Subject 13 : The Gospel According to MATTHEW
[Chapter 24-8] Serve the Lord With the Talents God Has Given You (Matthew 24:32-44)
(Matthew 24:32-44)
“Now
learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already
become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So
you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the
doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass
away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will by no means pass away. No One Knows the Day or Hour.
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,
but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and
took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then
two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two
women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other
left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is
coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what
hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his
house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man
is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
In
this Winter Discipleship Training Camp, there are 18 souls invited to
the gospel class. I sincerely hope that our Lord may open up the hearts
of these souls and let them receive the gospel. And when you pray, you
should pray to God to save the souls of the attendants at the gospel
class as well as your families and your acquaintances. Before you came
to this camp, your ministers must have told you often that all the
facilities in Injae Retreat Center would be in good condition. But it
only took several hours to find out the reality. Didn’t the water pipes
of the female restroom freeze up? I heard that water froze and it didn’t
even come out. So, the staff members had a discussion and we promised
ourselves to do better at least from this point on. I don’t know why it
turns out to be so difficult for our staff members to gain favor in your
sight. Now we should make flush toilets and new showering facilities in
the female restroom. If God allows so, the facilities will become
better this summer. As it is delightful to have a big place for worship,
all the facilities in the Retreat Center will gradually become better. I
hope you rest your exhausted minds and souls, and listen to the
Scriptures to your hearts’ content.
This
morning, I will tell you about the time when our Lord shall come. The
Lord said in Matthew 24:32-39: “Now learn this parable from the fig
tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves,
you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these
things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this
generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass
away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of
heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will
the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until
the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came
and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
The
Lord told us about the things that will happen when He comes. We should
listen to His Word of teaching and admonition. So I am here to preach a
sermon by stressing His teachings.
First,
when does the Lord come? Let us look at the Scripture passage for this
part. The Lord said to His disciples, “Now learn this parable from the
fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth
leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all
these things, know that it is near—at the doors!” This passage means
that when Israel regains its power, that is to say, when Israel recovers
its territory we should know that the time is near for the Lord to
come. After crucifying Jesus Christ on the Cross, the Israelites had
scattered all around the world. But as today’s Scripture passage says,
Israel regained its nation in 1948. Israel has recovered its nation
after nearly two thousand years. There is no case in human history,
except for Israel, of recovering its nation after nearly two thousand
years of loss.
When
does the Lord come back? First, Jesus Christ said, “Now learn this
parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and
puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.” Also, Jesus has
taught us that “This generation will by no means pass away till all
these things take place.” We should pay attention to the fact that
Israel recovered its land. The fact that Israel regained its nation in
1948 means that the Word of God, “When its branch has already become
tender and puts forth leaves” has been realized. After Israel recovered
its nation, it has become a firm nation by revival. Our Lord told us
that He would come before the recovered nation vanishes from the earth.
So we take notice of Israel. And we see that Israel has become an
extremely powerful nation.
Secondly,
when does the Lord come? Jesus said, “But as the days of Noah were, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” He continued, “For as in the
days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not
know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38-39). Jesus Christ is
teaching us that the coming of the Lord will be as the days of Noah
were.
What
does “As the days of Noah were” mean? Noah, the servant of God, was the
symbol of the time and day of the destruction. A long time ago when God
judged the world by covering the entire earth with water, He had told
Noah everything about the flood. God had mercy on Noah and his family
that they have been saved by getting into the Ark. The Lord said that
coming of the Lord would just be as the days when everyone but Noah’s
family had been destroyed. The coming of the Lord is like the days of
Noah.
Let
us look at the Bible and see how it was in the days of Noah. It says,
“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away.” In
the days of Noah, people only cared about their desires of the flesh,
that is, the desires of eating and drinking. That is to say, like God’s
judgment has been made when the people were following only their fleshly
desires, He will come at a similar time in the future. My fellow
believers, is there anyone who does not drink or eat? Everyone eats and
drinks. Then why did the Lord speak like this in this Scripture passage?
It means that our Lord will come at the time when people are not
concerned about God but concerned about their fleshly desires and
exhibit a behavior to satisfy them. My fellow believers, when we look at
this world, we know that nowadays is just like the days in Noah when
people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Just
like the sin of Noah’s generation reached its full measure, so does the
sin of this generation. Just like God has judged the world by water in
ancient times; it will be the same at the time of His second coming.
