What Does It Mean to Be Truly Born Again? (John 4:1-19)
(John 4:1-19)
“Therefore,
when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and
baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize,
but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He
needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is
called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son
Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from
His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman
of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For
His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman
of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink
from me, a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it
is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He
would have given you living water.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You
have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get
that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us
the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his
livestock?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this
water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall
give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will
become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’
The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst,
nor come here to draw.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and
come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said
to her, ‘You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five
husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that
you spoke truly.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a
prophet.’”
Today’s
revival meeting addresses the question, “What does it mean to be truly
born again?” As you are well aware, these days the phrase “being born
again” is glibly used in various circles, including politicians and
other religions. You might have heard politicians saying that their
party must be born again, or someone saying that his family must be born
again. People speak of being born again constantly. But what does being
born again really mean? To be born again means, to be born with a new
life. But I wonder how many speaking of this rebirth really know its
true meaning, other than its simple notation. It’s most probably how
people think that they can be born again when they just change their
thoughts and behaviors.
However,
the real meaning of being born again is explained in this way: your old
self is gone and you are born again into a new person, all thanks to
God. In other words, you are no longer your old self living in your past
life, but instead, you’ve become a new person and now belong to God,
just as Abram became Abraham and Saul became Paul.
When
we turn to the Bible, we see that Saul had at first stood up against
God and His believers. It was his designated job to hunt down the Lord’s
believers like a bloodhound. Before meeting Jesus, he was convinced
that this was the right thing to do. However, once Saul met the Lord, he
realized the actual Truth, and his name was changed to Paul, and became
a completely different person.
When
we become truly born again through the Lord, we, in likeness also
change our names. We don’t get baptismal names as the Catholics do, but
our lives are transformed into completely new lives. This means that
when we are washed clean from our sins by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, our lives and thoughts are fundamentally changed.
We are born again as new men and women. Just as Saul was no longer his
old self and was transformed into Paul, we in likeness are no longer our
old selves—that is, thanks to the Holy Spirit, we realize that inside
us, there is now a new person that belongs to God. This is what it means
to be truly born again.
Those
who have not been truly born again cannot say, “The rebirth happens by
believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” They instead try
to fit the concept into their worldly and fleshly thoughts. So they
mistake changes in their outwardly manifestations as being born again.
But you and I know that the real rebirth means being washed clean from
all our sins, and being born again into a sinless person by believing in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We
are gathered here today to latch on to what it really means to be born
again. As you can see from one of the pamphlets promoting today’s
revival meeting, under the main title, there is a subtitle written in
small letters, “The everlasting spring that quenches your thirst
forever.” This was written to show that when you are born again, you
will never again thirst.
Now
then, what does this mean exactly? It means when we find the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, come to know and believe in it, the spiritual
thirst of our souls is quenched. It is an indisputable fact that people
do not need just the bread of the flesh, but also, the bread of the
spirit in their lives while living in this world. If one believes in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, you can obtain such spiritual bread
in your heart. Unlike beasts, human beings have spiritual desires. So
when these spiritual desires are not met, they struggle thirsting for
it. We call such a condition ‘the starvation of the soul.’ To be
relieved from this starvation of the soul, one must have the Word of God
that constitutes the bread of the Spirit.
What,
then, is the bread of the soul for mankind? It is none other than the
gospel Word of the water and the Spirit flowing from within the soul.
The born-again always have this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit
that constitutes the bread of the soul, and so they can quench those who
are thirsting spiritually. The Lord said in John 4:14, “Whoever drinks
of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that
I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up
into everlasting life.” Some people here have already seen this Word
fulfilled in their hearts, but there clearly are others for whom this is
not the case, and are, therefore, still thirsting.
My
fellow believers, the Lord came looking for us through the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, and He has given us the remission of sins. Now
that we have received the remission of sins, He is still with us as the
Holy Spirit. And He has become a fountain of water springing up into
everlasting life. What, then, does it mean when I say that the Lord is
with us - as the Holy Spirit? It means that if we feed on the God-given
Word by faith, this Word will quench our souls renewing it. The Word is
the fountain that quenches the soul. Even at this very moment, this
fountain continues to spring forth in the hearts of those of us who have
received the remission of sins. Moreover, the foundation of the Holy
Spirit that has come to us never dries up, no matter how much time goes
by since first being born again, and no matter what circumstances we are
facing. No matter how much we draw from it, it remains bottomless. Just
when we think the bottom is about to be exposed, it continues to spring
forth.
A Perpetual Bubbling Fountain is Fundamentally Different from Ordinary Fountains
Ordinary
fountains dry up eventually over time, but a perpetual bubbling
fountain never dries up as it has a source of perpetual water supply.
Because there is such a source of water supply, it continues to spring
and bubble forth. When we are born again by believing in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, there appears in our hearts a fountain that
springs forth forever. So this water continues to spring forth inside
our hearts, along with the Word of the remission of sins. Every time we
hear the Word of God, this spiritual fountain spring forth. That’s
because the Lord Himself is the source of this water, and He supplies us
with a perpetual water supply.
My
fellow believers, the Lord said that He has water to give. He wants to
give us this fountain through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Now that we have been washed clean from our sins and become born again
by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we have drunk
from the forever-quenching fountain of life. We will therefore never
thirst again. Such things are possible because of the amazing mystery of
being born again, and receiving God’s blessings which lay hidden in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. Can you now see what an amazing
blessing the gospel of the water and the Spirit is for us? Do you have
faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Or do you think that
you have been born again just because you have led a pious life of
faith? Unless you meet the Lord who has come by the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, you can never be truly born again. This is the Truth,
and it is the miraculous love of God.
Once
born, it is appointed for everyone to die. How, then, can people be
washed clean from all their sins and be born again? Given the fact that
all human beings born in this world must die at some point, and that
their earthly lives are over once they pass away, how can anyone be born
again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? The
thoughts of man make this impossible. However, the Lord has made us
receive the remission of sins through the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, and He has blessed us to be born again through this heavenly
gospel. This is the amazing blessing of the Lord granted only to those
who have found the grace of salvation by believing in God’s blessed
gospel of the water and the Spirit. Being born again is God’s special
love and His gift of the remission of sins. All these blessings and the
grace of the remission of sins are found in the God-given gospel of the
water and the Spirit.
