Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 24-5] Cast away Your Selfishness In the Last Days and Keep Your Faith (Matthew 24:9-14)
(Matthew 24:9-14)
“Then
they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be
hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended,
will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false
prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will
abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end
shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all
the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
I
went to Injae on this Monday. We the staff workers discussed future
planning at the Injae Retreat Center and came back on Tuesday. It took
four and a half hours because it was the last day of the big holidays
and there was a serious traffic jam. Big holidays are, indeed, big
holidays. Only one and a half hours distance took four and a half hours.
Have you enjoyed your holidays? Did you have delicious foods?
Today
we read the Scripture starting from Matthew 24:9. Here our topic is
about the Great Seven Year Tribulation. “Then they will deliver you up
to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My
name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another,
and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and
deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will
grow cold.”
This
Scripture passage tells us about the coming age of the pale horse, when
Satan works through an empowered antichrist, after the age of black
horse. At this time, people who are not born again through the gospel of
the water and the Spirit will hand in the born-again to martyrdom. At
this time, the born-again will not only be hated by one or two people
but by all races because of their faith in the name of Jesus. During
this Great Seven Year Tribulation, the world divides into two groups of
people—those who are born again and those who are not, and all the races
hate all of the born-again. All the people in the world shall hate the
born-again. And families, friends, and our acquaintances lead us to
tribulation and martyrdom.
The
Scripture passage says, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love
of many will grow cold.” This tells us about the phenomena that will
happen when tribulation comes and selfishness in man’s heart goes to an
extreme. There are twelve sins that come from a man’s heart—evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness
(Mark 7:21-22). If we analyze these sins one by one, we understand that
all of them are originated from selfishness. These sins come from a
selfish and egotistical greed. One murders for one’s own interest, one
commits adultery to satisfy oneself whether others want it or not,
jealousy also comes from selfishness, one has hatred when one’s heart
doesn’t like someone, one has pride when one thinks that he or she is
the best, and foolishness occurs when things don’t go the way one wants.
Every sin comes from egotistical selfishness.
Men’s
nature has changed that way after Adam and Eve sinned. So every man is
born selfish and his or her selfishness becomes extreme in the worst
days of tribulation. Having the evil in one’s heart spilled out,
lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. The love of
many will grow cold because people will forsake their righteous behavior
and faith, and instead pursue their own self-interest.
When
does the love in your heart cool down? When you think that someone is
selfish, your heart toward that person cools down. It is rather okay
when the other is insufficient. One’s weakness and shortage can be
understood, accepted, and tolerated. But when a person is too selfish
and egotistical, your heart deserts him or her. You will not bother to
look at him. Then wouldn’t it be so difficult for one another?
At
the last days of the great tribulation, selfishness grows to the
highest. Schindler, who saved a lot of Jewish lives during the World War
II, said to a German officer that “Human pretends to be good when he is
in a nice environment but when life becomes difficult evil comes out
from within his heart.” So it is. In the last days of the great
tribulation, selfishness comes out from everyone’s heart and grows to
the highest.
It
is said that people’s love will grow cold at the last days. “And then
many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one
another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And
because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” These
are the things that shall happen at the end of the world. In the Great
Seven Year Tribulation, antichrist will show up and reign with violence
for seven years.
God
has planned to unfold human history as four stages (Revelation 6:1-8).
First is the age of spreading the gospel, second is the age of war
caused by conflict of ideas, third is the age of famine and disaster,
and fourth is the age of the Great Seven Year Tribulation. Now we are
living in the third age of disaster, and after this age the age of the
pale horse, when Satan and antichrist rules the world, will come.
In
John 3:16-21, the passage says: “For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved. ‘He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the
light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the
light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be
clearly seen, that they have been done in God.’”
God
came to this world as the love and the light. Jesus Christ came to
earth to point out the evils in people, to make them turn back from
their evil ways, and let them receive salvation given by God, but the
people who were doing evil hated the light and didn’t come to the light.
This is because that their evil behavior will be revealed in the light.
Hating the light means that the people know that the light is righteous
but they love the darkness more, do not believe in Jesus Christ, and do
not come into the light. It is because that they think their
selfishness will be revealed in the light. People have concealed the
evils of their hearts and thoughts by the limewash of ethics and morals
to make it look good before men’s eye. Therefore, people know that the
righteousness of God is right, but they try to stand away from the light
because of the fear that their evil will be exposed in the light. One
only has to come before the light and acknowledge, “So I am,” and
believe in God’s righteousness, but one confronts and hates the light
because their selfishness might be exposed. Such people just have to
acknowledge their selfishness and filth before God, and accept God’s
salvation.