Our
Lord said that He would come when people are only caring about eating
and drinking, and only seeking their desires of the flesh. If the people
have faith in God’s Word and follow Him with reverence, give all their
hearts in serving the gospel, and then eat and drink, eating can also be
wonderful and beneficial. But it is said that our Lord will come for a
second time when the people do not care about God and only focus on
their earthly lives, do not have concern in spiritual matters but only
have concern in their own fleshly desires, and eventually lose God and
live just by themselves.
We
should carefully listen to the teachings of our Lord. Looking at the
signs of this age, we see that the time is ripe for His coming. Thus, we
should take the lessons from His Word and believe that the age we are
living in is that time. We should heed the warnings from His Word and
take it into our hearts. We should inscribe this teaching in our hearts,
knowing that the condition of this age is indicating the imminent
coming of our Lord. We should accept the teachings of the Word of the
Lord. These are the true Christians and the people who believe in God.
Truly we should be like these people. We should not talk about the time
of the Lord’s coming by simply looking at some signs of this world. We
should listen carefully to what He said in the Bible: If the Word of God
said this we should learn as it was said and if it has stipulated
admonishment then we should accept and believe it as it is. When we look
at this age we know that it is becoming just as the Word of God stated.
Then we should know and believe in our hearts that the time of His
coming is rapidly approaching. Therefore, receiving the teaching of His
Word is very important to us.
It
is written in Chapter 1 of Revelation that those who read and those who
hear the Word of this prophecy and keep those things are blessed.
Listening to this Word, you are blessed, and I am blessed, and the
people who believe in the Word as it is and live by faith are also
blessed. In the days of Noah, people didn’t realize God’s judgment until
the flood came and took them all away while they were indulging
themselves in eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. This
flood is the symbol of God’s judgment.
God
has chosen the flood as the first judgment in the days of the Old
Testament, and the world has been judged with the flood. Then the saying
“They did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also
will the coming of the Son of Man be” means that the judgment in His
second coming will be the same. It means that the people are concerned
in eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage so that they do
not actually realize they will really go to hell at the time of His
second coming and His judgment. Thus, we should believe in this
Scripture passage. We should learn from the Word, and take a close look
at whether or not this world is becoming like today’s Scripture passage.
We should closely examine whether or not the world is turning out as
the Scriptures said.
When
we looked at the world of today by His Word and His teachings, this
world is really closely mirroring the days of His judgment. Also we can
recognize, see by faith, and truly believe that it is time for His
coming. We believe that it has become near the end times as the Lord
said. I have told you that the time is near since about five years ago.
And I am one of the men who are waiting for His coming, while looking at
the situation of the world and contemplating the teachings of His
words. When I look at this age, I see that this age has become like the
teaching of today’s Scripture passage.
What
do the people pursue in this age? I don’t know how much the people
today pursue the desires of their flesh. Today there are few people
seeking for God. A daily newspaper has done a survey asking “Do you
believe in God?” and only 45% among the Korean people have responded
that they do. This is quite comparable to the responses from the
Americans that over 90% of them believe in the existence of God. Most
Korean people have their own religions, but this means that the majority
of them do not even believe in the existence of God as a reality. We
know from this that a large number of Korean people choose a religion
and believe in it as to solve their earthly problems but not to believe
in God and have true faith in Him.
Do
the people today believe in God? Do they seek God? No, they don’t.
People today only seek the desires of the flesh, that is, the desires of
eating and drinking. People today are only interested in the things of
the flesh but not in believing in God. The people all around the world
are madly pursuing eating and drinking. As the world goes to the end
there is no future, so people add weight to eating and drinking to enjoy
today’s lives. The last days are like this. It was also like this in
the days of Noah before the judgment by the flood. When God judged the
world by water, people were only interested in eating and drinking. At
that time people were terrible and their wickedness was great.
People
know this merely as a historical fact. People don’t know that this is a
warning and teaching from God. However, the Lord teaches us about the
time when He comes through the writings of Matthew. How are the people
today when we look at this Scripture passage and look at the world
through this passage? Both then and now the people really are not
interested in God but only in eating and drinking. In their hearts,
there are only thoughts of how can we eat, drink, and live well. The
Lord is teaching us through today’s Scripture passage that the days are
near for His coming.
