Temple.

If you have a chance to go to Rome, visit the Collosseum. You will see an arch in front
of the Collosseum and that is Called the Arch of Titus. Titus defeated Jerusalem,
contained the rebellion and took all the treasures in the Temple to Rome. The relief on
the Arch of Titus shows people carrying the golden lampstand.

Titus succeeded his father as the Roman emperor and after that his half brother,
Domitian, became the emperor. He erected the Arch of Titus in commemoration of the
victory in Jerusalem.

On the arch, the image of taking golden lampstand out of the Temple is carved. If you
see this in Rome, you will realize how precise the Bible is.

Jews scattered across the world

If you look at the chapter 26 of Leviticus, there are four disasters; the first in verse 14,
the second in verse 21, the third in verse 23 and the fourth in verse 27.

If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me,
(Leviticus 26:27)
is the story of Jews taken to Rome. Let’s look at verse 31.

I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no
delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. (Leviticus 26:31)

Jerusalem was devastated, vessels inside the Temple were all destroyed, and the
temple was fallen in ruins. Jews were no longer able to burn incense in the Temple in
order to please God.

I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled; I will
scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land
will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. (Leviticus 26:32~33)

God predicted that the Jews would be scattered across the world and his sword would
pursue them. It means that God would pursue them to kill them. The sword had
followed them from 70 A.D. when they had been scattered until 1945, the end of the
Second World War. Hitler killed about 6 million Jews in gas chambers. When Jesus was
crucified, the Jews said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children.” They said that
let them and their children hold the responsibility for the death of Jesus.

Around 6 million Jews died during World WarⅡ. As seen by the prophecy, the sword
chased them. The Jews also had to live without their country for a long time. Now, the
Feast of Trumpet is drawing near. Let’s look at Jeremiah 30:2. God the following.
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have
spoken to you.The days are coming,’ declared the Lord. ‘When I’ll bring my people
Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave for their
forefathers to possess,’ says the Lord. (Jeremiah 30:2~3)

This is strange. God who had said he would scatter Jews to the nations said he would
bring them back to their land again. When? The Jews had scattered for 1,900 years
since 70 A.D. After having been scattered without their homeland, they became
independent on May 14, 1948.

Then let’s look at the history to see who had ruled the land of Israel for 1900 years.
You need to know the history in order to clearly understand the Bible. Right before
Israel became independent, Britain ruled the land. The land was under a Britain
trusteeship. Before Britain, Ottoman Turkey ruled there for around 400 years. First,
Rome ruled Israel. After Rome accepted Christianity as its national religion, which did a
favor to Israel a favor.

After Rome, Byzantium ruled Israel. During the Byzantine rule, Helena, the mother of
Constantine the Great, started to build churches in Jerusalem. It is the so-called
Byzantine culture. After that, Persia, which is now Iran, ruled. Then as Arab, Seljuk
Turks, the Crusader, the Mamluk, Turkey and then finally Britain ruled the land of
Israel, it went through more than ten different rules.

Independent Israel

The land of Israel is only 320 kilometers in length and 88 kilometers in wide. The size
of the land is only equal to South Gyeongsang Province and North Gyeongsang
Province of Korea combined. The land has many owners. But, juist as God had
prophesized, the land was returned to Israel on May 14, 1948. Let’s look at the
prophecy about that in Luke 21:19.

He told them this parable: ‘Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout
leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you
see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
(Luke 21:29~31)
This is what Jesus asked them to do. He told them to look at the fig tree and all the
trees. Each country has a national tree. It is the fig tree that symbolizes Israel. When
he told them to look at the fig tree and all the trees, he really meant that they should
look at Israel and all the other countries. Israel became independent on May 14, 1948.
When Israel became independent, there were only about 60 countries that were
independent across the world. Since the former US President Wilson declared the
principle of self-determination of peoples, an increasing number of countries have
become independent. Today, about 200 countries have joined the UN. Jesus said that
they should look at the fig tree and all the trees and when they sprout leaves and their
twigs get tender, they will see that summer is near and the kingdom of God is near.

What does “they sprout leaves” mean? It means that a country is born like sprouting
after about 1900-year gap. Israel that had been forgotten for about 1900 years
emerged on the world stage by achieving independence on May 14, 1948.

Let me explain the background of the independence of Israel. Britain had been ruling
the whole land of Israel for 30 years before May 14, 1948. The First World War was
waged by Britain and France who tried to take over the land from Ottoman Turkey.

While Britain was fighting against Ottoman Turkey, it called for a renowned chemist,
Dr. Wiseman, who was living in Britain, to help. Britain promised that if he helped it by
making a bomb, it would help Jews become an independent country. Dr. Wiseman
studied to extract acetone, a source of a bomb. He helped Britain to make a bomb by
extracting acetone from fermented corns. The British government thanked him and
after the end of the First World War, in 1917, the British Foreign Secretary Balfour
declared its promise. It is “the Balfour Declaration” under which Britain promised in
writing that it would help the Israelites to go back to their own land and found an
independent country.

However, soon after the end of the First World War, Britain became involved in the
Second World War. During the First World War, Britain fought against Ottoman Turkey
but this time, they had to fight against Germany. Britain was struggling in the war.
Therefore, it started to recruit armies from the Arabs. The situation at that time was
well reflected in the movie, Laurence of Arabia. The British government called for the
Arabs to help them fight against Germany. It also promised the Arabs in the “White
Paper” of 1939 that if the Arabs helped Britain to fight against Germany, it would help
the Arabs to create an Arab country as soon as the war was over.

How could Britain do this? It promised to help create an independent country on the
land for the Jews one time and then for Arabs. The two World Wars were over. When
Britain did not keep its promise to give the land to Jews, they waged a resistance
movement against Britain. A part of the movement was the King David Hotel
explosion. Britain couldn’t handle these conflicts anymore and referred Palestine to the
UN.
The UN organized the UN Special Committee on Palestine. The UN in charge of the
issue of Palestine made a decision over the Britain’s contradictory promises to both
sides like this.
“Let’s follow the wisdom of Solomon.”

What is the Wisdom of Solomon? As Solomon ordered to divide the baby into two, the
UN decided to give one half of the land to Israel and the other half to Palestine. Israel
accepted the decision and declared its independence on May 14, 1948. However,
Arabs rejected the offer saying, “What are you talking about? The whole land is ours.
We will not give even one plot of the land to Israel. We will not declare independence
with half of the land.

Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and other Arab countries attacked Israel on May 15. It
was the day after Israel won its independence. It is the independence war. Who won?
The population of Israel was only about 2.8 million. Arab countries had more than 100
million people. Who would win if the two fought? Surprisingly, Israel ended up taking
22% more of the land than it was promised because God was on the side of Israel.
Conflicts on the Middle East

The Arabs ground their teeth. Then in 1956, the Egyptian President Nasser imposed
blockade on the Gulf of Aqaba. This is the Second Middle East War. However, Israel
won again. After that, about 150 million Arabs attacked Israel again from all directions
at the same time. The third attack is called the 1967 Six-Day War.

At that time Nasser openly said in newspaper articles, “Even in the worst case
scenario, if 2.8 million Arabs sacrifice, we can purify this land. If 2.8 million Arabs out
of 150 million grab each Jew and jump into the Mediterranean the land i
s all ours.”

Who won the 1967 Six-Day War? The actual war only lasted three days. Israel had
obtained intelligence that Arabs would attack so Israel destroyed all Egyptian flights.
Israel won again and as a result, further expanded its territtory.
Israel took over Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank located in the west of the
Jordan River from Jordan. It also took over the east part of Jerusalem, the Gaza strip
which was the land of the Philistines next to the Mediterranean Sea, and the Sinai
Peninsular. However, it returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt under the Camp David
Accords of 1978 during the Carter Presidency. It didn’t return the rest of the four
areas. We call the areas the occupied territories.

We need to know this in order to understand the current Israel issues. The four
occupied territories are thorny issues. Begin, who was elected Israeli Prime Minister in
1978, incorporated the four territories into Israel. In principle, the border was not
supposed to be changed after the Second World War.

After the Second World War was over, the Helsinki Final Act was signed in order not to
change borders which had been determined after the war. So the occupied territories
Israel took in 1967 should have been returned. However, Israeli Prime Minister Begin
insisted that the territories were given by God and that the Old Testament said so, and
read the Bible at the ceremony to declare its incorporation of the land. Obadiah of the
Old Testament had been written around 650 years before Jesus was born. Look at
Obadiah 1:19

People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau.

The Negev Desert where Esau, the people of Edom had lived, fell into the hands of
Jews.

People from the foothills will occupy the lands of the Philistines

What we call the Gaza strip is the lands of the Philistines. It is the Gaza strip, the lands
of the Philistines where David fought against Goliath.

They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria

The land that Ephraim occupied was east of the Jordan River and it currently belongs
to Jordan, not Israel. The field of Samaria refers to the West Bank.
This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land
as far as Zarephath

Lebanon is located on the way up to Zarephath.

Prime Minister Begin insisted, “Look at the Bible. God told us to occupy the lands of
Philistines, the field of Samaria and others. Since God told us to do, the territories we
took in 1967 are our legitimate land. You had used the land without paying any money
to us. We will not collect any money from you but they are ours.”

Who is right? Does the land belong to the Arabs who have resided there for a long
time or does it belong to Jews? This issue is one of the most knotty issues in the
world.

The Return of the People of Israel

The number of Palestine Arabs who live in the four occupied territories is 1.75 million
while that of Jews is only around 70,000. Jews are still coming back from across the
world. For three years between 1991 and 1993, 350,000 Jews came back from Russia.
It is exactly as the Old Testament predicted. Let’s look at Isaiah 43:5

Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring you children from the east and gather
you from the west. I will say to the north. ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not
hold them back.’ Bring my sons afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth.
(Isaiah 43:5~6)

God said he would bring the Israelites back from across the world. Let’s see how he
brings them back not leaving any behind as he said in Ezekiel 39:28.

Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile
among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind.
(Ezekiel 39:28)
The number of Jews that currently live in their own land is about 5.6 million. The
number of Jews who live abroad is about 9 million. Can 15 million Jews live in this
small piece of land? If God brings all of them to the land, not leaving any behind the
total number of them would be around 15 million. Then how could they fit in this small
land? However, God is much wiser than us.

The Expansion of the Land of Israel

There are lands God promised Jews. Let’s look at Genesis 15:18.

On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham and said, ‘To your descendents I
give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18)

Before the Israelites existed in the world, God had called Abraham and had told him to
leave his country and his father’s house and to go to the land that God would show
him. When Abraham arrived at the land, God promised to give his descendents the
land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates. God promised the land
even before Abraham had any children. Let’s look at the size of the land.

God said that he would give Abraham’s descendents the land from the river of Egypt
on the Sinai Peninsula to the Euphrates River. Then the land includes Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, and Jordan. God promised this enormous land to the descendents of
Abraham. Let’s look at Deuteronomy 11:24.
Every place where you put your feet will be yours; Your territory will extend from the
desert to Lebanon,
These are the northern and southern borders. The land spans from the Negev Desert,
the wilderness to Lebanon. It means Lebanon will belong to the land of Israel.

from the Euphrates River to the western sea

These are the eastern and western borders. Here, ‘the western sea’ refers to the
Mediterranean Sea. It means the land of Israel will extend from the Euphrates River to
the Mediterranean Sea.

God promised the Israelites these in the Bible. So what would happen to this area?
There will be a series of wars. The situation is predicted in Isaiah 49:18.

Lift your eyes and look around; all your sons will gather and come to you. As surely as
I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on,
like a bride. Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste,
now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far
away. The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This
place is too small for us; give us more space to live in. (Isaiah 49:18~20)

The Bible said that Jews who live across the world will come back to their own land,
their children born during their bereavement will barely avoid the persecution of the
world, will come back to their own land and will say, ‘This place is too small for us give
us more space to live in.’ All the people who devoured and persecuted Jews will leave
and the land of Israel will be extended.
Compared with the size of the land at the time that Israel won independence, Israel is
much larger. Israel succeeded to take two times the size of land the UN had
designated. Let’s look at the chapter 26 of Isaiah.

You have enlarged the land, O Lord; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained
the glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land. (Isaiah 26:15)

It says that the borders of Israel will keep extending. It says that God will keep
enlarging the land. The purpose of God was originally found in these chosen people.
However, you don’t need to look further if you want to see proff that God is alive. You
don’t need to study somewhere else to see that what the Bible says is true.

The famous Prussian King Frederick asked his pastor of the royal court, “Prove that the
Bible is true.” He answered, “Your highness, one word is enough: Jews!” If you look at
the Jews’ past and present, you will see immediately that the Bible is true.
God did not abandon the Israelites forever: he is bringing them back again. Since his
words are alive, they are being fulfilled. Are his words powerful or not? Let’s see
whether or not his words are powerful. Raise your right hands. Put them down. Even
though I didn’t go to you and raise your hands with my hands, the word made all of
you here raise your hands. Is the word powerful? Do the words of God, creator of
heaven and earth, have power or not?

When God said, “I will gather you,” then he will gather all of you. The world now is
different from the world in the past. We are living in an age when the last part of his
prophecies is being fulfilled.

When the Last Trumpet Blast is Sounded

The Israelites call their coming back to their own land a miracle, but actually it is the
promise of God. By the time all of the Israelites come back to the land of Israel, the
trumpet blast from the heaven will be sounded and those who are saved will be raised
up in to the air. Think about the situation where all the Jews come back to their own
land and those who are saved are raised up into the air. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians
15:50.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor
does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery; We will not
all sleep, but we will all be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:50~52)

Chapter 3. Undeniable Truths

The Three Feasts related to Jesus’ Second Coming

Let’s read Leviticus 23:23.

The LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month
you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.
Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire.’ “The LORD
said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a
sacred assembly and deny yourselves, [a] and present an offering made to the LORD
by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement
is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that
day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who
does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting
ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a sabbath of rest for
you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month
until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.” The LORD said to Moses,
“Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Feast of
Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. The first day is a sacred assembly; do
no regular work. For seven days present offerings made to the LORD by fire, and on
the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the LORD by
fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work.
(Leviticus 23:23~36)

I already told you that the first four of the seven feasts were related to the spring time
harvest. They are related to Jesus’ First Coming, and the three feasts we have just
read are related to Jesus’ Second Coming. All three of these days are held in July. The
three feasts take place one after another.

First of all, the Feast of Trumpets, as mentioned before, is a sign calling all of the
saved believers in the world to join Christ in air. The Modern day Jews celebrate the
Feast of the Trumpets as their new year and call it “Rosh Hashanah.” First of July is
the Feast of the Trumpets and the 10th is the Day of Atonement. We are living in a
time when these three feasts are about to occur right before our eyes.

From July 1 to 9, the Jews take time to atone for their sins by seeking out every
person they have wronged against or owe debts to. The 10th is the Day of Atonement
when they deeply repent and confess before God. The Jews believe that if they do not
solve all of their grudges during the first nine days, God will not listen to their prayers
on the 10th, so they make sure to confess all of their sins before.

Afterwards, they observe the Feast of Tabernacles. The Jews lived in tents in the
desert. For 40 years, they could not live in proper houses. The Feast of Tabernacles
commemorates this time. I will tell you how these three feasts are related to what will
come in the future.

The Holy Spirit on Earth

The first four feasts we learned about before were events that took place after Jesus
came to earth. A history of 1900 years has passed since Jesus’ First Coming. Until now,
we have lived in a blessed time because we can receive forgiveness by believing that
Jesus died for us. The Holy Spirit came to us so that the believers could come together
and form a congregation.

In Genesis, there is a story of how Abraham sent a servant to his homeland Nahor to
find a wife for Isaac, his son. Abraham symbolizes the Holy Father God. And the
servant that was sent to his homeland to find a bride is a shadow of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit came to earth to find the Bride of Jesus Christ, God’s son. The Holy
Spirit is creating more churches. countless number of people all across the world have
been saved since the first 120 believers. Some of the saved were Jewish, some were
Gentiles. God has decided how many He will save from the Jews and Gentiles
respectively.
We are living at a time when the Holy Spirit is with us. We are able to realize what the
Words mean because the Holy Spirit is with us. The Holy Spirit enables us to believe
the Bible so that our sins may be forgiven. It is the Holy Spirit that decorates the
church, which is Christ’s Bride. Abraham’s servant Eliezer gave golden bracelets to
decorate Rebekah. Eliazer fully prepared Rebekah by adorning her with a nose ring
and bracelets to take her to Isaac.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit came to earth to prepare believers so that they can
join Jesus as His Bride at the wedding banquet in heaven. The Holy Spirit will take the
church, which is the group of saints, to heaven. As I told you before, I am not talking
specifically about a certain denomination or religious body. The Feast of Trumpets is a
feast in which all of the believers who have received true forgiveness of sin and have
become the body of Christ, will be lead by the Holy Spirit into heaven.

The Seven Years of Great Tribulation

What would take place after the Holy Spirit takes the Bride up? There would be a
wedding banquet with the bridegroom. There would be a wedding banquet in Heaven
between the Bride and the Only Son Jesus Christ. A wedding banquet will take place in
the air but earth will be covered with sin which can no longer be kept under control
because the Holy Spirit has left. The world will be overwhelmed with evil because the
Holy Spirit will have left. In addition, since all the believers have gone up, there will be
great distress on earth, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and
never to be equaled again.
Let’s make an assumption. Let’s say that a car is going down the highway at 100
km/hr when suddenly people are taken up to heaven. What would happen to the cars?
If a pilot or a believer working in a very important position was suddenly taken up into
heaven, catastrophes would take place on earth. While the wedding banquet for the
Lamb of God takes place in Heaven, there will be Great Tribulation on earth for seven
years.

During this time the Jews will realize belatedly that “the Jesus we killed before was
actually the Messiah. He is the One we were awaiting.” This is the period when the
Jews will realize that Jesus of Nazareth they killed was actually the Messiah and repent
of their sins. It is called the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement is for the Jews
who will be left on earth. It will be the last chance God gives them to repent and
receive forgiveness of sins.

The First Resurrection

After the Church has been caught up into the air and has completed their wedding
banquet with the Lord, they will come back with the Lord to the Mount of Olives
located east of Jerusalem. The resurrected saints will come back to the Mount of
Olives. And then Jesus will reign over the Thousand Year Kingdom. And after that, the
Day of Judgment will come.

The people who participate during the first resurrection are blessed but those who died
without receiving salvation cannot participate in the first resurrection. The people who
awaken during the second resurrection are awakening only to receive judgment. So
they will go to eternal hell after their resurrection. Afterwards, a new heaven and earth
will come. Let’s look at Luke 21:34.

Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the
anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will
come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch,
and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may
be able to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34~36)
The seven years of Great Tribulation will begin without warning. It will happen
suddenly like a trap that suddenly captures a beast; so nobody will be able to escape
it. Rapture, too, will happen suddenly with the blast of trumpets. Then, all of the saints
will be caught up to heaven.

There is no time to prepare for the tribulation because it comes without warning.
Then, when should we prepare for it? The day is still to come. It will come catch us by
surprise if our hearts are weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the
anxieties of life. The verses we’ve just read are a warning that the day will surely come
and affect everyone. So we need to be prepared if we want to stand before the Son of
Man as the Bride. God gave us this warning because he really cares about us. There is
only one way for my heart to be at rest even if the trumpets are blown tonight. My
heart will be at rest if God knows me and I know him too. Then I will know that even if
others do not know him, I do, and that I will be taken up to the Lord.

The Holy Spirit and the Antichrist

Let’s take a look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the
rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to
destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or
is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be
God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper
time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now
holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians
2:3~7)

The Scripture says that the Antichrist is trying to come out but there is one that is
holding him back. It is the Holy Spirit. As long as the Holy Spirit is on earth, the
Antichrist cannot fully work. We will read the next verse.

For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it
back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will
be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and
destroy by the splendor of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8)

The Holy Spirit is holding back the Antichrist right now but when it is time for the
church to be led to God, the Holy Spirit will also go up. The Antichrist is the
impersonation of Satan. Satan will appear on earth in the shape of a human being. He
will appear when the Holy Spirit is not present on earth. Even now the Antichrist is
already at work but it has not revealed itself yet because of the one holding it back.

A Mark on His Right Hand or on His Forehead

What will happen when the Holy Spirit leaves? The world will be taken over by the
Antichrist. This world is described in detail in the Scripture. Let’s take a look at
Revelation 13:15.

He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could
speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced
everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right
hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark,
which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If
anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number.
His number is 666. (Revelation 13:15~18)

Apostle John received this revelation around 96 A.D. So, it was 1900 years ago.
Everyone, small and great will receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead and
that number will be 666. Apostle John saw 1900 years ago that the people without this
mark could not buy or sell. For the past 1900 years people were very curious as to
what the number 666 meant. But people could not find out the meaning of this
number. They could not know because this number had not appeared yet. However,
on the verge of entering the 21st century people are slowly beginning to realize what
the number was.
I met many times with computer experts to find out what the number means. And
here is what I found out. The computer works on a binary scale. So there are only two
numbers used: 0 and 1. The computer computes everything with these two numbers.
Nowadays, we have what is called “barcode” on products. The “code” is actually a
series of numbers. So it means that it is a “bar of numbers.” There is a basic pattern
for this barcode. The number 6 is in the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Here is a material that shows how far Apostle John’s revelations have come true today.
The picture here shows a thumb and a small chip on the thumb. These are called
biochips. They are made of glass on the outside and inside are an antenna coil and
microchip. This is a real picture. These chips are about 1 cm long. Some may be 2 cm
long and smaller ones can even be 0.5 cm long. These chips are being used on
animals.

In California, where I used to live, a law was legislated to have all pets have these
biochips inserted in their bodies. You can insert these chips with a needle and then
scan it. When you scan the code, you instantly get all the information on the animal.
You get the information on who the owner is, when the pet got its vaccination and so
on. This barcode was created to stop people from abandoning their pets. Americans
really love pets but when they go on vacation, they cannot find anyone to take care of
their pets, so many owners abandon their pets in the streets and highways. There are
many pets that are run over on the highway. So that is why the Californian officials
devised a way to find out who the pet’s owner is. The actual biochip is 1-2 cm long
and there are smaller chips for smaller pets. So, this is something that is already
happening.

In 1991, after the Gulf War broke out, these chips became even smaller. It became
less than 5 mm long and 0.7 mm high, about as small as a pinhead. These chips were
supposedly inserted into soldiers with special missions.

There was an event during an American conflict with Iran where many American
soldiers were kidnapped. More soldiers were sent out into the desert to look for these
soldiers but their helicopter crashed. In cases like these, if there had been chips
inserted into the soldiers, it would have been easier to track them. It was for these
cases that the chips were made smaller and supposedly inserted into people’s bodies.

Preconditions that Must Come True to Receive the Mark

According to an American college professor who studies computer engineering, a few

conditions must be first met to insert a chip inside humans.

First, there needs to be a Personal Communication System (PCS). This system would
give each person a number.

Currently, the telephone system that we are using has telephone lines that come all
the way inside homes. However, the PCS is wireless, so even if a person moves to a
different city, his number would not change. You can even take your cell phones to a
different country and use it there. If you receive a number, you get to use this number
until the day you die and wherever you go. The PCS makes all of this possible. We are
soon going to be using videophones. The phones will allow you not only to
communicate through video but also to even track down a person through the GPS
system. And there are functions that connect phones with fax machines, allowing the
transmission of information.

There is a project called the Iridium Project which is an important part of the PCS.
Iridium is the element on the periodic table with the atomic number 77. It is of the
platinum family. The Iridium satellite system is a communication network that covers
the whole earth, including wilderness and deserts. The project was called Iridium
project because the system was projected to need 77 active communication satellites
orbiting around the earth.

However, only 66 satellites were actually needed. Motorola, which is led this project,
had planned to launch all 66 satellites by 1987 but they have only launched 46 so far.
Including six spare satellites in orbit and on the ground, there are a total of 72
satellites. So after June, Motorola will have a network system that can cover the whole
earth.

Satellites are usually launched around 35,000 km into the air. The farther the satellites
are launched, the more expensive it becomes. The satellites Motorola is launching are
low earth orbit satellites. They are very close to earth compared to other satellites.
These satellites cover the whole earth. PCS communications services will start once all
the satellites are launched into orbit. In the case of Korea, this service will become
available to us at the end of this year (as of 1998 this year).

Phones are going to be very convenient to use in the future. There are many people
who do not know how to use public telephones when traveling in foreign countries.
They don’t understand the foreign language that comes out of the receiver. But now
people can just take their own phones abroad and use it. And the phones can even
track down people’s locations for you.
Another thing that must come first for chips to be inserted into human beings is digital
cash. Until now, we have used plastic cards for credit cards. However, credit cards can
be lost and there are card thefts as well card frauds. To prevent this, there is a plan to
create identification numbers and use them as credit. A person can have his own
number which contains all of his financial information. This is on the verge of
becoming a reality. With a personal identification number, people can check how much
money they have left in their accounts. But because these numbers can be lost or
forgotten, or can be used by others, they will be inserted into people’s bodies.

When, all of the above conditions are fulfilled, all that will remain to be done is to
insert the chips into our bodies. Currently, the technology to insert watches into
people’s body has already been developed in Australia. A digital watch can be inserted
under humans’ bodies. It is not like the watch that we see on our wrists, but this
watch can be inserted into any part of the body we want. It is supposed to take less
than two years for all of the above conditions to be fulfilled worldwide.

So, which period do you think Apostle John was looking into? It was exactly the period
that we are living in. All of these phenomena have to do with the number 666 and
computers. When personal identification numbers become a reality, we will be
identified by the number the country, city and town we live in. These things will
become a reality in the 21st century.

The World is Becoming Integrated

We are living in the process of the world becoming one. After World WarⅡ, the world
was divided into two, according to ideologies. Countries were divided into either
communist or capitalist countries. However, after the communist countries fell,
countries no longer had lasting enemies or allies. Countries like the USSR or China,
which were considered to be enemy states to South Korea, are now our friends. As
long as they import a lot of our products, they are considered to be friendly countries.
On the other hand, countries that do not buy many of our products are considered
enemies. Friend and enemy states are determined by their economic ties with
countries. Ideological differences no longer exist. This is how the world is becoming
one.

One of the biggest integrations that took place was that of Europe. Nowadays, it does
not really matter how many countries have become UN members. Europe has become
one, and Canada, the United States, and Mexico have become one economically, too.
Asia too will be integrated into two or three big regions.

Starting from 1999, Europe also began using an integrated currency. This currency is
called the euro. This will go into effect starting in 2001. Previous European currencies
like the mark, franc, and lira have been integrated into one currency. You should know
why the world is becoming one. And you should also know what will happen during the
seven years of tribulation.

If You Do Not Receive the Mark

Let’s take a look at Revelation 14:9.

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast
and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will
drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his
wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and
of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest
day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who
receives the mark of his name.
(Revelation 14:9~11)

When the trumpets are sounded, those who have been saved will be caught up into
the air, but those who are left behind will not be able to live without the 666 mark.
Even if they go to purchase things their money will not be accepted. Would you be
able to survive without buying anything? You need to have that number to buy milk for
your child because only those with the mark can buy and sell. However, if you receive
this mark, you will be tormented with eternal fire.
Apostle John saw through the revelation that those who were left behind after the
rapture suffered immensely. The mark of the beast is Satan’s mark which means that
“You are mine.” This is not something that I am making up, but what the Apostle John
saw through God’s revelation 1900 years ago.

It has been 1900 years since Revelation, the last book in the Bible, was written.
However, during those 1900 years, have you ever heard that that Bible was going to
be rewritten because it did not correspond to current scientific discoveries? It is
amazing that this has never happened. The world thinks that the PCS is a great idea
but it is only a method to integrate the world into one. The PCS numbers will be
inserted into the main computers across the world. The end of the world is much
closer than you think it is.

Israel’s Land will be Recovered

There will be war during the Great Tribulation. The Bible describes this war in two
ways: one of them is the war described in Ezekiel chapter 38 and the other is
Armageddon described in Revelation chapter 16. I do not know how long this war will
last but I think that one will take place after another. First, let us take a look at Ezekiel
36:1.

Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear
the word of the LORD. (Ezekiel 36:1)

Isn’t this a strange verse? How can mountains listen to God’s words if they do not
have ears? Everything on earth has been created by God so nature follows God’s rules.
This is how we have four seasons. Whether it is the mountains, land, or sea, they all
move according to God’s orders. Israel’s land was originally a land of milk and honey.
When Israel first came out of Egypt, God told them that He would lead them to the
land of milk and honey. When they first entered that land, the sheep had so much
grass to feed on that they were overflowing with milk. There was wild honey
everywhere and the land was fertile. However, when the Israelites continued to betray
God and live in their own ways, God started punishing them. That is why they became
prisoners of war as the prophet Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 5:3.

Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my
vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I
am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I
will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither
pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the
clouds not to rain on it.” The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and
the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw
bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. (Isaiah 5:3~7)

God planted the Israelites on the Land of promise but they did not live according to his
will and rebelled and disobeyed him. So God ordered the clouds to stop raining and the
land became a wasteland. It was a complete wasteland until Israel declared its
independence in 1948.
I visited Israel three times, once in 1986, 1990, and 1993; it was very different every
time I visited. The people of Israel took good care of their land and made it fertile.
When you walk along the Mediterranean beach, there were orange trees on both sides
of the road. There are six million orange trees. They were planted to commemorate
the six million Jewish people who lost their lives during the Holocaust. During the
weekends, many Germans and other Europeans come visit and pick the oranges as a
symbol of repenting of their ancestors’ sins. The oranges are branded with its origin
and exported across Europe.

Currently, even Israel’s weather has changed. God prophesied in the book of Ezekiel
that He would recover the land of Israel before the Israelites returned. Let us take
another look at Ezekiel 36:8.

But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel,
for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor;
you will be plowed and sown, 10 and I will multiply the number of people upon you,
even the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
(Ezekiel 36:8~10)

The Bible says that the people of Israel will inhabit towns and rebuild ruins. This is
happening today. Engineers are building dozens of houses in the desert today. They
are building prefabricated houses imported from Atlanta. They are building these
houses in what was once a wasteland because there are 2 ~ 300,000 immigrants
coming in every year. From all across the world are gathering in Israel to fulfill the
promise in the Bible. Ezekiel chapter 36 was written 2,600 years ago and says that
when all of the Israelites have returned to their land, the land of Israel would be
recovered.

Hordes Will Attack Israel

Ezekiel chapter 37 records how the people of Israel will revive and chapter 38 writes
about what will happen after the Israelites have returned to their land. The content in
chapter 38 has not taken place yet, but it will soon. You should pay close attention to
this part of the Bible to recognize it when it comes out in the news. Here is Ezekiel
38:1.

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the
land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say:
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of
Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out
with your whole army?your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with
large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will
be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth
Togarmah from the far north with all its troops?the many nations with you. “‘Get
ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of
them. After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a
land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to
the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out
from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the
many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud
covering the land. (Ezekiel 38:1-9)

In chapter 36, God prophesies how the Israelites will gather in their land once again.
And in chapter 37, He explains how the Jewish people, scattered across the world, will
come together and form a country like dried bones and muscles form a body. And it is
during this time, when the Jewish people are either entering Israel, or have already
entered, that war will take place. The Scripture has very specific details including
which country will attack first. About the time when Israelites settle in their land, a
horde of people will appear and attack them. Let us see what will happen. Here is
verse 1.

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the
land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him.

Magog was one of the sons of Japheth. Magog used to live in what is today’s Russia.
The Scripture mentions the chief prince of Meschech and Tubal. If you have an
encyclopedia at home, try looking up Rosh or Meshech. It will say that Rosh is Russia’s
old name. Russia used to be called Rosh in the past. If you look up Meschech in the
encyclopedia, you will find that it is Moscow. Tubal is a region in Russia called
“Tobolsk.” The Bible says that these forces will attack Israel.

Allies of the former Soviet Union

Let us take another look at verse 3.

and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince
of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you
out with your whole army?your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde
with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords.

Russia will not attack alone. In 1991, the United States went to war against Iraq with
multinational allies. The United States attacked Iraq with the allies because if they
attacked alone, they would be criticized by the world. So, it forced all of its allies to
either send armies or at least send financial assistance. South Korea had to pay 3
billion dollars. Japan, also had to pay 10 billion dollars. Like this, Russia will also
probably not attack alone.

Persia will also attack Israel. Persia is today’s Iran. Iran changed its state name from
Persia to Iran in 1935. This means that when Russia attacks Israel, it will join forces
with Israel’s old enemy Persia. Russia will call upon its allies just as the United States
called upon its allies.

Next, the Bible mentions Cush. Cush is Ethiopia and it is right below Egypt. Ethiopia
used to be pro-American.

In 1973, Emperor Haile Selassie came to Korea at the invitation of President Park
Chung-hee. At that time, Cush was pro-American, so when I read the Bible, I was
puzzled as to why this country would follow Russia into war. However, Emperor Haile
Selassie was exiled afterwards. A socialist revolution took place. Currently, monarchy
does not exist in Ethiopia anymore, and the country has become socialist.

Iran was also pro-American when King Pahlavi headed the state. The United States
was able to exert influence throughout the Middle East through Iran. All of the
American military bases are in Iran. Iran was not part of the Arab block then.
However, after Pahlavi was ousted, Khomeini came in his place. And he took the side
of the former Soviet Union and turned Iran into a socialist country. That is how Iran
and the United States became enemy states. Before this incident took place, I
wondered why Iran would take the side of the former Soviet Union.

Put is today’s Libya. Libya is a state situated on the left of Egypt. Libya’s Kadafi is one
of the staunchest allies of the former Soviet Union.

Gomer is Germany. After Germany was united, it forged military allies with the former
Soviet Union. It is amazing how God prophesied 2600 years ago that Israel would be
attacked by the former Soviet Union and the above mentioned countries after the
people of Israel returned to their land. A person could not have prophesied this
because it would have been impossible to guess how each country’s situation would
change over the years. However, during our lifetime, Iran has changed, and so has
Cush, and they both took the former Soviet Union’s side. Now, they only need to
attack Israel. Let us look at verse 8.

After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that
has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the
mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate.

We have heard about the end of days since when we were young. There are some
people who make fun of believers because the end has not come yet. But the end of
the world can mean both the span of the last century and the actual last year. It is just
like January as well as December belonging in the same year. There is a last year. This
is the period the Bible mentions.

Verse 8 says, “a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from
many nations.” This means that it will be a time when a large number of Jewish people
have returned to their land, rather than after they have completed returning. The
Jewish people will still be in the process of returning to their land.

The part that says, “They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them
live in safety” means that the Jewish people that had been scattered across the world
will return to their homeland.

Verse 9 records “You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up,
advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.” This means that a
great horde will attack Israel.

Verse 10 says, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come
into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, “I will invade a land of
unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people-all of them living
without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand
against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock
and goods, living at the center of the land. (Ezekiel 38:10~12)

Where is the center of the land? On the first day of this program we learned that the
Mediterranean Sea was the center of the land. The Bible calls the Israelites “the people
living at the center of the land.”

The End of Former Soviet Union

The Bible even explains what will happen when the war ends. Let’s read from verse
15.

You will come from your place in the far north (this is talking about the former Soviet
Union), you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a
mighty army. You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the
land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations
may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezekiel 38:15-
16)

God will lead non believers so that people may believe that He is alive. Next, let’s read
verse 17.

‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days
by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I
would bring you against them. This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks
the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my
zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the
land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every
creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will
tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and
every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my
mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man’s sword will be against his
brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour
down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on
the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I
will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am
the LORD.’
(Ezekiel 38:17~23)

Gog will attack Israel and be completely destroyed. God will pour his wrath upon all
the non-believers after he has gathered them into one place. Chapter 37 explains the
end of the war. The war, recorded 2,600 years ago, gives a very accurate explanation
of the nuclear weapon by comparing it to big hailstones and sulfur. This means that
Israel will have a conflict with Russia and use its nuclear weapon. Let us see how this
war will end in chapter 39, verse 11.

‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel
east toward the Sea. (Ezekiel 39:11)

Gog is referring to the former Soviet Union and its allies, and God is saying that he will
make a burial place for them.

The Result of the Nuclear War

Let us look at verse 11 and on.

It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there.
So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog. “‘For seven months the house of Israel
will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury
them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the
Sovereign LORD. “‘Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go
throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the
ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they go
through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside
it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. (Also a town called
Hamonah will be there.) And so they will cleanse the land.’ (Ezekiel 39:11~16)

It was not easy to understand this part at first. The Bible says that the land will be
cleansed for seven months. And it says that when a searcher sees a bone, he will mark
it so that other people might come to bury it. According to a nuclear scientist, this
description is a very accurate description of what will happen after a nuclear
contamination.

Ten years ago, there was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Many people
died because of this accident but the dead could not be pulled out immediately
because of radioactive contamination. Massive radioactivity had been released into the
environment and people could become contaminated just by coming into contact with
dead bodies. So, only specially trained people wearing protective outfits could go into
the area and retrieve bodies. The Scripture mentions seven months of cleansing. It
actually takes at least six months for the radioactivity to be cleared. Until then, the
bodies would be contaminated by radioactivity and it would be dangerous to touch
them. So, the passerby would only mark the place of the bodies so that it could be
retrieved later on by the right experts.
The Bible, written 2,600 years ago, is describing what will happen after a nuclear war.
This is without doubt a nuclear war. Everything will be destroyed when the nuclear war
takes place.

Armageddon

Afterwards, forces from the East attack Israel. The Bible calls this the Armageddon.
Revelation 16:12.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was
dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits
that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of
the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons
performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to
gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. “Behold, I come like a
thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may
not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” Then they gathered the kings together to
the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
(Revelation 16:12~16)

The Bible talks about kings coming from the East. Let us read chapter 9, from verse
13.