Everyone
has sinned and departed from God, and must therefore be destroyed. We
were no exception to this rule, but because we heard and believed in the
God-given Word of the remission of sins, we came to receive this new
life. Because this is God’s blessing that has come by gospel of the
water and the Spirit, only those who believe in this gospel can be born
again. And as we carry on with our lives, we will realize even more
profoundly what a great blessing it is that we have received new life
from God through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The
Lord said to us, “Come to Me, all who are thirsting, and drink freely.”
The Lord has indeed given us His everlasting water. We have experienced
such a miracle in our lives all thanks to the Lord. Our souls, which
were thirsting constantly before, have now received new life through the
gospel of the water and the Spirit to never thirst again. In this
revival meeting, I would like to continue to share the Word on how one
can be washed clean from sin and be truly born again. I am so grateful
for this grace the Lord has given to us that I can’t help but thank Him
once more at this hour.
Those Who Have Become Spiritual Samaritans
In
today’s Scripture passage we see the Lord walking to Galilee, and
passing through a certain city on His way, which was the land of
Samaria, to help you better understand. I will also spend a bit of time
to explain the history of Samaria. The land of Samaria at that time used
to be the land of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. When the Northern
Kingdom of Israel became corrupted and fell into spiritual disorder,
Sargon II, the successor to Shalmaneser the king of Assyria, invaded and
conquered it. At that time, King Sargon deported and enslaved all the
males in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and settled its land with his
own people. The women remaining in the Northern Kingdom of Israel were
taken by Assyrians as their wives. As a result of this intermarriage
following deportation and resettlement, the inhabitants of Samaria
became a mixed race. In other words, there was a forced mixing of the
Israelites with the Gentiles. It’s for this very reason that the
Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews.
In
today’s Scripture reading, we see the Lord meeting a woman in this land
of Samaria. When the Lord asked the woman for water, she said to Him,
“How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan
woman?” As explained earlier, in those days the Samaritans were
completely scorned and mistreated by the Jews. Even though they both
were Israelites, the Jews refused to have anything to do with the
Samaritans. We can easily see just how much scorn the Samaritans were
facing at both personal and spiritual levels. So, it was not so
far-fetched for the Samarian woman to be surprised when Jesus asked her
for water. The very fact that Jesus, a Jew, initiated a conversation
with her, a Samaritan, was itself an extremely surprising event in those
days. But, our Lord not only spoke to the Samaritan woman in this
instance, but He quite often visited and stayed in the land of Samaria.
Herein lies the profound providence of our Lord in reaching out to the
Samaritans. The Lord wanted to give His living water to those who knew
their evil selves.
As
we can see here in today’s Scripture reading, the Lord left Judea and
went to Samaria. Let’s first think about our Lord’s appearance. Our Lord
was born on this earth with a very lowly status, being the son of
Joseph, a carpenter in Nazareth. His outside appearance was scruffy, and
there was nothing to boast of in His looks. Perhaps that’s why we see
Jesus being despised so much by the Jews in the Bible. Just as it’s true
in this age and time, in those days also, there were many who rejected
Jesus Christ and stood against Him. Leaving such people, the Lord headed
to the land of Samaria. The inhabitants of the land of Samaria had no
virtue to boast of, but only shame. They had many flaws, both personally
and from a religious aspect.
The
lowliness of Samaria is a historical proven fact. King Solomon, whom
you all know very well, had a servant named Jeroboam. Solomon served God
faithfully at first, but later he became corrupted spiritually, and
when this happened, God said that He would give half of Israel to
Jeroboam. And after Solomon passed away, Jeroboam became king of the
Northern Kingdom of Israel as God promised. However, after assuming the
throne of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam became very
concerned. From a mere servant, he had become the king virtually
overnight. Given this, he probably couldn’t help himself being concerned
about his throne. So, to prevent his royal authority from being
undermined, he built another temple somewhere else in that region. There
already was the established temple in Jerusalem, but since this was
within the territory of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, Jeroboam built
another temple in his own territory.
The
problem became even more acute. He also changed the date of the Day of
Atonement for Israel, which was set for the tenth day of the seventh
month, to the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and forced his subjects
to observe this new date as the new Day of Atonement. Not only this, he
also made idols and placed them inside God’s temple to be worshiped. He
had completely abandoned God.
In
Christianity, the truly wicked are often described as having fallen
into the ways or follow the sins of Jeroboam. That is just how grave
Jeroboam’s sins was. The Samaritans may be described as Jeroboam’s
descendants who inherited his fallacious faith. So, in matters of faith,
the Samaritans had nothing to be proud of.
Let’s
pause for a moment here and think about this matter. It’s extremely
difficult for people to know their true selves. It’s precisely because
people do not know themselves that there is a famous adage that goes,
“Know yourself.” It’s absolutely important for us to know who we really
are. From time to time we come across “good” Christians saying, “That
person has committed so many sins that he will surely go to hell. But I
am different from that person.” But, people say such things because they
do not know themselves at all. Once their faith in the Word of God
deepens and they come to know their selves properly, they will realize
that they are no different from the sinners they are criticizing.
We
must all grasp just how many shortcomings we have. Even at this very
moment, our Lord is looking for the Samaritans. He comes to those living
on this earth today who realize and know that they are lowly and full
of shortcomings like the Samaritans. As shown in today’s Scripture
reading, our Lord passed through Samaria, met a woman there, and saved
her.
If
there was one thing to be proud of in this land of Samaria that was
derided by the Jews, it was Jacob’s well. The Bible records that
Abraham, the forefather of Jacob, dug a well wherever he went. And even
today, well-drilling is a very important business in the Middle East.
Because of the region is dominated by desert, water is more precious
than oil. Therefore water is obtained by drilling down into the earth
for it.
Of
course, the well in the Scripture does not just simply carry a literal
meaning as a physical source of water. Spiritually speaking, Jacob’s
well symbolizes planting God’s Church. In other words, that Abraham the
forefather of Jacob dug a well wherever he went implies, planting a
church wherever he went. And as we know well, Jacob, Abraham’s grandson,
did not receive blessings through his own effort. Instead, he put on
the grace of God thanks to his mother Rebecca’s help. To put it simply,
Jacob was a cunning person who could not receive God’s blessings on his
own like the Samaritans, but thanks to his mother’s help, he was able to
receive the Lord’s blessings. Spiritually speaking, his mother here
refers to the Church.