Thirdly,
when does the Lord come? The Lord says in verse 40, “Then two men will
be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.” He said that
when there are two men in the field, one will be taken and the other
left behind. This field indicates both the people’s hearts and the
world. There are two kinds of people leading religious lives in the
world. And it means that between the two kinds one will go and one will
be left behind. Aren’t we leading a religious life in Christianity?
Don’t the Christians plow their fields of heart, eliminate the rocks
from their hearts, and plant the teachings of the Word of God?
However,
among the same Christians who are plowing their hearts, some will be
taken while others will be left behind. Living in this world, we are all
devoted in some religions in our own ways despite the fact we have
different religions. Some are devoted in Christianity, some are in
Buddhism, and some are in Islam. However they lead religious lives in
their own ways, the born-again will be taken while those who are not
born-again will be left at the ground. These things will happen in the
days of His coming.
Thus,
we should listen to the Word of the Lord and to His teachings. We
ourselves should cultivate the fields of our hearts and receive perfect
redemption of having no sins in our hearts. It will be decided whether
you are taken or to be left behind by whether or not you have been born
again by the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Before the time of His
coming, we should examine ourselves and see whether “I am born again or
not.” Put differently, we should think about “Am I going to be taken or
left in the days of His coming?” It doesn’t mean that you will
experience Rapture just because you lead your life of faith somehow
blindly. It doesn’t mean that you will experience Rapture in the days of
His coming because you have hoed up and shoveled your field of heart
recklessly. We should be taught by the Lord’s Word of Truth. We should
plow up our field of heart by His Word of Truth. And in our hearts we
should accept the gospel of the water and the Spirit, His Word that
allows people to be born again. The seeds of His Word should fall in to
our hearts, sprout in each of our hearts, and bear fruits. We should
become men who have the seed of His Word, the Word of salvation that
makes us to be born again of water and the Spirit, in our hearts.
Even
though it is obvious that His coming is near, there are people who
haven’t yet accepted the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and these
people should hurry up and plant this faith within their hearts. If he
doesn’t have the Word of God in his heart, he should buy it if it even
costs him everything, and he should accept the Word of God hurriedly if
it is given for free. If he doesn’t have the Word of salvation in his
heart and hasn’t been born again, he will be left behind in the last
days. Therefore, you should check with the gospel of the water and the
Spirit to ensure that you have been born again before the days of His
coming. You should not only wait for the days of His coming but each of
you should examine your faith. Then, those without the seeds of faith in
their hearts should accept His Word of salvation, and those people with
the seeds of faith should wait for the Lord always saying, “Come, Lord
Jesus.”
Not
long ago there were odd groups in Korea. There were two groups, Dami
Mission and Tiberias Mission, which asserted that the world will come to
an end and Rapture will take place on October 28, 1992. The name of our
mission is The New Life Mission. Already the name is different from
those mission groups mentioned. We are the “mission organization that
gives new life.” Dami Mission and Tiberias Mission created a commotion
by saying that the world will end on October 28, 1992. By their false
teaching, a great number of people believed that the Lord would come on
October 28, 1992 and they brought on public criticisms. At that time I
had fellowship with some of the staff members in those groups and I
pulled several of them out.
“Pastors
and Evangelists! Does the Lord come on October 28, 1992? Let us say it
is true for the moment. Then are you sure that you were born again of
water and the Spirit and that you will be lifted up to the Kingdom of
Heaven whenever the Lord comes?”
“I am not sure.”
I asked again, “Then what should you do?”
“Then
I should repent. Until His coming, I should clean the cloth of my
spirit with soap of repentance and dress in fine linen, white and clean,
and welcome the Lord, saying, ‘Oh my bridegroom, here is your bride.’”
I asked them again, “Until when should you prepare such a perfect white dress?” “I should prepare it until the Lord comes.”
“How can you prepare it?”
“I can prepare it with prayers of repentance.”
“Then how often should you give the prayers of repentance?”
“I should offer the prayers of repentance every day and night.”
There
are those people. But even if the Lord had really come on October 28,
1992, those people couldn’t have been lifted up to the presence of the
Lord. They will not be taken. Will the holy Lord take the bride stained
by dirty excrements? Who would take the bride with a bad smell? Who
would take the bride stained by a whole bunch of filthiness? It doesn’t
make any sense.