The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of
the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
“Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four
angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were
released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two
hundred million. I heard their number. (Revelation 9:13-16)

The kings will come from east of the river Euphrates. It says that their numbers will be
a great two hundred million. Considering the large number, they it must be from
China. A great number of people will come together and plan to destroy Israel.

The Scripture says that the river Euphrates will dry up. The river Euphrates originates
from Turkey and flows through Iraq. This river flows through the territory of Iraq but
Turkey built a major dam called Ataturk dam and stopped the river from flowing to
Iraq. Three countries including Syria, Iraq, and Turkey have currently taken their
dispute over this river to the UN. They are disputing that if Turkey stops the river from
flowing, other countries will not have enough water resources. So, this is how the river
Euphrates will dry up. An army of two hundred million would not be able to take an
airplane or car. They would have to march on foot.

The Bible says that this will be the last world. I have been to the place called
Armageddon. It is a region around the Mediterranean Sea. There are mountain ranges
on both sides and a large plain in the middle. Currently it is called the Plain of
Esdraelon and Meggido hill. This region has had a great significance since a long time
ago because the Romans needed to pass through this village after getting off at the
Haifa harbor in order to attack Jerusalem. Historically, this is the valley where the most
blood was shed.

Anybody who wants to attack Jerusalem must pass through this plain. The book of
Revelation says that there will be so much blood shed that later the blood will come up
to the horses’ hooves. These are all things that will happen during the Great
Tribulation.

We think that the Great Tribulation will be divided into two parts and that Armageddon
will take place during the second half of the tribulation. The believers will go up into
the Heavens and witness this war. However, the people who are left behind will
experience tragedy. It will be a great tragedy to be left behind during the rapture.

There might be some of you who listen to this sermon and think, “Is this true? Will this
really happen?” If this story had been made up, I would not be able to tell it to you
with so much confidence. It is God the Creator, who wrote about these things in the
Bible. It says in the Bible that “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man,
that he should change his mind.”(Numbers 23:19) God does not lie. It also says that
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”(Mark 13:31)
God, who is everlasting, has already given you his warning.

Jesus’ Second Coming

The Feast of Trumpets is related to rapture. What will happen to the Jewish people
during this time? Even if their population is 15 million, they would now be able to win
against an enemy of 200 million. Let us take a look at Zechariah 14:1 to see what will
happen.

A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will
gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the
houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest
of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight
against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand
on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two
from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and
half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You
will flee as you fled from the earthquake [a] in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then
the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. (Zechariah 14:1~5)

This passage describes how Israel will become involved in the last war. Zechariah
chapter 14 is talking about the Armageddon. All the nations will gather in Jerusalem to
fight against it. The city will be captured, women raped and half of the people will go
into exile. Amidst all of this, God will appear on the Mount of Olives. He will not come
alone, but with all the holy ones who had been raptured and those who have been
resurrected.
This is what the Bible says, but some churches in Korea claimed that God would
appear on Samgak Mountain in Seoul. So they wore white clothes and went there to
wait. They said that the Korea was the spiritual Jerusalem. But this is not true. Jesus
ascended to Heaven from the Mount of Olives in Israel. This is what it says in Acts
chapter 1.

Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same
Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you
have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)

The angels said that he will come back in the same way the disciples saw him go. This
means that he went up the Mount of Olives and will come back the same way. But
some people have interpreted it too far and are making false claims that he is coming
to Korea.

Atonement for the Jewish People

Let us read Zechariah 12:10.

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of
grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will
mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one
grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the
weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by
itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives,
the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their
wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.
Chapter 13:1 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. (Zechariah
12:10~13:1)

It says in the Scripture that on that day, they will be mourning and cleansing of sins.
During the Great Tribulation, the rest of the Jewish people will come to know Jesus.
They will realize that the Jesus they killed was actually the Messiah and will mourn and
repent. This is the Day of Atonement. The seven years of Great Tribulation that follow
the Feast of the Trumpets is a time for the Jewish people to realize their sins and
return to God. And then, the second coming will take place. When the Lord comes
again, will there be a single person who dares to meet him with his head held up high?

The Thousand Year Kingdom

Let’s look at Revelation 20:1.

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and
holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is
the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss,
and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore
until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. I
saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I
saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus
and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and
had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until
the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are
those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over
them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a
thousand years. (Revelation 20:1~6)

The believers who had taken part in the rapture and those that participated in the first
resurrection will reign with Christ for a thousand years. During this time the devil will
be bound to the Abyss. But he will be set free for a short time. Why is this?

There is only one reason. There will be some people who somehow survived the Great
Tribulation. These people will enter the Thousand Year kingdom with their own bodies.
Then, they will experience death. However, life in the Thousand Year kingdom will be
just like before Noah’s flood, where people lived for a very long time. The Bible says
that whoever dies before reaching a hundred are cursed, so whoever enters the
Thousand Year kingdom will live for a very long time.

The people who participate in the first resurrection will not experience another death.
However, those who survive the Greant Tribulation to enter the Thousand Year
Kingdom will be tempted for the last time by Satan.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Now to Revelation 20:11.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled
from his presence, and there was no place for them. (Revelation 20:11)

The Bible says that after the Lord’s reign, the earth and sky will disappear. Let’s also
read from 2 Peter 3:6.

By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same
word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of
judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear
friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a
day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar;
the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid
bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to
be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and
speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and
the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking
forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. (2 Peter
3:6~13)

Nowadays, we do not use the word “element” very often. This is the same element as
the ones on the periodic table. Since all of the elements are going to be destroyed by
fire, it means that heaven and earth will disappear. A new heaven and earth will come
with the day of judgment. Let us see in Revelation 20:11 what will happen on this day.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled
from his presence, and there was no place for them. (Revelation 20:11)

Eternal Hell

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were
opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged
according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead
that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each
person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was
not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation
20:12~15)

The Scripture is describing eternal hell. Some people joke that “I will not go to hell by
myself. I will take some friends a long.” But hell is not a place where you can see your
friends. The Bible says that hell is pitch black. You cannot see anything. Try going to a
completely dark place. How do you feel? The Bible clearly says that there is total
darkness prepared for the sinners. And do you think that the fires of hell will be about
as warm as the fireplace? It is not like that.
Even the people who are going to hell will be resurrected. This is called the second
resurrection, the resurrection of judgment. But they will enter a fire where not even
the maggots die. I am not saying this just to scare you. Originally, God did not create
hell to send people to it. It says in Matthew 25:41.

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

God created hell to bind the fallen angels and the Devil. However, many people have
followed the ways of the fallen angels and committed sins. People are going to hell
because they have been taken advantage of by the fallen angels and evil spirits

The Fallen Angel

Let us see how Satan was created in the first place. We need to know about Satan to
understand the last judgment. Let’s read Isaiah 14:12.

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been
cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I
will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit
enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I
will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But
you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12~15)
There was an eternal world before man and earth were created. We cannot know for
sure when this was. But reading through the Bible, we can tell that angels were
created before man and earth and that there was a hierarchical structure. There were
archangels and lower ranking angles. There was an archangel called the “son of the
dawn.”

There were several archangels. Gabriel and Michael were also archangels. Of them,
the morning star (also called Lucifer) was very bright and wise. He thought to himself,
“Why do I have to take orders from God? I will raise my throne and make myself like
the Most High.” Isaiah chapter 14 records this rebellion.

Lucifer, the morning star, did not rebel by himself, but also led the angels under him.
When we talk about Satan, we are referring to this morning star. He is the devil. It is
not dead people who become demons. Demons are the angels that followed Lucifer in
his rebellion. So, if someone says that their dead ancestor spoke to them, they are not
telling the truth. These demons are fallen angels. And God created hell to bind them.

Man Falls into the Satan’s Will

God ousted the fallen angels and they were sent to the kingdom of the air. They were
sent from God’s throne and ruled the kingdom of air. Let us take a look at Ephesians
2:1.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live
when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
(Ephesians 2:1~2)

Satan is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. He encourages those who are disobedient
and makes them disobey further. You have to think carefully about what I am saying.
Satan is in the air. If you look at Genesis chapter 1, it is written that God created the
expanse of the sky on the second day. But it does not say that that He saw that it was
good. All the other days of creation says that He saw that the creations were good. On
some days, it is even written twice. It is because, Satan, an outcast, had already taken
rule of the kingdom of air. God would not have been happy with this. That is why He
told Adam to rule the earth, to keep it well, and protect it. However, Adam, our
ancestor, gave the reign over to Satan. Let us see how Adam gave up his rule over
earth.

Before mankind was created on earth, there was only one will in the whole universe.
And that will was of God. However, after God created the angels and Lucifer disobeyed
him, a second will was created ? that of Satan. Lucifer uses the word “I” five times as
he says he will raise his throne, make himself like the Most High, that he will raise
himself above the clouds. Originally, there was only God’s will. However, Satan came
up with his own will before the creation of the earth.

Afterwards, the earth was created and God put man in charge of the Garden of Eden.
He told man that he was to rule over the land and protect it. God’s will was passed on
to man. God also told Adam “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you
must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it
you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16~17) However, Satan appeared before Eve and
tempted her to eat from the tree saying “Why did God tell you not eat this fruit? Eat,
and you will become like God.”

Satan was the first one who had planned to become like God. However, he had failed
in his mission. So, he tried to achieve his ambitions through mankind. If man
disobeyed God’s will and followed Satan’s will, Satan would be able to fulfill his dream
of becoming like God.

So, a third will appeared. It was man’s will. Man stands between God and Satan and
has to decide which way to follow. Because man has his own will, he can choose which
way to go. Man sins not because Satan orders him to, but out of his own will. Adam
stood between God and Satan and thought that rather than obey God, it would be
better to become like God. So he did as Satan taught him to. And in the process, he
created man’s will.

This is how three wills were created. God’s will and Satan’s will and man’s will in
between the two. Man followed Satan’s will and surrendered to him. Then, he could
not even lift his face before God because of fear and shame. Luke 4:5 writes about
what Satan told man.

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of
the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it
has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. (Luke 4:5~6)
The devil said that the world belongs to him. Who gave the world to Satan? It was
Adam. Adam did not heed God’s command to “rule over the land” and gave his rights
to the devil. That is how the devil took over the rule of the earth and said “it has been
given to me.”

The World Belongs to Satan

To whom does the world belong? It belongs to Satan. The Bible says that Satan is the
ruler of the earth. It is because man gave his right to rule over the world to Satan. As
a result, the devil is able to make more people disobey God.

A society is made up of many families. And there are leaders within a society. But
some people rise up against the leaders saying that they are better and disobey the
rules of law, and they change the leaders. It is Satan that makes people disobedient
and rebellious. However, these are the same societies that make up a country. Before,
people could not say anything against their kings, but now, people are constantly
complaining about their presidents and changing them.

It says in the Bible, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
(Ephesians 2:2)

People continue to disobey their leaders because they want to become king
themselves. And one of those people will ultimately becoming king. Then these nations
will come together and form an empire. An emperor will be born. And the emperor will
start calling himself god as all emperors do. Rome’s Caesar made the Romans call him
a god too.
World Integration and the Antichrist

When many nations come together, there is always a person who claims to be the
leader and god. So, in all of the empires throughout history, there was a leader who
made people worship him like a god. Japan’s emperor thought that he was a god too.
What do they mean when they call themselves god? They are saying that they are the
almighty God. The devil instigates people to become disobedient and to claim
themselves as god. But who is making them say this? We can trace it back to when
Satan first disobeyed God. The devil is going to integrate the world into one and claim
himself king in the end. This is the Antichrist.

The world is becoming integrated into one. Europe has been integrated and in the
future the world will become one too. A king will come out of here, which is the
Antichrist. On the outside he will pretend to be holy and to be a Christian, but in reality
he will be the devil who opposes God. The devil will not give up his ambition to “raise
[his] throne above the stars of God” and will continue to instigate people to integrate
the world into one.

And do you know where the devil will proclaim himself to be god? It says in 2
Thessalonians chapter 2 that it will be in God’s temple. In this passage, Satan thinks
that his initial plan has finally succeeded, that he has created a world government and
given the mark of the number to all the people, making himself the leader. He will
disobey God for the last time saying “This land was given to me. This is my nation. I
am king of the world now.”

Lord’s Land Recovered

But his rebellion will end in failure. The world might be becoming integrated into one
country and the devil might be behind it, but whose land was this originally? It was
God’s land given to Adam. That is why God will recover this land. He will call His
believers and give the Thousand Year Kingdom for them to reign. It says in Revelation
5:9.

And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every
tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and
priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:9~10)

Next, let us look at chapter 11, verse 15.

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which
said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his
Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

Since the time of Genesis, man has sinned. And the greatest sin, which is to be
independent from God, continues to be seen today in the from of global integation.
One day, a leader will come; the Antichrist. He will perform miracles and call himself
the Christ. “Christ” means the one anointed by God. But a person that has been
anointed by the devil will claim to be the Christ and reign over the world.
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and
he will reign for ever and ever.”

Satan will try to unite all the nations and say that they were “given to him” and he will
build a temple in Jerusalem. But the day that he claims to be God will also be the day
of Jesus’ Second Coming. The Bible says “the kingdom of the world has become the
kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” so who’s kingdom will it ultimately become? The
devil will be destroyed and Jesus, the original Lord, will reign. Let us look at 1
Corinthians 15:20.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have
fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes
also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each
in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he
has destroyed all dominion, authority and power
(1 Corinthians 15:20~24).

The Lord will come and reclaim His kingdom and reign with all those who belong to
Him. Just as God ordered Adam to rule over the earth, the Lord will command the
same to all those who belong to Him. And He will hand over the kingdom to God the
Father when we are resurrected. This is how God’s history will happen. History is not
meaningless.

And it is for this purpose of giving land back to his loved ones, that God has sent Jesus
to earth. God is calling the believers by spreading the Gospel. He is creating his
Kingdom here. God will reign over the Kingdom of the Heaven. And whether you will
enter that kingdom or not depends on whether or not you believe this Gospel.

The Lord will come and build his kingdom on earth. He had commanded Adam to rule
it, but Adam handed over the reign to Satan. God’s history has been about trying to
recover that right and returning it to Adam’s descendants. When this work is
completed, history will come to an end. History is not created by humans. History is a
fulfillment God’s plans.

The Opportunity to Enter God’s Kingdom

Why did God send you into this world? He has given you the chance to listen to the
Gospel and be saved so that you can enter his Kingdom. You have been presented a
very important choice while listening to the Gospel right now.

You can choose to believe and be saved. If you are saved, even if you die before
Jesus’ coming you will still be resurrected when he returns. And for those who live until
that day, they will enter the Kingdom without experiencing death. And you will be able
to reign the world along with the Lord. The Thousand Year kingdom will come, then
you will go to the eternal new heavens and earth. God is not letting history run by
itself. God has everything planned and is making things happen.
It is true that Jesus came to earth and that we will one day meet Him again. That is
the Second Coming. The exact spot where He was crucified on the Golgotha still
remains today. Even today, the roads He once walked are still there, and the Mount of
Olives He promised to return to are still there.

There is nothing that can be clearer than this, yet so many people debate over
whether the Bible is to be believed or not or that it is all a legend or a myth. Many
people also say that the most importa
nt principle in the Bible is to love your neighbors and help the poor, but the main point
is not that. The most important thing is the salvation of the soul.

To Be Saved

Let’s read Daniel 12:1.

At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will
be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until
then. But at that time your people?everyone whose name is found written in the book?
will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to
everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:1~2)

There is a gap of a thousand years between those who will receive everlasting life and
those that will receive everlasting contempt. Those who will receive everlasting life are
those that have been delivered. But those who are subjected to judgment will be sent
to eternal hell.

I am sure that many of you reading the Bible will think that “I want to enter this
glorious Kingdom of God, too.” Some people think that Christians need to purify
society and create justice because it would be wrong for Christians to overlook
corruption. So, some Christians turn to anti-government activities.

I do not think that they are entirely wrong. However, the timing is not right. Jesus’
First Coming was meant to save people’s souls. Jesus’ Second Coming will be to save
the whole society. The world, which is currently run by Satan must be cleansed for
sure. Jesus’ followers need to focus on what the Lord is doing right now. Presently, we
are following Jesus’ purpose for His First Coming, so we should focus on spreading the
Gospel and saving people’s souls. The Lord is putting His priority in saving people’s
souls first.

However, with the Lord’s Second Coming, there will be no more saving. Instead, it will
be time for the world to change. The Lord will reign directly and make justice. Then,
we will reign with Him and judge the world and call for righteousness.

The Lord is interested in saving lives right now. We will call for social justice after
Jesus’ Second Coming. We must not change the order of things. If the Lord had
planned a social deliverance from the beginning he would probably have fought
against Rome’s Caesar. He would have ordered the Israelites to rebel against their
oppressor, Caesar. However, the Lord clearly said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s,
and to God what is God’s.” (Matthew 22:21) Everything in this world is already
included in God’s plan.

There might be some of you who think that you must call for social justice, but first we
must become righteous ourselves. Jesus said in the Bible, “Blind Pharisee! First clean
the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Matthew
23:26) He meant that we must first purify our hearts and be forgiven of our sins. Then
we will become clean on the outside, too.

To Participate in the Resurrection

There is a saying that goes “If you want to see the world change, change yourself
first.” How can I change myself? How can I change in one day? We can all change in
just one day if we receive salvation.

God has a very accurate plan. We might not understand every verse in the Bible, but
that does not mean that the Bible is wrong or vague. Let’s look at John 5:25.

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the
voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. (John 5:25)

How can dead people hear? Jesus is talking about the death in Adam. It said in
Genesis, “ you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when
you eat of it you will surely die.” When Adam did not keep this command he died,
along with all of us. We are all dead before God. We were born disconnected from
God. God is saying through the above verse that we will one day listen to his son’s
voice. Your spirits might be dead because of Adam’s sin but God is telling us that we
can be saved by listening to his son. We will continue to read the next part.

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. ”Do not be
amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice
and come out?those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done
evil will rise to be condemned.
(John 5:26~29)

Resurrection will come twice. One is the resurrection for life and the other is the
resurrection for judgment. The last resurrection for judgment will take place at the end
of the Thousand Year Kingdom. The sea will give up the dead that were in it, and
death and Hades will give up the dead that were in them. We have to participate in
the first resurrection. It says in the Scripture, “Blessed and holy are those who have
part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will
be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand
years”(Revelation 20:6). Once a person has been resurrected, they will not die a
second time. Although we don’t have much time to take a detailed look, it is important
to look through the whole Bible. Let us look at what happened in Genesis.
Noah’s Three Sons: Shem, Ham, Japheth

We cannot tell what kinds of fauna and flora there were. Everything that existed
before the flood was destroyed and swept away. In a way, the world began anew from
Noah’s family of eight. All of the history before is buried. There is around a 1650 year
gap between Adam’s time and Noah’s time.
After the flood, mankind’s lifespan diminished to a tenth of what it used to be. And
descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth Noah’s three sons, spread across the world.
The population was largely divided into these three tribes. The Shem tribe had yellow
skin color. Ham tribesmen were black while Japheth tribesmen were white. Noah’s
sons probably did not have different skin colors from the beginning. Their skin colors
changed according to their environment, climate, and food.

Shem’s tribe usually lived in the far east and Asia. God called a man name Abram from
Ur of the Chaldeans, which is today’s Kuwait. God ordered Abraham to “leave your
country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show
you”(Genesis 12:1). He then guided Abraham to today’ Israel. When Abraham first
entered this land, it was inhabited by the Ham tribe. They were living in Africa around
the Mediterranean Sea.

The Ham tribe encountered a man from the Shem tribe whom they had not seen
before. It was more difficult to move in those days because of poor transportation
means. It takes about five months to get from Ur of Chaldeans and cross the
Euphrates. The people who inhabited that region must have asked Abraham where he
had come from. Abraham answered that he had crossed the river Euphrates. That is
why the Ham tribe people called Abraham “Hebrew” which means “person who
crossed a river.” Abraham became the first Hebrew. Jewish people did not exist yet at
the time.

Abraham’s Descendants go to Egypt

Abraham had a son there. The son’s name was Isaac and he also begot a son whose
name was Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons from four wives. One of them was Joseph.
Joseph was envied by his brothers and sold to Egypt. Jacob continued to live in his
ancestors’ land after he lost his son, but drought soon covered the land. Jacob’s family
did not have anything to eat but they heard that there was food in Egypt. So, Jacob’s
older brothers set out to find food in Egypt.

Joseph, in the meantime, had become the governor of Egypt. He told his brothers to
bring the whole family to Egypt, so they started living there. They thought at the time
that they were going to stay in Egypt for a short while to avoid the drought, but they
ended up living in Egypt for 430 years. God planned to give them Canaan and not
Egypt.

After 430 years passed, the rulers of Egypt started oppressing the Hebrews. The
Hebrews called out to God and He heard their cries. God decided to send Moses to
them to bring them to the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses
set out to lead his people into the Promised Land. I am sure that many of you have
seen the movie “The Ten Commandments.” There is a scene in the movie where the
Hebrews cross the Red Sea after leaving Egypt.

The Hebrews reached the Sinai Peninsula and took a census. There were 603,550 men
aged 20 and over who were able to serve in the army. Counting the children, elderly
and women, the population could be estimated to be about two or three million. The
Israelites had first entered Egypt with a family of 70 people but they came out as a
large population. They were called Israelites because God changed Jacob’s name to
Israel. The exodus took place around 1500 B.C .

The Jewish People Return to their Land

The Jewish People entered the Promised Land under Moses’ leadership. More
specifically, Moses died in the wilderness and his successor Joshua took the people
into the Promised Land and divided the land into twelve tribes. They did not have any
kings yet. Under Joshua, the Jewish people got rid of the Ham tribesmen and took
over the land.

Before they had kings, the Jewish people were ruled by judges. This comes out in the
book of Judges in the Bible. There were 15 judges who judged and helped the people.
These 15 judges ruled Israel for 300 years. When Samuel, the last judge was ruling,
the people requested to have a king.

They said “We need a king, too. Please ask God to give us a king. We want a king we
can see with our eyes.” God refused their request at first but the people persisted and
Saul was picked as the first king.

Saul reigned for 40 years. However, Saul was an evil king in God’s eyes. One of Saul’s
children should have become king, but God destroyed his family and raised David, a
shepherd from the house of Jesse. King David also ruled for 40 years. David was a
bright, honest, and faithful king in God’s eyes.

Solomon, David’s son, became the next king. In this way, the three kings ruled Israel
for 120 years combined. This was around 1000 B.C. David became king in 1000 B.C. I
am telling you the date so that you can compare it with the history you know. Solomon
was a very wise king but he went wayward towards the end of his rule. He got many
concubines and served their idols.

When Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, became king God divided Israel into two parts. God
had plans for Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the king who ruled southern Israel. The
south was called Judah, and the north was called Israel. Just like Korea, Israel was
divided into north and south nations.

God divided Israel into two because the people continued to worship idols. They made
images of beasts and calves for the god they could not see. They continued in their
disobedient ways until God’s patience ran out and He punished them for their sinful
ways. Even when their country was divided in two the Israelites did not return to God.

The Destruction of Northern Israel

Some of the books in Old Testament are names of prophets such as Ezekiel, Hosea,
and Daniel. When Israel was separated into two countries, God sent prophets to do His
work.
God sent prophets to Northern Israel with the message that “if you continue in your
sinful ways, you will be destroyed.” These prophets were Amos, Hosea, and Jonah.
God sent these three prophets to the Northern Israelites to warn them to turn back
from their sins and return to God.
When the warnings from the three prophets went unheeded, God said that He would
make the people be taken as prisoners. During that time, the most powerful
neighboring country was Assyria. The Assyrians took all of the Northern Israelites as
their prisoners. This happened in 721 B.C.

The only country left was Judah in the south. God loved Judah, so He sent other
prophets. He sent the prophets Isaiah, Joel, Obadiah, and Micah.

God Promises a Messiah

The prophets Isaiah, Joel, Obadiah, and Micah lived around the same period so it is
better to read their books together for better understanding. These prophets’ warnings
also fell on deaf ears. What did Isaiah warn against? He said that “God will command
the heavens not to rain. So turn back from your sinful ways. You must not persist in
your current ways.” But the Israelites did not listen. God already knew that this would
happen. God knew that they would all be taken as captives and die or scatter, but he
still gave them hope that he did not give up on them.

‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers?their treachery against
me and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent
them into the land of their enemies?then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled
and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant
with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. For the land
will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them.
They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees.
Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or
abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am
the LORD their God.
(Leviticus 26:40~44)

In the Bible passage above, God promises the Israelites that He will not reject them
even when they are taken into their enemies’ land. The prophets received God’s
promise that Israel would be recovered when the Messiah comes.

The prophets Jeremiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah also gave warnings right
before the people of Judah were taken captives. But Judah did not turn back from its
sinful ways. As a result, the people of Judah were also taken as prisoners to Babylon in
a span of 20 years, starting from 606 B.C., in three separate events.

The Jews become Prisoners in Babylon

Assyria was taken over by Babylon and destroyed. Babylon became the greatest power
in 606 B.C. The king of Babylon was Nebuchadnezzar. The lot where his palace was
built can still be found in Iraq today. In Germany, there is a museum called the
Pergamon Museum. In this museum there is the Ishtar Gate that was built during the
time of King Nebuchadnezzar. It is still amazing how these tiles could have been made
during that time.

Saddam Hussein requested to Germany many times to have this gate returned but the
German government refused. Saddam Hussein restored the palace of King
Nebuchadnezzar and made a replica of the Ishtar Gate (named after the goddess).
King Nebuchadnezzar is a famous figure in history and his story can be found in many
history books. His name comes up with many famous sculptures or art works.

After the people of Judah were captured and taken to Babylon in 606 B.C., Israel
completely disappeared. When the Jews were taken to Babylon, God picked Daniel and
Ezekiel from among the captives to be his prophets. The Bible verses we went over
today talk about the hope God gave to the people of Israel who were captured. God
tells them what will happen to the world. This is what we are going to find out through
the Book of Daniel.

Daniel Interprets the King’s Dream

When Israel was destroyed and its entire people taken as captives, God chose Daniel
to prophesy about the Israelites’ future and what would happen to the entire world. It
is amazing. Let us read Daniel 1:1.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.(Daniel 1:1)

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took all of the Jews as captives. We do not have the
time to go over all of the details but I hope you read Daniel chapter 2 when you have
the time. Chapter 2 talks about King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The king had a dream
but he could not remember what it was. He called upon his magicians, enchanters,
astrologers and diviners and asked them what it had been.
“I had a dream last night but I cannot remember it. Tell me what my dream was and
tell me its meaning.”

His servants listened to his request and were baffled. They told him, “O King! There
has never been a king who made such a request before. You have to at least tell us
the dream for us to interpret it.” The king was furious. He shouted, “If you are really
magicians and diviners, how can you not tell me what the dream was? I demand that
you tell me the dream and its meaning right now. Or else I will have all of you killed.”
The servants were frightened by the command. One of the servants Arioch presented
Daniel to the king. He told the king, “O King! There is a young prisoner from Judah
who can tell you your dream and its meaning.” This is the following part. Let’s read
from Daniel 2:25.

Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles
from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” The king asked Daniel (also
called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret
it?” Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the
king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals
mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.
Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are
these: “As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the
revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. As for me, this mystery has
been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so
that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what
went through your mind. “You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large
statue?an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue
was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its
legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a
rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and
clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold
were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in
the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that
struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. “This was the
dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. You, O king, are the king of kings. The
God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands
he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever
they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. “After you,
another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will
rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron?for
iron breaks and smashes everything?and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will
crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of
baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of
the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly
iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as
you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not
remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. “In the time of those kings, the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to
another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will
itself endure forever. (Daniel 2: 25~44)

Daniel was able to explain the meaning of the dream to King Nebuchadnezzar. The
King had dreamed of a great statue. Its head was made of gold, its chest and arms of
silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of
baked clay. How did Daniel interpret the dream?

He said, “O King! You are the golden head. After you, another kingdom will rise,
inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.
Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom. Aftewards, God will set up a kingdom that will
never be destroyed.”

God had prophesized through King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that four powerful states
would exist in the future. He showed through the then most powerful king what was to
come in the future.
If you take a closer look at the dream, you can tell that the whole world history is
included here. The last kingdom we learned about today is mentioned in this dream.
The Bible made a record of all these things. There is nothing but the truth in the Bible.

The second kingdom mentioned in the dream still had not come to existence at the
time of the dream. However, we are now living in a time when all three kingdoms have
already come and gone and we are waiting for the last and everlasting kingdom. We
can identify all of history in the Bible. That is why people become wiser when they
read the Bible.

Every country in the world, where the Gospel has reached, has undergone
enlightenment. There is not a single God-fearing country that is not enlightened.
Caucasians used to worship idols before. However, after they learned about the Bible,
they stopped worshipping idols and became wiser. The Bible is God’s gift and blessing
to each one of you.

Chapter 4. Israelites,the Lord’s Witnes

Jerusalem Trampled by Gentiles

Around 600 B.C., the most powerful nation on earth was Babylon. When Babylon ruled
all of the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea, the Israelites were taken to Babylon
as prisoners. Their predicament was the fulfillment of God’s prophecy in Leviticus 26,
“If in spite of this you still do not listen to me … I will scatter you among the nations.”

God tells us in Daniel chapter 2 how history will continue as the nations of the world
rise and fall while Israel is held a prisoner, and what is in store for Israel. Daniel
contains prophecies regarding the fate of not only Israel but also the whole world.
Nowhere in the Bible is there a more detailed description of how history has unfolded,
is currently developing, and will continue to unfold in the future. So today, I would like
for us to go through parts of world history we learned back in school and learn about
how accurate the prophecies of the Bible have been.

The people of Israel who had come out of Egypt under the guidance of Moses and
lived in the land of promise repeatedly turned their backs on God, and as a result were
taken away as prisoners. The time of the Gentiles refers to the entire period when
Jerusalem, in which the Temple of God had stood, was trampled by the Gentiles. That
period began in 606 B.C.

The Israelites came out of Egypt around 1500 B.C., King David expanded the capital
city of Jerusalem around 1000 B.C., and his son Solomon built the Temple as God’s
dwelling place.

But because the Israelites had forsaken God, He began to scatter them into the four
corners of the world. The Temple was destroyed, and the city of Jerusalem, central to
worshipping God, was handed over to the Gentiles. From then on, Babylon ruled over
Israel, and that was the beginning of the time of the Gentiles. It is prophesied that
Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until their time is fulfilled, and so it will be
until Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives. Until then, the Temple will not be wholly
recovered and stay under the hands of the Gentiles. The time period from the rule of
Babylon to the second coming of Jesus is the time of the Gentiles.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

Through a dream, God revealed to Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest king of his
time, what nations will appear on earth and disappear, rise and fall, from the time of
the Babylonian Empire to the coming of Jesus.

The head of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw was made of gold, its chest and
arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron mixed with clay. The
statue was largely divided into four sections of the head, chest and arms, belly and
thighs, and legs.

History tells us that the nation called Babylon was destroyed by the twin kingdom of
Media and Persia. These two nations defeated Babylon and became a world
conquering empire. Babylon is modern Iraq and Persia is modern Iran. Persia
combined with its neighbor Media to form a twin kingdom, a twin nation like two arms.
It is this kingdom that destroyed Babylon.

Later, Persia was destroyed by Hellas, or Greece. Alexander the Great rose up and
conquered Persia, establishing the Greek Empire. Greece in turn was destroyed by
Rome, the next empire that appeared. When we look at ancient history, then, we can
see that the world moved from Babylon to Media and Persia, to Greece, and then to
Rome. Let us look at Daniel 2:36.

This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. You, O king, are the king
of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory;
in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the
air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of
gold. (Daniel 2:36~38)
Daniel said that Nebuchadnezzar’s nation is the head of gold.

After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of
bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as
iron?for iron breaks and smashes everything?and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it
will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly
of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some
of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay (Daniel 2:39~41).

We can see that history actually unfolded in this way, and Daniel said that the fourth
will be a divided kingdom.

Daniel’s Dream

Let us read from Daniel chapter 7 from verse 1.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed
through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his
dream. Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four
winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the
others, came up out of the sea. The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an
eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that
it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. And there
before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its
sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat
your fill of flesh!’ After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that
looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast
had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. After that, in my vision at night I
looked, and there before me was a fourth beast?terrifying and frightening and very
powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled
underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten
horns. While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little
one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it.
This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully (Daniel
7:1~8).

After King Nebuchadnezzar had his dream God showed Daniel another. In Daniel’s
dream, he saw four beasts. The first was like a lion, the second like a bear, the third
like a leopard, and the fourth a strange beast with ten horns.

Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s dreams are actually about the same content. God
showed Daniel the same truths as beasts. The lion symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar. The
bear is Persia and the leopard is Alexander the Great. The leopard symbolizing
Alexander has four wings, and a careful reading of the text reveals even the nature of
his Greek Empire.

Alexander died at an early age of thirty two. His son was assassinated as well as his
younger sibling from a different mother and there was no one to inherit his empire.
Thus the four generals who were under Alexander took over by partitioning the empire
into four regions. The four wings refer to that event.
Next, a beast with ten horns appears; it is Rome, the rising empire. God showed
Daniel the same dream twice in order to remind him that the dream is authentic and
accurate.

Rome, the Fourth Kingdom

Let us look at the explanation Daniel gives.

I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind
disturbed me. I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true
meaning of all this. So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things: “The
four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. But the saints of the
Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever?yes, for ever and ever
(Daniel 7:15~18).
Once the four kingdoms are ended, an eternal kingdom will come. As I have already
discussed yesterday, it is God’s kingdom. It refers to the kingdom that Jesus will rule
over for a thousand years on this world. Let us look at verse 19 next.

Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast ... (Daniel 7:19)

Daniel wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast more than the first three.

… [It] was different from all the others and most terrifying, with its iron teeth and
bronze claws?the beast that crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot
whatever was left. I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and about
the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell--the horn that looked
more imposing than the others and that had eyes and a mouth that spoke boastfully.
As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, until
the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most
High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. He gave me this
explanation: “The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be
different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it
down and crushing it. The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom.
After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three
kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change
the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and
half a time. (Daniel 7:19~25)

Because this prophecy was given over 2600 years ago, most of its foretelling has been
fulfilled.

The fourth beast must exist until the coming of the Lord, so let us look at the fourth
kingdom. The fourth kingdom is Rome. Rome ruled Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth.
But when we examine the passages, the fourth kingdom is said to be a divided
kingdom just as there are two legs. Let us examine the history of Rome.

Rome began as a city-state at around 700 B.C. That city-state was a small tributary
state during the time of Babylon, Media and Persia, and Hellas. Rome began to grow in
strength from around 63 B.C., which in terms of the Korean history was the early Silla
Period. The Silla began in 58 B.C., so by the time it was being established, the Roman
Empire began its triumvirate republican government. As three men, Julius Caesar,
Crassus, and Pompey ruled as triumvirs, they greatly expanded Rome’s power.

Rome’s Division

Rome went through a first triumvirate, and then a second one, continuously growing in
power, but then became divided into western and eastern halves in 364, and Emperor
Valentinian shared the two empires with his younger brother. Rome divided into the
Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire. The former was Latin-centered
Empire based in Rome, while the latter was Greek-centered Empire with its capital city
in Turkey’s Byzantium.

Let us first take a look at the Western Roman Empire. It formed in 364 and ended in
476. It was destroyed by savage tribes of the period such as the Germans, Vandals,
Huns, and Goths. Generally, when we talk of the fall of the Roman Empire, we are
referring to the Western Roman Empire. Although it was very great in size, it crumbled
helplessly before a small group of barbarians.

The Eastern Roman Empire lasted much longer, continuing until 1453. Although it was
a Christian kingdom, Islamic influence grew with the rise of the Ottoman Empire and
eventually took over the whole region. The Eastern Roman Empire finally collapsed
when Ottoman Turkey invaded Europe in 1453. The kings and feudal lords of the
Empire fled the sword of Islam and went north because the Muslims came holding the
Koran in one hand, the sword in the other, and threatened to kill anyone who did not
believe in Allah.

North of Turkey is currently Russian land, so the Emperor of the Eastern Roman
Empire, his family and all members of royalty escaped to Russia. When we look at the
Russian alphabet, they are the same as the Greek alphabet except for four letters. The
archbishops who used Greek introduced writing to an illiterate people, and they
created the Russian alphabet based on Greek letters. The people who fled north to
Russia dreamed of rebuilding their Roman Empire, and founded the Third Roman
Empire.

Because they were the heirs of the Roman Empire and its royal bloodline, they set up
the Third Roman Empire as a government in exile and called their ruler Czar (Caesar).
As you know, Caesar refers to the Emperor of Rome, but when it is spoken in Russian,
it becomes Czar.

The Russian rulers believed themselves to be the heirs of the Roman Empire and built
their Third Empire, but they failed and eventually became assimilated into the Soviet
Union. The 1917 Russian Revolution brought forth a wholly communist Soviet Union.

Holy Roman Empire

While the Vandals, Huns, or Goths ruled the land of the Western Roman Empire that
fell in 476, a famous king appeared in France at around 800. His name was
Charlemagne. At the time the national boundaries were not as clearly established as
they are today. Germany was a neighboring country, and they also believed the
emperor to be their ancestor. So, the same man was called Emperor Karl by the
Germans and Emperor Charlemagne by the French. Charlemagne tried to defeat the
barbarians of the land and rebuild the Roman Empire.

Charlemagne called his kingdom the Holy Roman Empire, a holy empire given by God,
because he believed they were the true heirs of the Roman Empire and their ancestors
were emperors.

The Holy Roman Empire that Charlemagne started lasted for a while, but then Otto I
of Germany took over Charlemagne’s territory and founded the Holy Roman Empire of
the German Nation. These people thought that all these lands originally belonged to
the Roman Empire, so they could rightfully inherit the empire and its lands as well
because their empire was a holy empire given by God. Otto I believed that he was the
heir who would carry on the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire.