Let’s
turn to today’s Scripture passage. It’s written that a Samaritan woman
came to Jacob’s well to draw water. Let’s think about what this means.
The Samaritans had this well, which was a legacy of their forefather of
faith. However, all that they had was the well itself, while Jacob’s
faith had not been passed down to them. Even though the Samarians had
Jacob’s well in their town, they had fallen spiritually, and so they had
inherited just a corrupted faith instead of getting the proper
inheritance of faith. Despite drawing from Jacob’s well and drinking its
water, they could never quench their thirst, not even once. The
Samaritans got their water from Jacob’s well, but they still thirsted.
This happened even though, if they knew Jacob well spiritually, they
would have received the remission of sins. Instead of inheriting Jacob’s
faith, they had inherited just corrupted teachings and rituals.
My
fellow believers, any church that has inherited such rituals has
nothing but dogmatic beliefs. Speaking of dogmatic beliefs, there is
probably no country where traditional beliefs run as deep and strong as
Israel. The Jewish people were complete legalists and sectarians. In the
present time, the dogmatic belief system of the Jews has been relaxed
significantly. Occasionally, we see on TV that women in Israel live in a
very modern way. This would have been unimaginable for the legalistic
Jews of the days gone by. The Jews have seen their dogmatic beliefs
disintegrating, but if there is one thing they can still be proud of, it
is the remains of Christianity. That’s all they have. I am not trying
to put down their faith at all. Rather, the point I’m making is that the
core of the true faith is not visible to them, which is, believing in
Jesus Christ as the Savior.
To
understand the interrelation between dogma and faith, it’s necessary to
have some rudimentary understanding of the various currents in
theology, and so I’d like to spend some time explaining them. At the
present, there are two global currents in theology. One is conservative
theology, and the other is liberal theology. Liberal theology is further
divided into critical theology and progressive theology. As the name
implies, critical theology sees the Scripture through a critical lens.
There are some critical theologians in Korea, and these people deny that
Jesus Christ walked on water, and they also deny that Jesus
miraculously fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Those
who follow progressive theology advocate social change through faith.
They say, “Those who are oppressed politically should be freed. We must
stand up to the oppressors and find liberty. Just as the people of
Israel escaped from their slavery in Egypt, we Christians must also
secure freedom. We must stand up to any oppressive government.” These
are the kinds of catchy things they say. They are often seen in
protests. The adherents of this progressive theology do not really
believe in the Bible just as it is, but rather only accept some aspects
of it that fits into their progressive orientation. In other words,
rather than seeking to build the Kingdom of Heaven, they believe
selectively in the Scriptural writings that speak about earthly affairs.
Like this, their faith is not genuine for they call for social justice
and equality.
For
instance, many progressive Christian groups are highly critical of
conspicuous consumption and growing inequality, and they call for social
reforms to mitigate such problems. They are convinced that this serves
the greater good for their country, and they are proud of themselves. Of
course, there is no question that it is right for Christians to love
their country and pray for it. However, if they really love their
country, then they must speak about how each and every individual can be
born again. That’s because this is done for the nation to prosper, the
individual must prosper first; and when the individual receives the
remission of sins and becomes one of God’s perfect people, it then is
only a matter of course for that nation to prosper.
At
the other end of the spectrum opposite to liberal theological you find,
conservative theology, which is what we follow. This conservative
theology is all about believing in the Word of God exactly as it is.
However, following the Word of God to the letter gave rise to a problem.
Some people’s faith in the God-spoken gospel of the water and the
Spirit had unfortunately become mixed with legalistic beliefs. Those who
overemphasize the Law ended up following their own dogmatic beliefs
rather than the substance of God. Conservative theology is not
necessarily bad in its original form. It is about believing in the Word
of God just as it is. However, it has been changed into believing in
just corrupted dogmas.
The
real duty of God’s Church is to guide the believers to live a proper
life and heal their hearts’ wounds with the gospel Word of the water and
the Spirit, but modern Christianity has failed to fulfill this duty.
Jacob’s well and the land of Samaria in today’s Scripture reading
symbolizes precisely such a church. Any church that lacks the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, which is the real substance of faith, cannot
quench the congregation’s spiritual thirst no matter how hard they
believe. That’s because their faith is nothing more than an empty well.
Samaria
had Jacob’s well. But there was no true bread there. In the same vein,
although there are many churches in our times, few of them have the real
gospel of the water and the Spirit as God’s Church does. Isaiah 28:9-10
says, “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to
understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn
from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”
Just as the Bible says, the pastors at such false churches prepare
their sermons by borrowing a little from this book and a little from
that book or sermon. But they don’t actually address what is really
important. They miss the real substance. This is none other than the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the real substance of the
Word. Preachers today have a hard time preparing their sermons because
they themselves do not have the true faith, and have not received the
remission of sins either. So they end up stealing other people’s sermons
from time to time, committing plagiarism
It
looks like I have digressed a little bit here. At any rate, Samaria had
a well dug by Jacob. But the people there could not quench their
spiritual thirst with the water from this well. That’s because the land
of Samaria had already been corrupted spiritually. From the ancient days
of Jeroboam, they had not worshiped the Lord according to the law and
statutes of faith. Idols had become their gods, followed by total
spiritual corruption.
We Must Look Straight at the Reality
And
we must, without doubt, rely on the gospel of the water and the Spirit
that is held in the Word of God. We must lean on the gospel of the water
and the Spirit alone. Yet, Christians in this age and time neither see
the Word of God properly nor know the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. When Christianity was first introduced to Korea, many believers
at least read the Word of God diligently. So, many repentance movements
arose just from legalistic beliefs. However, nowadays, Korean Christians
lack even such a faith. They do not have the gospel of the water and
the Spirit. They do not believe even when the Word is preached to them.
As
a result, they are increasingly leaning toward a faith that is full of
emotions. When they worship God, they sing hymns fervently, with all
kinds of musical instruments playing in the background. They then feel
as if something spiritual is awakening deep in their hearts. So they
think on their own that God is pleased by their loud and emotional
charged praise. This, however, is actually nothing more than being
filled with human emotions. That’s just their own feelings rising up by
own efforts, but in reality, God is actually not pleased by their
praise.
As
if this is not enough, we see these days many self-proclaimed prophets.