“Let
us say that He will come shortly as the Bible says. Yes, you believe in
the true Word of God. Then are you prepared? Are you prepared to meet
Jesus Christ? Are you truly born again?” Then, they say, “Yes, I am born
again by the blood of Jesus.” Whenever the Bible says the blood of
Jesus, it says so by premising that He took all the sins of the world
through His baptism. But there are people who say that they believe in
the blood of Jesus without knowing His baptism. Can there be any result
when the cause is absent? Those are people who have not been born again
yet. Those people are disgracing the face of Jesus and smearing the
faces of Christians. I don’t know whether they are somewhere cultivating
their spirituality by offering the prayers of repentance. However these
meetings haven’t disappeared and still exist until now. Even now, there
are lots of people believing like this.
“Two
women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other
left.” If one doesn’t accept the seeds of life in the field of his
heart, all of his endeavor will be of no use. What is the use of a good
field? What is the use of a good field if there is no seed to plant? “My
field is rich but it grows only thistles and tares.” Then we cannot say
that is a good field. My fellow believers, you are the people who have
plowed all of your fields. But the important thing is whether or not the
seeds are planted in the fields. When the Lord comes, only the
born-again are taken while the people who are not born again of water
and the Spirit are left. The Lord will certainly come someday yearning
to take us from this world. Eventually you and I should have the seeds
of life in our heart fields because He will come here to take only the
born-again people.
Do
you have faith that you have been born again of water and the Spirit?
Do you have the seeds of Word as the born-again in your heart field? If
you have the seeds of the Word as the born-again, it is okay for you to
have some insufficiencies. However, if you have no seed of Word in your
heart field it is in vain even though your field is plowed well and your
heart is good. These have no meaning. In the days of His coming, there
will be two men plowing the field; one shall be taken and the other
shall be left. Thus we should listen carefully to the Word about being
born again. And it is a great blessing that you believe in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit.
However,
we, the born again, immensely look down upon this genuine gospel often.
Some of us are prone to regard this merely as the foundation of faith.
Some people once asked me, “How did you write so many books with the
same story and the same topic.” How are my sermons the same? Even the
seed of life is the same, but there are various kinds of heart-fields.
Depending on the different types of the fields, such as, sick fields,
fields with many rocks, proper fields, filthy fields, malnourished
fields, etc., we should cultivate them with different methods of sowing
and plowing.
My
fellow believers, the gospel of the water and the Spirit that has
brought us salvation is the gospel of life. This is the only true
gospel. It is the most precious gospel on earth. In our hearts we have
the gospel of the water and the Spirit. As we have this gospel in our
hearts we spread out the gospel. But do the people in the world accept
the gospel well or not? They do not. It is because they don’t easily
believe in God. People do not accept this gospel because in this last
age people are only concerned about eating and drinking but not
concerned about believing in God. I don’t know whether or not the souls
in the gospel class will accept the gospel well in this Discipleship
Training Camp. It will not be that easy. It is because that nowadays
people are all focused on eating and drinking. Let us look at ourselves.
How many people went to the center store yesterday after the night
worship service? How much are the people focused on eating and drinking.
Also, there are people among you who bring delicious foods and eat them
with his or her family members. You don’t have to give it to me. I have
a lot to eat.
You
and I have this precious gospel of the water and the Spirit. I thank
God for this. Whenever our Lord comes, we the born again, the people who
have the Word of life, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, will be
taken by Him. But the lives of the people who do not have the Word of
life will turn out to be blanks. When you were young, you surely have
tried a sugar-cake lottery? The storeowner would make the winning prizes
of planes, trains, and boats, which are made from melted sugar and
stick many lottery tickets in a can. In our youth, we just can’t pass by
the lottery.
“Mister, how many tickets can I get for ten cents?”
“You can get three.”
“Only three? Come on, let me have four.”
“Alright,
you can have four.” The truth is that you will all get blanks for all
the tickets. It is of the owner’s mind to write down whatever he or she
wants. So, if the storeowner writes down all blanks and sticks them in
the can, there is no more than that. When you pick some lotteries, this
is a blank, that is a blank, and once in a while you win a small jet
plane or a rabbit but not a big plane. You can’t pull out a big sugar
plane because the owner did not write it down. It will never happen
nevertheless you rob your mom’s money and pull out all the lotteries
frantically. When I got angry I gathered the money by any means and
pulled out all the lottery tickets. Thinking that I will be profitable
if I get two big prizes by doing that, I poured a lot of money and
bought all the lottery tickets in the can. So I bought all the tickets
and opened them just to find out there was no big plane anywhere. There
was nothing at all. We call this a fraud.