Then what should he call himself as the emperor of the Empire? He was called Caesar,
or in German pronunciation, Kaiser. This is why the German Emperor was called
Kaiser. This shows that the Roman Empire did not disappear into history but continued
on as the Holy Roman Empire. It became divided into different factions through the
centuries but survived even to the time of Napoleon.

Unification of Europe

World War I which broke out in 1914 was essentially France and England fighting the
Ottoman Empire that had destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire, so that they could
regain the old Roman Empire territories the Ottoman Empire was occupying. Even
after the war, the Europeans did not give up their dream of rebuilding the Roman
Empire. After all, the place is called Europe now but it used to be Rome.

After World War I and World War II ended, Germany, France, Italy, and the three
Benelux countries gathered together in 1957, and the six nations said now that the
war was over, they should not continue with their separate borders. They were the
descendants of the Roman Empire and should come together again. Their manifesto
was announced by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Robert Schuman in the same
year.

After World War II, national boundaries were drawn, but the six nations tried to at
least create one economic market according to the Schuman Declaration. Their effort
to produce one market created the European Economic Community (EEC), a so-called
“common European market.” They began with the aim of enabling at least the six
participating nations to create their common market and remove tariffs.

Not long after, another similar organization was created called the European Coal and
Steel Community (ECSC), followed by the European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom) to organize Europe’s atomic energy. The three organizations were created
almost at the same time.

The dream of reunifying Europe slowly took hold in Western Europe as World War II
ended. Because there were many organizations and things were getting more
complicated, the participating nations unified the three organizations in 1967 into the
European Community (EC).

After the three organizations transformed into the EC in 1967, the original six nations
became eight, then nine, ten, and then twelve. The EC members increased to twelve
nations in 1981. The unification of these twelve nations came about because there was
a unification movement that made a continuous call for the people of Europe to stop
dividing into separate nations but come together as one community because they were
the descendants of Roman Empire.

There were nations in Western Europe that did not get into the EC. Seven of those
nations established their own European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but because it
did not prove to be useful, they ended up joining the EC and created the European
Economic Area (EEA). Now there are nations waiting in line to join the EC. Eastern
Europe had been under the rule of the USSR and their economic block called the
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), but in 1990 as the USSR began
to collapse, COMECON collapsed as well, and now countries such as the Czech
Republic and Poland want to join the EC.

Unification of Currency, Religion, and Politics

You can see how much Europe has changed in the last several years. If you go to
Europe, the EC members do not check each other’s passports. There is no custom’s
inspection at the borders. They have essentially become one country. The EC changed
its name to European Union (EU) in 1995. Currently in the EU there are fifteen nations.
We do not know how many more nations will join the EU but it is certainly a
movement to unite all of Europe into one body.

In order to accomplish that goal, the first priority for the EU is economic unity. For its
economy to become unified, the member nations must use a single currency. Such
unified currency began to circulate on January 1, 2001. The name of the currency was
“ecu” until recently but it changed to “euro.” As the American currency is called the
dollar, the European currency is going to be the euro.

We can imagine what will happen in the world economy when fifteen European nations
use a single currency. They will not have to worry about the dollar. The monetary
volume of the nations that are using the euro is about half that of the dollar. If we
consider all the foreign exchanges in the world including the dollar, yen, and pound as
100, the dollar takes up 80% of that. With the appearance of the euro, however, it will
gain 40% on that US dollar because about 45% of the current international market
trading is carried out within the European nations and finishes in Europe.

The dollar will steadily grow weaker in the world. Everyone will begin to buy and hoard
the euro instead of the dollar.

It goes without saying that the very first task in uniting a country is to unify its
currency. For example, if you travel through twelve EC countries with 100 Deutsche
marks, you could end up with only 50 marks, even if you haven’t used any money. The
other half could disappear if you do currency exchanges in each country. To Europe,
such situation was clearly undesirable, and so it put forth the idea of single currency.

The second thing that needs to be unified is religion. As you know, European nations
are all Christian states, and thus their unification becomes a simple matter. Next is
political unification. The European nations have different degrees of relationship
among themselves, but there is already an organization called the European
Parliament. The parliament’s some 500 representatives have been elected
proportionally from each nation according to its population, and they will select a
president from one of them.

Resurrection of the Roman Empire

The world was dominated by France in the 18th century, by England in the 19th
century, the Empire on which the sun never sets, and then by the United States in the
20th century. This means the world will be dominated again by Europe in the 21st
century. Europe is composed of advanced nations that are part of the G7. As Europe
began to come together, the United States felt threatened. If the numerous nations of
Europe unite and the old Roman Empire rises again, the United States will become
isolated.

So as a means to restrain Europe, the United States created the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico. These will be further integrated.
Then from that union, a most powerful leader will emerge. This is what God foretold
over 2600 years ago.
Let us look at what has happened. Rome did not cease to exist but had seeped into
each nation, and then rose again in modern times as Western Rome and Eastern
Rome. As Western Rome became stronger, Eastern Rome began to be absorbed.

No one thought Eastern Europe would collapse. Before the Berlin Wall was torn down,
President Reagan stood in front of it in March of 1989 and gave a speech. He said that
the Wall would not collapse for another five years, but it came down only eight months
later. Historians call the fall of the Berlin Wall the greatest incident since the French
Revolution. The wall was created from the ideological conflict between communism
and capitalism after World War II, but of course, all traces of the Wall have now
disappeared.

Think about why history has moved so quickly before our eyes recently. In 1989
before the Berlin Wall fell, I ventured to tell this story from the Bible at a large
gathering that had asked me to speak on current events. The Bible says the fourth
kingdom will have ten horns. I said while Europe is divided into Western and Eastern
Europe, it can never become ten horns, and that in order for it to become ten horns,
the two parts of Europe must unite. That was August of 1989, and the Berlin Wall fell
in November of that year.

Ten Horns are Ten Kings

Past Bible scholars thought the ten nations that would become EC members were
perhaps the ten horns. But these ten horns refer to the ten kings as stated in the
Bible.

In Europe there are small nations with a population of only tens of thousands. It has
nations with tens of millions of people as well as one with only about sixty thousand
people that makes its livelihood from selling stamps. If we think of such small and
large nations uniting into one political entity, then the kings and queens and presidents
of each nation will have to acknowledge the power of a single individual who gets to
rule over the whole of Europe. Look at Revelation 17:12.

The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who
for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. (Revelation 17:12)

It says the ten horns are the ten kings, not kingdoms but kings. They are kings who
have no kingdom of their own but temporarily receive authority from the beast. In the
past, kings had their own lands and territories, but when Europe becomes unified,
national borders will disappear. Already the borders are collapsing. In order to go from
Germany to France there used to be a checkpoint where you had to show your
passport, but now such a procedure is gone. It is as if the borders are already gone.

Let us say a Briton entered Oxford University. If he says he doesn’t like British weather
and wants to go to Spain to study, he can do that, and if he wants to study in
Germany, Italy, and receive his diploma from Sorbonne University in France, he can do
that as well. This is possible because he is a citizen of Europe. No matter where he
studies or works, his freedom of residency is recognized. There is freedom of
movement of products, capital, and labor.

In the future, people will no longer say they are a citizen of Germany or France but of
EU. At airports in Europe, when you get off the plane and pass the gates, the first
place you come to is still the passport checkpoint. There are separate counters for
checking the passports, and ones with twelve stars drawn above it are for people with
EU passports while others are for people with other passports. In other words, people
from EU member nations all belong to one nation and they pass through, while citizens
of countries such as Korea, which is not an EU member, need to go through passport
checking again before entering. Already people are being classified according to
whether they are a citizen of the EU, not whether they are German or French.

Appearance of Antichrist

Even when the world has changed so much, people still do not know what the EU is.
The Bible, however, explained it 2,600 years ago through Daniel.

The fourth beast was a beast with ten horns. The meaning of the ten horns is that
ancient Rome will rise again in the EU and ten kings will come from it. It means that
when Europe is unified, there will be ten kings or heads of the most powerful
organization. The organization will be in the form of a group governing system
composed of ten members, and the beast will hold the highest position in that
organization.
The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king
will arise. (Daniel 7:24)

In addition to the ten kings, another will come. This is the Antichrist that the Bible
talks about. He appears and subdues three of the kings. Then how many are left? If
one appears in addition to the ten and three disappears, then eight remains.

Because even the number of the kings is specifically recorded, we can infer what will
happen to the European system. One will come and subdue three, and there will
eventually be eight. Who will become the head of that group, become that horn, can
be clearly seen when we read verse 25.

He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set
times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a
time.
(Daniel 7:25)
“The Most High” is God, and he opposes him. The man who will sit at the Temple of
God and call himself God, is the Antichrist.

The Bible records the particulars of how history will unfold. The Rapture will occur, and
then seven years of Great Tribulation will follow. The Bible divides those seven years
into two halves. This means three and a half years, or a time, times and half a time,
and this can be understood by reading the following Bible verse.
For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after
several years … (Daniel 11:13)

We see that times refers to years, and thus a time, times and half a time means one
year, two years, and a half year, totaling three and a half years. This means the
Antichrist will oppress God’s saints, the Israelites, during that time period.

The tribulation has been set for seven years. Once Europe unifies and the Antichrist
appears, he will call himself God in the Temple of God and oppose him. Then he will
persecute the Israelites for three and a half years. The first three and a half years will
be a time of false peace. At first, the Israelites will be deceived into receiving him as
the Messiah they had been waiting for thousands of years. But after the first three and
a half years when they realize they had been deceived, the Antichrist will show his true
self and begin to persecute them.

End of History

Let us look at Daniel chapter 7 from verse 26.

But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed
forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole
heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom
will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him. (Daniel
7:26~27)

The Antichrist will use his power, but when the judgment begins, that power will be
taken away. He will have unified all the nations of the land and become king, but the
kingdom will be taken away from him and it will become a kingdom ruled by the Lord.
Let us look at Daniel chapter 9 from verse 20.

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel
and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill?while I was still in prayer,
Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the
time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now
come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer
was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore,
consider the message and understand the vision: Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for
your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone
for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy
and to anoint the most holy. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be
seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but
in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and
will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the
sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and
desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’
In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing
of the Temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that
is decreed is poured out on him. (Daniel 9:20~27)
Before the birth of Jesus, history unfolded through Babylon, Media, Persia, Hellas, and
Rome. Rome is rising again in history and Europe is now being unified. Soon the
Rapture will take place. Once that happens, it will be followed by seven years of Great
Tribulation on earth. Then Jesus will return to Earth and rule for a thousand years and
after wards will come the Eternal Judgment. A new heaven and earth will appear along
with hell. Then human history will come to an end.

A Decree of Seventy “Sevens”

The Book of Daniel was written during the time of Israel’s Babylonian captivity. At
around 600 B.C. when he was a prisoner in Babylon, Daniel prayed to God: “Lord,
forgive my sins and the sins of my people. We have sinned greatly against you and
been driven out of the Promised Land and are held in captivity here.” His prayer made
with tears was answered and an angel named Gabriel, who stands before God, came
to him and spoke with him.

The Israelites were taken as prisoners and lived in captivity for seventy years. The
seventy years of captivity had already been foretold by God. Daniel asked what will
happen to his country in the future: the world of the Gentiles will end as shown above,
but what will happen to the Israelites during that time? The answer to that question is
the passage we read. Let us look again at chapter 9 verse 24.

Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression,
to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to
seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. (Daniel 9:24)

The words seventy “sevens” appear. “Sevens” is a word not generally used, and it
means “week.” Seventy “sevens” refers to seventy weeks. This means God has set a
period of seventy weeks for the people of Israel and Jerusalem.

The Israelites had sinned and were captives in Babylon, and in order for them to
receive forgiveness and everlasting righteousness, seventy weeks have to pass. It then
begs the question, when does the seventy weeks start and end? Look at the next
verse.

Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and
sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
(Daniel 9:25)

The seventy weeks are not continuous but separated into seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks, and it will begin when the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem is made.
From the time of that decree, seven weeks plus sixty-two weeks, and then one more
week must pass for seventy weeks to be completed. In terms of days, this adds up to
490 days.

When 490 days have passed, the Israelites will be forgiven of their sins and return to
God. A day in the chronology of prophecy in the Bible is to be calculated as a year. In
speaking of the time for Israel to receive forgiveness, God has stated that one day is
to mean one year. Look at Ezekiel chapter 4 from verse 4.
Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are
to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the
same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of
the house of Israel. After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right
side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for
each year. (Ezekiel 4:4~6)

God says one day should stand for one year. Then 490 days become 490 years,
meaning their sins will be forgiven after 490 years.

Restoration of Jerusalem

Let us look again at Daniel 9:25.

From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed
One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ (Daniel
9:25)

For us to know when the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was issued, we need
to examine history. Let us go to Nehemiah chapter 2 from verse 1.

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was
brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his
presence before; so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are
not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, but I said to
the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city
where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I
answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his
sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can
rebuild it. (Nehemiah 2:1~5)

Even after the Babylonian Empire fell to the Persian Empire, the Israelites still could
not return to their land. The kingdom had changed but they were still being ruled by
Persia. Nevertheless, while they had been carried away as slaves in the beginning, as
kings and kingdoms changed, Israelites who were smart and trustworthy were given
important responsibilities under the Persian king.

One of those people was a man named Nehemiah, who was a servant that brought
wine before the Persian King Artaxerxes. Because the king could be poisoned, the
servant who served wine to the king had to be someone the king could trust with his
life.

As Nehemiah served wine to the king, he saw that Nehemiah’s face was filled with
sadness. When the king asked why his face looked so sad, Nehemiah answered, “Oh
King, all the castles and gates of my homeland Jerusalem have been destroyed by fire,
and even just thinking about it makes me cry.” When the king heard his trusted
servant speak thus, he asked what he could do. “Oh King, let me go back to my
homeland and rebuild the city that had been burned down,” Nehemiah pleaded. So
King Artaxerxes gave the order that he could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city.
This was said to have happened on March 14, 445 B.C.
Israel’s Period of Atonement

Let us look at Daniel 9:25 one more time: From the issuing of the decree to restore
and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes …

Here the “Anointed One” refers to the Messiah. The meaning of Messiah literally
means the “anointed one” in Hebrew. The Greek for the same meaning is Christ. Thus
the words “Christ” and “Messiah” have the same meaning. One is Greek and the other
is Hebrew. So when the Israelites say they are waiting for the Messiah, it means they
are waiting for Christ, and Christ meaning the Anointed One refers to Jesus. The Bible
says from the time of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Anointed
One, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks shall pass. Look again.

There will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a
trench, but in times of trouble. 26. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will
be cut off … (Daniel 9:25~26)

Jesus is the Anointed One, but it says the Anointed One will die after seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks. According to the prophecy, the time between the decree to rebuild
Jerusalem and the death of Messiah will be 483 years. The problem is the last seven
years. Seventy “sevens” have to pass but only sixty-nine “sevens” have come to pass
and one week still remains. That remaining one week is the seven years of the Great
Tribulation. The sins of Israelites have yet to be atoned. The death of Jesus only
marked the passing of sixty-nine weeks and one week still remains, and so after the
sixty-nine weeks, the Israelites scattered to the four corners of the world.

For the last one week to come to pass the Israelites had to come back to their land,
and they came back to their land in 1945 after 1900 years of surviving without a
country. But the last one week has still not come to pass. The seven years of Great
Tribulation is the period during which the Israelites receive atonement. The Tribulation
will last seven years in order to complete the remaining one week. After that the
Messiah will return. Between the sixty-nine weeks and the last week, we had a gap of
1900 years.

Antichrist’s Rebellion

Once the Israelites come back to their land and endure the last one week, their sins
will be eternally atoned and Jesus as their King will come back to Earth and rule for a
thousand years. The Antichrist will appear and oppose God for seven years. He will
unite the entire world and create a world government, build the Temple in Jerusalem
and declare himself as God. With this, Satan will try to finally achieve his dream of
rebellion against God since before the creation of the world. Look again at chapter 9
verse 26.

After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.
The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end
will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been
decreed. (Daniel 9:26)

This prophesies that after Jesus’ death Israel with disappear, and from the time when
one kingdom, Rome, will come and destroy the city to the end of everything, there will
always be wars. For 1900 years, the land of Israel endured a continuation of wars and
went through at least ten rulers.

He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he
will put an end to sacrifice and offering … (Daniel 9:27)

The Israelites will build their Temple, but in the middle of the week, the Antichrist will
forbid them to make sacrifice and offering. Once they rebuild the Temple after 2000
years, they would want to offer sheep or cattle to God, but in the middle of the week,
they will be commanded not to. Then they will lament, “Alas, we were deceived. If he
were the real Messiah he would not forbid our sacrifice and offering.” From then on
the Israelites will be persecuted. The Bible calls this the “time of Jacob’s trouble.” Even
so, at the beginning, the Israelites will welcome the Antichrist.

In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing
of the Temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that
is decreed is poured out on him. (Daniel 9:27)

Second Coming of Jesus and the Millennium

Let us look at Daniel chapter 12 from verse 7.

The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand
and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever,
saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people
has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.” I heard, but I did not
understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” He replied, “Go
your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the
end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to
be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will
understand. From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination
that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits
for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. (Daniel 12:7~12)

When 1290 days are divided by 30 days, it is exactly 43 months or three and a half
years. So those days refer to the latter half of the last seven years of Great Tribulation
when the Antichrist will rail against God for the last time. Then when Jesus returns, he
will take all the nations under the Antichrist from him and the eternal kingdom
established by God will appear. Look at Daniel 2:43.

And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture
and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. (Daniel 2:43)

This means that even though the people are unified, there are not completely
integrated due to different backgrounds and other complex issues.

In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be
destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and
bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision
of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands?a rock that broke the iron,
the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the
king what will take place in the future … (Daniel 2:44~45)

We have heard much about Heaven. It is sometimes expressed as God’s kingdom. The
rock that comes at the time of the last ten kings strikes the statue and destroys it
completely, including the gold head, turning the whole thing into dust, but the rock
itself becomes a huge mountain. The status represents all the nations that people have
created on earth, and the rock that smashes them all is the Lord. Then the Lord
establishes his kingdom at last. This kingdom becomes an eternal kingdom and Jesus
rules over it for a millennium.

In truth, the long history of humanity is part of God’s plan for establishing his eternal
kingdom. Whoever listens to God’s words and receives atonement can become a
citizen of this kingdom. When God first made the world, he had a purpose and
revealed what plan he had for the future through the mouth of the Prophet Daniel. he
explained what will happen to the world, the people of Israel, and that his kingdom will
be established on earth.

Depth of the Bible

Even while listening to such clear and definite truths from the Bible, there are a
multitude of foolish people who argue against the Bible. They probably have never
read the Bible. Anyone who has properly read the Bible comes to know the truth that
its wisdom is not of men. Indeed, what kind of person do you think you should
become? Do you still think you should make money and live well? Of course, money
can be very convenient. But when history is fulfilling the last prophecy at such speed
before our very eyes, what kind of thoughts should you live with?

When I did not know the Bible, I acted as if I knew some things because I was
educated and liked complimenting myself, but the more I read the Bible the more I
have come to realize that what we consider wisdom is truly insignificant. When we
read the Bible, once, twice, a third time, each time we step into a deeper world, like
when you walk into the heart of mountains you can experience the profound beauty of
nature more intensely. That is how it is with the Bible. When we read it the first time,
we only understand it roughly. But when we read it the second time, the third and the
fourth time, we realize that there is no book with more depth and profundity than this
book. Let us now clear our minds, then, and carefully consider God’s words to each of
us.

Their Span is but Trouble and Sorrow

Let us look at James chapter 4 from verse 13.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a
year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will
happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and
then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do
this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13~16)

This is our reality today. This passage is saying let us not become like the foolish
people who say, “Let’s go somewhere and make some money, let’s wait until we make
some money,” as if they could live until then, and extend their lives as they wished for
one year or two years. They believe in God so they have vague thoughts of “If it’s
God’s will, everything will turn out alright.” It is all foolishness. Here is what is written
in Luke chapter 12 from verse 15.

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a
man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this
parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to
himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is
what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all
my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up
for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘But God said to him, ‘You
fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you
have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for
himself but is not rich toward God.
(Luke 12:15~21)

Money cannot stop us from dying. Money cannot lead us to Heaven. So now, there are
things that you must do here on earth. God has asked you, as history is unfolding even
when you are asleep, for things that you must prepare. Let us see what God says
about me and my fate. Psalms 90:10 -let us read it together.

The length of our days is seventy years?or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their
span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (Psalms 90:10)

Human beings live ten months in their mother’s womb. Those ten months in the womb
are a preparation time for the baby to live on earth once it is born. If something goes
wrong in the womb, then the baby suffers after birth. Thus the preparations have to
be carried out well during the ten months in order for the baby to be healthy and live
comfortably in the world. If a woman drinks a lot of coffee and smokes frequently
while her baby is in the womb, the baby can become malformed and suffer for the rest
of its life.
The Bible sets human lifespan at seventy and, if one is robust, then eighty. In fact,
people live on average for seventy years, and some for eighty. Just as the ten months
are a preparation time for seventy years, the seventy years are a preparation time for
eternity.

Of the seventy years, about a third of that time is spent sleeping. Of seventy years,
about twenty years disappear from sleeping, and about twenty from working. How
much time do you think is spent eating? Someone calculated eating time to be six
years. In one’s life, six years are spent on eating, seven years on playing, half a year
on tying shoelaces, two and a half years on smoking, three years on answering
telephones, over half a year on waiting for people. Minus sleeping time from seventy
years, how long do you really live? It is very short.

Generally, it takes sixteen years of studying to graduate from a university. You study
for sixteen years, take an employment test and get into a large and famous company.
Because you need to have money when you are young before you can marry, you
prepare. So you work for three to four years to prepare and then get married. Then
you should live your life but you say, “We need to save money when we are young so
that we can raise children,” and you prepare again. You hold back on food and
clothing to save more money, buy a small house, and prepare to raise children. How
long does it take to raise children? Now you are nearing sixty. At this age you do not
see as well and your teeth are loose. But in your heart you say, “Once my children get
married, they will take good care of me,” and you have raised them well and married
them off. Then your children and their spouses argue about whether they should let
you live with them.

When you think about it you become very sorrowful. You say, “If I had known, I would
have eaten and worn what I wanted, enjoyed myself when I was young, and spent
money without worrying so much about the children,” but it is too late for regrets. You
cannot go back to the past. You live with a bruised heart. You go out and meet people
but can’t speak out against your own children. You are aching and moaning inside but
you tell them your children are taking good care of you. But in your heart, your spouse
has passed away too soon and you wanted to rely on your children but they have
excluded you from their lives. As a result, you are left only with sadness. This is why
the Bible says that when we reach seventy or eighty, it brings only pain and sadness.

If you are overflowing with happiness, raise your hand. Families do not speak of their
problems to the outside world but all families have problems. If they have money, the
children do not listen or the husband cheats. If they are poor, they worry about when
they could finally move out of their single room residence.

God Came for Lives in Suffering

If God’s purpose for humanity was only to give them pain and sorrow while they live
on earth, then He would be a merciless God. But the Bible tells us to see ourselves
truthfully. Yes, our number of years is seventy, if healthy then eighty, and filled with
pain and sorrow, but why the pain? How did humanity become like this? It is because
of sin. Here is Genesis chapter 3 from verse 17.
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about
which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of
you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns
and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for
dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis 3:17~19)

The reason human beings have to toil and sweat is because they have sinned. God
knows this. The reason why we live with suffering now is not because God has made it
so but because our ancestor Adam sinned. But if that sin is wholly forgiven and
cleansed, we can enter his eternal kingdom.

God came to earth in a human body in order to save people who are suffering because
of sin. We did not find God but he first came looking for us. Jesus who came into the
world 2000 years ago was God himself.

Unless We Are Born Again

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish
ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher
who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing
if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can
see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is
old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb
to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of
God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born
again.’ (John 3:1~7)

A Jewish teacher named Nicodemus came to see Jesus. He was a scholar of the Law.
Jesus told him, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Nicodemus asked Jesus how an old man like himself could go into his mother’s womb
and come out again.
You must have heard the expression “born again” many times. Jesus clearly said
unless we are born again, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. His kingdom is soon
arriving but we cannot enter it.

“I’ve been diligently coming to church since infancy, I’m a Sunday school teacher, an
evangelist, a minister”None of these things will get you into God’s kingdom. If it were
possible, Nicodemus the Jewish teacher would have been qualified. But Jesus did not
ask Nicodemus how well he taught the Scripture; he only said that one could not enter
the kingdom of Heaven unless one was born again. Jesus was not asking who he was,
whether he was a minister, a preacher, or a church attendee from birth, but saying he
had to be born again.

There must be many of you who are like this. “I have been attending church since
birth, I belong to a third-generation Christian family.” You may have pride in such
things, but they are not enough for you to enter God’s kingdom.
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:6)

All these are of the flesh. Being part of a third-generation Christian family is pride of
flesh. If a grandfather was an elder and he was saved, will that enable his grandson to
go to Heaven? Absolutely not.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God? children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision
or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12~13)

We do not go to Heaven because we are part of a third-generation Christian family.

Everyone must individually be born again before God. But there are some people who
believe that they are going to Heaven according to their father’s faith.

A child was born in the family of a church elder. When he was about five years old, the
elder began to take him to church. He wanted to make sure to raise his son to be a
person of good faith like him, so the elder always took the young child along. When he
could talk, the elder sat the child beside him and told him:

“Son, try praying to God.”

“How do I pray, father?”
“Listen carefully to the way I pray, and then you do it.”
So the father prayed and his son repeated after him. But when the father said, “Our
Father who art in Heaven,” the son prayed: “Our grandfather who art in Heaven.”
“Son, you can’t say our grandfather; you have to say our Father.”
“Oh? But if God is your father, then He is my grandfather.”

How should you answer this boy? How should you teach him about God so that he
would understand? Perhaps the boy was smarter than his father. The degree of kinship
has to match, but if the father calls God the Father and the son calls God the Father as
well, the degree does not match. Everyone must be born again of God in a one-to-one
relationship. This is how God becomes Father to all people. So if we say, “my father is
an elder, my grandfather is a minister, I was born into a Christian family, so I will go
to Heaven according to my ancestor’s faith,”we are in for a great disappointment.

Am I Born Again?

Think carefully about whether you have been born again. If you ask what it means to
be born again, people generally do not know.

“I used to smoke but now I don’t, and from the day I stoarted attending chapel I
stopped doing bad things. Now I don’t drink and I don’t go to bad place. I’m a new
man, so I’m born again.”

Not really. That is not being born again. There are countless number of people who
are not Christians who have turned over a new leaf and lead better lives. What does it
mean to be born again? What exactly is it when Jesus says we must be born again?
Here is 1 Peter chapter 1 from verse 23.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through
the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is
like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the
Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter
1:23~25)

Here it explains what it means to be born again. The Bible compares human beings
and their glory to grass and flowers of the field. A seed drops to the ground. From it
roots and sprouts appear and flowers blossom.

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.”

It is saying that we are like grass. Into a mother’s womb father’s seed falls. It grows
for ten months, taking shape, until a baby is born. That baby grows and becomes an
adult. The time that the seed falls and germinates in the ground is the time a baby is
in a mother’s womb, and the time the leaves come up to the ground and grow is the
time a person is born and grows on earth.

Let us ask this question: why does the flower blossom? Is it to give beauty to human
beings? No, the time when the flower blossoms is a very important time for the flower.
In order for the flower to live on, from somewhere pollen has to fly over to it while is
in bloom. Whether by bees or butterflies or the wind, the pollen is carried over, the
flower receives it, and pollination occurs. Afterwards the flower withers and bears fruit.
Within the fruit is the life of the flower and the cycle of life continues.

During the time the flower is blooming, it receives the pollen and receives life. For the
flower, there is nothing more important than this and so it is with people. Seventy
years is the time for the flower of life to bloom. Why is it blooming? Why are we born?
It is to bear eternal fruit (life). This is the eternal life the Bible speaks of. Living on
earth is like a flower blooming. We were sent here in order to receive pollen into our
hearts during the seventy years while the flower of our life is blooming so that eternal
life can be conceived.

If the pollen does not alight until the flower withers, the flower becomes a mere chaff.
With life if no pollen alights while we live, then our life becomes an empty husk as
well. The Bible says a life of chaff will be burned up in an eternal fire. Here is Matthew
3:12.

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his
wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:12)

This is referring to human chaff. It is certain Jesus will judge us, and he will gather his
wheat, the ones who have produced fruit, into the barn of Heaven. However, because
a life of chaff does not have within it eternal life, has no life that can live with God, it is
thrown into unquenchable fire. It means the period during which we can be saved is
only during the time in which ou flower of life is blooming.

The ten months in a mother’s womb is a preparation time for seventy years, and the
seventy years is a preparation time for eternal life. What is the purpose of living?
There is only one purpose: to receive eternal life. Once this physical life ends, we
cannot receive salvation. There is no born again after death. What dose being born
again mean? It means receiving the seed of the word of God into our heart and
conceiving eternal life.

If the Word of God Bears Fruit

Look again at 1 Peter 1:23.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through
the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)

The word of God is the seed, the pollen that comes to a flower.

For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass
withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the
word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:24~25)

If a woman receives the seed of Mr. Park and she gives birth, whose child is it? It
becomes the child of Mr. Park. If the seed belongs to Mr. Kim, then the child becomes
the child of Mr. Kim. That woman is like a field that receives seeds, and likewise, our
hearts are also a field that receives seeds.

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are
spirit and they are life. (John 6:63)

You must understand clearly the words that will be spoken to you from this hour.
God’s words will cause you to be born again, bear fruit in your heart, and become a
child of God. Our hearts that receive his words are like a woman’s womb. Being born
again is not about correcting our character. It is not about fixing bad habits. It is a
totally new life being conceived within me.

Jesus said, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not
be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:6~7) We inherit our
flesh from our parents but we need within us a new life that is born of God, not fixing
or improving the old but receiving something totally new. Why do we need to receive
something totally new? It is because humanity itself has been corrupted and, even if
reformed, is not good enough to offer anything unto God.

Most people think, “If I just turn over a new leaf, God will go easy on me; if I improve
my personality and habits, God will accept me.” So they try hard to avoid committing
sin. But ragged clothes that need to be thrown in the garbage cannot be worn no
matter how many times we wash them. When God sees us, we are all fallen beings
that need to be thrown away. But we try to fix ourselves, and that is the opposite of
what God wants to give us. Today, countless religious people are working hard to fix
their characters, habits, and customs as a way to believe in God. Nevertheless, their
efforts will not take them to Heaven.
Remember Your Creator

Let us look at Ecclesiastes 12:1.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes
12:1)
I do not know if you have ever thought of your Creator your life until now. But before
the days of trouble come and the years approach, when you will say you find no
pleasure in anything, you need to remember your Creator.

When you are young, you have hope, courage, and ambition, but there is no pleasure
in someone whose eyes have dimmed, teeth are all gone, and vigor has dissipated. Is
the food tasty? When you go to an attractive location, do you hear joyful music? The
Bible says before you reach your old age with your mind suffering and all joy gone,
you must remember your Creator when you are young. Look at the next verse.

Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds
return after the rain; (Ecclesiastes 12:2)

Since the beginning of the world, the sun and the light and the moon and the stars
have never grown dark. But old people sometimes say, “child, why is today so
gloomy?” When their vision begins to fail, they feel the sun and the stars have become
dimmed. “Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark” means
before you reach an age where you cannot clearly tell them apart. Let us look at the
following verses.

When the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders
cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when
the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up
at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when men are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper
drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then man goes to his eternal home
and mourners go about the streets. (Ecclesiastes 12:3~5)

I have said at the beginning that a human being is a house made of clay. In this
house, there are many things such as windows, a chimney, a dining room, and a toilet.
The Bible says that when the days of trouble come the keepers of the house will
tremble. Who are the keepers of the house? When old age comes, the keepers of this
clay house will tremble-what does this mean?

Our two hands are the keepers of the house. They handle the roof, clean the dining
room, bandage parts that are hurting and bathe them. These two hands keep the
house safe. Why do these hands tremble when we get old? Old people develop tremor
of the hands because their blood vessels become blocked and blood cannot get to
capillary vessels. Look at the next clause.

“And the strong men stoop.”

A person’s power comes from the waist. But when we get old, our back hunches and
we stoop.

“When the grinders cease because they are few”-these are the failing teeth.
“And those looking through the windows grow dim”-eyes are the window to the soul,
so these refer to the eyes.
“When the doors to the street are closed”-the doors are ears. When the doors that let
in the news of outside world are closed, the ears are shut and we become deaf.
“And the sound of grinding fades”because we must eat with our gums when our teeth
fall out, the sound of grinding fades.
“When men rise up at the sound birds”-when we age, sleep disappears. We rise at
early dawn and sit. Old people who awake when birds cry outsi
de the window scold young people who work long hours and wake up late, “you young
people sleep too much.”
“But all their songs grow faint.”-Our voices will become weak.
“When men are afraid of height and of dangers in the streets.”-can an old person
climb a persimmon tree to pluck persimmons? When we get old we cannot go to high
places. When our ears go deaf we have a hard time balancing ourselves. Even when
we walk we wobble. How could such a person climb a persimmon tree? Old people are
afraid of heights. They are also afraid of the streets. Sometimes even crossing a street
is too much for them.
“When the almond tree blossoms.”-This refers to our hair turning white like the
almond blossoms.
“And the grasshopper drags himself along”-We cannot carry much weight when we are
old, so we say things like “I’d like to leave my eyebrows behind” when we are walking.
Our strength fails us so much that even the clothes we wear feels heavy.
“And desire no longer is stirred.” Our vigorous desire is all but diminished.
“Then man goes to his eternal home.”Our true self is said to reside in our flesh. The
Bible says we return to our eternal home, which means we came from somewhere.
There is definitely a place from where our spirit began. The spirit does not die; it is
eternal. It resides within the body and then returns to where it came from, to its
eternal home. When our spirit stirs its desire to go back to its home, we cannot sit still
in our homes. We come outside and wander. But when we are outside, we want to go
home. Our heart wanders without a destination. Then one day we die. The Bible
describes this as a person’s spirit going back to its eternal home. Let us look at 2
Corinthians 5:1.

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from
God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

When this house of clay collapses the spirit returns to its eternal house. When you are
anxious and in pain, sometimes you think, “Let’s just die. Then it’s all over. No more
suffering, no debts to repay, so I might as well just die.” But that is a big mistake.
When you die, the suffering will only grow. Suffering is not only of the flesh. It is also
felt by the spirit residing within, and the spirit does not die. Many people think that
death is a place of escape from pain, but death will not end your suffering. Death can
never be an escape from suffering.

Death of an Old Man

When I was about nineteen, there was a poor old man in our neighborhood. He had
two daughters, one son, and his wife living with him, and the five of them survived by
operating a small convenience store. The old man usually delivered briquettes, and he
delivered them to our house as well.
One early morning, his eldest daughter banged loudly on our front door and came in
crying. We asked what was wrong and she answered that her father had passed away.
He had passed away in his sleep. Because they were not town natives they did not
know many people and had no relatives. They did not know how to deal with the
situation and needed our help.

So I went. There were the old man’s two daughters, son, wife, and her white-haired
father. There was no one to dress the corpse and do the burial, so I brought a friend
who was around my age. I also brought an old man from church who knew how to
dress corpse for burial and we began preparing the body.

The town elders warned me, “Young men must not dress a corpse; if you do this a
ghost will possess you,” but I ignored them and went inside to help the old man
prepare the body. The body was laid behind a folding screen. While my friend, the old
man, and I went to the back and dressed the body, the dead man’s daughters and
wife and son wept loudly and bitterly. Listening to their grieving, I also shed tears.

I did as the old man asked. When he said hold the foot, I held the foot, and I put
cotton inside the dead man’s nostrils. After washing the body I felt it and it was cold.
He had been dead for less than a day but the body was cold like a block of ice. I
thought about ways to comfort the bereaved family crying outside.

“These days modern medicine has greatly advanced; what if we mummify this man
and put him in a glass case like Snow White? What if we preserve him so he wouldn’t
decay, put his regular clothes on him, place him at the upper side of the room where
it’s cool? Then wouldn’t his family be able to see him everyday? If they could imagine,
‘our father is sleeping over there, sleeping a very long sleep,’ then wouldn’t that
comfort them?”

When the family is filled with sadness, they will come into the room all the time. But
when their sorrow has eased, it becomes hard to enter the room where the dead body
lies.
Even though it is their father’s body, they will be scared. Why are we so scared of
dead bodies?

The body that is actually laid there is not their father. It is only their father’s house, an
empty house. When we go into an empty house we get scared that some ghost will
come out, when we see an empty house of the flesh, we become scared. The father’s
love, his mind that had resided in that flesh is all gone.

I put him into the coffin and took it to a mountain the next day with some friends for
the burial. We put the coffin into the ground. We built a mound, put grass on it, and
when the time came to tread on the grass I went on the mound as well. As I stepped
on the grass, I thought quietly about the situation. This dead man had perhaps not too
long ago gone to someone else’s house in mourning and said, “Oh! Oh! Such a pity!”
as he stepped on another’s grave. Now he was under ground. And while I was
stepping on his grave, one day I, too, would go into the ground and my family and
friends would cry around my grave.
Spirit of Life Stands before God

In fifty years, how many of you will still be here? Where will those people be who are
now laughing and making noise? This house of clay goes back to the ground but our
spirit that resided in the house goes back to its eternal house. Look at Ecclesiastes
chapter 3 from verse 19.

Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so
dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal.
Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all
return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes
down into the earth? (Ecclesiastes 3:19~21)

The human spirit goes up to God. There is one thing that God gave only to human
beings: it is our spirit.