As a representative of such false prophets for example, there is a
Christian organization that speaks of being raptured on October 28. A
short while ago I met a reporter from the Ganwon Daily, and he seemed
very surprised when I told him that there were many Korean pastors
espousing being raptured on October 28. But that is the cold reality.
They gather gullible followers using the doctrine of October 28. You
probably don’t know just how perverted such things are. Even in Europe,
the cradle of the Christian faith, such mystical beliefs ran amok when
Christianity was ascending.
Many
churches in this age are like the Samaritans. Their faith is little
more than an empty shell. At first, they began with a formalistic faith.
But their faith could not be maintained with this dogma. So they leaned
toward mysticism, and now that isn’t enough, so they are now appealing
to people’s emotions. Any faith that relies on emotion is clearly
flawed.
In
some countries there are music pastors. These pastors have studied
music professionally and their ministry is through music. In Korea also,
such music pastors have begun to be noticed over the last few years. Of
course, it’s necessary to evangelize through music. However, if it is
done wrongly, it can end up just appealing to people’s emotions, and
that is problematic. It does nothing but incite the congregation’s
emotions. No matter how well you may lead people’s feelings towards God,
and no matter how well you may teach them Christian doctrines, they are
all useless. That’s because those who have such beliefs—that is, those
who drink from this water—are bound to thirst even more spiritually.
Even if people copy, learn, memorize, and believe in every Christian
doctrine that there is, without faith in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, there can be nothing but spiritual thirst remaining. And it
doesn’t just end with spiritual thirst. Because of this thirst and their
sins, they eventually end up facing everlasting curses.
It
may appear as though the Christian doctrines taught and professed by
various denominations today give faith to many people and reassure them.
However, as time goes by, the spiritual air gets so polluted that
people cannot even breathe anymore to survive. Because no Christian
dogma is prefect, its followers are bound to suffer and perish in the
end.
The
same is true for emotional beliefs. At first, people feel very good
based on their own emotions. However, once they fall into their own sins
and become trapped in them, they cannot escape from that quagmire. And
in the end, they are bound to perish for their sins. When Christians
today commit transgressions, they are accused of these transgressions by
Satan, and as they are unable to escape from this accusation, they
reach death inevitably. Everyone sins. The only way to escape from sin
is to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There is no
other way. If you do not believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, you will perish in both body and spirit. Everything may seem
fine at first, but down the road, you will be possessed by demons and
will not be able to control yourself.
So,
those who just insist on tradition, hold on to their own dogma, and
pursue only the fullness of emotion are like the Samaritan woman. Such
Christian doctrines cannot quench completely the spiritual thirst of the
Samaritan woman who came to draw water. This water may quench her
thirst for a few hours, but she will thirst again shortly thereafter.
Indeed, unless you receive the remission of sins through the gospel Word
of the water and the Spirit, you cannot address your spiritual thirst.
Our Lord said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will
never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Just as the Bible
says here, if we listen closely to the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, the Word of the Lord, even just once and believe in it, we will
receive the remission of sins and never thirst again. And the Word of
the Lord and His blessings will continue to flow in us.
My
fellow believers, if you receive the remission of sins by believing in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you will escape from the sins of
the world forever and become righteous forever. Everything that the
Lord gives is eternal. In contrast, the things that human beings give
can never last forever. In other words, while the remission of sins
offered by the Lord through the gospel of the water and the Spirit is
everlasting, whatever is given by man is only ephemeral, that is,
lasting for a short time. For instance, let’s say that you attended a
revival meeting and got one of your problems resolved. Even so, if that
solution did not come from the gospel of the water and the Spirit, it’s
but all in vain. Whatsoever is not from the gospel of the water and the
Spirit is just a lying evil spirit, and it has no meaning for us.
Some
revivalists say in their sermons, “Receive the fire! We have become
God’s people!” The people then believe momentarily that they have indeed
become God’s people. But, even if they believe like this, as time goes
by, they are bound to suffer from spiritual thirst again.
The
same goes for the communal movement that’s become fashionable among
some Christians. The advocates of this movement say, “We ought to
actually live together as fellow believers. Let’s build a community of
our own, as some other religious movements have done so. We can all live
a simple, wonderful life. Many people will look at our exemplary lives
and come to believe in Jesus as a result.” They learn the know-how from
the Catholics, which has already been involved extensively in such a
movement. Although many Christians are eagerly participating in this
movement, there is a limit to this as well. That’s because neither the
life of such a commune nor its faith is everlasting.
Rather
than trying to quench our spiritual thirst in somewhere else, we ought
to listen only to the Word of the Lord. We must ask ourselves, “What did
our Lord say to us? What is the profound meaning of this Word?” The
Word of God has everlasting life, the fountain that never goes dry, the
everlasting remission of sins, and the way to become forever righteous.
Yet, those who do not have the proper understanding of the Word of God
and have not drunk from the God-given water try to interpret this Word
according to their own man-made moral standards. They say, “Let’s
believe that anyone who just believes in Jesus has been saved.” They
then cry out the name of the Lord three times, and believe that they
have now all become God’s people.
They
have a testimony like this, “The Lord is my Master. I have abandoned
Buddhism and idols. God alone is my God. I believe!” But, my fellow
believers, is this really what it means to believe in Jesus? No, of
course not. This is merely changing one’s religion. How would such
people think when they read today’s Scripture passage? They would think,
“We see that the Samaritan woman went to the well often to draw water.
So we should also go to the well often to draw water. That the woman
went to the well to draw water is the same as going to the church often
to listen to the Word. Since we need to feed on the Word often, we
should come to the church often also. We should not skip any church
gathering, whether it’s a morning prayer service, an evening service, or
a revival meeting.” Like this, they interpret the Word from a human
perspective according to the morals of the world. But this passage does
not denote such a simplistic meaning.
In
Korea there is an organization called “the Christian Committee on
Ethical Practices,” which advocates Christians to be good and live a
morally upright and virtuous life. Countless theologians, pastors, and
laypeople are participating in this. They say, “Every Christian ought to
be good.” But this is the wrong thing to say. It’s not the case that
Christians ought to be good. If one is a true Christian, then it’s only a
matter of course for that person to be good without even trying.