Anyhow
you and I who have received the remission of sin are happy because now
is the time He will come. “Two women will be grinding at the mill: one
will be taken and the other left.” My fellow believers, we can
distinguish the real faith from the fake one by examining them with the
Word of God. There are people who shamefully shout that “The
denomination I am in is the most famous one in the whole world and it
follows Calvin doctrines.” However, this is no use even if these people
are brothers and sisters of Calvin. They will be left in the end like
the woman who was grinding at the mill.
There
are two women grinding at the mill. They put a spoon of bean or rice in
the grinding stone. And if you grind the grains with the stone mill any
beans and rice are crushed. With a noise of “Drrr.. drr.. drr.. drr..”
the contents in the stone mill are crushed and flow outside. Two women
are ardently grinding the millstone and all of a sudden only one is left
grinding the stone mill. While two women are grinding at the mill, one
is taken, and the other is left. My fellow believers, only the ones with
true faith, who have been born again of water and the Spirit, will be
taken at the time of His coming. Do you believe in this? Amen.
There
are lots of people in the world who make a boast of themselves saying,
“Our denomination is such and such, and I am the President of our
denomination.” I can’t stop laughing whenever I see such a person. The
people who are not born again lay great emphasis on their outward
appearances. And they lay stress on the history and tradition of their
denominations. However, the born-again are not like that. The people who
are not born again brag about the appearances as substance such as, how
old their denominations are, or what tradition they have built, etc.
But how are their faiths in substance? How does it look if we open and
look at their hearts by shedding the light of God’s Word? Their hearts
are totally rotten by sins.
We
should know that it is so precious to have this gospel of the water and
the Spirit. This is the Word of God. Even though we pound our hearts
with the hammers and grind them in the millstone we are still the
born-again people. No matter how much we plow our heart fields and turn
them over and over, we remain as the born-gain people in whiteness. We
are the born-again people who are tightly structured with innocence from
inside to outside. This is for real. However Christians who are not
born again are not like this. They are unsightly and funny. They
desperately led their religious lives but will not be taken by the Lord.
How does this happen? Even though he led a religious life from his
mother’s womb, and went to the Sunday schools from his youth, middle
school years, high school years, college years, young adult years, adult
years, and has a colorful record of serving as a deacon, an elder, a
pastor, and then the president of his denomination, he is only like
General Naaman. Even though Naaman was a General, he was a leper to be
hated. And no matter how colorful one’s career is, if he doesn’t have
the Word of the water and the Spirit, the Lord leaves him behind instead
of taking him. Thus, we know how precious the gospel within us is.
Every
time we gather we talk about the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We
talked about it last night and we do so this morning too. Do you have
your hearts saying, “It is so boring. My ears are suffering. Don’t you
have any other Word of God than this?” Truly is there anything else
better than this? No, there isn’t. We should know the most valuable
among the things you have. It is written, “Silver and gold I do not
have, but what I do have I give you” (Acts 3:6). What is the most
precious thing that you have? It is the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. This is the most precious thing and our important substance.
This gospel of the water and the Spirit saves the spiritually crippled,
the people without good lives of faith, and the dying sinners. Then, how
precious is it? Truly the gospel of the water and the Spirit is so very
precious.
Our
Lord says, “Wouldn’t you be prepared if you know the time and hour of
the end?” In other words, we should always be watchful because the Lord
comes at the time like the days of Noah. He says, “Watch therefore, for
you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). The Lord
taught us to always be watchful. Especially, you and I who are living
in the days of Noah should be watchful by faith and spread the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, and live with faith believing that now is the
time of His coming. We should know that He will come if we wait a
little, listen to His teaching and receive it in our hearts, and carry
out the works that he has given us with loyalty.
In Matthew chapter 25, we see the parable of the talents. Let us look from verse 14 to 30 of Matthew chapter 25.
“For
the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who
called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he
gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according
to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who
had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made
another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two
more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and
hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came
and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came
and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five
talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord
said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful
over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into
the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and
said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two
more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and
faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make
you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Then he
who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a
hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have
not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in
the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered
and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap
where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So
you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I
would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from
him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has,
more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does
not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable
servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.’”