Our flesh is made of clay; it is most comfortable with the earth, or clay. So when men
go to the army training camp and they have to go down on the ground and stay there,
they love the smell of the earth.

These days, people use mudpacks or bathe in yellow mud. But why is it so good for
the body? It is because they are of the same element asour body. Our flesh is made to
associate with the ground. However, within the human body there is a soul. It is
distinguished from the spirit and the body.

Most people do not distinguish between spirit and soul, but they are different. Let us
look at 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole
spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Thessalonians 5:23)

A person is composed of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Animals are composed of
flesh and soul. It begs the question, then, what is a soul and what is a spirit? Our
knowledge, emotions, and will are the work of the soul. What we remember, feel,
decide are the work of the soul. Animals have intelligence. They cry when their young
ones are taken, and they have the will to travel to set destinations. So animals have
souls. Then what is spirit? One representative work of the spirit is conscience.

Conscience and Religious Spirit

Let’s say we raise a dog in our house. The dog gose to the store, steals a fish and eats
it by himself. I have to pay the store owner for the fish and perhaps smack my dog
saying “bad dog!” Does the dog creep under the porch and say, “Oh, my conscience is
torturing me”? No, the dog goes to the store and steals the fish again. Animals do not
have a conscience, so they do not have a sense of shame. Even when they eat each
other, they do not regret it. But no matter how brazen-faced a person may be, he or
she has a sense of shame. Feeling ashamed, that is the function of conscience. This
conscience can also appear as a religious spirit. The representative religious spirit is
prayer. People pray in Christianity, in Buddhism, and that is an expression of
conscience.
One person I know raised a monkey because he wanted to know whether animals
would pray if properly trained. If it is possible to train an animal to pray, then that
means the animal has a spirit. So he would give a banana and show by example how
to pray and eat, but the monkey would skip the prayer and just eat the banana. He
would smack the monkey and say, “Hey, close your eyes and pray,” but the animal
could not imitate praying. Other things they can be trained in but they cannot close
their eyes and pray because they do not have a spirit.

Even atheists who do not believe in God offer silent meditation to those who died for
their country. Silent meditations are prayers. Even primitives and uncivilized tribes
have their prayers and incantations that they memorize. In other words, they have
religion. Dolphins have an IQ of about 60, but animals, no matter how high their IQ,
do not have religion: no village shrine or a place of worship or getting together and
telling fortunes or reciting incantations. Animals do not pray for their dead or worry
about the afterlife.

Only human beings think of their dead ancestors and think about the other side of
death because human beings have a spirit. That spirit is expressed in our conscience,
as religious prayers and creates various religions. In fact, it is said that there may be
individuals who do not have a religion but there are no nations without it. No matter
who they are, all nations have their religion. Even primitives without letters have pangs
of conscience and feelings of guilt, and thus they all have religious rituals, although
they may be different in form.
Yearning for Eternity

The spirit also knows the passing of time. It knows eternity. Look at Ecclesiastes 3:11.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of
men...(Ecclesiastes 3:11)

Our yearning for eternity is the work of the spirit. Because God gave us spirits, even
people who do not believe the Bible yearn for eternity. God gave all human beings
spirits. The best thing about adolescence is having friends. When we are young our
mother is the best; but as we grow up, friends are the best, our sweetheart is the
best, and then our children are the best. When we think friends are the best thing in
our lives we exchange letters and say, “May our friendship remain the same forever,”
or “May our love remain the same forever,” even though we only live for about
seventy years. Our yearning for eternity is expressed in such instances. This is because
of the spirit that God put into our hearts.

When I was a child my father used to put a black curtain over the henhouse at around
two to three in the afternoon. Then the chickens would go up to the roost thinking it
was night. Then he would turn on bright lights for a while at one, two, or three o’clock
at night, and the chickens would think it was daytime, come down and feed. He
divided two days into three units, artificially creating light and darkness each time, and
the hens laid three eggs in two days.

Animals think it is night when dark and day when bright. They do not think that time
passes while their eyes are closed. But human beings have thoughts that continue
even when their eyes are closed: “What if I died in the middle of my sleep tonight?
What if something happened suddenly? What if I went to the other side of death and
hell greeted me?” Only human beings become uncomfortable with the passage of time
and think about eternal existence. That is the work of the spirit. It is because you have
a spirit that you are here listening to my story.

Voice of Conscience

Unfortunately, the spirit is not on the side of the soul. The spirit does not support my
feelings and thoughts or the resulting judgments and decisions I make. Let us say I
picked up a 100 dollar bill check while walking down the street. I am happy with the
unexpected fortune and merrily continue on. But something inside starts to complain.
No one saw anything but my conscience speaks to me, “Why did you pick that up?”
This voice of conscience is not on my side: it does not support my thoughts, feelings,
or will. There is an opposition party inside me. We all hear this voice even now, but we
ignore it in our lives. This voice is the voice of God that speaks to us through our
conscience. Here is Proverbs 20:27.

The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.
(Proverbs 20:27)

The Bible talks about the “spirit of man.” Many people today ask where God is. Yurii
Gagarin, the first USSR astronaut to fly out to space, went up in his space ship, orbited
the earth and watched the stars, and when he came back he said, “I went up to the
outer space and didn’t find any God.” The statement became a hit in the communist
society.

Where is God? We cannot imagine that God is within us. We do not know that God
looks into us through our conscience, our spirit. He is watching you through your spirit,
and he is speaking to you. He is speaking to you in a still voice.

“Why do you not return another person’s money? Why are you lying?”

Do you not hear his voice? That is God’s voice, and he is speaking even now. He has
been watching you through your spirit, all your wrong-doings from your birth until
now. Did your conscience take your side? Conscience never compromises.

This is the very reason why we must be saved. Our conscience torments us. God
keeps telling us something has gone wrong with us. One day when we stand before
the Judgment Seat, our conscience will accuse us before God. Even now it does not
take our side; will it defend us when we stand before God?
Thus, Jesus says we must be born again. It means I must achieve reconciliation with
my conscience, which is against me and keeps pointing out my wrongs. My conscience
has to free me and say, “Now you can stand blameless before God.” That conscience
has to find peace and harmony with my thoughts. My conscience and I must not
continue in disagreement. Salvation is the liberation of my conscience. Salvation is
peace between me and my conscience and release from its accusations. My conscience
has to be perfectly at peace. When my conscience releases me, God is releasing me.

Is your conscience releasing you from all the many sins you have committed in your
life? Does your conscience not tell you to pay for your sins? Some people cry because
of their sins and some go into the mountains and become monks in order to relieve
themselves of their sins, but will their conscience release them?

Liberation of Conscience

In truth, all the stories I have told you above were merely an introduction, so that we
could discuss this most important topic. When I have gained peace from my
conscience, when it has released me from all the sins I have committed, then I can say
that God has forgiven me. Let us think, “When have I been released from my
conscience? When did my conscience become peaceful? At this time, is my conscience
clear? Is it releasing me from all my sins?”

Perhaps until now you have gone to early-morning prayer meetings or revivals, and
continued to cry and repent. When you pray you feel somewhat relieved, but when
you turn around, you remember your sins again. You go to more revivals, confess your
sins, go to the next one and unburden your sins yet again, but although when you
pray you feel refreshed, when you turn around, you discover your sins oppressing you
again. That is because you have not yet been saved. Jesus’ words to Nicodemus are
precisely about this.

There are many religious people. The more dedicated they are the more they try to
keep their words and actions clean from the beginning to the end. This helps others
around them. Strict adherence to religious laws in one’s life does the society mone
good than harm. But this is meaningless to God. Let us look at Job chapter 35 from
verse 5.

Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. If you sin, how
does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? If you are
righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? Your
wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of
men. (Job 35:5~8)

Religion teaches that if we live virtuously we will go to a good place, to Heaven, and if
we do evil, we will go to Hell, but God does not say that. With what can you make God
happy? If your righteousness or effort cannot, then you need to think about what will
make him happy.

All the words up to this point are like preface to the issue at hand. No matter how
many good teachings the Bible contains, if it has nothing to do with me, do we need to
hear its words? If we cannot discover the way to eternal life in the Bible, what
meaning does the book have? If we listen to all that is in the Bible all week long but
we do not get something from it, how will all that knowledge help me?
Faith Comes From Hearing

What I will share with you now has to do with our individual selves. Until now we have
talked about history, the fate of Israel, God’s plan, but now let us see what God has to
say to me, what I must do to receive forgiveness, be born again, and enter the
kingdom of God. Here is John 5:39.

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal
life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me. (John 5:39)

Why do we read the Bible? We read it to gain eternal life. Many people have read the
Bible but if they did not obtain eternal life, then all that reading was for nothing. The
purpose of reading the Bible is so that we can have eternal life. We read in order to
have everlasting life just like God but if we have read it for ten, twenty, thirty years
and there is still no eternal life within us, then we have read it wrong or we still do not
understand its meaning-we have read it in vain. Look at Romans 10:17.

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard
through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

These are very important words. It is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews:

But the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did
not combine it with faith. (Hebrews 4:2)
It is saying if you have heard the words of the Bible but you are not saved and there is
no understanding in your heart, then that is because those words were not combined
with faith. Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through
the words of Christ. The verb “comes” here in its original Greek does not have the
sense of “being created” so much as “gushing” or “sprouting.”

It is like water gushing up to the ground, or a bud sprouting from a branch. What
gushes up or sprouts refers to things that are already there inside coming out. “Faith
comes from hearing” means there is something within us, faith already exists inside
us. It means God from the beginning gave all human beings the root of faith for
knowing him. By hearing the message, faith sprouts up.

When we were elementary school students, there was no tap water but only a pump
and a well. After running around the school yard we would get thirsty and go to the
pump to get water, but no water would come out. What did we do? We would take our
rubber shoes or a can and get ditch water to be poured the pump. There was water
under the ground, but no water in the pump. So when water was poured into the
pump, that water went in and brought up the underground water.
When God made Adam, he originally filled his head with intelligence. This is how Adam
could, without parents or teachers to teach him, name all the beasts that God created
and brought to him. We anguish all night trying to come up with a name for our
newborn and still find it difficult, but Adam appropriately named all those countless
animals. How intelligent he must have been. But after Adam sinned and fell, the heads
of human beings have become blocked. There is this incredible ability within people
still, but it must be brought forth by education.

When babies are born, they cannot talk. If they are put in the United States and they
hear English, they will speak English, and if they are raised in Germany, they will speak
German. If they are raised in Korea, they will speak Korean. They will speak according
to the language that goes into their head. What goes in brings out what is within their
head.

A professor once carried out this experiment. His name was Suzuki, a famous
education scholar in Japan, and he wanted to find out if children had to have an innate
ability to play music by doing an experiment with violins. Suzuki had a violin teaching
program. From about the seventh month when a child’s ear began to function, he let
them listen to violin music everyday for ten or twenty minutes. He continued this
without stopping until the children were seven years old when they could learn to use
the violin bow. There were almost one thousand children who participated in the test.
Afterwards, when they were taught violin, apparently everyone one of them could play
the violin well. Why is that? It is because the music that entered brought forth music
from them. Everything is contained within human beings.

When God made human beings, He gave them a spirit within. The spirit is not
something that comes afterwards. It is originally within people. This is what enables us
to know God. In order to get English out, English has to go in, to get Korean out,
Korean has to go in. Then to get the spirit within us to come out, Spirit has to go in.

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are
spirit and they are life. (John 6:63)

The verse is saying what in order to bring out the spirit within me the words of Jesus
must go in. The words of the Bible that we are delivering to you now are
communicating the spirit of God. In hearing these words you are receiving them. Then
the spirit within you and the spirit entering you meet in a moment and they
harmonize. When we hear music, the music within us shakes its head and comes out.
In the same way, our spirit becomes alive by hearing the spirit in God’s word. In order
to bring our spirit back to life, spirit has to enter from outside.

On this earth, where is God’s spirit? There is only the Bible. This is why faith comes
from hearing. The words are spirit, and when we hear the words of the Bible, if you
recognize them as the spirit of God that will save us, as the voice of God, then the
spirit inside you, your conscience will say, “Ah! That is it,” and understand the words.
That understanding is being born again.

Listen to the Word of God

Here is Hebrews 4:2 again.

For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message
they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with
faith. (Hebrews 4:2)
Why is it that the same message is heard but some receive salvation and others do
not? It is because they did not combine the message with faith, and their spirit within
them was not joined to the message. But it is very important that they at least hear
the message. Often when people go to church, they read one or two verses of the
Bible and then hear all kinds of stories about the world, and they are not given the
chance to hear the words of God, which is spirit. Thus in many churches, the work of
the Gospel does not occur. The Bible needs to be communicated as is, but these
ministers read only a few verses that back up their sermons and talk about their
philosophy, logic, and opinion, and many people waste their time as a result. They
could just read the Bible verses and stop, but they read only two or three verses and
launch into all kinds of strange stories and oratory-how could people receive salvation?
God’s words must be told as is.

Please put away all the theories that you have in your mind, and listen carefully to
what God is saying to your spirit.

Chapter 5. Who Am I?
Adam’s Death - Separation from God

Let’s take a look at Genesis 2:15~17.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take
care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree
in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat of it you will surely die.(Genesis 2:15~17)

Everything inside the Garden of Eden was filled with life? everything but one. God
commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (or the
tree of life), and warned, that if he ate from the tree, he would surely die. But as we
all know, Adam lived to be over 900 years old even after taking the fruit from the tree
of knowledge of good and evil. How was he able to live for so long when God said that
he would die the day he ate from the tree of life?

But Adam did die. The confusion exists because people usually think of death as
having to do with the ending of the physical body. According to the Bible, however,
death indicates complete separation from God. On the one level, death is your spirit
being separated from the body. But on another level, death is you being separated
from God. This is what happened to Adam when he ate from the tree. He became
estranged from God.

When Adam was created, he was given a characteristic just like God’s: the
characteristic of spirit. It is said in the Bible that God is spirit. And it is this spirit from
God that Adam received when he came to being. Ultimately, therefore, the spirit of
man and the spirit of God are of one. The spirit of God must be tied to the spirit of
man for the man to be calling a “living” man. If separated, he would be a “dead” man
to God. Because of Adam’s crime, man became estranged from God from birth. You
and I were separated from God when we were born. Our ancestors are to be blamed.
Our ancestor’s wrongdoings have caused the wrath to reach us today.

Let us take a telephone as an example. All telephones go through quality control to

ensure that they are in good working order. But this doesn’t mean that the phone I
purchase from a store will work when I connect the line at home. The telephone will
not have a dial tone unless you’ve been given your own “line.” Thousands of phones
are manufactured. But, you’ll have to have your own line with an individual number for
the phone to work.

So was the case with Adam. He once had a life that was connected to God but after
committing sin, he was immediately disconnected, just like that brand new telephone.
After the separation of Adam from God, the descendants of Adam (that’s you and me
and everyone in this world) were born disconnected. We have physical life but we are
not able to reach God.

Making a Connection with God

There are close to seven billion people living on earth and the number is increasing.
But none of them automatically become God’s child upon birth. No matter how long
you have attended church and prayed, if you have never built a personal relationship
with God, your spirit is as good as dead. It’s not that you can’t breathe, but like a
phone that cannot be used to make a call, there is no connection between you and
God. If you die that way, you will go to hell. As a new phone needs to be given a
number and be registered at the telecommunications company, a newborn person
needs to be connected with God during his lifetime. Only when the phone line is
activated, can we say that the phone is “alive.” We call this “being saved.”

So, are you saved? Remember, perfect church attendance and prayers you have given
since birth will not get you saved. The question is whether the estranged relationship
between God and you has been cured. In Ephesians, it says, “As for you, you were
dead in your transgressions and sins.” We are dead. Our bodies may be alive, but the
spirit within is dead because it was torn apart from God the moment Adam sinned.
And it still remains torn apart. Unless the severed relationship is restored, you cannot
avoid going to hell.

But aren’t you frustrated at being doomed to hell because of Adam? It was Adam that
sinned, not me, you are saying. Let’s go to Romans 5:12.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and
in this way death came to all men, because all sinned? (Romans 5:12)

Everyone dies. We will all face death someday. And face eternal death because of our
sins.

Let us take another example. Say I cut a rose with a pair of scissors. The rose would
be able to survive for a while if we put it in a flower vase with some water. A few days
later, however, it will die because the flower has been removed from its roots. We are
like the rose. The body remains alive only when the spirit resides within. When the
spirit leaves the body, the body becomes an empty house, soon to be buried. Our 70
to 80 years of life is not much different from a rose placed in a vase. Sooner or later,
we all die.

Why do we eat? It is because we want to live. But can eating sustain our live forever?
Even if we continue to eat, we eventually die. Moreover, every minute you spend in
this world is a minute closer to death. Busy work life, house chores, entertainment,
and family duties may keep you from realizing this sad fact, but we should always be
reminded of where we are eventually headed.

Why must we die? We die because of our sins-sins that we have inherited from Adam.
Because of Adam, “original sin” entered this world and because of sin death has come
upon every person. This is because sin is handed down like a hereditary disease. Just
as life is inherited from our parents, there are inherited diseases as well. Even if we
refuse to have it, we could still become color-blind or carry the same kinds of illness
our ancestors may have had, all because of the genes we have inherited. Sin also is
transmitted.

After our ancestor Adam sinned, “original sin” entered Adam, and because of that sin,
Adam was separated from God and the estrangement was handed down to us. As a
result, we all die. When we carry a specific genetic disease, we sometimes die early
because of the illness. Likewise, all men on earth cannot but face death because of the
“original sin.” And because all people die, we are all sinners. We were all born a
sinner.

By Their Fruit You Will Recognize Them

Let us think over what a “sinner” is, and what “sin” is.

You may be saying, “Up until this time of day, I have lived conscientiously, striving to
do good deeds for others and help others. How am I a sinner when I’ve never even
been to a jail?”

If we carefully reflect upon ourselves, we cannot but acknowledge the fact that we are
hopeless sinners. Let’s go to Matthew 7:16.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs
from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree
that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit
you will recognize them.
(Matthew 7:16~20)

Let’s say there are two trees standing here. In the winter, the leaves fall down and
there is no fruit. We cannot distinguish a good tree from a bad one. Then spring
comes along and leaves start to grow. By summertime, we can see fruits hanging from
the trees. Observing one tree, you see that there are only bad fruits. What kind of tree
is it? It’s a bad tree. Turning to the other tree, you see only good fruits. It’s a good
tree. According to Jesus, we recognize a tree by its fruit.

Who is this parable describing? It is talking about me and you. If I were a tree, how
would you tell whether I’m a good tree or a bad tree? You could tell by the fruit of my
actions. If I’m a good tree, my actions would reflect my good manners, way of speech,
and good temperament. If I’m a bad tree, it will show by my bad actions, lies,
deceptions, frauds, stealing, and adultery.

It is said that we can find out what kind of people we are, if we examine what kind of
fruit we bear. Think about what kind of fruit is within each and every action you have
taken throughout your life. If I acted badly, it means that I’m a sinner. A sinner’s tree
bears the fruit of sin, and a righteous man’s tree bears the fruit of righteousness.
Some may say, “I carry both good and bad fruit.” However, a tree cannot give off both
good and bad fruits. If the tree is bad, all the fruits are bad. Some may be a little
better than others but ultimately they are equally bad.

Man Inherited the Sins of Adam

To God, you were already dead, estranged from him, since the point Adam committed
sin. A dead man only bears dead fruit. He is a sinner. My last name is Son, and one
day I was thinking; if I wanted to become a Lee, Park, or Kim, would that be possible?
Even if I speak like a Lee and act like a Lee, I, a Son, cannot become a Lee. I’m a Son
because my father was a Son and my grandfather was a Son. The name is inherited
down, not given by choice. Likewise, we became sinners because our ancestor Adam
was a sinner. That is why we bear the fruit of sin. Let us turn to Matthew 15:18~20.

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a
man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual
immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but
eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’(Matthew 15:18~20)

When Jesus dined with His disciples, the Pharisees and teachers of the law rebuked
the disciples for eating without washing their hands first and accused them as
lawbreakers. But Jesus said to them, “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make
him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’”
What kind of fruit do you bear? Are there lies, deceptiveness, fraud, adultery, theft,
hatred, slander? There are probably all sorts of fruit hanging on the tree. The Bible
says that sin comes out of the heart, the roots. Sin does not go inside of us, but comes
out of our heart. In other words, sin is only a reflection of our heart.

The Seed of Sin within the Heart

Let us read from Jeremiah 17:9.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the
LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his
conduct, according to what his deeds deserve. (Jeremiah 17:9~10)

People rarely acknowledge that they are sinners from birth. Let’s take the example of a
typical quarrel you have with your spouse. The wife, for instance, will say something
like, “I was so pure an innocent before meeting you. Can’t you see that I’ve turned
into this cold-hearted, tough woman because of all the trouble you put me through?
It’s because of you that I’ve turned into a nagging wife. You don’t come home, you
don’t help me out with the chores. You never look after the children. You don’t listen
to anything I say.” Is this true? Was the wife always “pure” and “innocent” as she says
she was?

I have here a glass of water. At first glance, the water looks clean. But if you look
closely, there are sediments at the bottom of the cup. With a stirrer, I shake up the
particles inside. The sediment rises and immediately the water appears unclean. This
glass is the wife. The stirrer is the husband, turning her over inside out. The husband
and wife get into a fight. The wife says the husband has turned her evil, that he’s
turned a calm person inside out by throwing spiteful words at her. The husband argues
back, saying that if there was no “sediments” inside her, all the stirring in the world
would not have caused her to turn up anything.
Whenever we fight with others, we tend to blame the other person as being the cause
of the fight. ‘I wouldn’t have become angry if it were for him or her,’ we think. But if
there’s no dirt (or sediment, as in the glass of water example) within me, nothing
should appear, right? That’s why it’s important to see ourselves as who we really are.
The Bible describes such human condition in Isaiah 57:20.

“But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire
and mud.” (Isaiah 57:20)

We are that wicked people. We were born as sinners. Let’s take a look at the mind of
these sinners. When the wind is not blowing, the seawater is gentle. But when the
winds start building, the sea tosses and turns. Then the residues and waste that were
settled down at the bottom of the sea begin to rise and are pushed to the shore by the
waves. This is why the coast is filled with waste after a typhoon.

When the sea is calm, everything is buried at the bottom of the sea, but when the
wind blows hard and moves the waters, all that was below the surface rises to the top.
The Bible compares the sea to a man’s heart. When my mind is at peace, that is to
say, when there is no one provoking you, when people are saying nice things about
you and everything in your life seems to be going well, the dirt remains untouched.
But as soon as someone so much as throws a pebble into the sea that is your heart,
ripples are created. You’re no longer clam. The mind begins to undulate. The bigger
the provocation, the bigger the waves.

Again, the point of origination? The heart.

There is No One Righteous, Not Even One

“In the beginning,” God did not create just the cosmos. He also created micro cosmos
as well. By that I mean the heart inside a human body. Since God is the one who
created the heart, we can assume that he has is access to a full view of the heart, too.
Can you honestly tell me that your heart is as pure as the snow? Anyone who believes
that their heart is pure has no reason to be sitting here because they have never
sinned. There is no need for them to read the Bible, either.

We know that this is not the case, however. The easiest way that we can see for
ourselves is to look at how many times we become angry every day. The Bible says
that those who get angry are not able to pursue God’s just. But just think about all
those times you told yourself that you would not get angry at your boss or your
children or your spouse. No matter how many times we remind ourselves to keep cool
and control our temper, we cannot. It betrays us in an instant. How long does it take
to curse the driver who has cut in front of you without signaling? You see my point.

Did sin enter into us or did it come out of us from within? I don’t become a bad person
when I sin. I sin because I am a sinner (a bad tree) to begin with. As it says in
Romans, everyone is born as a bad tree.

There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10)

In God’s eyes, there is not even one righteous man on earth. This is because we are
all descendents of one ancestor, a sinner. We are all are angry people, liars, and
sinners, and those who seem to be clean are only suppressing themselves, decorating
themselves with manners and etiquettes on the outside. While others sin ten times,
they only sin once. To others, they appear to be good, but to God they are sinners all
the same.

This is because some people reveal less of their sinful nature. While some sin as they
please, bearing many fruits of sin, some sin less, being careful not to act a certain way
before others. But if they are given a chance to sin without the attention of their
acquaintance, they will sin more freely.

The Sins Within

A man’s tendency to sin and the sins that he actually commit are different. Committed
sins are crimes whereas his tendency to sin (or “original sin”) is inherited and flows
within our blood. Depending on the situation, this sinful nature takes on the form of a
lie sometimes and deceptions at other times.
Here’s what the Bible means about a man’s tendency, or natural inclination, to sin.
Even a five-year-old child knows how to lie. How does a young, innocent girl her age
know how to do such a thing? Was she taught by her parents? Her kindergarten
teacher? In fact, no one has to teach her the vice because she was already born with
the ability. As her mind develops, her ability to manipulate a situation to her advantage
and deceive others to hide her wrongdoing also grows.

So while we talk about people being “as innocent as a child,” we should realize that it
just takes time for the tendency to show. When a baby is born, for instance, we are
not concerned about the baby’s lack of hair or teeth. They will appear in due time.
Likewise, sin may not show at first but as the child gets older, more and more will
show.

Again, what was inside is eventually revealed over time. As the Scripture states, “The
heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the
LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his
conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” It means we will be judged exactly
according to our sins. Thus all the sins you’ve committed since birth, whether you
remember them or not, whether they were committed in your mind or by action, will
all be judged.

God Looks through Us

Let us all think about each of our sins. We sometimes think that we are innocent until
proven guilty. If no one saw me and can therefore cannot accuse me, then I am an
innocent person, you may think. But remember, God is always watching.
The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being.
(Proverbs 20:27)

The spirit within us is the lamp of God that looks through us.

When I was traveling overseas last year, I watched an interesting piece of news in
Germany. A man in the U.S. sneaked into his next door neighbor’s house to eavesdrop
on the she-neighbor. He placed a pin-point camera the size of a needle tip in the
ventilator and watched her every move through a monitor in his house. He was
ultimately caught by the federal police.

Similarly, you and I can be monitored by a camera installed in this room as well. Add a
wiretapping device, and we can also be heard. God gave us spirit-the lamp of the Lord
and one that looks deep into our heart. Right now, God is watching us through this
spirit. Even if something is undetectable with the human eye, nothing can go
unnoticed with God. In God’s camera, the story of your entire life is recorded.

Would you like to show your video to everyone here? I’m sure you will probably run
away before we press the “play” button. Why is that? It is because we are
embarrassed by the way we have lived. There are sins in our life story. There are
secrets that cannot be revealed. All of us are ashamed of our lives in one way or
another. Your conscience letting lets you know that you are a sinner. You have to be
forgiven of these sins in order to be at peace with God who sees through everything.
People Carrying Around their Sins

To be forgiven of one’s sins is to be “saved” according to the Bible. Were you ever
forgiven of your sins to have received salvation? How does someone become saved,
anyway? Is it by praying? I’m sure you tried praying to God as a child or even later in
your life. How do you know that God is listening to your prayer? Does God send you
an email message saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven?”

Wouldn’t it be nice to know whether or not you have reconciled with God? For those of
us who are not saved, it’s as if we’re standing in front of the judge after having failed
to reach a settlement. If you and the other person can settle a case between the two
of you then it would be unnecessary to go to court. But, if the two cannot agree, then
they both must face trial. Likewise, if I am reconciled to God while living this life, there
is no need for me to go through a trial. That is to say, if I am forgiven of all my sins
before I die, there is no reason for me to face judgment because reconciliation with
God is achieved by paying the right price for my sins. That I am reconciled with God
therefore means to have paid for all my sins.
Many people attend dawn prayers and revival meetings to cry out for forgiveness. But,
even after the prayer, they keep sin with them. They would go to prayers and cry to
their heart’s content, confessing to God of all their sins. The minute they leave the
scene, however, they pick their “bag of sins” right back up and take it back with them,
to another revival meeting or a special fasting. In this way, they carry around their sins
throughout their entire lives. So will it ever be possible for us to place our sins down?

As a Dog Returns to Its Vomit

Let us first attempt to define human nature. How much and what kind of sins do we
commit? What kind of punishment awaits us as a result of these sins? I’d like for us to
examine these questions because they should shed some light on certain aspects of a
person. I believe that we can tell most about a person when they are asleep. When
asleep, we’re no longer pretentious. That is to say, we don’t care if our hair becomes
messy, our mouth open agape, pajamas wrinkled and twisted around. But as soon as
we get up, we stand in front of the mirror to put on make-up, put on fresh shirts or
dresses to look presentable. Within moments, you transform into a completely
different person.

So why the transformation? Why do we put on clothes? Is it because we’re cold? No. I
wouldn’t say that that was entirely correct because if that were the only reason then
we might as well punch a few holes into a blanket and pull that over our heads. But,
we know that a blanket will not do. We worry about the style and whether or the
colors match and so on. Why? Because we want to look good. We try to look nice by
covering up as much as possible the parts that we are not confident of and revealing
those parts that we are proud of. If you think about it, we are actually hiding behind
our clothes because of our sinful nature.
Our family owned a dime store when I was young. One of our customers was a
Japanese lady who was married to a Korean man. This lady would sometimes come
carrying a small, white pig in her arms. As a child, I was disgusted by this because
while I saw people carrying a cat or a dog around, I had never seen a person carrying
a pig around as a pet.

One day I had to deliver some soft coal to her house. I knocked on the gate, and as
soon as the Japanese lady opened the door, out came running the pig. She kept the
pig insider her bedroom! The funny thing was that as soon as the pig saw an opening,
it ran towards the sewer. The lady got all upset, spanked the pig, saying, “Oh, look
what you’ve done. And I just washed you an hour ago!” She then took the pig to the
tub to wash it again, wrapped it in a towel and placed it back in her room.

I watched the scene with amusement. Later, I thought, ‘Is a bedroom the best place
for the pig?’ From the Bible, I realized that a pig belongs in the sewers. It is in the
pig’s nature to play in the mud.

As humans, we probably feel the most comfortable if we were allowed to sin freely.
But we can’t, because there are eyes watching and we have reputation to worry about.
So, if there was no one watching and we were free from such fear, our desire to live
as we please would be immediately be set on fire. Why do we get stressed out? It’s
because we are not able to do what we want to do. Because others are watching, we
suppress our desire to speak and act freely. We hold back on our anger. We bite down
on our tongue from wanting to curse someone to his or her face. But inside, we are
burning with desire and anger.

Let’s go back to the example of the pig. Can we train the pig to stay in the room
instead of the mud? It likes places like that because it was born that way. The Bible
tells that we were born with the characteristics of a pig. 2 Peter 2: 22 tells us the
following:

Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is
washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud. (2 Peter 2:22)

It says that sinners are the same as a dog eating its own vomit or a washed sow going
back to the dirty mud. My parents used to keep a dog in our front yard when I was
young. One morning, as I was leaving the house for school, I saw that dog throwing
up. But by the time I came back, the ground was clean again. It had licked clean its
own vomit!

I thought about the words “A dog returns to its vomit.” The Scripture likened a dog
returning to its vomit to a human. When does a dog vomit? Not when it’s sunny out.
Only when it’s cloudy and about to rain. That a dog vomits on a bad day means that it
throws up because of the surrounding atmosphere.

I’ve no reason to get upset when the people around me are saying only good things
about me. But if there is someone saying bad things about me, saying unkind words,
it’s then that I “vomit” because it’s a bad weather day. Because of the weather, I
throw up everything I’ve been holding down. I throw up unspeakable words and spew
out anger. Then regaining calmness, I begin to regret. I think to myself, ‘Oh, why did I
say those things to him.’ ‘I should’ve been a less emotional.’ That is eating back my
vomit.

God is showing us how what we are like through these animals. We vomit sins and eat
them up again. God created dogs this way to remind us of what we are like. He
created pigs in the same way. Why does a pig go back to a dirty place to lie down?
Because it’s inherent in the pig’s nature. And that same nature is found in us.

When a little boy does something wrong and is being spanked, he promises never to
make trouble again. But does he keep that promise? No. Later on he’s getting spanked
again for the same thing. It was this way when we grew up.

The Fool Says in His Heart, “There is no God”

Let us turn to Psalm 53:1.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to
see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away,
they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
(Psalm 53:1-3)
It says that there is no one who bears good fruit. People that question the existence of
God is a fool in God’s eyes. Do you know why these people deny God?

When I was in elementary school, there were times when I forgot to do my homework
because I was too busy playing. I would wake up in the morning and try to finish it
then but to no avail. On my way to school, guess what I’m thinking about. I’m
desperately hoping that my teacher would be sick and not show up to school. I’m
afraid of the consequences I might face. The same thinking applies to people who do
not believe in God. People who sin feel better believing that there is no God. So they
argue that God does not exist.

Taking the example of me as a student again, what if I spent a lot of time on my

homework? Let’s assume that I had spent hours searching for answers and solving
questions but that my teacher didn’t show up the next day. This time, I would be
crushed knowing that the teacher wasn’t at school to acknowledge my hard work. In
this way, when people live a hardworking, honest life, they want something in return.
Those living a conscientious life wish that God does exist. On the other hand, those
with no conscience feel better living without God.

Which side are you on? Do you wish there was a God or not? Most of us are too
ashamed of our lives to wish for God’s existence so that he can check to see that we
have done all our “homework” correctly. We are in fact scared of all the shameful and
unspeakable secrets. We are afraid of what would happen if God really exists and
judges us. That is why people become nervous about death.

Reconciling with our Conscience

If we want to be evaluated justly before God, we must have lived according to our
conscience. But, we have been deceiving our conscience and remain blind to our sins.
Let us read Matthew 5:25.

Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you
are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge
may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the
truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:25~26)

In this passage, there is an accuser. Who is this referring to? Here I am, living 10, 20,
30 years…I am on a journey called life. I seem to be walking alone, but in fact I am
walking beside an accuser. There is an accuser accusing me, saying from deep inside
‘You have sinned. It is wrong.’ That is my conscience, my spirit. That a man’s spirit is
the Lord’s lamp is referring to his conscience. The accuser within us is the spirit of
God.

Our spirit is like a branch office, and the spirit of God is the headquarters. Just as there
is communication between office branches and the headquarters, the spirit within me
continuously reports to God. And it also instructs me. All of us have been lived listening
to the sound of our conscience. What is your excuse for the sound of your conscience
saying, “Hey, watch it!”? You reply, “Chill out, I’m just acting like everyone else.”
Whenever there is an accuser, there is an excuse. It’s a two-way fight. The accuser is
within me. I must reach a settlement while it is still walking beside me throughout my
life. If the accuser escapes my body, there is no more chance to reconcile.
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, (Hebrews
9:27)

Thus, when my life is over, only judgment is left and there is no more way to
reconcile. While I am alive, while my conscience is still suing me, reconciliation with
my conscience must take place. If I don’t rush to settle down the issue, the accuser
will hand me over to the judge. The judge is God himself. God will throw you into hell.
And there is no way out unless you have paid for everything, including for your
smallest sin. Have you ever paid for your sins? Has your conscience released you from
accusations?

You should carefully examine the condition of your conscience. There is no need to
look to others. Really ask yourself, “Is my conscience clear and at ease?” “Has my
conscience okayed me? Or is it saying, ‘Why are you living this way? Why are you
sinning?’”

Be Forgiven while Still Alive

After coming back to Korea from the U.S., I was involved in a car accident. A
motorcycle ran into the side of my car and the rider fell out. As we all know, in a
collision like this, it involves two parties. It is true that the motorcycle ran into my car,
but since the rider were injured, I took him to the hospital with my car. He was a
college student.
I made sure that he knew he was at fault by saying to the student, “You do realize
that you are at fault, right?”

“Yes sir,” the student replied.

“So what do you plan to do about this accident?”

“I don’t have the money to pay for the hospital, sir. If you can be so kind as to pay for
me, I promise not to take issue with the accident because I know it was my fault.”

At first, I was going to call the insurance company, but thought it would complicate
matters and paid the hospital fees for that day. Then I made the student write a
memorandum stating the following: “I acknowledge that I am at fault and that I will
not raise complaints about today’s accident.”

The Bible says if we hurry and reconcile while we are walking along with the accuser,
we do not have to stand before judgment. But people mistakenly believe that they will
find out whether or not they are bound for heaven or for hell after they die. They
believe that, no matter how hard they trust in God, they will not know during their
lifetime. This is not a correct understanding of the Bible, however. Nowhere will you
find in the Bible that we learn of such destination after death. It is clearly indicated
that those whose sins have been forgiven while living in this world will not be judged.
Our ticket to heaven or hell will not be determined in front of God after death, but
when we are still living in this world.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only
Son.
(John 3:18)

Let’s move on to John 5:24.

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal
life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

It is written that we will not be condemned. The Bible says if we hurry and reconcile
while we are walking along with the accuser, we do not have to stand before
judgment. If there is no reconciliation, there is only judgment.

Salvation Based on the Word

We must properly read, know, and believe in the Bible. We must not lean on the vague
understanding of what our pastor or others have said because your pastor won’t be
able to send you to heaven. Even what a pastor says is useless unless it is based on
the Bible.

I would like to tell you a story about my uncle and a famous opera singer at his
church. My uncle was the head of a renowned theological school. There was an opera
singer attending his church. He was a very good singer who was always assured of his
salvation by my uncle.

Many years later, the singer came to me with a surprising piece of news.

“I am born again,” he said.

“But you were positive that you were saved years ago, I retorted.

“Well, back then Reverend Choi said to me, ‘If you don’t go to heaven, I’ll take full
responsibility.’So I was very sure. But, I realized that I was a sinner still and found that
it was Jesus who took full responsibility of my sins.”