By
their very nature, it’s inevitable for human beings to be full of
shortcomings. No matter how much organizations such as the Christian
Committee on Ethical Practices call on Christians to live a morally
upright life, without the remission of sins, they cannot help but turn
into hypocrites. Speaking to the whitewashed Pharisees, Jesus said,
“Repent, brood of vipers!” Just because people believe in Jesus somehow,
they cannot all become God’s children. The Bible says clearly that to
become God’s righteous people, they must receive the remission of sins
through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This means your own
virtues and good deeds are not the answer to your predicament. There is
nothing that you can do on your own to reach salvation. In today’s
Scripture reading, the Samaritan woman failed to recognize Jesus at
first even though she had been coming to the well every day to draw
water. In other words, she did not recognize the true gospel of the
water and the Spirit. Jesus said to her at that time, “If you knew who
it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked Him for living
water.”
My
fellow believers, countless churches nowadays are deceiving their
congregations with useless Christian doctrines rather than preaching the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. They say sweepingly that if people
just believe in Jesus as their Savor, they can all become God’s people
and be born again. They say that you could also be born again while
asleep or praying. There may be various ways in which this happens, but
their claim is that anyone can be born again just by believing in Jesus.
However, our Lord does not come to anyone who believes in such
fallacious ways and doctrines. He comes to only those who know that they
themselves are vile sinners. It is precisely to such people that the
Lord comes by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, just like the
Samaritan woman in today’s Scripture reading.
There
are many things that coexist in people, from the flesh to the heart,
sins, the law of salvation, the human conscience, and the Law of God.
But, regardless of this, what everyone ultimately wants is just one
thing. It is the liberation of the conscience. In other words, people
want their spirits to be truly freed. No matter how perfectly
knowledgeable of the orthodox Christian doctrines one may be, you cannot
help but be bound by sins and turn into a slave of iniquities. This
person will then inevitably yearn for the true freedom. And God said
that He would come to such people who are bound in sins and yearning for
the liberty of their spirits.
The
Lord does not come to anyone who hides his sins, as the first man Adam
covered himself with fig leaves. Put differently, the Lord does not come
to those who surround themselves completely with Christian doctrines.
Even if He were to come, He would just leave, saying, “You are too
perfect.” My fellow believers, you must now cast aside all futile
doctrines. And you must realize before God who you really are. You must
look straight at the problem of sin faced by your soul, bring this
problem to God, and ask Him for His help. God will then come to you and
solve this problem for you.
In
contrast, if you cover yourself with fig leaves even after sinning just
like Adam and Eve, and you hide yourself even though the Lord has come
looking for you, then you will not be able to meet Him. It’s akin to
rejecting the new garment that the Lord is trying to clothe you in, and
saying to Him, “I don’t like this garment. I like my own doctrinal
garment.” You will then end up rejecting the God-given Word of the
remission of sins. That’s because from the outside appearance, doctrines
look perfect. They are coated with sparkles and all things pleasing to
the eye, they do not get wet even when it rains, and they do not rot
even when water seeps into them. But these seemingly perfect doctrines
have one fatal flaw: they prevent even the Word of God from entering.
My
fellow believers, if you are wearing the garment of doctrines, you must
now take it off. No matter how well-versed you may be in doctrinal
matters, if you have any sin in your heart, then you are still a sinner.
No matter how knowledgeable you may be of the Bible, if you still have
not met the Lord properly yet and your heart still remains sinful, then
you are a sinner. Therefore, you must open your heart now, let the
problem out, that of, your sins just as it is, and get your sins
resolved by relying on the Word of God alone. Only then can you receive
the remission of sins.
The Lord Comes to Those Who Are Suffering from the Problem of Sins and Agonizing over How to Be Born Again
What
does this mean? It means that our Lord comes to those who deeply yearn
to have in them the everlasting fountain so that they never thirst
again. And it means that the Lord resolves the problems of sins to
perfection with the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit for such
people, and bestows salvation on them.
Let’s
return to today’s Scripture reading. When the Samaritan woman came to
the well to draw water, Jesus asked her to give him water. Just like
this woman, all the Samarians had to draw water every day. What does
this mean? I explained earlier at the beginning of my sermon that the
well in Samaria symbolizes a church that has nothing else remaining but
an empty shell. So, this alludes to the fact that so many Christians
nowadays are attending all kinds of events and meetings every day out of
their own zealousness. In other words, even though the true Word of the
Lord is right in front of them, they cannot see the Lord because they
are too busy doing useless works of their own. They are so busy that
they don’t even have time to listen to the Lord’s Word properly.
The
Samaritan woman who met Jesus in today’s Scripture passage was but one
of the many people coming to the well to draw water every day. Like
everyone else, she, too, was not aboveboard either ethically or
faith-wise. So, when the Lord asked her for water, she didn’t have any
water to give to Him. When we look at the situation faced by this
Samaritan woman, we can get a glimpse of Christianity today. The
present-day Christians all are grappling with the problem of sins in
their hearts just like this Samaritan woman. If they continue to be
bound by their own church’ doctrines or traditions even as they are
facing the problem of sins in their hearts, they will not be able to
escape from there. They need exceptional strong courage to escape from
that place.
How
was the Samaritan woman, who resembles today’s Christians? She was
courageous, honest, and straightforward. When the Lord said to her, “If
you knew who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked Me
for living water and I would have given it to you,” she said without
any hesitation, “Lord, give me this water!” It was not her body that was
thirsting, but her spirit. That’s why she accepted the Lord’s Word
wholly and asked Him for living water. Having found courage like this,
the Samaritan woman indeed received living water from Jesus Christ. She
had met the Messiah right there. And we don’t have to look to see just
how happy this woman was to get her spirit set free.
My
fellow believers, this age is the very age when we need courage like
the Samarian woman. I once heard someone saying that he was too
frustrated when he was listening to the Word being preached in a
so-called “orthodox” church. So, thinking that the real truth was found
in heresy, he went to another church accused of heresy. But, amazingly,
this person says he received the true remission of sins in the very
church that was denounced as heretical. Like this, I heard a testimony
saying that the truth is not found in orthodoxy, and instead it may be
found in heresy. Speaking of the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Spirit, the Lord said in Titus chapter 3, “Reject a divisive
man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is
warped and sinning, being self-condemned.” According to this passage,
those who confess confirming themselves still sinners are indeed
heretics. And, those who say that ‘they have been born again by
believing in Jesus even as their sins remain intact’ are also heretics.
So, it is none other than the so-called “orthodox” churches that may be
heretical.