Our
Lord is giving us a lesson from this parable. There is something that
those who have received the remission of sin should extremely be careful
of. Here in the parable of the talents, the Lord said that He gave the
talents to all of those who had received the remission of sin. The Lord
has given you and me the same talents. The Lord has given each of us
some talent of knowledge, talent of playing the piano, talent of
spreading out the gospel, talent of having faith, talent of making
money, talent of praising the Lord, and serving the gospel. However
someone who doesn’t use his talents to serve the Lord, or leaves the
Church and lives only for his desires of flesh while eating and
drinking, is the one who received one talent.
When
the lord came to settle accounts with them, the servants came and said.
He who had received five talents made another five by trading and came
to the lord saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I
have gained five more talents besides them.” Then, his Lord said to him,
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few
things, I will make you ruler over many things.” And he who had received
two talents came and said, “Lord, you delivered to me two talents;
look, I have gained two more talents besides them.” Then, his lord said
to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful
over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.”
Then
he who had received the one talent ran in swiftly and said, “Lord, I
knew you to be a hard man and an evil master, reaping where you have not
sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was
afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. I dug up everything
and bring them all without fail. Look, you gave me one, and there you
have what is yours.” But his lord answered and said to him, “Cast the
wicked and lazy servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.” He cast him to the outer darkness.
My
fellow believers, there is something that we the born-again should be
careful about. It is that you should not live only for yourself after
you have been born again. God has given the born-again people the
talents to serve the Lord in His Church. Whatever the talents are, He
has given the talents to all of us. Some people follow the servants of
God and meticulously satisfy their needs, which is a talent. Also there
are brothers and sisters who make a lot of money and serve the Lord by
supporting the flower of the gospel to blossom. God has given various
talents to each of those who were born-again.
But
there are people who use the talents not to serve the Lord, but only to
serve themselves. These people say, “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man,
reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not
scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the
ground.” Among the born-again there are people who leave the Church
saying, “Oh, I have this technique. I have this talent. This is so
precious to use only for the Lord. I want to use this only for myself.”
Those people eventually leave the Church saying, “I had this hidden
talent of making money. I never knew this before in the old days. But
now I know that I am so talented in this field and I will live a
colorful life in this world.” Those people leave the Church and live
only for themselves.
However,
what will happen to the person who uses the talents given by God for
himself only and makes money by using them in order to satisfy only his
belly? In the days of the Lord’s coming, he who had received one talent
will dig up his talent from the ground and say, “Here, you have your one
talent. I didn’t even cut out 0.1%. Here you have the one talent in
full. Here you go, here it is. Are you satisfied? As I received
salvation, I am going to the Kingdom of Heaven, my Lord.”
Then
the Lord says, “Wait! Now what are you talking about?” Then his heart
is toughened by his own righteousness, and he rather says that he has
done nothing wrong and the Lord is the one who is unrighteous, saying,
“Haven’t you come to settle the accounts with me? Didn’t you come back
to take back what you gave me? You gave me nothing more than one talent,
haven’t you? You mean that you want two out of one? Are you a thief? I
heard that there are lots of vicious lords these days, and who knows
that you are one of them? Where can you find such a vicious lord who
demands two out of one? Even I don’t do that.” As such, being filled
with his own righteousness, he says that he did nothing wrong to the
Lord and that the Lord is rather unrighteous. Then the Lord cast him
into the outer darkness saying, “If you would have deposited my money at
the bankers, you would have had the addition of interests. You didn’t
even do that and had the whole talent dug in the ground.”
Having
the talent dug and hidden under the ground means that he has used his
talents only for his flesh while drinking and eating. My fellow
believers, is it so, or is it not so? It is so. And we call this kind of
a person the son of a thief. Such a person is so intolerable. If I see
the servants of God and the saints who left the Church after having
received the remission of sin and only use their talents for eating and
drinking, I curse them at that very instant. I call such a person a son
of a bitch. With the heart of the Lord I feel disgusted with such a
person.
Those
people will have an ugly end in the last days. The Bible has a lot of
these messages. There are lots of messages on this topic. There are
people who only use the talents for themselves. Those people leave the
Church saying, “As I am born again I don’t need the Church anymore. I am
clearly born again. I have the firm belief of being born-again. So
don’t tell me to do this and to do that. Have you ever given me a bowl
of rice, why are you telling me to do this and that? Why are you looking
down on my personalities? Why are you poking your nose into my
business? I am not the kind of person to serve you. I am a noble man. I
also have been born again. You are not the only one who has been born
again; so don’t tell me to do this and that. I will take care of
myself.”