That reverend was my uncle. How fortunate it was that the singer realized all that he
realized before his death! Can my uncle really guarantee someone’s entrance to
heaven? No, absolutely not.

We are not saved through someone’s words or guarantee. Our salvation must be
based on the Scripture because God is the one who forgives.

But despite what the Bible says, people like to believe in false teachings. They take to
heart immediately whatever they hear because the message is from a pastor or a
reverend. I know of pastors who go as far as to say that regardless of one’s faith in
God, having committed a grave sin condemns him or her to hell. That is Satan’s
message, not God’s. These messages are taught because people do not fully
understand the Bible.
You should discard all those messages that are not based on the Bible from your head.
The question should always be, “Is what I am hearing in the Bible?” There is no other
word of God besides the Bible.

Some people are said to have heard the voice of God in prayer. I have often met such
people. There was a deacon attending a nearby church, who was a man of prayer. We
knew each other well because she attended a neighborhood church. Prayer took up
most of his daily life that it seemed as if one third of his day is spent to pray. There
were rumors that he was hearing the voice of God in prayer. I don’t know how much I
envied him because at that time, I had not yet heard the true Gospel.

I thought to myself, ‘I have never heard God’s voice even when I pray hard in dawn
prayer meetings. The deacon must truly be a strong believer.’

According to these rumors, God had even expressed his concern for the dimming of
soft coal that was being used to heat the deacon’s room. The deacon went outside to
check to really find that the coals were about to burn out. How convenient, I thought.
But after having received salvation and being awakened to the true message of the
Bible, I realized that that was all a devil’s joke.

Think about it. Let us say someone heard the voice of God, and he dictated what he
had heard. He then printed the text in the same font as the Bible’s, and attached it to
the back of the Book. If what the man heard was God’s voice, should the printed text
also be part of God’s words, or not? No, it cannot be part of the Bible. The revelations
are already complete. Let us read Revelations 22:18~19.

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds
anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if
anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his
share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
(Revelations 22:18-19)
It is not allowed to be added or taken away from. Nobody can add to the contents of
the Bible, saying that he heard God’s words. Salvation is not bestowed by some voice
from above, but by the Scripture that is already written. Only through the Bible can
our conscience be condemned and also be saved. There are no other words that are
God’s words besides the words in the Bible.

Thus it is written that we must not be compromised by words beyond what is recorded
in the Book. Anything you think you heard or realized by your feelings that is not from
the Bible is all false and deceiving. There may be some thinking, ‘Oh, why is my heart
not trembling, why aren’t tears falling down from my eyes?’ But it is all useless. What
God is speaking through the Bible is what is important. Take a look at what God is
telling you.

The Wages of Sin is Death

Matthew 5:21.

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone
who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with
his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’
is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of
the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Some people think that they go to hell because of the accumulation of their sins. But it
doesn’t work that way. One sin is enough to take you to hell.

For instance, there are some shotguns that are so small that it can be covered with the
palm of a hand. The bullet is small as well. But if you get shot with it, you die. You
also die when you are hit by a huge cannon ball. Whether you are attacked by a small
shotgun or cannon, you die all the same.

For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

Some people believe that we go to hell for grave sins, and to purgatory for smaller
sins. However, committing even a small sin will cause you to go to hell. The following
passage is talking about this issue. You may know that one must not kill, but it is said
that we go to hell even if we swear to our brothers. One of the Ten Commandments is
“Thou shall not kill.” I am pointing out that some may be thinking they can go to
heaven because they have not murdered. But Jesus says,

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone
who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with
his brother will be subject to judgment.”

This is because bursts of anger can lead to murder. Murder is the result of such anger.
What is the sin? It is the anger inside my heart. Whether the plot is to kill with a knife
or a gun, the motive behind the action is in my mind. Anyone who says to his brother,
‘Raca,’, or ‘you bastard’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. Moreover, what does it say
will happen to those who say, ‘You fool!’? That person will be “in danger of the fire of
hell.”

You may think that this is too harsh. You hear people calling each other idiots and
fools all the time. Even parents say to their children things like “you stupid fool.” So,
you might ask, “Well, can’t a person swear once or twice when he’s angry? How can
one be sent to hell just because he called his child a fool?”

But that’s what the Bible says and I cannot but deliver the message.

Again, it reads, “Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Please turn to verse 27.

You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone
who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(Matthew 5:27~28)

We can only imagine how much adultery the apparent ladies and gentlemen commit
inside their minds. Even though people do not commit adultery openly, they sin
endlessly in their mind. You and I are able to face each other and talk like this because
our internal thoughts are hidden. If our thoughts were brought out in the open,
nobody in this room would be able to look at one another. It is only human to feel
pleasure in talking badly about other, dreaming about all sorts of lewdness, lust and
adultery. Jesus is pointing out that innermost part of us.

“It was said to the people long ago ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone
who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Are there any objections, anyone thinking they had never committed adultery in their
thoughts? We all deserve to go to hell. We may appear to be the perfect gentleman or
a lady in front of other people, but think about what they would see if they were able
to read their minds? God knows how corrupt, degraded and treacherous our minds
are. We can deceive people but we cannot deceive God.

Force of Fire from Hell

Let us now go to verse 29.

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you
to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if
your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew
5:29~30)

God is precise. He says that if your hand causes you to sin, it is better to cut it off and
go to heaven handicapped than going to hell. He is strict enough to order us to cut our
parts out whenever we sin. If you sin enough times, you won’t have parts left to cut
off! What are you supposed to do then?
Today, anger syndrome is recognized as a medical condition. The Korean term for
“anger” uses the Chinese character for “fire.” So, anger is “fire” burning inside the
mind. There are many types of fire. There’s the type of fire that cannot be put out by
water, for instance. Hell is a place where fire burns forever and ever.

When I see people lighting a cigarette with a stick of match, I’m reminded of hell.
While science may be able to explain that the sulfur or phosphorous on the match
head, when rubbed against a coated surface, will ignite, it doesn’t know where that
energy comes from. The Bible tells us that fire comes from hell.

Music will flow if you turn on the radio, and images will appear if you turn on the
television. These are all possible because this room is filled with radio waves
transmitted from the broadcasting center. The reason why a match can be lighted is
because the force of fire has come from somewhere. The Bible says it has come from
hell. Let us go to James 3:6.

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the
whole person, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by
hell. (James 3:6)
Where does all the cause for arousing a person’s anger syndrome and lighting a fire
come from? These flames come from the fire of hell, and the burning anger comes
from the blazing fire in hell as well. The Scripture says that both the corruption of a
person and the fire burning the whole course of one’s life are all from hell. Just like the
broadcasting center is transmitting radio waves to this room, the force of hell is at
work around us.

For my Salvation

There is one most important thing to do in order to be saved and that is to know your
conscience. You have eyes, a nose, ears, and a tongue. You can see with through your
eyes, smell with your nose, hear with your ears, and taste with your tongue. You
cannot “see” with your ear or tongue. Only your eyes have the function of visually
viewing something. Only your nose is capable of smelling something. If you want to
listen, you must use your ears. How then does a person come to realize that he or she
has sinned? This is where your conscience comes in.

Sadly, however, our conscience loses its function and fails to perform its duties. Let me
tell you why.

Sometimes at a Bible conference such as this one, you hear elderly ladies talking in
loud voices during a sermon. Why do they speak so loudly? It is because they cannot
hear each other very well. Not because there is no sound, but because they have
hearing difficulty. Likewise, our conscience can become dull and unable to “hear.”

Would like to see how just dull?

There are times when you want to avoid talking to certain people. For instance, you’re
sitting at home when you get a call from a friend whose money you owe. What do you
do? You ask your son to pick up the phone instead. You tell him, “If he asks for me,
tell him I’m not home.” Here you are, teaching your child to lie when you’ve been
preaching to him about the evil of lying.

At any rate, the phone rings. It’s the friend you dreaded.

“Hello, is your father home?”

“No.”
(So far so good.)
“Do you know where he is?”
Uh oh. Your son wasn’t instructed this far.
He puts down the receiver and hollers, “Dad! Where should I say you are?”

It’s a cute story but shows how insensitive we are to lies. Is there anyone whose
conscience is pained by a small lie such as this? Our conscience wouldn’t even twitch
at something lie this, just like a deaf ear that is unable to hear small sounds.

There are many ways that a conscience becomes numb and I’ll be talking about that in
a little bit. But, first, we have to remember that it is very important for the conscience
to remain sharp.

It is extremely important that the conscience is working properly because one can
recognize his or her sins through the conscience. And recognizing sin is important
because only when you realize that you are a sinner can you repent. To a person who
is blind to his sins, redemption has no appeal. He who is blind in the conscience will
therefore neither desire nor appreciate the work of salvation.

Morally Blind

Let us say I’m a renowned painter. Anyone you learns painting from me would win the
highest honor in a national painting contest. I am that skillful, and as such have many
students learning from me. First, I teach them how to use a paintbrush. And then
colors. But then I see this one student who paints green when I tell him to paint in red
and vice versa. I warn him and tell him to paint the colors that I tell him to. But when
I tell him to paint in red, there he goes again with the green paint. Later, I find out
that the student is color-blind. Can the student be taught? No matter how great of a
teacher I am, the student cannot color properly unless his ability to distinguish colors
is fixed.

It is the same with God. If we do not recognize our sins because our conscience is
unable to see, God cannot save us. What most God first do? God has to first fix his
conscience.

It’s also important that we take good care of the conscience. The most typical cause of
a blind conscience is willful sin. The first time you sin, your conscience is very sensitive
to react against it. But if you commit the same sin repeatedly, your conscience
gradually become dull and loses it voice.

On April Fools’ Day, we intentionally lie. The first time you lie, your heart beats
uncontrollably. But you fool someone once, then a second time, then a third time.
After a while you tell the story as if it really happened. You even start crying you’re so
moved by your own fabricated story. In the end, you can no longer distinguish the
truth from a lie. Such is the method that the Communists used to brainwash people.
With continuous lies, they wash out the information people used to have previously.
Then their conscience gradually freezes. That is, if you repeatedly sin or lie, your
conscience slowly becomes blind.

Secondly, our tendency to make excuses is also the source of blinding the conscience.
Rather than admitting our mistakes, we come up with excuses. If you continue to
make excuses for your actions, with “But I was too hungry” or “He made me do this
and that,” your conscience will also become numb.

Thirdly, the following things are sure to numb the conscience. Drinking alcohol,
smoking cigarettes, and doing drugs will all paralyze the conscience. Alcohol or drugs
destroys our ability to exercise our own will and judgment. I’m sure you have seen
people drunk. They are shameless. You see them urinating in the middle of the street
without a slightest trace of embarrassment. As for people under the influence of drugs,
I don’t think it’s necessary to mention how little the conscience is able to control them.
Lastly, if a person is too absorbed in his work, his conscience can also become
atrophied. Think about a rags-to-riches tale, for instance. A man set on climbing to the
top of a corporate ladder. A woman determined to become the first woman to earn a
doctoral degree in a certain field of academia. So determined and immersed they are
in their goals, they justify all means to get there. In this way, if we are too deeply
engrossed in what we do, the conscience again loses its ability to raise its voice.

Such people with a frozen conscience take no notice of the Bible. They are deaf to the
condemning voice of the Bible and are blind to the conviction of hell. The blinded
conscience or the deaf conscience doesn’t stay blind and deaf forever, however. It is
restored of its capability as soon as we are thrown into hell. Right now, Satan has put
you under anesthesia, but the very day you fall into hell, your conscience will be
awakened completely. Think of how painful that experience will be. There will be so
much grief and so much regret.

Hell is a place where your heart will feel the greatest pain. There is no spirit controlling
your conscience in hell, so it is a place where the human’s sinful disposition is fully
exposed. Try to imagine how agonizing it will be in such a situation. How much sin
have I committed since birth? The Bible expresses the answer in an amusing way. Let
us read Psalm 40:12 together.

“For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot
see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.”(Psalm
40:12)

I have sinned more than the number of hairs of my head. Can you guess
approximately how much hair you have? Europeans have less hair than Asians. They
say that the average number of hair Caucasians have is around 80,000 and that Asians
have about 100,000. So if you cannot count how many sins you have committed, it
may be a good idea to think about it whenever you wash your hair.

Sin that Torments Me

Now let us turn to Proverbs 28:24.

Whoever robs their father or mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is partner to one who
destroys. (Proverbs 28:24)

I have committed a sin that disturbed my conscience. I think I was in 7th grade, when
my classmate brought a small harmonica to school. I don’t know how much I longed to
have that harmonica. It was in 1962, so a harmonica was very rare. I didn’t know
much about the instrument, but I still wanted to try. But that classmate of mine
wouldn’t even let me touch the harmonica.

“If you want to try it, you have to buy this harmonica from me,” he said.

I asked him for how much and he said 130 won (around 15 cents). Back then, my
parents ran a small store. I took out 130 won out from the cash register without telling
my parents because I wanted to play the harmonica so badly. I played the harmonica
all day long back at home. But when I went to church, I was greatly bothered by the
voice of my conscience.

The Bible verse above is referring to this kind of situation. No parent may report his
child to the police for stealing petty money but the Bible says that if anyone who
believes that stealing from one’s parents is not a sin, that person is considered to be
the same as a destroyer. Those who steal from their parents are also thieves. Sin
according to the Bible.

After stealing that money from my parents, I cried every morning. I prayed over and
over again at revivals, begging God for forgiveness. After crying and praying, I felt a
little better. But after a little while, I would be reminded of my sin again and cry and
pray all over again before a different mister this time. Truly, even if you think of one
sin that is disturbing you, you will go to hell because of that sin. That sin comes from
the root of sin within me. The fruit of sin is many, but they all come from one root.

Honestly think about what kind of sins is bothering me before God. Not just vague and
abstract images, but specific ones-sins you think will make you go to hell.

Idolater

Let us read Romans 1:18.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of human beings who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what
may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
(Romans 1:18~19)

Inside every person’s heart, there is something that recognizes God. That something is
our conscience. Our conscience resembles the image of God. That conscience makes
us want to return to God. It’s like the memories we have of our old hometown, of the
blue skies and rivers that we have left behind. We long to return and similarly, there is
something inside us that longs for God.

Let us move on to verse 20.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities?his eternal power and
divine nature?have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so
that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him
as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts
were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human
beings and birds and animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:20~23)

Because God’s eternal power and divine nature is inside us, we seek divinity, wisdom,
and temperament of God. We have inherited God’s temperament and we seek
someone who could satisfy this temperament. And we have created sculptures of
mortal human beings, birds, or animals and served them as a god. There are Buddha,
rocks, and old trees. During our entire lifetime we have bowed before idols, which is a
huge crime before God. Therefore if you have gone before Buddha, a full moon, a
huge rock, or a shrine of a tutelary deity and bowed down before them and served
them as a god; if you have asked for blessings, thinking of them as God, you have
greatly sinned.
Since what may be known about God is plain to us humans, we should know God
properly. But because we did not find God and believed that nature and manmade
works were God, that part of our life is marred by great sin. When students go on a
field trip to some temple, they sometimes follow their peers and bow before Buddha.
Whether they bowed consciously or not, they have committed an unpardonable sin
before God, because the very first commandment is “You shall have no other gods
before me[God]”.

Homosexuals

Now we shall look at verse 24.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity
for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about
God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who is
forever praised. Amen. (Romans 1:24~25)

Verse 26 shows what happens to those who regard creatures such as the moon or the
stars as a god.

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged
natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.”(Romans 1:26)

There were lesbians and gays even in the biblical era. It is written that homosexuality
is great sin before God. Verse 27 shows what happened to these people.
In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were
inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and
received in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:27)

Sinners would receive judgment before God, but he said that homosexuals will receive
in themselves the due penalty for their error. Today’s HIV AIDS is a typical example.
Before they stand before God, their bodies are punished first.

Unrighteousness, Pride and Boastfulness

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God,
so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be
done.
(Romans 1:28)

What happens if one lives on questioning the existence of God?

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers…
(Romans 1:29~30)

What is unjustness? Anything that is not just is unjust. Merchants deceive the volume
of the container and scale. The wrapping makes it look worthy, but the inside is
empty. Next come people who are filled with evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder,
strife, deceit, and malice. Gossipers talk behind people’s back, and slanderers speak ill
of people. When we go to the town well, we can see women gossiping about the
whole town. Such acts are sinful to God’s eyes.

God-haters, insolent, arrogant… (Romans 1:30)

A man who is arrogant is sinning as well.

There are many types of arrogance. While there are people who are arrogant with
their nose held high, there are those who are arrogant without really showing it. For
example, when two people first meet and are introduced to each other, they initially
speak as if they are extremely humble. One person keeps his head low and says, “I
don’t know much about this field. I ask for your guidance and words of advice.” But as
soon as the other person says, “Oh, you don’t know anything about this? Then do as
exactly I tell you,” I’m sure he is not feeling so humble now.

The man has bowed his head as low as 90 degrees and acted humbly, but is he really
that humble? He is being arrogant, wrapped in a package of humility so that his
counterpart would offer good assistance. There is a verse in the Bible that goes,
“Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sins!” God says having
haughty eyes is a sin. He also says that the lamp of the wicked, or nonbelievers’ thrift,
is a great sin. What else are sins?

And boastful… (Romans 1:30)

Boasting is sin.
“We’re having a housewarming party today. Please come.”
Actually, you just want to show off your new house.

What about young ladies? They want to show off their new outfits. You buy a new
dress. You wear to work, hoping that people would compliment your good taste in
clothes. But no one notices. You feel miserable. You come back home feeling like a
fool because you bought this expensive dress but failed to catch anyone’s attention.
You become so frustrated that you burst into tears. In this way, people want to show
off even when they buy some clothes. Why?

‘I’m better than you. Even if I have lower grades, or less money or whatever, I have
better style and better look,’ are the inner thoughts of a person. They are showing off
because they want to exalt themselves. But this is a great sin before God.

The Love of Myself - the Beginning of Sin

Let us see where sin begins. When we look at adultery, theft, or lying, we find that
there is one thing in common-self-love, or love for the self. Why do people lie? In
order to prevent their pride from falling apart. In order to avoid damaging their
reputation. They love themselves. Why do people steal? They love themselves so
much they don’t want to starve themselves. Why do people commit adultery? Because
they want to fulfill their lust. Thus, at the center of all sin is self-love.

When I was in the US, there was a doctor couple. Before the husband was saved, the
wife came to me for counseling.
“I’ve been working so hard to this day for my husband’s salvation. Come to think of it,
I’ve been serving my husband as an idol before God. I finally realized how much I love
my husband. I’ve been cherishing my husband so much that I failed to live by the
Bible and sinned before God.”

Upon listening to her confession, I smiled and said,

“No, dear sister, you’re wrong.”
She was surprised by my comment.
I continued, “In fact, your idol is not your husband, but yourself. You need your
husband to be healthy because you can’t imagine being alone without your husband.
You want your husband to be successful because of your own wellbeing. You are
concerned about yourself, not about your husband.”
The wife blushed and replied, “Come to think of it, I guess you’re right.”

Why do people sin? Sin comes from loving and exalting oneself. When Adam sinned, it
was the same case. The serpent came to him and seduced him by saying that if he ate
the fruit, he would be exalted like God. Adam wanted to become higher like God, so he
ate the fruit. We all have the same mind within us. Wanting to rule and not be ruled
by others is the nature of people. The beginning of all sin is the love of oneself.

Faithless, Heartless, Ruthless

They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no
understanding, no fidelity, (Romans 1:30~31)

It is sinful to be foolish, and it is also sinful to break a promise. We make easy

promises and just as easily break them.
“Let’s meet at 3 o’clock. Please be on time.”
“Okay.”
But then, you are one hour late.
“Why are you so late?”
“I was stuck in traffic.”
Traffic jam is the excuse for all late arrivals, it seems. We don’t feel guilty about
breaking this kind of promise.

Now think about weddings vows. To the question of whether you will love each other
till your hair grows white, you both answer “I do.” But some head straight for a
divorce after their honeymoon. How many young couples go through a divorce these
days? They make a vow in front of so many witnesses, the officiator, and for
Christians, in front of God, and then break their vow. People don’t realize how great of
a sin this is before God. If God were to break his promises so easily, no one among us
would be saved.

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor is He a son of man, that he should change his
mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers
23:19)

God does not lie. But how much do we lie? How often do we break our promise? Being
unfaithful is a great sin to God.

No love, no mercy. (Romans 1:31)

It is said that having no love is a sin, and having no mercy is also a sin.
“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve
death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who
practice them.”(Romans 1:32)

God has arranged for people committing these sins to surely face judgment and be
thrown into hell. Even with the knowledge of this fact, we not only commit these
crimes ourselves, but we also justify other sinners’ actions. Sinners support other
sinners. When I do not sin, I dislike other sinners; but when I do sin, I am on the
same side, so I can sympathize.

In this way, people who have sinned have a softer heart to others who sin. They think
that such things can happen because they are in the same situation. The elderly
usually say that those who raise children are in no place to speak ill of other children.
It is because your own child can become disgraced. Therefore, parents cover up and
pretend not to know about other children’s wrongdoing, because they never know
when their own children will do the same thing. They approve of each other, but God
never pities sinners.

Idol Worshipping is the Greatest Sin

Here is Exodus 20:1.

And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of
Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus
20:1~3)
If you have gone to the shrine of a tutelary deity and bowed down before it, if you
have poured cold water and made wishes before it, if you have prayed to a rock, the
moon, or other gods other than the one and only God, you have disobeyed the first
Commandment of God. Since you have broken the first Commandment, you’ve
committed the greatest sin. Can a Buddha bless you? There are many passages in the
Bible about idolatry. Let us look through a couple of them. Here is Isaiah 44:9.

“All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those
who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who
shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing? People like that will be put to
shame; skilled workers are only human beings. Let them all come together and take
their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame. The blacksmith takes a
tool and works with it in the coals; shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the
might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows
faint. The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he
roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form,
human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or
perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted
a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes
and warms himself
, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he
makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he
prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down
to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” (Isaiah
44:9~17)

Let us go to another passage. Psalm 135:15.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have
mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor
is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all
who trust in them. (Psalm 135:15~18)

You created an idol with a gracious smile on its face. You climbed up the mountain,
cut down a tree, and carved it nicely with eyes, years, a mouth and a nose. But it
cannot see through its eyes, hear through its ears, or smell with its nose. How foolish
are humans to bow down before an idol, praying for a son, or for their children’s
acceptance letter. That is why God said never to have any other god before Him. If
you have ever prayed for fortune to such idols to this day, you have committed the
greatest sin against God. Let us read Exodus 20:4.

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or
on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for
the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but
showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my
commandments. (Exodus 20:4~6)

It is written that if we make an idol and bow down to it, the punishment will not be
upon ourselves, but will be handed down to our third and fourth generation. Why does
God forbid us to make idols? Why are we prohibited to make any image in a form of
an animal or a human being and bow down to them? Please turn to Deuteronomy
4:11.

You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the
very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Then the LORD spoke to you out
of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.
(Deuteronomy 4:11~12)

The Israelites only heard God’s voice and never saw his image. God always spoke to
them through his voice, but never revealed his image. Therefore, we must not make
any form of image. Whether it be an image of an animal, a human, a fish in the sea,
the stars in the sky, we must not make any images, because God is the Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(John 1:1)

Only the the Word. No images were given.

Let us move on to the next passage. Exodus 20:7.

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold
anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Exodus 20:7)

The Korean language is different, but most English swear words include the words
“Jesus” and “God.” I personally find it quite strange that God’s name would be used so
much in foul languages but in any case, using God’s name in vain is also guilty.

Sabbath Day

Now let us read verse 9.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or
daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner
residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD
blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:9~11)

The Bible mentions the issue of keeping the Sabbath. Some people argue that
Saturday is the Sabbath day, and some say it is Sunday, but the argument is made in
vain.

First, if you intend to keep the Sabbath, you should do it properly. Some of you sitting
here may regard Sunday as the Sabbath and strictly keep it. But Sunday is not the
Sabbath.

Secondly, on the Sabbath, you are only allowed to walk a maximum of 900 meters. If
you walk more than 900 meters, you are committing sin. If you read the book of Acts,
there is a verse that says, “a Sabbath day’s walk.” But if you take a look at churches
nowadays, they run a shuttle bus that goes round all the neighborhoods and picks up
church members. Do you think these buses drive only 900 meters? No. But the
churches that run these buses still insist on keeping the Sabbath. What kind of
nonsense is that?

What’s more, we are not allowed to do any labor on the Sabbath. But when we go to
church, we see a deacon working hard. He needs to clean up early in the morning and
prepare to welcome the congregation. He must clean the windows and the podium,
and then go and even serve as the bus driver to pick up the church members. But the
Bible clearly says that all people residing in your town, including even the male and
female servants, must not work.

If you’re to observe the Sabbath, you must do it like the Jews. When you go to a hotel
in Israel, there is an elevator with the sign that reads, “Jews only,” for example. And
on the Sabbath day, you are not allowed to press the elevator button because even
pressing a floor is considered labor. So on this day, the elevator that is dedicated to
the Jews stops on every floor.

To give you another example, for the Jews, even turning on the switch to turn the
electricity is sin on the Sabbath. Therefore, if you turn on the electricity on Friday, you
cannot turn it off until the Sabbath is over. According to the Bible, people were not
allowed to light the fire on the Sabbath, so they lit the fire the day before, and left it
burning during the Sabbath day.

Is there anyone among us who is thus strictly keeping the Sabbath? On the Sabbath,
you are forbidden to eat and must fast. Do you have a huge breakfast on Sunday
morning and keep the rest of the Sabbath day? What a phony Sabbath you are
keeping! You must understand exactly what the Sabbath is about. None of you are
keeping the Sabbath according to the Bible.

Honor Your Father and Your Mother

Let us move on to verse 12.

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD
your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12)

Honoring your parents include supporting them financially. This requires additional
work.

This is a story that comes from an old folk tale. There were these children that did not
listen to their parents and treated them badly. The parents had to hand down their
property, so they wanted to find out which child had the highest filial love. They
decided to give half of their property to the child who would serve them well, and
divide the other half among the rest of their children. So the old couple came up with
an idea. They pretended that the father had died. Upon the made-up news, their
children all came to their parents’ house and wailed out loud, saying, “Oh dear, dear,
father. I wanted to take care of you and support you. If only you had lived a little
longer, father.” In the meantime, the father is in the coffin listening to what each of
his children were saying. After hearing them crying, he springs up from the coffin,
points to the child with the loudest cry and says, “Son, you take care of me.” It’s a
funny but at the same time a witty story that points to the intentions of a human mind.

You Shall not Covet

You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not
give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or
donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Exodus 20:13~17)

The last of the Ten Commandments is “You shall not covet.” But if you look carefully,
when you break the first, second, sixth, seventh, eighth, or the ninth commandment,
you break the tenth commandment, first. Please turn to James 1:15.

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown,
gives birth to death. (James 1:15)

All sins begin from desire. Desire gives birth to adultery, and material desire gives birth
to theft. There is desire inside all men’s heart. In fact, without desire, there is no need
to sin. But is there anyone without desire?

Even a small boy shakes his head if you give him a toy and say, “you should share this
with your brother.” He wants the toy all for himself. If you go to the older brother and
say, “I’ll buy you a better one next time. Let your brother play with it this time,” you
get the same response. He beats his younger brother and tries to take it away from
him. Even a small child is filled with desire. This desire gives birth to sin.

So it is necessary for us to confess this to God and say, “God, I carry desire within.
Because of that desire, I lied, I hated, I stole, I committed adultery, and I hated
others.”
When the Bible reveals our tendencies, we must sincerely confess, ‘Oh, I had thought
that I was living a clean life when I did not know the Bible, but now that I have read
the Bible, I am truly a reckless person!’

You Must Observe Every Law

There are a total of 613 laws that the Jews were given by God. Among them included
civil laws, criminal laws, and social laws. Among these, the Ten Commandments. are
the ones given to Moses. Can you keep all the Commandments?

We interpret the law as we wish. We think that God will understand if we failed to
obey one commandment, but it says the following in James 2:10~11.

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of
breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You
shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have
become a lawbreaker. (James 2:10~11)

It says that whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty
of breaking all of it. That is the law of God. The one who commanded not to murder
also commanded not to commit adultery, so although I did not murder, I would be
breaking all the commandments if I commit adultery. One does not go to hell for
sinning much.

Imagine a person being rescued from a cliff. He hangs on to a rope and climbs up.
How many parts of the rope need to be cut off for this person to fall again? The rope
only has to be cut off once, and he falls. Likewise, you go to hell not because you have
broken all Ten Commandments. One is enough to condemn you to hell. If you have
the smallest desire or greed, it is more than enough for you to go to hell. Regardless
of what you think, God’s intention is clear. If you ask me why, I don’t have the
answer. You can ask God himself when you face him in the future.

You Must Know your Sins through the Law

We used to think of the law this way: If a bad person learned the law and observed it,
he would sin less, and by observing the law, his actions will be reformed. We thought
that if he stopped lying and murdering because the law forbade such practice, he
could transform into a good man. Thus we believed that the law made a person
righteous. But this is the opposite of God’s intention of having given laws. No one in
this world can observe the law completely. So then why did God give us law? Here is
Romans 5:13.

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged
against anyone’s account where there is no law. (Romans 5:13)

430 years passed from the age of Abraham to the age of Moses. Moses received God’s
laws at Mount Sinai. Then did people have no sins during the days of Abraham until
the days of Moses? Of course, they sinned, but there were no laws back then. This
means that there was no law defining lying as sin. The let us see why God gave us
laws to observe. Here is Romans 7:7.

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not
have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known
what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
(Romans 7:7)

Laws make us realize what is wrong. For example, a man might have thought it
natural litter on the street, until one day he reads a sign that says “Do not litter.”
Because of the law, what used to be fine is now sin. Before the law, there was no
basis for judgment. But after the law, we have been given the means to recognize sin.
Galatians 3:15.

Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set
aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to
seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is
Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the
covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the
inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in
his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. What, then, was the purpose of the
law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise
referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.
(Galatians 3:15~19)

Here we can see a soliloquy. It is said that the law was added because of
transgressions. Having added something means it did not exist previously. There was
no law in the days of Abraham, but God gave the law 430 years later to Moses.

God did not have law in mind from the beginning. God waited for people to return to
him on their own after they have sinned, but nobody repented for their sins and
returned to God. God pitied humans so much that he gave the law, saying, “Why don’t
you reflect upon yourself? Can you live without me?”

The Law is the Mirror of Your Heart

When we are about to ride an airplane, we go to the airport and are instructed to go
through security check to see if we are carrying a shotgun, a knife, or other harmful
weapons. If we are carrying any metal, the alarm sounds. We must take all metals off
in order to pass the inspection. The law is the same. If we stand before the law, we
can see that we are carrying inside us.

God’s intention was to love humans from the beginning without laws. But as humans
ignored God’s love and walked their own way, he had no choice but to set the law.
God is now telling us to pass through the law. The alarm sounds. We are carrying
adultery, theft, and murder. Thus, the law is not for us to observe, but for us to know
where we stand. Many misunderstand that we go to hell by not observing the law. But
no one can keep the law. The law is not there for us to keep, for us to realize that we
are bound to break them as sinners.

The law acts as a mirror. I cannot see myself with my own eyes. In order to see my
face, I must look into a mirror. If I want to check to see if there is something on my
face, I have to stand before a mirror. God gave us the law so that we could see what
our hearts looks like. As the mirror reflects our face and body, the law is God’s mirror
that reflects our heart. If I stand before the mirror, I can look at myself and fix what is
wrong. If there is something on my face, I would go and wash it off. If there is sin
within me, I would strive to wash it away. Therefore, the function of the law is the
same as the mirror in that it shows us what we look like.

There are probably some people at this very moment trying very hard to observe the
law and by doing so earn a ticket to heaven. But there is no one who can keep the law
no matter how hard they try. It is said in the Scripture that no one will be justified by
observing the law. Let us read Galatians 2:16.

Know that a person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ
and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
(Galatians 2:16)

It is said that no one can be justified by God by observing the law. But if you still try to
go to heaven by observing the law, you are the most foolish person in the world.
There is no one capable of observing God’s commandments. These commandments
prove that we are sinners. Some of you may be wondering, ‘Are you then saying that
we don’t have to keep the law?’ It is not that we should not keep the law. The
message of the Bible is that we simply cannot keep the law.
You Must Surrender Your Own Righteousness

Please turn to Romans 10:1.

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they
may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their
zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and
sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. (Romans
10:1~3)

The Jews are believers in God. They have faith in Judaism and strictly observe the
laws of Moses. But Apostle Paul clearly says, “They are zealous for God, but their zeal
is not based on knowledge (meaning the knowledge of the Bible), and they do not
know the righteousness of God and seek to establish their own.” He is indicating that
the Jews were trying to go to heaven by leading a kindhearted life. Those who seek to
establish their own righteousness with their own efforts is like the Jews.

We must surrender two things to God. One is our sins, and the other is our efforts to
justify our own lives. It is said that all our righteousness is like an old garment.
Everything you have done to this day, all the kindness, the efforts to live by the
Scripture, helping others with sympathy, donating as an expression of love, serving in
the church, are all good deeds. But this cannot get you to the kingdom of heaven.
Your kindness help shorten the distance to heaven. If this were true, the Jews would
have already gone to heaven.

The following passage comes from the book of Job.

If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your
hand? Your wickedness only affects human beings like yourself, and your
righteousness only members of the human race. (Job 35:7~8)

Human’s righteousness can benefit people, but not God. Still, people think, ‘Although I
have been blinded by my strong desire to earn much money in my youth, I plan to
spend my later years building an orphanage and a nursing home with that money.
Wouldn’t that offset all the sins I have committed?’ The answer is “No.” Our sins
remain as sins. As sinners, even the good things that we do are sins to God’s eyes.

Money Cannot Buy Salvation

In the Middle Ages, there was only the Roman Catholic and the Bible had not been
translated yet. There was only the Latin version of the Bible, so those who did not
know Latin could not read the Bible. The price was also so high that individuals could
not purchase it and only a few priests of the Vatican owned the Bible. The Catholic
Church taught the Bible as they pleased, and one of their teachings was the Purgatory.
According to this theory, if the living faithfully served in church and gave many
offerings for their deceased ancestors, God would appreciate the descendants’ efforts
and pull the ancestors out of hell and send them to a place called Purgatory, which is
in between heaven and hell. Moreover, if the descendants make more offerings and
sacrifice themselves, God would train the ancestors in Purgatory and guide them to
heaven. But there is nothing of that sort in the Bible.

If you go to a Crusade Spirit Revival Conference, you can see a huge pile of offering
envelopes on the podium. Then, a speaker comes up and makes an announcement.
Deacon ‘A’ has offered a huge offering in expectance of great blessings during this
revival period. ‘B’ also gave a big offering of thanks, and ‘C’ has given an offering to
ask for blessings. When the speaker calls out every single name written on the
envelopes, they all cry out, “Amen, oh Lord!”, because they believe they would be
blessed with a small amount of money they had offered. Such scene can be witnessed
in today’s revival conferences. We shall see what a reckless practice this is according
to the Bible. Here is Acts chapter 8:18.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he
offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I
lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish
with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! (Acts
8:18~20)

It is said that if you offer money in expectance of great blessings, you will perish along
with the money. But the speakers at revival conferences believe that giving offerings is
a great deal, and announce every single offering being made. What a reckless thing to
do! The churches have become corrupted by money. All these problems come from
not knowing the Bible. The speaker does not know the Bible, and the listener does not
know the Bible, so neither side knows what is right or wrong.

No one can ever go to heaven by accumulating efforts, toil, and good deeds.
Therefore, I tell you never to think of going to heaven by observing the law. It is a big
mistake to believe that God will grow affection toward you and give reserve a first-
class seat in heaven if you are good and give many offerings. Nothing of such sort will
ever happen. Think about it. How would you carry all your sins to heaven? How would
you leave all the sins behind and go to heaven, when there is so much sin left in your
memory? Carefully sift through your memory and count how many sins you have
committed throughout your life. You can be forgiven by the Lord only when you deeply
mourn over your sins.

The Right Time to Meet God

Here is Isaiah 55:6.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked
forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and
he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
(Isaiah 55:6~7)

This means that all people have their own timing of finding God. We must call on him
while he is near. When is God near you?

The answer is found in Psalm 32:5.

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will
confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found…”(Psalm 32:5~6)
If you look at the Korean version of this passage, next to the phrase “while you may
be found” is a footnote that reads, “When you discover your sin.” Everyone has the
right time to meet God. That time is when you realize your sins.

Those Who Mourn

Now let us move on to Psalm 34:18.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
(Psalm 34:18)

Who is God close to? He is close to the ones with a broken and contrite heart. When
people discover their sins, their hearts break into pieces. Because of their sins, they
become sad and their hearts become contrite. God comes close to us when we realize
our sins, when we mourn for our sins, when we deeply regret our sins, and when we
become brokenhearted. Therefore, I ask you to directly see through your sins tonight.
You will find yourself brokenhearted and mourning because of those sins.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:3~4)

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? If we confess and say, “I cannot go to heaven
on my own will; I am made up of sins; I thought I had my figured out but now I see
that I cannot go to heaven with my own knowledge, experience, or money; everything
that I have is worthless. Our spirits become “poor.” And then we mourn because of
our sins.
In this way, our lives so far have been a chain of sins, and we lived as if nothing was
wrong, but now that we have learned about the Bible, we have come to realize that
we are dead before God. We have no choice but to go to hell upon death.

If your heart is filled with tears because you do not know what to do with your sins, if
you are brokenhearted because you are agonizing over your past, it means that the
Lord has come beside you. So I ask you carefully to think about your sins against the
laws of God.