Let’s
return to today’s Scripture reading. It’s written in John 4:11-12, “The
woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is
deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our
father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well
as his sons and his livestock?’” Here, the Samaritan woman was doubting
the Lord’s power, asking Him, “Are You greater than Jacob who dug this
well?” Just like many people in her days, and most people today as well,
the Samaritan woman was questioning Jesus based on just His outside
appearance. She was asking Him, “How can I get living water from you,
when you don’t even have anything to draw water with, and the well is so
deep? Can you really give me living water? Are you greater than anyone I
know? You certainly don’t look that way. Are you better than all the
pastors? Are you better than all denominations and all theologians? Are
you greater than even Jacob?”
That
the Samaritan woman asked such questions to the Lord indicates that she
still did not realize how Jesus was so much greater than any tradition
or doctrine. What, then, is the truth? Jesus is the Creator who made the
universe. He is the Son of the living God, the Master of all things,
and the Lord of the saved. It is also Jesus who had given grace to
Jacob. Therefore, the fact that the Lord is far greater and honorable
than Jacob is the undeniable Truth that requires no further elaboration.
However,
there still are people who, not realizing this truth, ask foolish
questions like the Samaritan woman in today’s Scripture passage, saying,
“Your church is so small. What could I possible gain from such a place?
Your outside appearance is lowlier than a deacon in my church, and so
how can you give me living water to never thirst again? Which seminary
did you attend? How many years did you study theology?” Those who say
such things to the preachers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit
are still not thirsty enough. They do not know the suffering of hell.
They do not know the scorching pain of sins. They cannot see clearly how
they are dying of thirst now, and how this thirst cannot be quenched no
matter how often they drink water. Imagine a patient whose appendix has
just burst saying to the doctor, “How long did you study medicine? Do
you have the credentials as a specialist? Is your surgeon’s knife of
high quality?” How could anyone have the leisure to say such things when
his appendix has burst and in a critical condition?
Just
recently I saw a comedy film called Fugitives. There is a scene in the
film where the protagonist gets shot and visits a veterinarian to remove
the bullet. But the veterinarian doesn’t even have any anesthetic, so
he has the protagonist bite on a dog bone to prevent him from screaming,
and removes the bullet. Like this, if you are dying from a gunshot
wound, you wouldn’t care whether it’s a veterinarian or a butcher that
is tending your wound. You wouldn’t care who is helping you. You
wouldn’t insist on being treated by a credentialed medical doctor
accompanied by well-trained nurses.
The
same principle applies to the life of faith. The educational
credentials of those who preach the gospel and their denominational
affiliations are not what is important. People insist on such useless
things only because they do not yet know just how dire their situation
is. They are not convinced that they are bound to hell. But, if they
knew that they would be cast into hell in a few years’ time, wouldn’t
they all try everything they could to avoid this from the moment they
realized it? To someone who is desperately ill, the healer does not have
to be a qualified physician. Likewise, when it comes to preaching the
gospel, it doesn’t matter whether one is a learned pastor or a
shoemaker. Don’t you all agree? If people knew that they would be cast
in to hell in a few years’ time, they would all be flocking to here like
a giant cloud. They would bow down and beg us to teach them how to be
born again. I’m sure we will see many such people.
My
fellow believers, the foolish do not know that their souls are dying
from their sins. Not only this, they don’t even realize what they need.
Therefore, for us to get the problem of our sins resolved and obtain the
washing of our sins, we must be meek before the Lord. To be born again
and receive the foundation of everlasting water to never thirst again,
you must know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If
you are born again now, you will drink from the everlasting fountain to
never thirst again even when you go to the Kingdom of God. You should
know that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is effective not only
on this earth, but also in the Kingdom of God.
What
should you consider when you see someone preaching the gospel of the
water and the Spirit to you? You should consider believing in this
gospel and accepting it wholeheartedly. But, before doing so, you must
realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is not a mere
doctrine of Christianity. Whenever you see someone preaching the Word,
you must ask yourself, “Is this person really a disciple of Jesus? Does
this person have the gospel of the water and the Spirit in him? Is he
really preaching the living Word of God rather than some rotten
Christian dogma?” You must be able to discern such things. If you are
not sure how to discern such people, you can easily do so by checking to
see if what they are saying is the Word of God on the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. If they are preaching man’s word, then they are
not God’s servants; if they are preaching the Word of God on the gospel
of the water and the Spirit, they are God’s people. If someone is truly a
man of God who believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then
this person would preach the Word of the Lord and its regeneration
rather than boasting of his own denominations or doctrines.
As
I explained earlier, the Samaritans in today’s Scripture passage were
all of mixed blood. So they had an impure, syncretic faith. This does
not mean that the Jews were right. If the Jews had the foundation
springing up into everlasting life in them, then we would have had to
follow their orthodox traditions and doctrines. But they did not have
the foundation springing up into everlasting life. Jesus had left Judah
and gone to Samaria. We must therefore follow this Jesus Christ without
fail.
My
fellow believers, human beings are too foolish and inadequate. Even
though the Lord came looking for us repeatedly to give us everlasting
life, many people stopped Him with denominational and doctrinal
obstacles. As a result, they lost the opportunity that comes only a few
times in their entire lifetime. If you have any sins, open the door of
your heart to the Lord and accept Jesus Christ and His Word into your
heart. Reveal your weaknesses frankly before the Word, get the problem
of all your sins resolved, and find the answer to everlasting life and
the regeneration.
Those Thirsting for Everlasting Water
Here
seated amongst you today are those who have already drunk from the
everlasting water to never thirst again. But, today’s meeting is for
those who yearn to drink from this water. In other words, it is not just
a simple revival meeting, but rather it is a gathering for the lost
souls. All this time, even though we have tried very hard to preach the
God-spoken gospel of the water and the Spirit, many people have refused
to listen to this gospel, as their ears and hearts have been blocked by
the false doctrines of Christianity. However, through this revival
meeting, we will once again preach the Lord’s gospel of the water and
the Spirit. We will preach it ceaselessly. The Lord said, “Behold, I
stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). But this doesn’t mean
that our Lord visits them in person and knocks on their hearts doors
Himself. Instead, He visits them, without fail, through us the believers
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
It’s
written in John 4:13-14, “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever
drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into
everlasting life.’” For those who reject the gospel of the water and the
Spirit and refuse to believe in it, their sins will remain intact in
their hearts, and whatever little peace they might have had will
disappear in no time. What about those who have already fed on the Word
of the Lord and received everlasting life? The Holy Spirit works in
their hearts along with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And the
Holy Spirit makes the foundation of everlasting life spring up in their
hearts forever. Such people have reached the stage where their thirst
has forever been quenched to never thirst again. This is something that
is known only to those who have tasted the gospel of the water and the
Spirit by faith.