Does
he serve the Lord if he snaps like this and leaves the Church? My
fellow believers, you and I can serve the gospel only while we are
staying in God’s Church. If one leaves the Church he can only live for
his flesh. Those people who are living like that are unworthy ones. Even
though he is a born-again man, he is a very unworthy man. As we are
humans, we ourselves are unworthy without the Lord. If we don’t do the
works of the Lord we are useless beings. When we use the given talents
to do such things as to serve the Lord and make a profit by trading with
them to serve the gospel, then we are fruitful and valuable, and we can
maintain these values. If we are not like this, we become very useless
people. Those people have no use. Are those people worthy? What worth
does the man who only uses his money for himself and who uses all his
money for eating and drinking at a nice place have?
I
never rode a tour bus, but I saw the bus joggle. “Well, that bus is
strange. Why is it joggling?” When I looked inside, I saw women dancing
with the music. “What are they doing? Are they all crazy?” I don’t know
how rigorously the people were dancing in the aisle of less than 60 cm
or two feet. How narrow is the aisle in the bus? In that small aisle
people dance, sing, and drink until they arrive at the destination. When
the bus stops at the rest area people go to the restroom and come back
to play like this. There are lots of people like this.
Of
course, you and I all have excitements. When I asked some of our staff
members to dance the other day, they were so good at dancing. Some staff
member showed a robot dance. This really looks like a dance. Have you
ever seen the dance of the dancing girls along with the saxophone music?
I only saw those dances in the movies, but I figured our brother
workers could do it too. I made exclamations saying, “You have a
flexible body even though you are fat. How is your body so flexible?”
Everybody has such a kind of excitement. It is good to have one. How
great is it to dance in joy, get rid of stress, and go on a diet. It is
okay to do so, but the problem is in that some people don’t serve the
gospel and only pursue their carnal pleasure.
Everyone
who doesn’t serve the Lord and live for the gospel is a thief, a son of
a bitch, and a child of scorn. It is okay for all of you to be excited
and have fun, and to eat delicious foods. But you have to keep it in
your mind that if you had fun and ate a lot, you should serve the Lord
too. Isn’t it a problem that you don’t serve the Lord when you have to
do so? Isn’t it a problem that you leave the Church without serving the
Lord? My fellow believers, we shouldn’t be such people. The Lord teaches
us not to become such people. My fellow believers, we should accept
this teaching. You should accept this teaching in each of your heart.
However,
nevertheless this Word of God, some people leave the Church saying, “It
is your words. Do you think that I will go to hell even though I
received salvation? Don’t worry. I have all the faith to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. I can live my own life and take care of myself even
though you don’t worry for me. Though I leave the Church I will serve
the gospel after making money. Just see when I have some time. Just see
when I make some money. I can’t hold my lips from saying the gospel when
I get the opportunity. My personality is like that by nature. So I will
serve the gospel well and spread it out well. Don’t worry. My religious
life is better by myself. I think you are making it worse. So don’t
worry. See you. I am leaving.” How could such a person live out his
faith?
My
fellow believers, we shouldn’t become the wicked. Who are really the
wicked in God’s Church? We often say, “You are so wicked and carnal” to
each other, however, the real evil men are the ones who leave the
Church. It is evil itself to think to lead a life of faith by oneself.
The people who act on such thought are more evil. There is a place for
us to meet with each other across the Jordan River, but unfortunately
there are people who we can’t meet with at that place. At that time at
you will see all the friends who have stayed in the Church, the bright
place, while there will be someone whom you can’t find. No matter how
many times you call his name, there will be no answer. And when you
looked in the darkness on the off chance, he is crying in there. My
fellow believers, this can happen. This is the Word of God.
The
Lord has saved us and left us in the world to serve the gospel.
Therefore, if we don’t serve the gospel, the Lord looks at us as the
worst of evil. The Lord looks at those as bad people who are trying to
return their salvations. There are lots of times when you feel yourself
so insufficient and tiresome, saying, “It is much better for me to
vanish from the Church. How well will the other brothers and sisters
serve the Lord if I vanish? It is better for me to disappear.” Even
though there are times that I too think like this, the reason that I
can’t leave the Church is because of the Word of God, which calls me
wicked and will put me into darkness if I do so. The reason why I can’t
live at a cabin in a mountain and live quietly without serving the
gospel is because of His Word. Because of His Word, I can’t bear to do
that. So even if I am insufficient I serve the Lord staying in the
Church.