Obviously,
God, our heavenly Father, has sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ
to this land. Jesus took upon Himself all the human sins of the world by
being baptized by John the Baptist, died on the Cross, was resurrected,
and thus gave us salvation. People will be saved if they believe in
this obvious Truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God has
sent His Son to this earth not to judge the people by their sins but to
give eternal life to the ones who believe. God has done it to deliver
the people out of their egotistical sins and to bring them out from the
judgment. But there are people who believe in this Truth and there are
people who don’t. The people who do not believe in this Truth are
already condemned. People are already condemned in their hearts because
they don’t reveal their selfishness and maliciousness in front of God
and ask for His compassion. Now when it is time, they will receive the
final sentence and immediately go to hell. But the believers will
receive salvation.
What
is sin? The Bible says “And this is the condemnation, that the light
has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). People are not saved but
condemned by their sins because they love themselves more than the
Truth. In the last days, you will sight collective egotism even from the
religious groups. For example, people want to go to big churches if it
is possible. They think that there are lots of benefits if they go to
big churches. Those places have lots of factors that can fill their
selfishness. Those people are relieved and enjoy their faith being
acknowledged by the others. Irregardless, they are actually weak in
faith, even though they are proud of being members of a socially
recognized association. Thus, people are prone to go to big churches to
be acknowledged instead of insulted even though they will go to hell at
the end because of their false faith. And this is because they have
extreme selfishness. Such selfishness has created big churches and big
denominations. It is because of their selfishness that many Christians
claim to believe in Jesus and try to be in big denominations
acknowledged by the world.
“For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Even
though the Truth that Jesus has completely saved us by taking upon
Himself all our sins through His baptism, dying on the cross, and being
resurrected from the dead is so obvious, there are lots of people who
don’t believe in this Truth. It isn’t because the Truth is incomplete
but that they try to conceal their sins. This is called the sin of
selfishness. And this selfishness becomes extreme in the last days of
the tribulation.
There
was this happening this holiday. A man loved a woman so much but the
woman’s family didn’t allow their marriage. So this man planned and
killed the woman’s family with a shotgun on this New Years Day. Every
person has one’s own personality and isn’t it possible for you to say
that you don’t like someone when you don’t? Does it make sense that this
man shot the woman’s family who opposed the marriage? Are the woman’s
family quarries? Also, there was this case that someone was killed by
talking long on the public phone. Definitely people’s selfishness has
become extreme.
Do
you know why people prefer strong and good cars? It is because of their
huge selfishness. Nowadays there are lots of RV jeeps with tough
bumpers. There are lots of Koreans showing off by driving these 30,000
dollars worth of jeep. Why do people prefer this kind of car? It is all
because of their selfishness. Let us think there is a collision with
this kind of car. Who has the high probability to die? Of course, the
driver driving with a small vehicle with thin bumper. So people prefer
high quality cars with strong engines, thick metals, slick appearances,
and big bumpers because they are selfish, want to show off, and be safe.
This tendency comes from the evil heart of human beings. In other
words, it is to satisfy their selfishness and vanity.
Take
a serious look at human society. Aren’t there so many products of
selfishness? Don’t people fret over to set up a big tombstone at a good
spot of good land? Will the dead person know whether his or her
tombstone is big or small? The living are only trying to take pride. It
is that small tombstone that hurts one’s pride. One may be satisfied
because one can dance up and down when he shows off the big tombstone
saying, “That is my own ancestor’s.” Does this make his ancestor know?
Will the dead know whether someone throws a stone or pours shit on it?
People try to build a big mound over every grave, make the tombstone
big, and make a tiled roofed house over the tomb only to show off.
In
Taiwan when one’s parent dies, they put models of refrigerators,
televisions, and similar stuffs in the marble-made tomb house. I am so
surprised to hear that the best propitious site for a grave in Taiwan
nearly costs 11.2 million US dollars. Undoubtedly it is partially
because of human affection towards the dead family members but their
main motive is to show off their family fame. And they do so because
they believe that their ancestor-gods will bless them when they worship
them in excess. You see that at normal times selfishness is shown this
way. Wouldn’t it be even more extreme at the last days of tribulation?
At
the end of the world, those people who have not been born again will do
great evil with Satan’s spirit. These people know well that they are to
be condemned by God. They know better that their thoughts and hearts
are so wicked, filthy, and savage to the extent of making them sick of
themselves. They think about themselves and know that “I will surely go
to hell,” and thus they say, “Let me do more evil before I go to hell.”
It is not because the Lord hasn’t given us perfect salvation that the
people are not saved from their sins. It is because they themselves hate
the light of the Truth.