Let’s
turn to John 4:15-19, “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water,
that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go,
call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have
no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, “I have no
husband,” for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have
is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’ The woman said to Him,
‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.’” Here we can see the Samaritan
woman confessing her sins to the Lord and admitting honestly to Him
that she had no satisfaction in her life. Even though she had five
husbands, none of them had satisfied her, and she was now living with a
man who was not even her husband.
My
fellow believers, for us to be truly born again and receive living
water from the Lord to never thirst again, we must do what the Samaritan
woman did. Put differently, we must be clear and divulge our sins
before the Lord, and get them resolved by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, the Word of the Lord. At the same time, we must
also realize that we have had no satisfaction in the religious lives we
have led thus far. Only then can we find true satisfaction. Just as the
Lord knows all about us, His servants who have received the remission of
sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and who
are serving the will of the Lord, can also resolve the problem of sins
for all sinners.
To
reach a deeper understanding of the meaning of being born again, let us
turn to John 3:3 here. It’s written, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” As the
Bible says, those who have not been born again cannot discern God’s
Church from worldly churches. They do not know if they have been born
again, or if others have been born again. This is an inherent
characteristic of those who do not believe in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit and therefore have not been born again. The Lord said
that these people cannot see the Kingdom of God. In other words, they
cannot recognize God’s Church. This passage means, “If one is truly born
again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you can
see the Kingdom of God.” Those who have been born again by believing in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit know exactly whether they have
been born again or not. Just as the Bible says that the Holy Spirit
knows all the joys of God, those to whom the Holy Spirit has descended
upon after being born again can recognize God’s Church and His Kingdom.
People
think that believing in Jesus as their Savior and being born again are
two different issues. This is what is most confusing to Christians all
around the world. They think that if they believe in Jesus as their
Savior, they will somehow be born again in an hour that they themselves
do not know. However, the Bible says that these two things have exactly
same meaning. The Lord said, “Unless one is born again of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter nor see the Kingdom of Heaven.” It’s absolutely
crucial for us to grasp this Word of the Lord properly.
Some
people encountered the gospel of the water and the Spirit only after
believing in Jesus for ten years. Still others are born again by
believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit after believing in
Jesus for 50 years. Yet, there are many people who, despite believing in
the Lord their whole lives, cannot be born again as they have not found
the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Having been unable to be born
again like this, at the very moment of their passing they say, “Lord,
please forgive this sinner.” Where would these people go then? Let’s not
speak of it. It’s truly wretched outcome. When we look at such people,
it seems as though they are living a life of faith in search of God, but
they are actually living a spiritually wretched and accursed life. What
such sinners have in their hearts have no currency in the Kingdom of
God. They may think, “Since I abandoned idolatry and believed in God
even if it was the very last minute, He will give me a break.”
Do
you know just how cold Jesus is? When we turn to Revelation chapter 21,
we see the Bible speaking of the white throne of judgment. It says that
whoever’s name is written in the Book of Life will enter the Kingdom of
Heaven, but whoever’s name is not written therein will be cast into the
lake burning with fire and brimstone. Unless one is born again, Jesus
will never tolerate sinners, even if they believed in Him and prophesied
in His name. Jesus is the perfect Truth. The Truth can never compromise
with untruth.
Turning
to John chapter 3, we see a Pharisees named Nicodemus. Although this
man did believe in Jesus, he had not yet been born again. We see our
Lord speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:5 in this way, “Most assuredly, I
say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the kingdom of God.” What did Jesus say here? Is it of water and the
Spirit that one is truly born again? Or can one be born again just by
believing in Jesus without the water and the Spirit? The Bible says
clearly that one is truly born again only of water and the Spirit. The
ingredients that enable people to be born again must be the water and
the Spirit. In other words, one can be born again only if he knows and
believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Scripture says
that merely believing in Jesus is clearly different from being born
again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It writes
clearly that being born again is made possible only through the water
and the Spirit. It is not the case that you are born again suddenly one
day after believing in Jesus for a while, nor is it the case that you
are born again when you see some sort of vision while praying.
Jesus
said in John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the
sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So
is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This means that even when the
believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit speak the Truth,
those who have not been born again cannot understand it at all. Despite
the fact that our Lord has shown the Truth of being born again by
believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, many people are
still unable to understand the Lord’s Word properly.
Those Who Lack the Spirit of God
For
those who do not have the Spirit of God, no matter how hard they preach
the Cross, their listeners cannot be born again. The probability of
such listeners being born again is zero. That’s why our Lord said
specifically that one must be born again of water and the Spirit. For
those who have a meek spirit, when they listen to the Word of God
preached by the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, or
read the books written by the born-again, they reach understanding of it
right away. This is absolutely not a deception. Such things are
possible because those who already believe in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit teach this gospel with the proper understanding of the
salvation that has come into their hearts.
The
gospel of the water and the Spirit, which descended from the Apostolic
Age, was written and preached by the born-again who were indwelt by the
Holy Spirit, and therefore, no one who lacks this Spirit in their hearts
can ever understand its profound meaning. Peter says, “There is also an
antitype which now saves us—baptism” (1 Peter 3:21). The water the
Bible speaks of is none other than the baptism that Jesus received. In
other words, that one has to be born again of water means one has to be
born again through the baptism Jesus received in the Jordan River. It is
through this baptism of Jesus that every human being must obtain the
washing away of sins. Yet, countless Christians remain unable to be born
again even as they believe in Jesus as their Savior, and it’s all
because they do not grasp the Truth of baptism and only consider it as a
religious ritual. All they do is just say blindly that they believe in
the Lord, when in fact they do not even have the knowledge to connect
the baptism of Jesus with the Cross.
The
Lord has spoken the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to us.