Chapter 6. What a Wretched Man I Am

The Word was God

Let us turn to the Book of John 1:1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him
nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1~2)

Now let’s think about the conclusion of what we have discussed thus far. Too many
people confuse salvation with feeling some burning emotion, shedding tears or feeling
a lump in their throat. No one on earth can forgive your sins. Only God can forgive
your sins. For he is the one who defines our wrongdoings as sins, no one else but God
can forgive our sins. It is God that will judge and decide whether to send us to hell
after we die. Therefore, it is from God that we receive our redemption.
No one can give you such conviction, or sacrifice his or her life on behalf of you to
send you to heaven. It would be best if God is here sitting with us in human form, or if
you could hear the voice of God first hand, but that is impossible. God, however, gave
us the Bible and has proven generation after generation that the words in the Bible are
his words.

It is only on the pages of the Bible that God’s words are written down. So, here this
verse also says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.” If you are brought to the conviction of salvation through these words,
it means that you received it from God. The words will stand forever, for Jesus said
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. For He said
that the Bible would be laid open when we later stand before the Judgment seat of
Christ, we must be reminded that the conviction of salvation must come through God’s
words, the words written in the Bible.

When you listen to the preaching of God’s Word today, you need to understand that
each and every phrase written in the Bible is God speaking to you. When we live far
away from home and receive letters from our parents, for example, we know that
these letters contain the hearts, thoughts and ideas of our parents. Reading them, we
feel grateful. Just as we know that the words written on those letters are our parents,
this Bible was given tous by God. It is the surest words of God that have been proven
generation after generation.

When we suddenly hear a voice from heaven, we cannot be sure whether it is from
God or from demons. When you hear a sound, you have no way of telling where it is
coming from. But, when it comes to something that is written, you can always go back
and check.

From long ago, countless people have so far come to their salvation through the Bible,
and through this Bible were they not condemned to hell, but passed from death to life.
Your belief should be based on the Bible. This is why it is crucial for you to read the
Bible firsthand. Whenever you have some doubts, you can open your Bible. You may
forget about some verses, but you can always go back, and see the verses with your
own eyes.

When you listen to the preaching of God’s Word, you should not expect certain
burning emotions or a heart touching feeling. Although it can be only natural to shed
tears or be overjoyed after we believe the Lord, tears and joy in themselves are not
salvation. Salvation can only come through the Bible. Only when the words in the Bible
touch our hearts and we embrace them, does the conviction of salvation arise. I am
telling you this as a warning in advance because some of you might still expect the
same heart touching feelings as you may have felt in the middle of earnest praying on
a revival service.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life

Let us look at from Genesis 3:1.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had
made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in
the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the
garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of
the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ (Genesis 3:1∼3)

Originally, God was the only one in the whole universe. Then angels came into being.
The archangel had become the Satan. Satan approached Eve and asked,

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Here, the serpent asks Eve a leading question by saying “You.” In Genesis chapter 2,
God spoke only to Adam, “…for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Back then, Eve
either had not been created or not heard the words herself. ‘You’ in the phrase “…
when you eat of it you will surely die,” was only directed to Adam. Eve had not heard
God saying not to eat of it. How, then, is Eve supposed to answer the question? She
should have said, “I do not know.” But instead, Eve says,

“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat
fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or
you will die.’,”
Here is where a human ruse raises its ugly head. God spoke only to Adam, “when you
eat of it you will surely die.”

We may think that there was only the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the
Garden of Eden. The Bible, however, clearly says that there was the tree of life as well
as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What this means is that, if Adam had
eaten fruit from the tree of life rather than from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, the door to eternal life would have opened before Adam. It was the fruit of the
tree of life that he should have eaten from. This fruit of the tree of life indicates Jesus,
meaning that, by believing Jesus, we would receive eternal life.

Eve also and adds,

“…God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the
garden, and you must not touch it,…”

God had never said not to touch it. You may even play with it as long as you do not
eat of it. God had not said not to touch it, but Eve makes the addition that God had
forbidden them from touching it. There were also fruits of the tree of life, and God had
not forbidden them. It was only the fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil that was forbidden by God.

Man Who Tries to Compete Against God

Why were such lies being exchanged between the devil and Eve? It is a human ruse
and human scheme that were playing tricks on Eve. Human ruse is actually people’s
will and their own thoughts. The Bible says at one point, “God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.” Such schemes are our own will that
goes against God’s will. What, then, is sin in the eyes of God?

In the animal kingdom, they hurt, kill and even devour each other, but we do not call
it a sin. Why, then, do we define it as a sin when a strong person bullies and extorts
money from a weaker one, especially considering that this is what happens all the time
in the wildlife without any moral judgment? It goes against law to kill a person. But,
the more people you kill in the battleground, the greater a hero you will become. You
would not be sent to jail as a murderer, but would be honored and awarded with
medals for killing many enemies in the frontline. Killing a person could sometimes be
viewed as a sin or, at other times, as an achievement. Therefore, there are no clear
rules about killing a person.

What, then, is a real sin? Where does it originate from? On the one hand the will of
God tells man not to eat, but on the other hand the will of Satan tells him to eat. Man
stands in between. So, many people say,

“Why did God make the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the first place if He
knew that people would eat of it? It’s God’s fault.”

No, it is not. God’s will was for man to not eat of it while Satan’s will was to eat. Man
interpreted the situation according his own will. This is the so-called human “free will.”
In the Bible, we can clearly see that God has a personality. We have a personality, so
does Satan. Having a personality means having a free will to think and judge.
Robots only follow programs written by their masters, so they do not have their own
judgment, thoughts or will. That is why they cannot become a body of personality.
God wanted to create neither robots nor stocks and stones. He created man with free
will who can choose. This is what a personality is all about. Satan has his own will. So
does God. God did not want to create man in a way that forces him to stand on God’s
side only.

Man is sandwiched between the will of God and the will of Satan. God told Adam not
to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan told Adam that he
“will be like God” if he ate of it. Take a close look at “…will be like God.” If he listens to
Satan, whose slave would he become? He would become Satan’s slave. He would
become a slave of anyone whose order he obeys. If man had listened to and obeyed
God who had forbidden the fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he
would have been redeemed by God. He would have fallen into the arms of God. Satan,
however, told him that he would be like God if he ate, which means departing from
God and becoming independent of God.

Before he was betrayed, Jesus gathered his disciples and said,

“The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.”

“But this is to fulfill the scripture: ‘He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel
against me.”

Judas Iscariot ate the piece of bread when Jesus gave it to him. Then, Jesus said, “’he
who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.” To lift a heel means to
compete. If you are shorter than someone, you try to look as tall as him or her by
lifting your heel. This was what Satan told Adam to do.

“You don’t need to be redeemed by God. Compete against God.”

To do that, he needed to lift his heel just as Judas Iscariot did against Jesus. Rather
than following Jesus, he decided to become like Jesus. Deceived by Satan, man also
decided to raise himself as high as God, rather than obeying him. Man’s own decision
is what we call “human ruse.” In the end, man listened to Satan. Man had made his
own decision, which, unfortunately, was to disobey God.

Departing from God

Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. (John 8:34)

When we say “a slave to sin,” it means that sin is a body of personality. If not, sin
cannot have slaves. There are no such expressions as “a slave to a desk,” because a
desk does not have a personality. Since the embodiment of sin is Satan, to become a
slave to sin means to become Satan’s slave. Anyone who commits sin will become a
slave to sin, doing whatever Satan tells them to do.

We commit sins in our lives. We have committed many sins. Whose slave, then, are
we? We have become a slave to Satan. Whether you admit it or not, you have become
a slave to Satan because of our ancestors’ deeds. Because of our “sin nature,” when
we come to similar moments of choice to Adam’s, we commit sins on our own will.

There is pleasure to be found in committing sins. It is not only because we have a

tendency to sin, but also because we like and embrace sin. Who would want to commit
sin if every moment of committing sin brings you pain or an itchy rash all over the
body? Lying, bad mouthing, talking behind someone’s back and cheating all bring you
pleasure. As the Bible says, food eaten in secret is delicious, and this is why we
embrace sin deep down in our hearts.

After all, we have all become a slave to Satan without knowing it. In Matthew chapter
25, Jesus says to all who have become Satan’s slaves that they would depart from him
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

It means that, along with the devil, his angels, in other words those who are still
deceived by the devil into committing sins, will go to hell. Actually, sin is to have one’s
own way, or to depart from God and become independent of him. It means to live a
life without God, doing whatever he or she wants to do.
Sin is to live without God. It is choosing and doing whatever you want to do without
asking and praying to God, eventually becoming independent of God, which is the
beginning of sin. From that moment on, man lives for his own independent self.
How do you define sin? Sin is self-centeredness. If you become self-centered, you
begin to depart from God. God wanted man who He created to choose to live with
Him, but man wanted to depart from God and become independent of him. Therefore,
man lost the land that God had granted to them. Man lost their right to rule the land
and, after all, was left alone.

God Who Has Come to Restore Love

Those who departed from God love themselves. God made man, however, to be at
one with him, maintain fellowship and share his love with us by giving us everything
he could give. God is love. But, no matter how much love there is, it would be useless
if there is no one to receive it.

When they are very young, children only look for their mother. When they come back
from school to find no one at home, they feel sad and want to cry. Such great
affection for mom is gradually turned to their friends. Now, they turn their attention to
friendship. As they grow older, they begin to seek romantic love. This love makes two
people live together. They give birth and pour their love onto their children for the rest
of their lives. From the cradle to the grave, people channel their love into different
objects. This is a “shadow” of God’s perfect love. Man is made to give and receive
love.

The most miserable people on earth are those who have never received love from
anyone. Those who have lost their parents early in life like orphans are thirsty for love
because they have never received love from their parents. Those who have received
substantial love from their parents are emotionally stable while those who have not are
emotionally deprived. The same is true for marital relationship. If there is plenty of
love between spouses, there would be harmony in the family. If a couple is lacking in
love, they would constantly end up in argument and conflict, and it would be like hell
to be in that family. All these are passed down to their children. Every person has a
“cup” that needs to be filled with love.

You cry over your husband’s death because you have lost somebody who loves you.
When you receive a letter or a phone call from your children who live far away, it
brightens your day. Love is being exchanged through those letters and phone calls.
From the moment of birth, people are thirsty for love and, if this need goes unmet,
some commit suicide. If we receive love from God, such lack of love will be resolved.

When God created Adam, Adam was also a love-thirsty being. If he had eaten fruit
from the tree of life, he would have received an eternal life from God and enjoyed
God’s love. But he did not, which is why he suffered from lack of love. The purpose of
God’s creation of man was in giving his love to us. The reason why many people of
today argue, fight, hate, envy and resent is because they are hungry for love.

Why do people murder? If you sincerely love someone, you cannot kill that person.
Why do people steal? It is because there is no love in them. If you really love
somebody, you cannot steal from them. Why do people rape? You cannot rape
someone who you truly love. All crimes on earth result from lack of love. That is why
God came to earth to fill their love cups. What, then, must a man do in return?

The Position of the Redeemed

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

If Adam, the first man, had feared and obeyed God, he would have been blessed with
his love. You can now receive God’s love. Just imagine there is someone who gives
you an invariable love unlike that of your parents, your husbands, and your children.
That someone is no one but God. Salvation comes when you realize that love of God.
People in love can communicate with each other through mere eye contact. You
cannot hide it when you are in love. There is a Jewish saying in the Talmud that love
and a cough cannot be hidden. When you are in love, it shows one way or another.

God loves us. Let us examine how God loves us. Once you realize his love, you know it
is eternal.

Adam became corrupt and fell from his original position. God, however, forgave and
loved Adam. Where, then, does Adam stand now? People think that Adam was
restored to his previous position. They are wrong. Once God forgives the corrupted,
they are restored to a higher position than their original one. Salvation does not mean
to return to the position where they used to stand before falling from grace. Adam had
not eaten fruit from the tree of life. Before he fell from grace, he had committed no
sin, but he had no eternal life, either. Therefore, salvation does not mean that Adam
was restored to his original standing. He was moved from the status of not having
eaten fruit from the tree of life, to the higher status of having eaten fruit from the tree
of life.

When we come to our salvation, it does not simply mean that our sins are forgiven,
but that we get the fruit of the tree of life, one that gives us an eternal life. So, when
you are redeemed and firmly believe it, not only will your sins be written off, but also
you get to live an eternal life with God. This is a very important fact and also a great
blessing. Not only will our sins be forgiven, but also we get to eat fruit from the tree of
life that Adam was not able to get a taste of. This is why salvation means living an
eternal life.

The Greatest Sin of Man

Man’s sin is to become self-centered and love only himself in a way that satisfies their
own needs and greed. In the Old Testament era, the greatest sin was to live a self-
centered life without fellowship with God.

It is the same with you. When you see a beautiful flower on a hill, you pluck it to
decorate your room. Whenever you find or see something good, we want to possess it.
You want to be at the center of everything. It is in this sense that the Bible says,
“what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?” We have to
see something good to feel satisfied. That is why we want to possess everything that
looks good. The greatest sin of all before the coming of Jesus was to live a self-
centered life, that is to say not loving God.

Someone asked Jesus a question,

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
“What does the Scripture say?”
“It says, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength.’”
Of all the commandments, which is the most important? It is to love your God. Is there
anyone who has ever loved God? We may have probably asked God for help, but we
have never loved him.

Let us say there are two people in love. What is love? Isn’t about wanting to be with
that person even if you have absolutely nothing to talk about? You just can’t stay away
from that person. But if the two people hate each other, they break up and go back to
being strangers. They don’t ever want to be near that person. Loving God means
coming closer to God and being united with him just like a married couple become
one. So, have you ever truly loved God? Have you become united with God? Have you
really received and are enjoying his love?

My guess is that most of us have never loved God; we have loved ourselves only until
this moment. That’s how we were born. The descendents of Adam think only of
themselves. This is the proof that we are corrupt and that we do not love God.
Between people who are truly in love, giving all they have to each other is
commonplace. If you are in love, you don’t want to always receive but to give what is
yours to the other. If you hate somebody, you would want to take back the things that
you have given him or her.

If you love God, you would want to give him all your heart, all your soul, all your mind
and your strength. But, more often than not, we think of God as the giver of blessings,
someone who can help us become rich, for instance. We say things like, “God, bless
us. May our children enter a good school, make them rich and make our treasuries
full.”

We always want to receive from God. This is not loving God. People even steal from
others to satisfy their insatiable greed. Let me take an example of the library. I am
sure that there are at least one or two books on your bookshelf that do not belong to
you. People have this bizarre notion that stealing books is not sin. So, they steal books
from the library. They think that it’s not wrong to steal a couple of books in search of
truth. But again, all sins begin with no love for God.

The Sin of Not Believing Jesus

What, then, is defined as sin in the New Testament? According to the New Testament,
sin is not to embrace Jesus’ love and not to believe it even after Jesus came here and
showed His love. Sin is to live without loving or believing God. People say that they are
too busy to believe Jesus.
The pastor at my church, when I was not still sure of my salvation, would say that the
greatest gift comes with evangelizing non-believers. So, we would go around town
with a bunch of church pamphlets after the service every Sunday. I was too
embarrassed to go around my neighborhood, so I would go to other blocks. I would
knock on every door with church pamphlets.

“Believe Jesus and you will go to heaven. Let’s go to heaven by believing Jesus.”
“Young man, I am too busy to believe anything right now. Maybe after harvest.”

For them, harvest is far more important. When I told them to believe Jesus to go to
heaven, some others would say like this,

“How can I believe Jesus while I am in liquor business? I could believe him later, only
after I am done with this business.”

They have all different reasons for not believing Jesus. Some are too busy, while
others say they cannot believe Jesus because they sell liquor. Still others say that they
cannot have a different religion from that of their parents. So, when you go out to the
streets and ask people to believe Jesus, no one listens to you. In fact, they have no
idea of what it means to believe Jesus. To be honest, I, myself, would have gone
speechless if somebody had asked me a concrete answer to that question.

“Hey, young man, I want to believe Jesus. What should I do?”

“Come to our church. The pastor will kindly help you if you just come out to church.”
“Look here lad, I have attended church for over ten years, and I have heard enough
preaching. How many more years should I attend church?”
“You should keep attending church and continue believing Jesus,” would have been
my answer.
I did not really know what it means to believe Jesus myself, so I would have come up
with such useless answers.

People confuse believing Jesus with filling in a membership card, praying, singing
hymns, listening t sermons, giving tithes, or doing good deeds as the pastor tells them.
Let me know if you know more than that about believing Jesus. People think such
actions are what believing Jesus is all about. This is nothing but a religious lifestyle.
There are many who do not really know what it means to believe Jesus and still go to
church every Sunday. We call them Jesus-mongers. People criticize you for drinking
and smoking because you go to church. They think that, if you believe Jesus, you
should not be drinking or smoking. So goes the story that bogus believers drink and
smoke while true believers do not. They think that abstaining from alcohol and
cigarette is all there is to believing Jesus. If an elder or a pastor commits a fraud, they
would say,

“You, hypocrite! How can you cheat and extort money from others while you proclaim
you believe Jesus. Take care of your own corrupt conscience first. You repent first!”

For non-believers, believing Jesus equals praying, singing hymns, listening to sermons
and refraining from wrongdoings. There is nothing wrong in doing all this, but they do
not equal believing Jesus. The greatest sin of man in the Old Testament era was not
loving God, but in the New Testament era, it is not believing Jesus.
Adam Feels Embarrassed

Today, we are going to look at what it means to be forgiven and how God deals with
our sins. Let us look at Genesis 3:3.

But God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the
garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ (Genesis 3:3)

Eve tells a lie. “You will die” means you may die. But that is not the same as what God
said. God said, “You will surely die.”

You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. (Genesis 3:4)

When Eve answers that they may die, Satan sees the right moment to plant a lie into
her and says, “You will not surely die.”

“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good
for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some
and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then
the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they
sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:5∼7)

This passage shows what man does first when he commits sin. Adam and Eve felt
guilty about eating the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that God
had forbidden them. Once they feel guilty, they cover themselves up with clothes as if
somebody were watching them. You would feel embarrassed to be naked before
strangers, but there is nothing to be embarrassed about between a husband and wife.
If you think about it, there were only Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. So why
should they feel embarrassed about being naked?

But, no sooner had Adam eaten of it did he cover himself with clothes made of fig
leaves. This means he is now ashamed of life. He feels ashamed of the life that God
had given him.

Desire to Cover Our Sins

It’s not only little children, but also grown-ups like us are not an exception to this.
When we feel guilty of a sin that we have just committed, the first thing we do is hide
it.
For example, from time to time, married women visit my office for advice on their
cheating husbands.
“I just had a big argument with my husband because he cheated on me.”
“Pretend as if you knew nothing of his affair,” I would say.
Why do I say this? It’s because people feel guiltier of their own sins if the other person
keeps silent about it. Conversely, the more you try to expose him and point out what
he did wrong, the more he is likely to make excuses and even harden his heart to
become shameless about what he has done.
If the husband comes home early all of the sudden and brings flowers for no particular
reason, it may be that he is trying to cover up his sin. He feels sorry and is
embarrassed. He’s worried that you might find out about his affair. He is trying to hide
or make up for his sins with kindness.

People do not want their sins to be revealed and be punished for them. However, just
because your sins are not discovered does not mean that you are going to be ok. You
may be able to deceive people, but God never turns a blind eye to your sins. For he
said, “everything exposed by the light becomes visible,” each and every sin must be
revealed.

That Adam covered himself with fig leaves to cover his shame refers to man trying to
cover up his own sins. People make futile efforts to cover up their shame and guilt. But
your sins must either be judged or forgiven. You cannot just sweep them under the
carpet.

Such efforts are, in other words, no more than man-made religion. People try to hide
their sins through their religious efforts. They think, “Although I made a fortune
through inappropriate means, I can atone for my sins by helping the needy with that
money.”
People think that they can atone for their past sins by living a new and righteous life,
and then turn to a religious life. Or they mistakenly believe that they can get their sins
written off by becoming a monk or by living a “righteous” life for the rest of their lives.
People with a religion attempt to erase their sins through religious efforts. There is
nothing wrong with regretting one’s past wrongdoings and not repeating them. But,
you cannot make your own sins go away.

Sins Cannot Be Covered

How, then, could Adam be redeemed? At first, he tried to hide his guilt with his own
efforts. Let us go back to verse 8. Look what happened as a result.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the
garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the
garden.
(Genesis 3:8)

When they heard the sound of God, they felt afraid and hid themselves from God. It is
only natural that sinners try to hide in the shadow. If somebody chases after them,
they go deeper. Let us see what trouble Adam and Eve got themselves into.

But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in
the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” (Genesis 3:9~10)

Was Adam naked or clothed? He covered himself with fig leaves, but the moment he
heard the sound of God, those leaves were of no use. He tried to cover himself with
his own efforts, but in vain. So, he said to God that he was afraid because he was
naked, and that he therefore hid himself.
Here, we must be reminded that we cannot cover our own with our own efforts. We
cannot hide them through religious activities. No matter how hard you cry, pray or
fast, you cannot make your sins go away. But, we still resort to such a variety of
religious means. No one can do anything about his own sins, not even Adam.

Man’s Clothes vs. God’s Clothes

Adam attempted to hide his sins through his own efforts but failed. Many of you may
have tried doing the same thing by becoming a fervent believer of a certain religion.
We, however, cannot cover our sins through physical efforts.

If we take a closer look at the case of Adam, we can see that God provides a way out
for him. If Adam had been forgiven of his sin, the descendents of Adam living today
must also be forgiven in the same way. Since Adam and I are both sinners, God would
forgive me the same way he did Adam. Let us look at the Book of Genesis 3:20.

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
(Genesis 3:20∼21)

God made garments of skin for Adam. He did not ask Adam to hunt an animal and
make garments of it. That God made garments of skin for Adam means that God did
the work to cover Adam’s sin. This means that God would also do the work for
covering my sins. God does not expect the sinner to do anything.

He did not say, “Fig leaves will not do. Get a sheep, skin it and make garments of it.”

God did not say that to Adam. Instead, God himself killed and skinned the animal, and
made garments of it for Adam and Eve.

Do you see how God protects and loves Adam, the sinner?

So then, it is God who does the same thing for my sins, too. He is the one who covers
my shame, guilt and sins. At the same time, the clothes that Adam and Eve made for
themselves were of fig leaves, while God’s clothes were made from animal hide. You
have to kill an animal to get its hide. So, an animal shed its blood and died on behalf
of man. This shows how God’s principle of salvation works.

The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezekiel 18:20) “Then, after desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
(James 1:15)

Sins must be paid for. As sin leads to death, Adam’s sin had to be paid for by Adam’s
own life or through another person’s life. By the same token, if I commit sin, it also
needs to be atoned for by me or someone else.

Even if you cry out, “Oh, my Lord, I have sinned. Please forgive me,” God would not
take pity on you and say, “Enough, Son. Stop crying. I forgive your sins.”
Sins must be paid for. If you cannot pay the price, someone else has to. Adam should
have been killed for his sins but God killed an animal instead and saw its blood. Then
he clothed Adam with garments of the skin and covered Adam’s shame. What Should
God do for the descendents of Adam?

The Fruit of Futile Efforts

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She
said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to
his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time
Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel
brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with
favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.
So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. (Genesis 4:1∼5)

Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. They were also sinners because of the
sinful nature they had inherited from their parents. The first son was a farmer. He
worked the soil very hard and offered the fruits of the soil to God. In a sense, Cain is
very human. He put in all his efforts and gave his harvest, the result of the sweat of
his brow, as his offering to God.

There is an old saying, “Sincerity moves heaven.” But this saying that our hard work
can move heaven is the gospel of Satan. It tells the opposite of what the Bible tells us.
We can never move God by our own work. Demons may get moved, but God, the
creator of the universe, cannot be impressed by man’s hard work, and will not bless us
for it. There is no way that we could impress God with our own efforts. Cain was
actually a very hard-working person. How sincere he was to give the fruits of the soil
to God as an offering! God, however, did not acknowledge Cain and his offering. Abel
was a shepherd. When he gave a lamb to God as his offering, God looked with favor.

Let us take a time machine and visit Cain and Abel. We can guess that these children
asked questions about their parents’ garments because they did not have such clothes.
Being naked, Cain and Abel probably asked,
“Mom and dad, what is that thing you’re wearing? Why don’t we have one?
To which Adam probably said,
“Kids, in the place where you mom and I used to live, there was a tree that we were
forbidden to eat from. God said that if we were to eat of it we would surely die. But
you poor mom was deceived by the evil Serpent and ate a fruit from that tree. She
then asked me to eat the fruit as well. What could I do? I knew she was doomed. I
could not have her die alone. So I took it, too. Then our eyes opened. We were
suddenly ashamed of not wearing anything, so we made garments of fig leaves for
ourselves. But they didn’t do us any good. When God called out my name, I was still
ashamed of my nakedness although I had covered myself. God took pity on us and
made garments of skin to cover our shame and guilt.”
In this way, Adam and Eve probably explained to their children God’s way of
redemption. My guess is that Abel started to flock sheep after hearing this story.
Otherwise, there was really no need for a sheep because animal meat had not yet
been given to them as food. Cain, on the other hand, still tried to please God with his
own two hands just as Adam had done.
Why did God not look on Cain’s offering with favor?

If you remember, God had clearly said, “Cursed is the ground because of you and it
will produce thorns and thistles for you.”

Then, the fruits of the soil are cursed fruits. Cain was asking God to take and eat the
cursed fruits.

We studied Acts chapter 17 on the first day. It says, “The God who made the world
and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built
by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.” He does
not need the fruits of manly effort and labor. God is the One who gives life, breath,
and everything to all creatures, so he does not need anything from sinners. Still, we
expect God to bless us more in return for what we give him. God certainly did not
want the fruits of the soil that Cain offered him.

Salvation Comes Once and For All

Some people say that they have attended church for 20 years, or even 30 years. But,
those years can never become the reason for your salvation. You may attend church
till the moment you die. Still, those years do not make any difference; you have merely
been bearing cursed fruits. They are the result of your own efforts. You cannot write
off even one of your sins this way. Salvation is given by God once and for all. Jude 1:3
syas,

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I
felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted
to the saints. (Jude 1:3)

The passage says that salvation was given to the congregation once and for all.
Salvation comes at the very moment you realize the words of God, and it does not
take 10 or 20 years. One day a man attends a special service, goes back to his church
and says,

“Now I truly believe Jesus. I can now believe that the Lord has forgiven my sins. I am
redeemed.”

“Dear sir, with all due respect, you are quite arrogant in saying that. I’ve attended
church for 30 years now, but I’m still not sure if I can go to heaven or to hell. One
moment, I feel like I can go to heaven, but the next moment, I’m not sure. How can
you be so sure of your salvation after only attending a conference for a mere week?
You should be careful of what you say.”

If you’re not sure of your salvation after 30 years, when on earth are you ever going
to be? How long did it take for the robber on the cross to go to heaven? Years? He had
never set his foot in the yard of a church and never given an offering to God. Only
when he was hanging on the cross, did he utter a few words, “Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.”
Then, Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in
paradise.” He was saved at that very moment. He was saved instantaneously. No
arduous work. No all night prayers. God does not ask you to do anything. The sinner
has no part to play in receiving salvation.

The True Meaning of the Sabbath

God created man on the sixth day, and he rested on the seventh. The day God rested
is the first day for man. If God had created man on the second or third day, he would
have helped God in His creation of the world. But, when man was created on the
seventh day, he saw God already resting. Is there any work left for man to do? Here
lies the concept of the Sabbath.

Anyone that worked on the Sabbath must be put to death. The Sabbath should be a
day of rest, meaning that all man had to do that day was to rest because God had fully
completed his work. If there was something to be done by man on the Sabbath, it
would mean that God’s work, his creation of the universe, for instance, was lacking in
some way, thus blaspheming against God. That is why anyone who worked on the
Sabbath was killed.

The message of the Sabbath is that God has done everything for us so that we can
rest. Such truth gives us immediate rest and freedom. There is nothing left for us to do
because God has finished everything already. The Sabbath is about resting in the God.

Blood Redeems Sin

Since a lamb was sacrificed and God saw its blood, he embraced Abel, a second
generation sinner. The same method applies to the third and fourth generation of
sinners, and so on. Just look at Noah in Genesis 8:20.

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and
clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma
and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even
though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I
destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (Genesis 8:20∼21)

There lived a man named Noah who was a descendent of Adam. Noah appeared about
1600 years after Adam, and must have heard from his ancestors that God accepted
blood as a sacrifice of worship. So, Noah offered animals and birds and their blood.
Then God said,

“Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of
his heart is evil from childhood.”

Man is evil inside. But, God accepted the blood as an atonement for their sins and
decided not to punish man any longer.
Let us next look at Abraham in Genesis 15:9.
“So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old,
along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in
two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in
half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them
away.”(Genesis 15:9∼11)

Abraham lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. God called to Abraham and ordered him to
sacrifice a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old. God forgave his sins only
after Abraham did as he was told. Abraham had a son named Isaac, who had Jacob.
God blessed Jacob’s sons. Their descendants are the Jews of today. After the
Israelites, or the Jews, appeared, God explained his intentions in a detailed, stipulated
law. Let us look at Leviticus 17:10.

Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood--I will set my face
against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of
a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves
on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. (Leviticus 17:10∼11)

This is what God said. God spoke to Abraham in person. But now, there is a great
number of people. So, he gave them a set of laws through Moses, saying that the life
of a creature is in the blood, and that it is the blood which makes atonement for one’s
life. The law stipulates that whoever sins should bring blood to God because it makes
atonement for their sins. Let us look at this passage again.
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement
for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
(Leviticus 17:11)

How are individual sins forgiven? What is it that God asks us of? We have just heard
that the blood atones for sins. It is the blood. All the Israelites who lived before us,
including Adam, Abel, Noah and Abraham had to bring blood to God every time they
sinned because person’s life is in the blood.

This document records what God said 3000 years ago. Back then scientists and
doctors were not able to locate the source of life. They thought of the heart as being
the source of life because of the way it pumped every so often. When a person loses a
certain amount of blood, he or she dies, which means the life of a creature, whether it
is a human or an animal, lies in the blood.

It was only in the 1600’s that scientists found this out. William Harvey discovered how
blood circulated through the body. He found out that the circulation of blood maintains
one’s life. As late as 400 years ago, science found out that the circulation of blood
sustains the life. But, the Bible said about 3000 years ago that the blood is the life.
Sinful souls were to be put to death. So they had to bring blood to atone for their sins.

The Decree of Atonement

Such practice repeated itself through history. For 1500 years, till the coming of Jesus,
the Israelites had to bring blood every time they sinned as God had demanded. They
brought the blood of a ram or a heifer, etc. Let us look at Leviticus 16:6.

‘Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and
his household. Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at
the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats--one lot for
the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to
the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the
scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement
by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin
offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the
bull for his own sin offering. He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar
before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them
behind the curtain. He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the
smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the Testimony, so that
he will not die. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on
the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger
seven times before the atonement cover. “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin
offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did
with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In
this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness
and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for
the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. (Leviticus
16:6∼16)
God gave the Israelites the decree of atonement. When they sin, the high priest enters
a place called the inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle, the Tent of
Meeting. He sprinkles the blood of a ram or a bull on the atonement cover where God
dwells. Then, God sees the blood and forgives the sins. Although it is not their blood,
their sins are forgiven because an animal died instead.

A lamb or a bull was the “shadow” of Jesus. A lamb refers to Jesus. People were
supposed to die. But animals were sacrificed instead to atone for their sins. What does
it mean? It is all referring to an innocent Jesus, who would later come in human form
to die for the humanity.

Let me give you an example. Most people today must carry at least one credit card.
We buy products on this plastic card. It is not real money. Although it is not money,
we can shop around and pay by credit card. It is the same as promising that you will
pay back later on the payment day. We just swipe the card to buy fridges, TV sets,
etc. After a month, money will be withdrawn from our bank account. The plastic cards
play the role of cash.

By the same token, although animals like bulls shed blood and died, God takes it as
the death of Jesus and forgive our sins. Although the plastic card is not real money, it
is the same as promising that you will pay back later. Every time God sees the blood of
animals, he thinks, “OK, I will take that as Jesus’ death and forgive your sins until
Jesus comes.” It is not that the blood of animals has some actual effects. This is what
chapter 16 is talking about. It was only the blood of a ram that was sprinkled. But,
when he saw it, God forgave people’s sins until innocent Jesus comes and sheds his
own blood.
The people, back then, believed that their sins would be forgiven when Jesus came
and died. But, Jesus would come much later. So God promised that he would forgive
their sins when he saw the blood of animals. That was God’s covenant. That is why the
Israelites sacrificed animals to atone for their sins until Jesus came and died for them.

The Death of Jesus

Let us look into what kind of death Jesus died in John 1:29.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Jesus came down to earth. When Jesus was stepping forward to be baptized by John,
John shouted, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” The
Israelites sacrificed lambs(they are like credit cards) every year. The one who would
pay the real money had now come. When they sacrificed lambs as an offering, they
were only the shadow of Jesus who was the real lamb. Jesus shed his blood on the
cross. What, then, becomes of our sins? It was said that without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness. So, will our sins later be forgiven, or have our sins been
forgiven already? We are living in a world after the “Real Lamb.” Let us examine what
God was doing when Jesus died on the cross.
Mark chapter 15 says that Jesus was crucified with two robbers at Golgotha. How,
then, can we say that only Jesus who was crucified in the middle died for our sins.
Were our sins really forgiven the moment Jesus died on the cross? What kind of
connection is there between Jesus caught by Roman soldiers and crucified, and the
atonement for our sins? We need to take a close look into how God was forgiving our
sins during those hours.

Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9 a.m. Mark chapter 15. None of the four Gospels
except Mark records the exact time of Jesus being nailed to the cross. Let us look at
Mark chapter 15 from verse 25.

It was the third hour when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against
him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his
right and one on his left. (Mark 15:25∼27)

The Israelites divide a day into 12 hours, not 24 hours. The third hour thus translates
into 9 a.m. by our standard. The New Korean Standard Version records it as 9 a.m. So,
he was nailed to the cross at 9 a.m. and hung there until 3 p.m. It took him 6 hours in
total until he passed away. The robbers next to him were still alive after those 6 hours.

Since the next day was the Sabbath, all three were pulled down from the cross
because it was deemed unholy to leave dead bodies on the cross on the Sabbath. As
Jesus had already died, they did not break his legs. The robbers, however, were still
alive, so the soldiers killed them by breaking their legs before pulling them down. It
was for only 6 hours that Jesus was hanging on the cross. What, then, was God doing
while Jesus was caught by Roman soldiers, treated like a robber and killed? Seemingly,
he was only tortured by man. Why, then, do we say that he died for our sins? To find
out, we need to take a closer look at the Bible.

Please Forgive their Sins

While Jesus was hanging on the cross, he said seven things. We refer to his
statements as the Seven Words of Jesus from the Cross. Let us look at the first of the
seven. We will compare all the four Gospels for a better understanding of his last
moments. Let us look at Luke 23:33 first.

When they came to the place called the Skull(The word Golgotha means a skull. The
place was called so because the rock resembled a skull with where eyes should be
were sunken), there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the
other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing.” (Luke 23:33∼34)

For the first three hours on the cross, Jesus was tortured by man. Jesus prayed for
those who nailed him to the cross, “Father, forgive their sins.” We would have been
gnashing our teeth over them. Jesus, however, prayed to God to forgive the sins of
those who had nailed him to the cross.

When Jesus was visiting a house, some men tried to bring to him a paralytic. But, they
could not get him to Jesus because of the large crowd in front of the door. So they
went up to the roof, made an opening and lowered the mat the paralyzed man was
lying on. Then, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” People
standing near him thought to themselves, “Who can forgive sins but God alone? Who
does he think he is to forgive sins?”

Jesus forgave sins himself before he was nailed to the cross. But, on the cross, he was
praying to God, “Father, forgive their sins,” rather than saying, “I forgive your sins.”
Jesus had clearly said that he had the authority to forgive sins.

“So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…”

Why did Jesus not forgive sins himself? There was a reason. Before he was crucified,
he had lived on earth as the Son of God. But, his status had changed on the cross, for
it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” On earth, he was the Son of
God, but when he was hanging on the cross, God had moved all our sins onto Jesus.
He became our sin. That is why Jesus was pleading with God to forgive their sins.

Where Are the Sins?

Jesus was not alone on the cross. In the Old Testament, Isaiah 53:4 prophesied at
around 700 B.C. how Jesus would take away the sins of many people and die. It
describes the moment of Jesus being crucified.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him
stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us
peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the
iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:4∼6)

When Jesus was on the cross, God had laid all our sins on him. I have sinned in my
lifetime. I have told lies, cheated, stolen and deceived others. Where, then, are all my
sins? Where are your sins? Are they in your memory? Most people assume that their
sins remain in their memory. They are wrong. You must know where your sins are in
order for your sins to be forgiven. Let us first discuss where our sins are.

Let me start by telling you a story. About two years ago, I came back from my trip to
America and found a police notice telling me to report myself to the police station. It
said that I had violated the traffic law by driving in the bus-only lane on the
expressway during the New Year’s holidays. It said that I needed to be present at the
police station for them to investigate my violation. The violation date on the notice was
from six months ago. They wanted to investigate what had happened six months
earlier.