For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, God has sent
Jesus not to judge but save us from our sins. We should know that the
purpose of sending His begotten Son was to save us. And we should
believe in the Truth that Jesus was baptized to take away from us all
our sins on the Cross, died there, was resurrected from the dead, and
thus saved us from all our sins. Many people suffer critical losses
because they don’t believe in this Truth. Many people have the desire to
enjoy this world saying, “I can’t believe the Truth even though I shall
go to hell later,” and they don’t accept the Truth. We should know that
lots of things like this happen in the last days.
Presently
we are living in the third age of the black horse, and there are huge
numbers of people starving to death. Not so long will it be before one
third of the world is ruined by the war. And at the last days when the
selfishness in men’s heart comes out to the full extent, what would
happen to this world? This world becomes a warlike and dreadful place
where it shall be even hard to breathe. At that time, antichrist will
show up and start to work, which God told us to be the time of the great
tribulation. At the time of great tribulation, many born-again
Christians will be put to death. This means that all the people who
don’t surrender to antichrist and desert God shall be killed. This time
will certainly come and we know that it is coming near.
All
our books from series number 1 to 10 are published in English. In these
books, I have dealt with all the topics that Christians all over the
world consider important. Through these books, people will learn that
Christianity all over the world is an illegitimate faith. And these
books will create a great sensation to the people who had wrong faith
but were seeking for the Truth. These books will entirely change the
people’s beliefs and they will truly be born again when they believe in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We
shouldn’t become a selfish person in this last age. Naturally people
are born selfish, but people with true faith live for the spirits of
others at least. The truly born-again live for other’s interest and for
the salvation of the people who they haven’t met. Righteous men are also
only human beings and therefore are selfish. But the righteous should
live for the benefits of others, and these are true Christians.
In
these holidays, you have met your families. If you meet your family
members who are not born again yet, they ask you, “What do you do for a
living? Did you make some money? Do you have some money in your
bankbook? What are you going to do in the future?” When there is a
family union, some members who are successful have high spirits while
members who barely live hang their heads in shame. Like a small dog
whining in front of a big dog, the poor shrink in front of the rich. You
will also have these hearts. The desire to compare with others, to be
in superior position, and to be servile in front of the strong—all these
come from men’s selfish hearts.
We,
the righteous people, should know that lawlessness will abound, the
love of many will grow cold at the time of the Great Seven Year
Tribulation, and thus, we should cast away our selfish minds. When a man
casts away his or her selfishness, pure love comes out. At the very
least, the righteous that have received the remission of sin should hold
back their selfishness and have faith that enables them to sacrifice
themselves for the lost souls. We the righteous should have this faith
and sacrifice to spread forth the gospel of the water and the Spirit,
stand in the awe of God, love our brothers and sisters, and live for the
ones who haven’t yet received the remission of sin.
The
most fearful enemy to our belief is selfishness. Selfishness kills
people. Selfishness kills our faiths and thoughts toward God, quenches
the desires to follow God, and make us live self-centered lives by
estranging us from God. Thus, selfishness is absolute evil to our lives
of faith. If we know well about the dreadful results of the selfishness
in our thoughts and hearts, we will be able to desert our selfishness
and spread out the gospel until our Lord comes back.
Today’s
Scripture passage says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the
end will come.” When this gospel spreads out to the end of the world,
our Lord will come. We are planning to spread out this gospel to one
third of the whole world this year. As we see that our Lord has given us
such hearts, we know that “It is near to the time that our Lord will
come.” When this gospel spreads out all over the world, the end comes.
People can’t live any longer even if they want to. Though people yearn
for a better world, the world is going to become just a little better
while we can spread out the gospel, and at the time when the will of God
would be met to an extent, the world will soon be out of order. Then
total chaos will come soon to this world. As the Lord said the gospel
would spread out all over the world, I believe as it was said.
You
might wonder, “How will the gospel spread out all over the world?” But
you will see God does things by amazing ways that a human thought cannot
perceive. God works in an uncommon way to spread out the gospels all
over the world. For example, we saw that there are often cases of some
Israelis ordering rather Russian books than Hebrew books. They might be
Russians living in Israel or might have lived a long time in Russia and
came back to their motherland and ordered our Russian books. One of them
is said to have received the remission of sin after reading our books
and the person is spreading out the gospel to other near people. Jesus
said that the world would end when the gospel spreads throughout the
whole world, and like this, the gospel is continuously being spread out.
We believe, once the Lord works, the gospel will spread out even to
those countries forbidding Christianity.