However, unless human beings know what the intention of this Word is,
they can never be born again. This is true even when it comes to writing
mere love letters. Let’s say that you said to your wife, “The roses are
blossoming, and the birds are singing.” If she says to you, “Of course
they are, it’s spring. Who doesn’t know that?” then she doesn’t know
what’s in your heart. If you say to her, “The moon is so bright this
evening,” and she replies, “It’s bright because it’s a full moon,” then
again she does know your deep feelings. Telling her that the moon is so
full and bright is in fact saying to her that your heart for her is
shining like the moon, and saying to her that the birds are singing
means, that the world is that beautiful because you are in love with
her. Like this, if the other person has no understanding of your
intention or true feelings, then you can never have a sincere
relationship with that person. For the same reason, we must have the
proper knowledge of the God-spoken gospel of the water and the Spirit.
My
fellow believers, our Lord said to all of us that we must be born again
of water and the Spirit without fail. The water and the Spirit here
refers to “the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” Therefore, if you
refuse to be born again by believing in the God-spoken gospel of the
water and the Spirit, then you would be mocking Jesus. Such people
cannot help but always remain defiled sinners, and they cannot help but
be always thirsty in their hearts. And they are prone to eventually fall
into some sort of weird vision, mysticism, or religious groups that
emphasize the fullness of human emotion. Just as everything has a cause
and effect, because the Lord has given us the gospel of the water and
the Spirit, those who believe in it can be washed clean from their sins
and be born again. Like this, the outcome of faith for the believers in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit is receiving the remission of
sins and becoming God’s children.
Let’s
turn to John 3:6-7 here as I bring my sermon to its conclusion, “That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born
again.’” My fellow believers, if someone born in this world as a human
being believes in Jesus merely as one of the many religions of this
world, then that person is of the flesh. Some people believe in Jesus as
their Savior because they are told His power is greater than that of
any idol. So they memorize the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer,
give their tithe faithfully, and diligently attend every morning prayer
service and every revival meeting. These people, too, are of the flesh.
Theirs is no more than a religious faith of the world. The Lord said
that what is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit
is spirit.
We
must distinguish the flesh from the Spirit clearly when it comes to our
faith. Faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is of the
Spirit, whereas the zealousness of the flesh is all of the flesh.
Following the Lord before God after receiving the remission of sins is
to be spiritual, but following Jesus without even receiving the
remission of sins is still practicing a fleshly faith. Those who claim
to believe in Jesus as their Savior even as they have sins in their
hearts are those of the flesh, who still have not been again. Because
their sins remain intact, they will be condemned for them. No matter how
hard they may believe in Jesus, if they do so without the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, then their hearts are sinful and they cannot be
born again in the end, for that of the flesh is flesh. They are still
sinners. In contrast, those who admit to God that they are sinners,
recognize that they are bound to hell for their sins, and believe in the
Truth of salvation that has come by the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, are those of the Spirit. In other words, they are the spiritual
people who have been born again of water and the Spirit.
My
fellow believers, those who meekly lay down the problem of their sins
and the issue of the remission of sins before the Word of God, and try
to resolve them by faith, are the ones who are close to God. Like this,
someone who can reveal himself before the Word of God is someone who can
be born again of water and the Spirit. Only such people can be said to
have been truly born again by believing in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit.
Most
if not all of us were good Christians in our past, but even so, we
still had sins in our hearts. Regardless of whether we were doing what
was pleasing to Jesus or abhorrent to Him, we all had sins. But now, we
must listen closely to nothing else but the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. We must open our hearts to the Lord’s Word of life. This Word of
God is so important! The Bible describes this Word as the Word of
life.
If
people are born again of the Word of the Spirit—that is, of the gospel
Word of the living water and the Spirit—they will surely be washed from
their sins. The Holy Spirit will then descend on their hearts. And the
Holy Spirit will become a fountain stringing up in their hearts, to
quench the hearts of the saints. How can such things be possible? It’s
all possible precisely because the Holy Spirit is in their hearts.
Moreover,
because the Holy Spirit knows the depth of God, those who have received
the remission of sins and received the Holy Spirit can speak the Truth
of salvation to others. You may be wondering, “I have no sin, but how
did I receive the remission of sins? I did not even think about going to
Heaven, but how did I become someone who can enter it now?” The answer
is simple: it all came by because you believed in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit and received the remission of sins as a result. And
now that you and I have received the remission of sins, we should never
fall into any disappointment and continue to preach this gospel of the
water and the Spirit until the end.
Our
Lord has given the Holy Spirit to us the believers in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. And He has given us living water. He has given us
the foundation of the Spirit springing up into everlasting life, just
as He said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will
never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Let
me repeat: Those who have received the remission of sins and the Holy
Spirit into their hearts by believing in the Word of the Lord are born
again through the Word of God and receive living water to never thirst
again. Only someone who has been born again through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit can preach this Word of God. In contrast, no one
who has not been born again is capable of giving living water to anyone
else. So those who listen to the sermons preached by someone who has not
been born again end up in the same condition. They cannot be born
again, no matter how attentively they listen to the sermons preached by
such pastors. In my past, I, too, could not be born again even though
for ten years I had heard countless sermons given by the religious
leaders who were not born again. Despite hearing these sermons for such a
long time, I could not be born again.
In
today’s Christian communities, there are too many leaders who have not
been born again. Their sermons are completely useless for people
yearning to be born again. That’s because one is born again only through
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the true Word of God.
Therefore, you can be born again only if you listen to someone who
already believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and therefore
is dwelt by the Holy Spirit. By listening to someone whose heart is not
dwelt by the Holy Spirit, you can never be born again, no matter how
often you listen to him. Remember this clearly.
The
Lord said clearly in John 3:5, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless
one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God.” This is the Word of the Almighty God. Do you still think that you
can be born again through your own effort? If this were the case, then
the born-again would be unneeded in this world, nor would we have any
need to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You wouldn’t need
anyone else’s help, since you think that if you put enough effort into
it, you would be able to be born again one day. But, my fellow
believers, let me say again that you can never be born again by
yourself. On your own, you can never understand the gospel of the water
and the Spirit.
I
would like to conclude my sermon now. My heart is always open to all of
who you want to be truly born again. If you want to study the Word of
God, I will be happy to study with you; if you want to be born again of
water and the Spirit, or yearn to have the fountain that quenches your
thirst forever, I am always available for counseling. I am telling you
at this hour, in no uncertain terms, that you can be born again without
fail by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Just as the
Samarian woman was born again when she met the Savior, you, too, can be
born again by believing in Jesus as your Savior, who has come by the
gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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