I thought to myself that they were mistaken. I could not remember having done
anything wrong. I used to keep a diary, so I opened it to see where I was going on
that day. I must have travelled a long distance if I was driving on the expressway. I
thought that I may have been visiting my parents on the New Year’s holidays. In my
diary, however, I did not visit my parents during the holidays because I was exhausted
from my trip to the States, so I stayed home. I did not visit my parents and I could not
think of any other places that I may have travelled to. Based on this, I was sure that
the police had made a mistake.
I went to the police station with a copy of my diary. There, I kept arguing, whether
they believed or not, that I had never violated the traffic law. The police officer in
charge of my case finally said,
“Fine. If you insist, I will make a new report with the copy of your diary and send it to
the higher office. Just fill in your written statement, and you can go.”
I had such a clear conscience that I went one step further and pressed him,
“Do you have any proof?”
“Of course, we do. Your car is a Sonata in silver, isn’t it?”
“There are plenty of silver Sonatas on the roads.”
“Not just that. We also have a photo of your car.”
“Do you really?”
“Did you lend your car to anyone?”
“No. I did not.”
“Give it a careful thought. We have the photo of your car.”
Now, that really stopped me in my tracks. I came home and thought about it again.
‘If they have the photo, I must have been driving to somewhere. Where did they take
the picture? If I was driving on the expressway, I must have received the receipt of an
expressway pass, and I must have been reimbursed at my office.’

So, I asked my secretary to look for the records from six month earlier and to call me
back if she found the receipt.
Later, I got a call from my secretary who told me that she had found it. I asked her
where I had been travelling, and she told me that I went to Ansung. Only then, did I
remember. I did not go as far as to Daegu where my parents live, but I did go to
Ansung which is about a 40 minute drive from Seoul. I was driving in the bus-only lane
but didn’t know that. Now I had absolutely nothing to say. There is a similar story in
the Bible as well. Let us turn to Isaiah 59:12.

For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses
are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities. (Isaiah 59:12)

Here it says that our offenses are many in “your sight,” in other words, before God. It
is six months earlier that I had been driving in the bus-only lane. I was flashed by a
traffic camera while I was driving six month earlier, and it was recorded in the police
document. Did I know that I was doing something wrong? No, I did not, not even
when I received the police notice and was shown the proof. At that time, I was still not
aware of my sins. Where was my sin originally? It was recorded in the police station.
When they notified me of it, I was beginning to realize my sin. It was only six months
after that I found out about my sin.

“For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us.”

Our offenses were at first before God. Once the Bible tells us of our sins, we get to
realize them, and then they are in our own sight. My sin, at first, was only in the police
station, but, after the police notice was sent, it was before me. All sins were only
before God at first. Just because you are not aware of the sins you have committed
until today does not mean that you have committed no sins. Although you did not
know it was a sin, it is all recorded in the book of God. Whether you admit it or not, all
your sins are before God.

Sins Must Be Atoned by God

You may not have realized that telling a lie or getting angry is also a sin. But, telling
lies, breaking promises, bragging, being arrogant, etc. are all sins in the eyes of God.
You may not have realized your sins, but the moment the Bible lets you know, you
finally see them.

Once our conscience realizes our sins, where do we have to take them to be atoned?
Sins must be written off from the book of God. Sins must be atoned by God, and it is
of no use to try to erase your sins from your memory. When the Sampoong
department store collapsed, the first thing the department store was looking for was
the computer cards where credit card transactions had been recorded. Without the
cards, they would have no way of collecting bills. Just imagine that they had failed to
find the cards. Not only would they not be able to collect their bills, but also some
honest customers would have no way of paying back for their credit card purchases.

Erasing your memories of sins does not make your sins go away. Where are sins to be
atoned? Sins must be atoned before God. How can we deal with our sins that are laid
before God while we are living on earth? It is simply impossible to go up before God
and burn the book where my sins are recorded. But many people are still trying to
cleanse their minds while their sins are stacked up in heaven. They seem to believe
that they can make their sins go away by cleansing their minds, and this is what a
religion is all about. But, even a life-long meditation would not cleanse your sins
stacked before God. Let us look at Jeremiah 2:22.

Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your
guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign LORD. (Jeremiah 2:22)

Look what it says. All sins are before God, but they try to wash their sins by fasting or
praying all night. It clearly says that your sins are before God. No matter how hard
man tries to remove their sins, they cannot get rid of the sins before God.

God Who Laid Sins on His Son

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
(Psalms 90:8)

Look at this verse. God said that he had set all our sins before him and also in the light
of his presence, or his face. What does it mean to set the sins in the light of his face?

Imagine that you beat someone up and took away his stuff. He would never forget
your face. He plans to kill you next time he sees you. Ten years later, after you have
completely forgotten about him, you run into him on the street.
“You! You’re the one who broke into my house, beat me up and stole my stuff.”
What would you see in his face? There is anger against you. But you have no idea of
what he is talking about and say,
“I do not remember you.”
You may not remember him, but as long as the victim remembers you, your sins are
still there. Where are your sins? They are in front of the assaulted. As long as he seeks
revenge for your robbery, your sins are not forgiven. But, if you threw yourself at his
feet and compensated him for his injuries and suffering, the anger in his face would
disappear.
Your victim has to forgive your sins. When you commit sin, the damage is done to
God. Therefore, God must forgive your sins. Although you may not remember your
sins, they are all there before God.
Then, can we go up to heaven and get rid of our sins? No, we cannot because we live
on earth while God is in heaven. Only God can forgive sins laid before him. God loved
the world. He had compassion on the people who are deceived by Satan into
committing sins and suffer as a result. That is why he made Jesus shed blood in order
to forgive our sins. He sent and sacrificed Jesus on our behalf.
And God moved all our sins before him, onto his loved Son, Jesus. We have never
asked or prayed to God to forgive our sins, but he loves us so much that he sent Jesus
down to this world and laid all sins on him. Isaiah 53:6 records such amazing love of
God.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the
LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

It says that God has laid all our sins on Jesus. When innocent Jesus was on the cross,
God moved all our sins onto him and made him die.
Where, then, have all the sins before God gone? They were placed on Jesus. God loves
us so much that he laid all sins on Jesus even before we asked for it. Then, God
punished Jesus.

You will be with Me in Paradise

Let us now think about the second of the Seven Words of Jesus from the Cross. Let us
read Luke 23:34.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they
divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even
sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of
God, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him
wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a
written notice above him, which reads: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the
criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself
and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you
are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our
deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the
truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:34∼43)

Secondly, Jesus said to the robber, “you will be with me in paradise.” The paradise is a
waiting place where the saved souls stay before they reach heaven. They stay there
until they come back to earth as the children of the resurrection.

Let us next look at the third of the Seven in John 19: 25.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he
loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to
the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his
home. (John 19:25∼27)

Before Jesus breathed his last, he asked John, the disciple to take care of his mother
Mary. Since there was no mention of his father, Joseph, he may have already died.

Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani

For the three hours before noon, Jesus was sneered and tortured by man. Then, the
Bible says in Isaiah 53:6 that God had laid on him the iniquity of us all. Then, can we
find in the Bible where God is moving all our sins onto Jesus while he is on the cross,
and punishes him? Yes. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh words of Jesus are about
how God is laying all our sins onto Jesus and makes him die.

Therefore, for the first three hours in the morning Jesus is tortured by man, and for
the last three hours in the afternoon God moves all our sins onto Jesus and punishes
him. Let us now look at the fourth words in Matthew 27:45.
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. (Matthew
27:45)

We have already discussed that the third hour is 9 o’clock. Then the sixth hour is noon
by our standard. The darkness fell over the land from the sixth till the ninth, so it
means it was dark from noon to 3 o’clock. Actually, these hours are the brightest of
the day
, but it fell into pitch darkness. The Bible says that it was dark for these three hours.

In Exodus chapter 12, God says that all the people of the community of Israel must
slaughter the Passover lambs at twilight. Lambs are slaughtered at twilight every
Passover, but Jesus, who is the real lamb, was on the cross in broad daylight. It would
go against the Old Testament, so God made it pitch dark, so that it fulfilled the words
of the Old Testament. There is no way that man can make this happen. The lambs
must be killed at twilight, so God turned day into night when the real Lamb was
sacrificed. Let us look at verse 46 next.

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”--
which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)

It was for these dark hours that Jesus, the real lamb was killed.
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”--which means, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?””
It was for these hours that God punished Jesus who shouldered all our sins. The
punishment was to be forsaken by God. Jesus was forsaken by God, instead of us. He
was condemned while it was we that were supposed to be condemned to hell. If we
had not received salvation and been condemned to hell, we would have cried out from
hell in the same loud voice, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus was going
through the suffering that we were supposed to get. If it had not been for Jesus, we
would have been forsaken by God. We were spared the deadly punishment because
Jesus had already suffered it on our behalf.

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on
a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see
if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he
gave up his spirit.
(Matthew 27:47∼50)

I am Thirsty

Let us go back to John and take a look at the fifth words.

“Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be
fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.””
(John 19:28)

Why did Jesus say, “I am thirsty,”? Let us look at Luke 16:19.

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury
every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and
longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his
sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s
side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he
looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him,
‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son,
remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received
bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this,
between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from
here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then
I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him
warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied,
‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he
said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If
they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if
someone rises from the dead.’
(Luke 16:19∼31)

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, was he at a place where one is supposed to
feel thirsty? He was thirsty because he was suffering from the punishment of hell. Hell
fire is excruciatingly painful, to the extent that the rich man cried out, “Send Lazarus to
dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.”

Hell is a thirsty place. In hell, you cannot choose to rather die, but have to stay in
eternal agony. Jesus was in hell suffering the pain that we were supposed to suffer.
This is why He cried out, “I am thirsty.” He was not only forsaken by God, but also
suffering a raging thirst. Jesus suffered the unquenchable thirst that we would have
otherwise suffered.

It is Finished

Let us look at the sixth words next.

A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a
stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink,
Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John
19:29∼30)

The six words were, “It is finished.” What was finished? He had fulfilled the demands
of God and the demands of the Law.

The soul who sins is the one who will die. (Ezekiel 18:4)

By sacrificing himself, Jesus took the punishment that God demands from sinners. It is
all finished by Jesus. Then, is there any work left for us, the sinners, to do? Is there
anything that we must do to meet God’s demands in order for our sins to be forgiven?
Jesus completed the work on our behalf.
He was condemned to hell, forsaken by God and suffered the punishment. When on
the cross, he was wearing a crown of thorns on his head. Punishment is suffered by
our body, spirit and soul all together. The head came up with a ruse and the body
followed it and sinned, so the head must suffer.

That is why a crown of thorns was put on his head. The legs that move the body to
where sins are and the hands that actually commit them must suffer, too. That is why
a nail went through both his hands and feet. The body was first to be punished. The
spirit was forsaken and suffered next. Jesus suffered the three-fold punishment for our
sins.

The Path between God and Man

Let us look at the last words next in Luke 23:44.

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over
the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped
shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your
hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke
23:44∼46)

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

This is the last of the Seven Words of Jesus from the Cross. With this, it was all over.
The sun lost its light, the whole world fell into pitch darkness for three hours. Lambs
had to be slaughtered at twilight, so God turned day into night. What else happened at
his last moment?

When Jesus breathed his last, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to
bottom. If man had ripped it, it would have been torn from bottom to top. God had
torn it, and that is why it was torn from top down. This means that there is nothing in
the way between God and us.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.”

Jesus’ death opened wide the path, through which anyone can come to God without
fear. Those, who sinned and dared not come to God, can now come to God without
hesitation because Jesus has already dealt with all our sins. Let us look at Isaiah 59:1.

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But
your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from
you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1~2)

Sin was in the way between God and us, but now there is nothing in between. We did
not know about this truth. We were not there when, 2000 years ago, Jesus died on the
cross. But the Bible tells us, through the writings of the inspired apostles, what has
changed in God’s heart and how our sins were dealt with.

We can finally say, “Ah, now there is nothing between God and us. We can come to
God with no fear. Our sins have all been dealt with.”

It is all thanks to Jesus, who shed his blood and died on our behalf. Before Jesus died,
God had a choice to forgive or not to forgive. What about now? He has no choice but
to forgive us because Jesus paid the price for our sins.

Think about this. You ran up some debt to a shop owner, but you have no money.
Then, your father paid back for all your debt. Does the shop owner still have the right
to demand the money from you? Since your father paid it all back, the owner loses his
right over your money.

The same is true for God. Since God moved all our sins onto Jesus and made him
suffer, he can no longer say to us, “I might still send you to hell.” God has no longer
has that choice. There is nothing left for us to do except to believe what God has done
for us.

Looking Up To the Lord

In this world, there are two ways to obey law. The first is to literally obey. For
example, if there is a law that says, “Do not park here,” you obey it by not parking
there. But, there is another way to obey the law. Your park the car anyway because
it’s an emergency. You have violated the parking law. Let’s say that the fine for
breaking the rule is 50 dollars. So then you pay a fine of 50 dollars. In this way, you
can still fulfill the requirement of a law by paying the fine.

God told us to obey the Law. But can we obey it? No, we cannot. So, Jesus came and
paid the fine instead.

Now, this might be your prayer. “Oh, Jesus, I didn’t know that you died for me and
that God had forgiven my sins because of you. But, I realized it through the Bible that
when you died, my sins were all forgiven.”

If you believe and confess it deep down like that, Jesus becomes your own Savior. Let
us look at John 3:14.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14∼15)

Let us read the part where Moses lifted up the snake in the desert in Numbers 21:6.

“Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many
Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke
against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from
us.” So Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put
it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze
snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at
the bronze snake, he lived.”(Numbers 21:6∼9)

The Israelites used to live in tents in the desert. There must have been a great number
of tents since they were over 2 millions in population. But, then, people quarreled with
Moses and said, “There is no water to drink, no food to eat. Did you bring us up out of
Egypt to the desert to die?” When God brought them out of Egypt, it meant that He
would provide for them. But they did not believe it and turned their backs on God. So,
God sent the snakes that bit them. Many died, and those who survived developed
swollen legs because of the venom. So, Moses prayed to God.
“Erect a pole among the tents. Make a bronze snake and put it up on the pole,” said
God.

God said, “Those who are poisoned by snake venom will live when they see the bronze
snake on the pole.” What a strange way it is. Neither would the bronze snake beam a
healing light, nor would it drip some medicine. It was God’s words, “Anyone who looks
up at the snake will live,” that healed them. Think about it. Is it difficult for the sick to
just look at the bronze snake? All you have to do is to lift up your head in bed. By the
same token, faith is about looking up to the Lord.

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.”

This bronze snake refers to Jesus. He was nailed to the cross. The snake bites refer to
venomous bites from Satan. Bitten by Satan, we have become his slaves. Just as the
Israelites who looked up at the bronze snake and lived, we only need to look up to
Jesus in order to live. Let us look up to Jesus.

Chapter 7. Out of Darkness Into Light

The sin of not Believing in Jesus

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9)

How does a person believe? We believe with our hearts. You may think it is possible to
believe with your “two feet”-going back and forth to church. You may think it is
possible to believe with your “two hands”-bringing offering to church. However, the
Bible tells us something different. Do we need money or strength to believe with your
heart? No, faith doesn’t come from our own efforts. It is simply accepting the facts.

This story happened on the day Koreans were liberated from Japanese colonial rule.
People were on the streets shouting, “Hurrah! Hurrah!” There was a rich family and
they were talking to each other, “Son, go lock the door. The last time there was a
liberation movement the Japanese police arrested us all!” However, that particular day
was when Korea actually became an independent country again, and people were on
the streets waving the national flag and cheering. It was only that wealthy family that
stayed indoors for half a month fearing they might be caught by the police if they
stepped outside. For days and days there were shouts of joy instead of the sound of
the gun. 15 days later, a servant was sent outside to check how things were going and
they found out that the Japanese soldiers finally left, and Korea was freed as an
independent nation. When did the wealthy family finally have this taste of liberation?
Not until at half a month after the actual day.

Jesus died on the cross 2000 years ago, and God forgave our sins 2000 years ago. Yet,
it is at this moment that you believe and receive salvation. How can you be saved if
you close your heart and do not accept this fact? Many people believe their sins are
not yet forgiven, so they carry around with them their burden of sin.

I know an interesting story about a farmer and an old lady. There was a farmer who
was dragging his oxcart when he met an old lady who was trudging along with a huge
baggage on her head. The farmer offered the lady a ride and she thanked him and got
on the oxcart. They were traveling for about 100 meters when the farmer heard a
groaning from behind. He looked around and saw the old lady still carrying the heavy
luggage on her head. Asked why on earth she was still carrying the load on her head,
she replied she couldn’t burden the man any more than she had already.
Christians nowadays think the same way. When asked if they believe in Jesus they say
they surely do. When asked about their sins, they say they still carry them around.
They bring their sins to the revival meetings crying out loud, “God, please forgive me
for all my sins. Please forgive me!” Then they go to another revival meeting and pray
the same prayer. They can never free themselves from the burden of sin; they always
suffer under it.

They may appear as people of good faith to some, but to God, they are the greatest
fools. The reason they act that way is because they don’t understand the Bible. All
they think of are the sins in their hearts; they don’t realize that God has forgiven all of
them. Does God remember your sins or not? Regardless of what you do or do not
remember, they have been forgotten by God. If there is no record of sin, will God
judge us or not? He will not! So then why do people go to hell? The only reason that
people go to hell is because of the sin of not believing. If you don’t believe it means
you refused the Lord and ignored him during your lifetime.

If God Says You are Sinless

When you refuse a gift someone gives you, it may be because you feel you don’t
deserve it or because that person giving it to you is a stranger to you. Whatever the
reason, people end up in hell because they don’t accept this gift from God.

You probably know the character Jean Valjean from the famous novel . Jean Valjean
was imprisoned for several years before he was finally released. His appearance and
his shabby clothes prevented him from seeking shelter and buying some bread. An old
woman told Jean Valjean where he can find a place to sleep-a bishop’s house.

Jean Valjean knocked on the door saying he was a lost sheep looking for a place to
sleep. The bishop invited him in. Back then, there was no electricity so a silver
candlestick was lit by the bedside. When Jean Valjean saw the candlestick, it seemed
like a better idea to steal it and make a fortune out of it rather than have a good
night’s sleep, so he waited until it grew dark.
When the bishop fell asleep, he sneaked out of the house with the silverware. Later he
was caught by a police who was patrolling the area at that time.

“You jumped over the fence and had the silver candlesticks with you. It’s quite clear
you stole it so I must confirm this with the owner of this house.”

“Sir, I caught a thief who had two candlesticks in his bag. Let me know if these are
yours. If so, I will put this man in prison.”

The bishop looked at him and said, “It is true that these are mine, but I gave these to
him. Why did you jump over the fence instead of leaving through the gate?”

The detective couldn’t arrest Jean Valjean when the bishop told him the candlesticks
were given to him; he was not guilty.
Like Jean Valjean was forgiven by the bishop, if God has forgiven us, nobody can
accuse us. Even though you remember your sins, if God says you are without sin, then
no matter how much Satan condemns you it doesn’t matter. If you accept the Lord’s
salvation, God will defend you saying, “Yes, you used to be a sinner. But when my son
Jesus was crucified, I forgave you.”

When God says we are without sin, it means sin no longer stands. Let’s read Romans
8:31.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those
whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ
Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God
and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:31~34)

Who can accuse us and tell us we have sin? God is the one who sent his Son to die for
us and God is the one who forgave us. It doesn’t matter even if you remember your
sins; we are sinless before God. You may believe you remember all your
transgressions, but it is impossible to remember every single sin you committed since
childhood. So, each time you recall a sin give thanks to God for forgiving such a great
sinner like you.

Jesus Sheds Blood for Our Sins

When Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are already here, he went
through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say,
not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves;
but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained
eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled
on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so
that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:11~14)
There is no sin that the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse. If the blood of the lamb and
bull atoned for the people’s sin in ancient times how much more so for the blood of
God’s sinless son who died? Let’s read Hebrews 9:21.

In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used
in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with
blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
(Hebrews 9:21~22)

If there is no shedding of blood there is no forgiveness; if there is shedding of blood

there must be forgiveness. That is why Jesus says in Matthew 26:26.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his
disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks
and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew
26:26~28)
Before Jesus was crucified, he called his disciples and ate the Passover dinner. He
broke bread saying “this is my body”, and gave them wine saying “this is my blood.”
This is the will he made before he died. Let’s look at Hebrews 9:16.

In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,
because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes eppect while
the one who made it is living. (Hebrews 9:16~17)

In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,
because a will can come into force only after the person is pronounced dead; it cannot
take effect as long as the person is alive.

Jesus made a will before he passed away.

“This bread is my body given for you. Take this. This wine is my blood, the covenantal
blood, being shed for many.”

Later, Jesus passed away; his body was torn and his blood was shed. The will must
therefore have come into effect. If it has been promised that our sins will be forgiven
when Jesus sheds his blood, then it must really be forgiven with the shedding of his
blood. Since the person who made the will passed away, the will must now come into
effect.

Never Will I Remember Again

Christ appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice
of his own self. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that face judgment, so
Christ was sacrificed once and for all to take away the sins of many people; and he will
appear a second time. Only this time, Jesus is not the Savior but the King of kings.
(Hebrews 9:26~28)
This refers to Jesus’ resurrection. Two thousand years ago, Jesus came to wash our
sins away, and later he will come back as the king of kings. Let’s read Hebrews 10:10.

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties;
again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But
after this priest (Jesus Christ) offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he made
perfect forever those who have been made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us
about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time,
says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these
have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
(Hebrews 10:10~18)

“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my
laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

It means he will not remember our transgressions and our sins. Let’s look at verse 17.
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
Since when has God forgotten all sins? Since Jesus was crucified on the cross. We
must remember in our hearts and thoughts that God promised to forget all our sins.
Despite this promise, people keep on recalling their sins. It was Jesus who took the
punishment of sin. Because Jesus paid the price for our sins, there is nothing left for
us to pay back to God. At this you may say, “How can Jesus take my place? I should
do something, too. Shouldn’t I myself pay for my own sin?”

Representative of Mankind

Let me answer that question by telling you a true story about a Japanese soldier
during the Second World War. This story takes place in Guam. This Japanese soldier
had been hiding in the deep forest of Guam for 30 years after the war until he found in
the mid-1970s. What happened was he didn’t know that the war had ended. So he
was in a hideout all those years! The Japanese people regarded him as a hero and
praised him for displaying such patriotism. The last I heard, he was living in Sao Paulo,
Brazil.

The reason I bring this story up is because I want to say a few things about
“surrender.” The Japanese started the war but later surrendered. The Act of Surrender
was signed on the battleship Missouri, which is now kept in a museum at the United
States Naval Academy, Washington D.C. We should remember here that it was the
emperor of Japan who surrendered to General MacArthur to put an end to the war.
Would the war be over if 1000 Japanese soldiers surrendered to General MacArthur
instead of the emperor himself? No, it wouldn’t be valid. They cannot take the place of
the emperor. It wouldn’t be accepted by MacArthur. Only the emperor is capable of
ending the war because only he represents the entire Japan.

Now let’s compare this with God and the entire mankind. If we take ten thousand
honest and renowned men and ask God to forgive the sins of mankind through their
sacrifice, would he grant our request? Could God possibly forgive our sins based on the
sacrifices of these people? No, not at all. No man can take the place of another man
before God. Just like MacArthur called the emperor before him, God is calling for the
one who represents the entire mankind. God is saying that he is willing to forgive us
when that representative receives judgment on our behalf.

Who, do you think, can be the representative of the 6.8 billion people of this world? Is
it the American president? The secretary-general of the UN? Even if the entire world
were to unanimously pick that one person, he would not qualify. In fact, none of us
can be that person. Only Jesus fits God’s description of that person. Let’s find out why.

The Only Mediator between God and Man

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come
to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony
given in its proper time. (1Timothy 2:3~6)

Here it says there is only one God and only one mediator between God and man. That
mediator is Jesus. Jesus who was God inside the body of a man. It’s important to
remember that Jesus was God in the form of a man. Such characteristics of Jesus met
the requirements of knowing God who is divine and us people who are mortals.

If we were to choose a man to represent us, for instance, while he may be able to
understand the human side, he would not know a thing about God. He would not be
able to fathom God’s thoughts at all because God, as the Bible states, is spirit. By the
same token, if an angel were chosen, the angel would also fail to represent us because
it is a spiritual being and thus would not know anything about sin, sufferings,
starvation and sorrows of a man.

But with Jesus Christ it is different. He was both God and man. Though he had a
human form he was God himself. He had a physical body, so he experienced hunger,
pain and agony of man. He knew their sufferings, frustration and sin. At the same
time, since Jesus was sent by God and was in fact God himself, he also understood
God. That is why God raised Jesus as the representational figure of humanity.

Going back to the example of the Japanese emperor, when the emperor surrendered
the whole nation in essence surrendered with him. If the emperor refused to give in,
then there would not have been any surrender. In the same way, when Jesus died, the
whole mankind died with him. When Jesus surrendered to God, everyone surrendered
because God had placed the whole of mankind under Jesus.

When Jesus died on the cross, everyone died with him. Just as fate of the individual
soldier rested in the surrender of the emperor, when Jesus died we died with him.
Since God designated Jesus as the representative of all mankind, his destiny is our
destiny. When Jesus was crucified I died, too; when Jesus resurrected I also lived.

Remember this story and receive the Word of God as your personal message.
Our Sins Are Already Forgiven

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision
or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12~13)

It says when you receive him, accept him and believe, you will be God’s child. This is
possible because the Lord has forgiven your sins already. You are not forgiven when
you decide to believe. Rather, God has already forgiven your sins, so all you have to
do is believe. Let’s read Isaiah 1:18.

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like
wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

This is God’s word for the sinners.

“All come to me. No matter how filthy, unclean and red as crimson your sins may be,
you will be whiter than snow, whiter than wool.”
Because the Lord has forgiven us already, all we need to do is come before him. Now
to Isaiah 44:22.

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return
to me, for I have redeemed you.
(Isaiah 44:22)

Did God say I will sweep away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the mist, or
that he has already done so?

When you go to heaven, there will be sinners everywhere. They are all sinners who
have faith. When you go to hell, you will see sinners all over the place. They are
sinners who don’t have faith. Though our sins have been atoned for, it is faith that
determines whether we end up in hell or heaven. God has wiped away our sins with
his power and love and he is waiting for us. Let’s look at the same verse again.

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return
to me, for I have redeemed you.”
(Isaiah 44:22)

A sinner who once lived his life carelessly without God finally realizes his sin and feels
sorry for it, listens to the Gospel and realizes that God has eradicated his sin, and turns
his heart to God. This is called repentance. And it’s different from stepping into church
to believe in Jesus. You might have not known anything about God before. You might
have resented God until now. But if you realize that you are a sinner before God and
go towards him in faith, you will also realize God’s love. God has already forgiven you.
Let’s read Isaiah 43:25.
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers
your sins no more. (Isaiah 43:25)
It says God has blotted out your sins for you. Because God settled all your sins, you
are now a righteous person.

God’s Gift

Let’s look at John 3:16. You know this verse very well.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

God gave Jesus to us. All we have to do is accept him, believe in him to receive
salvation. Yet, there is no way we can help those who do not believe. We cannot force
this gift upon those who refuse it. Salvation is not earned by our efforts; it’s a gift from
God. A gift is not paid for; it is free. We call this grace. There are many people who
think of salvation as something that needs to be earned. But the Bible clearly tells us
that salvation is God’s grace.

Let’s read Romans 4:4.

Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an
obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the
wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he
speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from
works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Romans 4:4~8)

Though the man didn’t work for it, he received grace. If we have to toil, labor, pray
and fast to receive salvation, then it would no longer be a gift; it would be our wage.
In other words, it would be the fruit of our efforts. However, the salvation we received
is a gift not earned through our efforts so there is nothing to boast about. Let’s read
Ephesians 2:8~9.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8~9)

If you earned your salvation by working as an elder or deacon for 20, 30 years, then
there is something you can boast about. Yet, the truth is there is nothing for us to
boast. Let’s look at John 5:24.

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal
life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

It is not when you believe that you cross over; God has already completed this. “Hears
my word...” means when you listen to the Bible and believe in Jesus. Now let’s look at
verse 25.

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the
voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. (John 5:25)
We all died because of Adam’s sin and transgression. Though we were dead, we are
given the chance to hear the voice of God’s son. The Bible says those who hear it will
live. How do we know we are saved? We know because of God’s word.

Evidence of Salvation

We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony
of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has
this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be
a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. (1John
5:9~10)

Now some people believe speaking in tongues is the evidence that you believe in
Jesus. They say because you speak in tongues you are saved and you have received
God’s grace.

“How can you prove you believe in Jesus?”

“Well, I don’t have any evidence yet. I don’t speak in tongues and I haven’t received
answers to my prayers yet.”

This is an incorrect answer to the question asked. Those who believe in the son of God
have clear evidence in them.

Again, as it states in 1 John 5:9, “Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this
testimony in his heart.”

Do you really believe in the Son of God? Do you assurance? If not, then you have not
come to realize his love yet. Having the experience of being caught in fire or speaking
in tongues are not assurances.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say I’m a very rich man and can lend money to
people. One day three individuals in our village come to me to borrow money. I tell
them, “I don’t trust you so you must find someone among my friends who can stand
surety for you. If you do, then I will lend you money. I don’t know you personally, but
since I trust my friends, if one of them can be a guarantor for you I will lend you
money.”

Let’s say person A knew one of my friends. My friend therefore decides to guarantee
the trustworthiness of person A to me.

He says, “Dear friend, I know this individual well, so if you trust me lend him some
money.”

So that friend stands surety for A. This is the evidence. The friend is providing
evidence that person A is a trustworthy man.

If You Believe in the Evidence of Man

If you believe in the surety of man for man and don’t believe that of God for man,
then you are making God into a liar.

Jesus passed away. We never saw his face or heard him speak or touched his cloak.
Yet, we sit hear listening to the word, “Believe in the Lord Jesus. Then you and your
household will receive salvation.”

Before Jesus was born, the Old Testament has been presenting evidence of his birth
for a long period of time - where he will be born, how he will die, how he will
resurrect, and what happens to our sins when he dies. According to the promise of the
Old Testament, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, born of the virgin, was crucified, and
resurrected in three days. The Old Testament is God’s Word and God Himself. God
stood surety for Jesus in the Old Testament.

The New Testament is also God’s Word, testifying about the One who died.

“Those who believe in the son of God have the evidence in them”

The Word of the Bible is their evidence. The Bible is God himself, and he is testifying
about Jesus in the Old and New Testament. We did not see the death of Jesus, but the
New Testament describes his death in detail ? the scene of his death, how the heavens
were darkened, and how the curtains were torn. This is God’s evidence, his proof.

The Eternal Life in the Name of Jesus

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He
who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1
John 5:11~12)
If you received salvation, you received eternal life. Where is this eternal life? Is it
somewhere in your heart? No. The Bible says eternal life is in Jesus.

Let me explain this in another way. Let’s say I was thirsty so I ask for water. So, I am
given a glass of water. When I ask for water, it has to be brought inside a container,
whether it is a glass cup or a plastic cup. If you want water you have to receive the
container as well.

Everyone needs eternal life. Where is this eternal life? It’s in Jesus. We cannot
separate Jesus with eternal life. If you receive Jesus, you receive the eternal life that is
in him. So, how can we accept Jesus who died and was resurrected? If Jesus were
here in person then it may be possible to grab him but even then we would not be
able to “receive” him. So, how can we receive him?

I want to ask you to think about when it is that we use a person’s name. The Chinese
character for the word “name” is comprised of two characters “night” and “mouth.” I
think it was made this way because in the olden days, when electricity was not
available, people had to ask for your name to make sure you were not a stranger to
them in the dark. When you can’t see, you call out their names When we can’t see we
identify each other by names. Jesus is no longer here. So, it is night for us. We have to
call out his name. To bilieve, or receive Jesus, is to a ccept his name.
I have a lot of friends in America. Once, a friend of mine traveling to the US for the
first time came to me and asked for my help. I handed him my business card and told
him to present the card to the man coming to pick him up at the airport. My friend
took my business card and did as I said. He arrivd at the airport and met this man.

Showing my business card to the man, he says, “Please check this. Do you know Mr.
Son? He told me that you would be able to help me.”

The man looks at the business card. Is he looking at my friend’s name or him? No. He
is looking my business card with my name on it.

Jesus is physically no longer here in this world but we have his name. We believe in his
name. The Bible says that those who believe in his name will live forever. When we
believe in the name, we are actually placing our faith in the person. Today, we believe
in the name of Jesus and are thus able to go to heaven.

What we take into our hearts is not the physical Jesus. We don’t even know what he
looked liked. All we have is his name; all blessings are found in the name of Jesus
Christ. Going back to the example of my business card, if my friend was completely
accommodated for based on my name alone, you can say that the name is indeed
powerful, right? In the same way, we believe in the name Jesus. With his name alone
we can enter heaven. Since he is physically no longer here in this world, he left us with
his name. How blessed we are!

Let’s say I make a promise with my daughter on New Year’s Day.

“You’ve been studying hard. I will buy you a car on Christmas.”

I gave her my word. At this point, all she has is my promise. But she is delighted at
this promise. Why? Because on December 25th, what would this promise bring her? A
car. Today, we believe in the promise that is in the name of Jesus. In the name of
Jesus is eternal life. In fact, we carry around with us the Bible, the written promise
from God. Please turn to Colossians 3:1.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on
earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When
Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
(Colossians 3:1~4)

Our life is hidden in Jesus. So when Jesus appears, we will also appear with him in
glory because we are in him.

When we received salvation, we received the promise, too. We also received Jesus’
name. When the time comes, the promise will save us. We will be raised up and led to
eternal resurrection. All we have now is the name of Jesus, but when he appears we
will be transformed into the glorious form like him.
The Heart of Father God

Here is a parable told by Jesus.

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give
me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after
that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there
squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe
famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired
himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He
longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him
anything. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men
have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my
father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no
longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got
up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and
was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and
kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against
you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants,
‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. (Luke
15:11~23)

This is the story of the prodigal son. The son here represents a sinner. He left his
father’s house and lived a wild life before realizing his wrongdoing to return home. It is
similar to the life of a sinner who returns to God.

Since when was the son a prodigal son? Was it when he lived a wild life, squandered
all of his father’s money and became totally broke? No. Let’s say he earned a huge
profit instead. Would that make him a good son? No. It was the moment he left his
father’s house that he became a prodigal son.

If you read the story carefully, you’ll see that the father had been waiting for his son’s
return since the day he left. He wasn’t interested in how much money his son would
be making or whether all the money was wasted or not. The father didn’t question
how the money was spent. It says, “But while he was still a long way off...he ran to his
son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The father had always been waiting.
When do you think the father forgave his son? Was it when the son came back home?
No. The father had been waiting for his son from the day he left the house.

This story explains how God waits for his children’s return. Even before we knew God,
God waited for us with his arms wide open. his forgiveness has been granted, and he
is waiting still - it is not when you start to beg that he forgives. This is the heart of God
toward sinners.

He had his son killed to pay for our sins. We were forgiven without having done
anything in return. All that is left is for you is to return to God.

Who is the Adulterous Woman?

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn He appeared again in the temple
courts, where all the people gathered around Him, and He sat down to teach them.
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in while
committing adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus,
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses
commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this
question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and
started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he
straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first
to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this,
those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus
was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her,
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then
neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John
8:1~11)

This story is about us sinners who also live an “adulterous” life. God made man to love
him, but man has turned away from God to cherish the world instead-his heart is
chasing after the good things and the good people of this world. In God’s eyes, we
have forsaken him and are having an affair with the world. We have turned our backs
on God and have embraced the world instead. The adulterous woman in this story is
us. God’s judgment for such a sinner is being stoned to death according to Moses’ law.
In other words, we all deserve to be stoned.

But, despite the laws of Moses, this is what Jesus says.

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.”

When Jesus said this, the onlookers disappeared one by one. The woman was spared
her life because Jesus stepped in. In the same way, the reason why we are not stoned
is because Jesus stepped into history. He was stoned in our place. In the past, if you
defended the woman who committed adultery you would be stoned, too. But what did
Jesus say? Let’s read verse 11 again.

“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now
and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11)

Because Jesus already gave his life for us, there is no condemnation from God. Please
consider this deeply. If you still believe you have sins, it simply shows you don’t
believe in the redemption through the blood of Jesus. The Son of God who is sinless
came down to this world, died and shed his blood. Regardless of what your sins are-
whether big or small-there is no sin that the blood of Jesus is not able to wash away.
Yet, still there are those who don’t have assurance, are hesitant and are trembling.

Covered by the Blood of Jesus

When the Israelites departed Egypt, Moses requested of them, “Kill a lamb and apply
the blood on the top and both sides of the doorframe. Then the angel of the Lord will
pass over the house with the blood on it.” (Exodus 12:21~23)

The angel didn’t harm the house with the blood. The eldest child under the roof of that
house, therefore, was not killed.

Let us imagine that we are looking at what’s happening inside two Jewish homes on
the night of the Exodus. Both of these homes have blood on the top and both sides of
their doorframe. Inside the house, each family is waiting for God’s messenger to pass
by. After a while, they hear people wailing. It’s the Egyptian family next door. They
just lost their first born. Now, of the two Jewish families, one of them starts to tremble
from fear that the same thing might happen to them. The other family is resting
assured, comfortably enjoying their dinner together.

Which household do you think is safer-the one shuddering with fear or the one
enjoying the meal like nothing’s happening? They are both equally safe. The angel of
God is only looking to see that the is blood on the doorframe, not the people.

God doesn’t look at the people inside the house. He only sees the blood. And whose
blood is that? Yes, the blood of Jesus. Now, can you see the blood from inside the
house? No, you can’t. This blood is not for us to experience-it’s there for God.

Speaking of blood, there was a deaconess who said she saw a vision of Jesus on the
cross while praying one day. She had a vision of Jesus being crucified and his blood
dripping down from his hands. She crawled towards the cross wanting to be sprinkled
of his blood. Then as she stood below the cross a drop of his blood come down on her,
she said. O, how I envied her at the time!

But years later, after having received salvation and having under stood the meaning of
Jesus’ blood, I realized that the story of the deaconess didn’t make sense at all. If we
can be clean by being touched by Jesus’ blood, then the Roman solider who pierced
Jesus’ side with his spear should have been made clean a dozen times.