I
think that “At the last days selfishness will overspread the world and
the world will be in great trouble.” Thus we the righteous should live
out our lives with faith by casting away selfishness until the Lord
returns. Whether the born-again righteous people have good faith or not
depends, needless to say, partially on one’s faith in the Word of God,
but also on how far one throws away his or her own self-centered
thoughts and sacrifices for others. At this last age, Satan fosters
selfishness even in righteous men’s hearts and makes their religious
lives difficult. But as much as Satan hinders our religious lives, we
the born-again, as the children of God, should know Satan’s plan,
embrace God’s love, and lead religious lives without selfishness.
Now
the teachings on the basics of the gospel have been made set forth in
ten books. I thank God that there was a great step in spreading out the
gospel. We could do God’s work because we worked together. Looking at
these things I have a joyful and graceful heart. As we have these people
who are serving the gospel, the gospel is spread out all over the
world. The born again, who have been serving this gospel, triumphed over
their selfishness, while those who have deserted the church after
receiving the remission of their sins have pursued their selfishness.
Remission of sin might be the same that they received but the latter
can’t be blessed with the joy of spreading out the gospel because they
followed their selfishness treating it as precious treasures. My fellow
believers, how can all the people in the world receive the remission of
sin if we don’t cast away our selfishness and serve the gospel? How can
others receive the remission of sin if you only live for yourself?
We
see our church ministers as well as our brothers and sisters sometimes
stain their hands with dirty things, work outside when it is cold, and
work inside until they are utterly exhausted. The world still has hope
and yet people are saved because each of you have thrown away your
selfishness and served in and out for the gospel, for the Lord, for the
lost souls, for God’s will, and for God’s righteousness. You were also
saved by this way. Who among you would have received the remission of
sin if the seniors who have been saved prior to us hadn’t served the
gospel and pursued only their own selfishness? A flower doesn’t blossom
by itself but there should be a trunk, branch, leaves, and a flower cup
to make a flower blossom. To blossom, a cup will keep the life of the
flower; the branch will give the nourishments. And if the flower
blossoms by itself without these, not only will it look bad but also it
is impossible. Every factor should work together to make a flower
blossom, make a flower become beautiful, and glorify God. But if you
don’t function as a cup, then how can the flower of the gospel bloom? I
know well that the gospel is spreading out all over the world because
all of you are loyal at your place to serve the gospel. I am thankful
for the gospel is spreading out a lot and I expect big fruits of our
services.
This
year the gospel will spread out a lot. I believe our Lord will do it,
and I pray and serve for this purpose. Let us serve our Lord with joy
and without discouragement, until He comes. He will soon come. I hope He
comes back shortly. How about you? Don’t you like that our Lord will
come back when the gospel is spread out all over the world and all the
people with humble hearts believe in Him without fail? I yearn for the
day to come quickly when all the people who are to believe have faith in
Him quickly, for the nonbelievers will not believe anyhow.
A
person who conceals his selfishness and pretends to be good is prone to
refuse this gospel. By contrast, people who come forth to the Lord
saying, “I am so insufficient. But I believe my Lord will save me,” will
receive salvation. There are only two groups of people in the whole
world; the pros and cons of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Those who are selfish don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, but those who honestly seek God’s compassion will receive
salvation by believing in this gospel.
God
wants the gospel to spread pervasively and impartially. I believe that
God will end the world in His proper time when the gospel is fully
spread all over the world whether the people believe it or not. God will
give all the people the opportunity to believe in the gospel saying,
“You don’t believe. You are already in hell. You believe. Your sins are
remitted and you are saved,” and then He will straighten out the world.
When
the gospel is spread all over the world, God allows the world to suffer
the Great Seven Year Tribulation and let Satan run to the extreme one
last time. I believe that Jesus Christ, the King of kings, will advent
to earth and shut down the Devil and his subjects up, punish the
sinners, and give the Millennial Kingdom to the righteous. The Lord
lives with the righteous for a thousand years, and after a thousand
years, He casts the ones filled with selfishness, who have rejected
God’s love and His righteousness, into hell, where the fire is not
quenched forever. After the Millennial Kingdom, the ones who believe in
God’s righteousness and are saved by God’s love will live as the kings
at the Kingdom of Heaven forever. This is God’s scenario. If we have
lost many things for the gospel on earth, at that time, God will give us
much in return.
Even
in the future selfishness in our heart will move a lot. However, as
long as you are not a fool, you all will know whether it is helpful or
not to pursue this selfishness. I admonish you to first look at the
everlasting returns, possess the everlasting life with faith, and keep
your faith in His promises.
I thank God for giving us the privilege to get into the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
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