I
serve the works that God has entrusted me with by all the talents He
has given me. The Lord is telling us by the parable of the talents of
how we should live at the time of His impending coming. Though you and I
are insufficient, we should stay within the Church. When we live like
that, the Lord will give us all the powers and talents to serve Him even
though we are insufficient. The Lord gives us the talents to serve Him.
If you want to serve the Lord by material, He will give you the talents
to do so. We can serve the Lord when He gives us the talents like that.
We cannot give the things that we haven’t got. It is not the Lord’s
will to bring the things that we don’t have. Therefore at the time of
His impending coming, like the days of Noah, we should accept the
teaching of His coming by faith, and serve the God’s works with faith.
We should do His works with the talents that He has given us whether
someone appreciates it or not, whether it is fruitful or not. We should
carry out the given work whether it is big or small with diligence,
faith, and loyalty.
And
in our hearts we might have worries of this life on earth thinking,
“This is all I have. How can I live if I offer all of the talents that I
have to the Lord. Then what will I have left?” My fellow believers,
however, there is nothing of which to worry. If you have the heart to
serve the Lord, He will provide you with more talents. The word that the
Lord will provide you with the talents means that He will give you the
ability to serve. It is easy to serve the Lord with what you have got,
but when you have nothing left you will become anxious. At that time He
will fill your needs if you have faith and pray to God. And there are
talents in you that the Lord has already given you. There are talents
that the Lord has already given you, but you just can’t use them because
you haven’t yet discovered and developed them within faith. In case you
don’t even have the already given talents, the Lord will give you new
talents. There are times when the Lord asks you to try this kind of work
and that kind of work. Among those works there will be things that you
never have tried so far. And there will be things that don’t fit to your
aptitude. But when you try these works from the Church, you will
experience that the Lord is giving you the talents to do them.
My
fellow believers, we are living in the days of His impending coming.
That is the reason why the Lord told us to be watchful. We should really
be watchful. We should stay within the Church in all circumstances; we
should sincerely carry out the jobs with the talents given to us, and
believe in the words of God. Like Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not
have, but what I do have I give you” (Acts 3:6), we should believe that
the Lord has given you and me the most precious gift of all, that is,
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we should trade with this
gospel with faith. You and I should believe that we have received the
most precious gospel of the water and the Spirit from the Lord and that
the Lord has given us the talents to serve Him. With that faith, until
His coming, we should spread out this genuine gospel to the people who
don’t know this gospel in order for them to prepare for His second
coming.
This
mission, this commandment of God was given to you and me. Thus you and I
should live by faith, quietly accepting the teaching of God in our
hearts. Though all the people are interested only in eating and
drinking, and together we eat and drink, we should accept the teachings
of the Lord. And we should believe. And we should live within that
faith. We have to do so. The world is more and more yearning the sinful
features of the days of Noah. The world is becoming more and more like
the days of Noah. Who would say that this age is not like the days of
Noah? Even though I don’t explain how this age is like the days of Noah
with specific examples, you will know the reality well through the
newspapers, magazines, and televisions. That’s why I do not talk more on
this.
Now
is the time of His impending coming. I hope you accept this teaching.
My fellow believers, do you have faith in this teaching? Yes. I hope you
truly have faith in this admonition. And I hope you accept this Word of
God’s admonition, and live with this faith not leaving the Church until
the days of His coming.
Only
those who are born-again believe that this age is the time of His
impending coming. The people in the world are making a fuss in marrying
and giving in marriages, and building houses. It is because that they
don’t believe that the days of His coming are at hand. They make vain
efforts because they don’t believe that the world will end. But we the
righteous shouldn’t make such vain efforts. I want to do whatever works
if they are certainly needed for the Lord. If there is any work for the
Lord and the gospel, I will do it unyieldingly.
However
I don’t want us to make money or to build houses only for our carnal
desires. It is not for the wealth and prosperity on earth that we the
born-again make money, trade, and purchase daily necessaries. All our
activities are for the Lord. I hope you make money diligently. Whatever
you do, eating or drinking, I just hope you live for the Lord and live
within the Church even you are insufficient. I hope you use your talents
that the Lord has given you and live with faith though you are
insufficient. Have you got it? I sincerely hope you to live with faith. I
believe in our Lord. I thank God. Amen.
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