Even if the blood were to fall on me in buckets, I wouldn’t be clean from my sins.
Jesus’ blood is there for God, not for me. It is not something for me to experience.
Remember the Jewish Exodus. The blood on the house was for God’s angel to see, not
for the people inside the house.

Similarly, the blood Jesus shed 2000 years ago is not for us to experience. It is God
who sees that blood. We don’t know exactly how much that blood pleased God; how it
moved God’s heart and granted us forgiveness. God says he will forgive us when he
sees the blood. We are now covered by the blood of Jesus.

The Meaning of Resurrection

We don’t have to turn to the Bible to learn that Jesus died on the cross. The whole
world knows about this historic incident. Jesus was crucified and was raised to life
again in three days. This resurrection serves as God’s certificate, proving to us that our
sins have been truly cleansed and that God is satisfied with the price paid. If Jesus had
not been raised to life and was still in the tomb, we would not know whether Jesus’
blood was enough to satisfy God’s demand or not. Bringing Jesus back to life is God’s
ways of demonstrating to us that the payment for our sins has been settled for good.
Jesus’ resurrection shows that the problem of our sin is forever solved. Acts 17:30.

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice
by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from
the dead.” (Acts 17:30~31)

If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, it would mean that the God and Jesus still
had something to settle between the two of them. However, that Jesus had risen on
the third day means that there is nothing to be settled-no more payment left. It’s
absolute salvation. Accept Jesus’ resurrection in your heart and relay it to others.

Chapter 8. Merciful Lord Has Saved Me

The Bible is the Bridge

Let’s turn to 1 John 5:1.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves
the father loves his child as we. This is how we know that we love the children of God:
by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his
commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God
overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God. This is the one who came by water and blood-Jesus Christ. He did not come by
water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit
is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Sprit, the water and the blood; and
the three are in agreement. We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater
because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who
believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not
believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony
God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son
of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
(I John 5:1∼13)

People are often confused about their salvation. Those who ask themselves how they
can be sure of their redemption try to recall a certain dramatic experience. There is
only one way to find out whether you are saved and that is through the Bible. If you
look at what we’ve just read, Apostle Paul explains the purpose of his writing to the
believers of his time.

He wrote the letter to teach about eternal life that is reserved for those who believe in
the Son of God. Because the Bible tells us that we have eternal life, we know that we
are saved. Though Jesus came to die for our sins 2000 years ago, without the
affirmation of the Bible, there is no way of knowing that the Crucifixion has any
meaning to us in today’s world. Jesus died two thousand years ago. That is a long
time. His death happened long before we were even born and we were not there to
see it. We’ve never seen him or heard his voice. But why Jesus died and how God has
forgiven our sins through his Son are clearly written in the Bible.
Detailed records of the Crucifixion can be found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. The story was first told orally but written later to be handed down to the
future generations. Thus, the Bible we read today is what’s bridging the big gap
between now and the time of Jesus. It could have been easier for the eyewitnesses to
believe in Jesus but it is much harder for us because we didn’t actually see Jesus. This
is where the Bible comes in and the reason why our faith should be based on the Holy
Book, not our own feelings or thoughts. When we read his word, we come to realize
that the wrath of God is no longer against us and God doesn’t want us to pay the price
for our sins. Careful reading of the Bible reveals God’s true intention.

You might have heard of a hymn which goes, “Jesus loves me, this I know… Yes,
Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.” It is
the Bible that tells us we are loved by God. Our feelings cannot tell us that. If it
weren’t for the Bible, nobody would be enjoying the kind of relationship that they have
with God. If history is any guide, Satan’s persecution against Christians almost always
started with the collecting and burning of the Bible. The Bible provides us with a
guideline of how we are to form a proper relationship with God. It is the one and only,
the absolute standard of our spiritual life. Prayer and faith that are not based on the
Word of the Bible are close to superstition.

Let’s say that you feel good about the result of your college entrance exam or a job
interview you just had. No matter how good you feel, those feelings don’t guarantee
your success. Only when you receive the final word, say an admission letter or a call
from the employer, can you know for sure. Likewise, the Bible substantiates the fact
that you have been saved, cleansed of all sins, and brought away from darkness to
light, from death to life. Whenever you have doubts in your heart, you should look for
what God says in the Bible. Keep the Bible at hand and try to read it every time you
get a chance. Then, you will get to know him personally.

Let’s suppose that your father passed away before you were born. He was a man of
integrity and was admired by many. Although you did not get to see your father in
person, you can still come to learn and appreciate his personality through the things
he’s left behind, particularly from personal journals and/or autobiographies. You may
learn about his sense of humor, personality, and perhaps even his love for you.

We never saw Jesus face to face but we know him through the Bible. It is also through
the Bible that we learn more about the limitless wisdom, love, plans, and compassion
of God. Therefore the Bible is the ultimate evidence through which we are introduced
to Jesus and God. Do you want to love Jesus? Keep this book close at hand. While you
read and meditate on his Word, your heart will overflow with thanksgiving and love
towards God.

Heaven, Home of the Redeemed

Englishman John Newton is the author of hymn “Amazing Grace.” Though he lived
long before we were even born, Newton was a sinner not unlike us; perhaps a much
worse sinner than most of us.

When he recalled his conversion he said: “Throughout my life I have committed every
possible sin there is. But God has saved even a wretch like me.”

In fact, Newton was so bad that he was once kicked out of his own country. Around
200 years ago, Britain was engaged in a war with France. At that time Newton’s father
was the captain of his ship and Newton grew up surrounded by rough seamen. They
were rough and used vulgar words. Growing up with constant yelling, swear words,
and fighting, Newton ended up being rough as well.

Newton was taken by force into service in the Royal Navy when he went out to see a
British warship during the war between Britain and France. Later he became a
midshipman by passing an exam but his old habit died hard. He picked up fights and
drank a lot. Due to the lack of discipline, he was demoted and finally expelled from the
Royal Navy in the time of war when a serviceman was in great demand.

Newton was told that he was not qualified to serve in the navy so he was banished. He
was taken to Africa and became a servant of a black slave trader. Despised and
abused severely, Newton regretted the way he had led his life. “I will never make a
mistake if I can go back to Britain.” He decided to change his life and hoped that a
ship would come to rescue him. Several years had passed until he escaped on a ship
whose captain was a friend of Newton’s father.
Long seafaring made old habits come alive. Newton’s resolution to completely overhaul
his life was made in vain. He got into fights and drank again on voyages. The captain
once said to him, “The only reason you’re still alive is because of your father.
Otherwise, I would’ve thrown you overboard.”

Newton feared that he might not be able to make it to Britian. Thomas a Kempis’
Imitation of Christ, a well-known book, impressed him and he realized the love of
Jesus. While reading the book, he realized that Jesus died for a sinner like him. His
heart changed.

At last the ship returned to England. Now that he became a new person, he needed a
new job. His experience in Africa landed him a job in a slave ship. The business was
lucrative, selling slaves to England and Europe. He bought a ship and became a
captain of his slave vessel.

During voyages, slaves in chains tried to escape. Whites treated slaves inhumanely
back then. Troublesome slaves didn’t get water and lay on deck in chains. Most of the
slaves died during the journey in the equatorial region. Seeing the dying slaves
troubled Newton’s conscience. After a little while, he sold his ship.

Newton decided to work for the Lord who loved him. After studying theology, he
became a minister and after that, he was recognized by the Church of England. At that
time, only Anglican ministers could preach. He committed himself to the loving God he
knew. He knew nothing except the love of God. .
He couldn’t read the sermon notes due to his poor eyesight as he grew old. He
preached with the help of his aide who would read the note behind him. Parishioners
of his church said, “It is okay for you to retire now that you cannot see well. You can
live on stipend from the Church of England.”

To this Newton retorted, saying that while it was true that he had poor vision, he could
still deliver the message with his mouth.

I also want to share with you a famous quote by John Newton. He said the following
about heaven.

“I think I will be surprised three times when I go to heaven. First, because I wouldn’t
find the people that I was sure to see there. Second, because I would find people that
I couldn’t imagine being there. Last, because a sinner like me got into heaven. How
could that be possible?”

Who can go to heaven? Heaven is where forgiven sinners go. This moving hymn is
arguably the most frequently sung hymn in the world today. Even non-Christians
would have heard the melody. The author of the words couldn’t forget the fact that
God had forgiven a sinner and wretch like him. Even though he couldn’t see well, he
could speak. So every chance he got, he said “Why can’t you be delivered if a wretch
like me has been saved?”

Change after Being Saved

The Bible tells us that we are saved. Saved souls start to open their hearts because the
love of God is poured into them. Therefore, we can open our eyes to non-believers
around us like our friends and family members.

Let’s say that your mother is a non-Christian. Now that you are saved, you will most
likely be filled with compassion for your nagging mother who you used to resent. She
will be the same, the small allowances and hollering over unfinished homework or
unkempt room, but what you see now is a poor soul that is bound for hell. Your heart
has opened up to this unfortunate soul. Whatever it takes, you want to lead her to the
saving grace of God. Even if you don’t know much about the Bible, your heart is drawn
to bringing her to a Bible conference such as this one because you want her to know,
too. This is an expression of your love for her. If you love souls, you would have a
compassionate heart, which, in turn, is the proof of salvation. God’s compassion has
been delivered to you.

According to 1 John 4:20, “For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has
seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”

Do you love people that you do see? If you do, then God’s love has been poured into
your heart. If you don’t shed a tear or have any concern for sinners and your heart has
hardened so much so as to say such things like “You go to hell,” do you think you
have experienced God’s love? I doubt it.

Once a person becomes born again, it becomes natural for him or her to lead people
to the Gospel. The love of God compels them seek those that have yet not found God’s
love. Hatred changes into compassion. Curse into prayers.

When Jesus was in this world, he healed the mute and the deaf. We were once mute
when it came to God. We weren’t able to say anything about God but our tongue
became loose after receiving salvation. Since then, there is a strong desire to share
Jesus wherever we go with loose tongues. We talk more about the love of God.

Heart Yearning to Keep the Bible Closer

Another change that takes place after salvation is this. Before you received salvation,
the Bible was like a sleeping pill: you dozed off whenever you opened the Bible. After
having received salvation, however, the Bible immediately becomes easier to read and
even interesting. You will notice that you’re drawn to it. You never stop being amazed
at the Word. Everything is a new revelation.

At last, you have your eyes open to the Bible.

A dead person cannot consume food, no matter how delicious a dish may be. But a
new life comes with the strength to suck in heavenly food. Like an infant whose eyes
and ears have not fully developed but is still able to suck in milk, God’s Word is sucked
in. That means that you have life inside of you. Strangely, the Bible that was once
difficult to read becomes fun and interesting. Your eyes open and begin to understand
the unclear and vague messages. Now, it makes sense and gives you pleasure when
you read it. You want to remember it and share it. All this is proof that a newborn life
within us.

Before being saved, I went to a Presbyterian church for 19 years. Yet, I read the Bible
because it was something that I needed to do. I tried to read through the Bible every
year by reading three chapters a day. But I couldn’t understand the Bible. Once I was
saved, however, the Bible made sense to me even without the aid of special lectures
or lessons. The more I read, the more I could understand it.

Nobody pressured me to read it. Yet, I wanted to read the Bible, so I carried it with
me throughout my college years. I was glad whenever classes got cancelled because
then I was able to read more of the Bible.

Those who are saved at this revival meeting may already have an open heart. You
may not know what it is but somehow, you feel that your heart is overwhelmed and
your steps are lighter. Unlike before, things have become clearer and brighter. Your
perspectives and values have changed as well. You have been drawn to the Bible and
the Lord.

You should grow more. Those who have just been saved are like an infant. Thus, the
faith and the knowledge in the Lord should grow to the fullest. The first order of things
is to love His Word. You should read the Bible at home and listen to His Word. On top
of that, through Bible conferences, you will learn from the living experience of those
who have become Christians earlier than you. This will be a guide and a great help for
your journey with God.
Fellowship within the Redeemed

Our faith will not grow if we just stay home and read the Bible after receiving
salvation. Just look at your children. When they were infants, they didn’t know
anything except to be suckled by their mother’s breasts. But after a while, their eyes
and ears open and they begin to talk. When they first learn to speak, they learn from
their mother but afterward, they go outside and learn from their friends. And when
they enter school, they really begin to see their speaking skills soar. If there are
parents who are worried that their children will pick up bad language from their peers
so they make them listen only to news broadcasters, what do you think will happen?
The children will never be able to speak. When children learn to speak, they do so not
only from the sounds they hear but also from the environment they are in. When they
fight, they pick up foul language in such an environment. When they play, they learn
words used between friends. Just like that, children don’t learn to speak from a book
but from the context they are placed in.

After children master speaking, they learn to read and write. This applies to our
spiritual lives as well. After a person receives salvation, he must have fellowship with
fellow Christians. If your child is born in a foreign country, he will learn the language
of the country he lives in. Likewise, a redeemed man will learn the language of heaven
if he chooses to stay among Christians. On the contrary, he will only be able to speak
the language of the world if he stays in the world.

There is a story of two feral children named Amala and Kamala in India. When they
were discovered, their bodies were covered in fur, just like a wolf, and they climbed
trees. When given food, they licked it like a wolf, and when approached by men, they
would growl like a wolf. People tried to educate them so that they could live in
civilization but they did not last long and eventually died after awhile. They were born
as humans but because they were raised among wolves, acted like wolves.

Likewise, if we continue to live in this world even after being reborn as God’s children,
we will be no less different from the children of the world. Our salvation will remain
valid but we will be like men living in the world where Satan is the king. Therefore,
after we receive salvation, it is of utmost importance that we live among fellow
Christians. Because we grow by learning from and depending on one another, it is
crucial that we live together with fellow brothers and sisters.

In the community of believers, we learn how to live and be trained as Christians living
on this earth, how to speak the language of heaven, and so on. Scores of people have
received salvation but not many live as good Christians. Maybe only one out of ten
lives as a faithful follower of Jesus. The rest will be rebuked when they stand before
God on the Judgment day. The Bible clearly says that these people will be saved but
only as one escaping through the flames (1Corithians 3: 15).

If you have truly received salvation you should make sure that you are surrounded by
people who can help and guide you. The Bible says:

Pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up (Ecclesiastes 4:10).
This means it is a blessing to have someone who can help us on our spiritual journey.
I want you to know that it is very important for new believers to have fellowship with
those who have already been saved.

Even if these “old” Christians do something to hurt and disappoint you, it is to your
benefit to have fellowship with your fellow Christians. Because we are mere flesh, we
are bound to hurt and make trouble for others. And when we encounter problems in
our relationship, we tend to go back to our selfish selves and choose not to associate
with people at all. Some even opt to go alone on their spiritual journey by cutting off
all ties and to be at home with their Bible. But you must know that such selfish attitude
is the biggest enemy when it comes to our walk with God.

Satan Causes Division

A living thing, whatever it may be, is bound to die when left alone. Even puppies die
when they are separated. In contrast, they are full of life when they are together. The
same is also true of Christians. When we are separated, the new life we have earned
in Christ will inevitably meet unnecessary challenges. Our earthly bodies, too, will die
when separated from others. Look at the people in prison. The greatest suffering a
human being can go through is probably being left alone. But our bodies want to be
alone when there are difficult problems to handle. This, my friends, is a thought from
Satan for he always tries to cause division and conflicts among Christians. Unity and
harmony, on the other hand, are the work of the Holy Spirit.

You must know that the most dangerous moment in your life comes when you want to
be away from everybody and live alone. Satan is always behind it. Satan encourages
and fuels our pride to make us think that we can be whatever we want to be with our
own strength. Satan behaves as if he will give us something good. Remember that he
tempted Adam and Eve to think that they could be like God if they eat the forbidden
fruit.

What about the Holy Spirit?

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me (matthew 16:23).

The Holy Spirit wants us to deny ourselves and think that we are nothing but sinners
who cannot live without the mercy of God. It is much easier for us to follow what
Satan says instead of the Holy Spirit. This is why when you experience internal
conflicts, it is important for you to learn to differentiate what is from the Holy Spirit
and what is from Satan. The easiest way to discern is to see whether you are trying to
win at all cost or are trying to endure even if you need to make a sacrifice. The latter
always comes from the Holy Spirit. When you become good at discerning, you will be
commended by God on the final day.

Your Sins of the Past, Present, and Future are Forgiven

Now, let us think about the sins we commit after we receive salvation. Some people
tell me that they know that their sins prior to salvation are forgiven but do not know
what happens to sins that they will commit tomorrow.

Sins we commit before receiving salvation mostly come from within. Someone said
that before we were saved, the root of our sin remained inside our heart. When we
become selfish, our selfish desire comes alive and that becomes a sin. After we receive
salvation, however, we are more often tempted from the outside. The Satan we drove
out comes back and attacks us. And when we give in to these temptations, we commit
sin.

Let us suppose that there are three people. Person A received salvation when he was
20, lived for 40 more years and died at 60. Person B received salvation when he was
40, lived for 20 more years and died at 60. Person C was sick at 60, but received
salvation right before his death. In fact, there are quite a lot of people who fall under
the category C.

If God only forgives the sins we have committed prior to salvation, wouldn’t C be the
best case for he has been cleansed of 60 year’s worth of sins? Wouldn’t that be unfair
to A? In such a scenario, there will be a lot of complaints and dissatisfaction.

It might have been easier for people to receive salvation by believing in him just one
year after Jesus’ death because they would have just seen Jesus Christ die for them
one year ago. People who were living in 100 A.D. would have been saved by the blood
of Jesus who died 100 years ago. People who were living in 1950 would have been
saved by the blood that has been shed 1950 years ago by the same Jesus. I was born
in 1950, saved in 1969 and here I am now.

Receiving salvation means we put the clock backward to when Jesus died. Our life
after salvation will also have to begin from this point. No matter when and which era
you live in, as long as you believe in Jesus, your entire life would be saved. From our
perspective, it seems like our world is divided by the past, present and the future. But
in the eyes of God, there is no past, present or future.

Our sins are classified under the categories of yesterday, today, and tomorrow
because we are bound by the confines of time. But because God transcends time, and
He was, is, and is to come, our sins become one big pile. When we believe in his Son,
Jesus Christ, God completely forgives all our sins, whether they are from the past,
present, or the future.

Jesus as the High Priest

Let us read 1 John 2:1:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin,
we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense? Jesus Christ, the Righteous
One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins
of the whole world. (1 John 2:1~2)
There are mainly three things that Jesus does. While he was living in this world, as
God’s high priest, he awakened and warned people of danger and delivered God’s
message. After he went back to heaven, he serves as the high priest who gives
offering to God with his own blood in the temple prepared in heaven. In the Jewish
custom, a high priest would go into the temple once a year to sprinkle the blood of a
sacrificed animal for the sins of all the Jewish people. The high priest gives offering to
God on behalf of the people, which is precisely what Jesus is doing on our behalf. Even
when we sin, God looks at the blood of Jesus and does not punish us. But Jesus, the
high priest, will one day come out of the heavenly temple to come back to this world
as the Mighty King.

Right now, we have Jesus who is speaking to the Father in our defense. That is why if
we sin even after receiving salvation, we can be forgiven of our sins as long as Jesus is
in the temple as the high priest.

Confess Your Sins

Now I will tell you what you should do when you sin. Let us turn to 1 John 1:8~10:

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and
his word has no place in our lives.”

The Bible talks about repentance and confession. Repentance is making a U-turn after
hearing the message of Gospel. When you first receive Jesus, you will say the
following prayer:

“Father God, I have not known you until this day. But now I want to live according to
your will. I thank you for forgiving all my sins.”

This is the repentance before God when you first receive salvation. However, as we
live our lives, we are bound to sin. During those moments, the Bible tells us to confess
our sins. You may wonder why you need to bother making confessions when you know
that your sins are already forgiven. After we receive Christ as our personal savior, our
conscience becomes much more sensitive. Sins that wouldn’t have bothered us at all
prior to salvation will bother us now because we have the Holy Spirit living inside us. If
we sin and that causes the pang of conscience, it will create a gap between us and
God. This means even after redemption, our relationship can be interfered because of
our un-confessed sins.

Let’s say a father told his son not to touch a certain vase before he went outside. Our
nature is such that when we are told not to do something, we become more inclined to
do it. The son touches and breaks the vase. When his father comes home, the son
avoids the father and stays in his room. The father knows that his son broke the vase
but does not say anything. Now there is a gap in their relationship. But still, there is no
way that the father will say something like “I want you to fix the vase or I will report
you to the police.”
Before we were saved, we had to go to hell because we had sinned as children
unknown to God. But after salvation, because we have become the children of God,
sins we commit become mere mistakes. Mistakes made by God’s children.
No father would report his son to the police because of a broken vase. But if this
mistake is left as it is, it will create a gap in the relationship. Therefore, the most
important thing is for the son to confess his mistake to his father. This is the only way
for us to maintain a healthy relationship with our heavenly Father as well. Confession
is a tool God has given us. Even if we do not consciously confess our sins, we should
let our conscience nudge us to confess. And the biggest reason we confess our sins as
soon as possible is so that our relationship with God will not be undermined by our
sins.

In the Lord’s Prayer, there is a part that says the following:

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)

Some find it confusing but it is very important that we understand this verse. When
God has forgiven all our sins and we don’t do the same to others, God’s forgiveness
will no longer be valid. On the other hand, if we forgive others, God will forgive us as
well. When we confess our sins to God, his forgiveness will overflow within our souls
but if we don’t, we will become restless, feeling as if God has not forgiven our sins.

Sins we commit after receiving salvation is like washing our feet. Jesus said that “a
person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet.” Our feet symbolize the
pilgrimage we make to heaven and our feet are bound to become dusty on the way.
We need to wash them as frequently as possible.

All we need to do is pray as follows:

“Lord, even though you have forgiven me, I made a mistake again. But I know that
Lord Jesus, you are in the heavenly temple offering blood sacrifice on my behalf and
my sins are forgiven. Lord, I made a mistake. But please don’t let them create a
distance between you and me.”

Confession is letting everyone know that you were a sinner before but you have
become a whole new person thanks to God’s grace.

Salvation after Becoming a Priest

I am not sure how many of you here attend a Methodist church but as you know, its
founder was John Wesley, a graduate from Oxford University. If you go to the
university, John Wesley’s portrait is still displayed front and center among other
famous graduates’ in the school auditorium.

After graduating from Oxford, Wesley became a minister and went to America, then a
colony of the Great Britain, to preach the Gospel to the Indians living in Georgia. As he
was crossing the sea, his sailing ship was met with a fierce storm which almost tore it
into pieces. Everybody onboard, including Wesley, panicked, thinking they were all
going to die right there. Then Wesley heard a sound of hymns beneath the deck and
he was shocked by the fact that there were people courageous enough to sing hymns
in such a moment. He went down and saw a group of about 30 people, men and
women, sitting in a circle, not the least disturbed by the storm. Wesley was deeply
shocked by the scene.
“Aren’t you afraid?” Wesley asked one of the men.
“No, we are not afraid. We know that we will be in heaven even if the storm kills us
today. Are you afraid?” the man asked back.

“I am afraid,” answered Wesley.

“Don’t you believe in God?” asked the man. Everybody in the circle was laymen and
they didn’t know who Wesley was.

“I am a minister,” said Wesley.

“I did not ask about your occupation. Do you have faith in Jesus Christ? Don’t you
believe that Jesus is your personal Savior?” asked the man.

“I want to believe that Jesus is my Savior,” he answered truthfully though with some
hesitation.

As they were having this conversation, the ship arrived on the shore of America.

Wesley spent two years in Georgia preaching the Gospel to the Indians there, but his
efforts didn’t bear fruit. The people he met on the ship turned out to be Moravians
who were fleeing from the religious persecution in Europe. They first went to England
but later headed to America as the persecution had spread to London as well. Wesley
continued to meet with the Moravians during his stay in America. Unfortunately, he
couldn’t convert the Indians and went back to England.

After his return, he met with Peter Boehler, bishop of the Moravian Church. Boehler
had a thorough knowledge of the Bible and Wesley was deeply impressed by him. So
one day, Wesley spoke candidly of what was on his mind with the Moravian bishop.

“I’m a minister, and yet I am not certain that God saved me,” said Wesley.

“You are a preacher. So start preaching only about salvation and nothing else from this
Sunday on,” Boehler said in response.

Wesley did not know what to do as he was asked to preach on something he was not
even sure about. In his head he knew that Jesus died for the sins of the world but he
did not have conviction in his heart.

Then, on one very rainy evening, Wesley could not go to his own church so he ended
up going to a church, that met in a small tent set up on Aldersgate Street, London.
The church was for those who opposed the Church of England and Wesley unwillingly
entered the tent, thinking he had to observe the Lord’s Day. Inside the tent were 20 to
30 people sitting in a circle and when it was the time for the sermon, one man stood
up and read Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. While listening to the man,
Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed. The preface described in great detail of
redemption, the Gospel, and how sinners can receive salvation. As Wesley listened to
those words, he felt all his agonies and questions he had had as a minister suddenly
gone and answered, and he described the day’s experience in his journal as follows:

“I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation,
and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine and saved
me from the law of sin and death.”

Wesley was saved after he had come back from America as a failed missionary.

I had an opportunity to visit a church where Wesley had preached in England and
there was a big bronze plaque whereWesley’s journal entry of the day he received
salvation is inscribed. Dear friends, I can assure you that not all ministers go to
heaven. Even ministers must know precisely when they were saved.

Indeed, we are saved from the day we heard the Gospel and understood God’s grace
in all its truth (Colossians 1:6).

Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf

There was a man whose help had been crucial for the survival of the Moravian Church.
Moravia is a region in the east of the Czech Republic. When Protestants there fled to
escape the Catholic persecution, Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf allowed them to settle
on his land. There they established a community of Moravians with the help of
Zinzendorf.

Throughout the history of the Christian Church, it is said that the work of the
Moravians converted more people into Christianity than any other denomination.
During that time, if Moravians were caught preaching the Gospel, Catholics would burn
them to death. It wasn’t rare that teams of two Moravians came home dead after
preaching the Gospel. As they risked their lives to preach the Gospel, the number of
people who became Christians was so high that even today the record remains
unbroken.

Count Zinzendorf was an esteemed nobleman and there is an interesting story behind
how he became a renewed and committed Christian. One day when he was passing by
a gallery, he happened to see a painting, a bizarre one by the standard of his time. It
was a painting of Jesus nailed to the Cross with the crown of thorns on his head.
Below the painting was a Latin phrase that read “Ecce Homo,” or “Behold, the Man.”
Below the Latin phrase was “I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me?”

Zinzendorf could not take his eyes off of the painting. He was already a Christian but it
was the first time that he ever felt so deeply that Jesus had died for him on the Cross.
Hence, it was the painting that completely changed Zinzendorf and his attitude toward
his faith and it was this renewed commitment that prompted him to allow so many
persecuted Protestants to live on his land.

Story Behind the Painting

The painting that transformed Zinzendorf’s life was created by an Italian painter. Not
everybody had the Bible back then. Worse still, only the Latin translation was available
because unsophisticated printing technology prohibited different language versions of
the Bible. Even the Latin translation was considered as a proprietary possession of
ministers since the pervasive idea of the time was that a misinterpretation of the Bible
can lead people to hell.

One day a minister brought a Latin Bible to the Italian painter, saying, “I want you to
read this Bible carefully and paint the Crucifixion.” This was the first time that the
Italian painter ever saw a Bible so he started reading from the Book of Matthew and
began to paint.

As days went by, a woman named Patifah noticed the painting of Jesus. She was a
dancer and a prostitute. She often posed for painters as it was the custom of the time
for prostitutes to pose as nude models. Whenever she dropped by to pose for the
painter, she would see him working on a strange painting. Curious, Patifah asked the
painter. “Who is this man you are painting?” The painter was not a Christian at that
time so he answered according to what he had learned from the Bible. “This is a man
named Jesus.”

When Patifah came back the next day, the painting had progressed to reveal Jesus
crucified on the Cross. “This man Jesus must have been a very bad person,” said
Patifah after observing the painting. “No, you are wrong,” answered the painter. “Then
why was he crucified?” Patifah asked again, confused. “This man was the Son of God.
According to the Bible, he was innocent but died for the sins of the sinners,” answered
the painter, absorbed in his work.

“You must be very happy then,” said Patifah.

“Why?” asked the painter.
“Somebody died for you.” With this, she picked up her clothing and went home. After
she left, the painter pondered over Patifah’s words. Until then he thought Jesus had
died for the sins of others but after reading the Bible carefully once again, he realized
that Jesus had died for him and his sins.

After many years, somebody knocked on the door of the painter’s home with great
urgency and when he opened the door, he found a little crying girl.

“Who are you?” asked the painter.

“My mom told me to ask you to come,” sobbed the little girl.

“Who is your mother? Where do you live?”

The painter followed the little girl and arrived at a small village where Patifah and
other prostitutes lived. In those days, when people were dying, they would call in a
Catholic priest to hold mass for them because they believed such action would help
them enter heaven. But when Patifah, a prostitute and sinner, was dying, not a single
priest was willing to come because setting foot in a village of prostitutes would soil
their purity. Upon seeing the painter, Patifah cried out,

“I am so scared because all my life I’ve sinned and I can’t even have a priest pray for
me at my deathbed. Could you please pray for me?

Even though the painter was no priest, he was deeply troubled by her agony and
wanted to comfort her.

“Do you still remember the man named Jesus whom I had painted long time ago?”
asked the painter. Patifah said yes though she couldn’t remember clearly.

“Patifah, you said to me that I must be happy because I had someone die for me. I
thought about what you said. I thought Jesus died for others, not for me. But after
hearing what you said, I came to realize that Jesus indeed died for me too,” said the
painter.

“I am sure the Son of God had died for a man like you, a man respected by all. But all
I did in my life was sinning and even this disease that is killing me now is the result of
my sinful life. How can a holy man like Jesus die for a sinner like me?” Patifah cried
out.

The painter told the dying woman about the story of Jesus.

“Jesus said that it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. He did not come
to call the righteous, but sinners. This means Jesus came for sinners like you,” the
painter said.

“But how can I even dare to look at the Son of God?” cried Patifah in anguish.
“You are sick and you are a sinner. The Son of God died for the sick and the sinners.
All you have to do is believe in it,” the painter said again in a firm voice.

“If only it were true! I have sinned too much.”

The painter began telling everything he remembered from the Bible to Patifah. As she
lay there listening to his words, she started to believe what she was hearing.

“The only person you can rely on at this moment is Jesus, the Son of God,” the painter
said.

“Now I can rest in peace. Because Jesus had died for people like me, I can place my
trust in him. I am in peace,” said Patifah as she closed her eyes. Then she quietly
passed away.

The painting of the Italian man may seem insignificant. But it was what transformed
Zinzendorf’s life and made him save countless number of Moravians, and without
theses Moravians, John Wesley could not have gone through the spiritual rebirth that
made possible the Evangelical Revival in England.

Time to Rreceive God’s Grace

Think for a moment about how great your sin is. But regardless of that, those before
us and those of us today have been and still continue to be redeemed by hearing the
life-saving message of the Bible. There are many who are burdened and weighed
down by the sins they carry themselves but Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” As long as you believe and come boldly
before Jesus, He will take care of all your burdens. You will no longer be constrained
by your worries.

It is similar to having a really rich father who has paid back very single debt you had
on your credit card so that you no longer had to stay under the burden of having to
pay back all those bills. This means God, the creditor, is willing to cancel all our debts
because his Son Jesus Christ had paid for it all. This is the Gospel and the Gospel
means good news. It can’t be good news if it tells us to do something more or make
better efforts. It will only add to our suffering and hardship. Only when we hear the
good news that all our sins have been removed through Jesus Christ can we truly let
go of all our burdens. The Gospel is not conditional. It is never if we believe Jesus,
then he will save us. All we need to do is to listen and believe now that Jesus has
already saved us.

If we don’t believe in our salvation, we will go to hell. Therefore, those who are
hesitant must come today before God and stand firm in His Word with faith.

We need to say to ourselves and to God that, “Even though my faith changes by day
and night, you said that not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by
any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished, and that is why I
stand firm in your Word. Because you said so, I will put you in charge of everything in
my life.”
Even now there are many out there who want to believe but are too skeptical to do so.
They need to know that God never says one thing and does another, nor does he ever
lie or regret. Faith is accepting God’s word as it is and it requires nothing on our part
but an open heart. It is as simple as that. If God were a man, he would have asked for
something in return but because he is God, he is willing to give the gift of salvation for
free to anyone who asks for it. But there is time for God’s grace. We must receive
God’s grace before Jesus returns because when he does, he will come as the Judge.
That is why we must receive salvation now.

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation (2Corinthians
6:2).

That’s right. Now is the time for you to receive salvation.

Just as You Are

Some may think that they have to straighten themselves up a bit before they are able
to come before God. Some think that they need to quit drinking while others think they
have to change their personality. These people tend to think that if they come before
God as they are, it will somehow disgrace God’s holiness. But that’s not true. God
receives us just as we are.

We all know the story of the prodigal son. Let us suppose that the son thought to
himself that he needed to clean up and buy some new clothes to please his father
even if that meant he would run deeper into debt. If the son had actually done that,
that would have made him an even worse son than he was already. When we come to
God, we do not fix who we are but come just as we are. Then God will receive us just
as we are.

Still, too many use this as an excuse to delay their salvation. They say they need to
read more of the Bible, learn how to pray, quit smoking, and the list goes on and on. If
we just come before God, everything else will fall into place.

Let me share with you a story of D. L. Moody, a famous American evangelist.

Whenever he held a meeting, thousands of people would gather. One day he met a
woman who was hesitant about receiving the Gospel. She would keep on sobbing and
say she is too embarrassed to come before God and that she does not deserve
salvation. Moody approached the woman.

“What makes you hesitant?” asked Moody.

“If I come as I am, God will not accept me because I have sinned too much. He will
refuse me,” answered the woman.

“No, you must come as you are. If you change even just a little of who you are now,
you are going to add another sin to your list and that is hypocrisy,” said Moody
strongly.

Upon hearing this, the woman accepted God as her personal savior. This incident gave
an insight to Ira D. Sankey, an American gospel singer and composer who had
accompanied Moody on the evangelistic campaign to compose Hymn NO. 214.

Jesus my Lord, to Thee I cry

Unless Thou help me I must die
Oh, bring Thy free salvation nigh
And take me as I am
Helpless I am, and full of guilt
But yet for me Thy blood was spilt
And Thou canst make me what Thou wilt
And take me as I am

No preparation can I make

My best resolves I only break
Yet save me for Thine own name’s sake
And take me as I am

Behold me Savior, at Thy feet

Deal with me as Thou see meets
Thy work begin, Thy work complete
And take me as I am

And take me as I am
And take me as I am
My only plea Christ died for me
Oh, take me as I am

God has received us. And because he has received us, He gave us the Holy Spirit so
that we can have faith. God denies no one but it is men that refuse to come before
God. God does not discriminate and He never regrets. Let us turn to the Book of John
10:28.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no on can snatch them out of my
hand.

Eternal Salvation

Once a man receives salvation, he is saved for eternity. Not a single man will go to hell
after he receives salvation from God. There is no other verse in the Bible that better
illustrates this point than John 10:28.

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no on can snatch them out of my
hand.”

Not even Satan can take away the salvation for it is from God and God’s salvation is
eternal. The book of Numbers 23:19 says,

“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his
mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

God does not change his mind or lie like a man. He is faithful and what he says
certainly comes true. Therefore, if he saves us once, he will save us forever.

If you stubbornly refuse to believe in God when the Bible has such a detailed record of
his faithfulness, you may actually be left behind when Jesus comes back again. And
then it would be too late. Salvation is not something we can afford to delay. We must
receive it now.

Hymn NO. 282 sings of God’s mercy and grace.

Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bidd’st me to come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come
Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come

Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt
Fightings and fears within, without, O Lam of God, I come, I come

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind. Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come, I come

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve
Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come

Just as I am, Thy love unknown hath broken every barrier down
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come

Where to Invest My Life?

We are not the only ones who have received salvation. There were scores before us,
among whom includes the famous Queen Victoria of England. The Empress of the
Great Britain asked the royal minister the following question:
“Can one be absolutely sure in this life of eternal safety?”
The minister could not give the Queen a definite answer and this incident was put on
the Court News. After reading the story, a young man named Townsend sent the
following note to Queen Victoria:

“To her gracious Majesty, our beloved Queen Victoria, from one of her most humble
subjects:

With trembling hands, but heartfelt love, and because I know that we can be
absolutely sure now of our eternal life in the Home that Jesus went to prepare, may I
ask your Majesty to read the following passages of Scripture: John 3:16; Romans
10:9~10? These passages prove that there is full assurance of salvation by faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ for those who believe and accept his furnished work.

I sign myself, your servant for Jesus’ sake, John Townsend.”

After about two weeks, Townsend received a letter from the Queen:

“To John Townsend:

Your letter of recent date I received and in reply would state that I have carefully and
prayerfully read the portions of Scripture referred to. I believe in the finished work of
Christ for me, and trust by God’s grace to meet you in that Home of which He said, “I
go to prepare a place for you.”

(Signed) Victoria Guelph”

Queen Victoria is also known for saying the following:

“I hope he comes soon so that I may finally lay down my crown before him.”

This means even an empress of the greatest empire the world has ever known knew
her crown was nothing when compared to the great glory of Jesus Christ.

I am sure listening to my lectures for the past week has not been an easy task. But I
just hope that you will take with you at least one verse. If remembering a verse is
difficult, just remember the message that Jesus has cleansed your sins. Remember the
message that Jesus has died for your sins. If we do not accept this truth, it will cost us
eternity. For those of you who recently received Christ or have received salvation
already, I hope you will spend some time thinking about what you will do for the rest
of your life. If you have the time, think about what you can do with your financial
wealth and time. Then when Christ comes back, you will not only have received
salvation but glorious awards on top of that.